Looking Out From the Garage: November 2009

I was talking with one of my mortgage guys a few days ago, and the subject of mortgage timelines came up… and there is still time to get your dream home for the holidays…  OK, not Thanksgiving… but Christmas is still possible for a few days… New Year’s is possible for about a week.

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But think about this for a minute…

You could start the New Year with a New Home…

Happy New Home!

Don’t forget, there are a couple of presents that you might find under your tree…

• Uncle Sam is giving a First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit of up to $8000 or Move Up Buyer’s Tax Credit up to $6500.
• Uncle Sam also has favorable treatment for mortgage interest…  It is deductible for many home owners, and can results in a tax savings.
• Don’t worry, Ken Cook & I have something to put in the stocking, too.  We are offering “Pink Slip Protection” (Job Loss Insurance to pay your mortgage) for a limited number of qualified buyers.

There are some great deals in the market right now, and around December and early January, the deals generally get better.  “Casual” buyers aren’t in the market, so sellers have to compete for the serious buyers.

Getting a house around the holidays can be the gift that keeps on giving…

When we get out into the world, there are two main methods of getting from Place A (where you are) to Place B (the portion of the world that you are getting out to). 

• Just get it done... 
  
• Enjoy the ride...

Sometimes, you can blend the two...  But not often. 

I have done both, and absolutely prefer "enjoying the ride".  But sometimes that isn't possible...  We've all been there. 

A while back, I worked retail management.  I decided to surprise my mom in VA by showing up on Christmas.  So, after working from 6:00am to 6:00pm, I made the 500+ mile trip from Atlanta.  I did it in a touch over 8 hours.  The only stops were when the car needed fuel.  There was no joy in Mudville for the drive, despite the challenge. 

I also drove up one year for a reunion and took two days for the trip.  It involved two ferry rides, time relaxing on the beach and more than a couple of rolls of film.  I arrived more relaxed than when I started. It defined the trip. 

I woke up this morning outside of Washington, DC.  It was cold, and the start was later than planned.  Despite that, We had a drive through rolling farmland, and a ferry ride across the Potomac at White's Ferry.  It was certainly the type of road trip that is about the ride...  We justified it as "avoiding the traffic on I-95. 

After that, we flew down I-81, I-77 and I-85 back to Atlanta. 

Don't forget to enjoy the ride...

Maybe there isn't time to always catch the boat or browse the local shops, but that doesn't mean you should forget the options... and sneak them in even when you almost don't have time.  

The kids will like it, and you will find so many more cool places and hidden gems. 

And don't forget that the restuarants that are around the corner from home aren't always the best places to go when you are someplace new...  Check out some local eats, too...  You have to eat, right?

I have been VERY curious about Posterous.  I have watched about it, written about it, listened about it and played with it.  But I have really "used" it much. 

I'm a Man with an Excuse Plan...

While everyone else is shopping for nifty junk they don't need for people they may not like that much, I will be road tripping with a friend of mine.  Atlanta to Hampton, VA on Black Friday... then Hampton to Gaithersburg, MD on Saturday... and Gaithersburg back to Atlanta on Sunday. 

Pat and I have done a fair number of road trip together, but previously only a few people have been able to "share" in the experience.  We have made videos... shot pictures... even taken notes.  But never before have we posted the lowlights highlights of our road trips. 

In an effort to create new habits and change old ones, I will attempt to document the trip via Posterous.  I will be posting pictures, videos and even good old impressions via the typed word... 

Feel free to follow along...  I'd love to know that there are a few people paying attention...  It'll keep me honest. 

LaneBailey.Posterous.com

Honestly, Thanksgiving is one of my least favorite holidays.  I love the idea behind it, and can fully support being thankful for all of the wonderful things in my life... but I think that is something that we should remember daily, not just remember because there is a meal connected to it. 

And about the meal...  I'd rather have Japanese...  A little sushi and some hibachi.  Steak, shrimp, fried rice and a coupel of tuna rols with wasabi...  Or maybe a juicy steak...  Southwestern Pasta with chicken? 

