About Fayetteville's Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg: Not Everyone Relocated So Jobs Exist

The BRAC initiative has benefited Fort Bragg with more activity.

For a variety of reasons, many of the positions which have been transferred from other bases left the prior personnel behind.

This means job opportunities exist at Fort Bragg.

Several of these opportunities do not require specialized skills.

If you are still looking for a job, then go to Fort Bragg and see if you can join in on the increased activity.

Army, Air Force looking to fill 100-plus jobs around Fort Bragg

CONGRATULATIONS TO MELISSA MCKINNEY ACTIVE RAIN'S NEWEST AMBASSADOR

Karen reads Melissa's blog every day, but today she noticed something different, the AMBASSADOR BADGE UNDER HER NAME ~GRINS~

No one really likes to brag about themselves, so we decided to do the bragging for her.

Karen has mentioned Melissa in one of her blogs as the person she was most inspired about on Active Rain.
Melissa,the go to person in her office at Keller Williams, IS ALWAYS willing to help a co worker.
She also inspired people from her office to join Active Rain.
She write blogs that support Active Rain.
She blogs about new things she has learned on Active Rain.

Melissa has all the KEY QUALITIES to be an AMBASSADOR

Melissa has the PAY IT FORWARD SPIRIT

SHE LOVES ACTIVE RAIN AND TELLS US IN HER BLOGS

SHE IS ALWAYS WILLING TO TEACH, SUPPORT AND NETWORK

TAKE THE TIME TO SAY HELLO TO MELISSA, CONGRATULATE HER, SHE CERTAINLY DESERVES IT

Read Allan Pape's post today Are You Considering Walking Away From Your House Then You Have Got To Know Your Options that mentioned the Fannie Mae site http://knowyouroptions.com which provides information on options for homeowners who can not afford their mortgage payments.

Shortly after, I went to the site to check it out. I must say, it is an invaluable site for anyone who is not able to pay their mortgage.

As the blog post stated, the site does outline the 3 options available to someone in that position, namely foreclosure, deed-in-lieu and short sale.

I think most anyone these days is very familiar with foreclosure and short sale and many may know what a deed-in-lieu is.

However, I didn't know what deed-for-lease was until now.

In a deed-for-lease the homeowner can rent bank the property after they have given title to the mortgage lender through the deed-in-lieu.

It sounds like a great option for someone who can not afford the mortgage but can not or does not want to move out of the home. Maybe they love the neighborhood, don't want to disrupt the children's school year or work is close to the home.

Even nicer is that the rent paid would be determined by what the market rents may be, not whatever the mortgage payment was when the individual had the mortgage loan.

The lease period is usually 12 months with a renewal option PLUS the homeowner may even qualify for relocation assiatnce when the time comes to move on.

Only loans that are owned by Fannie Mae qualify for this program. The site even has a great tool to help the user search if Fannie Mae owns the loan. The site did mention, though that even if the loan is not owned by Fannie Mae some mortgage lenders may have a similar program. One need just call their lender and ask.

I think this is an awesome example of a program that can truly assist many families. Oftentimes, the shame and frustration of having to go through a short sale gets ascerbated by the logistical nightmare of finding a place and moving the household. Not to mention tha tif you have a scarred credit report, many property management companies don't want to rent to you.

If this program does what it says it does, those families can at least face the situation with some sense of normalcy and stability in their lives, however small that may be.

Home warranties are wonderful budget-saving plans to help cover the expense of repair of some of a home's major components when they fail. Unlike hazard homeowner's insurance policies, home warranties do not cover catastrophic losses but do cover some pretty important components of your home that can possibly have a drastic impact on your budget if you're not financially able to cover them were they to break down.

When selling a home, most sellers offer the new buyer 12 month home warranty coverage which can be renewed by the buyer at the end of the initial 12 month period.

While very helpful, home warranties have often been a great source of frustration for homeowners.

