There are realtors® in Northern Virginia and South of Northern Virginia, that are noticing there are fewer foreclosures coming on the market. Reason, the banks and lenders are encouraging higher prices by putting out a few foreclosures or short sales at a time. This means that they are sitting on them. They are also renting out foreclosures, again waiting until home prices increase.

This means that the great prices that investors were buying homes, is no longer in the 2 digit thousands, such as 77,000 or 89,000 or 99,000. The home prices have increased because the inventory is being held back. Therefore, homes prices are 3 digits, such as 120,000 or 149,000 or 200,000, which are still bargains. There are too many multiple offers on one home, so that the market price increases. As an example, a house is listed for 149,000, there are multiple offers which drive the sales price to 179,000. Then the banks or lenders ask for a best and final offer, which means the buyers agent goes back to the buyers and ask, how high do you want to go. This then pushes buyers to offer more and the home could actually sell for 185,000. It is still a great sales price for a 3 bedroom, 1 & 1/2 bath, with a finished basement for this area. But, if you are only approved for 160,000 you are left out in the cold.

A contract that recently was ratified, started at $225,000. The home appraisal came in at $260,000,  while the best and final offer went up to $269,000. The bank said they would accept the final price based on the appraisal. When folks who bought at the beginning of the foreclosure down turn, purchased these same homes for $325,000 and up sales prices. The homes, now are inching up to that $300,000 and above sales price which would then give those who purchased in the $260,000 range, equity. This is a fairly new subdivision with homes that are 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 2 car garage and finished basements. Given a few years more and these homes should go for $360,000 to $389,000 or a little higher. They will never return to the sales price of $425,000, $475,000 or more until a few more years pass, if then.

There is hope out there, but it will be some years before the upward turn of the market starts to appear.

You must have a great credit score and down payments of $20,000 to as high as $50,000 to bring the loan payments $1569 or higher. Investors can purchase 4 or more homes for resale or rentals. Homeowners can purchase a second home at a lower sales price and rent out their current home. There are criteria that must be met, but it can be done. First-Time Home Buyers still have the opportunity to take advantage of this market. If their credit is middlin, there are folks out there that are willing to direct them towards getting their credit score up to acceptable credit scores. The acceptable credit score starts at 620. 

Thanks for visiting our blog

We have heard a lot about Facebook this week and viruses, we were wondering what is going on?

It doesn't matter what age you are, someone is out there, has already planned a scheme to take your money by any means necessary. Even the tech savvy internet folks who are communicating through social networks are in trouble. Something that started on the premise that folks can communicate with each other by internet has turned into a nightmare. You can gain friends by the same profession as yourself, even let people learn to trust you to do some business together are some of the benefits of social networks. You can also find long, lost acquaintance(s), family and so on. So now you can stay in communication with them. You can share photos, share laughs and triumphs with each other.

AARP has an article in the June 2009 AARP Bulletin, page 16 about Hackers joining social networks and really doing harm to some folks. The article is written by Sid Kirchheimer, who is the author of Scam-Proof Your Life. (AARP Books/Sterling)

Yes, we are in that age bracket, but it wouldn't do any hackers any good to try to figure out our age because if you tried to steal our identity, you would send all the information you gained back to us. You may even say: "Hey, we have some scams you can try and get some money for yourselves!"

We're in that group of Realtors® that are struggling to hang in there. We came in at the end of the fast-moving high market and needless to say, we were not a part of those who had saved for the bad times. Therefore if you haven't money saved up to go into real estate, it is shocking the expenses required to get just one person started. The guesstimate is you need $6000 to start, so double that figure and we were in trouble from the start.

This all goes to say: Hackers beware of us, our identity will hurt you. (Sometimes, I crack my own self up) You can't get money from our friends because they don't have any either. With the market as bad as it is now, our deals are going as long as six months or more and they still haven't closed, yet. You see our Facebook is for Realtors®, Sellers, Buyers, Renters who we can communicate and share information. Maybe send some referrals out their way, if we have clients moving there and stuff like that. We're just giving you a fair warning: "HELP, WE ARE IN TROUBLE AND WE NEED MONEY FROM YOU HACKERS!"