Turkey, dressing, cranberry (canberry?) sauce, pecan pie, pumpkin pie...  I don't care.  In fact, one of the best Thanksgivings ever for me involved pizza. 

A few guys I worked with that were single, or single for the weekend with family out of town, all got together and ordered pizza.  We watched a few movies, played some video games and just hung out.  For that day, we were family. We cracked jokes about ourselves and our spousal equivalents...

Another of my best Thanksgivings was with my grandmother after she got to the point of not wanting to cook.  We got a big bucket from the Colonel the day before and just heated everything up.  Prep took about 20 minutes and clean-up about 5.  The rest oft he time was about the family.  We mostly just hung out and enjoyed each other's company.  My grandmother told embarrassing stories about ancestors... 

The point is...

This isn't a day about food...  That is just a distraction.  It isn't even a day about "thanks"... we should do that every day.  It is a day about being with people we care about and enjoying the time we have together. 

I walked with my boys a few miles this morning.  My wife went to a movie with her mother.  Then we all got together and played and laughed and "were here"...

Happy Thanksgiving.  Don't stress about the bird.  If it caught fire and smoked everyone out of the house, it will make a great story in a few years...

The Gwinnett County Commission is looking at an offer to privatize Briscoe Field.  Currently, the county owns and runs the airpost, near Lawrenceville, off GA316.  It has an operating budget of about $1,000,000/year.  All of the money generated in fees and leases have to be plowed back into the budget for the airfield.

If it was leased out to a private entity, the company leasing the airfeild would be responsible for all costs, while at the same time they would be paying the county for the privilege.  So, instead of a budget expenditure of just over $1m, there would be a payment... although we don't know the amount of that payment yet.

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from LaneBailey.com

image courtesy of Aleksander Markin

My son had a hockey mini-camp today with the Atlanta Thrashers.  He has another one coming up tomorrow, too... He hasn't had the opportunities to skate that he had over the summer, or even last year... his skills are slipping a little. 

While he was getting out of his hockey gear after the ice time, I asked him how he did... 

"I rocked.  Did you see my goals?"

I did.  I also saw him fall down more times than I could count.  I saw his shots denied repeatedly.  While moving the puck, he put it into another drill area when he lost control of it... 

None of that mattered to him...  He didn't see those as failures...  They didn't matter...  The only thing that mattered was what he accomplished. 

Many people quickly think of the genius of Thomas Edison... of the many spectacular successes he had as an inventor.  But, he had MANY more spectacular failures. 

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Thomas Edison saw failure as a step towards success...  Kids are used to falling in order to walk and run, dropping the ball in order to throw and sliding to learn to stop.  Unlike adults, they aren't so worried about making a mistake.  I think that sometime around Junior High School kids start comparing their results.  And they start to be self-conscious aboult their lack of perfection... 

Successful inventors learn to get over that.  They aren't afraid of failure... the see it as a step towards success.  Entreprenuers seem to often have the same attitude.  How many of them have a tremendous success... and then lose it all on another venture... and then do it all over and have a new wild success? 

I'm not going to tie this in to some real estate concept...  I'm just tossing it out there. 

• Try
• Fall Down
• Get Up
• Learn
• Repeat

Striving for perfection is fine... we should all try... but stop being hung up on it.

Ken has knocked a few posts out of the park recently.  This is another.  The 203K may be a great option to make that house that is "almost" into a house that "is"...  Ken and I have worked together and can get the job done for YOU...

I've talked about it, as have many others... 

Social Media Plan...

But is it even possible?

During this morning's Social Media Breakfast - Atlanta, one of our members was talking about social media planning... and something occured to me.  Just moments before, we were talking about how social media tools had changed dramatically in just the last few months.  So...

How can we make a plan for a rapidly changing landscape?

Can a surfer make a plan for the wave?  Or does the wave unfold and he reads it and responds? 

It would seem obvious that while a surf has an idea of what he wants to accomplish, and generally how he wants to accomplish it, planning the steps can be a trap.  The wave will probably break one way... but may break another.  The wave may offer a tube opportunity, or it might close up and trap you.  Or you might just sit on a board all afternoon waiting for a good opportunity... 

