Tip of the Week: Fixing a Smelly Dishwasher

Tip of the Week: How to Freshen a Stinky Dishwasher. If you have a dishwasher that is getting a little sniffy or is showing some staining, pick yourself up a few packets of Kool-Aid brand unsweetened lemonade (I’m not trying to plug the brand here, but I have found that their packet recipe works better than the others). What you need to do is empty a packet into the soap dispenser; if you’re one of the lucky ones and your dishwasher has the little supplemental dispenser, put some in there as well. Now run the EMPTY dishwasher through a full cycle and you should be amazed. The result? Clean and lemony!

Posted By: Chrissy Doremus, U.S. Inspect Blog

DECADE OF DAMAGE- ITS YOUR CREDIT WHICH IS BETTER A SHORT SALE OR FORECLOSURE?

A DECADE OF DAMAGE- ITS YOUR CREDIT, WHICH IS BETTER A SHORT SALE OR A FORECLOSURE?

Homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments experience a wide range of emotions. This is a horribly stressful time. An unexpected illness, loss of a job, reduction of income, or a divorce are all financially life changing situations which are hardships.  Add to that the constant bill collector calls, and having to make difficult decisions of which bills can be paid and when, can make thinking clearly even more difficult.  

Compassion does not come easily for lenders attempting to collect on bad debt. The downturn in the housing market, home deflation, and foreclosures at historic high rates mean distressed homeowners are not alone. There are literally millions of them and more coming int he near future.

So which is better a short sale or a foreclosure?

A foreclosure will cause a decade if damage to your credit report. Which for a younger home owners may not be catastrophic but for a mature homeowner could be disastrous.  A short sale is an agreement between borrower and lender to settle the debt for less than is owed. It is a negotiation.  It will reduce your credit score for 12 to 18 months, but not decimate it.

Frustration leads to irrational acts.  So what are the alternatives?

You can "Let the bank have it"    

 

And take the hit on your credit for a decade.

Or

You can consider a Short Sale.   A short sale is a negotiation between the borrower and lender in which the lender may agree to accept less than is owed against the property it hold the mortgage lien against.

 

Consider the consequences.  Think long term.  A short sale may give you an opportunity to settle the debt sell the home and regroup.  There are consequences.  A lender can ask you to make a contribution to offset the loss (if your financial documents show you have the ability to do that), they may ask for a deficiency judgment, or they forgive the debt in areas very hard hit with high foreclosure rates. For 12-18 months there will be a drop in your credit score averaging about 50 points. You can be eligible for a loan provided you stay current on your other loan obligations in as little as two to three years.

In A foreclosure, the damage to your credit rating will leave a stain for ten years.  The damage to your credit score ranges from 250-300 points typically for three years. Making you ineligable for new loans from most lenders.

Before you just give up, talk to a professional.  As a Certified Short Sale Resource Specialist (SRF), and Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) together we can work through your options and look for solutions which will help you the most in achieving your long term goals.  Foreclosure hurts. Frustration is understandable.  Make informed decisions.

St. Cloud Realtor Allison Stewart,                                                                                

Real Estate Broker,                                                                                                 

 Certified Short Sale Foreclosure Resources (SFR)

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE)

St. Cloud Homes & Land,LLC               www.floridahouseinfo.com                                                                                                          407-616-9904

 

Stop and Think before You plan to Change Your Credit Scores!!!!!

Credit is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES IN getting a loan today. 

Time and time again, I'm called by a client who says "I PAY MY BILLS ON TIME, BUT MY PEOPLE SAY MY CREDIT STINKS....

Maybe I'll just pay off my credit cards today.....

No, No, No, No Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!" 

Truthfully, there is more to a credit score than just making your payments on time or paying off your credit.  In fact paying off all your credit today could be a bad move.  Needless to say, I've broken this down so that the complexities of mortgage credit scoring can be understood by the consumer.  I reference this a lot when consulting clients.  With this information you can self-analyze your situation to make sure that you monitor your scores or raise your scores to where you want or need them.  In other words, this serves as a roadmap to building a good credit report.

 Here are all 5 factors in the order of importance:

 1)  Payment History has a 35% impact. Paying debt on time and in full has a positive impact, and late payments, judgments and charge-offs have a negative impact.

 2)  Outstanding Credit Balances have a 30% impact. Debt ratio of outstanding balance to available credit is important.  Keeping that below 50% is wise and below 30% even wiser. It is never a good idea to close an account; the debt ratio will go up and the number of seasoned lines will decrease. Pay outstanding debt down as close to zero as possible and evenly redistribute the remaining balance among the open lines. The increased interest incurred by moving a balance from a 0% card to a 23% card will be minimal relative to what the increased mortgage debt might be with a low credit score. Hitting the maximums of available credit can be very negative. It may be worth calling and asking the credit company to increase your available credit to lower the debt ratio, provided they can do so without a hard credit inquiry. 

