Tucked away in the heart of St. Charles County lies the most wonderful small town; Cottleville. Established in the early 1800′s, this town’s population and Historic Old Town developments have grown rapidly over the past few years. Their mission is to develop a main street comparable to Main Street St. Charles.

Spend an evening at one of the town’s exquisite restaurants. No matter your craving, the restaurants and markets on Cottleville’s Historic District are sure to please your pallet.

Mannino’s Market: Truly a staple in Cottleville (and a frequent stop for church-goers after Sunday mass) Mannino’s Market offers fresh and quality meat, produce. Jo’s 5th Street Pub: Remember Cheers? Get ready to experience it yourself at Jo’s where everybody really does know your name.  Thyme Out Café: Thyme Out’s quaint patio is perfect to enjoy a sunny day on.  Sherlock’s Steak and Seafood: Casual dining in a warm, stylish environment -it’s a great place to meet friends for happy hour.   Cottleville Wine Seller: Set in a quaint and charming atmosphere, Cottleville Wine Seller has live music on the weekends and a large wine garden; it’s a wonderful place to spend a beautiful evening. Stone Soup Cottage: This 1850′s restored farmhouse allows you to enjoy classically prepared Southern French and Northern Italian fare.

Stunningly Stylish
Minutes away, you’ll find Cottleville’s premier condominiums, Bordeaux Condominiums. Conveniently located off Mid Rivers Mall Drive and Ohmes Road, these stunning condominium homes come equipped with a patio or deck for you to enjoy on warm summer nights. Enjoy an evening at one of Historic Cottleville’s recommended establishments and head home to your luxury condominium patio. What could be more perfect?

Not Your Traditional Condo
Floor plans in these condominiums range from just over 1,000 to over 1,200 square feet. With the ability to choose your interior finishes, these new homes are equipped with soundproof floors and shared walls. The ability to choose your interior finishes gives you the opportunity to personalize the overall look of your home based on your taste and style preferences. Bordeaux’s beautiful sweeping views of the park and fountains set these new homes apart from others in the St. Charles area.

Built By The Best
Payne Family Homes was awarded The Fastest Growing Homebuilder in 2009 and continues to strive for excellence. Not only are Payne’s homes luxurious, they are timeless. Payne Family Homes crafts distinctive homes that stand the test of time.

Heads up all Payne Family Homes fans!

The Eagle has landed: Payne Family Homes is now selling at Ashton Woods – a beautiful masterplanned community nestled in a treelined location in St Louis County! Ashton Woods is served by AAA Rated Rockwood Schools and features 65 “once in a lifetime” home sites that are 80′ wide and ideally suited for home owners that want an expansive site that offers a 3 car garage opportunity!

Eureka, Missouri offers convenient highway access near Highway 109 and 44: whether you’re travels take you downtown, West County or St Charles County this location is in the heart of it all with a beautiful treelined drive awaiting you whether travelling along Highway 44 or Highway 109 to 40!

Come check out our all new Lifestyle Series of homes – 10 all new plans that have been designed with thoughtful features that make a difference!

Payne Family Homes is introducing its new Lifestyle Series of 10 floor plans, the first of which – the Breckenridge – is now on display at The Pointe at Heritage Crossing. “We’ve really done our homework,â€� says Sales and Marketing VP Ed Lott. “It’s all in keeping with our philosophy, ‘Expect more, get more’- with a twist,â€� he explained. The series is designed with lots of opportunities to personalize, and include opulent master baths, full-length mirrors in the walk-in closet, 9-foot ceilings, see-through fireplaces that can open from the family room to a screened porch or to the living room, princess suites with their own private bath, kitchen center islands, three-car tandem garages for hobbyists and more. “All of our two-story and 1-1/2-story models have zoned heating and cooling for additional comfort,â€� he said. “Our ranches offer pre-designed finished lower levels.â€�

Payne’s Lifestyle Series is offered at Ashton Woods; The Pointe at Heritage Crossing; The Meadows at Ohmes Farm; The Enclave at Heritage and Tuscany. Payne soon will be opening displays at Ashton Woods in west St. Louis County. This is the builder’s first community in St. Louis County. For information and to get on the update list call Online New Homes Consultant Kelli Gould at 314-477-1218. Our Sales Trailer will open this weekend, June 5, 2010.

Real estate briefs for May 9

Home sales rise

Sales of existing homes rose 15 percent in St. Charles County during the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2009, the St. Charles County Association of Realtors announced.

The median home price rose during the same period to $169,000, an increase of $2,000 over last year, according to the association’s news release.

In a further sign of the rebounding market, 26 percent more homes went under contract during the first quarter of this year than during the same period in 2009, the association said.

“The real estate market in St. Charles County continues to rebound from the challenging times of the last couple of years,” said association President Joe Sahrmann. “The combination of stable home values and near-historic low mortgage rates make this a unique opportunity for those thinking about buying a home. We have not seen homes this affordable in many years.”

