Since reading the book, “Clean” by Alejandro Junger several years ago, my wife and I have selected a 3-week period each Summer to complete a 21-day Cleanse, touted in the book as a revolutionary program to restore the body’s natural ability to function more properly and heal itself. That 21-day period ended 3 weeks ago and we are both still benefiting from the experience in terms of more energy, better ability to sleep, and we pay better attention to the ...
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If you are considering purchasing a home and you have student loan debt, consider speaking with a mortgage professional as a starting point. There are all kinds of rules around how these are treated when it comes to qualifying for a mortgage. How your student loans are structured or in what stage of repayment they are in may dictate what type of loan program you will qualify for.
For example – most people incorrectly assume that if your loans ...
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This spring has been an exceedingly vibrant market in metro Atlanta for housing. Inventory levels are up 12% from this time last year. This is providing buyers more options to look at although it is still very competitive. The difference this year is that deals are happening at a faster clip than a year ago. Buyers seem to be having more success this year getting their offers accepted. Part of this is that our clients are taking the time to ...
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Part of the mortgage qualification process includes what is called your debt to income ratio (DTI). This your gross monthly income divided by the lump sum total of your proposed housing payment and any other monthly obligations that show up on your credit report. This would include car payments, student loan payments (this links to our other post on these payments), and minimum payments on any revolving charge cards. These are typically a very small percentage of the ...
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There are a flurry of new services out there attempting to upend the traditional real estate agent model. Offer Pad, Open Door and Zillow Offer, just to name a few. They are exploding our mail boxes and TV advertising with compelling offers. We will buy your house for cash, eliminate the Realtor and make a seamless move to your next house. Sounds fantastic on the surface. Problem is that they will never offer you close to what the true market ...
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When I celebrated my 40th birthday in 1999, I became a little restless…Mid-Life Crisis? Maybe…
…but I just viewed it as a case of “not enough adventure in my life.” Having lived across the street from a ski slope as a kid…and then attending college in the outdoors-man dream town of Boulder Colorado, I began to realize that settling down in the “burbs” of Atlanta just wasn’t feeding the outdoor adventure side of me. I spent plenty of time outdoors running, ...
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In this installment of Scott’s Perspective we take a trip down memory lane with an article that was written a few years ago. The message rings true even today. Read on!
It is no big secret that the mortgage process has become more challenging…But as with anything that occurs over a long period of time, the absorption of the information is so gradual that the magnitude of what you’ve experienced is not evident until you stop a minute and look at ...
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I recently read a fantastic book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. The subject matter centers around easy and proven ways to build good habits and break bad ones. From my experience, I’ve found that it’s easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. Too often we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action. Whether it is losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning ...
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If you are thinking about upgrading your home or purchasing a home that needs some work, we specialize in providing Renovation Loans that work wonderfully for these situations. We have contractors that we work with, on our timeline, allowing for a 30 to 35-day process to closing. Typically, you can finance all the improvements because the loan allows for us to lend based on an “as completed” Appraisal. In other words, the appraiser will take into consideration all the ...
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If you are contemplating a move this year, you have picked the perfect time. Interest rates are very low again, and there is more inventory coming on the market than in years past. In the latest statistics from January, inventory levels are up 17% year-over-year. That is a good sign given that most buyers have not had a lot of choices over the past couple of years, relative to historical inventory levels. That said, demand is high and we ...
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