Brian and Jen's Real Estate Blog

Are you among the millions of U.S. homeowners who recently lost a home due to foreclosure? Or maybe you have suffered bankruptcy or had a change in employment forcing you to downsize. Just because you have bad credit now doesn’t mean you can’t repave the path to homeownership. Through the TFL Homes HomeNow program, we offer you a rent-to-own option. The program puts you in your dream home now while your credit rebounds. While you are “renting,” you are really investing in your own future home.


Our rent-to-own program provides you the unique opportunity to put your past credit issues where they belong: in the past. Our goal is to help you become a happy and confident homeowner once again.

The beauty of our program is that we can help you choose and purchase the home of your choice, or are happy to work with buyers who already have real estate agent representation. We offer assistance with every step of the home buying process: house hunt, home purchase and even make any necessary repairs and energy-efficient upgrades. We then establish a lease agreement with an option to purchase in three to five years, once your credit has healed. Monthly rent is set up front, and purchase price is predetermined. A portion of rent will be set aside in a savings fund that will be used towards your down payment and closing costs. There will be no surprises as everything is set up front and transparent.

This program will help you cure your credit, move you into the home you want and get you back on track to home ownership. Call us at 404-720-2296 or visit our website, http://tflhomes.com to begin your journey to home ownership with the HomeNow program.

Labels: home buyer, Home Buyers, home buying, home rentals, rent to own home, rentals

Hembree Road location accepting items for free from 8 a.m. to noon
MILTON, Ga., March 15, 2012 - The City of Milton Public Works Department and Milton Grows Green are offering residents a bulky trash amnesty day Saturday, March 24.

From 8 a.m. to noon, residents of Milton can bring items to the City of Roswell Public Works Division at 1810 Hembree Road in Roswell (click here for directions). Only City of Milton and Roswell residents will be served. Proof of residency will be required, and utility bills are preferred.

Some of the items that will be accepted are:
tires - must be off the rim, automobile tires only; limit 4 per car
sofas
tables
refrigerators
chairs
washers
dryers
televisions
deactivated cell phones
computer equipment and electronics
The following items will not be accepted:
paint
household hazardous waste
any fluids including motor oil and anti-freeze
household batteries
construction and demolition materials
yard waste
For proper disposal of these items, please contact either the Roswell Recycling Center at 770-442-8822 (motor oil and anti-freeze) or Chadwick Landfill at 770-475-9868 (construction and demolition materials).

Materials will only be accepted at the site on the day of the event and only during the hours of 8 a.m. and noon. Please note that the gate will close at noon.

Labels: Bulky, bulky trash amnesty day, Bulky Trash Day, milton, Milton City

How do you know when something in cupboard or refrigerator has gone bad --or on the flip side --may look a little weird but is perfectly fine to eat?

It can be easy to know when dairy and meat products go bad because of “use by” and expiration dates. Also our nose knows when those foods go bad. It can be harder, though, with everyday items that many of us keep stocked in our homes.
There’s also the issue of flavor. While some products may not go bad per se, they may start to develop an odd taste.
Jay Weinstein, a culinary professor, at The Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City walks us through what to look for with some of the most popular items we have around our kitchens. Some of the answers may surprise you.
Oh, and get a garbage bag handy, you may be dumping a lot of things. The last thing anyone wants is to get food poisoning, especially when it can be prevented.

Butter
Salted butter has a longer shelf life than unsalted. After unwrapping, salted butter should last ten days in the refrigerator before its flavor is compromised. Within two weeks, a translucent layer develops indicating the start of rancidity. It could also have a cheese-like smell.

Eggs
While the Food and Drug Administration recommends refrigerating eggs, Weinstein points out bakers usually leave them out, and they can last up to a month that way. As for the FDA’s recommendation, the organization say fresh eggs are good in the refrigerator for up to five weeks.

Juice
Non-pasteurized fruit juice starts to spoil within a week of opening, even if it’s refrigerated. Consumers wouldn’t notice much at first, since it doesn’t take on the sour smell that milk or meat products do when they spoil. Eventually though, it will start to cause a tingle on the tongue, like soda. There’s nothing harmful about drinking it this way, it’s just starting to ferment. Most people don’t like that taste and discard it.

Coffee
Coffee starts to lose nuance of flavor from the moment the beans are ground. Coffee’s essential oils are air soluble, and dissipate quickly. Spoilage? That takes months. It’s only spoiled when its remaining natural oils go rancid.

Brown sugar
Despite the fact that brown sugar goes rock hard within a week no matter how many layers of zipper-seal bags you pack it in, the stuff will keep for years in that petrified state. If you own a microwave you can pop it in there for about 30 seconds to loosen it up or put an apple peal in there to keep it moist.

White sugar
Weinstein, author of The Ethical Gourmet jokes that “white sugar is so highly refined, it may have longer shelf-life than petroleum. I’ve never known white sugar to become spoiled, even stuff I’ve found in camping supplies from previous decades.”

