Jeff Ball & Remi Darby - Having an Agent Who Listens is Vital to the Process

I met first time buyer, Jeff, when he was Executive Director of TOSA (The Other Side Arts) a non-profit arts organization he created.  Jeff, a photographer (http://jeffballphotography.com/), & his partner Remy, writer & assistant to Mondo (Project Runway runner up) had been working with a real estate agent but to no avail.  Jeff shared, "She isn't hearing us and doesn't get what we are trying to do."  Approximately 25% of my creative clients come to me after working with another agent who "doesn't get" them.  What Jeff & Remy wanted was a way to Live & Work from home.  As a photographer, Jeff needed a space he could achieve black out conditions in but would have natural light when he wanted.  They also wanted higher ceilings, a place for guests, 3 beds, 2 baths & wood floors - all for under $115K.  

We found their home our first day out!  A turn of the century ranch-style farm house in the E-OP Arts neighborhood that had been added onto.  That owner had dug a basement under the addition that was perfect for Jeff's photo studio!  The original house had 1 bed/1bath attached to a living room with walls covered in the pressed tin ceiling panels you see in old Victorians - very funky, charming, uniqueness that Jeff & Remy loved.  The addition held 2 additional bedrooms: a master bed & bath plus an additional room for Remy's writing office.  An extra benefit - the back yard gate opened out to the bike path that runs along the Platte River Greenway.  And it was in their price range!    

Eric & Sara - Trading Up for the Same Price

Web Designer, Eric Nance and his wife Sara needed a bigger home.  They had two young boys, two large dogs and Eric's business, Epiphany Graphics (http://epiphanygraphics.com/), all operating out of their 2000 sq ft home.  Eric needed a separate work space, away from the rambunctious play of their boys and accessible enough that he could help out if needed.  Sara had done her research on schools and was intent on being in the Divinny school district of Jefferson County.  They are avid gardeners and given the dogs a large and sunny back yard was also in their top 5 "must haves".  And of course they wanted a great deal!  To achieve their goals we needed to sell their current home and finding the perfect new Live/Work home to accommodate both Eric's growing business and their expanding family.  

Sara & Eric went to work completing the work we'd identified together that needed doing before going on the market & the TAA team got busy putting together the marketing materials to sell Eric & Sara's home.  In April we went active in the MLS.  Two weeks later we received a full price offer and began the transaction process to close on the sale.  Once past the inspection phase for the sale we began in earnest to look for their new home.  All together we looked at approximately 20 homes over the course of a few weeks.  Working with TAA lender, Matt Hanson, http://hansonplanninggroup.com/ they got a great mortgage and chose a 5 bed, 3 bath short sale house that met all their criteria but desperately needed some TLC.  The house was ideal in every way - 3 beds on the main level including a master suite, formal living & dining rooms, a working kitchen with an opening overlooking a large playroom that opened out on 2 sides to a wrap-around deck & the huge back yard.  And downstairs - a fantastic TV/Media room w/ fireplace, laundry w/ tons of built-in storage and best of all towards the south end 2 bedrooms and a 3rd bath easily divided off from the rest of the downstairs space and perfect for Eric's offices!  

Comparing Basics      Current Home          New Home

5 Must Haves:

Sq footage:                     2,108                        2,940 Beds:                              4                              5 # of Baths:                       2                               3 Lot Size:                        10,057                       10,541 DOM:                             15 days                     92 days Appraised:                       At list price               $10,000 over purchase price

• Separate work space for Eric • School District • Generous Family/Play room for the boys • Sunny Back yard for gardening • Master Suite w/ private bath

Were there challenges? YES! The biggest being that short sales take longer than usual to close.  In this case, 2 months longer.  So Eric & Sara stayed with friends while we worked with the bank through the bureaucracy of a short sale.  The in June the family moved into their new home.

I just met with Eric and Sara for their first anniversary in their new home.  Life is unfolding even better than they'd imagined.  Eric's business has gone through a focused evolution specializing in marketing for the medical community (http://omnimedicalmarketing.com/), baby number three is on the way!  They've renovated the master bath, put wood floors in the playroom, added a dog run to the back yard, installed A/C and completed some upgrades to the kitchen.  From start to finish the process took about 5 months.  Eric & Sara got everything they wanted for the sold price of their previous home with $10,000 in instant equity and great terms on their mortgage.