The St. Charles County Association of Realtors is the largest trade association in St. Charles County, representing 1,600 Realtors and affiliates.

SHARON WRIGHT BRUEMMER JOINS PAYNE FAMILY HOMES

Payne Family Homes has promoted Sharon Wright Bruemmer as to Community Sales Manager at The Meadows at Ohmes Farm, the homebuilder’s fast-selling community in St. Peters.

Bruemmer previously was Payne Family Homes’ Sales Associate at Tuscany and The Townes at Belleau Creek, both located in St. Charles County.

Bruemmer brings 18 years of new-home sales experience with some of the area’s largest and well-known homebuilders. In addition, she has served as director of sales and marketing with a major builder.

A resident of St. Charles County, Bruemmer is a graduate of Maryille University, where she received a B.A. degree in business administration. She also completed the certified management program while working for a Dallas homebuilder. Bruemmer is an active member of the Sales & Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri.

“I am proud to have been selected to head Payne Family Homes’ sales at The Meadows at Ohmes Farm,� Bruemmer says. “It’s one of the most exciting new-home destinations in the area, with exquisite homes and an exceptional St. Charles County location.�

The Meadows at Ohmes Farm is part of a spectacular master-planned community, showcasing four of St. Charles County’s most respected builders. The tree-lined neighborhood, with convenient access to I-70 and Hwy. 40, offers three lakes and walking trails.

Ed Lott, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Payne Family Homes, notes, “We are pleased to promote Sharon Bruemmer to Community Sales Manager. She has valuable experience in new-home sales throughout St. Charles County. She also is a standout when it comes to making the new home buying process an enjoyable one for our customers.�

Payne Family Homes crafts distinctive homes that are built to stand the test of time, with seven well-located communities in St. Louis County, St. Charles, St. Peters and Cottleville. Their communities include Ashton Woods, Bordeaux Condominiums, The Crossing at Heritage Pointe, The Enclave at Heritage, The Meadows at Ohmes Farm, The Pointe at Heritage Crossing, The Townes at Belleau Creek and Tuscany. All Payne Family Homes neighborhoods are served by an AAA-rated school district and most are located in one of Money magazine’s “100 Best Places to Live in America.� For information call 314-477-1218, or visit www.paynefamilyhomes.com.

“Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote Saturday in his annual letter to the shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway. “Prices will remain far below ‘bubble’ levels, of course, but for every seller or lender hurt by this there will be a buyer who benefits. Indeed, many families that couldn’t afford to buy an appropriate home a few years ago now find it well within their means.”

Record foreclosures flooded a U.S. real estate market already glutted with unsold property, causing housing starts to fall.

“People thought it was good news a few years back when housing starts — the supply side of the picture — were running about 2 million annually,” wrote Buffett, 79, chairman and CEO of Omaha-based Berkshire. “But household formations — the demand side — only amounted to about 1.2 million.”

Buffett built Berkshire into a $198 billion company through takeovers and investments in companies he believes have lasting competitive advantages and superior management.

Berkshire, which has a real estate brokerage, a business that constructs prefabricated houses and units making products used in home building, has suffered in the downturn. Profit at carpet maker Shaw Industries fell 30% last year to $144 million.

He’s very deeply invested in this, said Tom Russo, partner at Gardner Russo & Gardner, which holds Berkshire stock. Across his industrial companies, he’s massively poised to gain from a housing recovery, Russo said.

Buffett wrote that his company should have bought more corporate and municipal bonds last year because they were cheap compared with U.S. Treasuries. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble, he said.

Buffett has used past letters to discuss plans for his successor, praise Berkshire managers and confess his failings. Last year he said the U.S. economy was in shambles after reckless lending.

Buffett said this year that the CEOs and boards of companies that failed during the credit crisis shouldn’t be able to pass blame to those below them. Boards should insist on CEOs taking responsibility for risk, he said.

Shareholders weren’t the ones who botched the operations of some of the largest financial institutions, Buffett said, yet they have borne the burden, with 90% or more of their holdings wiped out in cases of failure.

Buffett agreed to his largest deal last year when he arranged the $27 billion takeover of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Berkshire completed the acquisition, which Buffett described as an all-in wager on the U.S. economy, on Feb. 12.

Shares of Berkshire traded at about $15 when Buffett took control in 1965. The class A stock closed yesterday at $119,800, its highest since October 2008. Buffett added class B shares in 1996, and agreed to split them this year to help pay Burlington Northern shareholders.

Local Market Researcher, Zanola Company LLC,  reports Payne Family Homes Was

Fastest Growing Homebuilder in St. Charles County in 2009

2009 Revenues Put Payne Family Among Region’s Top 10 Builders

ST. CHARLES, MO — Payne Family Homes was the fastest-growing homebuilder in St. Charles County in 2009 according to a study completed by residential market researcher Zanola Company LLC.  According to statistics compiled by the St. Louis-based research company, Payne Family recorded 36 building permits in 2009, nearly triple the number it filed in 2008.

