Chrystina Tovani

A VA home loan is a loan guaranteed and insured by the Veteran's Administration and has helped home buyers get in a home with no down payment. The seller can also pay for some or all of the closing costs.

Whether you are a soldier recently returning home to Sacramento or or a Veteran who wants to buy a home with your VA loan benefits, you've come to the right place.

Mark Teran can help you with your VA financing to purchase a home or to refinance your current residence in the greater Sacramento area.

My name is Chrysti Tovani, and I am a life member of the Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 4647. In case you don't know, I am also the Black Jack editor and keeper of the VFW Post 4647 website. (This refers to members of Post 4647)

Chances are you clicked on my link from the VFW Post 4647 website and it brought you to this page on my blog. I created this page for you to land on so that you would not be confused when it brought you to this site. Feel free to look around if you'd like. (I updated this post because I am no longer originating mortgages.)

If you need help getting a home loan or are interested in buying a home or refinancing your current residence in the Sacramento area, call Mark and he'll make an appointment to meet at his office.

He can discuss your situation and see if you can use your VA home loan to purchase a home without having a down payment or closing costs.

I have been meaning to get this posted on my blog, it's already October 8th but there is still time to enter.

I am a Life Member of the Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 4647 here in Sacramento. Each year the VFW holds a scholarship program for high school kids grades 9-12. Please pass this info along as we try to get out to the schools and to as many students as possible.

2010-2011 Theme – “Does My Generation Have a Role in America’s Future?”

Entry Deadline – Nov. 1, 2010

For more information and contest rules visit the VFW.org website.

Madison Mullen, a senior at Olentangy Liberty High School has been named the first place winner in the 2010 National Voice of Democracy Program and recipient of the $30,000 first place VFW T.C. Selman Memorial Scholarship Award provided by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Madison plans a career in law and she was sponsored by VFW Post 3297 and Ladies Auxiliary in Delaware, Ohio. Click here to see the complete list of winners.

If you live in the greater Sacramento area and know a student who would like to enter the contest, contact me and I will put you in touch with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4647 Voice of Democracy Chairman. I am the editor and social media contact for VFW Post 4647.

I want to add that this is a National contest. You don't have to be in Sacramento to participate. You do need to contact your local Veterans of Foreign Wars in your area and ask for the Voice of Democracy Chairman. You can visit here to search by state.

When you are saving to buy a home, every cent helps. It's no secret that right now is a great time to purchase a home in Sacramento.

Did you know that Fannie Mae has a special program to help?

Fannie Mae Announces New Incentives for HomePath^® Properties

REO or Real Estate Owned properties that are owned by Fannie Mae are being sold with special financing incentives.

Under the new incentive program, owner-occupants and public entities that buy a HomePath Property between now and the end of the year can receive up to 3.5 percent of the purchase price in closing cost assistance.

• Low down payment and flexible mortgage terms (fixed-rate, adjustable-rate, or interest-only)
• You may qualify even if your credit is less than perfect
• Available to both owner occupiers and investors - although owner occupants are given priority for the first 15 days that the home is on the market. After the home has been on the market for more than 15 days, Fannie Mae will consider offers from investors or those wishing to purchase as a second home.
  
• Down payment can be from your own savings or a gift which includes a grant; a loan from a nonprofit organization, state or local government or employer.
• No mortgage insurance*
• No appraisal fees

The sale must close within 60 days of acceptance of the offer and no later than December 31, 2010. The incentive must be requested in the initial offer.

You can find out more information and also search for qualifying properties by visiting the HomePath.com web site.

Not only can you purchase a home using the HomePath^® loan program but you can also get a home loan to refurbish the home.

Ask me how I can help you get started.

What can you do if you have great credit, a good job, liquid assets, and want to take advantage of the low rates but you took a nose dive on the equity in your home?

There are a lot of folks who a few years ago may have only owed significantly less than of the value of the home and now the loan amount exceeds the value necessary to qualify for a new loan with a much lower interest rate.

With interest rates hitting record lows, these home owners want to refinance but they can't due to the declining market value of their homes. There's not enough equity.

Still, getting that lower rate would mean saving $$$ substantially over the lifetime of the loan.

There is a new trend of homeowners who are opting for what's referred to as a "cash in" refinance.

Borrowers are bringing cash to the closing table to increase equity and get the lower rates. Some are even opting for a 15 year fixed rate in order to pay off their home by the time they retire.

Yesterday my son and I met with a reporter with the Sacramento Bee. I had written an article on my blog called, Adult Kids - They Come Back.

I'm wondering as I'm writing this, if I should not disclose too much info. I don't want to ruin the guy's story. So, I'll keep it to my experience.

Anyway, a few days ago I get a call and it's a writer for the Bee who would like to interview my son and I for a story he is working on. I was really surprised that my son was willing to go along with it at all. I guess he figured it was important to me so he agreed to come along.

At the interview this nice young man appeared in my son's body. He was smart and articulate. I was amazed to listen to him discussing his plans for college and career goals. Who was this guy? My son? That is my son.

At the interview, Sam (The writer for the Bee) moved the recorder towards me, I had to say, "I'm flabbergasted right now."

I told him that normally, I don't get to have this kind of conversation with my son because I'm usually caught in the cycle of asking him to pick up his clothes or clean up in the kitchen, don't shut the cat out of the bathroom, make sure you lock the front door, leave some milk for the rest of us, etc., and he tunes me out. Tunes me out! Literally.

Most of the time I have to tap him on the shoulder or talk loud because he's got his headphones on listening to music. (I swear that kid's gonna go deaf!) Sometimes the rest of us are trying to watch TV and we have to ask him to turn down his head set.

So today, that nice young man from the interview came to me and said, "Mom, I realized yesterday when you said what you did, that you're right. I don't talk to you like an adult and I haven't been a very good roommate."

Is this a EUREKA moment?

I won't do the happy dance just yet.

It will take some time but I think we are going in a good direction. Maybe I won't lose my mind after all.

When the Bee article comes out, I'll add a link to it. I hope it's good and that it is something helpful to all the empty nesters who have adult children moving back home.

These days, especially with this recession or depression or whatever they want to call it, a lot of families are fitting more than one generation under one roof.