Always wanted Acreage?  This rolling lot of 10 acres backing to trees and woods with year round spring and just 20 minutes to O'Fallon-Add to that a 1500 square ft custom built home with county water-This is your next home.  Three bed three bath with finished lower level.  Enter the great room to be welcomed by a full masonry stone fireplace, open floor plan and vaulted ceilings.  Custom built kitchen with 42 inch Plantation Hardwood Mahogany cabinets, breakfast bar, and wood floors.  Large kitchen/dining combination surrounded by windows.  Watch the wildlife enjoying your morning coffee from the 8 x 12 deck.  .  Tastefully custom painted with full wood package.  Nice sized vaulted master suite with adjoining bath.  Jacuzzi tub with sprayer and separate shower.  Downstairs has large family room, fourth bedroom, large office with wood paned double doors and play room.  Extra room for storage.  Walk out lower level to plenty of room for horses and/or outbuildings.  Storage shed and garden area on property.  Nice landscaping.  All utilities underground.

In the heart of classic St. Charles and just minutes from the Historic district, this gorgeous Indian Hills subdivision home is a must see.  All brick two story welcomes you with beveled glass entry doors opening into a grand foyer with oak staircase.   Living room provides extra room for entertainment, library or music room.  Large family room has gas Heat and Glo efficiency fireplace insert with slate hearth.  Walk through the double doors to a light and bright all season sun room with bathroom overlooking the heated in-ground salt water pool, gazebo and extensive landscaping.  Enter through the gate from the pool area into a second fully landscaped yard with numerous varieties of hostas, playhouse and places to lounge and enjoy your private oasis, including three brick patios, and a fully equipped outdoor kitchen.  Back inside, the renovated kitchen wiyth oak flooring has 42”inch custom oak cabinets and dovetailed drawers, built-in double ovens with microwave, gas cook top and warming drawer, stainless steel appliances, and preparation island with granite counter top.  Large eat in area plus elegant separate dining room with built-in double door china closet.  Main floor laundry.   Upstairs has 4 bedrooms.  Hall bath is oversized with Jacuzzi tub. Elegant master suite has private bath with spacious glass enclosed shower, custom built closet and built in oak cabinetry/drawers, and granite counter tops.  The lower level features a media room, carpeted storage/play room and a walk-up to the 2 car oversized garage.  This home boasts too many updates and extras to mention including plantation shutters and an in-ground sprinkler system oversized garage.This home boasts too many updates and extras to mention including plantation shutters, central vac and an in-ground sprinkler system

Beautiful cedar home with hardwood floors on a private drive. Large lot with fenced in back yard and a oversized driveway. Lots of shade.  Great for gardener or play.  Vegetable lot tilled and ready to go.  2 out  buildings for storage.  Large bedrooms and open floor plan in living, kitchen and dining ares.  Sliding doors lead to large covered deck with new roof-great for barbecuing.   All appliances are included with an HSA home warranty.  This home is very spacious with a large finished basement and gas fireplace. Wentzville Schools - Green Tree Elementary, Frontier Middle and Timberland Highschool.  Great location very close to Hwy. 70.

Nice 1150 square ft ranch with ¼ acre fenced yard with fruit trees.  Plenty of room for play, garden, and/or pool. Covered front porch. Versalock landscaping blocks.   Maintenance free vinyl with enclosed soffits and decorative brick front. A former display walk into the entry and you will be welcomed by a light & bright great room with corner brick/wood burning fireplace.  Kitchen is large w/separate eating/dining area.  Large door opens to deck in back yard providing plenty of light.  Main floor master has private bath with shower.  Two additl bedrooms provide multiple use options for office, nursery, guestrooms, or BR’s for kids. Attic fan to reduce utilities. Basement is open and available for your personal finish.  Nice deck partially shaded to enjoy 3 season living day or evening. 2 car oversized garage.  Like the Holidays?  You may want to check out how this community celebrates them.  Most of the neighborhood participate and they have a great time.  Close to schools, shopping and entertainment.