You see, what these hackers are doing is:

1. Taking private information from a person's Facebook profile and any information they can find in comments from friends and impersonating the person.

2. They close off your account and if you have a mate and there's information on the comments that you share with each other, her account will be attacked as well.

3. Change the passwords, so the person cannot communicate to their friends: "Hey, some folks have closed our accounts, so that we cannot say to you - be careful. Don't answer anything that comes from us because it has been hacked."

4. Then the Hackers put a message: "YOUR FRIEND IS IN URGENT NEED OF HELP!"

5. The Hackers have enough information about you to make your friend say to him/herself: "I got your back."

6.You as a friend don't know, you think this is for REAL. You'll definitely come to the aid of your friend that's without money in another country. What are friends for?

This is where the virus comes in by downloading a program that these criminals can imitate your keystrokes. Once they have access to your computer, when you come online, they can gather all sorts of information. We have a virus protection program that instantly tells us if someone has a cookie on our machine that is trying to communicate with some unknown program from who knows where. You can click and stop it in its' tracks.

And listen to this, there's a virus spelled Facebook backwards is Koobecaf that attacks your computer with a deadly infection when you very innocently click on a video link as many of us do. It gets all of your personal information and then tries to fake you out of money. Now, you know someone was thinking this up while we were sleeping.

Now, here is where we have a problem with the figures that a spokesman for Facebook related. It is less than 1% of the 200 million users that encounter "security issues" over a number of years. That sounds really small when it is put like that, so-o-o say-ay-ay, we were in that 1%, this means that a total of 20,000 folks have had "security issues." And say-ay-ay that your "security issue" involved being defrauded of, oh let's say, $1200.00, does that hurt you in your pocketbook where you definitely had other uses for that money? Or say-ay-ay, your friend, who hasn't done anything to anyone, who innocently is conned out of say $1200, that you both are in such small numbers, we, that is to say a spokesman for Facebook intimated that they are doing great to the 1,980,000 who didn't get duped. We don't know about you, 20,000 people. Well 20,000 people are still a lot of people in our book. Just one person is the only one that has "security issues" is one too many to us.

Just an alert: OKAY, PEOPLE, LET'S BE CAREFUL OUT THERE. THE BEASTS ARE ON THE RAMPAGE.

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I just received a Telemarketing call on my cell. Today, all cell phone numbers are being released to Telemarketing companies. I know that last year we had registered our cell phone numbers with DONOTCALL. I went to www.donotcall.gov to re-register again.

I noticed that on this website they also have a Verify button so I clicked on that to verify if our cell phones are already registered. I entered the information to verify and I received the verification email that our cell phone numbers were registered on January 13, 2007. Therefore I should not be receiving Telemarketing calls on my cell phone. Now, we can say with conviction, when we receive one of those calls that this number is on the DONOTCALL registry.

Check to make sure your cell numbers are on that list or register them if you do not want to receive Telemarketing Calls. www.DoNotCall.gov

We have to be careful out there!

There are still 100% down opportunities for folks living in Virginia:

Two Different Mortgage Loans

1. VA 100% loans for prior and active duty military

2. USDA provides an Urban Rural Development Program offers 100% down of the appraised value of property. This would be of particular notice for those that live in South of NoVa™ Areas, where a good portion of homes are located in rural areas.

We find it amazing while riding around our area, way out in what would be considered "no man’s land" a brand new development is out there. Riding along two lane roads for miles and there they are. This is another good reason to think about moving into the South of NoVa™ Area. It’s a good opportunity to live the country life and have a touch of the city.

Note: There is easy access to the Washington Metropolitan Area via Commuter Parking Lots to catch buses or rides. Slugging is a great way to get to work from Prince William County areas of Woodbridge, Dumfries, Triangle, and Quantico; Stafford County including Fredericksburg, King George county and Spotsy (nickname for Spotsylvania. You can drive your car into work and pick up slugs (folks wanting to get to work without driving). There is a special area where slugs go and wait for a driver that needs 1 or more bodies to be able to use HOV. For those new to this area, HOV stands for High Occupancy Vehicles. It’s is a special lane on Interstate 95 to quickly get into the District (Washington, D.C.) and beyond for work and return home.