Maple syrup
Maple syrup that’s been opened is susceptible to a mold spore that causes a powdery film to develop on its surface. The mold looks like cinnamon, and can give a mushroom-like undertone to the syrup. This may occur within three weeks of opening it, or might not appear for months.

Vinegar
Vinegar starts to let off sediments which settle to the bottom of the bottle within three months of opening. The problem is most pronounced with red wine and cider vinegars, but will happen with most natural vinegars eventually. Distilled vinegar won’t develop this problem. While the sediment clouds the vinegar and makes it unsightly, the taste isn’t affected. You can keep most vinegar for up to a year.

Olive oil
Most people use rancid olive oil most of the time. Even filtered olive oil starts to develop a rancid, cardboard-like smell after just four weeks of opening. Plenty of people open a bottle of olive oil and leave it in a cabinet for months, using it a teaspoon at a time. A lot of consumers think it’s supposed to smell dusty. Ideally it should smell like artichokes and freshly ground black pepper, or if it’s lighter stuff like the French, Tunisian or California varieties, it should smell like butter and tree fruit.

Vegetable oil
Processed vegetables oils keep for a long time before rancidity sets in. You could keep an opened bottle of canola oil for almost a year before you’d detect that dusty, cardboard-like odor of spoilt oil.

Peanut butter
Packaged peanut butter has plenty of preservatives to keep it shelf stable for over a year. Natural peanut butter starts to go rancid within three months. Putting it in the refrigerator slows but doesn't prevent the peanut oil from going bad.

Salad dressing
Mayonnaise-based dressings like freshly-made Caesar should be consumed within a week. Vinaigrettes hold quite well for up to two weeks, assuming that there are no fresh herbs in them.
Ketchup & Mustard
Both are heavily seasoned with vinegar and salt and keep well for about a year.

Flour
This one could be a shocking to a lot of people. Weinstein says “flour is rancid so often that most people don’t even know what fresh flour smells and tastes like.” The chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America says “it should be used within three or four weeks of opening, but most people keep it in their cupboard for years and still use it. Fresh flour smells sweet. Rancid flour smells like cardboard and dust.”


Honey
Here's one you can keep in your cupboard. While honey may crystallize it should last forever with the same great flavor and sweetness.

Jelly & Jam
Natural jellies and jams are perishable. Despite the preservative effects of sugar, open jams will start to grow mould or rot in about six months.

Dry pasta
Like beans, dry pasta contains a tiny bit of water content that helps it hydrate properly when it cooks. This ultimately can make the pasta go bad overtime, but it is likely that bugs would get to it first. It should be used within two years of purchase.

Rice
Wholegrain (brown) rice is more perishable than polished (white) rice. Brown rice should be used within two years of purchase.

Labels: bad food

Now is definitely the time to be a homebuyer. Potential new homeowners have a lot of bargaining power in the current market, and can choose from a slew of different house types, including fixer uppers and move-in ready homes. Deciding which type of home makes the most sense for you depends on your temperament, remodeling know-how and move-in time frame, experts say.
“If you know what it will cost to fix up the house then you are in a wonderful position,” says David Lupberger, the home improvement expert for ServiceMagic. “Unfortunately, people underestimate the cost of the fix up.”
The housing meltdown flooded the market with foreclosed properties and a record number of short sales, which have created bargain prices, but many of the houses require a lot of updating and renovations. At the same time, there’s also a large inventory of move-in-ready houses.
“Most fixer uppers tend to be short sales and foreclosures,” says Doug Azarian, sales associate at Kinlin Grover Real Estate. “In foreclosures and short sales situations, the sellers don’t have the money to make the mortgage payment--let alone pay for maintenance.”
Before choosing whether to go with the fixer upper or a home that requires zero to little work, real estate experts advise considering your lifestyle and temperament. If you are working long hours, raising a family or have little spare time, a move-in ready home may be more ideal. But if you have the free time and the patience to deal with the stress associated with a renovation, a fixer up could be the way to go.
“If you enjoy working on homes and putting your unique stamp on them, or have the patience and budget to hire someone, a fixer-upper might be for you,” says Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List. “If you’re not handy, don’t like dealing with the minutia of a home improvement project, you should buy a move-in ready home – or one that doesn’t have major repair issues.”
When going the move-in ready route it’s imperative to ensure you’re not overpaying for the house. Buyers get swept up by updated kitchens, neutral wall colors and beautiful hardwood floors, but some upgrades aren’t worth the asking price. According to Lupberger, you have to know the market and the cost per square foot in a given neighborhood. Working with a knowledgeable realtor will ensure you aren’t over paying.
According to Hicks, most buyers are looking for turnkey homes or ones with fresh paint and bathrooms and kitchens that don’t need repairs because they don’t have the money to put into fixing up a home.
According to Azarian, when trying to find the ideal fixer-upper, location is everything. “If you buy in a better location at a discount and can be patient about fix ups, it’s worth it.” He lists new floors, kitchen and bath renovations and even roof replacement as repair worth doing if the price tag is low enough.
Calculating the cost of repairs is no easy task. Lupberger suggests adding 20% to your estimated costs because there are always unwanted surprises along the way. For example, if the house has lead paint or asbestos, expect to pay 30% to 40% more on the repairs, says Lupberger.
“There’s a lot of downside if you don’t know exactly what you are doing,” says Lupberger. If you have no home improvement skills, bring along someone that does to check out the house—including the foundation, heating and cooling systems, windows and the roof.
“Be aware of cosmetic or superficial fixes that a homeowner has made to get the house through the sale,” adds Hicks. She says hiring a home inspector is important because a good one can spot cover up or cosmetic fixes that won’t last long.
A home inspector “may cost you a few hundred dollars, but it will be money well spent, especially if a costly repair is revealed,” she says.

