Month: September 2013

The American Dream — by Becky Wynne

Sharon keeps after me to write a blog post. I’m not a writer. What do you write about? I’m told you should write about things you know – well, I do know a little about real estate. Not really sure how to turn that into something interesting for readers. So, I’ll write about my dad instead.

Ray Felts – that’s my dad.  We all just helped him celebrate his 80^th birthday in August. Wow – can you even imagine all that has happened over the past 80 years? I was curious so I “Googled it” and found a few interesting facts: In 1933 the unemployment rate was at 25.2%! Boy – and we think we have it bad! The Great Depression was still going strong in our country and 1 in 4 people were unemployed. Not really sure why they called it the “Great Depression” because from what I understand – it really wasn’t great at all. If you did have a job – your average annual income was $1,550. And this is my favorite part…average cost of a new home was $5,750 – 80 years later it’s $186,300! A few more fun facts – gas was .10 per gal, bread was .7 a loaf, and a can of Campbells soup was .10. The latest movie to hit the silver screen was King Kong (the original) and some funny looking little dude named Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany – not sure anyone really cared about that at the time. Construction had just begun on the Golden Gate Bridge and in real estate news – FDR had just gotten Congress to pass the Home Owner Refinancing Act as part of “The New Deal”.  This is fun, isn’t it?

But seriously, do you think any of our generation or younger could even imagine what life was like for our parents or grandparents?  MOST people during that time really knew poverty and hardship. But before you start feeling sorry for them – listen, what they went through made them strong and self-sufficient. My dad’s generation is the backbone of our country. They are the reason why generations since have NOT had to suffer the way they did. When things were tough, they rolled up their sleeves and did WHAT EVER IT TOOK to feed their families and pay their bills. My dad was very poor as a child but he was smart and a hard worker. He did what all young men of the time did; he signed up and fought for his country. Then he came home and raised a family in the post-war booming economy. I never remember him sitting around complaining about life – he was always working.   80 years have gone by—and now his home is paid for, he raised 3 great kids, he spent 51 years with his loving wife, he can enjoy his “toys” (motorcycle, boat, motorhome, etc.) and his security. Despite everything he survived to live out the American Dream.

Now the question is…does the American Dream still exist? Well, that might have to be another blog subject.

Side note: Ray had knee replacement surgery in September.  We wish him well!

 

As you know, buying a home means you’re going to need to get a mortgage.  (Unless, of course, you recently won a major lottery and you’re planning to pay cash for  your new home.  If that’s the case, please call!).

Getting a mortgage means a possibly painful scrutiny of your finances, your credit history, your monthly debt, your income, etc.  If you have already owned a home for some time, we hope you’ve been able to keep up with the mortgage payment every month.  If so, you’re building your credit up nicely: good for you.

But because many of our clients are first-time homeowners, one of the most common questions we get is something like this.  Hey, I haven’t had a chance to develop much credit yet.  I’ve been in school, I’ve graduated, and I have found my first job.  But I do not yet have a credit history.  Can I still qualify for a mortgage?  The answer is yes, in a few months–with some steps you must take.

Your objective should be to increase your credit worthiness over the next six to nine months.  After all, your “credit score” is simply a way to rate your credit worthiness.  How do you increase your credit score, especially if you don’t have much credit extended to you at this point?

Go obtain a couple of credit cards with modest balances.  For instance, apply for a gasoline credit card.  (You will see them advertised at many pumps, often with the incentive of knocking a few cents off the price at the pump for some months).  Apply for a credit card at a home improvement store (like Home Depot or Lowes, or even Sears).  It probably won’t be a large amount of credit, but it will still help to demonstrate that you pay your bills on time.  A third option might be to get a credit card from a small, local clothing store.

Don’t apply for all three cards at once.  First get the gasoline card, and when you fill up your tank, use the card.  (Be sure to pay it off when the bill comes in).  A few months later, apply for the home improvement store card.  Buy an item that costs somewhere between $200 and $400 that you actually need (maybe a lawn mower, a microwave, or a drill set).  Plan ahead, and pay it off completely when the bill comes in: do NOT pay merely the minimum payment.  And then a few months later, get a local clothing store card and charge up maybe a couple of hundred dollars of clothes (Christmas presents for your favorite people, maybe?).  You know the next bit of advice already: pay it off completely when the bill comes in…

If you’re following these instructions to the letter, your credit score will have improved in the six or nine months that have elapsed.  Don’t go all nutty and buy up half the clothing store, including new $200 sneakers.  Take it slowly.  You can also demonstrate evidence of your credit worthiness by showing regularly-paid electric or cable bills, regular payments on your student loans, etc.  After your credit score reaches the high 600s or the 700s, it’s likely you will be able to obtain a mortgage.  If you’ve got questions, just let me know.  Your future’s so bright, you gotta wear shades!

 

Well, the season is here: it’s football time.  While it’s pretty clear that the Titans are the team for whom most everyone in middle Tennessee watches (and roots for), there are a number of people who just can’t get enough of UT college football.  And, for those folks in Nashville, Vanderbilt remains a favorite team to watch (despite some recent unsavory occurrences outside of the football arena).

With these teams in mind, do you need a little help keeping track of their playing schedules?  If so, we still have about a dozen handy football schedule magnets left over from our recent campaign.   The magnet includes schedules for all “favorites”: Titans, UT Knoxville, and Vanderbilt.

If you’ll just drop us an email with your regular mailing address, we’ll be happy to send you one (or at least the next twelve people who respond).  We are keeping up with the events that our customers care about.  And, by the way, we care about you.