Monday, June 29, 2009

Around St. Charles County
Thursday, July 2-Saturday, July 4 Riverfest, Frontier Park. Games, food, crafts, carnival rides, parade, fireworks and fun for the entire family.Thursday, Bluegrass Festival4:30-9:30 p.m.Friday and SaturdayMusic at 2 stages. Parade at 10:00 AM on July 4th. Fireworks at 9:20 PM. On Friday and Saturday www.stcharlesriverfest.com

Friday, July 3-Saturday July 4 O’Fallon’s Heritage & Freedom Fest Friday, 4-11 p.m. Saturday, noon-11 p.m.Ozzie Smith Sports Complex.National bands, fireworks, carnival rides, family-friendly shows, kids’ activities, festival food and beverages, Independence Day parade. Info, www.heritagandfreedomfest.com. Or (636) 379-5614.

Free Saturday, July 4 -1 p.m.
Parade 4-8 p.m. music New Town St. Charles Friday:
July 10 Bicentennial Historical Trolley Tours 1-4:45 p.m.
Tour of Old Cemeteries Historical Trolley Tours developed in conjunction with the Greater St. Charles CVB, the Bicentennial Committee & Steve Wiechens of the First Capitol Lions Club. Trolley Transportation will be provided by the CVB. Participation is limited to 20-22 people per tour and is by reservation only on a first-come, first-serve basis.Info, 636-255-6154

FreeSaturday, July 11 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Mo CHIP - Child Identification and Protection Program: Keeping MO Kids Safe! Little Guppy Child Development Center, 3151 Elm Point Industrial Drive. MO Masonic Family will be on hand to further ensure the safety of area children free of charge. Representatives from the police department and fire department to discuss child safety. Car seat and helmet safety checks, games, ice cream social.Info, 636-530-6069.

FreeFriday, July 17-Saturday, July 18Friday, July 24-Satuday, July 25 7:30 p.m.Lindenwood Center for Fine & Performing Arts Events Production of Pulitzer Prize Broadway play HarveyTickets available at Lindenwood Box Office, www.telecharge.com or 800-447-7400. General Admission $10.Info, 636-949-4433

Thursday, July 231:30 p.m.Middendorf-Kredell Branch, St. Charles Library District How To Find Medical InformationConsumer health librarian Denise Ulett helps patrons research understandable, reliable sources for healthcare consumers. Navigate print and electronic information.

Free Sunday, July 26, 1-4 p.m: Pere Marquette State Park, Grafton Hummingbird Festival See hummingbirds up close. The Illinois Audubon Society will band birds. Adopt a hummingbird for a small fee.Info, 618-786-2331, ext. 338

Free Friday, July 3 12:30-4:30 p.m.Corporate Parkway Branch, St. Charles Library District Teen 80s End of Summer PartyGames, trivia, snacks, prizes for best dressed.Register online or call 332-9966

Professional Room Makeovers: Home & Design

These examples will make you a believer that small inexpensive changes can make a tremendous difference in the appearance of rooms in your home. This is a must see for sellers!

Professional Room Makeovers: Home & Design: REALTOR® Magazine

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Home-Sale Hassles of the Rich and Famous

Home-Sale Hassles of the Rich and Famous
Some how I just can't feel sorry for them, how about you?????

Anybody having trouble selling their home should take comfort in the fact that even celebrities are having the same problem. Here are some celebs who can't seem to sell their houses:
Jon and Kate Gosselin, co-stars of the popular TLC show "Jon & Kate Plus 8," have been trying for three months to sell their former home in Elizabethtown, Pa.
Rapper 50 Cent has given up selling his mansion in Farmington, Conn., after dropping the price from $18.5 million to $14 million.
Richard Gere and wife Carey Lowell have dropped the price on their home in New York's Hamptons from $8.8 million to $7.2 million.
Model Elle Macpherson cut the price of her London Victorian from $9.5 million to $8.5 million, and has since dropped it to $7.5 million.
Star of "Real Housewives of Orange County" on BRAVO TV Jeana Keough, also a real estate practitioner, is facing foreclosure.

Source: Chicago Tribune, Mary Umberger (06/21/2009)

St Louis Makes the Top 10!

Best Cities for Finding Opportunity Where are the best cities to live in the United States if you want to work hard and get ahead? Forbes magazine examined the nation’s 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas and based on the number of Forbes' 400 best big companies and 200 best small companies that are headquartered in each, it identified what it considered places with the most opportunity. The magazine says it took this route because the best big companies provide opportunities for those who seek to be employees, and the rate of success of small businesses indicates how the area treats entrepreneurs. Here are the top 10:
1. Houston 2. Dallas 3. Minneapolis 4. Pittsburgh 5. Boston 6. Washington, D.C. 7. Austin
8. St. Louis 9. Kansas City, Mo. 10. New YorkSource: Forbes, Lauren Sherman (06/19/2009)

Poor Appraisals Stall Recovery

Poor Appraisals Stall TransactionsHowever, the increase in sales is less than expected because poor appraisals are stalling transactions. Pending home sales indicated much stronger activity, but some contracts are falling through from faulty valuations that keep buyers from getting a loan.”Total housing inventory at the end of May fell 3.5 percent to 3.80 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.6-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 10.1-month supply in April.Yun says the appraisal problem is serious. “Lenders are using appraisers who may not be familiar with a neighborhood, or who compare traditional homes with distressed and discounted sales,” he says. “In the past month, stories of appraisal problems have been snowballing from across the country with many contracts falling through at the last moment. There is danger of a delayed housing market recovery and a further rise in foreclosures if the appraisal problems are not quickly corrected.”

