Home in Collin County

I'm beginning to break down like a school child who can't win "monkey in the middle" in trying to get a short sale closed.  I am so, so angry, frustrated....

Litton has the first lien.  I'm beginning to misplace the whole pads of notes taken on phone calls with these people.  Their bankruptcy company (Brice Vander Linden and Wernick) is no better.  I have danced with their every whim as they change, and so far I've yet to see even the payoff request which I faxed on April 22, 2010.  And have called to follow up on over and over, without getting anything.  They see the request, they say it's ordered, but still no report.  I was thrown so many giant balls over the months of this transaction that I finally forgot about the payoff!

The house went under contract May 21.  Court order in hand (there is a cast of bankruptcy attorneys involved in the theatrics, too - no easier to reach than Litton or BVW), we were able to send the complete packet on May 24.  Follow up call:  yes, they have it.  Yes, everything they need is there.  Good to go.

Next week, no news.  We have it.  We're working on it.  Buh-bye.

Next week, same story.

Next week, via snail mail, my client gets the letter saying that the fax was illegible.  ???

Flaming, but staying calm, I called "Kenisha", who has been the flat-voice on the other end of the line the whole way.  Not that she is the negotiator.  THAT would be "Kevin" who is never available.  "Fax it again." she says.  Are you KIDDING?  Three weeks later?  They will not stoop to e-mail - that information is unavailable, as are the direct lines for these people who sit happily playing in their offices whilst we sit on hold for agonizing hours, hoping not to be disconnected (which is a good % of the time).  I get the address to send priority overnight the whole package again, nice and clean.  Lo and behold, it's in Dallas.  I live 30miles away. 

Collecting my 3 children and buying the biggest ice cream floats Sonic carries, I withdraw them early from camp to trek to their offices.  There is no reception area, only a small table with an unmarked phone, a directory (!), and handwritten notes on every door leading out of the area saying "DO NOT ENTER!!!"  "EMPLOYEES ONLY!!!"  After making note of Kevin and Kenisha's direct numbers, I call to let them know I'm hear.  They are not happy.  Flashbacks of the boogeyman-in-the-house-while-the-babysitter-gets-his-phone-call horror movies ran through my mind when the voice on the line asked, "What, er, what land line are you calling from?"  Yes, I am here.  Why bother wasting postage or toner when I'm so close by!~!!  I'll swap you the "illegible" copy for the fresh one!  Win-win! 

Grudgingly, and not without a good half hour wait in the lobby, my packet was received and I was able to make nice (I thought) with my negotiator.  He was all about helping me see my friend not face foreclosure and was in control, had everything he needed!  Yay!

Of course, I called to follow up regularly.  It took three weeks for him to let me know that they now need a hardship letter.  We got him one, and our packet was submitted to Litton JULY 7 - only two and a half months after the executed date!!!  Not bad~!

So, has this baby closed yet?  No way!  Here we are on August 12, and the bankruptcy attorney has informed me she needs to payoff by end of day.  We need to file another motion to stall the foreclosure.  The one we'd had pushed to September 7th.  I call Kenisha (my negotiator, Kevin, is no longer with the company), who transfers me to bankruptcy, who can't help but transfers me to Kim Smith (the same rep who said she was ON IT on April 22 when I asked the first time!!!) who assures me she's ON IT!

End of day, no docs.  I called again.  I get another rep, who puts me on hold while he talks to Kim.  Half an hour later, I'm armed with the knowledge that they payoff will take 10 days.  WHAT ABOUT the request April 22????  still waiting on that!  "Not our rules.  Litton's.  You'll have to talk to Litton."  OK, so I find a useful number for Litton.

More time on hold, I get DANNY.  No less the wise-@ss than anyone at the bankruptcy place, he asks my name.  I tell him.  He says, no the OTHER name.  ?  After lots of cat-and-mouse, the name he is asking for is my broker.  That was fun.  Then he says, "Oh, I can't talk to you.  This authorization is expired!"  Please fax a new one to xxxxxxxx.  then it'll be at least two business days before I'm authorized to speak to you.  We have a process. 

