[Times photo: Douglas R. Clifford]

Waterchase, a developing residential community, is pushing the boundaries of where bay area people will live and what they want from their home life. And sales are ahead of schedule. Story

Report: Racial lending disparities are worsening nationwide
African-Americans and Latinos are about twice as likely as whites to be denied a conventional home loan, and the gap is increasing nationwide.

Home Front
Briefs and news of note

Mailbag: Refinancing the 'forever' home
Question: My son and daughter-in-law want to refinance their home loan to reduce its interest rate. They plan to stay in their home forever. They have talked with two lenders. The second lender, one of the biggest banks and a major nationwide home loan lender, quoted very high fees. But when my daughter-in-law showed the bank's loan agent the lower fees from the other lender, the big bank immediately agreed to reduce its fees by $2,800.

Delinquent fee collection is up to association
Question: We're planning to buy a home in a homeowner association. The association has placed a lien on that house. How does this affect the title? Will we have problems if we move into the neighborhood?

A course in Condo 101
A course on condo association operations will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday at the Best Western Clearwater Central Conference Center, 21338 U.S. 19 N in Clearwater.

Focus on refinancing
Here's where to find refinancing information online. Many lenders have their sites where you can find information and submit an application to refinance.

Mobile Homes: Study up before investing in used mobile home
First of two parts.

Remodeler magazine cites six in bay area
Six Tampa Bay area remodeling contractors have been named to the 2002 "Top 500" by Qualified Remodeler magazine.

Financially troubled homeowners get help
Families with FHA-insured mortgages are about to get a little extra help to stay in their homes if they fall behind in making mortgage payments.

'Rainy day' mortgages allow you to skip a payment
WASHINGTON -- Would you like to be able to skip a mortgage payment or two on your home now and then, with no penalty or negative impact on your credit files?

St. Petersburg Times real estate classified ads:

Regional real estate links:
Tampa Bay Homes - Search local MLS listings, a service of Tampabay.com.
Florida Home Builders - features Florida developers with Web sites.

Other real estate links:
Cost of Living calculator: compares the cost of living in any two cities. Also includes links to Salary Calculator and Moving Calculator among other tools.
Home Buyer and Renter Consumer Information: From the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Home Buying Tips: from the U.S. Government General Services Administration.
Realtor.com: includes info on buying and selling real estate, allows you to browse property ads in the U.S. and locate realtors.