YOU DID WHAT?!?! Five ways to disapprove your own mortgage

As most of us know, there are several basic criteria that are used to approve or disapprove a mortgage application. These include income, employment history, credit rating, debt-to-income ratio, property appraisal, etc. In metro-Atlanta, the typical mortgage application takes 3-6 weeks to process and, during this period, it is crucial that borrowers fully understand the process. If they don’t, they could inadvertently undermine their own application. Here’s how.

There are three principal players at the mortgage company – the loan officer (or mortgage originator), the loan processor and the underwriter. The loan officer takes the initial mortgage application from the borrower, reviews the credit report and other basic qualifications, provides information regarding loan programs, interest rates, etc. and advises the buyer of their loan options.

Once the application is complete, the packet is passed to the loan processor. This person is responsible for verifying information provided by the borrower, analyzing documentation, obtaining missing documents and generally ‘packaging’ the file. When the file is fully ‘packaged’, it is then sent to the underwriter.

The underwriter represents the final, and sometimes the most difficult, hurdle in the process. While all lenders want to lend (after all, it’s how

MCDonough



McDonough Courthouse with
Park in the Square in foreground.

 McDonough has matured to become one of the largest cities in Henry County. It is a city in which to live, work, play and worship. We are proud of our excellent schools, medical facilities (Henry Medical Center and a plethora of specialists located a stones throw from the hospital) and outdoor activities for the entire family. McDonough is also honored to have been designated as a "City of Character" and a City of Ethics" by the Georgia Municipal Association.

Strolling through the historic "square", you will find quaint shops as well as fantastic restaurants. Don't miss the annual Geranium Festival in May!



Henry County Justice Center
built in '2007



McDonough is the county seat for Henry County and is the location for our county courts.

 









McDonough City Hall - built in about 2005



Just off the McDonough Square,  you'll find the City of McDonough city hall.  One thing's for sure, a trip to the McDonough Square and it's surrounds will yield a ton of great and useful places to visit!

There are three outstanding golf communities in McDonough, Cotton Fields, Lake Dow and Eagles Landing (the former home of the ladies LPGA).  Check back for pictures of these areas.

McDonough is served by two zip codes - 30252 and 30253.

To find your dream home in the north-east part of McDonough, click here

To find your dream home in the southern part of McDonough, click here

The Big Downpayment Myth: Buying a home with little (or nothing) down

I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and, like all other major metropolitan areas, we had three television stations to watch – the ABC affiliate, the CBS affiliate and the NBC affiliate. Back then, kids played outside constantly because, frankly, there wasn’t much television that was worth watching. In the late 1960’s, cable entered the marketplace, followed by satellite. Suddenly, there were literally hundreds of channels to watch. Big improvement? Perhaps not.

Today there are hundreds of channels available to every household ,greatly increasing the flow of information. Unfortunately, much of it is inaccurate. To illustrate, let’s consider home mortgages.

Tune to CNBC, Fox Business Channel, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV or any other channel with a business orientation and within one hour, someone will tell you that the days of buying a home with little-or-nothing down are long gone. Absolutely not true! Here are three outstanding mortgage programs to consider.

Is the mold in my home toxic or harmful?

This and other interesting facts about mold can be found in a flyer provided by the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences through the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.

The most noteworthy item is Item #4 from pamphlet HACE-E-62 "Mold - Five of the most commonly asked questions about household mold, with answers."

Stockbridge City Detail

Stockbridge City Hall - Still under construction 6/2010

The City of Stockbridge is located in the northern part of Henry County, Georgia. It was founded May 15, 1821. The county has an area of approximately 331 square miles located in the Piedmont Section of northern Georgia and is surrounded by the counties of Butts, Clayton, Dekalb, Rockdale and Spaulding.


Stockbridge is conveniently located off of I-75, exits 228 and 224. Stockbridge is only 20 minutes to the airport and about 30 minutes to downtown Atlanta. Conyers in Rockdale County is less than 15 miles to the east.

The City has recently built a brand new City Hall in the heart of town.

Community pride runs strong with the annual Olde Stockbridge Days Festival in the summer where vendors will display and sell handcrafted jewelry, baskets, crochet items, and wooden roses to name a few. There will also be plenty of activities for the children such as pony rides, train rides, sand art, candy art, inflatables as well as a climbing wall.

Relax on those steamy summer nights with music in the park. Music In the Park is held in Memorial Park located at 106 Jennings Way, Stockbridge, Georgia from 7:00 – 10:00PM monthly April through October.

City information - Source:

http://www.cityofstockbridge.com/

To search for homes in stockbridge - click here.

Henry County Golf Course Communities

Life in the south wouldn't be complete for some folks without spending a good amount of time on the golf course.  Lucky for them.  There are several to choose from.  Stay tuned as I add photos and the information is "fleshed out".  In the meantime, if you have any specific questions that just can't wait, give us a call.  Call Carla at 678-637-3046 or Monty at 404-806-6871.



View Henry County Golf Communities in a larger map

Carla completes NAR Certification "Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource"

It's been several months, and this is kind of old news, but I moved this information off of my website and want to put it here for people to find easily....

Short Sale

Carla completes NAR "Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource" certification course.

These trying times call for specialized training. More and more, our clients and their friends and relatives find themselves unable to pay their mortgages and sometimes face foreclosure.

FHA MIP Charges coming in October

Click Here to view HUD Letter

Chaos at the Courthouse

Wow! So, on the first Tuesday of July, I went to the Henry County, Georgia, Court House to observe a foreclosure sale. Can you spell chaos?


Don't know how it is in other states, but here in Georgia, there was no organization to the sale. I got there early, not knowing what to expect.

