Eileen Landau, ABR, CRS, e-PRO

Snow falling softly...and more snow and yet more snow! So far, February has been one of the snowiest and greyish on record. According to one of our local weather people, we've had only 11 minutes of sun this month! There's been snow almost every day and there was so much that Ms. Groundhog couldn't even come out of her burrow.

And, our temperatures have ranged from 49 above to 5 below...all in the same day.

And as beautiful as the picture above, underneath that snow lies dangerous pot holes. Some large enough to swallow your tire. According to the Naperville Sun today (which was buried in the snow bank at the end of the driveway) 600 pot holes have been reported. Yes, 600 pot holes. And, winter, believe me, isn't over! Not till tax day can we breathe...although we've had blizzards in the early part of April. Nasty blizzards with heavy, wet snow.

The City of Naperville asks that you report any pot holes that you see or drive thru, and if there's damage to your tire there's a form that you can fill out and receive some compensation. Now that's thoughtful!

C 2008 Move UP to Naperville Blog, Eileen Landau

Here's a memo, from the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Company,

February 6, 2008

Dear Valued Customer:

As a result of our ongoing evaluation of market conditions and loan performance, we are making a number of changes to our base underwriting guidelines and have created a new set of guidelines for areas exhibiting market weaknesses. The following underwriting guideline changes are effective for mortgage insurance applications received by MGIC on or after March 3, 2008.

(Then it goes on to break down underwriting guidelines. FICO is very important...and it better be above 660! And if the appraiser says that the property is in a declining market [see list below] , then many lenders wouldn't touch it, as these loans right now can't sell on the secondary market.)

Here is the list of restricted markets:

* Arizona -- Entire State

* California -- Entire State

* Florida -- Entire State

* Nevada -- Entire State

* Denver-Aurora, CO

* Greeley, CO

* Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

* Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta. GA

* Honolulu, HI

* Coeur d'Alene, ID

* Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL

* Baltimore-Towson, MD

* Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, MD

* Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV

* Barnstable Town, MA

* Boston-Quincy, MA

* Worcester, MA

* Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI

* Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

* Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ

* Edison-New Brunswick, NJ

* Newark-Union, NJ

* Ocean City, NJ

* Nassau-Suffolk, NY

* New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ

* Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY

* Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA

* Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC

* Winchester, VA

* Tacoma, WA

This winter has been one of the snowiest in our records.

I exercise daily by shoveling the driveway. This morning's snow started as sleet and froze. Then heavy wet snow fell on top of that. Ugh. Cold too.

I learned many years ago to shovel this type of snow very carefully. Because it's so wet, it's very heavy. You have to take small shovel fulls. And you don't try to do too much or as many people will tell you, it's a heart attack in the making.

Of course, after shoveling all winter, I guess that I've built up my muscles! But, I'm not reckless, so I just do what I can.

So glad that I'm not out showing today. Did that last year in a blizzard and it was no fun.

Moving company Allied Van Lines Inc., along with its corporate parent Sirva Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, the latest victim of a heavy debt load and the downturn in the U.S. housing industry.

The company, which is based in Westmont, Ill., (which is really near Naperville), although they used to tell their relo clients that they were in Oak Brook as it has more cache.

I expect that several other relocation companies are feeling the same pangs. They've spent too much money buying the relo clients' homes, which they now can't sell.

As I've mentioned before, so many of my clients are relo buyers unable to sell their homes, that their move to the Naperville area may be delayed or just forgotten.

And even with the lower mortgage rates many buyers can't pass the underwriter's tests. I read that 30% of all closings that make it to the closing table, don't close. Now that's scary!

The school district has chosen a less expensive location for its third high school to be called Metea Valley.

The land is on the east side of Eola Road, north of North Aurora Road and just south of the Illinois Prairie Path. Originally, they were going to build the third high school at the corner of Route 59 and 75th street. That proved to be too expensive and after several months of determining the cost of that location, they district looked at other locations.

This new location is farther north and west than the original location. They expect the school to open by August, 2009. I'm doubtful that they can complete it that quickly. They still have to close on the land and work with their surveyors and their building design. I doubt that they can transfer everything that they've done previously to a new location.

It will also mean new high school boundaries. Over all the district has increased its population by 188 students this year.

For more information visit: http://ipsdweb.ipsd.org/News.aspx?id=17229