Why Short Sales Are A Win-Win Situation

*Guest Writer today!*

Short sales are viewed as a last resort by most homeowners, and often even by realtors. But while they do have their drawbacks, there’s a reason they’re the most popular solution to troubled mortgages these days.

Borrowers have just as much to gain from short sales as lenders and buyers, especially when taking the differences between short sale and foreclosure into account. Read on to learn more about short sale foreclosures and how borrowers can turn it into a win-win situation.

No More Obligation (maybe)

A foreclosure and a Short Sale both involve losing your home, but a short sale can also mean letting go of your mortgage obligations.

In a typical short sale, the lender waives the right to seek the deficiency, or to sue you for the difference between your balance and the selling price. This may not always be the case with either, but between a short sale and a foreclosure, the former often allows you to move on and get back on your feet sooner.

Save Your Credit

While foreclosure and short sales both have negative impacts on your credit, a short sale carries less damage and is easier to recover from. You lose between 250 and 400 points after a foreclosure, while a short sale pulls your score down by just 80 to 250.

The negative effects of a short sale will stay on your credit report for a shorter period - from three to seven years, compared to the standard ten years of a foreclosure. Some lenders will even write it off sooner.

Get More Credit Options

A foreclosure on your record will turn most lenders away, whether you’re applying for a mortgage or a new credit card.

With a short sale, lenders are more understanding, and may even go out of their way to help you so you can rebuild your credit. Banks are aware of the circumstances surrounding short sale foreclosures, and they know that those who lose their homes in a short sale have at least tried every possible way to get back on track.

Avoid Foreclosure

Finally, the biggest and most obvious advantage of a short sale is that it saves you and your lender from the whole foreclosure process.

The main difference between a foreclosure and short sale is that the latter is much more convenient—you’re selling the home as a regular property, instead of going through a public auction. You also get to control the sale better, work with an agent you like, and choose who gets to buy your home.

Author bio:- Author is a professional short sale/ real estate agent who completely understands the Short Sale process and helps people who need short sales, or who want to sell for any reason. He can also help people who are having difficulties but want to keep their home. Visit www.shortsalesafe.com to get more information about what a short sale is, how to do a short sale and how to best resolve your situation.
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For information about short sales or foreclosures involving some specific areas, check out Myrtle Beach Real Estate, Albuquerque Real Estate, and Lake Greenwood SC Property. 

Real Estate in The Woodlands Texas

Today I have a guest post from a Realtor in The Woodlands, Texas - Jarrod Frenzel. It's always interesting to see different areas and learn how they're doing on the other side of the country!

THE WOODLANDS TEXAS

The Woodlands Texas is located approximately 25 miles North of Downtown Houston along Interstate 45.  The Woodlands is a master planned community that started development in the late 60's and covers over 28,000 acres of once dense forest.  The developer put a lot of emphasis on keeping The Woodlands green and the community still has 28% of green space in the form of parks, greenbelts, open spaces, forest preserves, and golf courses.  Even though the population is nearing 100,000 now, it still feels like you are driving through a tranquil forest.  The town has been the best selling master planned community in the state of Texas for 8 years in a row.

The Woodlands is such a large development that it was broken into smaller villages in order to keep its small community feel.  All of the villages are connected through Village Centers, walking trails, parks, schools, and places of worship.  The community includes a town center that serves as a downtown business district for the entire region.  The town center is very urban and has excellent walkability including a regional shopping mall,  the tourist-attracting waterway, a large outdoor amphitheater, and class "A" office space. The Woodlands boasts 6.7 million square feet of office space throughout the development.

The Woodlands real estate market has held its value well through the recession.  While other states have had their problems, Texas as a whole was not as devastated by the recession and housing problems.  Oil and gas has kept the economy strong in The Woodlands.  There are many industry related jobs here and Downtown Houston provides a very close commute.

The Woodlands homes range greatly in price with a large amount of custom and luxury homes.  Currently, there are 55 active listings on the MLS priced over $1,000,000 and capping off at $7,500,000.  The median home price in the community is $285,000, with a very balanced inventory of homes.

The Woodlands started out as a suburb, but is thought of now as its own thriving city.  While it is still not technically an incorporated city, it offers all of the amenities of a thriving urban center while maintaining a small town feel and strong sense of community.  The Woodlands is a great place to live, work, and play.