But, you can't sit on the beach and decide how it is going to go... and you can't even paddle into the wave knowing exactly what you are going to do...  You have to rely on guts and experience.  And you have to be ready to change everything you are doing at any moment. 

I think that is a WHOLE lot more like Social Media than planning a marketing campaign...

Settle for an idea...

Maybe a destination...

Perhaps even the board...

But know that the scape you are looking at from the beach won't be the one there when you are sitting in the water.  And the waves that pass you by won't be like the one you try to ride... and it will change every inch of the way to shore. 

FaceBook changed everything > Twitter changed everything > Posterous changed everything > ???

A few days ago I wrote about how the purchase offering process is having issues… issues that are especially apparent on Bank-Owned Properties (we call them REOs).

Banks are often requiring that ALL offers be accompanied by pre-qualification letters from specific approved lenders (perhaps even from their own loan department).  In other cases, the brokers representing the properties are interjecting this “requirement” on their own.

This morning, local (and nationally syndicated) radio talk show host, Clark Howard mentioned one of the reasons that these things chap my hide.  The specific reason he doesn’t like them is that the “credit pulls” for the pre-qualifications can actually damage the credit of the offeror (buyer).  It isn’t one or two credit pulls that will likely be a problem (unless one is marginal to begin with)… but rather repeated pulls after multiple attempts to buy properties.

I have worked with buyers that offered on 7 or 8 properties prior to having an offer accepted. There is a tremendous amount of competition for these properties in some instances.  A buyer might get lucky and get a house right out of the gate… or they might have to go through multiple offers on properties and several pre-qualifications before getting an offer accepted.

There is also the fact that the buyer has to deal with the inconvenience of going through pre-qualification over and over. My buyers have already been pre-approved by their own chosen lender, so the pre-qualification is unnecessary.

And there is yet another issue here…  The reason for the requirement is that it gives the specified lender an opportunity to get the loan business.  That would be good, except that on more than one occasion, the specified lender has been nothing but a delay; in some cases unable to follow through on promised rates, and in other cases not being able to match the timelines of the seller that their own lender could meet… resulting in the loss of earnest money (we ended up finding a better house and saving WAY more than the lost earnest money).

I’d love to see this practice stopped…  The problem is that consumers can’t control it.  The properties are good deals, and if someone passes on the deal because they don’t want to have their credit penalized, there will be a line behind them willing to take the risk.

from LaneBailey.com

We are pleased and excited to announce the roll-out of a new program for buyers...  Job Loss Insurance. 

This is a cool program to take a little bit of apprehension out of buying a home.  In effect, it is an insurance policy that protects the buyer in case of job loss.  The policy will make up to 6 payments during the first year of ownership if you lose your job involuntarily (two periods up to 3 months each).  It is available with coverages up to $2000/mo. 

In addition to the year of job loss/mortgage payment protection, the policy also offers two years of other benefits, including foreclosure mitigation. 

This program is offered exclusively through Lane Bailey of Diamond Dwellings Realty and Ken Cook of AmericaHomeKey, Inc. mortgage to qualified buyers as well as on selected properties represented by Lane. 

For further program details, contact Lane or Ken. 

Now may be the right time to buy. 

• Prices are excellent.  Many areas in the Atlanta market have seen declines from last year, but have stabilized in recent months. 
  
• Interest rates are still near lows we haven't seen in decades, and structurally can't go much lower... and with the increased federal government borrowing, are almost certain to rise.  
• Inventory levels are down from last year, but still pretty high... this means that selection is generous.
• There are tax credit programs for many first time home buyers AND move up buyers.
  

So, with great prices, lots of choices, excellent terms and even tax credits for buyers, this is a great time to buy, and with this new job loss protection, may be a great time for YOU to buy. 

Lane and Ken can't offer this program at no cost to buyers for long.  The tax credits from the federal government are set to expire in just a few months.  And here in the Atlanta area, the best bargains seem to be between November and January.  Don't delay. 

from LaneBailey.com