How do I pack for a move?

This is one of the best "How to Move" articles I've seen. I recommend the FLY lady for help with getting your house ready to sell as well. Enjoy!

What's a Short Sale?

A short sale is called such because the bank that holds the mortgage on the home agrees to get "shorted" when the property sells for less than the owner owes. For example, if Jack Jones owes $145,000 for his home, but despite his agent's best efforts the best offer they have gotten for the home is $125,000, if Mr. Jones meets certain criteria the bank may approve a short sale for that amount.

A short sale is not short in terms of time, it usually takes 60 - 90 days to close a short sale because of all of the paperwork and logistics of dealing with the bank. But, it's a win-win-win for everyone. The buyer gets a good deal on a home, the seller gets out of a mortgage he/she can't afford, and the bank avoids taking possession of another foreclosure. So, if you are shopping for a home and you find a short sale that you like, hang in there! If you are seller facing foreclosure, stop avoiding those calls from the bank and call me so we can sell your house!

For additional information for property owners who are facing foreclosure, click here.

How Can I Get a Free Credit Report?

Thanks to James Williamson and Robbie Crozier from Fairfield Mortgage for this information:

In 2004, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act was passed enabling consumers to obtain a free credit report from each of the three national credit bureaus once a year. While there are many Web sites that claim to provide a "free" credit report, there is only one place that offers a truly free credit report with no strings attached: www.annualcreditreport.com. Be aware that this free credit report does not come with credit scores. If you wish to learn more about credit reporting and scoring, here is an excellent Web site for you to check out: www.credco.com/crediteducation. Also, if you have questions about your report or wish to dispute an item, here is the contact information for each of the three credit bureaus:

Equifax Information Service Center

PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

(800) 685-1111 / www.equifax.com

Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013

(888) 397-3742 / www.experian.com

Trans Union Corporation

PO Box 34012, Fullerton, CA 92834

(800) 916-8800 / www.transunion.com

How do I buy a foreclosure?

Slowly. Here are some hard-learned lessons from my last couple of foreclosure deals.

1. Remember, the seller is a bank. And, they have 100's if not 1000's of foreclosure listings. You might think that those numbers would inspire speed and efficiency, and that they would gratefully receive your offer with champagne toasts. You might expect that they are so happy to have an offer that they will accommodate your requests for a longer inspection period, to turn on the utilities, or to close later. Sadly, no. They may not acknowledge your offer for over a week. They will not accommodate you with anything except a ridiculously low price. Relax. It's not you, it's them. And keep your eyes on that ridiculously low price when you feel discouraged.

2. Be patient, but don't expect the bank to show you the same courtesy. After waiting a week to hear back from them, they will send you a curse counteroffer with a 24 - 48 hour deadline. When you reply with speed, you will wait another week to hear back from them. My advice is to roll with it, and to be prepared by knowing your bottom line before you even make your first offer. That way you will be ready to respond within their time limits, which are not negotiable.

3. Flexibility is next to godliness. Be ready to follow their instructions in terms of earnest money, inspection periods, closing dates, closing attorneys, and pretty much everything else. Then, be ready to adjust when they change their minds. Many listing agents who work with foreclosure listings have set rules that they ask you to follow when submitting an offer, but then when the asset manager from the bank gets your offer he or she might have other ideas. Just be ready to roll with it. Remember that ridiculously low price...

More to come...

What's the foreclosure plan?

The Dekalb Board of Realtors has some great information about Pres. Obama's foreclosure plan. Click here, then scroll to the bottom of the page and look for "2009 White House Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan." Let me know if you have questions.

How do I contact my representatives?

With all of the proposed stimulus measures being talked about on the news, you might have strong feelings about a small stimulus package, a big stimulus package, or letting the market work itself out. In case you want to share your feelings with someone who can do something about it, here's what you need to know:

For Georgia's U.S. Senators:

Chambliss, Saxby - (R - GA)
416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3521

Isakson, Johnny - (R - GA)
120 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3643

As for your U.S. House Representative open this webpage:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
and enter in your State (Georgia) and zip code. You can email your Representative directly from the site.

What would fix the economy?

