I guess Friday’s are for Memories

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I just received my weekly mortgage rate update, as I do every Friday, from one of the local lenders. Mike Bennett from Presidential Bank Mortgage is consist about his note cards and weekly mortgage updates. I usually scan the email to the bottom to get to the beef and read the rates, but this time something told me to really read this one. Glad I did. Mike and I serve together on the Frederick County Associations of Realtors® Affordable Housing Committee. I remember him telling about the loss of his Son-in-Law over the summer. It’s never what you want to hear. But this story is one that you only hear in the movies. A movie of honor and character.

His day job was as a firefighter for the city of Charleston. He worked on Engine 15. His world revolved around Summerville High and B Shift. Then, on June 18 last summer, he and many of his colleagues responded to a fire at the Super Sofa Store. Some of you know what happened. The blaze grew out of control. A flashover, firemen call it, and when that happens, you’ve got two seconds to escape. Two seconds wasn’t long enough for Mulkey. In the moments before he died, he clicked on his microphone.

“Car 1! … Tell my wife I said … I love you.”

The story he shares, shows how a community even 8 months later still has not forgotten his son-in-law nor his daughter. Well you can read the rest of the story for yourself. Read more. It is truly made for the movies.
Thank you Mike for sharing...even if it’s not Real Estate.

In case your interested about the rates;

This has been a very good week for mortgage interest rates and here is a sampling of rates you can use for the weekend. Quotes below are good for 60 days:

Conforming 30 year fixed rate - 5.875% 1 point OR 6.125% 0 point
FHA 30 year fixed rate - 5.75% 1 point OR 6% 0 point
MD CDA 1^st time homebuyer program - 5.75% 1 point 30 year fixed rate. For 40 year or IO just add .25 to rate

PS. If would like to contact Mike about a Loan, you can reach him at 301-502-5335.

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February 29, 2008 · Filed Under Frederick Misc

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Farewell to a Steeler Legend

Myron Cope passed away on Wednesday morning after 79 years of touching other peoples lives. He will surely be missed. I will always have some fond memories of my childhood listening to his Steeler game coverage and radio talk shows. Hmm haw.

Here’s what’s being said around the web about this legendary man…

“This is Myron Cope…on sports”

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February 29, 2008 · Filed Under Frederick Misc

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Short Sales - Managing Buyer Expectations

photo credit: liber

In my continuing effort to provide you with information about Short Sales and Foreclosures, let’s talk about the expectations from a buyer’s side. There have been many lost sales due the lack of understanding of the whole process by either the buyer or the buyer’s agent. I have mentioned before that buyers really want a deal in today’s market. For some reason they expect that deal to be in form of a short sale or a foreclosure. It might just be great deal…however, there is plenty of luggage that goes along with that great deal. The process can be trying on all involved, especially if they don’t know what they are getting into.

Short Sales will test your patiences - 3rd Party approval comes from the Loss Mitigation Department (which can be understaffed) The approval can take 30-60 days. The listing agent does not have control over this.
Seller help or concessions are almost nil - Banks do not like to give out anymore money. Prepare you finances ahead of time and don’t count on getting anything back. If there is a counter to your offer price, this will most likely delay the process another few weeks for yet another approval.
They don’t accept all offers and will inadvertently drag feet for more - Chances are, while your offer is submitted for approval other offers are still coming in to the Seller’s agent. Banks know that if they have reduced and reduced, that it will get to a point that multiple offers will come in (the house is still on the market.) Your Buyer’s agent should be able to evaluate the situation. Days on market, the price change history and how does the price compare to the market value of the rest of the homes. Banks have a secret pricing formula that will ultimately accept, but keep in mind, they want to reduce their losses as much as possible. So they hope for higher than yours.
What you see is what you get - The property is being sold “As-Is” no warranties, no repairs. You can get an inspection of the property but for “Information Only.” This inspection will most likely need to be done during the “3rd Party Approval” process. Because once this is approved, they want this to close and off the books. And the sellers can wait any longer either…you might be the only hope this family has before Foreclosure. Time is of the essences.
READ THE FINE PRINT - I say this, because some banks or listing agent addendum’s have wording to the effect of this will be a Quitclaim Deed. In other words they pass title to you, but it’s not necessarily a clear title. Clear title means you own it free and clear of past problems. You won’t get any Title Insurance on this property either. The risk is too high. Maybe there was a HELOC taken out on the property for $50,000 and it was not registered prior to closing…guess who just bought themselves a lien? Yep, you did.
Again, can’t stress the Patience part enough. To help with this, make sure your agent writes in an “Out” for you. His broker’s lawyer should have something written up to allow the buyer to back out of the contract prior to 3rd Party Approval. I know mine did.
Last advice, the offer should be clean, clear and complete. If it is unorganized and missing items, this will only create unnecessary delays. I would also suggest that is your best offer or reasonably close…see above about multiple offers, you might not have the chance to haggle a counter offer.

This is by far not the complete handbook on Short sales, but it is a peek in to the process. This process is sometime unique to each of the banks that hold the note. Do your homework and make sure you have a knowledgeable agent on your side. Short sale and foreclosure properties might not be the best deal on the block if you have to do $10,000s of worth of repairs to it.

Now go find your dream home.

The picture above was created using Photodropper plugin.

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February 27, 2008 · Filed Under Frederick Foreclosure, Frederick MD Real Estate

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Frederick Foto Friday

I am not much a star gazer, but I do enjoy looking at the beauty up there. Wednesday night was the Full Lunar Eclipse. This only happens every so often. The next one will be visible from the United States in 2010 (seems like a long way off, it’s not.) I figure I would seize the moment, freeze my butt off and take some pictures. I set up the tripod and pointed it toward the clears freezing skies. About every fifteen minutes I would go out and take a series of shots. The whole process took about three hours. The first shot was about 9 PM and the last one was about midnight. ~~Sorry about the one that in portrait view, I wanted try something different.~~