My mortgage guy tells me it’s a great time to get a refinance done for your house if you would like to reduce your interest rate or need to get money out for repairs, kid’s schools, etc. You will need to be prepared to qualify with a full documented loan as there are no longer loans that are no documents or stated income loans. This will affect those who have their own businesses more than anyone else as the income can be reduced tremendously by write-offs on taxes.
You will also want to make sure you improve your interest rate by at least a point if you are strictly doing a rate/term refinance and that you intend to occupy the property for at least another five years. This should allow enough time to go by so you can make up the additional cost of a refinance. The longer you stay in the property the more you will save in interest over time.
If you don’t know whether it makes sense or not, contact a lender and ask them to walk you through the numbers. It is certainly worth talking to somebody to make sure if it’s right for you or not.
This last month more homes where bought than expected. While there are those that will say that’s not saying much, it does prove that people are still buying homes despite the end of the tax credit that was designed to get the housing market over a hump. Is the housing market booming like it was just a few years ago? We all know the answer to that is no. However, just like any other financial market, the housing market traditionally goes through much needed corrections from time to time.
Most experts believe there are some additional corrections that need to take place. But one has to remember that people have been and will continue to move from place to place as their lives change and families grow. This is the way of the world. There will always be a need for houses and the ebb and flow of the market will always be affected by the demand. Good, solid homes are still selling and good, solid people are buying and that’s the way it will always be.
We all see the beautiful kitchens on the television shows and in trade magazines but sometimes beautiful and practical don’t always work hand in hand. That’s why it’s very important to know what the limitations you may encounter down the road and try to minimize the impact in your design and choice of appliances.
One thing you must think about these days is the aging population and the challenges they may go through. You can overcome most of these by just making sure you have enough space for someone in a wheelchair or walking devise to easily get through. This allows an older person to consider purchasing your home over another potential home.
Buying appliances that have controls toward the front is another small but handy thing for people who are aging and want to stay in their homes as well as making sure there are solid and smooth surfaces to walk on. Flooring that can peel or bubble can be dangerous for those who shuffle across the floor.
Putting in some extra thought and even getting an interior designer who works with the elderly population might help you get some great pointers before you start that renovation.
I recently read where children have died by being left in hot cars more often than ever before since these figures have been tracked. It seems that these are parents that are sleep deprived in some way and just forget they have a sleeping child strapped into a car seat. It also happens when someone does not realize how hot it gets in a car and steps out “for a couple of minutes” to grab something.
We all need to remember that our children and grand children rely on us to keep them safe. A car can easily get over 150 degrees inside on a hot day with all the windows rolled up. We must make arrangements to protect our kids and pets during the hot summer months. They are counting on us!
Believe it or not, according to the USA Today, the biggest defaulters are the wealthy. They took out large mortgages to buy mansions, or what some call mini-mansions, and they just assumed they would sell at a profit several years down the road for a nice profit. However, the market collapsed and their plans were thwarted. Thus they are now defaulting at a much higher degree than less expensive loans.
The cut off is a million dollar home so one in seven borrowers with a loan balance a million dollars or more are seriously delinquent. That is compared to one in twelve borrowers for loans below the million dollar mark. Since the sub-prime borrowers are supposed to be the ones that are causing all these foreclosures, it is interesting to discover that the wealthiest borrowers are actually the ones with the highest delinquent rates. This does not mean that the sub-prime market was not a contributor but does say this issue is seemingly hitting every economic level. It also means that if you are in the market for one of these larger homes, you might just be able to pick one up as a bank owned or foreclosed property. If you require a loan this would follow the jumbo loan guidelines and they generally have a higher interest rate.
There is nothing wrong with picking the colors of your choosing to live in your home. In fact, when it comes to things that are inexpensive to do, paint is one of the cheapest ways to change the décor in a room and we all want to put our signature on a room or two where we live. However, when you get ready to sell a home, one of the things you can do is go back to those rooms that may be a little crazy and paint them with a neutral color. That teen that has his entire room painted black may be the reason your house is not selling!
It is hard at times to step back and look at your home critically to assess what it is that may keep people from making that all important offer. If you don’t have a clue, it may be time to call in a Professional Stager or Interior Designer that can give you some direction. This also holds true with the yard as well and you might just need an hour of consult time to get the information you need to get your home up to snuff and get it sold. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; that’s what I am here for.
For those of us who live in the Nashville and surrounding areas it will not be a surprise to learn that Nashville has been selected as one of America’s top 100 places to live for 2010. What can I say but to admit that the Middle Tennessee Area IS a great place to live! You cannot beat the schools, healthcare, restaurants or entertainment that is available in and around Nashville.
To be considered for the list, a community is nominated at RelocateAmerica.com. From the thousands of submissions, RelocateAmerica.com’s editorial team reviews the nominations and selects the Top 100 Places to Live, as well as the Top 10 for each smaller category, based on interviews with local leaders; feedback from residents; and economic, environmental, education, crime, employment and housing data for the past year. All this simply backs up the claim that this is a great place to live and with the economic development from Clarksville to the north, Hendersonville, Nashville, Franklin, Smyrna and Murfreesboro we will continue to make these kind of lists over and over again.
After sharing what happened to one of my real estate listings (it was taken and posted on craigslist as a rental property) at a BNI (Business Networking International) meeting, I was surprised that several other people in our group were either aware of or have had something like this happen in the recent past. It opened up an discussion about the do’s and don’ts of using the internet and the use of common sense when doing anything online.
One very important thing that craigslist will tell you at the top of each page is to deal with people who are local. As soon as you see a phone number or any other indication that the people you are dealing with are out of the country or not local, you should stop all communication. The other thing is to never give out any sensitive information to anyone you have not met face to face. Just a sample of that would be SS #, birth date, address and phone numbers. You will want to go see the property BEFORE submitting anything to the person with the ad. This way you know you are dealing with someone real and legit.
Please follow all good practices for doing business online.
I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Alaska on a cruise this year for my anniversary with my sweet husband and it was one of the most wonderful things we have ever done. I wish I could describe it to you but I know I won’t do it justice. All I can tell you is that everything you have ever heard about the majesty of what you see is absolutely true! The scenery, the ocean, the people were everything and more and we just had a ball.
For those of you who can, I would highly suggest you make arrangement s to take the trip; you will not be disappointed. It was a fantastic way to relax and just get away from everything at work and play a little. We all need to have a little more playtime and a little less work time these days and a cruise makes you put that phone down and really get away from it all. It was hard at first because I went when there were closings pending and I like to be involved in everything I can for my clients. But everything worked out just great and I was able to really get away from it all. I certainly hope you can do this one day as well.
Things are looking great here in Hendersonville, TN! Just like in most areas in Middle Tennessee we are getting many people who are moving into the area from other parts of the country and state. Our taxes are low as well as our living expenses for both companies and residents alike. One of the large draws in Handersonville is the shopping at Indian Lake as well as Old Hickory Lake. You also cannot find better restaurants, parks, movie theaters and activities that can compare overall with what we have in Hendersonville, TN.
Having such a wonderful area to live in coupled with historically low interest rates is the perfect formula for a great place to live and an even better place to own a home. Sumner County Schools are some of the best in the state of Tennessee and we have great facilities for medical, police and community outreach services for children and the elderly alike. This is just a wonderful place to live and it’s a great time to buy a home. It doesn’t get better than that!