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., spoke on the Senate floor last week and argued that Congress must take steps to jump-start housing demand in order to boost the slumping economy. On Jan.15, Isakson introduced the Fix Housing First Homebuyer Tax Credit Act to expand the homebuyer tax credit passed by Congress last year.

The text of Isakson's remarks is below:

"Madam President, to a certain extent I wish to follow up precisely on the remarks the Senator from Washington made at the end of her speech.
"I, too, have been disappointed with the deployment of the first half of the TARP money, and I supported that deployment in the hopes that it would stabilize the marketplace, ease credit for our customers, and help the housing market. While it probably did stabilize the banking system, there has yet to be a loosening of credit and there has yet to be a recovery of the housing market.

"Looking ahead, we continue to look at suggestions that throw money at the problem rather than getting to the root cause of the problem. In fact, with the best of intentions, I think people are struggling to meet the symptoms of a serious illness rather than treat the illness. I wish to direct my remarks tonight to that illness.

"The illness, as the Senator from Washington referred to, is the collapse of the U.S. housing market which began in the last quarter of 2007. In the first quarter of 2008, in January, I introduced a housing tax credit of up to $15,000 for the purchase of any house that was standing vacant or in foreclosure. I did it for a couple of reasons. No. 1, I was in the real estate business for 33 years, and I was in it in 1974, a year in which we had a housing collapse worse than the current situation. While many people think this one is bad, it is not as bad as 1974.

"In December of 1974, there was a three-year supply of unsold, standing new houses in the United States of America. That is a catastrophic inventory. We currently have a supply of about 11 to 13 months, depending on the State. That is not a good market, but it is not 36 months, which is a horrible market.

"President Gerald Ford, a Republican, and a Democratic Congress, came together and passed a $2,000 tax credit to any family who bought and occupied one of those standing homes. Within 1 year's time, which was the limited time of the tax credit, two-thirds of the housing inventory on the market was sold, values stopped declining and started improving, and we had a stabilization of our economy, the end of a recessionary period, and the beginning of prosperity.

"I come here tonight because about an hour and a half ago I dropped a bill known as Fix Housing First, an effort for me and others in this body to rekindle that debate of last January. Now, last year, we did pass a housing tax credit, but it was a now-you-see-it/now-you-don't approach. It was a first-time home buyer credit of $7,500 that was a refundable loan, interest free, because over 15 years you would pay the credit back to the Government in the form of income taxes. It was an incentive, but it was weak. It was not bold.

"The tax credit we introduced last year was scored by CBO at $11.4 billion, and Finance believed at that time--and maybe rightfully so--that was too big a price to pay and too expensive. Well, because we didn't do it, in October of this year, we approved $750 billion to address the symptoms of the problem, which is the failure of the housing market.

"I had the privilege yesterday of meeting with some of President-elect Obama's team, including Rahm Emanuel, Dr. Summers, and others, and told them precisely what I am saying on the floor of the Senate today; that is, I hope they will embrace this concept of incentivizing the housing market so we can stabilize values, stop the continuing erosion of equity, and begin to reflate--not inflate but reflate--the housing market.

"In America today, 20 percent of the houses are underwater, meaning there is more owed on them than they are worth. That means equity lines of credit with our banks are in default. It means students going to college are losing the money their parents had for tuition. It means there is not enough liquidity in households anymore or credit availability to make purchases of durable goods that are important to our system, and our system is continuing to feed in a downward spiral on the illiquidity, the lack of equity, and the lack of a marketplace for housing.

"I was in this business for a long time, and I called 10 people who worked for me a number of years ago last weekend in Atlanta. I asked them, I said: What is going on in the market? Tell me what the buyers are saying or are there any buyers? I talked to a lady by the name of Glennis Beacham.

"She said: Johnny, I had nine people come to my open house last weekend, and that is a good crowd for an open house in this marketplace. Every one of them had the money and they wanted to buy, but they were looking for two things: a short sale, which means somebody selling their house for less than is owed on it and getting a discount from the lender, which means it is a downward price or they are looking for somebody whose house is going into foreclosure that they think they can steal. They don't want to even make an offer on the 80 percent of people's houses in this country who are making their payments, aren't in default, aren't in foreclosure, but might need to sell. So the marketplace has died.

