Rosie Make Me Sick..........she always has. I copied this article

A cancer survivor burst into tears Wednesday when she testified that Rosie O'Donnell suggested she was lying about goings-on at her now-defunct magazine and told her liars get cancer.

Cindy Spengler, who was head of marketing at "Rosie" magazine, said O'Donnell made the remark after a meeting to discuss the magazine's problems. Spengler said O'Donnell told her that her silence in the meeting was tantamount to lying.

"You know what happens to people who lie," the witness quoted O'Donnell as saying. "They get sick and they get cancer. If they keep lying, they get it again."

Spengler testified in Manhattan's State Supreme Court, where O'Donnell and "Rosie" publisher Gruner+Jahr USA are suing each other for breach of contract.

She told O'Donnell, "Your mother died of breast cancer. Was she lying?"

"Yes," Spengler quoted the entertainer as replying.

Outside court, O'Donnell said she called Spengler the next morning and apologized for the cancer comment.

"I'm sorry I hurt her the way I did," she said. "That was not my intention."

Spengler admitted sending an e-mail on Oct. 1, 2002, to Susan Toepfer, Rosie's editor-in-chief, suggesting that "we do our own little 'ding dong the witch is dead' song and dance" to celebrate the severance of O'Donnell's relationship with G+J.

Toepfer responded via e-mail that she wanted to move into O'Donnell's office, that she would "take out the bad vibes" and said "I think you're supposed to burn sage in all the corners."

O'Donnell quit the magazine in mid-September 2002, following a dispute over editorial control.

It is a wild wild real estate world. But I think I have 7 pending

Short Sales Explained

A short sale can be an excellent solution for homeowners who need to sell, and who owe more on their homes than they are worth. In the past, it was rare for a bank or lender to accept a short sale. Today, however, due to overwhelming market changes, banks and lenders have become much more negotiable when it comes to these transactions. Recent changes in corporate policy and the Obama administration have also improved the chances of getting a short sale approved.

But to be technical, here's a more official definition:

• A homeowner is 'short' when the amount owed on his/her property is higher than current market value.
• A short sale occurs when a negotiation is entered into with the homeowner's mortgage company (or companies) to accept less than the full balance of the loan at closing. A buyer closes on the property, and the property is then 'sold short' of the total value of the mortgage.

For homeowners to qualify for a short sale, they must fall into any or all of the following circumstances:

• Financial Hardship – There is a situation causing you to have trouble affording your mortgage.
• Monthly Income Shortfall – In other words: "You have more month than money." A lender will want to see that you cannot afford, or soon will not be able to afford your mortgage.
• Insolvency – The lender will want to see that you do not have significant liquid assets that would allow you to pay down your mortgage.

This seems simple enough, but it is a complicated process that takes the expertise of experienced professionals. I hold the CDPE® Designation and am ready to identify all possible options and, when possible, assist in the quick execution of a short sale transaction.

If you have questions or feel you may qualify for a short sale, please contact me for a free consultation.

Understanding your options now could mean all the difference in the world.

Have you heard about POS inspections?

Today I spent several hours in a class which was so boring. But one interesting thing came up. POS inspections. POS stands for point of sale. Point of sale inspections are inspections done at the time of the transfer of the property. In some areas they have these inspections on wood burning stove and fireplaces in order to ensure they are not releasing too many bad emissions. But, the way the bill was originally drafted it would include windows and appliances. Not only that but it would be on ALL houses sold. For those of you who have been to my house, can you imagine the drama that would have come from that.

Then if it is not up to their standard either the seller fixes it or the buyer ponies up the money....or what? I guess it doesn't get sold. What a nightmare

Thanks Big Government for making our lives better!

I might die laughing

So the following link is to an article written in JULY by the Washington Post. According to the source, Bank of America was planning to roll out a program by August in which they would be able to approve a short sale in one week.
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Well, I guess since one of my offers has been in since JULY ...they failed. Wait, maybe I just got my offer in too quickly???
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071002115.html

