Scott Mactavish, a former Hollywood insider and US Navy vet, will be screening his film GOD AND COUNTRY this Memorial Day Weekend, Sunday and Monday at the Elks Club at Darden Towe Park in Charlottesville, VA.
5:00 pm both days.
Admission is free and open to the public. A Q&A session with the director will follow.
More to know:
GOD AND COUNTRY: Untold Stories of the American Military A Scott Mactavish Film Run time: 55 minutes
American troops have a long and noble tradition of humanitarian service. From handing out candy bars and care packages to street children, to offering medical and dental care to the poor, to building churches and orphanages in third world countries... these American men and women commit thousands of hours to the service of others around the world, without expectation of gratitude or praise. GOD AND COUNTRY examines these heroes and their missions, and reveals a side of the military rarely mentioned in the mainstream media.
The film also profiles the extraordinary character of Bradley T. "Brad" Arms, a Charlottesville, VA native and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brother at the University of Georgia who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and ultimately gave his life so that others may live free of tyranny. Brad was a Marine, but also a man of strong faith who dedicated his life to the service of his fellow man.
Several years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a campaign to raise public awareness of the importance of individuals knowing their family health history. Since many diseases can run in families (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc.), knowing your own family's history could help prevent your getting the disease and even save your life. For more information, visit www.hhs.gov/familyhistory. At your next family reunion, you'll have plenty to share!
By the way, here's an interesting tid bit about the American health insurance crisis. According to the AARP Bulletin*, from 2005 to 2006, there was an increase of 2.2 million Americans without health insurance coverage.
We've all seen changes in the housing market lately. If you purchased a house in 2004-05, your equity is growing slower than expected due to buyers' market conditions. In a sellers' market, equity tends to grow at a higher rate of return. In 2003-05, sales prices grew about 10%-16% in the Charlottesville and surrounding areas. It tapered off to about 6% in 2006 and 2% in 2007. This shows a pattern of a housing boom for 2 years, a correction period for 2 years, now it's a more "normal" market.
It's a great time to buy if you plan on staying in your house for at least 5 years. Supply and demand determines market and price. With too much supply, buyers become more choosey or shy away from buying, prices drop, and number of Days on Market (DOM) increases. If not enough supply, demand increases, houses may get multiple offers, and prices increase.
In 2006-07, we saw an increase in supply and a decrease in demand for houses, compared to 2004-05, resulting in a decrease in # of sales and longer DOM. Homes are now averaging 30 days longer DOM than in 2005.
There's so much more I could share, but it may be better to send you a "market snapshot" of your neighborhood to show you how your home compares. If you're interested, contact me. Also, if you or anyone you know may be thinking of buying, selling, or investing in real estate, please let me put my experience to work for you or your friend.
Thinking about remodeling your home? Many homeowners don't think about remodeling until they're ready to sell. This is wise, but, only in part. Remodeling recovery rates were down in 2007 from 2006 due to rising remodeling costs and slowing home appreciations. Currently, if a remodel is recently completed before listing it for sale, the recoup rate ranges from 60-86%, depending upon the project. This may change a homeowner's perspective - make the decision to do the remodel job based on your own personal enjoyment first, but, get an experienced Realtor's advice regarding the remodel project of choice for resale purposes in the future.
Remodeling "cost versus value" varies widely depending upon other factors in the house and the surrounding area: location, market conditions, competition, condition of the rest of the house, values of neighboring properties, and wise remodeling project decisions to maximize the rate of return. For instance, a home office remodel project will only yield about a 60% rate of return upon sale on a $25k investment. In our region, the highest remodeling recoup rates have been (approx.): $11k fiber-cement siding replacement at 89%, $9k wood deck addition at 85%, $20k kitchen remodel at 83%, and $54k basement remodel at 81%. Bottom line - keep your house up every year that you live there and it won't be so overwhelming when it's time to sell.
Buying? Consider it a 5+ year investment and let me put you in touch with a reputable lender. Selling? Contact me if you'd like a "market snapshot" of your neighborhood to show you how your home compares.
According to Peter Cefarati of Mahone Mortgage, LLC, financial freedom gives you more control over your life in times of economic uncertainty and rising costs. That means owning enough working assets to support you, so you have time to enjoy life, family, helping others, and give your children and grandchildren a head start to their own financial freedom. Over the years, Peter has helped many families use their real estate financing as a tool to grow their wealth.
One very viable solution to finding financial freedom is paying off your house.IF I COULD SHOW YOU A PROGRAM THAT COULD HELP YOU PAY OFF YOUR MORTGAGE IN 1/3 TO 1/2 OF THE TIME ...
1) Without refinancing your current mortgage, 2) Without changing your monthly payment, and 3) With little or no change to your current lifestyle
... WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED?
Would you like to see if you can be pre-qualified for it?
Contact me for more information: hash@kw.com, (434) 531-5351.
For an OVERVIEW of this program, go to www.U1stFinancial.net/CynthiaHash, then click on "Money Merge Account Overview" in the middle of the page. Turn up the volume and take 15 minutes of uninterrupted time to see how you can pay off your mortgage much earlier than you thought. For a FREE,No Obligation Analysis, click on "FREE Money Merge Account Analysis".
Don't wait another day ... you're paying too much interest on your mortgage!
A broad coalition of organizations has come together to plan a regional housing conference to grapple with issues and develop an action agenda for our region. The Regional Housing Conference "Finding Common Ground" will provide opportunities to participate in in-depth discussions on a variety of topics, including:
Emerging housing approaches
Density & Sprawl
Community Design
Possible Partnerships
Community Land Trust
Proffers
Lending and Finance
Mixed Use/Mixed Income
The keynote speaker for the event will be Joseph R. Molinaro, Manager of Smart Growth Programs for the National Association of REALTORS® in Washington, DC. In this capacity, he manages NAR's Smart Growth efforts, which include REALTOR® training, technical assistance on land use regulation to state and local REALTOR® associations, voter surveys on growth issues, research, and publication of the On Common Ground magazine.