Dwight & Danielle - The Importance of Having an Experienced Negotiator

We love musicians at TAA! Bassist, Dwight Thompson and his wife Danielle came to us via referral from another musician client, drummer, Matt Amundson.  Dwight & Danielle were ready to start their family and Dwight needed private teaching space for his students.  A young couple with no "fix it" skills, they wanted a home that wouldn't need any work, centrally located to the DPS schools Dwight teaches in and to Danielle's job in the Tech Center with room to grow, a nice yard and a garage.  It so happened that another TAA client had just completed a fantastic fix n' flip that was perfect.  Danielle instantly fell in love with the 4 bed/3 bath tri-level in the Fitzsimmons Medical Center neighborhood and we began to move forward with the purchase.  That's when we hit the first big snag.

Danielle is from Tobago, a US citizen by marriage, but she had no credit history here and that posed some problems with the mortgage approval process.  So TAA negotiated a deal that allowed Dwight & Danielle to move into their new home and rent from the Seller for 4 months until her credit history got established.  It was a win-win for everyone: Dwight and Danielle moved into their new home on time and the Seller received a profitable monthly rent equal to what would be the mortgage payment once financing came through.  

The second snag came when the appraisal was done.  Appraisals are the wildcard in real estate these days with new rules & regs that have appraisers making "CYA" conservative valuations.  The appraisal came in considerably lower than the agreed upon purchase price.  Why? This deal happened at  a key juncture in the market.  Fixed up homes had just begun coming on the market.  So when the appraiser pulled comparable sold properties there were no fixed up comps to compare it to.  The appraiser's hands were tied.  So again TAA set to work negotiating - everyone gave a little and in the end Dwight & Danielle got their home.

Strategic Short Sale - what is it & is it right for you???

It's possible that up to 45% of our market is “distressed” property, meaning short sale or foreclosed homes.  So I thought it might be beneficial to take a quick look at this distressed segment and offer some alternatives if you or someone you know is feeling the pinch of a mortgage that’s eating up too much of the monthly budget.

A Short Sale is when the lien holder(s) agree to accept less for a property than is owed on the mortgage(s).  Being "up-side-down" on your mortgage means the mortgage is higher than the current value of the property.  Short Sales can be a better choice than loosing your home to foreclosure for a variety of reasons:

   - Its a softer hit to credit scores

   - You can continue to live in/rent the home while the short sale process proceeds

   - It falls off your credit history sooner 

   - Short Sale homes don't typically sit empty for months so they can be more appealing to Buyers

Is a Short Sale Right for You?

A recent client called and shared this story:

            “My neighbors went into foreclosure 2 years ago and it deeply effected the value of our home so much so that my house is now worth $100,000 less than we paid for it back in 2005.  We paid $335K for the house and now the market is showing the value at closer to $250K.  We owe $290K on our two mortgages.  Our youngest heads off to college in 6 years.  We’d planned on downsizing at that point in time.  Our monthly mortgage is simply too high and we don’t think our house is going to appreciate fast enough to get us back to what we paid for it, let alone give us any equity.   So we are looking at paying a mortgage for the next 6 years that’s too high and when it does come time to sell it will most likely cost us to sell.  What would you recommend?” 

Another version I often hear is this one:

        "When we married and moved into my husband's place I decided to keep my townhouse as a rental.  But I've had to pull a minimum of $200 out of pocket every month over and above the rental income.  I know I'm at the top rental price I can charge.  I'm tired of loosing money every month & I know I can't refinance right now.  

After a bit of conversation, both decided it was best to do a “strategic short sale”.  Want to know more about this option?  Send me an email - La@ThrivingArtistAlliance.com

DA-TOPIC 3 – Artists Can Be Chronic Under Earners

Typically as artists we are either not valued by family, or maybe our parents were creative and we learned bad habits from them or we have the “them vs us” thing, or maybe we’ve never been around anyone who has paid for art so we don’t know how to price our work.  There are many contributing factors to the general result that often times as artists we are chronic under earners.
AND,
As artists our creativity isn’t limited to one avenue but rather that it expresses itself in all facets of our lives.  But when that creativity is applied to our money and finances it can sometimes get us into trouble.

Marjie A. recalls, “A speaker at a DA meeting once said ‘if I looked in my check book and I had checks then I believed I had money’.”  DA says don’t do unsecured debt like student loans or credit card debt – when you do you are betting against your own future.

“Being an honest straightforward person has really served me well.”  Marjie said, “And that means being honest with myself.”

A powerful tool within Debtors Anonymous is the Pressure Relief Group or PRG.  In the beginning, your PRG acts as a guide, helping you set up a spending plan, look at cash flow, listing expenses, outlining how income & expenses relate to each other and identifying your financial goals.  When you are comfortable with your plan your PRG acts as a support system helping you keep the financial promises you’ve made to yourself and helping stay on track.

