Middle-Aged Women are the Big Buyers of Homes - Latest Study

According to Daily Real Estate News, middle-aged women have become the fastest growing group of single female home owners. This study included women between the ages of 45 and 54.

While I have seen this phenomenon in Columbia, I have also sold homes to many younger unmarried women (ages 25 – 35), and in fact, had written about this last year.

Surprisingly, older and younger women have chosen single family homes with at least a small yard. The first time around, I was surprised, because I thought that they might want to choose the safety of a condo or townhome.

Since builders are giving great deals and throwing in a lot of freebies, it is no wonder that many choose brand new homes.

Even in households with a male partner, it is the woman who is most motivated to buy a home. While the man almost always looks for a large yard or garage/shed for his hobbies or a pool, women are the deciding factor as to the style and features of the home.

Interestingly, most women want large kitchens with the latest in appliances and granite counters, but very few admit to cooking a whole lot. The clean sleek lines of a modern kitchen are more a status symbol than utilitarian!

All of this just proves what we’ve always known – women are the home-makers, the ones that want to build a nest and put down roots, however much they may carp at the idea of being a homebody.

#columbiahomes

Check out all available homes for sale at www.homesincolumbiasc.net

Watch out for these Real Estate Scams!

Buyers, renters and potential investors beware! You can fall prey to some of these fake programs and housing frauds. Forbes recently highlighted three of the most common real estate scams today:

1. Rental scams: Listing information of homes for sale are taken from websites and re-posted as homes for rent on other sites. The modus operandi of these scammers is to collect upfront fees as non-refundable application fees, or security deposits to ‘hold’ the property. Ask to view the property at least twice, and check out the property management company online or through the Better Business Bureau. 

2. Foreclosure counseling scams: These scammers offer fake foreclosure or bankruptcy counseling and fraudulent government loan modification programs for a fee. Foreclosure counseling is free from agencies like the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Make sure you contact your lender directly to work through a modification process. You don’t need anyone to intervene for you.

3. Flipping Homes Workshop scams: Forbes reports: ‘An investment guru will host a get-rich-quick real estate investing seminar and have you sign up for a course that is free or low-cost. The investor may then give you actual properties to invest in if you offer up thousands of dollars in advance. They make bold promises that you’ll become a millionaire, but then nothing ever happens. Also, a form you may have signed initially to take the class may prevent you from taking legal action against the instructor to recoup your money.’ Once again, check out the program before signing up and check the company’s rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Source: Realtor Magazine | July 2013

Boomerang Buyers: The Newest Group of Home Buyers to Hit the Market

According to reports, “boomerang buyers” are the latest new buyer group to emerge. These are former homeowners who had gone through a short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy in the past few years and are now ready to buy a home.

So, how soon can they buy a home?

Past homeowners who had FHA loans may need to wait only three years provided they can prove that a hardship, such as job loss or death of a wage earner, led to their foreclosure or short sale.

Freddie Mac’s wait time is usually four years following a short sale or deed-in-lieu, and seven years after a foreclosure. Fannie Mae may require a seven-year wait for a foreclosure, but only a two-year wait following a short sale as long as the borrower can provide a 20 percent down payment.

Most lenders required buyers to wait 5 – 7 years to qualify for another loan, but mortgage giants have begun to change their rules to allow homeowners who underwent a foreclosure or short sale to qualify sooner. For those who underwent a short sale, it may be sooner.

Question is why would homeowners with such past histories want to buy again?

General conception is that renting a home is akin to throwing money away, and with a more stable economy, pride of homeownership has raised its head again.

But the 3 most important reasons cited are:

• Rents are on the rise
• Interest rates are on the rise
• Home prices are on the rise

Boomerang buyers are coming. Most have saved up for a down payment and qualified to purchase a home again. The hardest hit areas of 2008 – 2010 will see the most. That includes South Carolina.

Which is good news indeed!

Source: Realtor Magazine, July 2013

Have you tried registering at Yahoo!? Grrrr!

I received an email from a marketing company that my information on Yahoo! was wrong. And yes, they were right. It was wrong. The address was an old one and I had moved on from the company listed there.

Since I had not sent in the information, they must have got it from a third party source.

To change the information, I had to register and create an account. Yahoo! insisted on my filling in my birthday - month, date and year. I tried to leave the year blank... nope, it would not accept it.

So I put in 2013.

Up popped a window saying:

Please get your mom or dad! You need your parent or guardian's permission to continue. Show them this screen.

O-kay.

So I changed the year to 1990 - I would be 23, so presumably, parental permission would not be required?

Nope. Yahoo! was adamant - I had to get my parents' permission. Here's what the website said:

"To create a Yahoo! ID for your child, we require your consent to collect, use and disclose certain personal information about him or her. You can give this consent by signing in to Yahoo!, reviewing and editing the information your child provided, and then submitting the form on your child's behalf.
You will be charged 50 cents to help confirm that a parent or guardian more than 18 years old is involved. Yahoo! will donate a portion of that charge to charity."

I am sorry, Yahoo! for entering 2013 as my birth year - I was not trying to deceive you, just not comfortable giving my age.

I tried signing in through my Facebook account. Here, it wanted me to give permission to access all my contacts and my profile, which I declined to give. So it threw me out.

The 'Help' portion has an 'Email a Support Agent' form. Well... that is a huge form to fill and among a whole host of stuff... it asks for my date of birth!!!

I could call a Customer Care person, but you know what... I've had enough!

There is a gene for that!

My great grandmother had a crossover toe i.e. the 2^nd toe on her right foot sat on her big toe. It sat there firmly and could not be moved back. As kids, we thought that was hilarious.

