Chicago Mortgages

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The TV and radio ads make it all seem so easy. Walk into a lender's office, refinance your home loan at a rock-bottom rate, and walk out with a lower monthly payment. Here's a little tip: It's not so easy. If you know the pitfalls,...

In the three-month period that ended in September, mortgage foreclosure activity in Illinois rose 31 percent from its year-earlier level, jeopardizing homeowners, tenants and neighborhoods. The trouble that communities face was most recently...

Green home construction and remodeling is on the rise as a housing market recovery begins to take shape and consumers look to marry their quest for home comfort with energy efficiency and cost savings. Putting a value on green properties continues to...

Q: How can I sell my condo unit that is under an order of possession by my association? The association is renting the unit to recoup what I owe them. The unit is also in foreclosure, although there is no foreclosure sale date set. Based upon sales...

Wells Fargo & Co. will offer $8.2 million in down payment assistance grants this month to almost 550 homebuyers in Chicago and 28 suburbs, the bank said Wednesday. The bank's CityLIFT program, announced at a news conference with officials from the...

Greater numbers of condominiums now qualify for mortgage financing insured by the Federal Housing Administration. That's because this month the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the FHA, loosened its requirements for...

WASHINGTON (AP)— Home prices kept rising in July across the United States, buoyed by greater sales and fewer foreclosures. National home prices increased 1.2 percent in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/...

A new study on the Home Affordable Modification Program estimates that 800,000 foreclosures could have been prevented if large mortgage servicers had been better equipped to deal with the crush of troubled homeowners who needed help. The report comes...

As institutional investors look for better returns in a low-interest-rate environment, Conning has partnered with an Illinois-based lender and underwriter to allow its customers to invest in commercial-mortgage loans. The commercial mortgage loans will...

With the presidential election edging closer, both parties have focused on the topic of whether voters are better off than they were four years ago. But what about homeowners? Are they? Homes have lost a significant portion of their value since the...

If the Federal Reserve had a manual, the current chapter might be called "Giving it the old college try." More than four years after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the economy is still limping along, companies are reluctant to...

There's good news and bad news to be found in the latest research regarding the effect of foreclosed homes on neighborhood property values. The upside is the financial dents that distressed properties make on nearby home sales aren't nearly as deep as...