In Marjie’s first PRG group, a person on my team said ”You’re an artist.  I don’t know why you’re doing this (non-art job). You should correct your financial difficulties with your art”.  That simple question started a shift in my thinking.  Some of the best advice I ever received was from a fellow DA member, he said, “When looking for work, I get up in the morning & I promise myself 3 things I’m going to do that day.  Once those 3 things are done then I’m done.  First decide what your ideal job looks like; how many hours, what your space looks like, include the money you want to make. This can be done even if you are not clear about the field or any other specifics.

“As I worked with this approach”, Marjie said, “I began to realize that if I ask the universe for what I want it brings it – I just need to stop asking for what I don’t want.”  This will be the topic of our next blog series.  Manifesting what you DO want in your life.

Until then, feel free to call (303-726-1051) or shoot me an email with any questions you may have.

Wishing you ever expanding financial well-being,

Artists Can Be Chronic Under-Earners

Typically as artists we are either not valued by family, or maybe our parents were creative and we learned bad habits from them or we have the “them vs us” thing, or maybe we’ve never been around anyone who has paid for art so we don’t know how to price our work.  There are many contributing factors to the general result that often times as artists we are chronic under earners.
AND,
As artists our creativity isn’t limited to one avenue but rather that it expresses itself in all facets of our lives.  But when that creativity is applied to our money and finances it can sometimes get us into trouble.
Marjie A. recalls, “A speaker at a DA meeting once said ‘if I looked in my check book and I had checks then I believed I had money’.”  DA says don’t do unsecured debt like student loans or credit card debt – when you do you are betting against your own future.

“Being an honest straightforward person has really served me well.”  Marjie said, “And that means being honest with myself.”
A powerful tool within Debtors Anonymous is the Pressure Relief Group or PRG.  In the beginning, your PRG acts as a guide, helping you set up a spending plan, look at cash flow, listing expenses, outlining how income & expenses relate to each other and identifying your financial goals.  When you are comfortable with your plan your PRG acts as a support system helping you keep the financial promises you’ve made to yourself and helping stay on track.

In Marjie’s first PRG group, a person on my team said ”You’re an artist.  I don’t know why you’re doing this (non-art job). You should correct your financial difficulties with your art”.  That simple question started a shift in my thinking.  Some of the best advice I ever received was from a fellow DA member, he said, “When looking for work, I get up in the morning & I promise myself 3 things I’m going to do that day.  Once those 3 things are done then I’m done.  First decide what your ideal job looks like; how many hours, what your space looks like, include the money you want to make. This can be done even if you are not clear about the field or any other specifics.

“As I worked with this approach”, Marjie said, “I began to realize that if I ask the universe for what I want it brings it – I just need to stop asking for what I don’t want.”  This will be the topic of our next blog series.  Manifesting what you DO want in your life.  Until then, feel free to call (303-726-1051) or shoot me an email with any questions you may have.  
Wishing you ever expanding financial well-being,

Debtors Anonymous - Different Types of Debt

 If you missed the first installment, take a few minutes to take the quiz
15 Questions – Are You a Compulsive Debtor?
http://www.debtorsanonymous.org/help/questions.htm
TYPES OF DEBT
Unsecured Debt
An unsecured debt is money that you have borrowed that does not have any specific collateral attached to it. Credit cards are one example of an unsecured debt. A signature loan is another example. The bank or lender can sue you if you fail to make payments and garnish your wages as recourse on the loan.
Secured Debt
A secured debt is a debt that has collateral that stands for the money. A mortgage, a home equity line or a car loan are all examples of secured debt.
GOOD DEBT vs BAD DEBT
Good Debt
Some of your debt might be considered an investment. You’re probably thinking, “How can anything as bad as debt be considered an investment!”  If you took on the debt to purchase something that will increase in value and can contribute to your overall financial health, then it’s very possible that debt is a good one.
For example, a home purchase can be considered to be a good debt. Since homes usually appreciate in value, the mortgage loan you take out to pay for the home is an investment.  Another example of a good debt is a student loan taken out to finance a college education. Earning a college degree usually means that you’ll make more money over your lifetime.
Bad Debt
Just like there is good debt, there are some bad debts too. When you use debt to finance things that can be consumed. This is the kind of debt that creates an unhealthy financial situation. Credit card debt is often considered bad debt because of the nature of items that credit cards are used to purchase. You should never accumulate debt to purchase everyday items like clothes or food. If you use a credit card for these types of purchases, you should pay the balance in full each month.
Debt used to finance a vacation is bad debt. Even though it might help you feel better and be more productive once you return, a vacation does not appreciate in value.  Don’t use credit to pay for a vacation and especially don’t use it to pay for a vacation you can’t afford.
To learn more: http://www.debtorsanonymous.org/help/steps.htm