Everyone’s focusing on first-time homebuyers these days — and for good reason — the $8,000 tax credit expires in a few months and most real estate agents attest that first-time homebuyers are in the housing market’s driver’s seat these days. On this episode of the podcast, I sat down with Matt Cochran at PERL and Regine Norgle at R. Hawthorne Group to talk about seller trends and what sellers are realistically expecting these days. For more podcasts, visit the PERL archives.
It’s the 50th episode of the PERL Mortgage Podcast! We started the show with PERL in the fall of 2008, in response to a growing need among clients (and folks in general) to know more about changes in our national economy. MC has produced episodes focusing on a lot of topics — and, amazingly, we’re just scratching the surface. This time around, I sat down with Barry Schwartz of PERL and Ryan Stavros of Jameson Real Estate to talk about trends in a few of Chicago’s neighborhoods: the uber-referenced Lincoln Park, up-and-comer River West, and historical Rogers Park. Sidenote: when in Rogers Park, hit the Heartland Cafe and tell Mike James we said hello. Go on a Sunday morning and enjoy “Live from the Heartland,” Mike’s weekly radio show. We in Schad were guests a few years ago and I’m not sure if it’s still on the air — regardless of the show, get the Buffalo Burger. Good times. For more podcasts, visit the PERL archives.
Last week, the Senate voted 70-30 to approve Ben Bernanke for another four years as Chair of the Federal Reserve. In this episode of the podcast, I interviewed PERL mortgage adviser Barry Schwartz about Ben Bernanke and his role as Fed Chair. Enjoy! For more podcasts, visit the PERL archives.
If you Google “Credit Repair,” you’ll probably find at least 20,500,000 results. Having worked in the financial industry for quite a while, one thing I’ve learned is that everyone has an opinion on how to fix your credit — and there are a lot of rumors out there that can sometimes get people into trouble if they’re faithfully following antiquated advice. I sat down with PERL mortgage adviser Barry Schwartz and we discussed the concept of credit repair and what clients can do to raise their scores. For more podcasts, visit the PERL archives.
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act was passed by Congress in 1974 to provide consumers and borrowers with disclosures about closing costs when buying a home. If you own a home, you’ve heard of the Good Faith Estimate and Truth in Lending Form. These are all a part of RESPA. Well, starting January 1st, HUD is rolling out a series of new changes that will greatly affect the mortgage industry in 2010. They’re basically consolidating these forms so that there are “no surprises” at closing tables — and home buyers will have the peace of mind of knowing that fees won’t be able to change from the time they apply to the time they close. Trick is, the lender will eat any costs under unapproved changed circumstances. Interesting. This basically means that if, say, your appraisal fee goes up from the original quote on your Good Faith Estimate, the lender will eat the fee. Dan Fogel, an attorney and mortgage consultant with PERL, explained all of these changes — and if you follow the housing market and changes in our national financial markets, you’ll be hearing more and more about this. Check it out. For more podcasts, visit the PERL archives.
Everyone’s focusing on first-time homebuyers these days — and for good reason — the $8,000 tax credit expires in a few months and most real estate agents attest that first-time homebuyers are in the housing market’s driver’s seat these days. On this episode of the podcast, I sat down with Matt Cochran at PERL and Regine Norgle at R. Hawthorne Group to talk about seller trends and what sellers are realistically expecting these days. For more podcasts, visit the PERL archives.
If you Google “Credit Repair,” you’ll probably find at least 20,500,000 results. Having worked in the financial industry for quite a while, one thing I’ve learned is that everyone has an opinion on how to fix your credit — and there are a lot of rumors out there that can sometimes get people into trouble if they’re faithfully following antiquated advice. I sat down with PERL mortgage adviser 