There is also VRE (Virginia Railroad Express) train. Park in the train parking lot or dropped off and take the train into D.C. and beyond (Virginia and Maryland).

For more information email:

tbroderick@gidservicesinc.com

or call: 540.659.6170 the office number for GID Services, Inc a Mortgage Brokerage.

or visit: www.gidservicesinc.com

and when you contact GID Services Inc. ask what GID stands for. You may enjoy the response.

We hope you can take advantage of one of these Loan Programs, if not, please check with your or a local realtor to find out what is available for a 100% Loan or ask your or a local realtor what mortgage company to contact to get this information.

Another Note: When it comes to Mortgage companies or banks you want to work with reputable ones because there is a lot of fly by night Mortgage companies out there that will take unfair advantage of you. If you fill out applications to a number of Mortgage companies and banks, be careful, every time one of these institutions draws a credit report your credit score will go down.

Sometimes, don’t you get the feeling that you can not win for trying?


Take care

Larry and Madeline

There are still 100% down opportunities for folks living in Virginia:

1. VA 100% loans for prior and active duty military

2. USDA provides an Urban Rural Development Program offers 100% down of the appraised value of property. This would be of particular notice for those that live in South of NoVa^TM Areas where a good portion of homes are located in rural areas.

We find it amazing while riding around our area, way out in what would be considered no man's land a brand new development is it out there. Riding along two lane roads for miles and there they are. This is another good reason to think about moving into the South of NoVa^TM Area. It's a good opportunity to live the country life and have a touch of the city.

Note: There is easy access to the Washington Metropolitan Area via Commuter Parking Lots to catch buses or rides. Slugging is a great way to get to work from Prince William County areas of Woodbridge, Dumfries, Triangle, and Quantico; Stafford County including Fredericksburg, King George county and Spotsy (nickname for Spotsylvania). You can drive your car into work and by picking up slugs (folks wanting to get to work without driving). There is a special area where slugs go and wait for a driver that needs 1 or more bodies in their car to be able to use HOV. For those new to this area, HOV stands for High Occupancy Vehicles. It's is a special lane on Interstate 95 to quickly get into the District (Washington, D.C.) and beyond for work and return home. There are HOV lanes on major highways throughout MD and VA.

There is also VRE (Virginia Railroad Express) train. Park in the train parking lot or be dropped off and take the train into D.C. and beyond (Virginia and Maryland).

For more information on these two programs email:

tbroderick@gidservicesinc.com

or call: 540.659.6170 the office number for GID Services, Inc a Mortgage Brokerage.

or visit: www.gidservices.com

and when you contact GID Services Inc. ask what GID stands for.

We hope you can take advantage of these Loan Programs, if not, please check with your or a local realtor to find out what is available for a 100% Loan or ask your or a local realtor what mortgage company to contact to get this information.

Another Note: When it comes to Mortgage companies or banks you want to work with reputable ones because there a lot of fly by night Mortgage companies out there that will take unfair advantage of you. If you fill out applications to a number of Mortgage companies and banks, be careful, every time one of these institutions draws a credit report your credit score will go down.

Sometimes, don't you get the feeling that you can not win for trying?

Take care

Larry and Madeline

  Click on button or here JustAskMadeline

Some of the warning signs listed below are systematic of normal teenage behavior. If you notice suddenly that more can be seen together and/or extreme in nature there could be a drinking problem.

Difference in the reaction to questions or just out of nowhere: temper outbreaks, irritability, and defensiveness.

School problems: skipping school and classes, low grades, could care less attitude about turning in homework, showing no respect to those in authority in the school, can not be controlled in the classroom, no respect to those who are older.

Attitude that I'm old enough to do what I want to and not follow anything their parents set down as to limits and restrictions.

Hanging out with a different crowd, when asked about previous friends - there's no comment or a shrug of a shoulder. When asked to bring the one's who they are currently hanging out with home so that you can meet them. You receive: "Why are you always on my back or into my business, don't I have the right to chose who I hang out with?"

Sluggish, hobbies or interests no longer hold your teen(s) attention, dressing like `Who done it' - sloppy, unkempt, no interest in life at all.

