Archive for February, 2008
Help my wife… please
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 17Many of you know that my wife is a bit crazy (she married me so there you go), so the following should not surprise those that do.
You may recall that I moved from the warm sunshine of Arizona to the bitter cold of Minnesota last September. Well…
I’m taking the PLUNGE! That is, the Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics. The temperature here often falls below zero…yes, that’s pretty darn cold, but I’m doing it and I’m inviting you to join me…in spirit anyway.
I want you to be with me as I take the plunge on February 23rd in Lake Lac Lavon in Burnsville, Minnesota. They will have to break through the frozen surface..can you imagine! Please let me plunge on your behalf. Join me by making a donation. Any amount is gratefully appreciated, but I can promise you blessings ten-fold relative to what you contribute, so please be as generous as you can be. Oh and by the way, write in your own donation amount…you don’t want to select from the options listed on the site.
Thanks for your contribution to support this very special cause.
I’ll leave you with this quote… “But by the grace of God, there go I”
Thanks, and always there for YOU!
VISIT MY WEBPAGE
So of course I’d like to see who would be willing to help out. To make things interesting, I will post photos and/or video (we know there will be photos, not sure about video as of yet)… IF… ONLY IF… the fine readers here at MOCO and the residents of Kingman raise $500 towards the cause.
This will be your one chance to see my wife in a swimming suit of some kind (she has already stated that she will not be in a bikini so don’t go there and I’d be a dead man if I ever posted any other type of swimming suit photo of her on this blog or anywhere else on the Internet).
So click on the link above and leave her a comment that you are either a reader of MOCO or are from the Kingman area when you make your donation.
When you click on the link, it takes you to a main page. From there click on find a plunger on the left hand side. Then select the February 23rd event that says ‘South Metro’. A drop down menu will appear and use it to scroll down to find the name of ‘Gail Tarson’.
The funds raised will go to help the Special Olympics. Thanks for your consideration.
Remember, get those donations in quick and the next photo of my wife will be of her with less clothing on with snow and ice in the background.
Source: Help my wife… please
Gross, eh? Don’t Bug Me On Saturday
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 16
What is it?
Source: Gross, eh? Don’t Bug Me On Saturday
Sharp Residential Announces Customer Referral Program
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 16
Sharp Residential recently announced it’s newest incentive - and this time it isn’t for a new home buyer. In addition to the fabulous prices, locations and homes that the single-family home builder offers buyers, those who have purchased a Sharp home can continue to reap the benefits simply by referring friends, family members and co-workers to a neighborhood by Sharp Residential. If a contract is written and signed at a Sharp community, the homeowner who made the referral will receive $1,000!! Said Tom Sharp, “We are proud of the product we build and know that our home buyers are pleased with their home and the service our company has provided them. We thought it would be great to continue that great service even after buyers have moved into their new home.” Sharp Residential has set a high priority on customer satisfaction and the metro Atlanta homebuilding company continuously ranks highly among customer satisfaction surveys. Offering this referral incentive is just one of many ways in which the company enjoys showing its appreciation to customers. For more information about the locations and products of Sharp Residential, please call 770-518-4896 or visit www.Sharp-Residential.com.
Source: Sharp Residential Announces Customer Referral Program
Comments on the campaign trail…
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 16I’ve had the opportunity to speak to many, many voters in Kingman for the upcoming election as a candidate for City Council. While the vast majority of those folks are supportive, I do get a few negative comments and I want to address what those comments are for the readers here at MOCO Real.
I’ve been told the reason that a person is not voting for me is because I favor tax give aways to any and all developers that wish to develop sub-divisions at will and build an inordinate amount of homes that will never be sold. Okay, the previous loaded sentence is an accumulation of the negative comments directed towards me either in person, at public meetings, or on the Internet. I’ll expound.
First of all I admit that I am a Realtor, a real estate agent, and the method by which I generate revenue for my business is if I’m hired by either a buyer or seller of real property and perform a successful property transaction. I find no shame in those facts, and in fact am quite proud of the choice I have made when I decided to start my own business. My business will succeed or fail based on nothing else other than my will to succeed or fail.
