Yes, it is true! Last year during the Christmas season, I had two $450 electric bills after the space shuttle announced my house could be seen from space with all the Christmas lights I had on it.
This year we are living in one of our investment properties and it isn't wired for such a light show, but I still knew I needed to find a better way, and we have! For less than half of one of last years bills, we found outdoor solar lights that charge during the day and stay on all night long and don't cost me a dime in electricity. Then the lights are LED and will last 100,000 hours without burning out!
You can start your search the same way I did and Google "Solar Christmas Lights" and you will be amazed at how many are out there. We happened to find ours at Home Depot for $20.00 for each 37' strand and couldn't be happier with our find.
Hope this saves you some money on your Christmas electric bill, as it has me, and I'm pretty sure it is better for the environment also.
Merry Christmas
Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/
Why do I say this is a scam? In some states the banks won't allow you to purchase the home at a discount with the intent of selling it back to the person in default. It is mortgage fraud!
The second reason is, even if it isn't written into the deed that they buyer can't sell it back to you, the contract they have with you is they buy the property from the bank for usually $20,000-$30,000 less than you own and then lease option it back to you for ONE YEAR and one year only. Then you agree to buy it back from them at the end of the year for $10,000 more than you owed before, and pay for your closing costs as well as theirs. This can total another $12,000 and so you are buying your property back for up to $22,000 more than you owed one year ago. You are also paying them a rent check every month, usually more than the market rent for an area, taking even more money out of your pocket.
So, why are they so willing to "HELP" you? Simple, they need your help to buy the property at a discounted price from the bank, and need your signatures on a lot of documents in order to even talk to the bank about your situation. The second reason is it is for a one year lease and not for any longer, is because they know that 98% of home owners can't get their credit back in order in less than one year. So these investors now get to keep the house and will sell it for whatever it is really worth.... even if that amount is $200,000 more than you owed on it when you sold it to them.
They don't want you to get the house back. They don't want you to recover. They want to sell it, make a large profit, and head on to the next person with the promise of them getting to keep their home. So don't get fooled by the scams that promise if they buy your home you will get to keep it, you won't!
Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/
So many people have problems with debt after Christmas and the family always seems to suffer. January seems to be a high time for divorce, and February is a time when debt starts to get out of hand when the Christmas credit card bills start to arrive and so many people realize they can't pay!
My suggestion to you is set limits, make a list, budget what you have, and never more! Never use a credit card to fund Christmas. Your family's well being just isn't worth losing your home or car for.
I'm going to tell you what my wife and I do, and it works and works well. We sit down and make a list of everyone we are going to give a gift to, and so we don't forget anyone we just add to the previous year's list. (New family members like my niece have been added this year.)
We take what money we have set aside for Christmas and divide it by the number of people on the list. If it is $10 a person, then that is what everyone gets. If for some reason we only spend $5 on a couple people, we may up a few others to $15 dollars, but we always have our budget and we never go over that budget!
How do we accomplish this? First we do ALL our Christmas shopping on only ONE night. We drop the kids off at my parent's house, get up at 2am and head to Walmart and spend the night there buying every gift on our list! This is done so we don't accidentally buy for one person two or three times because we forgot we already had a gift for them. The second way we make sure not to over shop and go off budget, is when we go to Walmart in October or November, we buy a gift card for the exact amount we have budgeted for and we leave all other credit cards and debit cards at home. No temptation to buy something that catches our eye.
We have yet to go over our budget in the last 3 years, and for the record when we shop in the middle of the night we end up with 2 or 3 shopping carts full of stuff. But, we hardly ever see anyone else in the store beside employees, and because they want to escape stocking shelves we have more help than you can possibly imagine.
Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/
I love doing owner financing and lease options, and it is really nice when I can sell things before they even get put into the MLS. Why do they sell so fast? Because with the mortgage industry being the way they are right now, it is leaving a lot of people out in the cold, that just 1 year ago, could have gotten financing.
Other reasons Owner Financing works so well is Luxury Homes, even with an 800 credit score you still may end up paying 8% on a jumbo loan. With owner financing the interest could be only 6%.