The drama of Bank of America / Countrywide

Did you know BofA / Countrywide now services over 50% of the home loans in the United States? This is scary because they are totally disorganized and irrational!
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For fun, I thought I would share with you a journal of my experience on one of their accounts.
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7/28/2009
We are finally given an email address for sending in our documents. At this point I have already faxed all documents in three times. Yes, I put the account number on the top of each page.
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8/6/2009
Local agent called and was doing the BPO today.
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8/9/2009
BPO is not returned yet. A negotiator will review the file on September 2nd.
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8/17/2009
BPO not returned to the bank yet.
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8/19/2009
BPO not back yet.
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8/20/2009
No negotiator is assigned yet. They sent an escalation request. Should be completed in 5 to 7 business days.
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8/26/2009
Nothing new, no updates. But hey, got to be on hold for a very long time.
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9/1/9
All documents are in, it has been escalated. But no new information.
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9/2/9
15 minutes on hold, had to hang up...meeting time
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9/2/9
No negotiator on file yet.
BPO is in.
NOT a Fannie loan
BPO was uploaded on 8/26
She is sending an email to her supervisor to see what is going on, including my contact information.
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9/8/9
Rasheda was very helpful, even gave me her email.
No negotiator assigned yet.
BPO is uploaded, but no progress
Did a 2nd escalation request. Cuz ya know, the first one did so much good.
Going directly to management via email.
Told me to email her on Friday to get an update.
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9/14/09
Notice of intent to foreclose expires on 8/16/09 and was I calling in to make a payment?? HELLO! I am the Realtor, not the borrower!
Transfer to short sale department.
While on hold I sent an email to Rasheda, it bounced. Either she no longer works there or she gave me a bad address.
On hold again. She was going to send another escalation request, but if they do that it will cancel out the first one and we will be even farther behind. The escalation request will expire on the 22nd, so I should call on the 23rd.
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9/14/09
Just for kicks I am calling back to see what kind of variation on the original story I can get.
Beatrice informed me there are no new updates and I should call back on the 23rd. At least that date seems to be a consistency.
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9/17/09
No new updates, I should call on the 23rd. Hey, there's that date again!
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9/18/09
Transferred a few times, and what do you know? NOTHING NEW!
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9/22/09
I am now being told the reason we are having such a long delay for a negotiator is because this is a Fannie Mae loan. (see noes from 9/2/9). Only certain negotiators can do Fannie loans. However, nothing new is noted on the account.
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9/23/09
Jennifer informed me that the file was not pending assignment and that was a new update as of today. The file is in valuation review. They have the wrong offer on file, but I said nothing. The correct offer is $13,000 higher. I have told them multiple times which offer they should have, the other two were dead....buyers walked. If I tell them they have the wrong offer I will have to fax the new one over and it will delay progress. Once I get a negotiator I will talk to her or him directly and present the newest offer.

My new word!

Permahold. Def: The state of being put on eternal hold while trying to communicate with a bank regarding a short sale transaction. It is close to permahell, which is where the real estate market seems to be heading.
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Let me tell you about my fun today. I called today and was on hold for 8 minutes. When I finally got to somebody who could help me I was told they had recently gone through a system upgrade. Because she had the new system and not the old system she was not able to retrieve the authorization they have on file to speak with me.
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Her solution was to put me back in the big permahold swimming pool and see if somebody else could help me.
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I entered the information via the buttons on my phone as instructed. I was greeted with the following: "We are sorry, we can't continue processing this call, please hang up.". SERIOUSLY??
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3:22PM I am calling back to get placed in the permahold pool. Kelly answered the call at 3:25Pm. She was not able to get any information for me as she is in the wrong department. She gave me a new phone number to call (yeah...already have that one), and told me to not enter any numbers when prompted. So I didn't. So then it gave me the whole "We are sorry, we can't continue processing this call, please hang up." OH MY GOSH!!!
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3:30 PM Calling back in.....entered social security number and account number as prompted. Back on permahold in permahell. Oh, my anticipated hold time is 5 to 10 minutes. My call is VERY important to them and they look forward to assisting me. You know, I have to say, I am not feeling that right now. Hey, while we are on hold let me tell you the new hot word at Chase. Are you ready? The hot word is "activate". Tee hee....activate. I think the bigwigs at these banks have weekly meetings while they come up with ridiculous new words to use to make us think they are working on things.
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Last week I called and spoke with a really nice gentleman. He told me they had a new process in which the customer no-service (okay he didn't say "no") would need to go through a list and double check all the documents had been received, at which point they would "activate" the file. You have to love it? He said this would make us "active" in the loss mitigation department.
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He was also highly amused the previous person on the 24th had not done this because it seems they get credit for every file they can activate. Too bad they don't have motivation to actually get the deals closed!
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3:36PM. Brittney answered the phone. I wonder if it is Brittney Spears at an all time career low. She was able to actually verify. It was made active and she had the same information I had. She told me to check back in on Friday. I asked her for a current estimate of time to an approval and she said it was 90-120 days from the date of ACTIVATION. This file has been COMPLETE and on their desks since August 12th.
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Gotta love...........Chase Bank

