Jim Lee, Knoxville Tennessee Realtor®

Before becoming a Realtor many, many years ago, I was in the restaurant business, mostly in management but I love to cook and create new recipes.

Here’s a couple of my summer favorites that meet 2 of my main criteria for cooking; quick and easy.

Pulled BBQ pork, serves 4

You can fix this one in your crock pot or slow cooker.

Ingredients:

• 2 pound Boston Butt Roast or boneless ribs work well also
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 a 14 ounce can of beef broth (you can freeze the other half for later use)
• Your favorite BBQ sauce
• To give it an interesting flavor save a couple of Tablespoons of brewed coffee and toss it in

Preparation

• Put the roast or ribs in your crock pot or slow cooker, pour beef broth and optional coffee over.
• Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours or until meat is fork tender (separates easily with fork)
• Remove to cutting board and pull apart with two forks or you can chop with a large knife like an 8 inch french cooks knife.
• Serve with BBQ sauce on the side or poured over. You can also mix BBQ sauce with meat in advance and pop in the oven for about 10 minutes but most people like to add their own sauce.

Serve with cole slaw and BBQ fixins’ like baked beans, potato salad, or chips.

Marinated Grilled Shrimp, serves 4 (I got this one from All Recipes.com which is a great source of awesome dishes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons and 1-3/4 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1-1/4 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
• skewers

Preparation

1. in a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to the bowl, and stir until evenly coated. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
2. Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp on preheated grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque or pink.

Bon Appetit!

KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com also has some great houses just in case you need a backyard to put that grill in.

First the federal government came up with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 which provides for a tax credit of up to $8,000 or a maximum of 10% of the sale price of a home for buyer who have not owned a home in the past three years.

Sounds like a good deal but a lot of otherwise qualified buyers were still being left out because even though they were able to qualify creditwise they were cash poor and just didn't have enough available funds to take advantage of the tax credit.

Enter a new program from the Tennessee Housing Development Authority (THDA). Now you can actually borrow, via a second mortgage on your new home, up to 3.5% of the down payment amount which is not coincidentally the minimum down payment required for FHA financing.

Basically all you need is a minimum 620 credit score, debt to income ratio not more than 45%, and you have to attend a short class that educates you on how to become a responsible homeowner; pretty easy stuff for most.

The interest rate on your down payment loan is 0% until as long as June 1st of 2010 and at that time you can either repay it with your $8,000 tax credit or begin making payments on it at just 1% over your current first mortgage rate for 10 years.

So if you have a 5% first mortgage and borrow, let's say $3,500 for your 3.5% down payment you can pay it off at 6% interest at a monthly payment of $38.86 per month.

If that's something that you think might put you into a new home, give me a call at (865) 693-3232 or email me and let's sit down to talk about making you a homeowner.

See over 5,000 Knox County single family home and condos for sale at www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

Here's just a couple of Knoxville area homes that you can buy today.

This charming 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is located in north Knoxville and priced at only $129,900!

Attractive basement rancher on large lot with woods in back and a lot for the money; $149,900

They love any sort of soft, unpainted wood such as deck rails, outside buildings, soffits, and other areas they can bore into and build a new colony.

The most telltale sign of their activity are little piles of sawdust. Usually if you look upwards over the sawdust piles you will spot a small, perfectly round hole which is the new hive entrance.

Another clue you can often observe, especially on light surfaces is light yellowish brown spotting on vertical surfaces like walls and support posts. This a a mixture of pollen and bee feces and another sign of bee activity.

Bumble Bee Carpenter Bee

Once you've spotted them and identified them as Carpenter Bees, it's fairly simple to get rid of them assuming you can reach their holes.

They're mostly safe to get close to; only the female has a stinger. The males will buzz around and make lots of noise but they can't hurt you.

Here's a few solutions including some 'green' ones.

• Simply fill in the entry hole to the next with wood putty. Oddly the bees won't try to dig their way out but simple remain in the nest until they die. Sand and paint over the puttied surface to make sure a new batch doesn't try to return to the same area.
• Wait until later in the evening when they're all in the nest and take a vacuum (shop vac type) cleaner out, tap around the entry hole to agitate them and just suck them into the vacuum tank.
  
• Most any Raid type of insecticide will kill them too; just stick the nozzle or opening into their hole and fill it full. Be sure and follow product directions and wash your hands thoroughly after using.
  

Once you've gotten rid of them you should paint any untreated wood surfaces, especially soft woods like Pine, to discourage their return. If they liked a spot once chances are good other Carpenter Bees will like it again if left unpainted.

Here's a little Flip video I shot of our carport after I sprayed and a wandering bee returned home to find an empty next.

In case you're in the Knoxville area and need a house, www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to start.

