I come to work early.  I stay late.  I take work home.  I carry papers around for days after I should have solved the problem, made the ‘phone call, written the letter.

And, I’m supposed to keep up with my past and present clients, friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn too.

Where am I to find time to find new clients, get new listings?  What am I doing wrong?  Any ideas out there that won’t cost me a fortune to implement?

I don’t think so.

An article in yesterday’s Newark Star Ledger outlined the woes facing one homeowner in northern NJ who can’t afford to sell her home and can’t afford to stay.  Today’s paper had another article about homeowners in general who are stuck in New Jersey.

This one homeowner’s taxes increased from $7,000 to $12,000 in seven years.   Her home is worth less than what she paid for it.  She had to take on a second job to keep up with the payments, and then, to make matters worse, her marriage broke up.

Sad story.

However, she was able to get her mortgage modified, shaving $1,000 per month off the monthly payment. 

A happy event.

But her monthly payment will bump up by $200 per month starting next year.  The mortgage modification did not wipe out her debt.

Too bad, no?

Not exactly.

When you take a closer look at this homeowner’s situation, as outlined in the original article, it turns out she bought a condo in 1996 and sold it in 2002 for almost twice what she paid.

Then, in 2003, she and her husband bought a single family home for $445,000. 

As time passed, and real estate values increased, she and her husband pushed their mortgage amount up to $550,000, borrowing against the home’s “equity.”

Now that she is underwater, she complains the mortgage company should not have qualified her and her husband for the home they bought for $445,000..

Who can she complain to about using her home as an ATM machine?

I don’t feel sorry for her.

I feel sorry for the real estate agent who is trying to sell her home….which this homeowner probably has over priced.

I feel sorry for a friend of mine, who put $25,000 down on a one bedroom, one bath condo bought in 2003 for $125,000 that is now worth $40,000.  Two bedroom, two bath condos in his building are now selling for $65,000.  He is still paying off his $100,000 mortgage, and not complaining to anyone.   Who knows when his condo will ever be worth what he paid for it?

Tama Traberman

tama@tamatraberman.com

For personal help bringing your credit scores up, email me at tama@tamatraberman.com.

For general assistance, here’s another useful tip to maintain and/or improve your credit score:

Add your high school and college-aged children to your credit card account. 

No, I’m not crazy.  By doing this you will help them build their credit scores so the enter adulthood with strong credit. 

However, I’m not suggesting you give your child/children the credit card to actually use.  Your score will suffer If your child/children are not responsible and misuse the card. 

So, what you do is simply add your child’s/children’s names to your account.

Sincerely, Tama

Tama Traberman, CSP, MIRM, e-PRO, SFR, CDPE

Weichert Realtors

9 West Main Street

Clinton NJ 08809

908-735-8140 – office

908-328-3699 – cell

You can search for properties on my website, www.ListnSellMyHome.com

Here’s another quick tip, courtesy of Philip Tirone:

Credit bureaus have no way of knowing if you are making monthly part-payments on your credit card bills or if you are paying your balance in full.

So, If you can afford to, it’s best to pay your credit card balances in full each month.  That way you avoid unnecessary interest payments.

Paying in full may also help your credit score by lowering the utilization rate on your records.  This is the proportion of actual debt you carry in proportion to the credit card limits on your card.

Tama Traberman

THANKS.

I ALREADY SENT THIS POST, AS A WEB POST, BUTDIDN’T REALIZE I COULD NOT AUTOPOST FROM THAT SCREEN…..so could you arrange to auto post my

original post…

If you can’t, I’m writing it over….

The Post is:

This credit fact comes to you courtesy of Philip Tirone, the credit guru, who wrote the book, “What Your Bank Won’t Tell You About Credit” in 2008.  Thanks Mr. Tirone.

Most of us know that people with bad credit and low credit scores usually pay high interest rates on their credit cards, mortgages, and car loans, if they can get them at all.

But, did you know that  your automobile insurance premiums may also be higher when your credit is bad and your scores are low?

Keep tuned for more useful credit information, and suggestions about how to improve your credit scores, and eventually get a decent mortgage with a decent interest rate.

Sincerely,

Tama

Tama Traberman, CSP, MIRM, e-PRO, SFR, CDPE

Weichert Realtors

9 West Main Street

Clinton NJ 08809

908-735-8140 – office

908-328-3699 – cell

You can search for properties on my website, www.ListnSellMyHome.com

These credit facts come to you via Philip Tirone, the credit guru, and author of the book, “What Your Bank Won’tTell You About Credit,” (2008)…Thanks Mr.Tirone:

Most of us know that people with bad credit and low credit scores have high interest rates on their credit cards, car loans, and home mortgages, if they can qualify for them at al…

But, did you know that BAD CREDIT also means that theirl auto insurance poremims may also be higher?

Helo is available if you want to improve your credit scores.  Keep tuned for other useful tidbits and suggestions.

 Yesterday, the Bank announced they were resuming the processing of more than 100,000 foreclosures, having determined that there is no fraud and no faulty documents in their system.   Today, the headlines talk about the involvement of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac in this mess, since they are major customers of the companies that remove people from their homes. 

At the same time, many banks also put a stop to the foreclosure process in states that require a judicial process.  Visit All Foreclosure.com  to find out your state requires such a process.

How does this affect you?

