Molly LeBlanc

I thought this article might be of interest to all you BOFA customers out there!

Bank of America Will Modify Troubled Loans

Bank of America on Monday said it is launching a "home retention program" on Dec. 1 to modify troubled mortgages for nearly 400,000 customers of Countrywide Financial Corp.

Bank of America acquired Countrywide on July 1.

The program, which can reduce up to $8.4 billion in interest payments and principal, was developed in partnership with state Attorneys General to help borrowers that financed their homes with subprime loans or adjustable rate mortgages.

The goal is to "help as many Countrywide customers as possible stay in their homes," says Barbara Desoer, president, Bank of America Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance Services.

The centerpiece of the program is a proactive loan modification process to provide relief to borrowers who are seriously delinquent or are likely to become seriously delinquent as a result of rate resets or payment recasts. For more information, visit Bank of America's Web site.

This article is courtesy of REALTOR® magazine

Total population for Oregon? Think you can guess? (this is based on 2006 figures)....

3,700,758!!!!! To put into perspective....the population of California (for 2006) was 36,553,215!

1,833,458 of the Oregonians were male, while 1,867,300 were female! (that's right boys....we're building our team!)

The median age was 37.6, with the majority being between the age group of 18 and over (pre-retirement)

The total housing units? 1,586,600! (that seems like a bit of potential...huh folks?)

The housing occupancy was 1,449,662, with 136,938 that were vacant!

The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5, while the rental vacancy rate was 5.6

Some other facts that I found intriguing I thought I would share.....

There were 30,836 Structures that were built 2005 and after! (remember based on 2006 stats)

149,426 structures built between 2000-2004 and something else I saw was that there were 202,262 homes built Before 1939! (gotta love old town!)

Some stats on the housing tenure:

Here's a really interesting tidbit I saw that gives on a percentage the monthly owner costs of homeownership to their income! With and without a mortgage!

These are just a few of the vast amount of information that I found on this site: http://www.census.gov/

You can type in just about any state,city,etc, and based on the last survey completed, you can find all sorts of information! I feel it is a valuable tool for both real estate professionals, as well as buyers and sellers to learn about their own areas!

So I have this on my personal brochures and have received a lot of positive feedback from people saying it had items in it they would not have thought of in the first place. So I share with you all!

As I sit here at 3:55 in the morning, wide awake, I come across a joke that makes me realize that I am laughing out loud, as suppose to inside my head, and I might wanna be quiet, so I am sharing this joy for you all, so you can laugh out loud too! (hopefully it will be a good start to your day, and not the end of one like mine);)

How To Give Your Pet A Pill...

How To Give Your Cat A Pill:

1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.

7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10. Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard, and close door onto neck, to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw Tee shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

12. Call fire department to retrieve the damn cat from across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

13. Tie the little bastard's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy-duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

14. Consume remainder of scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

15. Arrange for ASPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

How To Give Your Dog A Pill

1. Wrap it in bacon.

2. Toss it in the air.

I'd like to remind all that it is Cancer Awareness Month and make sure and to spread the word. Please I encourage you to reblog this or even forward this post to your friends and loved ones.

This disease touches so many and changes lives forever..we can do the same but in a positive way!

Help me Fight Cancer...the reality is there is a good chance someone you love will be affected by this disease. Please take the time and read this email.

You never know...by following the instructions you might save a human life!

SPREAD THE WORD!

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/