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Credit Score Under 620?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
by Liz Warren

If you are planning on purchasing a home in the Mt. Hood area around Government Camp, Brightwood, Welches or Rhododendron pay attention to your current FICO credit score.

Fannie Mae is tightening lending standards for FHA, VA, and HUD loans as of November 1st. Depending upon your specific loan you  may not be able to get a federally insured loan. These types of loans make up about 60% of loans in the US.

Bottom line is be sure you pay attention to your credit scores!

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Waterfront Price Reduced nearly $15,000

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
by Liz Warren

Just Reduced Nearly $15,000! Priced at $205,000 NOW!!!

Stunning setting on the Zig Zag River close to Rhododendron. Road 20D Lot 13. Enjoy the sounds of the river on your sunny deck and relax your cares away. Bring your favorite book and put your feet up next to the toasty woodstove in your mountain getaway! Close to skiing, golf, hiking, and RELAXATION.

 

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Zig Zag Riverfront Cabin Price Reduction

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
by Liz Warren

This spacious ski cabin located on Road 35 Lot 143 was just reduced by $10,000. Perfect for skiers to hit the slopes. Only about seven minutes to Ski Bowl. Tons of room for the family and friends! Two bathrooms, double loft plus private master bedroom. Just steps to the river!   Reduced to $200,000!

Located in the Mt. Hood National Forest!

 

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Mt. Hood Seniors Looking for Reverse Mortgage?

Monday, September 28, 2009
by Liz Warren

Attention seniors looking for a reverse mortgage!\ David Stevens, the new FHA Commissioner announced as of October 1st this year that there will be a 10 percent cut in the mount of money seniors can receive from the reverse mortgage program.

This announcement is a major bombshell coupled with a few more policies concerning FHA appraisal guidelines.

Why did this happen? Due to declining property values, FHA is facing an $800 million dollar shortfall in funds. This deadline is coming at lightening speed so if you are thinking about that reverse mortgage, some of your funds just got cut.

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Monday Morning Coffee on Mt. Hood

Monday, September 28, 2009
by Liz Warren
Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought was wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . .

. . . If one endure
In purity of thought, joy follows him
As his own shadow - sure."
~ James Allen


GO TO THE GARDEN!

The human mind is like a garden. It directly reflects the care and attention given to it. Consider two gardens side-by-side, in the same soil.

The first is bursting with color, gives off the most delicate of fragrances, is free of weeds, and forest green. New buds continually replace each other, and it's a delightful place to spend a sunny day.

Just a few feet away, you encounter a musty patch of stunted leaves, few blooms, parched soil, and insect infestation. The few plants remaining beg for a kind word and attention of any kind. They look sad from their days of inattention.

Why is there such a disparity between the two gardens? The first has a gardener, while the second has been totally ignored. And just as an untended garden will fail to prosper, so will an untended mind.

Imagine how easy it is for the mind to wither and atrophy when attention is not paid to its simplest needs. The mind can be so creative, unless it is fed passive TV drivel hour after hour. The mind can be so enthusiastic, unless powered by a body nourished by fast food, chips, sugar-filled cereal, and caffeine-packed soft drinks.

Just as a vibrant garden inspires, a well-tended mind can bring forth the best in others. It deserves our attention. It should be watered and fertilized with foods filled with the proper nutrients. It can be expanded greatly through the stimulation of education. It can remain viable only through the practice and application of solid principles.

When the care given is incongruous with the results desired, the garden is a disaster. When the mind's actions do not match its stated objectives, chaos is the result. Our minds have the potential to bloom more abundantly than any garden. They deserve our utmost attention.

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The Barlow Trail Road at Mt. Hood

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
by Liz Warren

Our local area on Mt Hood is filled with history.  I travel on Barlow Trails Road a couple of times a week. As I drive along Barlow Trail,  I'm traveling the road that over 50,000 emigrants used to travel into Oregon. The Barlow Trail Road in the mid 1800's opened up the Willamette Valley for settlement. These early emigrants helped Oregon estabish a population which eventually led to acheiving statehood. Read about the history.