Why would a seller of a luxury home want to do sell with owner financing? If you have a million dollar home and someone puts 20% down that leaves a balance of $800,000. At 6% interest, over a five year period, you are making a total of $232,000 in interest. Your one million dollar home, in five years, just became your 1.2 million dollar home.
The main reason I was asked to join is because I've incorporated lease options with owner financing to create wealth for some investors. I've even started to get my investing going with lease options and owner financing.
So for more information about this tele-seminar that I have been ask to be a part of click on the link below. If you are in a market where banks have stopped lending, then Owner Financing maybe an option for you to bring your real estate career back to where it was 2 years ago.
Teleseminar Tuesday 1:00pm Pacific Standard Time
Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/
Halloween 2007 is officially over, even though I still seem to have a Superman and a Cinderella running around my living room. The kids all had fun and now it is time for the sugar overload to test the parent's patience for the next couple of weeks.
Although, once again this year, much to the kids' disappointment, there was is plenty of dangerous candy that mom and dad had to confiscate. As you can see from the picture below, I think this may have been a record year for "UN-SAFE CANDY" that had to be taken to protect the kids. - lol
But as promised, I do also have pictures of the kids in this year's choice of costumes and even though nothing too embarrassing, I still plan to have these pictures out for prom night as well as my gun cleaning supplies.
So until next year, when I get a few more good shots of the horror that is Halloween, I think it is time to put the kids back in the dungeon! (Its still a dream of mine to own a castle that has a dungeon that you can't hear the kids' screams from, that is what I would call an effective time out!)
This is the update blog that was promised in Why I love Halloween - Sorry Kids!
Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/
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Is your family looking to buy or sell in Beaverton, Oregon? Then give me a call, I would love to help your family home! (503)-524-9494 www.IFoundYourNewHome.com
Oregon native, Todd Clark, understands that to be happy in life, it is the little things that matter. Todd grew up in Tigard, Oregon, in Washington County, and the west side of Portland really is his passion. Todd believes in keeping the beauty of Washington County alive and well with the beauty of its historic farm houses and its rich history. But, nothing makes Todd happier than seeing people who take the time to better their kid's future by taking the time to educate through nature. Seeing kids outside, having fun, and learning is where the true classroom should be. Todd understands our future is in our hands. Todd would love to help you find that perfect home to educate our future leaders.
Dedication...
Todd Clark is a dedicated person whose goal in life is to exceed in every thing he ventures into. His dedication to family is what made him strive to do even more for every family he meets. Ever since one young couple told Todd "You were everything you said you were, and more! You completely exceeded our expectations." He has wanted to do even more!
Happiness is...
What Todd Clark feels every time he gets to help the community grow stronger with each family he gets moved in. Todd wants every person in a community to feel the sense of pride he does in the wonderful state of Oregon. As an Oregon native Todd says growing up 1 hour from the ocean and the mountains is something everyone should experience.
Family...
Is an important part of Todd's happiness. He met his wife in 1992 when she started working for him in the wedding industry; together they have 3 wonderful children Meesha, Nathaniel and Natascha.
Your Family...
Is a very important part of the home buying or home selling process. Todd believes kids should be listened to and asks questions of even the youngest of children about the pending move. Kids do say the darndest things and sometimes they see things from a point of view that us adults really shouldn't overlook but often do.
Teaching...
Has been something Todd has enjoyed with his own children. He also enjoys teaching other peoples kid's life lessons through sports while being a baseball coach for his daughter's T-Ball team or the lessons he got to teach kids while he worked with Junior Achievement and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Programs.
Sense of Humor...
Todd is a very genuine person with a great sense humor. He loves to break the tension by cracking a joke. Sometimes he says it is just needed to break up awkwardness of a situation. After working as a Disc Jockey for so long you just know when a joke is needed.
Todd is an expert with first time home buyers and sellers. He takes that extra step to educate and hold a buyer or sellers hand through the tough times to make sure they get the most out of their investment.
Buying your first home in Beaverton Oregon doesn’t have to be stressful
Buying your first home in Beaverton Oregon: Don’t let the inspection scare you!