COMMENT: Of course Todd is pro-growth because he needs more houses to sell in order to make a living.
No I don’t. My business is not predicated on growth and growth alone. While the housing market locally is statistically as bad as I’ve ever experienced, it does not mean that I still can’t carve out opportunities to succeed in my career choice. Even though I reported this month the lowest total sold units of single family homes in a calendar month since I’ve been tracking data… there were still opportunities for my business to succeed.
COMMENT: Todd will support all new developers at will.
Nope. I couldn’t care less about the name of a developER, however I am interested in seeing what sensible and beneficial developMENT can offer the community. There is very little doubt that the city of Kingman is in no position to develop property or even begin to pay for many items listed in the Capital Improvements Plan. The city is simply not generating enough tax revenue to provide all the things on our very long ‘wish list’ of things most in the community would like to see.
The community is in no position to take on added risk on our own for needs of developER’s at this time (for either the out of town or the in town variety of devlopER), and it is likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. The community should only be considering adding risk for public services, such as emergency service improvements (and by that I don’t mean shacking up brave Kingman Fire Department employees in a single wide on the other side of the tracks downtown like others have suggested in public).
It is apparent that developER’s have needs, and guess what?? The community also has needs. Another reality is that developER’s have financing, while the community does not have financing to provide for the needs of both developER’s and the community. The next logical step is not to wait a year, or two, or longer with the hope that the current situation magically gets fixed, no the next logical step is to have the community and the developER sit down to see if a possible agreement can be reached that is both beneficial to the developER for developMENT and (most importantly) the community for needed developMENT.
I believe that in order to reach such and agreement between a developER and the community is for the developER to take on most, if not all, of the risk involved in producing a beneficial developMENT for all parties involved. This is the foundation of public/private partnerships and communities all over the country, state, and (even in) this county are having these conversations… yet right now in Kingman there are local interests and even candidates running for elected office that are simply not willing to have this kind of conversation for various self interested (instead of community interested) reasons.
The questions that should be asked by the community of the developER’s about proposed developMENT’s should be along these lines:
Is the developER willing to provide and produce infrastructure for the developMENT??
Will the developER’s developMENT provide more opportunities and jobs for the residents of the community??
Will the developMENT create or fill community demand for high quality, and/or environmentally responsible, and/or affordable housing??
Would a new commercial developMENT increase revenues for the city of Kingman (via sales tax dollars) substantially enough to warrant reimbursing the developER for fronting the cost of a major public infrastructure project from the projected and realized net-add revenue increases?? Is the developER willing to take on that risk and enter into such an agreement?? (this last set of questions should be asked of out of town developER’s as well as local developER’s.)
Why are other candidates and local interests afraid to ask (and answer) these questions??
COMMENT: Todd is in favor of giving away our tax dollars
There are no tax dollars to give away, and there never will be. If Kingman is ever able to right its financial ship enough to find itself in a position with all bills paid and all community needs taken care of… and still comes out with a surplus… I’ll be voting to lower the taxes in order to be revenue neutral. The last thing I want to see is any government collecting more money than it needs to provide for public services and public infrastructure.
COMMENT: The ‘Paper’ says that there is no difference between tax incentives and tax reimbursements as they both ‘give’ tax dollars away.
The word ‘give’ has an interesting set of definitions. Here is the definition from the Answers.com dictionary…
give (g?v)
v., gave (g?v), giv·en (g?v’?n), giv·ing, gives.
v.tr.
1. To make a present of: We gave her flowers for her birthday.
2. To place in the hands of; pass: Give me the scissors.
3.
1. To deliver in exchange or recompense; pay: gave five dollars for the book.
2. To let go for a price; sell: gave the used car away for two thousand dollars.
4.
1. To administer: give him some cough medicine.
2. To convey by a physical action: gave me a punch in the nose.
3. To inflict as punishment: gave the child a spanking; was given life imprisonment for the crime.
4. Law. To accord by verdict: A decision was given for the plaintiff.
5.
