Real Estate & Home Improvement

Writing assignment is a nightmare to some people, especially to those who are not into writing. But, what if you are in a position where you must complete the assignment in order to achieve something, like perfect score for your academic report. I’ve been in this kind of situation when I was a student. Pouring ideas onto writing is stressing enough especially when your time is limited and then you also have to deal with some rules of writing in order to complete the assignment with satisfying result as well as taking multiple classes which can put a lot of pressure on students especially if they have a lot going on outside of those classes such as work, family, and a social life.

If you missed some payments on your mortgage and are now risking a default on your loan, the government has come up with two possible plans to help. One of these is called Mortgage Loan Modification.

Here are the current qualifications expected to pass congress:

-Your primary mortgage (1st mortgage) must be less than $729,500
-The mortgage must have been signed and completed before January 1, 2009
-You must live in the mortgaged house
-You can verify your income with tax returns and pay stubs
-You must have a financial hardship letter in your own handwriting and signed by you
-If your household debts are more than 55% of your income, you must agree to go for credit counseling

Some things the bank can offer under this plan:

-The bank can lower your monthly payment to about 31% of your gross monthly income.
-The interest rate can go as low as 2%, but will more likely be in the 4½% range.
-The homeowner does not pay any fees for the modification. This is paid by the government to the servicer
-The bank could possibly set up a balloon payment at the end of the mortgage if the payments are too low
-A balloon payment would have to paid off if the mortgage is paid off or refinanced or the property is sold
-There is an incentive plan in the program. If you make the payment on time, the government will gradually reduce the principal balance for 5 years, with a maximum reduction of $5,000
-The rate can be adjusted up after 5 years. This lower rate is to help you dig out of a hole, it is not permanent
-You can only have one modification, there is no bargaining at a later date.
If you are current on your mortgage payments and your bank will not let you modify your present mortgage because the property is now worth less than the current principal balance, you may qualify for the refinancing program from the government. This is being referred to as the Refinancing Option.

Here are some of these requirements:

-This must be your primary residence
-You must have enough income to support the new mortgage debt
-You cannot take cash out with the new loan to pay other debt
-Your loan must be owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae
-The interest rate will be based on market rates and there can be additional points and fees charged
-The mortgage will be for either 30 or 15 years and will have a fixed interest rate
-The bank can offer lower interest payments in the first 5 years of the new mortgage

If your house appraisal falls too low, the government plan will not help at all. The current maximum is 105% of the mortgage balance. So, if your house appraisal is now $300,000 the maximum your principle balance can be is $315,000.

Don’t underestimate the power of an HOA. Many associations are quite easy to get along with, but some are downright power hungry. If you’re late or miss a payment on your dues, you can be fined. Let your dues lapse for 90 days and they can place a lien on your home. If you have any sort of discrepancy with the board or their rules, make your payment first, then argue the situation.

Boards are not quick to share information and are often unwilling to release information due to confidentiality policies. The budget should be open and available for all homeowners to view. If you are being denied access to these records, put your request in writing in the form of a letter to the board. If they still refuse, ask for a letter from their attorney explaining why you can’t view the information. If that doesn’t work, hire your own lawyer and sue them. What’s the point of being on the board if you can’t access records/info?

In Chicago, close to 60% of all condo boards and HOA’s have taken homeowners to court.
Don’t take those board rules as gospel. When you invest in a building and receive the set of association rules, keep in mind that these are not cast in stone. The board can change them whenever they want, with or without your approval.

Just because someone is on the board, doesn’t mean they’re qualified to be there. Their bookkeeping abilities may leave something to be desired, or they’re ineffective in dealing with contractors. Keep your own records when it comes to owing amounts, you may have to back it up if there is a dispute.

Lighting in the near future will be similar to what we have in homes of today, it will just be more energy efficient. The “Rule of Thumb” in energy efficient lighting is to have the general public using 50% less lighting by the end of 2012.

Using dimmers can give the consumer great aesthetic, the energy savings are astounding. Dimmers use less wattage and double the life of the bulb. That’s not bad for making the room a little less bright and allow for greater flexibility in lighting product selection and allow you to get multiple uses out of a room.

In today’s homes, the three main types of lighting available are incandescent, magnetic low voltage and electronic low voltage, which are all easily dimmed. There are several different types of dimmers. They include:

-Wall box dimmers, which allow you to bring the light up and down slowly
-Scene lighting dimmers, which allow you to control multiple light sources from a single panel to set a mood
-Whole house systems, which allow you to control all of the lights in your home from one panel at the touch of a button
-Occupancy sensors, which turn on and off whenever someone enters a room which I have in my own home and here is a picture of it…

Dimmers of all types can be extremely useful for so many things. If one is creative, you can use this much more than just saving a few dollars on your electric bill and light bulbs.

With the world of technology moving so quickly the overall prediction is within the next decade, there will be no more cute fluorescent bulb, on store shelves anymore, much less Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb. Everyone will be using LEDs (light-emitting diodes), which by the way are already dimmable.

What’s it gonna be? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Rammed earth homes or other buildings are structured with walls that are built from a mixture of sand and clay. A mixture of sand and clay is poured into forms or molds if you will, to build the walls. They are typically constructed on-site, using local sand, earth, water, clay, and some cement. The walls allow for a range of versatility in design of the homes, require only minimum amounts of energy to sustain warmth in the cold season or to keep a home cool in the summer. This saves a lot of dollars per month on electricity and gas since these walls have a lot of thermal mass.

It’s common for these homes that are built this way to utilize solar energy. Owners seeking a comfortable home that can save on energy demands and expenditure in the long run, and offering an environmentally sustainable solution to home ownership, will likely find the concept of rammed earth homes to be very attractive and viable.

How it’s done:

The walls of such homes are a minimum of 12 inches thick and formed with a process of packing a mixture of around 15% clay, 50% sand, and 35% silt into the forms with the use of pneumatic tampers. Other components in the mix for the walls may be included in the mix for improved water repellency and load bearing properties. Newly built walls require some time to fully dry out. This method of construction utilizes local resources and is a very strong model of environmentally friendly sustainability since it primarily and if not, completely utilizes a local resources.

These types of homes are highly energy efficient, and require almost no maintenance, and are very comfortable.