Last year, I noticed that my father’s right foot had a crossover toe. Look, I told him, it’s just like your grandmother’s.

It didn’t hurt him but he could now wear only slip-on shoes or slippers that didn’t have a toe.

This year, I noticed that the 2^nd toe of my right foot had wandered close to the big toe. In fact, it was getting positively chummy, leaning against it.

Dangit… there’s a gene for that!

I googled ‘crossed toe’ and got 16,000 results in 0.33 seconds!

The link to NBC 29 from Charlottesville, VA gave the best definition:

“Crossover toe is a condition in which the second toe drifts toward the big toe and eventually crosses over and lies on top of the big toe. Crossover toe is a common condition that can occur at any age, although it is most often seen in adults.

Some people confuse crossover toe with a hammertoe, probably because both conditions involve a toe that does not lie in the normal position. However, crossover toe is entirely different from a hammertoe-and much more complex.”

The site goes on to say that:

“Although the crossing over of the toe usually occurs over a period of time, it can appear more quickly if caused by injury or overuse.

Symptoms may include:

• Pain - particularly on the ball of the foot. It can feel like there's a marble in the shoe or a sock is bunched up.
• Swelling in the area of pain, including the base of the toe
• Difficulty wearing shoes

Crossover toe is a progressive disorder. Without treatment, the condition usually worsens to dislocation of the joint, so it is very beneficial to have a foot and ankle surgeon evaluate the foot soon after pain first occurs.”

Right.

But nowhere does it say that it is genetic. How else do you explain 3 generations of crossed toe?

I don’t have any pain. Yet. And I can wiggle the 2^nd toe and place my big toe over it. But for how long???

One site suggested taping and splinting to help the 2^nd toe stay in position.

 

 

Fig 1 shows my foot the way I think it was last year. Fig 2 is what I imagine it will be next year or soon enough!

So much for organic gardening

After 3 months of assiduous gardening – planting from seeds or saplings, plenty of compost and MiracleGro soil, mulch and water by the gallons, all that grew was 1 small sad tomato. In comparison with store-bought Arnold Schwarzenner-type tomatoes, this tomato was a 90-pound weakling waiting to have its face kicked with sand.

What could I have done wrong?

I redoubled my efforts. More soil and more compost, and mercifully the heavens opened up with bountiful rain.

To my dismay, the leaves now seemed to be stripped off. By rabbits, deer, squirrels? I hadn’t seen any evidence. I have never known squirrels to eat tomato leaves, besides they are too busy eating birdfeed.

I didn’t see any deer poop. I’m not sure what rabbit poop looks like, but I hadn’t seen rabbits since Easter.

Uncle Eric threw up gazillion links for unhealthy tomato plants. The recurring theme was that strong antifungal and anti-bug sprays were called for.

So… hello malathion.

Let’s see what happens…

Sticks and Stones...

About 20 years ago, I ran a small advertising company in Mumbai. Sunil, my office boy, was all of 20. His job was to make coffee and run errands. He also went to night school.

 

One morning, he came to work with blood on his face and a torn shirt sleeve. I was shocked! What happened?

 

One of the others in the office said helpfully: 'He got into a fight.'

 

Sunil stood silently in front of me with his eyes cast down.

 

I said: 'Sunil, what happened?'

 

He replied: 'I had to fight. That guy called out a bad word. About my mother.'

 

'What word?'

 

No answer.

 

'Okay,' I said, 'call me by that name.'

 

Sunil looked up aghast. 'I can’t do that!'

 

'Yes, you can. Go ahead, call me by that name.'

 

Of course, he didn’t. How could he possibly call his boss a w-----!

 

I said: 'Okay, let’s pretend you called me a w-----.'

 

He cringed.

 

'Did I become one? Am I one? Go, on, answer me! Did your mother become one? Of all the stupid things to do! Now you’ve probably set off a gang fight!'

 

Today, listening to and watching all this brouhaha about Paula Deen, I was reminded about Sunil. Is he still angry with that boy? May be that boy has now become a celebrity and it’ll be worth Sunil’s while to rake this all up!

 

Can we just stop and think for a minute? All these words that get blipped on TV, are these really such a big deal? Do we have to go running to ‘teacher’ every time someone shouts out something nasty at us? And does the media not have something better to broadcast?

 

Come on, people, just grow up!

The 10 Most Secure US Metros to live in

The “Most Secure Places to Live in the US”? Sperling’s BestPlaces’ survey for Farmer’s Insurance was based on the cities’ economic stability, crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, environmental hazards, life expectancy, motor vehicle fatalities and employment numbers.

Here is the ranking for large metropolitan areas (population of 500,000 or greater):

1.      Bethesda–Gaithersburg–Frederick, MD
2.      Grand Rapids–Wyoming, MI
3.      Pittsburgh, PA
4.      Austin–Round Rock, TX
5.      Cambridge–Newton–Framingham, MA
6.      Omaha, NE/Council Bluffs, IA
7.      San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA
8.      San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City, CA
9.      Portland–Beaverton, OR/Vancouver, WA
10.   Dallas–Plano–Irving, TX

The most secure places to live among mid-size cities (population between 150,000 and 500,000): 

1.      Kennewick–Richland–Pasco, WA
2.      Boulder, CO
3.      Fargo, ND/Moorhead, MN
4.      Olympia, WA
5.      Binghamton, NY
6.      Sioux Falls, SD
7.      Bellingham, WA
8.      Lincoln, NE
9.      Fort Collins–Loveland, CO
10.   Rochester, MN

Sadly, no city in SC figures in these rankings!

Source: Realtor Magazine