Intentionally or by accident finding alcohol or in your child's room, backpack or smelling it on their breath. *Young ones think that they have rights and going into their rooms or things is a breach of those rights. They don't pay rent, they don't buy food, they have no money to buy their entertainment wants, they don't buy their clothes and if it were not for their parents or guardians paying the rent or mortgage, they would have no where to live, under any or all of these so-called rights - they have none. * In some states if a teenager wants to run away from home and takes their clothes that they did not buy, they can be picked up for larceny.

Hard to remember what they were told by you the next day and forget about a week ago, it is difficult to concentrate or be focused, eyes are bloodshot, lack of coordination or slurred speech.

We must reiterate that some of these strange behaviors are just normal to being a teenager such as lack of memory or falling and stumbling over things. It is the combination of the above behavioral changes that parents must be on the lookout.

It is hard for some teenagers to believe that their parents or any adult knows anything.

There is nothing new under the sun, for many adults they have done that, been there and don't want to do any of it again. We do know what we are talking about and even if we never experienced it there is someone that we know who has.

Help

Focus Adolescent Services Phone# 410.341.4216

Call us and we will Listen to you, Answer your questions and Direct you to helping resources. http://www.focusas.com

Substance Abuse - Teenage Drinking. http://privateschool.about.com/cs/forparentsonly/a/teendrinking.htm

Substance Abuse - Teaching Teens to Cope. http://privateschool.about.com

Stop Underage Drinking Phone# 800.729.6686. http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/parents.aspx

We feel that teenagers should have the best of opportunities for a good life. We are troubled by what we see looking at our teenagers today. Where they hang out and what's going on at hang out places.

For all the young people out there who believe that drinking a lot of alcohol does not lead to adverse life changes.

Fact: Alcohol is a drug which can become addictive.

Fact: Alcohol can interfere with the growth function of the brain in young folks. It is obvious that drugs that affect the pleasure functions of the brain can also limit the growth of the brain in a young person. What drinking does to the brain is damaging to brain cells. If you are going to make it in this crazy world, you need all of your faculties that the brain produces for rational, focused thought.

Fact: Alcohol for a youth who starts drinking early can become a lifelong habit. Amazingly, young folks who start drinking at an early age are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence. It is hard to break from the dependence on alcohol because it makes the pain, thoughts, and actions dull into, not only no pain but I'm feeling good, my senses are heightened, and everybody likes me when I'm high. Then there comes the time when alcohol does not give the same buzz anymore, it's harder to get drunk to the point of oblivion. A friend suggests that you can get to a higher state of oblivion by trying hallucinatory drugs and the real hard stuff like crack, heroin, etc.

Fact: Alcohol drinking started at an early age may lead to the thought process that: "If I'm holding my own when hanging out with my friends, I surely can imbibe a lot more. You know, I can stop drinking anytime I want too." Majority of youth when binging means five or more drinks in the case of teenage boys and in the case of teenage girls, four or more drinks.

Fact: When young folks drink they are more likely to be victims of violent crime. Yes, things like rape, aggravated assault and robbery. Why? Peer Pressure. It's easy to pass out when drinking a lot of alcohol and waking up with no idea of what happened the night before or the blurry knowledge that something did happen that makes you feel sick such as being raped. High tolerance for alcohol is attained quicker for a teenager. So you need more and the more you need, the likely hood of doing something regrettable may happen, like contracting HIV, AIDS, Herpes, Sexually Transmitted Diseases. We know: "It will never happen to you!"

Fact: Drive drunk and physically damage yourself, passengers and there is always the possibility of causing many deaths even your own.

So you've heard this all before, just in case you need help call 540.741.3900 or go to www.snowdenmentalhealth.com

Alcohol Anonymous: www.aa.org

Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery Alliance of Virginia: www.saara.org

Just because this information is regional, it is for all teenagers and there is help out there for you.

Teen Help 411: www.child.net

Teenage Dating Abuse: www.loveisrespect.org

Teen Suicide Prevention: www.teendepression.org

Teens Helping Teens: www.teencentral.net

Hope this helps some teenager out there.