Event: Finding Common Ground - Regional Housing Conference Date: Thursday, March 13, 2008 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Place: Covenant Church, 1025 E. Rio Road, Charlottesville Contact: Billie Campbell, 979-7310 ext 230, bcampbell@tjpdc.org Website:http://www.housingconference08.org/
Have you ever wondered if an e-mail you have received is the truth or a scam? For example, are there really organ thieves out there stealing peoples' kidneys. Have you recently won a foreign lottery you don't remember entering? Is the IRS really paying people to take their on-line survey? Or, are students who take the SAT really awarded 200 points for spelling their names correctly?
With the barrage of e-mails we receive every day, it's difficult to tell which ones are true and which are a waste of disk space. Some of them give us a good laugh, while others can actually be used against us.
In the case of the Nigerian scam (and there are many variations of it), you receive an e-mail from a wealthy dignitary, government official or family member of such who needs help moving money from their country to an American bank. For your assistance, you are promised a hefty percentage. This is actually a real and dangerous fraud that has duped people out of thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars. It plays on peoples' "get something for nothing" mentality.
Perhaps you have received an e-mail from your financial institution or credit card company indicating "unusual activity" on your account and the need for you to log in and unlock it. Or, a request to re-verify your information. This is a phishing scam intended to steal your personal, non-public information, which can lead to identify theft.
A good rule of thumb is, if you did not initiate contact with your financial institution, do not reply to an e-mail (or even a phone call) until you verify it is legitimate. Credit cards and banks will NEVER ask for your personal information via e-mail.
Before you act on, forward or even believe something you receive by e-mail, check out http://www.snopes.com/. Snopes covers the latest scams, urban legends, fallacies, misinformation, old wives' tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip and similar items being propagated through e-mail. Not only will you be wiser, but friends and family will thank you for not clogging up their in-boxes with false information.
Please visit my website and blog at www.FindHomesInCharlottesville.com for information on housing and demographics in Charlottesville, VA, as well as helpful information on a variety of topics.
A recent study conducted by AARP indicates that less than half of women baby boomers have begun planning for their parents' care as they age.
The study, according to Laura Skufca of AARP Knowledge Management, found that:
Approximately 2/3 of the 629 survey respondents have talked with their parents about living independently as they age. Only 40% have actually begun to plan. 2/3 also believe their parents could afford assistance.
Only 17% of respondents considered their parents moving into a nursing home. The remainder mentioned their parents moving in with them or providing paid help to ensure continued independent, in-home living.
More than half of those surveyed have begun considering their own long-term needs as they age.
For the complete article, visit The Mature Market by clicking here. For more articles and resources for seniors and their caregivers, visit my Caregivers Library at http://www.cynthiahashcares.org/.
For those of you in the Charlottesville, VA and surrounding areas, there is a very important conference coming up that will focus on critical housing issues. I'd like to invite everyone who can to attend this Regional Housing Conference.
DATE: Thursday, March 13, 2008 TIME: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. LOCATION: Covenant Church, 1025 E. Rio Road, Charlottesville, VA 22901 CONTACT: (434) 979-7310 or e-mail info@tjpdc.org
This conference will focus in-depth on issues such as: emerging housing approaches, density and sprawl, community design, possible partnerships, community land trust, proffers, lending and finance, mixed use/mixed income. If you are a Realtor, business person, public official, lender, builder, developer, architect, site planner, consumer, community leader or just a concerned citizen, you need to attend this important Regional Housing Conference. I hope to see you there!
A loan consultant I work with sent me an article about opportunities in 2008. He recently saw Donald Trump on TV answering real estate questions and said that Trump believes residential real estate prices will bottom out sometime this summer and that people should start actively pursuing the buying process now.
Is this a good time to invest in real estate? Following is a summation of a talk show done by Jean Chatzky, Financial Editor and a TODAYShow.com contributor, with reporting by Arielle McGowen.
Interview of Robert Kiyosaki ("Rich Dad, Poor Dad"). According to Kiyosaki, now is as good a time as any to buy. Many experts continue to predict a decline in the housing market, but according to Kiyosaki and Trump, plummeting prices make buying more lucrative. But, investing in rental properties requires know-how, good credit, knowing your local market and an understanding of what you're getting into. To turn today's market to your advantage:
GET YOUR CREDIT IN SHAPE - If you have less than stellar credit, take the next 12 months to improve your credit score before investing. Pay your bills on time, turn down offers of new credit and reduce outstanding balances.
STUDY UP - Before you plunge into real estate investing, read up-to-date books on the subject. Then, visit in person any areas in which you want to invest. You can also look in the classifieds. Look at a variety of properties. What are they renting for? How much is insurance? Property taxes?
SPOT A GOOD INVESTMENT - Look for areas where you, yourself, would be willing to live. Look at crime rates and walk neighborhoods during the day and after dark. What is the age of the property? Get an inspector who can spot structural problems. If your inspector finds any issues, depending on their severity, you may be able to use them to negotiate a lower price. If too severe, you may want to walk away.
START SMALL - For example, consider a duplex. Live in one side and rent the other.
FOCUS ON CASH FLOW - Think in terms of cash flow rather than capital gains, says Kiyosaki. Add up your mortgage, taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, then subtract that figure from what you can reasonably charge for rent. Whatever is left is your salary. (Hint: fixing things yourself can help increase your profit).
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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