Beaverton Oregon Real Estate: 1st time home buyers, know the facts before you buy
Todd also help those who need help keeping their homes. Todd is an expert at helping people avoid foreclosure with options that don't necessarly mean selling their home. Most people when they get into a default situation, got there through a temporary problem and Todd understands this. He helps the home owner keep their home and doesn't ask for anything in return other than the occasional referral.
Todd also works on with a team of other Realtors know as the "Friendly Home Team". This team is dedicated to helping those who are 55+ or eventually will be, by giving back to those who have GIVEN so much. They help people with investments to further help them later in life or if it is time for the move to an assisted living home, they work with counselors to help make the move as easy and stress free as possible, while not losing everything they have worked so hard to earn.
Designations:
GRI - Graduate REALTOR® Institute
Todd thanks for your tenacity!! Michael was lucky he had you as a Realtor.
Alyce Irving (Realtor)
Todd, we wished we had called you earlier! After having our home on the market for one year with one agent for $118,900 and then on our own for another year for $115,000. That is when we decided we would finally give you a shot. Boy are we glad we did. We signed with you on a Thursday and after work on Friday you called me and asked if I was sitting down. That is when you told me you had 3 offers. When you brought them over and you got the buyers to go in to a bidding war for our property, you made the process actually fun! You left our house at 11:30 that night and by Monday we had all the paperwork signed and had accepted an offer for $129,500. Thank You and we guarantee we will refer you to anyone wanting to sell their home.
Todd and Elise P. (Hillsboro, OR)
Thank you Todd for not giving up on us. Most Realtors® would have just stopped dealing with us when after putting an offer on a house and then our funding fell through. It was a year before we could get our credit back to where we needed it to buy a home. But during that year, you not only kept in contact with us, you gave us encouragement and advised on how to bring up our credit score. You then found us our dream home, a place where we could have our family grow up and even a place for Joshua's pool table. Once again, Thank You!!!! We will refer you to all our friends and family when they want to buy or sell a home.
Joshua and Kellie S (Portland, OR)
Todd,
You always seem to go above and beyond for your clients and that just amazes me! I truly believe there is no length you wouldn't go to please a client.
Kristine - Insight Home Inspection
You are the best Agent I have dealt with in ages. Keep up the awesome customer service. Let me know if you are ever in the market for an Assistant.
Tami E - Gresham
Todd listed my house in Tigard, OR. His services were exemplary. He went beyond expectations, even helping with understanding lease option and seller financing so that we could market to the home to a variety of customers. He also has his own radio talk show and community real estate meetings which he educates others on how to leverage creative financing to quickly find hidden gems in real estate market. Todd was always kind, courteous, and personable. I highly recommend his services to anyone who wishes to list their home or purchase a home in the future. Simply, there are no agents left like Todd, he does the job right, persevering the profession of real estate with the highest skills and creativity that is required to be successful in this business.
Elizabeth Tran
Todd was always there for me and very knowledgeable and reliable. He even helped me when my lender wouldn't seem to and helped me get the loan for my home. I fired my previous agent because he wasn't doing these things and I was very grateful to have found Todd a few days later and got what I was expecting from an agent
Betty Perez
"Todd is a rare person in the Real Estate Industry. Like many of the better agents in the field, he is knowledgeable of the market, understands thoroughly the legal and ethical considerations of the real estate transaction and has both a practical and esoteric understanding the real estate sales process. Where Todd separates himself from his contemporaries is in his preparedness. Todd is has become one of the leading real estate bloggers in the country over the past several years. His deep and comprehensive understanding of the industry comes from hundreds of hours of research and writing about real estate. The average agent reads an article here or there, maybe takes a class when it is required but Todd is a true "student of real estate" so much in fact, I would now classify him as a professor.
I have been in the mortgage lending industry for 25 years and I can honestly say, "Todd is the best informed agent I have ever met". I would trust Todd with my own real estate transaction! I offer my highest recommendation to Todd Clark."
Art Marine (Academy Mortgage)
Todd continually puts the well-being and best interest of his clients ahead of immediate personal gain. He cares genuinely and is attuned to the needs of those he serves.
Jemila Kwon
Krista Talley (Portland, OR)
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