From grandparents of teenagers.

What Must You DO To Avail Yourself Of NACA's Program? The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America ("NACA")

Recently one of our clients received information about the NACA's program to assist homeownership. It seemed too good to be true, so I Goggled to find out who these folks are and do they really come through with what they claim.

It does help those who want to purchase a home, but you must have a good credit score. They will help you to repair your credit to purchase a home. For many people the program has worked out quite well. It may work out for you.

It is a non-profit organization. The folks that help are counselors and not lenders, so they do not originate the mortgage loan. Their focus is to help First-Time home buyers and those who do not own a home to be in a position to purchase. There is a wait. If you know that it takes more than 9 weeks ahead of time, you are better prepared to work with NACA.                                               

Here's a link that you might find of interest:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/charlotte/36954-has-anyone-used-naca-home-buyers.html

I found interesting information on the NACA website and here is where you see that you don't get something for nothing.

You cannot buy a home that is not on their service map. This means that if you want to purchase in area not covered in their service areas,  you can not use this program. I typed 22407 the closet service area is Washington, D.C. There is currently no NACA office within 20 miles of the Zip Code: 22407; however, there is one office about 52.53 miles away. The statement under General Require says you must  buy a home within the NACA service area.

The workshop is free. In order to participate in the program requires money and commitments.

To become a member, all members of the family must sign a Member agreement and authorization agreement, which you cannot access from the website to find out what they are.

When you go to see a Mortgage Consultant there is a fee you must pay $20 that is as of  the year 2007.  After you find your house you must now pay a fee of $50 a month between  5 or 7 years. What's up with that?

Just as we said at the beginning of this blog it sounds too good to be true. On their website is an explanation for this fee. Even on the website is a statement that many people say it sounds too good to be true, Wonder why? What does that tell you?  You get so much in return, according to the statements. Why would  you not become a member of NACA' program?

You must live in the house and that is not an unusual  request. As long as you live in the home, you must pay and be in this NACA's program. If you decide to go with another lender, NACA will put a lien on your home and there other methods that is included, so you know they mean business. There's more on NACA's website, please take the time to go through the site.

There is also a requirement that for 5 years you must participate in 5 or more groups a year that make the services free. That is the only way you can avail yourself of NACA's program. You can't just say that you will participate, you also must sign a Participation Pledge that you will do so.

Before you go to their free program coming to you, please check out NACA's website.

You don't get something for nothing.

We just read an article from a Realtor® magazine that is encouraging for Realtors®, sellers, and buyers in Virginia.

The fall of the subprime market has caused lenders to come up with strict guidelines for buyers to qualify to purchase a home using a conventional mortgage. Along with the Earnest Money Deposit which is required and is 3% of the sales price of the home, a down payment of 3% is also required. A home $250,000 would require $7500 Earnest Money Deposit and $7500 as a down payment Earnest Money Deposit shows the seller, listing agent and broker that the buyer is very serious about purchasing a home. The cost of closing is approx $12,000. Thus, you need a good credit score which is higher than required for the last few years. Our question is who has $30,000 saved to purchase a home? If you are living from paycheck to paycheck where is this money going to come from? You are not a bad person or some reckless individual (as some would have you to think) for living from paycheck to paycheck, a lot of us are living the very same way.

There is a program for First-Time home buyers who live in Virginia, to help them to purchase a home. For a while the program was not available, but has now been revamped and ready to help. It is called (VHDA)
Virginia Housing Development Authority. They had to get rid of the FlexAlt and Step loans which enabled First-Time home buyers who fell below the accepted credit score to purchase homes through the subprime market.

Don't feel bad as some folks believe that you are pretty much a criminal if you have less than stellar credit score, it happens good people like you are out there struggling. Some mistakes could have been made when first coming out of high school. All of a sudden all of thees credit card applications start flying in. As that young person, you have your first job, you can now go out a buy a car. Oh, yes, you also receive all of those car dealer incentives to come and get you a car that has just come out on the market. You go and do all of these things not knowing when those bills start pouring in and you don't have the money to pay them all, your credit takes a big hit. You had no idea this could happen and now years later when you try to purchase a home, you can't because of your low credit score.