"Now, Fix Housing First proposes the following: Repeal the $7,500 tax credit we passed last year, which is not being used, by the way. That credit has not been used to any extent whatsoever. Replace it with a tax credit that will go from $10,000 to $22,000 depending on the formula. It would be a monetizeable tax credit. What that means is this: you make the tax credit good for this year--January 1 through December 31 of 2009--but you allow the monetization or the claiming of that credit against the 2008 income taxes of that family. The 2008 income taxes come due in April of this year, the 15th. We all know that. By allowing the credit to be taken against 2008 income taxes, you can monetize that money at the closing, use it as a part of the down payment, and immediately incentivize the marketplace. Is that a little costly? Sure. Is it something we would rather not do? Probably. But what are we going to do? Watch the marketplace go down to where four out of every five houses are underwater? Watch sales go down to where there is no viable housing market in this country? It has not stopped spiraling. It is continuing, and everything feeds off of it.

"I don't wish to belabor this point, but I wish to talk for the American people, the people of Georgia. The community bankers are hamstrung right now. Most of their investments are in real estate, residential construction, and acquisition and development loans. With no marketplace to buy the lots or buy the houses, they have no cash flow coming in to service the loans. They are deteriorating in terms of their value. Americans who have been transferred who are making their payments, who have a viable house, who have to sell it to move to the next city of choice, there is no marketplace to buy that house, so that is stagnating.

"Consumer products, take carpets, for example. The State of Georgia, the County of Whitfield, the City of Dalton produces about 85 percent of the domestic carpet in the United States of America. It is shut down. The mills are shut down. Why? People aren't recarpeting. They aren't redoing their houses. New houses aren't selling. The market is gone. I could go on and on with durable products made in the United States of America whose industries are now in trouble because the housing market has taken a severe hit over a protracted period of time.

"So my plea to the President-elect, to my friends on both sides of the aisle, to the Members of the United States House of Representatives, as we are deploying countless billions of dollars to react to problems that are manifesting because of a failed housing market and mistakes that were made in the past, let's put some money out there to incentivize Mr. and Ms. America who want the American dream to buy a home, to buy one for their family, occupy it as their residence, and give them a tax credit for doing it. It is a small price for the Government to pay to begin to restore the industry that got us to where we are and will lead us out of these dangerous and dark times.

"So I come tonight on behalf of the homeowners of the Presiding Officer's State of Florida and mine, the community bankers, the realtors, the homebuilders, the fix-it people, the durable goods producers, the building supply makers, the landscapers--every job that has been lost and gone, in some cases forever, because the housing market in this country has collapsed.

"We have learned our lesson for loose underwriting. We have learned our lesson from loaning money to people who weren't qualified to borrow. We have paid a terrible price for that lesson, both the country and the people. It is time for us to do what we know we should have done: have quality underwriting, available credit, but have accountability in our lending system, make sure values are appraised right, underwriting is done right, and credit is available but people are qualified. If we can do that and incentivize people to come back because of the tax credit, we can solve this problem.

"I don't want to oversimplify the gravity of the problem we face, but the housing market led us in; the housing market will lead us out. It is time for us to fix housing first. Our failure to do so will cost us a lot more than $700 billion of our taxpayers' money, and countless Americans who shouldn't will lose their homes, lose their jobs, and lose their faith in the greatest country on the face of this Earth.

"I ask my colleagues to study this recommendation. I hope the President-elect will embrace it. I hope, quickly, we can fix housing first in the United States of America."

What's wrong with my credit?

This is from Realtor.com. Good information on keeping up with your credit, and improving it. If your credit is on the fence between acceptable and unacceptable, please let me put you in touch with a reputable mortgage professional who can possibly help you clean it up and get the bump you need to get a better rate.

By Patrick Ritchie | February 2009

Consumers see the ads in the newspaper and read the signs nailed to telephone poles: "Credit problems? We erase bad debt." It sounds so easy. Just call the phone number and pay a fee, and your credit woes will disappear.

