Posted by Maura on March 27th, 2009 — Posted in real estate
My friend Shane McConkey tragically died yesterday in Italy during a ski-flying accident. He is seen here with, and survived by his wife Sherry and daughter Ayla. He was 39.
Apparently Shane was filming a stunt where he flies with a wing suit, a suit that enables the skydiver to fly close to the cliff walls . According to reports from those present at the accident, Shane was skiing off of a cliff, where he performed a double gainer and then attempted to get his skis off. He was unsuccessful at getting one of his skis off which sent him into a spiral that he could not pull out of and then fell to the ground.
Shane was a legend in the ski world and a pioneer in both ski develpoment, B.A.S.E. jumping, and ski flying. I have not done any of those things with Shane. I only knew him as a friend, father, husband, and hero to my four-year-old son Declan, who I cannot find the words to tell this tragic news to.
Shane was generous, funny, talented, and humble. Shane was kind to all people, from those seeking autographs to those who chose him as their dying wish for the Make A Wish Foundation. I watched his relationship with Sherry grow over the past 10+ years, and he was a better person for being with Sherry. Their daughter Ayla carries that bright and beautiful smile of Shane’s and will be embraced by our strong community.
The skiing world is devastated by the loss of probably the biggest skiing visionary and icon in history. My community will suffer a permanent void without the loving, adventurous and happy energy that was Shane McConkey.
Rest in Peace, my friend.
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Posted by Maura on March 14th, 2009 — Posted in real estate
 
When you make the commitment to go to Alaska to heli-ski, you are biting the bullet on quite a few levels.
It is expensive, far away, and there is the risk of getting skunked by weather.
My family arrived a few days ago in Cordova, Alaska to Points North Heli-Adventure which uses the southeastern slope of the Chugach range to ride.
My husband Jason is one of their guides, and has been for the past ten years. This is the second time that we have brought our four-year-old son Declan here as well to experience the adventure.
Ponts North is situated on an ocean-front property that was the site of the old Orca Cannery. Orca whales have been known to swim right past the beach out front and eagles feasting on fish is a common siting here. If you want to experience some other activities while waiting for the weather to clear, you can ride the single chair at Mt. Eyak right in town. The chair is the oldest in North America and was the original chairlift at Sun Valley, Idaho.
Cordova also boasts a rain forest with a beautiful wood-slat walkway that winds through it, with beautiful vistas at the end of the hike.
Local legend and fisherman Buddy Jansen will give you a guided fishing trip around the inlet in hopes of catching a delectable Winter King Salmon or two. Just meeting Buddy is an experience, as his 350+lbs. frame will give you a squeeze that you will not soon forget. Buddy has also starred in a few Warren Miller ski films. Incidentally,Warren Miller’s crew is in house at the moment filming a segment for next year’s movie.
Even if you never make it “off base”, just hanging out at this little slice of heavan (that doesnt have cell service) is vacation enough. Warm cookies are baked every day and three generous meals are served…even dessert every night! Points North is referred to lovingly as “fat camp”, as most guests acquire an extra pound or two during their stay.
And the skiing…well you really have not skied unless you have heli-skied in Alaska. Steep, deep sustained scary, spiny terrain awaits you, and endless views of snowcapped peaks are just waiting to be skied. Who knows…you may even get a first descent that you get to name! (Mine is “Banana Hammock”!)
If you want an adventure that is sure to be unlike any that you have experienced, check out Points North Heli-Adventures.
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Posted by Maura on March 7th, 2009 — Posted in real estate
Yesterday morning I had a frustrating experience with my lender, Countrywide. My frustration was wrongly vented at them, or more specifically, at the woman from Countrywide who gave me the information available at this time for the Housing Affordability and Stability Act.
Two days ago on March 4, 2009, the Housing Affordability and Stability Act was enacted to allow homeowners to refinance their home and take advantage of today’s low interest rates. There are three questions asked on the Financial Stability website aka the Home Affordability Act Obama put into effect this week.