1. To bestow, especially officially; confer: The Bill of Rights gives us freedom of speech.
2. To accord or tender to another: Give him your confidence.
3. To put temporarily at the disposal of: gave them the cottage for a week.
4. To entrust to another, usually for a specified reason: gave me the keys for safekeeping.
5. To convey or offer for conveyance: Give him my best wishes.
6. Law. To execute and deliver. Used especially in the phrase give bond.
6.
1. To endure the loss of; sacrifice: gave her son to the war; gave her life for her country.
2. To devote or apply completely: gives herself to her work.
3. To furnish or contribute: gave their time to help others.
4. To offer in good faith; pledge: Give me your word.
7.
1. To allot as a portion or share.
2. To bestow (a name, for example).
3. To attribute (blame, for example) to someone; assign.
4. To award as due: gave us first prize.
8. To emit or utter: gave a groan; gave a muted response.
9. To submit for consideration, acceptance, or use: give an opinion; give an excuse.
10.
1. To proffer to another: gave the toddler my hand.
2. To consent to engage (oneself) in sexual intercourse with a man.
11.
1. To perform for an audience: give a recital.
2. To present to view: gave the sign to begin.
12.
1. To offer as entertainment: give a dinner party.
2. To propose as a toast.
13.
1. To be a source of; afford: His remark gave offense. Music gives her pleasure.
2. To cause to catch or be subject to (a disease or bodily condition): The draft gave me a cold.
3. To guide or direct, as by persuasion or behavior. Used with an infinitive phrase: You gave me to imagine you approved of my report.
14.
1. To yield or produce: Cows give milk.
2. To bring forth or bear: trees that give fruit.
3. To produce as a result of calculation: 5 × 12 gives 60.
15.
1. To manifest or show: gives promise of brilliance; gave evidence of tampering.
2. To carry out (a physical movement): give a wink; give a start.
16. To permit one to have or take: gave us an hour to finish.
17. To take an interest to the extent of: “My dear, I don’t give a damn” (Margaret Mitchell).v.intr.
1. To make gifts or donations: gives generously to charity.
2.
1. To yield to physical force.
2. To collapse from force or pressure: The roof gave under the weight of the snow.
3. To yield to change: Both sides will have to give on some issues.
3. To afford access or a view; open: The doors give onto a terrace.
4. Slang. To be in progress; happen: What gives?n.
1. Capacity or inclination to yield under pressure.
2. The quality or condition of resilience; springiness: “Fruits that have some give … will have more juice than hard ones” (Elizabeth Schneider).
I intentionally placed in bold two of the examples above that probably best fit what the ‘Paper’ was trying to convey. If I am right, then I believe the ‘Paper’ needs to finish the story for their faithful readers that are hanging on every word.
The ‘Paper’ needs to explain why the city of Kingman is placing in the hands of or passing on the tax money to the receiver.
Or…
The ‘Paper’ needs to tell us what the city of Kingman is delivering in exchange or paying the receiver of the tax money for.
Of course this task will be difficult for the ‘Paper’ to do because there exists no proposed agreement for the city of Kingman to ‘give’ anything to anyone when it comes to either tax incentives or tax reimbursements. Further… in my opinion the ‘Paper’ and other local interests have spent some degree of effort trying to convince the community that we shouldn’t even explore options such as tax incentives or tax reimbursement agreements.
As a tax payer myself, I’d at least like to know the full story… as in what would I be placing in the hands of or delivering in exchange for exactly?? Maybe I want one of those (whatever it is) and — if the price is right — consider making an agreement. I won’t know the answer to that though until I know what is on the table… none of us will (and I doubt that anyone would have to sell their soul to reach such an agreement).
COMMENT: Mr. So-and-So is saying that you, Todd, are on the payroll of out of town developers… or you, Todd, your campaign is being financed by out of town developers.