I love Fall

I love fall. I love the way it isn't too hot but isn't cold either. There isn't too much rain, but the wonderful misty mornings are so crisp.
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Take note, the single most significant holiday of the entire year occurs during fall. It generally is a day or two after Thanksgiving.
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This year we grew a large patch of corn in our backyard. We were excited about the food it would produce but also the corn stalks for the front porch. Every year I buy more scarecrows at the end of the season when they are 75% to 90% off. Our scarecrow family is really growing.
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Here is a thing I am struggling over. Bales of hay are now compressed. They contain the same amount of straw, but somehow they pack them tighter. Great for farmers and transporting the bales, but bad for me. I like to put a few on the front porch to put out more scarecrows and with the smaller size i have to buy double in order to cover the same area. Bummer........probably I could still find the larger kind, just need to do some more looking.
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Once the pumpkins in the back yard grow more, we will add those for some decor too. Oh, and of course Winco will yield a couple carts full of pumpkins...gotta have a lot of pumpkins on the porch. Guess what happens when you compost all the pumpkins and the Basset Hounds decide to drag them all over the garden area and eat them? Well, the next year you have tons and tons of pumpkin plants growing in incredibly random spots.
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We reuse the bales at the end of the fall season to mix in our compost bins too, so we don't waste.
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After we got the corn and the scarecrows out I took some photos.

Some Useful Bits O Information

• median property price in Detroit (proper) is $5700
• one of the largest investors in real estate in the United States is the bank of Singapore. the funny thing about this is that in Singapore people are not allowed to own property.
  
• BofA now services over 50% of residential real estate loans in the U.S. 5% of these loans are actually BofA loans, the other 95% are other banks!
  
• when a bank takes back a property they have to put three times the amount of the default in a reserve account. So every $1 in foreclosure equals $3 less they can loan
• take all the money spent on the following events: Marshall Plan, LA Purchase, Race to the Moon, S&L crisis, Korean War, The New Deal, Vietnam War, Lifetime NASA budget, and both Iraq wars. Add all those dollar amounts together, adjust for inflation and you will still not arrive at the amount of money the government has spent on the bank bailouts.
  
• in the year 2000 only 2% of loans were interest only. In the year 2005 these loans accounted for 25% !!!
• the S&L crisis was $120 billion. 30% of that was recovered, resulting in an $84 billion loss. $300 BILLION in mortgage debt write offs is expected
• the mortgage debt relief act has been extended to January of 2013. What does this tell you the government thinks will happen to the housing market over the next three years?
  
• the HOPE now program (remember that last year??) had a goal of 143,000 loan mods. By the end of 2008 they had completed 1,392. Guess that didn't work!
• some estimates suggest a foreclosure costs a bank $200,000 because of the length of time required to resell the property
• did you know loan servicers get a percentage of the payments they collect? BofA, for example, is a servicer. When loans default the percentage goes up, giving the servicer NO incentive to help homeowners.
  
• california just passed legislation regarding agents being allowed to do BPOs on properties when if the deal dies, they will get the REO listing. Serious conflict of interest

A few thoughts about short sales.

Katie and I just returned from the CDPE training. We learned so much, it was a great experience. I would highly recommend it to any Realtor with whom I am not in direct competion for business.
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We learned a couple scary things. A lot of the adjustable loans out there have not adjusted yet...we have a huge supply of loans made at the end of the boom and a large array of "exotic" loans which have not come to their stress points yet. That is scary.........but don't run in fear!
Two great websites to look at for statistics are:
trendgraphix.com
or
brokermetrix.com
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Another interesting point coming up is the role Realtors are playing in short sales. We are Realtors. We list, show and assist our clients in selling our buying their homes. When did we become debt negotiators as well? Is debt negotiation in our scope of duty? If not, will our errors and omission insurance cover us if we have legal problems in the future? Are we going to see a lot of class action lawsuits against Realtors for advising our clients in these transactions?
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We have a lot of Realtors running around telling people false information. Have you heard any of these:
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1. Don't worry about consequences after a short sale. If it is your primary residence the lender can't come back after you, even if they foreclose.

• NOT TRUE. True, Oregon is a non-recourse state, lenders can't go for deficiency judgments (provided you meet certain criteria such as owner occupied). What nobody is saying is they can still sue you after the fact for not honoring the terms of the promissory note. Do they? Historically, not often, but we are in a whole new world right now. We can't say what they will do in the future.
  

1. Because of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 you don't have to pay tax on a 1099 for the deficiency.
   

