bank-owned winterized home: inspection and mortgage questions
huango
17 years ago
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mmelko
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agomelbat
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An update on the home, RU sale, and questions on own root Austins
Comments (11)Most of the 36 roses in my DA garden are on their own roots ... now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure they all are. Anyway, as of yesterday, there are some pretty stellar performers that aren't talked about much. The star of the show is 'Sir Clough'. It reminds me of 'Carefree Beauty' somewhat, but the foliage is better, the habit is better, and the flowers are a warmer, more pleasing shade of hot pink. Visitors rarely fail to mention that "wonderful dark pink rose in your Austin Garden." 'Comte de Champagne' is beside 'Sir Clough'. It's a soft yellow (similar to Buff Beauty's color), low petal count, cupped flowers, very disease resistant. 'Bow Bells' was planted directly into the garden as a band in October 2011. It is now 5' tall, dense, and super vigorous and healthy. 'Marinette' was planted in 2012, also as a band without nursing it in a pot. Rooted it myself from a cutting. It is doing beautifully. Those are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. Sometimes, the only way to know that a rose will work for you in your garden under your growing conditions is to just buy it and see what happens. This is how some of my most favorite lucky accidents have happened. Congratulations on your new home!...See More'The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One'
Comments (9)Though the Canadian banks have been somewhat more heavily regulated than many, so that they've been evaluated recently as among the strongest in the industriaized world ... ... I've held shares in one of them for 42 years. "Value" (whatever that means ... I guess that I really mean, "price") per share about June 2007 - $107.00. It appears that not only did that one have significant exposure to some of the rotten portions of the U.S. mortgage market recently ... but they were backing a mortgage insurance company, as well. Price per share, last Nov ... $42.25. Price per share, now ... $51.84. It seems to me that, rather than being the "robb-er", I'm more like the "robb-ee". It sure feels like that, anyway! What's that you say? ... I'm not alone? That others, not only some bank semi-owners, have suffered a similar fate? Who's responsible? Where does the lynch mob congregate? What's that you say - that there's millions of us?? (Mainly found in mirrors?) Oh, Lord! What next?? Best wishes for learning to manage your life more effectively, ... ... most all of us. ole joyful P.S. Bought shares in a Canadian stockbroker quite a few years ago. Later bought out by another Canadian stockbroker. Later bought out by a U.S. stockbroker, Merrill Lynch. (Drat - all of our good stuff is being bought out by furriners ... making us hewers of wood and drawers of water ... in our own country!)!! That, a few years later, having got itself into serious financial trouble ... ... was recently, as a pretty sick patient, "rescued" ... ... by a large (but nearly insolvent, itself), U.S. bank ... ... making me the bedazzled shareholder of a U.S. BANK!! ................ ................ ole joyful (duct tape over mouth - more or less)...See MoreWhat type repairs will bank hold up mortgage.
Comments (5)Get another estimate, for sure. That's either a much bigger problem than a foot of dry rot, or the company who gave you the estimate is trying to take you to the cleaner. Either way, you need to know so that you can negotiate on who will do the repair or pay for it. A typical repair job for rotted wood on a door or window frame just involves removing the section of wood that is bad, replacing it with good wood, and bondo-ing that into place. Then you prep, prime, and paint and you're done. If they think you need to replace the full frame and door and surrounding tile, either they're wrong and just trying to upsell you (hopefully!) or you have issues that are far beyond that foot of rotted wood, in which case you need to disclose this to the buyers, now that you have a heads up on the extent of the damage. It's unlikely that this would stop a loan from going through either way, though, if that helps with the original question!...See MoreArticle: Mortgages: Smaller Banks Smell Blood
Comments (27)chisue wrote: "Did you mean to look at the CD yields by deducting the percentage of our tax bracket, or something else?" I'm not a financial planner (and wouldn't want to steer you in the wrong direction) so I would suggest asking your broker or CPA this question. Martin Weiss (Weiss ratings) talked about treasuries in April 06'. Here is what he had to say. "I can put my keep-safe money in 3-month Treasury bills or in a Treasury-only money market fund. The advantages are many: Advantage #1. Safety. As long as I wait the 13 weeks until my T-bills mature, the Treasury Department guarantees zero risk of loss. And even in the very rare event that I sell them on the secondary market at a loss, the loss would be so tiny I'd need a microscope to see it. Is the U.S. Treasury really a good credit risk? Some people are so concerned about the government's bulging debts and run-away deficits they're beginning to wonder, and I don't blame them. But it's still the highest rated borrower on the planet. So until someone offers me a better alternative, that's where my keep-safe money is staying. Advantage #2. Rising yield. A couple of years ago, the yield on short-term Treasury bills was hovering so close to the zero line it felt like I was paying the government for the privilege of loaning it my money. Plus, at that time, there was a big gap between the ultra-low yield on 3-month T-bills and the still-decent yield on 30-year Treasury bonds. But now T-bills yields have mostly caught up, and the gap has narrowed tremendously. Every time the Fed hikes interest rates by a quarter point, the yield on my T-bills promptly rises by about a quarter point. And every time Wall Street trumpets no more rate hikes coming, the Fed sends not-so-subtle hints that it's going to raise them some more. That's what happened after the last Fed meeting. And from everything I can see, that's what's going to continue happening after the next Fed meetings for as far as the eye can see. Good. My T-bill yield, although still not high enough to give me any thrills, just keeps moving up and up. Advantage #3. Liquidity. With a Treasury-only money fund, I can get my money out so quickly it's like having the cold cash in my night table when I wake up every morning. I can write checks on the fund to immediately pay my bills. Or I can call the fund and have them wire the money to my local bank within 24 hours. Advantage #4. One Account. Some people have bank accounts coming out of their ears. They've got checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and various CDs under the $100,000 FDIC limit. I don't. Except for a local checking account I use for small monthly bills, I have just one single, multi-purpose Treasury-only money market account that does it all. It's not FDIC insured. But that doesn't bother me because the U.S. Treasury Department guarantees all the securities that the fund buys on my behalf. Advantage #5. Exempt from local income taxes. On the surface, the yields on CDs and Treasuries are similar. But there's a significant difference: The Treasuries and Treasury-only money funds are exempt from local and state income taxes. Bank CDs and money funds invested in CDs are not. This isn't an issue for us now because we live in Florida, and Florida has no state income taxes. But it certainly would have made a difference when we lived in New York. Ditto for states like California or Massachussets. Advantage #6. Inflation protection. People ask: Suppose inflation surges or the dollar falls in value? What good are your dollar-denominated Treasury bills going to do you then? Answer: I get most of my protection from the rising yield: The higher inflation goes, the better my yield is going to get. Will the higher yield always be enough to cover the loss in the dollar's purchasing power? Probably not. But in any case, I can get the rest of my protection elsewhere." This story is archived at www.moneyandmarkets.com/press.asp?cat_id=25 "The Big Picture" by Martin Weiss-April 17, 2006 He offers a free newsletter as well as other services. A link that might be useful: SafeMoney.com...See Morenancylouise5me
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