Not at all, if you don’t have a house to sell or are not considering buying one.  Otherwise, it depends on where you are in the process:

If your home is in foreclosure, you may find some banks backing away from following through on the process until they conclude their paperwork is in order.  This may mean somewhere between 30 and 90 days delay in the process (notices, repossessions, sale, etc.).  The delay may, however, be shorter than this, and no one can be absolutely sure if your personal situation will be delayed.

If you are currently selling a house, and it has been on the market for more than 90 days already, try to get it sold within the next 60 days.  If it turns out the banks will be stretching out the foreclosure process, you may benefit from fewer houses being dumped on the market over the next six months. It stands to reason that if fewer distressed homes come on the market, there will be less downward pressure on prices. 

However long this window of opportunity lasts, you may be able to maximize the price you receive for your home if you sell it during this period.  If you are working with a Realtor, find out what you can do to get the house sold quickly.

If you are currently buying a foreclosure, you probably know that the inventory of homes on the market has been frozen until the banks and the title companies (who insure good title to the property a buyer purchases) make sure the banks actually owns the property legally before they sell it.

You also can anticipate potential delays and some cancellations of sales.  My advice is to be patient.  Realize you are getting a substantial savings on the purchase of a home, and allow your Realtor to help you keep this transaction alive.

How long will this challenge last?  It’s hard to know.  It depends on what shows up as the banks complete their due diligence.  Probably there aren’t large numbers of homes mistakenly foreclosed on.  The danger, however, results from the possibility of civil suits delaying the process.  Individual homeowners as well as Title Companies may pursue their legal rights to be sure filings were proper and titles are in order. 

Email me at  tama@tamatraberman.com for a more detailed discussion of your options.  There is no charge for this information to you.

I also thought that  reform of health care insurance coverage would be aimed at bringing down the cost of health care insurance for people who don’t have employer-paid health care, who pay for their own insurance.  Realtors also are in that category….as are most self-employed people.

President Obama, if I recall correctly, also wanted this to be a revenue-neutral insurance reform, which means that the cost of the insurance for the newly to be covered (and the reduced price of coverage for individual policy holders like you) had to come from savings taken from government sponsored insurance plans like Medicare and Medicaid.

I think most of the opposition these days is coming from people who are covered by Medicare now, those over 65, who are afraid the savings President Obama is talking about will mean reduced benefits for them and from others who don’t believe the government should be involved in anything like this….they even oppose Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid as government interference with the private market….with capitalism.

The worry also is that this insurance coverage, whatever form it takes, will end up costing the American people.  As it happens, I am one of those dummies who doesn’t object to paying higher taxes if my money goes to a common good.  I am in favor of the plan that will insure the most peopole at a reasonable cost.

As an American I am ashamed that other countries have a lower infant mortality rate than we do, that other countries have a longer life expectancy we do, that thousands of people without insurance are forced to line up and wait their turn for free dental and medical care because they can’t afford to go to the dentist or to the doctor. 

I also think that four year colleges should be free for any and all who want to go and who can meet whatever requirements the colleges establish.

 But that’s another whole discussion!

It is recommended and you can gain some degree of control over the situation by completing a walkthrough inspection of the property within five days of closing.

Your purchase contract should include a clause that grants the buyers permission to do a final walkthrough inspection sometime close to the closing date. A final walkthrough provides the buyers an opportunity to verify that the property is in substantially the same condition it was when the sellers accepted their offer. The walkthrough is not a contingency of the contract that gives the buyers the right of approval or disapproval.

Your purchase contract should require the sellers to maintain the property in its present condition until closing. So, if a window breaks before closing, the sellers would be responsible for fixing it, depending on the verbiage in the contract.

During the walkthrough, the buyers can also confirm the completion of any work the seller agreed to do before closing. Ask the sellers to provide you copies of invoices for work done before closing. Keep these documents in your house file for future reference. If sellers made repairs themselves, they should provide an itemization of work completed that describes what they did.

Your purchase contract should include a provision for the sellers to deliver the property to the buyers free of personal property and debris, unless otherwise agreed to in writing. For example, the sellers might have agreed to leave the washer, dryer and refrigerator with the house, and the buyers accepted the offer.

These items are usually considered personal property, unless they’re built in. If the sellers moved these items out or the movers did by mistake, they would need to be returned by closing unless you make other arrangements with the sellers.

It can be very helpful if the sellers agree to do a walkthrough with the buyers to show them things about the home that the buyers would have difficulty figuring out on their own, like the location of obscure light switches or how to operate retractable skylights.

If something is disclosed about the property that should have been disclosed earlier, put it in writing. If it’s something significant, talk to your real estate agent or attorney about how best to resolve the issue. Keep in mind that most real estate agents are not licensed to practice law. Also, seller disclosure laws vary by state.

Doing a final walkthrough to verify the condition of your new home can be complicated if it’s tenant-occupied. If you are buying a tenant-occupied property to live in, your contract should provide for the property to be vacant several days before closing.

Tama Traberman Flood in Pittstown

Heading home from Clinton to Milford. At the intersection of Route 513 and Route 579 in Pittstown, adjacent to the Pittstown Inn, the flood waters rose in a matter of a minute after I entered the intersection….. Ten seconds before this photo was taken, the road was clear and there was just a tiny puddle to go through. Obviously, my friend’s car was totaled. The rescue squads helped us to dry land and my neighbor in Milford eventually came and got me and took me home.

Tama