• NOT TRUE. The MFDRA is only valid for OWNER OCCUPIED homes. And you cannot have refinanced with a cash out loan. If you did refinance you can still be eligible for the debt relief IF and ONLY IF you used the refinance money in order to pay off the original loans or used any cash out for improvements to the property. You can't have a cash out refinance where you took a $50,000 chunk of change and partied like a rock star for a few weeks.
  

1. If you don't qualify for the MFDRA you can just say you are insolvent. Then you do not owe any tax.

• NOT TRUE. Insolvency isn't that easy. Your amount of debt forgiveness has to exceed your assets.

This blog post is not to be considered legal advice, it is ONLY my opinions and thoughts. You should always consult competent (there is the important word) and appropriate professionals. Appropriate professionals for this subject would include , but not be limited to: CPAs, lawyers, and financial planners.

A thought about the real estate industry

Today I am sitting at a hotel in Salem waiting for a class to start. 8 hours today and 8 hours tomorrow (that is so long to sit). It is the CDPE class. Certified Distresed Property Expert. Essentially, just some initials to put on my business card. But I am learning how to handle short sales and work with banks better to get these deals closed.
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Statistics say 60% of home sales across the nation are either short sales or bank owned. 60% !! That is huge!!! So it is time to ride the wave, if that is how I have to work to make money, then so be it.
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What that statistic tells me is that only 40% of homes selling have buyers who can buy again. That is the best case scenario. Now that is assuming the other 40% had good credit, which is not a guaranteed thing either. Many of those people could have still been behind on their payments, just not in a negative equity situation. The most likely reason being because they bought before the market increased.
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Out of that 40% we have to also consider those who may have had a spouse lose a job and no longer could qualify for a mortgage and those whom are holding out for the market to drop even more......and you can see the real crisis.
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The $8,000 tax credit and wonderfully low rates on mortgages have created a flurry of home sales in the $180,000 range. Houses above that are sitting for a long time and just not selling.............why? Becuase those houses are typically bought by second or third time buyers and they are NOT buying.....

Pneumonia, a very BAD flu, and an ear infection

The last week has been miserable in our house. Finally I broke down and went to the doctor, at the request of our pharmacist of all people. I thought I was having they symptoms of Paxil withdrawal. I talked to the prescribing doctor who suggested I received a bad batch of Paxil.
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When I called the pharmacist to ask about this possibility he asked me a few more questions and from my answers suggested I actually had an ear infection. So I went to the GP and what do you know?? Big nasty ear infection!! How annoying is that?
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By the way, if you are still getting your prescriptions filled at Walmart, Target or the like, may I suggest you consider River Road Health Mart. Brian is a great pharmacist and his wife is just spectacular at customer service.
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So............imagine this. You have a sick kid. You have two choices with your prescription.
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Scenario A:
Step 1: Drive to large store
Step 2: Circle around looking for the perfect parking spot and then settle on one which is 35 spaces from the coveted handicapped spot.
Step 3: Drag sick child through parking lot into the store.
Step 4: Wait in line behind 2 other people while your sick child spreads his germs to everyone within a 38' radius.
Step 5: Wait 15 to 20 minutes while your prescription gets filled.
Step 6: Leave store tired and frustrated ...... contributing somewhat to the local economy because you did help keep Walmart employees in a job.
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Scenario B:
Step 1: Pull up to the Health Mart window
Step 2: Get greeted by Brian, the pharmacist. He knows your name!!
Step 3: Hand over the prescription
Step 4: Drive home.
Step 5: Answer door a short while later you open the door to Jeannie who is delivering your medication.
Step 6: Feel good, you are relaxed and you contributed to a locally owned company!!
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If you are interested in checking them out, here is their website and contact information. Tell them Tara said "Hello!".
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https://stores.healthmart.com/Default.aspx?alias=stores.healthmart.com/RiverRoadPharmacy
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Monday - Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm | 541-636-3522
884 River Road, Eugene, OR 97404
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Well, last Tuesday Jordan started feeling ill. On Thursday she threw up and the same on Friday. This was accompanied by a hefty fever and a cough. Today she is STILL coughing.
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Friday Spencer became very lethargic. When he is ill he sleeps. He just sleeps and sleeps and is such a pumpkin. He is also coughing, but when he coughs it sounds like a barking seal.
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After much hesitation I finally took them to the pediatrician this afternoon and the answer was terrible! Jordan has pneumonia. Spencer has a flu bug which is very bad. The pediatrician requested he stay totally isolated. He even suggested Spencer wear a mask. Spencer was not going to listen to that at all!!
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Jordan is on antibiotics. If Spencer is not better on Wednesday we will return to the doctor to have a flu test to determine what kind of flu he has....not good!