Labels: home fuyers, home inspections, Home Remodeling, Home Sales, homes

With spring just around the corner, millions of families will be surfing the real estate sites, looking for their dream home. They’ll educate themselves about local price trends, and they’ll review their financial situation to try to answer one question: “Is this the year to be buying a home?” However, they may be asking the wrong question. According to industry leaders, it’s more important to ask, “Is 2012 is a good year to take out a mortgage?”

With rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage lower than anyone can remember, and the Federal Reserve promising to keep short-term interest rates at zero for the next three years, what’s to worry about?

Plenty, says Margaret Kelly, the CEO of RE/MAX, the international real estate franchisor. “This year, a crisis like the European debt situation could trigger inflation and send mortgage rates up, or prices could rise. This is the year many people will look back and wish they had bought a home because these conditions aren’t going to last forever,” she told me.

What will influence mortgage rates next?

John Walsh, CEO of Total Mortgage Services in Milford, Conn., one of the fastest-growing mortgage originators in the nation, sees the potential for a lot of rate volatility in the future. “If the debt situation in Europe is resolved, we could see rates rise significantly, although it seems unlikely this problem will be solved in the short term,” he said. But Europe is not the only factor that could influence rates.

Walsh added, “Although rates could drop if the Fed engages in further quantitative easing, there is a limit to how far rates could fall. Improvement in the U.S. economy or a million other factors could very easily cause rates to rise. There is a limited upside in waiting to take out a mortgage, but a huge downside in waiting. I would advise acting now as opposed to waiting.”

However, taking out a mortgage isn’t nearly as easy as it used to be. In fact, the primary reason most buyers, especially first-time buyers, are losing contracts and not buying a home is that they aren’t qualifying for a mortgage. Move-up buyers who haven’t dealt with the mortgage process since the salad days before 2007 are also in for a rude awakening.

What is killing the deals?

Contract failures were reported by 33 percent of Realtors in December. The leading reasons were declined mortgage applications and failures in loan underwriting from appraisals coming in below the negotiated price, according to the National Association of Realtors.

A major issue when it comes to contract failures is the length of time it takes to approve a mortgage, which grew late last year from an average of 30 days to between 45 and 60 days, according to a survey last October by Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance. Late or delayed approvals can delay a closing or even cancel a contract.

Walsh advises borrowers to organize their documentation in advance and be responsive to lenders’ inquiries. “A lender can only go as quickly as the information he has to work with. Be ready with tax returns, current pay stubs, and bank statements,” he noted. Walsh added that his firm turns underwriting around in a day and processes applications in two weeks when borrowers are responsive.

Low appraisals also kill deals today. The appraisal industry has undergone great changes over the past five years that make it imperative that borrowers stay on top of the process if they want to avoid last-minute renegotiations with the seller that could torpedo the deal. Should an appraisal come in too low, Walsh suggests asking the lender to include recently sold comparable properties that were not listed on the MLS to provide a wider, more accurate sample.

Walsh warns borrowers not to take any action that would impact their credit score or credit history until closing is complete. New credit standards could require lenders to check credit immediately before closing. A major purchase, such as a car or furniture, or even an application for new credit, can cause a lender to recalculate the income-to-debt ratio and revise the loan’s terms or even withdraw the loan approval completely. Walsh’s advice? “If you want to buy something like new furniture before you move in, buy it on time, not credit.”

“Another reason this is a great year to get a mortgage is that there is a good selection of sound loan products available ranging from FHA to adjustable rate mortgages with very low first phased rates that are a good choice for borrowers not planning to own the property for many years,” said Walsh. “Another benefit to adjustable rate mortgages is that the lower initial payments give homeowners time to grow in their jobs and possibly begin to see an increase in their take-home pay.”

The FHA witnessed a number of changes last year, including changes in the mortgage insurance premium (MIP) and an increase in credit score requirements, but Walsh doesn’t foresee major changes in the next 12 months.

Bottom line: If you have your credit and your financial house is in order, your documentation is ready, and you have a good understanding of your borrowing options, then you’re ready to borrow. If you’re ready to borrow, then you’re ready to buy.

Labels: Forclosures, Foreclosed, foreclosed homes, foreclosed homes for sale, foreclosed land, foreclosed properties, foreclosure, Foreclosure rates, Foreclosures, foreclosures for sale, home buyer, Home Buyers, home buying