Barlow Trail winds through several of our communities from Government Camp, Rhododendron and Brightwood.

Here is a recent article in the Sandy Post or find out more about the Barlow Trail here.

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New Zig Zag Riverfront Cabin on Market

Monday, September 21, 2009
by Liz Warren

NEW ON MARKET   $187,500

Great sturdy knotty pine cabin on the Zig Zag River only eight minutes to premium ski slopes! Located in the pristine setting of the Mt. Hood National Forest and about an hour from Portland. This cabin was finished in 1935 and built during the depression on weekends by the original owner. The current owner has had the cabin for 35 YEARS! But, it's time to travel and they hate to sell it but the time has come.

There is one bedroom on the main level and it's BIG! Your guests can enjoy their own private bedroom upstairs plus there is a loft area with multiple beds. Original wood floors are in the living room and the kitchen/dining area boasts a big woodstove and a vintage refrigerator! Sit back in front of the fireplace after a day on the slopes or read a great book on the riverside deck.

Take a tour

The Mt. Hood National Forest boasts a pristine setting with tall firs and roaring rivers yet close to all the amenities of a full service community. This cabin is on leased land. Email for details.

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Mt. Hood Morning Coffee for Inspiration

Monday, September 21, 2009
by Liz Warren
Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Every conquered temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured
and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before."
~ James Buckham


YOU'RE NOT DONE YET!

Ever noticed how great leaders often come from humble beginnings? From the devastating depths of silence and inability to speak, Helen Keller inspired the world once she had overcome great adversity.

Diagnosed with amyontrophic lateral sclerosis and standing before a full-house crowd in Yankee Stadium on July 4th 1939, Lou Gehrig proclaimed, "I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth! I might have been given a bad break, but I 've got an awful lot to live for." He spent the last two years of his life as Parole Commissioner for New York City, hoping to make a difference in the lives of young people in trouble.

Today, we use more contemporary quotes to explain the same concept. We say, "No pain - no gain!" or, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." No matter how we verbalize it, it is true that through adversity comes strength.

Think back to the toughest times you've faced during your life. Chances are you'll have to agree that you grew and became a better person for the experience. As for temptations, they are more easily given in to than conquered. Nevertheless, the value system to which you subscribe today probably evolved from temptations overcome.

As Richard Bach put it in his wonderful book "Illusions," "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." Whether it be a physical or moral challenge you face, suffer if you must, but look also for its gift. And remember another Richard Bach quote, "Here is a test to find out whether your mission here on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't."

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Strategic Defaults

Monday, September 21, 2009
by Liz Warren

What is a strategic default in today's real estate marketplace? Surprisingly, nearly 600,000  strategic defaults happened in the United States last year according to the LA Times. Most of these defaults happened in Florida, California and Nevada. What is a strategic default? This is when an owner stops making payments on their mortgage thinking that they will walk away from the property since the market has shifted so dramatically that it will not recover for the owner to keep making those payments. This amount is double the number from the prior year.

It is also surprising that the majority of home owners who opted to do this have great credit and good payment histories vs. lower credit scores. They see the writing on the wall and believe walking away, although taking a major hit on their credit ability, is better than being tied to a house without a chance of recovery in these markets.

This trend will probably continue especially in the states mentioned above. Unless there is more stability in the real estate market, it will continue.

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Mt. Hood First Time Home Buyers

Sunday, September 20, 2009
by Liz Warren

Daylight is burning!!!!

Looking for that first home? Time is running out to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit. Many sales are taking six to eight weeks to close. In order to get the credit by the dead line, you need your home to close by November 31, 2009!

Selection is great and you can't beat today's interest rates!

Here is more information on the first time buyer tax credit.

 

 

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Displaying blog entries 1-10 of 21

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