Like a number of programs to help locally to purchase a home already required First-Time home buyers to attend a home buying class before these buyers could receive help. The VHDA now requires that the First-Time home buyer must attend Intro to Homeownership class. Don't give up First-Time home buyers, Virginia has programs to help you.

Amazingly as we have stated earlier in our blogs, the housing market in Virginia is different than other places. People are buying homes and many listing agents have a number of offers on one home, especially so on foreclosed homes. Virginia's economy is robust. Compared with other states in the country, Virginia's economy is among the strongest. There is a low unemployment rate which is supported by the Virginian companies that support the Federal Government. There is also the fact that Virginia's foreclosure rate is half that of the nation's rate of foreclosures. While the number of foreclosures across the nation have risen it is clear that Virginia's housing market has not risen as high.

 Thanks for reading this entry 

Don't let foreclosure be your lender's last step!

There is a lot of information out there on foreclosures. We are adding our suggestions too.

Life has become very complicated these days. One casualty is losing your home. There are a number of reasons that many are facing foreclosure such as:

•  Going to work, only to find out that you will be going home. You lost your job.

•  A medical emergency. Having to pay for medical treatment.

•  Finding one

•  Refinancing your home up to the hilt to pay for necessary bills such as a new motor or  your car, non-functioning water heater, furnace plumbing, etc.

You are falling behind paying your mortgage because of situations as above. What outcome are you facing by falling behind? Your lender can foreclose your home and then become the owner of your home. To what purpose? The lender would like to make some money back on their loan to you.

You are now facing a crisis, what steps can you take to keep your home?

Don't let anxiety choke your ability to think and we do not like the fact that we are in such an embarrassing position. We do indeed need to swallow our pride. There are many avenues before you, keep in mind that it is best for you not to have to foreclose and your lender does not want to foreclose either. Why? They have a large inventory of foreclosed homes and their staff is overwhelmed in trying to keep up with the wall of papers to foreclose. It is not in your or your lenders best interest to foreclose. It is far better to not foreclose and work with you to a point where you can keep your home and be able to make your payments.

First, find the telephone number for your lender and as soon as you can see that it is becoming harder to make those mortgage payments, CALL them!  There is nothing to be ashamed of - you have been doing the best you can, but now your situation has become overwhelming. It is in your best interest to contact your lender the sooner and not later.

Second, when the letters start coming in warning you of the danger you are in because of falling back in your payments DO NOT INGNORE THOSE LETTERS, give them a call to let them know about your dilemma. DO NOT IGNORE YOUR LENDER'S PHONE CALLS, only makes it look like you are hiding from them. Where is your mortgage payment going to come from? Are you going to make your responsibility disappear by ignoring it? Remember, your lender is not your enemy!

Put together all details about your financial situation such as:

* An explanation of your current financial circumstances.
* Details about your current income - pay stubs, alimony or other income
* A list of your household expenses with the bill statements

You can put your home up for a short sale or your lender may require you to do so. What is a short sale? You are trying to sell your home before foreclosure and it will be sold at or below the appraisal value of your home.

The lender will  have a BPO company contact an agent that does BPO's to conduct one of your home. A BPO is a broker price opinion of your home. The agent(s) are well qualified to give their opinion of the value of your home in today's market. They may be requested to do an exterior  opinon or an interior opinion based on the current market the value of your home.

They first get as much information about your home from resources such as MLS listings, tax reports, etc. Your home is compared with homes in your area that have the same number bedrooms, baths, garage(s) or with the homes that have features similar to your home. These are compared with homes that have been sold within the  last 90, 180+ days and homes that are currently active plus the living area square footage. The opinion may include what would the house sell for within a specified time period, or are repairs required, how much it would cost the bank or mortgage company to repair the homeand whether the house should be repaired, should the market price be along with the as-is market price among other questions.

If you are selling  your home as a short sale your agent can also do the comparisons to guide you with your asking price. When an offer comes in your agent(s) will go over the contracts and have you sign them for ratification and forward the contracts to your lender to select and process it.

Always have good communication with your lender and work to keep it open.

There's more you can do and we will do a part II