Home Sales on the Rise!

NAR: Existing-Home Sale Continue to Rise Sales of existing homes showed another gain in May, benefiting from favorable affordability conditions and a first-time buyer tax credit, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS ®. May’s increase was the first back-to-back monthly gain since September 2005.Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million units in May from a downwardly revised level of 4.66 million units in April. Sales remained 3.6 percent below the 4.95 million-unit pace in May 2008.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, expected an improvement in sales. “Historically low mortgage interest rates clearly drew buyers into the market, and housing remains very affordable even with a recent uptick in rates,” Yun says. “First-time buyers also are being drawn off the sidelines by the $8,000 tax credit, which is helping to absorb inventory.

SCHNEIDER Women to Assist in Habitat for Humanity "Women's Build".

A group of women from SCHNEIDER Real Estate are scheduled to assist in a Women's Build Habitat project in St. Peters on Wednesday June 24th. The women are a few of many who are making a single mom's dream come true. The SCHNEIDER Diva's will be helping to dry wall and Continental Title is providing lunch for the crew. I'll post pictures when the mission is accomplished!

SCHNEIDER Helps out at the St Peters Picnic

SCHNEIDER Real Estate agents, Cort Schneider, Glenn Miller, Judy Bateman, Karen Matthews, and Jesse Schneider along with office assistants Pat Hillin and Lori Linhoff, all pitched in to help at the anual St Peters Old Tyme Picnic last weekend. St Charles County Association of Realtors provide a booth that sells snow cones and funnel cakes with proceeds going to charity. Thanks all for your help!!!

Villa for Sale in Wentzville

http://vu.realbiz360.com/Listing-171985.html Click here to see a Virtual Tour of a fantastic villa listing in Beautiful Villa's at Huntsdale. This unit has everything you're looking for - 4 bedrooms, oversized deck, nice landscaping, privacy, finished lower level- custom features- call for a private showing. Jane 314-707-0902

Save Money, Eat Well and Reduce Stress With A Home Garden

Save Money, Eat Well and Reduce Stress With A Home Garden
When times are tough, people tend to look inward for sustenance and stability. Your backyard would be a good place to look also. Home gardening is the trend now, with gardeners hoping to save money and connect with their own personal world through growing their own vegetables.During World War II, Americans planted victory gardens to cope with food shortages. In 1943, 20 million gardens were planted and those gardens reportedly produced 8 million tons of food.Just as then, Americans are now concerned about saving money. Can you reduce your grocery bills by planting your own victory garden? Yes but the trick here is to keep those garden start-up costs low. If you are going for raised bed gardening, by the time you get the lumber and compost, the costs could range up to $80, but that’s a one-time cost and next year you’re good to go with the same setup.Tilling up a patch of land, or incorporating your vegetables into the existing landscape is less costly. You can further reduce your costs by ditching those chemical fertilizers and insecticides. You really don’t need them, and there are many easy, homemade insecticides that will get the job done.Seed companies estimate that business is up 20% this year, which points to much more interest in home gardening. By this time though, you’re better off investing in seedlings, like tomatoes, peppers, onions, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce and herbs.Missouri State Extension horticulturist David Trinklein says as little as $50 invested in plants and supplies can yield as much as $1,200 in vegetables. Fairly good gardeners can achieve 10 to 15 pounds of tomatoes per plant while a simple garden with a variety of vegetables can fill a family’s salad bowl for about six weeks. Gardening also brings health benefits. Home gardeners who are exposed to nature have better mental health, are more physically fit and eat healthier foods.Ideally, your home garden will be a family affair. Everyone pitches in and not just one family member is out there hoeing away. A pizza garden is a great way to get the kids involved. Plant peppers, onions, tomatoes, parsley, basil and oregano in a circle to resemble a pizza, or rows will do just fine too. Sprinkle marigolds in the pizza garden to represent cheese and watch how much more interested your kids will be in gardening.Saving money with a home garden is a reasonable goal, but eating good, clean food at the dinner table after a pleasant evening digging in the dirt is what will really make gardening an important part of your life.
Posted by SCHNEIDER Real Estate at 8:24 AM 0 comments
Labels: Homeowner Affordability, save money, tips
Friday, June 5, 2009

SCHNEIDER Real Estate Adds 3 Veteran Agents to Team

SCHNEIDER Real Estate Adds 3 Veteran Agents to Team

SCHNEIDER Real Estate has recently added 3 Agents with diverse experience to its residential sales team. These Agents will broaden the firm’s knowledge base in such areas as first-time home-buyer purchases, bank short sales, investment properties, rehabs, foreclosure prevention, and senior purchases.