A stunning Villa community-welcome home to Hollow Brook! Extraordinary home with all the bells and whistles this stunning ranch style detached villa has 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths and 2 car finished garage. Elegant brick and stone front with carriage style garage doors. Vaulted ceilings. Upgraded 42'' Cherry cabinets in gourmet kitchen with granite breakfast bar. Great Room/Dining Room Combo. The master bedroom suite has a walk-in closet, private bath with double bowl vanity, large soaking tub and linen closet. Other features incl main floor laundyr with custom paint throughout. Newly installed kidney shaped over sized backyard patio and landscaping provides room for entertainment. All exterior maintenance taken care of.. Lawn sprinkler water inncluded in HOA fee. One of those rare villa communities where you can actually have a fenced-in back yard. Easy Access to I-70, Page-364, Hwy 94 and the Katy Trail. A must see! You can't build this model at this price. Quick closing avail-no waiting for builder.

A home you won't want to miss - passed city inspection.  New carpeting on main level.  Fresh paint on main level walls.  Driveway has been sealed.  Take a look at this 1365 Sq Ft in this Woodson Terrace home packed with lots of options & plenty of room for your family at a great price. Addition on the back can be Master Bedroom Suite with full bath & attached nursery/den/office or use as 2nd family room. Then use back bedroom as mastersuite with masterbath and closet.   Kitchen has Oak cabinets. Includes stove, refrigerator and dishwasher/disposal. Laminate wood floors in Kitchen.  Fenced yard w/separate fencing under carport. Pets can be kept shaded & dry. Partially finished LL. Laundry/storage area with storage shelves. Newer roof (2005), new windows 2008, new air conditioning 2008 & landscaping blocks- 2009. New electr & plumbing (Feb 2010). Ritnour school dist. Residential pool open in summer (fees apply) at John L Brown Park. Park has walking trail & pavilions.

http://csimms-ph-lendinglo.mortgagewebcenter.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1. 

For more information on where USDA Loans may apply contact us by e-mail mikeandpat@Trails2OpenSpaces.com or call 314-749-0921.

http://csimms-ph-lendinglo.mortgagewebcenter.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1. 

For more information on where USDA Loans may apply contact us by e-mail mikeandpat@Trails2OpenSpaces.com or call 314-749-0921.

You'll be home for Christmas . . .

Santa will love this entry . . . . .

Watch the fire and the lake . . . . .

All wrapped up for her for Christmas . . . . . . . . .

Call 314-749-0921 for a personal tour.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/snapshots/PL2940043.html

Adorable cottage home in Corondelete Park. All brick with traditional decorative stone and arched entry. Huge living room with firplace and wood floors. Lots of original woodwork. Five stain glass windows. Kitchen large enough to eat in. Light and bright with breakfast bar and lots of cabinets. Nice sized Master bedroom. Third bedroom being used as dining room or convert to bedroom use. Fenced yard with some privacy fencing. Detached 1 car garage. Carondelet Park 2 blocks walking distance. New Rec center opening soon with indoor/outdoor pool and gym. New Loughborough Commons is just across the highway with shopping and restaurants. Just about 10 - 15 minutes from everything.

Great starter home or purchase as investment for possible rental income.  Recently updated kitchen cabinets.  Freshly painted and newer carpet.  Has some hardwood floors.  East in kitchen.  Large fenced back yard for play and pets.  Side deck leads to back yard.  Off street parking.  Lots of shade.

We asked Chris Simms, Certified Mortgage Planner with Preferred Home Lending Powered by Pulaski Bank to give us the latest news on the Home Buyer Tax Credit.  This is the information he provided:

If you would like to reach Chris is number is 314-229-4242 or e-mail csimms@psphomes.com.  Call or e-mail us to assist in searching for a home at 314-749-9862 or 314-749-0921.  We look forward to hearing from you.

• If 15% of the Condominium's Association's dues are in areers - there will be no loan.
• If there is pending litigation in the complex - no loan
• If the lender is unable to purchase Mortgage Insurance - No loan
• 50% of the complex must be occupied with owners not rentals
• Conventional loan requirements will be 10% downpayment up 5%.
• FHA is no longer requiring the condominimum to be approved, however, individual investors will be permitted to make up their own guidelines.
• Resale certificates and Condominium Questionnaires will be required

If you are contemplating the purchase of a condominium you will want to be sure your realtor and your mortgage person are in tune with these new requirements and understand the impact on your purchase.  For more information give us a call at 314-749-0921 or contact our Team partner Chris Simms, Certified Mortgage Planner at Pulaski Bank, 314-229-4242 or csimms@pulaskibankstl.com.