1. Is your home your primary residence?
2. Is your home backed by Fannie or Freddie?
3. Are you current on your mortgage at this time?
If you answer yes to all three questions as I did, you are then instructed to call your loan servicer. Countrywide, my current loan servicer, has added an automated phone entry for those calling regarding this new plan.
After being on hold for 30 minutes, (and 3 cups of coffee) I was put through to Kay who asked for my address, confirmed who I was, and plugged my address into the government valuation program that lenders are using to give you an exact dollar amount for your home. For my home, the program spit out $409,000. My guess is they are using Zillow.com or something similar. The last two homes to sell in my neighborhood in the past two months were $360,000 and $400,000. There are two homes in escrow, both forclosures, one for $269,000 and one for $325,000. Both homes were bigger and newer, and had a garage. Mine does not have a garage, which typically devaluates your home. I would guess that my home is in the $350,000-$375,000 range and dropping. I am a realtor. And my selling area is my neighborhood. So I feel that my data is more accurate than whatever data Countrywide is getting.
Regardless, this number put my loan-to-value rate (the ratio that lenders look at to determine equity in the home and thus your worthiness to refinance) at about 80%. This makes me inellegible for Obama’s new program rewarding people like me who are upon hard times financially, are still making payments on their loan, but are in jeopardy of making future payments. The requirement for the Affordabiltity Act is 97-105% LTV. In other words, those who only have 3% to -5% equity in their home.
After arguing with Kay about the random appraisal that is basing this decision, she told me about the other option for me which is to refinance into an FHA loan at today’s current rates. Are you ready for this government “help”:
I would be paying, according to Kay, a 1.5% government loan fee as well as any costs associated with the processing of that loan, as well as refinancing fees with Countrywide (not sure why) and title, escrow, etc. AND PMI (primary mortgage insurance). Government loans also require taxes and insurance to be added monthly into each payment, otherwise known as an impound account.
My current loan is at $347,000. With the government’s helping hand, my new loan with all fees rolled into it, would be a whopping $364,000! What a deal! Only $17,000 to refinance my home and save me from potential default and foreclosure! When I voiced this to Kay, the semi-robotic voice on the other end said “Maura, you are in real estate. You should know there are fees associated with closing costs!” Yes, but more than twice the national average of refinancing with a private lender?! Thanks, but no thanks. In fact, with all the costs and the impound account, my monthly bill would go up $200.
When I asked Kay to pretend that I did make the loan to value requirements of the Housing Affordability and Stability Act, (97-105%) what would it cost me to refinance?
Kay informed me that the there are no guidelines in place at this time, but all she knew was there would be no PMI and no 1.5% government servicing fee, but all the other fees applied.
I doubt the banks had to have any “guidelines” in place when they took the $75,000,000,000 from the government. It’s getting this money that we the tax payers are lending to the banks that is the fuzzy part.
I’m wondering who this plan is actually going to help. Personally, the few people that I know who have that little equity in their homes will not spend the refinancing costs to get a lower fixed rate; they are talking more along the lines of giving the home back to the bank.
I have a friend who owns a home here in Truckee that he is under water on. He is a bright guy- has his MBA, a stable job, and a small nest egg in the bank. Given the dropping value in his neighborhood, he has tried to refinance but cannot. Given how little he owns of this house, my friend is more tempted to give the house back to the bank and suffer the credit beating that he will take for a few years rather than hang in there paying the mortgage on his house. This will then lead to a foreclosure which then brings the selling cost down, costs the banks more in the long run and devalues the neighborhood, and thus lowers all of our equity in our homes even more.
When I called a friend who is a lender to inquire about this whole Housing Affordability business prior to 3/4/09, he said there isn’t any information given to lenders, banks, or anybody on where to go or what to do. It sounds simple enough in a speech, but as my friend told me “The Devil is in the Details”. Well said.
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