Julie Vaughan joins the SCHNEIDER team after 12 years as a top producer in real estate sales in Saint Charles and surrounding counties. She was named “Rookie of the Year” for a large local real estate brokerage in 1997. Julie and her husband, Rich are proprietors of Picture Perfect Homes, LLC, a property investment and rehab business. They are active in the rental property market.
Julie is a life-time resident of Saint Charles County. She and her husband and 3 children currently live in Dardenne Prairie.

Keith Kohlenhoefer has joined the SCHNEIDER team after 9 years as a high volume seller and private investor, specializing in foreclosures and pre-foreclosures, short sales and rehabbing “as-is” properties in Saint Charles County. Prior to his real estate career, Keith was a machinist for 7 years, and also a customer service representative for a lawn irrigation firm. He has held a wide variety of jobs, which help him identify with the needs of his clients.
Keith is a lifetime resident of Saint Charles. He is very proud of his 2 daughters, Bailey and Remy.

Patty Hickman joins the SCHNEIDER team with 5 productive years of experience in residential real estate sales in a wide-ranging area from North Saint Louis County to Hermann, MO. Patty’s former employment as a bookkeeper for a major drugstore chain helps her to advise her clients on profitability. She has also strengthened her marketing skills by working for the Lincoln County Journal.
Patty has 3 grown children. She and her husband Bill and teen-age daughter live in O’Fallon. They have bought and sold 10 residences in 15 years, which helps her identify with her buyer and seller clients.

The Two Latest Signs Housing Is Recovering

The Two Latest Signs Housing Is Recovering
Here’s more evidence that the housing market is recovering.Two major home builders, Toll Brothers Inc. and Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., say their losses were shrinking compared to last year because buyers are coming back to the market.Other encouraging news came from HIS Global Insight, a research firm, which said home prices fell on average at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter in 199 of 330 metropolitan areas. That compares with a 12.5 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 in 312 metropolitan areas."While it's too early to see a bottom of this housing downturn," the report said, the latest data "may signal that the market is beginning to stabilize."Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty and John Spence (06/04/2009)
Posted by SCHNEIDER Real Estate at 11:44 AM 0 comments
Labels: $8 000 tax credit for first time buyers, Career in Real Estate, first time Home buyers, SCHNEIDER Real Estate, st charles county

$8,000 Gift to Home Buyers Who Haven't Owned a Home in Three Years!

HUD: Tax Credit Can Be Used on Closing Costs
This is great News for all those folks who haven't owned a home in the last three years! You can now get your $8,000 gift upfront if needed- Read the details!
FHA-approved lenders received the go-ahead to develop bridge-loan products that enable first-time buyers to use the benefits of the federal tax credit upfront, according to eagerly awaited guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on so-called home buyer tax credit loans that was released today.Under the guidance, FHA-approved lenders can develop bridge loans that home buyers can use to help cover their closing costs, buy down their interest rate, or put down more than the minimum 3.5 percent.The loans can't be used to cover the minimum 3.5 percent, senior HUD officials told reporters on a conference call Friday morning. Thus, buyers applying for FHA-backed financing with an FHA-approved lender that offers a bridge-loan program can get a bridge loan to bring down the upfront costs of buying a home significantly but would still have to come up with the minimum 3.5 percent downpayment.There remain many sources of assistance for buyers needing help with the 3.5 percent downpayment, including many state and local government instrumentalities and nonprofit lenders.In addition, some state housing finance agencies have developed their own tax credit bridge loan programs, so buyers in states whose HFAs offer such programs can monetize the tax credit upfront to cover all or part of their downpayment. These programs are separate from what HUD announced today. The first-time homebuyer tax credit was enacted last year--and improved upon earlier this year--to help encourage households to enter the housing market while interest rates are low and affordability is high. The credit is worth up to $8,000 and is available to households that haven't owned a home in at least three years. The credit does not have to be repaid, and is fully reimbursable, so households can get their credit returned to them in the form of a payment.Learn more about the credit, including how to apply for it this year even if you've already filed your taxes, at REALTOR.org.

PENDING HOMES SALES UP THREE MONTHS IN A ROW!

WASHINGTON, June 02, 2009
Record low mortgage interest rates boosted pending home sales for the third consecutive month, with some benefit now from the first-time buyer tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index,1 a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7 percent to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2 percent above April 2008 when it was 87.5.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions. “Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market,” he said. “Since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by November 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead, and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.”

Seniors and First Time Home Buyers Don't Miss Out!

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