The reality is that bad credit does not vanish by paying someone to remove it. Are there legitimate credit repair organizations out there? Sure, and they can help remove inaccurate information from credit reports. But even they can't get rid of correct information, however damaging it may be.

When it comes to outright mistakes on their credit report, though, it's imperative that consumers have them fixed—whether they hire an agency or do it themselves.

The first step in fixing credit report errors is to identify what's wrong. Consumers have to obtain a copy of their credit report (everyone is entitled to one free report per year from each of the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and review it for accuracy. Look for:

• Late payments. There should be no late payments over seven years old on the report. This is important, as approximately 35 percent of a credit score is based on timely payments.

• Collections. The report shouldn't show any collections or charge-offs more than seven years old. It's a good idea for consumers to save copies of their credit report for seven years so they have proof of when an item was added.

• Payment records. All paid-in-full installment loans and all collections that have been paid in full or settled for less than the amount due should show a zero balance. Sometimes collections are not updated after they've been paid or settled.

• Mysterious accounts. Consumers should be able to recognize all accounts listed on the report. Incorrect accounts do sometimes appear, either by mistaken identity or by identity theft. Consumers should contact the creditor immediately to compare their name and Social Security number with the one shown for the incorrect amount. In the case of an incorrect collection, consumers may have to request a "validation of debt," or what is sometimes called a "media packet," which provides details on the account holder. If the account is a case of identity theft, the consumer should request a fraud affidavit from the creditor. It's also a smart idea to file a police report.

• Original dates. Length of credit history is 15 percent of a credit score, so consumers should be sure the original dates they opened their accounts are accurate. Original account dates could be reported inaccurately if a credit card company is acquired or merged, or if a credit card is reported lost or stolen.

• Available credit. Credit limits on the credit report should match up with credit card statements. It's best to keep balances under 50 percent of the available limit; less than 30 percent is even better. Debt accounts for 30 percent of your score.

• Types of accounts. Sometimes accounts are not categorized correctly. A home equity line of credit should be listed as a second mortgage, not just a line of credit. If the account type is not reflected properly, consumers should contact the creditor.

• Reason codes. Consumers should read what the credit bureau has to say about why their score is what it is. These so-called "reason codes" appear in the credit report to explain what factors played into the credit score and what actions can be taken to improve the score over time. One caveat: If a consumer already has a good credit score, ignore the reason codes, as making changes could actually result in a lower score.

One last word of advice for consumers: Think twice before closing that credit card, which shrinks the available credit listed on your report and hurts the credit utilization ratio.

The key to good credit is being proactive in reviewing credit reports regularly. If consumers find their credit score is a respectable 680 or higher, removing minor dings may not be worth the effort. Otherwise, finding and eliminating errors is one way to get the high credit rating they deserve.

What Should I Read? Home Cheap Home

I am crazy about this little book. Put together by the editors of the now defunct Budget Living Magazine, Home Cheap Home is a guide to inexpensive improvements to your home. How inexpensive? Well that depends on the project. Whether you need a new lampshade or a new kitchen, this book is full of ideas for how to do it with style for less.

They take a room-by-room approach - living rooms, kitchen and dining, bedrooms, bathrooms, home office, and outdoor living. For each room they do 30 - 40 pages of vignettes of clever spaces with details about the style, storage, design, and color that makes the space work. Some of these ideas are truly retro, maybe even bohemian, in style. Others have the feel of Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware, so there's something for everyone.

One of my favorite ideas is on page 85 in the Kitchen and Dining section where they suggest making a shiny stainless colander into a pendant light fixture. Do I need a pendant light fixture in my kitchen? Not at all. But I want one like that anyway!

And since the cheapest improvement involves using stuff you already have, Home Cheap Home spends a few pages on improving the flow of your home by re-arranging your existing furniture and re-purposing unused items. Cheap and green, what could be better?

I believe this little gem is out of print, but fear not! If you visit Amazon.com and enter Home Cheap Home in the search box, you'll see that there are many used copies available, some for as little as $4... a steal for so many good ideas.

Great Listing In Inman Park