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If you're interested in more information about The Woodlands, Jarrod would be happy to hear from you.  He can be reached by email with Jarrod at NorthStarMail.net (please format with the @ mark) or by phone at  (281) 658-7389. Thanks to Jarrod Frenzel for an interesting post!

For some other interesting and similar communities to explore around Myrtle Beach, see our pages for Barefoot Resort Homes and Kingston Plantation Condos for Sale.



Choosing a Pool for your Infant – Tips and Advice

Everything you need to know about installing a pool for your whole family, including an infant.

A big question many parents ask themselves when considering to install a pool is whether it’s the wisest idea based on how old their kids are. There is a small school of thought that advocates no swimming pool till the children learn how to swim, but with the solid range of safety fences now available, this seems shortsighted to say the least. Not only that, but construction noises while baby is sleeping is a very bad idea. Provided you have a healthy pool with the right pool pump and cleaner, there is no reason why installing a pool before you have children isn’t a great idea. We’ve put together this list of tips and advice for ensuring you choose the right pool for your baby.

The benefits of a swimming pool for infants: Not only is swimming a very valuable activity while you’re pregnant, but even after the baby is born a pool can be useful in a whole range of ways. From regular bathing and cooling a fevered child in your arms, to the safety advantages of learning how to swim at an early age, a swimming pool is a good investment. Consider also the fitness and recreational benefits for the mother of a young infant, because you have to look after yourself before you can look after anyone well.

Consider installing in a pool with very shallow sections, or large steps: This is the safest most child friendly way to introduce your infant to water. You may choose to use a very shallow, inflatable pool until your infant can happily communicate, but many parents have found that sitting with a baby on the first or second step into the pool is a great safe way to introduce the baby to the pool, while supervising older children. Do not leave the baby on the step unsupervised.

Choose the right toys:  Buying an inflatable or floating pool buggy for your baby is a safe way to watch your child while you float about. Do not buy toys that the child might trip over or reach too far into the pool for, and fall in. As the child’s swimming ability progresses, invest in quality floaties and never leave your child unattended, or more then arm lengths reach away. If your pool has no shade, consider moving some tall plants closer to the shallow water, and buy rashies and water hats to keep your child from getting sunburn.

Invest in a pool cover: A pool cover will prevent tragedy if your infant does manage to get inside the fence, by blocking the baby from the water and consequent drowning.

The most important thing to remember is that you need to be constantly attentive while your child is anywhere near the pool. Make sure older brothers and sisters know not to take the infant into the water, or play rough splashing games when the littlest one is floating about.

We spoke with Scott Todd, the local Myrtle Beach Allstate agent about SC homeowners insurance and having a home pool, and he offered this advice:

Pools are covered under a section called coverage "B" for detached structures. If you have this in your policy, it's usually for 10% of the dwelling coverage. For example, if your home is covered for $250,000, the pool (or other detached structure) is insured for $25,000.00. This is PROPERTY coverage, and can be increased if you don't feel comfortable with the amount.

Also, with a pool you want to make sure you have enough liability coverage on your homeowners insurance. (personal injury, specifically) I suggest a minimum of $300,000, which is the policy standard and won't usually need to be added. In addition, most insurance companies require the pool to be fenced in.

Florida has some specific rules about pool requirements which are listed on the AVA Innovations website that you might want to review as well.  The cute photo on this blog is from their website. You may also be interested in a website for Florida insurance .

President Obama in Albuquerque

One family in Albuquerque NM is having the honor of a visit from President Barack Obama in his nationwide campaign to listen to the common concerns of his constituents.  What an honor that is to have the man choose your home and your personal questions and needs to address.  I would imagine the security and notoriety will be a real pain, but how cool!

The president has already met with families in Ohio and Virginia, and plans to visit Iowa and Virginia again in Richmond soon.

President Obama is scheduled to arrive in ABQ on Monday and visit with the family Tuesday, as well as hosting a discussion with some other families afterwards.

I would bet the subject of foreclosures in Albuquerque and other Albuquerque NM real estate concerns will be discussed.

Who has the Fairest Myrtle Beach Real Estate Website?

We are in the middle of one of the biggest projects we've ever taken on right now - building a Myrtle Beach real estate website for Century 21 The Harrelson Group.

I had pretty much decided that the real estate market in Myrtle Beach was so slammed with websites that it was a waste of time to even try making another one, especially hoping to make it rank in the seach engines.  The same condos have been described on hundreds of websites, hundreds of ways...there's nothing new left to say about any of them except perhaps a few new photos.

