Enjoying a wonderful visit in the Atlanta Georgia area.
Specifically we are enjoying Vickery Park in Cummings, Georgia. It is a suburb northeast of Atlanta. The community is designed with wide variety of classic historic exteriors and modern top notch interiors. None of the homes look alike, all have great connections to outdoors spaces with porches, terraces, balconies, patios, loaded with natural stone features and lush landscaping. The homes meet needs for many types of property owners with townhomes, attached homes, single family and loft styles. The entry area has a wonderful shopping and restaurant delights. The walking neighborhood amentities include ponds, saline pool, tennis courts, offers minimal lot lines and spacious common areas. In additon, the community is adjacent to grounds of the elementary school. It is charming beyond words. Most people have golf carts to buzz round the neighborhood. It is like living in a resort village. Truly amazing!
In the St. Louis Area we have St. Charles New Town built with the same lifestyle in mind. Though one of the hottest markets for some time, looks like the slowing market is also impacting the continued growth rate. The future green development Fox Run in Eureka is expected to offer a similar historic style with the golf course as the centerpiece. The St. Louis market has pockets of great green building going on everywhere! The loft market and downtown are exploding with property development. With St. Louis being a city of so many community areas, it has been challenging to control effectively the expanding and contracting of neighborhoods to meet all the needs of the property owners. I hope we see more areas like these and perhaps may sustain a better way of living sharing spaces while, creating community. Please send me links to green and planned unit developments to highlight! Bringing the past, presnt and future together can be done. Wonderful to see so many people working on the vision together with Economic Development, Home Builders Association Green Builders and Realtors. I want to see the BallPark Village project be the diamond of downtown St. Louis! For those with the connections... I am passionate about that mission!
Showing posts with label missouri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label missouri. Show all posts
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Maplewood Richmond Hts, MO State Basketball Champs!
Another BIG State Champion win for school in St. Louis, Missouri Metropolitian area! Maplewood Richmond Heights! Congratulations! MRH! One of my High Schools! My fun friend Lydia and the rest, did whistling & shouting for our Blue Devil teams in the day when we were cheerleaders at MRH. Oh, what fun! These young men won the Semi-final by 1 pt over Hogan and the Championship game by one point over local Lutheran North High School. WOW! You can't get much more exciting than that in a ride to the top!
Celebration info at Maplewood Richmond Heights School District Website:
http://www.mrhsd.org/pages/news/2008/03_06_boysgame.shtml
The Maplewood and Richmond Heights communities share a school district and many positive benefits in what some call the golden triangle of St. Louis County. These communities continue to develop new restaurant destinations, children's theatre, school kudos and increasing property values! I wish I had invested in this sweet spot ten years ago! It is such an easy location between 44 & 40 on the edge of the cities of Clayton, Webster Groves, and the city of St. Louis. While a great investment, fairly easy on the wallet. NIce amenities, Pools, The Heights Recreation Centers, Libraries, businesses. Very Cool spot!
Celebration info at Maplewood Richmond Heights School District Website:
http://www.mrhsd.org/pages/news/2008/03_06_boysgame.shtml
The Maplewood and Richmond Heights communities share a school district and many positive benefits in what some call the golden triangle of St. Louis County. These communities continue to develop new restaurant destinations, children's theatre, school kudos and increasing property values! I wish I had invested in this sweet spot ten years ago! It is such an easy location between 44 & 40 on the edge of the cities of Clayton, Webster Groves, and the city of St. Louis. While a great investment, fairly easy on the wallet. NIce amenities, Pools, The Heights Recreation Centers, Libraries, businesses. Very Cool spot!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
FHA News
The historical view of FHA has persisted, but it is not the same as it used to be! It is not a pain for Sellers, anymore than a home sale inspection. A client told me yesterday they thought it was just for "poor people." Interesting, I never thought of it that way. Since I've been in the business it has been a positive program that is a solutions for some of my clients.
It is a good option and newly modified to be an even better option! It is a fit for many buyers who don't have the traditional 20% down payment and may have a little higher debt to income ratio. But the properties do have to qualify, as well as the buyer and may be a bit more to navigate with condos. The association have to have manged the properties for over a year, the occupancy has to meet rations, and cannot have a first right of refusal. Ask your lender about specific property guidelines. In the St Louis Homes market our average is not as high as the national limits below.
Currently the rules & regs for lenders protecting their risk is fluid at best. Yesterday I understand there was a 5.5 FHA which was very nice! Keep in touch with your lenders and be ready to lock. Be aware that the rules keep changing so try work with the people who are your advocates.
cnnmoney.com below... Let me know if I can help you & yours!
"Lawmakers have been working on legislation to reform the FHA to modernize its standards so that they reflect changes to the housing market in the past 30 years. Among the changes on tap, lawmakers will:
Permanently raise loan limits. The economic stimulus bill passed in February temporarily increased the limit on loans eligible to be FHA-insured. The ceiling until Dec. 31, 2008 is now $729,750, up from the normal $362,790 for single-family homes. Those are the ceilings for high-cost areas. The ceiling is lower in low-cost housing markets.
Reduce down payment requirements. Homeowners would no longer be required to have 3% equity or the cash equivalent to get an FHA-insured loan. The House bill would allow borrowers to get an FHA-insured loan with 0% down if they can show they can afford the mortgage payments. The Senate bill requires 1.5%.
Make it easier for borrowers in high-cost loans to refinance. The House bill would let some homeowners in default or at risk of default refinance into an FHA-insured loan.
The changes to the FHA are intended modernize the loan program, which, like a lot of low- and middle-income people, had essentially been priced out of many housing markets. In 2005, there were roughly 5,000 FHA loans made, down from 109,000 in 2000." from CNNmoney.com March 10, 2008
It is a good option and newly modified to be an even better option! It is a fit for many buyers who don't have the traditional 20% down payment and may have a little higher debt to income ratio. But the properties do have to qualify, as well as the buyer and may be a bit more to navigate with condos. The association have to have manged the properties for over a year, the occupancy has to meet rations, and cannot have a first right of refusal. Ask your lender about specific property guidelines. In the St Louis Homes market our average is not as high as the national limits below.
Currently the rules & regs for lenders protecting their risk is fluid at best. Yesterday I understand there was a 5.5 FHA which was very nice! Keep in touch with your lenders and be ready to lock. Be aware that the rules keep changing so try work with the people who are your advocates.
cnnmoney.com below... Let me know if I can help you & yours!
"Lawmakers have been working on legislation to reform the FHA to modernize its standards so that they reflect changes to the housing market in the past 30 years. Among the changes on tap, lawmakers will:
Permanently raise loan limits. The economic stimulus bill passed in February temporarily increased the limit on loans eligible to be FHA-insured. The ceiling until Dec. 31, 2008 is now $729,750, up from the normal $362,790 for single-family homes. Those are the ceilings for high-cost areas. The ceiling is lower in low-cost housing markets.
Reduce down payment requirements. Homeowners would no longer be required to have 3% equity or the cash equivalent to get an FHA-insured loan. The House bill would allow borrowers to get an FHA-insured loan with 0% down if they can show they can afford the mortgage payments. The Senate bill requires 1.5%.
Make it easier for borrowers in high-cost loans to refinance. The House bill would let some homeowners in default or at risk of default refinance into an FHA-insured loan.
The changes to the FHA are intended modernize the loan program, which, like a lot of low- and middle-income people, had essentially been priced out of many housing markets. In 2005, there were roughly 5,000 FHA loans made, down from 109,000 in 2000." from CNNmoney.com March 10, 2008
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