Anniston, AL

Auburn at the Glendale BCS Fiesta Bowl festivities

The next best thing to being at the Fiesta Bowl, is to have a friend that is at the Fiesta Bowl ! Video and pictures are coming from lifelong friend and Anniston native Rebecca Pugh Hamilton. She's having a fabulous time, attending all Bud Light Fiesta Bowl events. Besides winning tickets to the Fiesta Bowl, her posters have been published nationally. I especially love her orange sunglasses !! hey, It's great... to be.... an Auburn Tiger !!

Video of The Auburn Greet in Glendale

Video of The Auburn team going to practice

Photos and videos by Rebecca Pugh Hamilton.

WAR EAGLE, from your like minded professional in Charleston, SC.

Your Auburn link to Charleston Real Estate.

Auburn at the Glendale BCS Fiesta Bowl festivities

How Does a Short Sale Effect My Credit Score?

The question is not as easy to answer as we would all like to think. Credit scores are determined in a variety of ways, and there is no way a blog post is going to get you 100% up to date on it. There are a few things you do need to know first...

There are 3 credit bureaus that calculate your credit score. In Alabama, you are entitled to 1 free report from all 3 of them every year. This is so you can check your report for accuracy.

The 3 agencies that track your credit for the lending institutions are: Experian, Transunion and Equifax. The 3 Credit Bureaus run a website called Annualcreditreport.com You can order your free reports from this site.

OK, now onto the effect a Short Sale has on your credit score. According to Fair Isaac, the short sale will damage your credit score just as much as a foreclosure (200-300 points, depending on other credit factors). The good news though, is a person who is foreclosed on will wait no more than 2 years to be offered a reasonable interest rate to buy a new home, where a foreclosure victim can count on waiting 3-5 years before buying another home.

The effect of a short sale on your credit score in Alabama is indeed severe, but not as bad as the effect of a foreclosure on your credit score.

In other words... if you are trying to decide between a short sale or a foreclosure, don't be so quick to just say "the effect of a short sale on my credit score is the same as the effect of a foreclosure". There are other differences, including when you will be eligible for another home, and possibly even more important... if you are foreclosed on, the bank can (and probably will) come after you for the amount of money they lose (the difference between what you owe and what they sold the property for).

If you would like to learn more about

Fannie Mae and the US Army announced a plan yesterday to help service men and women (and their immediate families) in the event of an injury of death.

The plan would allow the families a 6 month forbearance of either reduced payments or no payments so the family can concentrate on the more important issue.

A family may qualify for the program only if they have a loan provided through Fannie Mae. The goal of this new program is to help reduce the number of foreclosures for military families dealing with injury or death.

It was great to wake up this morning and see something positive being done for our Service Men and Women! They have a very difficult and dangerous job, and it's nice to see that someone is thinking of them.

If you are a service man or woman, you can find more information on this new foreclosure program by calling toll free, 877-MIL-4566

Advantages of a Short Sale in Anniston, AL

As the recent problems with the US Economy continue, we are hearing these words more and more more often.. "Short Sale" ... What is it? Well, to put it simply, a Short Sale is a bank accepting less than it is owed as full payment for a home. (If you ever tried to trade in a car with high miles, you may have been "upside down" meaning you owe more money than the dealer is going to give you.. Well, short sales are the same thing, except instead of your car, you're "upside down" on your home).

A short sale will have a seriously negative effect on your credit report... almost as much of an effect as a foreclosre would. Because of this, a lot of people feel there is no real advantage to a short sale because either way, you are leaving the closing with no money, and you are taking a major hit on your credit report

This is one way to look at it, but not the right way... There are several advantages of a short sale.

One advantage of a short sale is that if it's negotiated properly, you can get the bank to forgive the remainder that you may owe on the house. This is not the case if your home is foreclosed on. After your foreclosure, the bank will sell the house for whatever it can and then send you a bill for the difference!

Another advantage of a short sale is that with the bank's permission, you can sell the home for a much more attractive price, making the sale faster, which will allow you to breathe easier a lot faster. Whether the house sells for top market value or lower market value, you are going to receive no money at the end of the short sale. Because you are leaving with no money, it should be easier for you to price the house at a more competitive rate than you would if you were trying to profit from the sale. The lower you price the house, the faster you should be able to sell it.

One final advantage consider when trying to decide if the advantages of a short sale are worthwhile for you... There are programs that will pay you up to $3000 to help you get back "on your feet". To find out more about these programs, please call me at 256-241-1500, email me at gregde@kw.com or click on the "Call Me Now" link below.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SHORT SALES IN ANNISTON, AL HERE

I had the privilege of attending a funeral this week of Ben Grizzard (Uncle Pete) who folks called a true friend. I considered it a privilege because I got to see first hand how one person could affect change in folkes lives in a remarkable and positive way. As people lined the church to celebrate the life and passing of Benjamin Grizzard you could see it through their faces how this one man touched so many lives. Some in a small way and some much larger. The celebration lasted for about 6 hours and folks just didn't want to leave, can you imagine having that kind of effect on folks.

There were a lot of words used to describe Ben's life, but the resounding word FRIEND was used over and over. A friend in need is a friend in deed was a perfect description of How Ben lived his life. It was said he was a great husband, brother, father and christian. But what was very clear, one person said was that to have friends you had to first be a friend and that was what Ben Grizzard (Uncle Pete) truly was to everyone that knew him. From the speakers to folks just visiting it seemed everyone had a Ben story. How he gave a lot more than he received.

It got me to thinking about my own life (Uncle Pete had that effect on folks as I could tell). How will I or you be remembered? A grest salesperson, Realtor, politician, citizen or what? I think that I would love to be remembered as a FRIEND IN DEED.

Ben, thanks for the privilege of seeing what living life to the fullest would and could be like. You will be sorely missed but always remembered.

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THOUSANDS OF HOMES.... One Address www.charlesstallions.com Looking for a home to rent or buy on the Gulf Coast of Florida. E-mail charles@charlesstallions.com foreclosures, short sales homes for sale or rent. Charles Stallions Real Estate Services, a 12 member team of local experts on Loan Modifications, Certified Residential Specialist, Distressed Property Expert with fourteen years in real estate dealing in foreclosures, first time home buyer programs and investor sales. We are the company you keep, with your one stop office for Property Management, Title and Closing Solutions, FHA, VA, Conventional Loans, Termite and Pest Control, Land Surveyors, Around the House repair company, Legal Service Provider.