I have been hearing those things said through the grapevine for many months now, and all the Mr. (and Mrs.) So-and-So’s making those allegations are wrong and they can’t prove that they are right.
However, if there is an out of town developer (or an in town developer) that would like to contribute to my campaign there is still time to do so. Political action committee reports are due by the end of the month for this time period. I’ll accept campaign contributions from anyone that wants to see me elected to represent this community for the next four years.
Just remember, I mean it when I say ‘Community First’… as you won’t find ‘Realtor first’ or ‘developer first’ or ‘Todd’s business first’ anywhere in my campaign.
Source: Comments on the campaign trail…
Ordering and Understanding Your Free Credit Report
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 16A credit report is a record of your personal credit history. Creditors turn to your credit file when first deciding whether or not to grant you credit.
A credit report does not contain any information on your race, religion or political preferences, but it does have information on:
- Your Personal Identifiers: your legal name, present and past addresses, present and past employers and your social security number.
- Current and Past Credit Accounts: this section includes all your present credit accounts including credit limits, balances and payment histories. Late payments, repossessions and charge-offs are recorded here.
- Public Record Information: Here they record any tax liens, bankruptcies and legal judgements against you.
- Credit Inquiries: Information regarding businesses that have requested your credit file within the last 12 months.
It’s important to periodically review your credit file as more than half the credit reports contain some errors, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC.gov)
There may be some confusions or misspellings of your name: perhaps you entered Bob Jones on an application and Robert Jones on another, or negative credit information from a different Bob Jones is recorded on your credit file,…
Often, there can be errors from the credit bureaus themselves: the credit info is transmitted to the 3 major credit bureaus by tapes or written reports, and a simple typographical error may inadvertently add negative information to your file.
Creditor error happens when the reporting company mistakenly sends the wrong information about you.
Finally, since the major credit bureaus are competitors, they do not sharre information. So positive information may be reported to Equifax and Experian, but is absent from your credit file at Transunion.
For these reasons, it’s important to check your free credit report before any major purchase or at least annually to report any mistakes.
Ordering your Free Credit Report is easy. The Federal Trade and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT) of 2003 allows you to obtain a free annual credit report from the 3 major credit bureaus once a year at no charge.
You are also entitled to a free credit report if:
- You have been denied credit, insurance or employment in the last 60 days and the denial was a result of information contained in your credit report.
- You are on welfare.
- You are or you suspect being a victim of credit fraud or Identity theft.
Additional information on ordering and understanding your credit report is available at
www.FreeCreditReportSite.Org
If you’d like to order your free annual credit report, you can do so at http://www.freecreditreportsite.org
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Source: Ordering and Understanding Your Free Credit Report
Whats The Fastest Way To Increase Credit Score
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 16If you have recently been denied a loan or credit card and need to raise your credit score quickly in order to get approved you are basically limited to two choices. Those choices are sit on your hands and do nothing or take action and perform credit repair and get the loan. The fastest way to increase credit score is to perform credit repair. This process will help eliminate any false and negative information that is keeping your score low and loan approval out of reach.
Many people start this process by hiring a credit repair company to do the clean up for them. Although there is nothing wrong with hiring a company to provide you with this service,you may want to consider increasing your credit score yourself. By doing the process yourself you are ensured that it will be done in the fastest way possible and have 100% dedication and effort behind it. This is unlike many credit companies who drag the process out in order to make more money and generally offer no significant guarantee their services will work as advertised.
Although doing it credit report repair yourself sounds great and many people are eager to start as soon as they hear the idea you need to first be aware of the procedures involved. This is where a self credit repair kit makes all the difference. For about what most credit repair companies charge for one month of service you can get a complete kit that will provide you with the same methods the paid services use. These kits can be purchased from many online sources and loaded right onto you computer. When shopping for a kit to help you increase your credit score fast always make sure it has a detailed plan and instructions for you to follow as well as other tools you can put to use to raise your credit score as quick as possible.
Although there are many ways to quickly increase a credit score,a good self credit repair kit will speed the process up tremendously.