A growing sentiment among frustrated and dissatisfied homeowners is that the home warranty companies are reluctant to approve item replacements that may be costly, even if it appears that it may be necessary. The complaints have been that the warranty companies only want to do whatever will require the least outlay of funds and they have "trained" the contractors they have contracted with to work to that end. Sometimes, that may have resulted in repairs over repairs on an item that should width="121">have been replaced. 

I personally have not had those problems with the home warranty company I have had on my house for the past 7 years but I do hear from a great number of my clients who have this very complaint.

Enter America's Preferred Home Warranty. This company apparently has been around for some time but it just became part of the Fayetteville, NC real estate scene very recently. It is a Keller Williams Realty approved vendor and actually works very well with our company though it is used by any and all other franchises and companies.

What makes America's Preferred Home Warranty different is that the homeowner has the freedom to choose their own contractors. Yes, that's right! Freedom of choice!  When the homeowner has an issue, they call the company and tell them who they want to call to make the repair. The home warranty company contacts the contractor and approves the repair. The contractor makes the visit, makes the determination as to what needs to happen to solve the problem (they are not working for the warranty company so they are free to diagnose the problem and recommend the true solution) and they get paid right over the phone if they can take credit card payments.

My clients are loving this idea!! All my clients have chosen this warranty since it was introduced to our market center in Fayetteville, NC.

The coverage is the same, if not better, in certain areas than the other warranties my clients have had and for $410 you still get the $55 service fee. Others I have used in the past charge a higher base price if you choose the lower service fee.

Of course, the true test of a home warranty plan is its responsiveness to client concerns and satisfaction. We've not been using America's Preferred Home Warranty long enough to know for certain how it consistently handles claims but if they keep their word and provide the service they promise, they may come to won a great share of the home warranty market.

Can you be separated from a spouse and purchase a new home as sole owner?

North Carolina is a marital interest state. That simply means when one spouse owns real property the other spouse has marital interest whether it was purchased prior to the marriage, purchased while happily married or separated.

Oftentimes, I have sellers who think their spouse doesn't need to be involved in the sale of a home because they may have purchased the home prior to the marriage and the deed to the property is only in their name.

That is irrelevant. Once the spouse with the property marries, that new spouse owns half the interest in that property. Sometimes that news doesn't go over very well with some clients but most often it's not an issue.

It also works for purchasing a home. Because a separation is only just that, a separation, and not a divorce, a married but separated individual can not purchase new property without the other spouse's name also appearing on the deed as owner.

OR so I thought. I recently had a call from a young man about one of my listings. I met him and who I assumed was his wife at the property. After explaining agency and dual agency to them they felt I was honest enough to want to allow me to represent them as their buyer agent.

They followed me back to my office and as I went conducted my needs analysis and buyer consultation with them I discovered that he was indeed married but not to the young lady with him.

Turns out he and his wife are separated and have gone their separate ways. NC has a required one year separation before a divorce can be granted. I explained that as far as I knew any home he purchases must have title in both his and his wife's name because she has marital interest in the property.

Well, I found out from an attorney that may not necessarily be the case. I called a number of lenders until I found one allows what is called Instantaneous Siezen.

That means my seperated buyer may purchase a house and title be made only in his name. So, while I stand corrected in that he CAN indeed purchase the home and title be only in his name it still leaves him with a home that he can not sell without the wife's signature.

Even though her name is not on the title she still has marital interest. I wanted him to make sure he understood that. I didn't want him to be surprised when he went to sell this house that she never lived in to know that she must approve the sale.

He said the wife is so cantankerous that he knows she would not agree to a quit claim deed. My concern is that unless their relationship changes to a more amicable one she can make things very difficult for him if he gets orders and has to move and sell this home before his divorce is final and the disposition of this house is settled by the divorce.

This business never fails to teach me something new. I just wouldn't have thought that it would be possible for a separated individual to buy property and have the deed solely in his/her name. Though I wonder if it is a wise move since you are really buying with the spouse, it's just that the name is not visible on the deed.