OK, Danny, can I just vent here now?  I tell him all of the above (and I haven't even gotten to the dealings with Bank of America and Equator - still waiting on task assignments and progress since initiating June 15th; their broken links do not help!), and he says with a chuckle and without any apologies, "You can fax the new authorization to xxxxxxxx."  Can't I e-mail it?  Nope!  Ha! Ha! Ha!  Can I have a direct number to reach you again so I don't have to start over the whole story?  Nope!  Ha! Ha!

Reduced to chasing tails and what's underneath them is what I feel like.  So WHO IS THEIR BOSS?

Financial Reform

Yesterday, the Senate passed the most sweeping changes to our financial system since the 1930s.  These changes will definitely affect you for years to come - here's how.
How Financial Reform Will Affect You

So, this year, I decided I would overcome my pyrophobia and indulge the urge to buy some sparklers and a few fireworks for the season.  We drove our boys to summer camp on the 4th, passing several stands selling elaborate displays of 'crackers and I vowed to stop on the way home.

"Oh, if you all get fireworks, you'd better save some for us when we get home!  We want Sparklers, too!"

Ok, I'm a sucker, but not THAT much of a sucker.  We stopped at a huge stand on the way back home (they take credit cards these days!).  We gaped at the variety of boxes of fireworks.  They must have been the giant Saturn-shaped ones that you see at the elaborate shows in State Parks:  $59, $69, $79, and upwards of $99 PER FIREWORK!!!!  This was obviously more than a pyrophobia hurdle, it was becoming a finance-O-phobia issue.

After much ado, and a helpful teen's advice ("oh, yes - my brothers and I chase each other holding these things EVERY year!!!!  They're just Roman Candles....  Well, I guess it's not THAT safe...."), we bought a five-pack of Roman Candles (under $10) and three boxes of Sparklers (less than $1 each!).

Not that anyone wants to know the extent of my pyrophobia, but let's just say, there were no candles in the church at our wedding, and I lost my breath during the candlelight ceremony in college sorority "Sentimental Night" every year....  The image of one person scalded by hot wax and dropping their candle next to another person's gown/robe or whatever.....  A whole room filled with people and flames trying to escape is not my idea of a party.

We set up our little show in the back yard on the 4th.  We actually had the perfect Roman Candle stand:  the concrete clothes-line hole (where you put the metal pole that holds the circular, tent-shaped clothes line that didn't last a whole summer).  I have to say, I was pretty excited, standing there with our five-year-old daughter and my husband, feeling pretty cool to be having fireworks in our own back yard. 

You know, those things go off really fast.  It probably would have been better to hold the stick than to balance it in the oversized clothes-line hole.  After the first burst of color (aka FLAME) shot out, the Roman Candle turned about 45 degrees toward our house.  Instantly, a second burst turned it another 45 degrees, and these things go off five times.  You get the picture.  My daughter and I ran screaming into the house, ducking for cover, while my husband tried to straighten the thing without getting shot by it.

Roman Candle #2:  Same thing.

Onto the Sparklers!  My husband used the incense-looking "ember stick" the teenager at the stand gave us to light our sparklers and fireworks.  It didn't work.  Armed with a lighter and the patience of Job, he did finally get a Sparkler lit at the expense of a molten thumb.

Sparkler #2:  Same thing.  Only mine was the molten thumb.

Back to Roman Candles - one last shot (literally)!  It still turned right toward our house and sent us all screaming for shelter.

We still have three boxes (minus two) of Sparklers for when the boys return, and two Roman Candles.  Perhaps the safest thing to do is let them chase each other with the Roman Candles?  They wouldn't waste fire by pointing it at the house, that's for sure!

In sum, I can say that the only thing that has changed over the last 40 years is that the Fireworks vendors take credit cards.  Even the packaging for the Sparklers hasn't changed since the 1960s.  Same star, same smell, same colors, and I'm still just as afraid of them now as I was as a little girl.  Mom's still rolling her eyes at me from Heaven as she's rolling over in her grave that I got near those things again.  RIP, Mom - not quite ready to join you.  We may have to table my pyrophobia-ending strategies for now, if only for our own safety.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

God bless,

Angie

My husband has been an estimator in the construction field for about 20 years.  He often hears about the "new" thing long before I do, and radiant barrier was no exception.  When we were building a home back in 2003/2004, he suggested we have a radiant barrier installed.  I don't think it was even in the upgrades list at the time, but we did it (and told our friends who were building to do the same).