To learn more about a proven Credit Repair Kit that is jammed with everything you need to quickly raise your credit score please visit our website at http://www.diycredithelper.com
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Source: Whats The Fastest Way To Increase Credit Score
Investors Are Trying To Help!
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 15Well yes it’s good news for those who are in an adjustable rate mortgage. This was brought up to my attention in the end of January. Something that I have seen help many people get a loan MOD with some investors out there. This loan MOD process is simple and very effective.
This is how you qualify.
1st: Do you currently have a Fannie Mae mortgage (must be 1st TD).
2nd: Have you been making your mortgage payments on time for the last 12 months?
3rd: Do you have a 620 FICO score or above?
Guess What? You now qualify to receive a fast streamline loan MOD through your current lender. You are probably wondering that this is to easy, and your right. And here is the best things about this process.
Since you are currently a Fannie Mae mortgage holder. You don’t need to go through a long process to get some help.
You don’t need to show any INCOME DOCUMENTATION. As long as you have a job you are good to go.
Well you might ask a question. “What if I am upside down on my mortgage?”
If there wasn’t already a lot of good news 60% of these loan MODS do not require for you to have an appraisal done on your property.
WOW… this is what every investor should be doing. And from my knowledge most of them are going to start offering this wonderful streamline process to maintain their client?le and to avoid ending up with all those R.E.O.’s.
Hopefully this will help many of you. This is not an attempt to obtain any business I am simply trying to educate you with what some of the investors are trying to do.
Yancy Martin
Real Estate Finance
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Source: Investors Are Trying To Help!
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 15As the housing market slows, home builders and developers need to have a best-in-class mortgage lender to service their communities.
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage can provide the talent you need from your Mortgage Lender by providing a level of experience and expertise that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive for smaller builders.
I will use my vast experience and knowledge to create unique programs that will energize your sales and jump-start your marketing.
We have programs that cater to home buyers with less than prefect credit. Some of which would provide them with 100% financing. We have programs for your affluent buyers as well. Currently one of our programs that has been popular among our builders has been our Flex fix program. This program would allow your buyers to get an interest rate 2% below current market interest rates. I am confident this program can help move your inventory.
What’s has your lender done for you lately? Give me call and let me know. Let’s put the Atlanta real estate market to work for you.
Will Addo
Mortgage consultant
678-473-6776
Source: Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
How Do Restaurants Affect the Value of Your Real Estate?
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 15As real estate professionals, how do we capitalize on proximity to or structure relationships with restaurants as a means of increasing the long term value of our real estate?
Find out how at ULI Atlanta’s panel discussion “How Restaurants Affect the Value of Your Real Estate,” held at Trois Restaurant February 27th at 6:00 p.m.
The panelists, representing development, retail leasing and restaurateurs / operators will answer the following questions: What are the design and development challenges of integrating restaurants into mixed use projects, especially vertically integrated projects with residential or office on top? What are the main types of restaurant deal structures and how does each affect the building’s overall valuation? What are the positives and negatives associated with the incorporation of restaurants from marketing, leasing and management viewpoints? What are some of the factors that must be considered to determine the restaurant mix inside a development?
Panelists include Bob Amick, Concentrics Restaurants, Adam Schwegman, Cousins Properties and Steve Tedder, Barry Real Estate Companies. Maranda Walker-Dowell of CB Richard Ellis - Retail Services will moderate the discussion.
Register at www.ULIAtlanta.org. Read about other ULI Atlanta news on Atlanta Real Estate Forum.
Source: How Do Restaurants Affect the Value of Your Real Estate?
Your Next Home Will Be In Gulfport
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 15Where can you find one of the best home values for coastal properties in the U.S.? Gulfport real estate. Welcome to the gateway of the south, where warm weather most of the year and plenty of outdoor recreational activities abound. A Gulfport Realtor can provide you with comparable home sales in the area, school test scores, redevelopment projects and anything else you need to make your home buying decision.
Source: Your Next Home Will Be In Gulfport