But a Realtor friend that I've known for years has studied SEO as much as real estate, and he teamed up with a programmer to build an IDX and CMS that not only had everything a Realtor wants on the back-end, but is also perfectly optimized and easy for buyers and sellers to navigate. That still would not have convinced me, but when I met Greg Harrelson, I found a group of Myrtle Beach realtors that looked at their profession differently than most others.

The Harrelson Group didn't materialize out of nowhere during the condo boom several years ago.  They've been in business around 15 years. Greg Harrelson started taking coaching seminars 10 years ago and still takes them...only now he applies what he learns and coaches his own team of agents in the finer arts of selling real estate.  Greg focuses on the seller as much as the buyer, which is so unusual in this day and time. He believes the listing agency has the most beneficial position, as well as the most power to help both buyers and sellers in the long run. He trains his agents to find the property sellers first, and then let the buyers find them. Kind of a "build it and they will come" theory, and one that makes a lot of sense...  And a LOT of sales. He also believes that a Realtor should give back to the community, and instills his team of agents with the fundamental belief that what "goes around comes around".

Greg also believes that knowledge is power.  We are building the biggest source of information on the area's real estate choices as possible. Where most real estate sites have a page for a development with nothing much but available listings, this website will have photos, tips, pros and cons about most of the Grand Strand housing communities.  We aren't concentrating the effort on oceanfront condos, but providing information on the residential areas such as Carolina Forest, homes in Barefoot Resort, Surfside Beach homes for sale, Market Common, and more.

Here's a YouTube Video About Greg Harrelson that illustrates his ideals and and expectations.

It's going to take a while to accomplish, but I'm excited over the prospect.  Stay tuned for more information...:-)

The Real Estate Mindset

Recent Communication to area Realtors from Renee Long, C21 The Harrelson Group

I am a Myrtle Beach real estate agent and assistant to Greg Harrelson.

I would like to take this opportunity to mention the "Master Your Craft" seminar where Greg Harrelson was the guest speaker, held at the CCAR (Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors) in August.

Greg spoke about agents getting in the way of their own goals and success in life. He stressed the importance of MINDSET, and how it can limit or prosper you. Greg has taught his own agents that regardless of how impressive a business plan we have, and regardless of how big and sincere our intentions are - they will never come to pass without the proper mental training that goes beyond simply "knowing" what to do.

I have had the honor of watching many people being coached by Greg and have seen how it has changed their lives. They were no different than anyone else with one exception - a willingness to open their minds, shut out the doubt, and have blind faith in taking on the training tips offered by Greg. From there, they have become some of the top producing agents in our area.

Greg would love to see everyone succeed at that level, regardless of which company they work for - that's just who he is at heart and what he's truly about. I've never seen someone so passionate about what they do and with such a carefree, willingness to give and contribute without expecting anything in return. He has taught us that real estate is not about making a deal and getting a paycheck - it is so much more than that. It's about helping people make one of the biggest financial decisions they may ever make in their lifetime. It's about helping, advising, and contributing to the public and their specific needs. It's more than a job - it's a way of life and a way of BEING on a daily basis.

These are the things Greg Harrelson is about and I hope it is something that our community is about or wants to be about. We should all come together as one strong community and support each other and our chosen way of life that is called real estate.

Renee Long, R.E. Agent/Buyer Specialist
Century 21 The Harrelson Group
(c) 843-455-7865
Myrtle Beach Realtor, Renee Long

On the Medical Side of Things - Nurse Practitioners

My newest website for a friend and a new customer is a Nurse Practitioner Job Search website, owned by Renee Dahring, who is a career coach. (as well as a friend of my childhood idol Davy Jones - who woulda thunk?)

As usual I've had to learn all kinds of stuff about her business. She's been authoring another very popular blog and has really made a name for herself in the nursing job search world.  She'll be adding to the site as time goes on, but already has some interesting stuff for those interested in finding a job in that field.

Just finished an on-page optimizing job for Lake Lanier Real Estate, and we're still working on the Condolux Myrtle Beach Condo Rentals site. They are getting big on facebook too!

I like working with different businesses. It's kind of a break from all the real estate stuff.  :-)
And oh yeah...almost forgot my business partner's newest creation, Attorneys in South Carolina.