Ready Bell Home Loans @ Mason McDuffie Mortgage » Uncategorized

The Sweet Pea. My favorite flower

readybell — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:48:18 +0000

When I was young my friend had a field that was filled with sweet peas. As children, we would wander through the field gathering bouquets of sweet peas. There were always a ton of them in a variety of colors. There are over 250 varieties of sweet peas and they self pollinate. Easy to get right???

No, apparently my friends field is not common. Sweet Peas are not easy to find or easy to grow. They are a fickle flower that with too much or not enough sun will die or just plain out refuse to grow. I have given up on trying to grow them for now. My backyard is a haven for sweet pea death as is my front yard, side yard, windowsill, etc…

The lady who I bought these from at the Farmers market told me that she even has difficulty with them even after 65 years of growing them. That small bouquet is $5 which is a deal! They do not last long. I would say 6 days at best whereas the Peony will last over a week if given fresh water and lightly trimmed.

They are one of the most delicious smelling flowers in the world. A room full of sweet peas is perfection. Good luck though finding a room full. This is not a flower that you can buy at any florists. Trust me I have tried. If I could have sweet peas delivered every week I would. It is not possible though. This is a flower where you need connections or a local farmers market. The sweet pea has been around since before the 1800′s. It was quite the popular flower in late 1800′s England. It is the flower associated with the Edwardian age.

In the language of flowers sweet peas are associated with blissful pleasure and childhood innocence.

Ready Bell Blog Changing to Lifestyle Blog

readybell — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:44:00 +0000

The Ready Bell blog on this site will no longer cover loan news. For breaking loan news you can check out our blog on Trulia.

After much thought Julie and I decided we wanted to focus on what we love about our homes and living. It is the gatherings in the kitchens, the pictures of trips past and the everyday living aspects that make our houses homes. It is not just the walls and the financing that make a home. It is the memories you fill them with. By focusing on the things we love we hope to help you with new ideas and ways to fill your home and life with great memories.

Warm Regards,

Jennifer

How to finance a house in poor condition. FHA 203K

readybell — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:58:37 +0000

If this market has shown us anything positive it is that there are great housing deals if you look for them. Unfortunately, sometimes these great housing deals require work to bring them to average condition. Your everyday FHA or conventional loan will not work on these houses. Enter FHA 203K.

FHA 203K is a rehab loan. Basically you buy the house and finance additional money to bring the house into financeable condition. If the amount of repairs is under $35,000 it is considered a streamline FHA 203k. If it is over $35,000 it is a full FHA 203K. The one major thing to keep in mind is that it is for owner occupied properties only. Qualifying for a 203K is exactly the same as qualifying for a normal FHA loan.

These loans are feared by the majority of the real estate commuity due to horror stories that circulate of the FHA 203K that took 6 months.

Tip#1: The King of the FHA loan.

The major thing that most lenders and Realtors do not pay attention to is the one thing that affects the speed and duration of the loan process. The Contractor. The contractor is the king of this loan. If the contractor is fast and good and understands what his role is, the loan can move quickly. If you have multiple contractors involved that are slow and do not understand what they are supposed to do, you can have a nightmare.

I always suggest that you use one contractor for the entire job. Ideally, the contractor has done a 203k before or they are very interested in doing one and are willing to take direction from the lender. For a streamline 203K they need to understand that when your loan closes they get half the cost of the materials upfront and then that they will not get the rest until the job has been completed and signed off by the lender. This can take up to 6 weeks from the job completion. If the contractor does not expect this upfront you can find yourself in a situation where you are being harassed by the contractor for payment. Not a good place to be. If you have multiple contractors and one is slower than the others. The others have to wait until the “slow one” completes his job. This can also lead to unnecessary drama.

Tip #2: Know everything you want done early.

You need to know everything you want done to the home prior to the contractor doing their bid. This is not a loan where you can add additional work. Once we get the contractor bid , we order the appraisal. The appraiser has to go through the bid and address the items in his/her appraisal to show that this work will add value to the house. If you decided you want to add additional items then the contractor has to do a new bid and the appraiser has to go back out. That costs additional money and time.