The Simms Team

Chris Simms - Certified Mortgage Planner

Preferred Home Lending

Powered by Pulaski Banks

314-229-4242 or 314-579-7762

You  don't want to miss out on  this program that may help you  purchasee your next home.  To search for homes register at www.StCharlesHomeHunter.com with the details of our search and we will set up a hunt for your new home in the greater St. Louis area.

Call Mike - 314-849-0921 direct or Pat 314-749-986 direct or email to MikeandPat@Trails2OpenSpaces.com  We look forward to hearing from you.

According averages 5ates are sitting at 5% - 5.125% for a 30 day lock on a 30 year fixed.  Assuming excellent credit and low loan to value.  Rates are still at 4.875% and 4.7% for 15 years but we are seeing huge differences on credit scores and loan to values.  For example one client may have a $240K loan on $315K purchase with a great credit score and his rate is at 4.875%.  Where as another individual on a loan of $250K on a purchase of $500 is at 4.75%.  The break appears to be at 200k loan amounts with 60% or less loan to value. 

Market wise the Fed finished up its regular two day meeting determining to keep interest rates low.  They plan to continue investing in Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) and to invest in 10 year Treasuries (10 year notes, 2 year notes etc.).  This is good news.  This means they are going to do whatever it takes to keep rates down.  If jobs get in order we will have a great housing market.

Purchases are picking up.  Let your friends and family know how cheap rates are.  It's a great time to consider buying. 

If  you have questions for Chris he can be reached at 314-229-4242 or via e-mail at csimms@pulaskibankstl.com

Chris wrote:

I hope you all had great Christmas and a Happpy New Year!

Ok, it's that time again for my annual Crystal Ball.  It's long and it's lengthy but its all good so please read up.

Last Year - I didn't do too bad - Ok, I missed rates not getting back to 5.25% in February after the little hit in January but they did get there by the end of November.  The realestate market slowed as we expected and lending got even tighter and harder to place loans.  Self employed and stated income loans are non existent.  If you can't prove you make money then you can't get a loan and in some cases even if you can prove you make money then you can't get a loan.  Lending has gone back to good jobs, ood income, good debt management, grat credit, and you need a down payment.  In all honesty it needed to get back to the basics.  So what lies ahead?

