Restoration of Spirit – Showcase Home + Workshop Event

Part of my job as a real estate agent, is to determine the best location, location, location for my clients.  Its  a little different for my role as real estate consultant where my main duty is to find a niche and learn, learn, learn.   Then teach, teach, teach.   Out of this, Rejuvestate.org was born.

Over the next 2 weeks, I will be describing the process of creating a showcase home + sustainable workshop event.  The goods, the bads, and the uglys…. but for now … I just want to let you know about the information.

Our main website and to purchase tickets, http://1046sheridan.com

Here are the workshops that you can attend.  Hope to see you there!!

Opening Night Mix & Mingle — June 18th, 2010   7pm -10pm  ( $39 includes appetizers / wine / other beverages)

Our evening workshop events cost $15.  To purchase tickets, please return to our website, here.   A short guided home tour is included with all workshops.

Monday, June 21st

• Creating the Life You Love To Live   6:30 pm start – Do you feel pulled by your life, rather than in control? Are you constantly feeling like life is “happening” to you? Is there a secret life that you would love to be living? Have you been pushing a dream to the side for years? Do you feel that something just isn’t quite right in your life? Does living from your inspiration and happiness maybe feel selfish?   It doesn’t have to be that way.  You CAN be living the life that you love to live. Every single day. Speaker:  Bevin Lynch, Business & Life Coach
• Fast Yet Fabulous Flower Designs      7:00 pm start — Please contact us about the specifics for this workshop.

Tuesday, June 22nd

• Living Artfully              6:30 pm start
• High Design/Low Carbon – The discussion will open with a review of the regional and climatic origins of many architectural elements, followed by an overview of the forces that shaped energy design in America will follow.  Specific architectural examples of green design in the Midwest and nationally will be shown, followed by specific examples of work that my firm is involved with, concluding with an interactive discussion of what direction ‘green design is headed’ –  Speaker:  Nathan Kipnis of  Nathan Kipnis Architects, Inc

Wednesday, June 23rd

• Historic Preservation Our First “Green” Movement     6:30 pm start –When rehabbing a historic property, taking an unmoving stance as either a green building advocate or as a historic preservationists can lead to considerable differences with the other camp. There is, however, a growing desire within both communities to align their agents. The workshop was created to raise awareness of what’s at stake…and to help take action in preserving the irreplaceable historic architecture giving our communities their distinctive identity and world-wide appeal.
• Going Green with Your Self Esteem

Thursday, June 24th

Monday, June 28th

• Feng Shui and Energy of Your Home
• Design Techniques inspired by Nature — Biomimicry  – Looking to Nature for inspiration. Emulating design structure, plan, and function to create design solutions related to real estate and interior design.  We will talk about design that take into account life’s principles and how your business and product can impact your home, community, and world.      Speakers:  Lynn Reidl, Founder of Rejuvestate.org —  Jill Salisbury, Principal of the Ec0-Chic company,Envionmental Language.

Tuesday, June 29th

• Redesign is Green Design
• Strengthening Sustainability:  House & Garden, Self & Community —Strengthening sustainable landscape practices is essential in light of both the current economic climate and climate change. This approach grounds us in the present and supports future generations.  We will examine how we can artfully connect House & Garden, Self & Community in order to restore balance & budget, live joyfully with change and prioritize for the long-term.

Wednesday, June 30th

• Creating the Life You Love To Live     6:30 pm start Do you feel pulled by your life, rather than in control? Are you constantly feeling like life is “happening” to you? Is there a secret life that you would love to be living? Have you been pushing a dream to the side for years? Do you feel that something just isn’t quite right in your life? Does living from your inspiration and happiness maybe feel selfish?   It doesn’t have to be that way.  You CAN be living the life that you love to live. Every single day.
• Bring Your Design Problem — Panel of Designers        7:30 pm  startBringing together the designer’s creativity and the consumers’ design problems to create a wonderful interactive solution – a win – win.  Learn about the various local designers and interact to create sustainable

Thursday, July 1st   — Final Night of Workshops, Refreshments Included.

• Restoration of Spirit Story — Lynn Reidl and Janet Kohl      6:30 start

This is a summary of the metaphor of restore your home, restore your spirit.

• Bringing Back Core Spiritual Fulfillment — Wright Leadership Institute

And don’t forget about our Closing Ceremony High Tea on the Veranda:  July 3rd 2pm.

Fannie Mae Tightens Guidelines On ARMs And Interest Only Products

For the first time this year, Fannie Mae announced significant updates to its mortgage underwriting guidelines.

The changes include newer, harsher ARM qualification standards, the elimination of a once-popular loan product, and tighter rules for interest only mortgages.

Fannie Mae made its official announcement April 30, 2010.  The changes will roll out to home buyers and homeowners in Chicago and everywhere else over the next 12 weeks.

The first guideline change is tied to ARMs of 5 years or less.

Mortgage applicants must now qualify based on a mortgage rate 2% higher than their note rate.  For example, if your mortgage rate is 5 percent, for qualification purposes, your rate would be 7 percent.