Tip #3: The Foreclosure angle:

We are starting to see foreclosures where if the property is in less than average condition they are countering the offers with a 203K. Basically, you write an offer with a basic FHA loan and the bank is coming back and saying the only way they will sell this house to you is if you do an FHA 203K. The bank knows this house will not go straight FHA due to work needed so they are countering you with the only loan product that will work. If you are trying to buy a foreclosure where you are countered to a 203K make sure if you decide to move ahead you ask for 60 days to close the loan. Your original offer was probably for a 30 day close. Closing a 203k in 30 days or less is extremely rare and not a risk worth taking. Ask for 60 days.

Have questions? Email me at jready@mmcdcorp.com

Money Tip: Save money and help local non profits

readybell — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:22:46 +0000

I recently discovered a new site that I love. It is called www.mytowndeal.com
It consists of a daily deal which saves you money and helps local non profits. The deals are good. It is not a buy one get one snow cone in winter or something useless. Check it out

http://www.mytowndeal.com/

Money Tip; How to kick your starbucks habit

readybell — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:01:31 +0000

I love Starbucks. Every morning I would faithfully get a egg sandwich and a venti non fat, no whip, flavored latte. This amounts to a little over an $8 a day habit. It also amounted to waiting 15 minuets in line each day to spend $8+., which made me somewhat bitter every morning. One day as I added another $100 to my Starbucks gold rewards car I started feeling nauseous. Was this really the best use of my money? I lecture people all day about spending wisely and here I was ponying up $8 a day for breakfast and burning 15min of my day waiting for it.

This was a real dilemma for me because I despise regular coffee and I am extremely uncoordinated when it comes to anything in the kitchen. How could I get my flavored lattes without the guilt?

After quite a bit of web research I ordered the Bosch Tassimo. It is a coffee maker where you insert discs and it makes the coffee just like a pro; but no mess and no coordination required. I bought the Tassimo because it had the Starbucks latte discs.

It is pretty fantastic. I put in a milk disc and push a button and 1 min later have perfectly frothed milk. I next pop in an espresso disc and 1 min later my latte is done. Even cooler one of my fellow ex diehard Starbucks buddies told me about Torlani flavoring. It is flavoring you add to your coffee. It is also the same flavoring used at coffee shops and in Italian sodas. If you really just want Starbucks flavoring, Starbucks actually sells some of there flavorings online. I now can do a pumpkin spice latte, cinnamon dolce latte ,peppermint mocha etc… I have figured the cost is roughly $1.25 per drink instead of $4+

I actually just bought another one for our office and our clients love it. Money saved and everyone happy. Win win

We are now financing up to 10 properties per Borrower!

readybell — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:53:06 +0000

We are now officially financing up to 10 properties per borrower. That is great news for investors who have had to sit on the sidelines because they own 5 or more properties. Call or email today for details.

California Tax Credit for homebuyers up to $10,000

readybell — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:34:47 +0000

California first time homebuyer tax credit of up to $10,000. Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 183 into law, offering a First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit to home buyers buying their first home or purchasing newly construction, previously unoccupied homes. The credit will be extended from May 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. Last year, funds for the tax credits ran out after four months so you need to act fast.
Here is a link to the state web site for more details: http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/New_Home_Credit.shtml

Remeber to always contact a tax advisor for specific questions and answers regarding the credit.

Great News! Ready Bell 5% down loan.

readybell — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:32:40 +0000

Introducing: The Ready Bell 5% down conventional loan

As the market changes we are constantly looking for new loan products to help buyers get into homes faster and with as little trouble as possible. With recent changes to FHA we have determined it is crucial to have a conventional loan that competes with FHA.

FHA vs The Ready Bell 5% down Conventional loan;

1) FHA has upped their upfront MI fee to 2.25%. So with the 5% down program you still have mortgage insurance but there are no upfront MI fees. That saves you 2.25%
2) Also with FHA you have to have mortgage insurance for a minimum of 5 years. With this you do not.
3) FHA appraisals are tougher than conventional appraisals. With the 5% down you do a conventional appraisal.

Bottom Line: This is a great option for borrowers with limited amounts down. As many buyers have found some asset managers are not FHA fans and for those properties you now may have an ace in your pocket. Please note that not all lenders will have access to this loan. This is a specialty loan. Please inquire for more details

*In order to qualify you need to have a credit score over 680 and a maximum debt to income of 41%

Welcome to Our Blog!

readybell — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:38:20 +0000

Our mortgage professionals can give you FREE loan advice to help you understand the mortgage process.

Wondering which loan is right for you? Not a problem! We can help determine which loan will fit your needs for your home purchase, refinance or debt consolidation needs.

If you have any questions, please contact us or call us!

Thanks!