Zachy has a big bed, big bed, big bed.

My little baby boy grew up. Now he won't fit in his bed. So we searched high and low and found this wonderful new set. We found this on Craigslist. Speaking of which, have you heard the new Weird Al song? I don't like it at all, it is all about Craigslist. But it rather gives me a headache.
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So anyway...........we spent a chunk of yesterday moving his old furniture out, new furniture in and cleaning it all up!

Out with the old, in with the new

For a long time I have resisted replacing my old furniture. I have had it for about eight years. It was not even my choice. My previous spouse loved it and really wanted it. I wanted something a little less formal, but that is not what I got.
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So, the table is oval and it just didn't work well. Four people could fit well, but the table was 48" wide so it was hard to reach all the way across. Six people could fit, but not fun! And, you could not push all six chairs in without them bonking each other.
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The table and chairs are made by Bentwood, down in Grants Pass. If you have never experienced Bentwood, you must. It is amazing stuff.
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So, I am the new owner of a really long table, and eight new chairs. All the chairs can be pushed in at one time without bonking. The table is quite narrow so we can reach across it. I might need a megaphone to speak to Jim at the other end, but other than that it seems pretty perfect.
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If you are interested, I am selling it for $1,500 including the four chairs with black leather seats.

So I went to convention.........

...and had the time of my life. Besides getting to see lots and lots of new tools, boy do those ladies know how to throw a party. Here are some photos of the new products, they are awesome. You should have a party.

Jordan went to tennis.

Tonight Jordan and Spencer went to Bob Reed's tennis class. If you don't know Bob, you need to know Bob, he is amazing with children!

Real Vs. Personal Property

Tonight I had a great email question from one of my buyers. She wanted to know when she sold her house what items were to stay and which ones could go. For the sake of saving time, I am going to just post my response to her question, right here, on my blog!!!





Terrific question! There are two classifications of property, real and personal. Real property is real estate (structure and land).

Personal property is everything else, think couches, television, etc.

Personal property is converted to REAL property when it is attached to real property. So for example a microwave sitting on the counter is PERSONAL property. But one like in this house, mounted above the stove is REAL because it is attached to the house.

Light fixtures are REAL, they are ATTACHED. Here is a fun one. Curtain rods are real property (attached), but the curtains themselves are personal property.

So the way it works when writing an offer is any REAL property is assumed to stay unless it is specifically excluded. Any personal property we wish to say we request ( i think page 2 of the contract).

When you list your house just remember anything that is attached to the house is assumed to stay, anything not attached is not.

Now we are getting into a new phase of electronics and that is the wall mount plasma TV. Technically they are attached, so they should be considered REAL property, but nobody takes it that way. Perhaps I shall blog about that....I might even copy and paste this email and make it my blog subject!

EW A RAT!

Yes, we found this out in our yard. How gross!!!!

What I did with my Picture Perfect Level, Pink 8v Drill, and Omi

Whenever my sister in law and friend (ah), Naomi comes over I feel like we need to have a project. Last night she was here for a bit while Jim and Trevor were loading all the furniture from my old office.
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I had bought these neat spice (or whatever you want them to be) containers a few weeks ago at Ikea.
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Then two weeks ago we went up again and they had these neat metal strips on sale for fifty cents. I know they are just metal strips but they had predrilled screw holes which made it super convenient.

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So I have this odd wall in my kitchen. Behind it is a lot of duct work for the furnace. Can't really do anything with it. Before I had a couple neat pictures Jim had taken at the Farmer's Market. I knew I wanted to put the spice tins on the strips and that odd wall seemed like a good place, so we did it. Then Omi suggested we put the veggie photos on each side of the window. I happened to have a couple more frames left, so I retrieved those from the basement. Now I Just need to order 2 prints to finish it out.
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The Picture Perfect Level made this job so incredibly easy and all the holes were lined up perfect!......What did I do before I had that? Oh, yes...I measured for HOURS!!
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Oh yes, and for extra fun a photo of our first 2009 garden harvest!

Garden Tour

Today we took our three little ones on the garden tour sponsored by KLCC. We saw some beautiful gardens.

Drywalling with Trevor and Omi

Trevor and Omi are moving back in. This time they are taking over the basement. Since they are bringing their piggies with them, I wanted the basement drywalled before they moved in. So here we go...................