Our second summer in that house, electricity rates began to climb.  It was our 5th house, and the first time I'd ever given a second thought to choosing an electric provider or knowing if the rate was fixed or variable, or even what the cost per kilowatt-hour WAS.  : )  Happily, we found that our electric bill in the most extreme months of Texas summer averaged about half of the bills our neighbors with similar floor plans were seeing (who hadn't installed - or heard of - the radiant barrier).

My husband has heard mixed things about the spray-on, after-market radiant barrier products.  Does anyone know what the average cost/sf this product runs, how effective it is, and how it affects resale values?  Now that we're on house #7, we've learned not to pour money into a house, as we rarely stay long enough to get a return on investment!  We want to be sure we'll break even on the energy bills before investing in this.

Thanks for any/all input!

According to the realtor.org web site, the deadline to close on contracts executed by April 30 has been extended.  The new deadline is September 30, 2010. 

http://angierealestate.info/2010/07/tax-credit-closing-deadline-extended/

The United States House of Representatives has just passed HR 5623, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010, by a vote of 409-5. This bill extends the deadline for closing tax credit eligible transactions from June 30 to September, 30, 2010. The bill moves to the Senate where the outcome is much less certain. NAR will continue to update you as the events move forward.

Should Congress extend the date, information will be posted on www.realtor.org/government_affairs as soon as it happens.

The final outcome will be posted on www.realtor.org/government_affairs on July 1, 2010.

The Senate has approved an extension of the Tax Credit to September 30, 2010.  This extension will apply to homes which were already under contract by the April 30th executed contract deadline, and will not include a window to put more homes under contract to qualify for the credit.

Read more here.

This is a not-to-be-missed, beautiful home, newly listed, and at an amazing price.  I will be holding this property open on Sunday, March 14th, at 1:00 (until 4).  Come by and take a look.

For more information click here.

Do not miss this possible short sale in Richardson, TX:  2008 Tulane Drive.  This home has lots of built-ins, mature trees, and a convenient location.  Call CSS to schedule a showing.  If you need a realtor, I will be happy to help you.  Contact me via e-mail or telephone and we can set up a time to tour this home.

Visit this property online at http://2008tulane.ebby.com/

This Richardson home has a wonderful floor plan for entertaining:  there are two seperate living areas, a formal dining room, a breakfast nook off the kitchen, a seperate utility room for full size washer and dryer, and there are four bedrooms with two and a half baths.  All of this flows smoothly in 1875 square feet. 

Decorator accents include handsome wood paneled walls, a brick fireplace with a brick hearth and wooden mantle, designer seperate bathtub in master bath, and french doors to the back yard from the living area.  The kitchen has beautiful cabinetry with glass doors in the built-in hutch.  Mature landscaping.  Richardson ISD.

On April 17, 2010, the Richardson Independent School District will host a job fair.  For more details, click here.

In other Richardson ISD news, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) recently released its district realignments for football and basketball.

Realignment is done every two years to accomodate changing student population numbers and the addition of new high schools.

Pearce will stay in the 4-A Division and will play in the 10-4A District with Highland Park, McKinney, McKinney North, Rockwall, Rockwall Heath, Wylie, and Wylie East. Leaving this district from last year are Greenville, Royce City, Forney, Newman Smith, and R L Turner. Richardson, Lake Highlands, and Berkner will remain in the 5-A Division, 9-5A District, with Dallas Jesuit, Dallas Samuell, Dallas Skyline, Dallas Sunset, and Dallas W T White. Leaving this district from last year are CFB Creekview and Dallas Molina.

“We’re happy with the realignments,” commented Bob Dubey, RISD Director of Athletics. “We have a great relationship with all of these schools and look forward to continuing these positive relationships.” Realignment information for other sports will be released later this spring.