Separately, Payne Family reported closing revenues of $7,356,263 in 2009, a figure that ranks it among the Top 10 largest homebuilders in the St. Louis region based on a survey compiled by The St. Louis Business Journal and published in its March 12-18, 2010 edition. As a segmented lifestyle builder, Payne Family Homes offers an array of distinctive product lines including single family homes, low-maintenance villa homes, detached cottage homes and condominium homes out of six well-located communities in greater St. Charles County.

“We turned a corner in the second half of 2009, posting 48 sales,� said Ken Kruse, president of Payne Family Homes. “That heightened level of activity positioned us with a strong backlog heading into 2010, generating positive momentum that has carried forward to the present day.  While reports indicate that overall residential sale results across metro St. Louis have been mixed early in 2010, we are well on our way to a good year.�

The company is jointly owned by local businessmen David Payne and Allan Schroer. Payne is also president of PayneCrest Electric and Communications, a leading St. Louis-based electrical contractor.

Communities being developed by Payne Family Homes across greater St. Charles include: Bordeaux Condominiums; The Townes at Belleau Creek; The Pointe at Heritage Crossing; The Meadows at Ohmes Farm; The Enclave at Heritage and Tuscany.

Payne Family Homes crafts distinctive residences that are built to stand the test of time.  All Payne Family Homes neighborhoods are served by an AAA-rated school district and are located in one of Money magazine’s “100 Best Places to Live in America.� For information call 314-477-1218 or visit www.PayneFamilyHomes.com.

Majority believe prices will be the same or higher during the next year

NEW YORK – Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the time is right to buy a house, with a majority believing prices will be the same or higher over the next year, according to a Fannie Mae survey released Tuesday.

The 64 percent that said it is a good time to buy is just shy of the 66 percent that said the same thing in 2003 as the U.S. housing market was racing higher, said the survey.

However, most of the 3,451 polled said that it would be tougher for them to get a loan than it was for their parents.

The survey comes amid signs that the U.S. housing market is recovering after suffering the worst downturn since the 1930s. But, while home prices in some regions are rising, soaring delinquency rates across the nation mean foreclosures will keep persistent pressure on the market, according to analysts.

Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. mortgage finance company, said that the public still “strongly believes” in upholding their financial commitments, though that weakens once people know someone who is defaulting.

Those who know someone in default are more than twice as likely to have seriously considered stopping payments on their own mortgage, Fannie Mae said.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36192404/ns/business-real_estate/

8.2% gain in February home sales was best
since 2001

Updated 3h 10m ago

By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY

Home buyers rushed to purchase previously owned
homes in February, a shift hailed as the long-
awaited start of the spring housing market.

The seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements
jumped 8.2% in February to 97.6 from 90.2 in J
anuary, the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
said.

Although many economists had expected a decline,
it turned out to be the second biggest monthly rise
on record behind October 2001.

After an anemic winter, home sales are now likely to
continue showing steady increases, economists say,
as buyers rush to complete purchases before a tax
credit of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers
expires April 30. They cite other factors, including
more jobs and economic growth, that could
continue to propel a housing recovery.

“What we’re starting to see are people who have their
eye on the tax credit make some moves,” says Joel
Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors. He predicts
home sales will continue growing: “Job growth, the
economy is coming back; Realtors are listing —
everything seems to be working in the positive side
of the cycle.”

Pending sales rose the most in the Midwest, at
21.8% in February from January. In the West, the
index fell 4.8% in February. The Northeast rose 9%,
and pending home sales in the South increased
9.2%. The data reflect contracts. Closings usually
occur one or two months later.

Cheap home prices could also be drawing bargain-
hunting buyers. Home prices in January fell 0.4%

from December on an unadjusted basis, according
to a report last week from the Standard &
Poor’s/Case-Shiller index.

Anecdotal reports suggest March may also show
gains in home sales, says Lawrence Yun, chief
economist at NAR. That would be critical in helping
reduce the overall amount of housing inventory.
High levels of inventory dampen prices by reducing
competition for homes.

Yun says that there may be some decrease in home
sales in June through August, after the tax credit
expires, and that higher interest rates near the end
of the year could depress sales. Currently, the
average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage is
5.08%, Freddie Mac says. “I’m optimistic,” Yun says.
“By year end, interest rates could be closer to 6%.
But with the improving economy and buyer
confidence, that shouldn’t be a hindrance.”

The first-time home buyer tax credit applies to
homes purchased on or before April 30 and is equal
to 10% of the home’s purchase price up to a
maximum of $8,000. Congress also approved a
credit for move-up home buyers up to a maximum
of $6,500. The credits apply only to homes priced
at $800,000 or less.

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