 3) Credit History has a 15% impact. The length of time a particular credit line has been opened is important. A seasoned borrower is stronger. 

 4)  Type of Credit has a 10% impact. A mix of auto loans, credit cards and mortgages is positive, rather than a concentration in credit cards only. 

 5)  Inquiries have a 10% impact. Hard inquiries for credit will negatively impact the score. Auto and mortgage inquiries receive special treatment and 20 inquiries can be made in a 14-day period for auto or mortgage and will be treated as only 1 inquiry. The maximum number of inquiries that will reduce the score is 10. Any inquiries beyond that [11+] in a six -month period will have no further impact on the borrower. Each hard inquiry can cost 2-50 points on a credit score.

Make sense?  It does to me.  File this away in your back pocket.  Every time you want to save 10% on the flashing blue light special for signing up for a new card....well...you may be paying a lot more than that with all of your other credit if your scores drop. Know your facts, call me if you want to talk further on how this may affect you.

Larry Bettag - Regional Vice President, Midwest Region

Illinois FHA Specialist

630-417-7172

  

               

An Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee

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Speechless Sunday, 13 Days and Counting Until Michigan Kickoff

Get To Know Your Air Flow

It is probably true that on half the home inspections I do the filter is installed backwards.  It is important that the filter be installed the right way!  Why?  Because one side is stronger and meant to handle the air flow's pressure.  There is an arrow drawn on every filter to tell you the air flow direction.  Put in backwards, and as it gets loaded with dust, the filter can literally get sucked into the system and even cause damage to the fan.

Someone took the time to draw which way the filter should be installed.

That way, when it is put into the slot, you only have to put the arrow on the filter in the direction of the arrows drawn on the return duct.

What if the arrows are drawn wrong?

THESE ARROWS ARE POINTING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!

How do you know which way the air blows?

The air will always be drawn TOWARD the blower.  From the blower it gets heated in the furnace or cooled on the AC coils.

So the air-flow arrows on the filter should point TOWARD blower.

This unit is 5 years old.  It was filthy.  The ducts in the house were filthy.  Could it be the bad information on the arrows contributing to that?

My recommendation:  If you don't know which way the air is blowing, put a piece of toilet paper on the end of a pair of pliers and stick it into the slot.  See which way the paper is drawn.  That is your air flow direction!  Don't believe me?  Check it yourself.  AND THEN DRAW YOUR ARROWS THE RIGHT WAY!

Two Sides To Every Story

9056 Emerson, Saline Michigan (short sale closes)

A Very Sad Last Tweet

If you are a news scanner, like I am, you probably saw that Dr. Frank Ryan (Plastic Surgeon to the stars) was killed on Monday, August 16, 2010 when his car drove over a cliff near his home in Los Angeles. At the time of the first report, the article I read said that Dr. Ryan did not drink or use drugs.  It turns out now, however, that he was Tweeting about his dog at the time of the crash (Heidi Montag Plastic Surgeon Frank Ryan Texting Before Fatal Crash).

It is really hard to know what will get people to change this behavior. While it is very sad that this man died while texting/Tweeting, I hope that the cause of his death will get a lot of publicity. Especially for teens, and even busy executives, who are tied to their Blackberries, iPhones and Droids, the need to be in constant contact is virtually addictive.

The lure of the vibrating phone is one that is hard for all of us to turn away from, but it is critical that we continue to talk about the threat to personal and public safety caused by texting, emailing and tweeting while driving.

As the new school year begins, make a vow (if you haven't already done so) to put down the phone when you drive. If you don't have the will power to at least wait until the next stop light to check it, put it somewhere beyond your reach and make it impossible to check while driving. 

This sad story shows that a person can make other wise health choices and still end up dead because the lure of the instant communication is too great.

Please remember this story the next time you  'just want to see who that email is from.'

Holly Weatherwax, Associate Broker

EcoBroker,Graduate of Realtors Institute,Accredited Buyers Representative,e-pro

If I can assist you with the purchase or sale of property in Northern Virginia, please visit my website: www.greatexperience.net , my blog Real Estate and Reston or email me at hollyweatherwax@mris.com. My direct number is 571-643-4902.

I believe buying or selling real estate should be a GREAT EXPERIENCE!

 

 

10505 Hadley Rd, Gregory, Michigan 48137

35 W. Phillips, Milan, Mi 48160 (short sale)