1. Tennessee women's softball. The lady Vols won both sides of a double header again Georgia last week. Come to the game and see if they can do the same again Alabama. Friday, May 1st, 6 pm, and Saturday May 2nd at 3:00 pm. Sherri Parker Lee Stadium is a first class softball stadium on campus with outstanding facilities.
2. Rick Recht, a Jewish rock singer (I told you there was something for everyone. ;-)) in concert Saturday at the Arnstein Jewish Community Center. Saturday, May 2nd at 8:00 pm.
3. Sundown in the City continues with this week's featured artists Big Head Todd and the Monsters, an acoustic (no electic apliifiers, give your ears a rest) rock bank well known in college towns all over. Opening act is Joan Jones. Party starts at 6:00 pm, Market Square, price, FREE, one of my favorites.
4. Billed as an "all ages" show at the Valarium (a new age nightclub), "As I Lay Dying" a Christian influenced Metal Cone Band with lead off act "God Forbid" a pioneering 'nu-metal' band. 7:00 pm Monday, May 4th. I have no clue what this is all about but it could be interesting.
5. Movietime with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" Storyline: Wolverine who lives a mutant life seeks revenge against a rival for killing his girlfriend. Opens Friday. I'll sure it will be well attended, just not by me. ;-)
6. Here's a bonus fun thing to do this weekend and any other time. Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all of the Knoxville area Realtor listings for great houses, condos, and land. Find your own little piece of Paradise in beautiful Knoxville, Tennessee.

The new federal program to help homeowners stay in their homes by lowering their interest rate and payments by either modifying their existing loan or refinancing that loan is now open for business.

One of the best parts about this program is that there is no charge to homeowners. I know there are scam artists out there offering to 'help' you refinance or get a loan modification for a fee but there is no need to give them any of your money these programs are very simple.

Here's your first step. You need to visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov and answer just a few short questions to determine if you're nominally qualified.

The first choice is a "Home Affordable Refinance" program which lets homeowners that are current on their mortgage payments but unable to refinance because their home's value has declined to less than their mortgage balance, refinance with a lower, more affordable mortgage.

You need to be able to answer "YES" to these four questions:

1. Are you the owner of a one- to four-unit home?
2. Do you have a loan owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac? If you don’t know, click here.
3. Are you current on your mortgage payments? “Current” means that you haven’t been more than 30-days late on your mortgage payment in the last 12 months.
4. Do you believe that the amount you owe on your first mortgage is about the same or less than the current value of your house?

If you're eligible your next step is to gather some basic financial information. Here's a checklist of what you will need:

• Information about your mortgage, such as your monthly mortgage statement and
  
• Information about the monthly gross (before tax) income of your household, including recent pay stubs if you receive them or documentation of income you receive from other sources.
  
• Your most recent income tax return.
  
• Information about any second mortgage or home equity line of credit on the house.
  
• Account balances and minimum monthly payments due on all of your credit cards.
  
• Account balances and monthly payments on all your other debts such as student loans and car loans.

The information above is most easily compiled and readable in a personal financial statement; here's a sample form for you.

After gathering this information you call your lender or loan servicer (where you make your payments) and talk with them about a "Home Affordable Refinance"

The second option for you is a "Home Affordable Modification". If you can no longer make your monthly mortgage payments you may qualify for this program to make your payments more affordable by modifying your mortgage to a lower interest rate and payment.

Here are the 5 questions you need to be able to answer "YES" to in order to see if you qualify:

1. Is your home your primary residence?
2. Is the amount you owe on your first mortgage equal to or less than $729,750?
3. Are you having trouble paying your mortgage? For example, have you had a significant increase in your mortgage payment OR reduction in your income since you got your current loan OR have you suffered a hardship that has increased your expenses (like medical bills)?
4. Did you get your current mortgage before January 1, 2009?
5. Is your payment on your first mortgage (including principal, interest, taxes, insurance and homeowner's association dues, if applicable) more than 31% of your current gross income?

After gathering this information and preparing a personal financial statement like the one above you also need to write a hardship letter detailing why you can't make your payments anymore, i.e. loss of job, laid off, illness etc.

And then, just like above contact your lender to talk about a loan modification to lower your payment and interest rate.

Many lender have made a committment to delay foreclosure proceedings to allow homeowners to see if they meet the minimum qualifying criteria.

I know of one person in my area that recently got a mortgage modification. Their interest rate was lowered to 2% for the next 5 years and then 4.75% FIXED rate for the remaining life of the mortgage.

If any Knoxville area homeowner are having trouble with either refinancing or applying for either of these programs I will be glad to help you get started; no cost and no obligation. email me of call 865-693-3232.