The elevated qualification payment will disqualify borrowers whose debt-to-income levels are borderline.

The second change is Fannie Mae’s elimination of the standard 7-year balloon mortgage.  Balloon mortgages were popular early last decade.  Lately, few borrowers have chosen them, though.  Mostly because rates have been relative high as compared to a comparable 7-year ARM.

And, lastly, Fannie Mae is changing its interest only mortgages guidelines.

Effective June 19, 2010, Fannie Mae interest only mortgages must meet the following criteria:

1. The home must be a 1-unit property
2. The home must be a primary residence, or vacation home
3. The borrower’s FICO must be 720 or higher
4. The mortgage must be a purchase, or rate-and-term refinance. No “cash out” allowed.

Furthermore, borrowers using interest only mortgages must show two full years of mortgage payments “in the bank” at the time of closing.

Earlier this year, Fannie Mae-sister Freddie Mac announced that as of September 2010, it will stop offering interest only loans altogether.

Between Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA, and other government-supported entities, the U.S. government now backs 96.5% of the U.S. mortgage market.  So long as mortgage default rates are high, expect approvals for all borrower types to continue to toughen.

Shopping For Mattresses, Or How To Buy A Good Night’s Sleep

NBC’s The Today Show hosted Consumer Reports for its take on mattresses. Some of the results may surprise you.

At 7 minutes, the video is long, but it’s stuffed with helpful comfort tips, including the scientific reason why a mattress should be replaced every 8 years or so.  Some of the other advice includes:

• How to reduce morning aches and pains with proper pillow choices
• Why “hot sleepers” should stay away from memory foam
• How to properly test a mattress in the store before you buy it

After its testing and a series of interviews with consumer and industry workers, Consumer Reports also concludes that — for a queen-sized bed — a $1,000 list price is going to give you “a lot of bed”; there’s little need to spend more.  And, furthermore, because mattress prices are usually negotiable by half-off or more off, you could buy that $1,000 mattress at a significant discount.

Consumer Reports acknowledges that there’s no “#1 mattress”, per se, because mattresses are a personal fit in terms of both firmness and size.  With respect to durability, however, most will last for years.

We have also found that few consumers know about the allergies that come along with mattress, pillows, and the negative effects of chemicals on the products.   We like to give you local options.  One in Evanston:  Healthy Green Goods has natural products for those with allergies, sensitivities, and those who are health conscious.

The Headlines Were Overly Rosy On February’s Case-Shiller Index

Earlier this week, Standard & Poors released its February Case-Shiller Index, a home price tracker for select metropolitan areas. 

Overwhelmingly, home values fell in the 20 markets tracked by the Case-Shiller. Only San Diego showed a modest increase.  The other 19 markets averaged a 1.23 percent decline between January and February.

However, that’s not the story you read in the most papers. Instead, headlines read that home values were up in the United States, citing annualized data.

Unfortunately for active home buyers and sellers, year-over-year data isn’t all that helpful when making a real estate decisions. It’s the month-to-month data that matters. Month-to-month changes in home prices are what defines a housing market. Month-to-month is what sets the tone for contracts and negotiations on a purchase.

The rosier, annualized data published this past week just doesn’t capture the reality of what was the February 2010 market.  And even then, the data is somewhat useless because it’s from February and May will be upon us next week.

Case-Shiller is on a 2-month lag — hardly reflective of the “right now” of real estate in Chicago.

When you’re looking for real estate data that actionable, consider using sources that are more “real-time”. A real estate agent may be the right place to start.  Because for all the data that Case-Shiller and the other housing indices collect, it can never be as relevant to your individual needs as a well-executed, timely market analysis.

A Simple Explanation Of The Federal Reserve Statement (April 28, 2010 Edition)

Today, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-to-1 to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within in its current target range of 0.000-0.250 percent.

In its press release, the FOMC noted that, since March, the U.S. economy “has continued to strengthen” and that the jobs markets “is beginning to improve”.  This is a step up from the last meeting after which the Fed said jobs were “stabilizing”. 

It also reiterated that business spending “has risen significantly”.

Today’s statement marks the 7th straight press release in which the Fed shows optimism for the U.S. economy. Furthermore, the Fed has now closed all but one of the programs it created to support markets during last year’s financial crisis.

Threats remain to growth, however. The Fed fingered a few:

1. Employers are reluctant to hire new workers
2. High unemployment threatens consumer spending
3. Consumer credit (still) remains tight

Also in its statement, the Fed re-acknowledged its plan to hold the Fed Funds Rate near zero percent “for an extended period”.  This was expected.

Overall, the statement’s tone was positive and the Fed noted that inflation is within tolerance. 

Mortgage market reaction has been muted thus far. Mortgage rates in Chicago are unchanged post-FOMC.

The FOMC’s next scheduled meeting is a 2-day affair, June 22-23, 2010.  The 55-day span between meetings will be the FOMC’s longest of 2010.