$ Rates - I could go on for days about this but I'm going to try to keep it short  Here is what has happened and what lies ahead.  In november the Fed confirmed that it was going to begin buying Mortgage backed securities 9MBS).  It didn't appear likely util Dec 17 (dooms day for mortgage professionals) when they again confirmed but could not give a time ine but just said "soon".  That drove rates fom 5.5% to 4.75% in a matter of seconds and then the mortgage back security market saidwai a minute they just said "Soon" not tomorrow.  Lock deks around the country froze up and investors stopped buying paper that day.  Since then investorsfizzles, took some profits and ratesjumped back up to 5.25%.  Then today the Fed actually began buying MBSs.  How much, we won't know until Thursday.  The Fed has appointed 6 ifferent companies to manage the purchase of MBS over the next 6 months.  They have 500 billlion at their disosal to do so.  So how is this going to work you ask?  The Fed is going to sloly purchase MBS, hoping investor sentiment will follow suit.  Investors will hopefully buy knowing that the fed is going to buy and driv bond prices on MBS higher (rates lower, inverse relationship).  The Fed is hopig that just a little at the begining will be enough to allow the market to do the rest.  The gol rates between 4.5% to 4%.  There is talk of less than 4% but that is pretty pricy and investors would be paying quite the premium for that price.  The Fed then hopes they can play a larger part of trying to protect th prices by buying when investors are trying to sell.  This will help provide some price stability and keep rates more constant and ot as volatile.  Will that happen, your guss is as good as mine.  Several factors will have to occur for that to happen.   1) economy needs to continue to weaken.  Jobsneed to continue to get worse and stocks need to be a bad bet.  2.)  Mortgage investors need to feel confident that they are goig to get their profits out of this  dal.  3.) the Fed has to control inflation.  As the market continues to weaken and the Fed continues to print money at its own discretion there is a huge potential for inflation.  Note:  Study the Japanese market for the past 15 years.  If inflation begins to be a big worry because the fed has printed to mucvh money and the money isnt worth as mucvh as it was supposed o be, then investors will dup out of bonds and it won't matter how much the fed has because the money won't be worth anything.  (see the dilemma).  We do expect themarket to continue to weaen and jobless claims to continue to rise.  That will hurt the economy but the infrastructure plans that Obamahas proposed is a good idea.  If you create jobs and industry, then people will have money to buy things.  So his plan does make sense and will help the economy if inflation remains under control.  Again if it doesn't then it doesn't matter that you have a job paying $20 an hour because $20 wonn't buy anything.  Stock market rise is possible by year end but not huge and will remain volatile through the second and possibly third quarters.  Following that there could be a good rise for the US economyto see stronger signs sooner.  Several factors will play into that including lower mortgage rates.  Rates will get lower.  I am predicting 4's.  There is a possibility ofhigh 3's but not hugely llikely and probably not for a period of time, but with the volatility we have had and the way this market has been for the past 16 months, I wouldn't put it past the market to try.  So what should you do as far as refinancing?  First, if you just refinanced are are below 5.5, hold off.  Let the market show some benefits before you go to jump iin again.  If you haven't yeet then I would recommend looking to take a 30 year at 4.75% and a 15 at 4.5%.  That should be possible in the next few weeks with the way today occurred.  If rates do go considerably lower then it won't be until the middle to the end of the cycle (May or Jun) by all indications.  By that time you could refinance again if it would make ense paymet wise.  As for covering closing costs, investorshave not been paying a premium for rates.  They are selling at the bare minimum the market will sustain because they are fearful of rates going lower and you refinaning again meaning they loose their money they were epecting to get over 30 years.  If you refinance in 3 months.  That's why we tell you, you an't refinance until 90 - 120 days has passed since your first payment.  They will keep ou from getting lower rates if theycan't make any money (even if the bond market is lower, its about profit).  So being able to cover closing costs has been extremely hard being we aren't getting any to do so with.  So if you haven't refinanced and would like to gurantee 4.75%  give mea call.  If you want to gamble ok.  If you have just refinanced, it is worth the gamble if youa re below 5.5.

Real Estate -  With rates going down we will see some activity  In all honesty with rates where they are, the tax credits, and prices where they are we will actually see a lot of activity.  Will we get to numbers like in 2004 and 2005?  Probably not just because the loans are harder to get and jobs could be an issue.  But those that will qualify will be looking to move.  This will probably be the year of all years to get the real estate deal of a lifetime!  As for selling, with the increased activity and curiosity it will be good for listings.  The difficult part will be the buyers trying to push for the deal of a lifetime.  Remember 98% of the population buys on emotion.  That means if they will probably buy because the paymets will make sense.  This should cause a good pop in values.  Not huge, just good.  With gas being down you could see Warrento, Lincoln, Franklin, and Jefferson counties pick up as well.  i wouldn't hold on to that though.  We do expect gas prices to steadily go back up.  (they have to in order for the oil companies to continue getting richer.  They like that and we can't do anything about it because we won't drill in the ANMAR province or off shore).  Needless to say oil prices towards the summer could begin to get back into the high 2's low 3's.  This will also allow for harder drilling and exploration to be worth while.  Now is the time to buy. Agents I don't plan on sleeping this year, neither should you. 

Everyone have a great year and God Bless

If you would like to contact Chris regarding your mortgage planning he can be reached at 314-2294242 or by e-mail at csimms@pulaskibankstl.com.  For information on selling a home call us at 314-749-0921 or register at www.StCharlesMarketValues.com for an analysis of the value of your home.  Your home does not need to be located in St. Charles just the St. Louis Metropolitan area.  If you are looking for a home you may register a search here on our Trails2OpenSpaces.com website by clicking on New Listing Alerts and completing your registration.