Tuesday, December 16, 2008
FORECLOSURE HELP
Recently the National Association of Realtors sent out a call to action for all Realtors to get involved in the housing crisis by connecting with one family/person who is currently looking at a foreclosure sitiuation. They have provided the following websites as information links to provide needed information to homeowners who could be facing a foreclosure crisis. http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/ and http://www.hopenow.com/ are two sites that can get information into the hands of folks who need it. I have some resources available to help anyone locally who is facing possible foreclosure. We can talk about " short sales" where the lender works with you to get your home sold at a price below the amount you currently owe, HUD has a program to help you stay in your home and get current on your past due payments and I have lenders who have knowledge on refinancing to get your payment down to a manageable amount. The first step is to contact your lender and explain the situation to them and let them know what is going on. Check out these websites and let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
Did you know that Thanksgiving was celebrated twice in 1939? Farmers Ins. agent Steve Rogers brought this fact to my attention recently and I thought you might like to know about that double Thanksgiving controversy.
Since 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be a national holiday, the celebration has always been observed on the last Thursday of November. However in 1933 there were five Thursdays in November and business leaders lobbied President Roosevelt to move the holiday to the 23rd instead of the 30th, believing that the extra shopping week between Thanksgiving and Christmas would help businesses weather the Depression. Their request was ignored, but when the same situation occurred in 1939 Roosevelt did in fact declare the 23rd to be Thanksgiving.
The opposition was overwhelming. Calendar manufactures had already printed their products years in advance. Schools had already scheduled traditional Thanksgiving Day football games as well as planning for students and teachers to be off for the holiday. Many folks were not happy, how dare the President change a tradition to accommodate business.
Some governors declared the 30th to be Thanksgiving and thus depending upon which state one lived in the celebration was either on the 23rd or the 30th. Finally in 1941 Congress put an end to the controversy by making it the law of the land that Thanksgiving is to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
You can read more about this controversy at the FDR library and museum website: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/thanksg.html. Thank You Steve for sharing this bit of history with me and my readers.
Since 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be a national holiday, the celebration has always been observed on the last Thursday of November. However in 1933 there were five Thursdays in November and business leaders lobbied President Roosevelt to move the holiday to the 23rd instead of the 30th, believing that the extra shopping week between Thanksgiving and Christmas would help businesses weather the Depression. Their request was ignored, but when the same situation occurred in 1939 Roosevelt did in fact declare the 23rd to be Thanksgiving.
The opposition was overwhelming. Calendar manufactures had already printed their products years in advance. Schools had already scheduled traditional Thanksgiving Day football games as well as planning for students and teachers to be off for the holiday. Many folks were not happy, how dare the President change a tradition to accommodate business.
Some governors declared the 30th to be Thanksgiving and thus depending upon which state one lived in the celebration was either on the 23rd or the 30th. Finally in 1941 Congress put an end to the controversy by making it the law of the land that Thanksgiving is to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
You can read more about this controversy at the FDR library and museum website: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/thanksg.html. Thank You Steve for sharing this bit of history with me and my readers.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Home Warranty vs Homeowners Ins.
Do you know the difference between a home warranty and homeowners insurance? I didn't until I bought my last house. A home warranty is purchased from a warranty company usually at the time of your home purchase and it covers many items in your home, such as appliances, heat and air unit, hot water tank, plumbing stoppages, etc.
AS LONG AS, the repair falls under permitted claims. These warranties usually last from 12 to 13 months, cost any where from $400 to $500 and can be very helpful to a buyer who's stove breaks down 2 weeks after he moves into his new home. I always advise my buyers to ask for a home warranty in their purchase contract and to ask the seller to pay for it. The most important thing for a buyer to read is the exceptions information in the warranty paperwork so they will have a good feel for what is and is not covered. A warranty program provides a central phone number for the client to call if a breakdown occurs. The warranty company then sends out the appropriate repair person to do the work. The client pays a set service fee of approx $75 ( it varies with each plan) and the covered repairs will be completed or if it can't be repaired the item is replaced at no further charge. I also advise my sellers to offer the home warranty up front and use it as a marketing tool figuring that any prospective buyer is going to request one anyway.
Your homeowners insurance is coverage paid on a yearly basis that protects your home from damage from wind, hail, fire, lightening etc. There are many different coverages you can get but all policies should cover both the exterior and interior of the home. At a later post I'll talk about the different coverages you can have but for now lets just say that no one should own a home without homeowners insurance and all the mortgage companies I work with require that there be homeowners coverage at the time of closing. Homeowners coverage is used to protect you from a big loss/damage to the property and also insures that your lender will be paid if the house is destroyed by fire, tornado, etc. The one thing homeowners insurance will not cover for you is if you home floods from anything other than a sudden burst of water ( such as a broken pipe in the house) or, if you have the coverage, from a sump pump back up or malfunction. Many people thought they were covered during the flooding this summer when there was 10 inches of rain and basements were filling up quickly only to find out that flood insurance was needed to cover that kind of damage.
Know the difference between the two kinds of coverage and make your choices wisely. It could be a very costly mistake not to.
AS LONG AS, the repair falls under permitted claims. These warranties usually last from 12 to 13 months, cost any where from $400 to $500 and can be very helpful to a buyer who's stove breaks down 2 weeks after he moves into his new home. I always advise my buyers to ask for a home warranty in their purchase contract and to ask the seller to pay for it. The most important thing for a buyer to read is the exceptions information in the warranty paperwork so they will have a good feel for what is and is not covered. A warranty program provides a central phone number for the client to call if a breakdown occurs. The warranty company then sends out the appropriate repair person to do the work. The client pays a set service fee of approx $75 ( it varies with each plan) and the covered repairs will be completed or if it can't be repaired the item is replaced at no further charge. I also advise my sellers to offer the home warranty up front and use it as a marketing tool figuring that any prospective buyer is going to request one anyway.
Your homeowners insurance is coverage paid on a yearly basis that protects your home from damage from wind, hail, fire, lightening etc. There are many different coverages you can get but all policies should cover both the exterior and interior of the home. At a later post I'll talk about the different coverages you can have but for now lets just say that no one should own a home without homeowners insurance and all the mortgage companies I work with require that there be homeowners coverage at the time of closing. Homeowners coverage is used to protect you from a big loss/damage to the property and also insures that your lender will be paid if the house is destroyed by fire, tornado, etc. The one thing homeowners insurance will not cover for you is if you home floods from anything other than a sudden burst of water ( such as a broken pipe in the house) or, if you have the coverage, from a sump pump back up or malfunction. Many people thought they were covered during the flooding this summer when there was 10 inches of rain and basements were filling up quickly only to find out that flood insurance was needed to cover that kind of damage.
Know the difference between the two kinds of coverage and make your choices wisely. It could be a very costly mistake not to.
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