Special Features

Ever since a certain Friday evening last October, St. Louis has been awash in sports analogies, so perhaps it felt like a home run when the team at USA Mortgage celebrated a significant milestone on Dec. 6. And if you asked a hockey fan, it was a hat trick, as well. “This is the third consecutive year we’ve hit the billion-dollar mark,” says Doug Schukar, USA Mortgage president and CEO. “There aren’t many privately owned firms in this industry—anywhere in the U.S.—that do a billion dollars in a single year.”

Julie Lane is ready to make her television debut. On Dec. 8 at 5:30 p.m., HGTV will air an episode of My First Place featuring the Janet McAfee agent as she guides a young St. Louis couple on their search for a home. Lane took a few minutes to tell Ladue News about her experience on the show.

It seems like an obvious connection: What’s good for a community is good for real estate agents selling homes there. But for many local agents, the desire to help goes far beyond that. We talked to several agents whose contributions through the years have really made St. Louis a better place to make a home.

After almost two months of furiously painting, decorating and accessorizing, a group of St. Louis’ top designers soon will be ready to reveal the transformed rooms of the first-ever Ladue News Show House, located at 15 Washington Terrace in the Central West End. Beginning Oct. 15, the Show House will offer an opportunity for the public to see the work of those designers, while benefitting five local charities.