Our court house is on a quaint square with roads leading north, south, east and west out of the square. Traffic is always heavy - really doesn't matter what time of the day you go through. It was probably 95 degrees when it started. I got there at 9:00 when it was only 80 degrees in the shade. But at 10:00, the sun had shifted and the steps were in the full sun. A crowd had started to gather at about 9:40. Soon, some people started to show up with boxes, briefcases, clipboards, etc. Some of them were dressed rather interestingly. The major law firm was represented by a man - I swear he was in a Hawaiian shirt, fishing had and cargo shorts. But I only caught a glimpse of him before he was swallowed by the crowd. Then there was a lady in a nice dress and I swear five inch, pointy-toed heels - (I didn't wear those when I was 20, let alone now - I'd get a nose bleed from the height if I didn't break an ankle first). Then there was a conservatively dressed, young lawyer with dress pants, long sleeved shirt and no tie - spoke in a monotone.

Consumer Centric Contact

Once upon a time, it was easy.  If someone wanted to contact us we would give them our phone number - office or home - and either they or I would initiate the call and if the other answered, guess what, we were communicating!  If they didn't get us or I them, a message would be left, either via a human and later via voice mail.  We even had pagers - not too long ago, and now, they've gone by the wayside.

Now, it's much more complicated.  There's email, twitter accounts, facebook, text messages, email messages, home phone (maybe), cell phones and office phones and efaxes.  So, when someone wants to communicate with you how do you keep in touch without missing some important information?  How do you get information to people in a way that's easiest for them?

 In the past year I worked with five clients who didn't have an email address, didn't have a smart phone, didn't have access to a fax.  Took a lilttle extra time, but I think the relationships were stronger because of more face-to-face time. You know what, we still got to the closing table.

Still Tasty, really?

Completely off topic for real estate, but maybe not. Check out this website:

Still Tasty

Some people, (present company included) keep things forever. We forgot we have them, either in the refrigerator or in the pantry.

So, as you get your house ready for sale, take a look at the pantry. Just like a closet, you don’t want it to look stuffed. So, go through your staples, your cereals, etc. and if you don’t know if it’s still good, check out the link above and, act accordingly.

Do you know how foreclosures affect neighborhoods?

Yes, there's the obvious. The grass gets tall, the home not only is abandoned, but looks abandoned. There's old newspapers in the yard.  And there's always the threat of people breaking in for nefarious activities or vanadalism that could spread to your home.

But monetarily, for every foreclosed home that shows up in your neighborhood, your property value will decline by 1%, initially.  But worst than that, when that foreclosure sells at a drastically reduced price, your values will tumble even further.

We have been faced with homes dropping in value by over 25%.  Example:  appraised for $268K in May only appraised for $210K in October; home appraised for $615K in May, sold for $400K the following year. It's not good and we're not out of the woods yet.

Buyer wants refrigerator and water heater needs to be serviced

What do these two things have to do with each other?

Well, "Buyer wants refrigerator", was an actual stip that a good friend of mine wrote years ago on a contract where she was representing the buyer.  So what!  I want a million dollars, but that's not gonna happen.

The second one, "Water heater needs to be serviced", was written on a special stip just the other day.  Well, maybe so... So what?

Neither of these stips say what has to be done, who's going to do it, by when, and who's going to pay for it. 

Your lawn and the first impression of your home

I remember when I was a little girl, I took biology in school and the teachers scared us to death about walking around barefoot.  They said we would get some dread disease that we could pick up by stepping on sidewalks and lawn that had icky stuff that would come in through our pores or cuts on our feet, etc.

Unfortunately, because of this, I never walked around barefoot on my dad's beautiful Kentucky Blue Grass lawn.  He took great pride in maintaining his lawn.  Back then, edgers weren't popular (or at least we didn't know about them) and we actually trimmed around the flower beds, driveway and walkway by hand with a little scissor.  I can't even imagine doing this now.  All I ever wanted was a nice lawn.  And now, my husband and I spend a small fortune (not really- about $55/treatment - 9 per year) to keep our Bermuda Grass weed free and thick.  I don't walk barefoot on it either!

The many hats of a real estate agent!

Many times, I sit with sellers and have to explain about the various hats I wear.  When we agree to list a home for a client, the client sometimes begrudges us our commission rate.  It's hard for outsiders to understand that when we begin representing them, we begin laying out large sums of money on their behalf for a home that may never sell.

Agetns end up wearing many hats.  The first hat we wear is that of an analyst.  While some agents use the PFA method (plucked from the air) for pricing a home, it is definitely not my style.  When someone brings raw data to the table (CMA printouts from the MLS or prints of recent solds) I just consider that raw data.  While pictures paint a thousand words, it's impossible to know, just by looking at a picture, how big a house is or how many bedrooms or baths are inside, or the finish quality of the interior or how old the HVAC system is and a myriad of other details.

Due Diligence, Simplified

The Georgia Association of Realtors (GAR), led by legal counsel Seth Weissman of Weissman, Nowack, Curry & Wilco, provides the forms used in the overwhelming majority of real estate transaction in Georgia. In particular, the standard Purchase and Sale Agreement contains a ‘due diligence’ paragraph which is often misunderstood by buyers and sellers alike. In truth, it’s very simple and tends to facilitate a smooth transaction for all parties.

As with most legal documents, the GAR Purchase and Sale Agreement has evolved over time. Prior versions attempted to assign some responsibilities to the buyer (i.e. home inspection, loan acquisition, etc) while assigning others (termite clearance, septic system certification, boundary marking, etc) to the seller. This sometimes resulted in misunderstandings between the parties, with important milestones going unmet or being performed hurriedly, just prior to closing.