The Balancing Act
Family, Work, and You
These days, most of us work two jobs – the one that pays, and the one we love (at least most of the time): raising our kids.
On the message boards at iVillage.com, they have great tips on how to make it easier to do both at once. It's also a great place to share advice of your own, and to get support if something's getting you down. And though it's mostly for moms, working dads can find plenty of helpful advice, too.
Here are a few of the best tips for balancing work and family:
Get up before your kids do. Painful, but worth it. Getting that extra 15 minutes of sleep is nothing compared to the calmness you'll feel if you get up and get yourself ready first. Whatever it takes for you: work out, take a shower, get the coffee down your throat. When your act is together, it makes it easier to get their acts together.
Prep ahead. You do it at work, why not do yourself a favor and think a few steps ahead at home, too? This can mean anything from picking out their outfits for the next day before going to bed, to making lunches the night before, to keeping casseroles frozen for fast and easy dinners. A little prep can prevent a mad dash.
Stick to a routine. Whether it's getting dressed in the morning, or eating dinner at night, make sure your kids know what to expect when, and what's expected of them. A lot of melt-downs can be avoided by everyone knowing the plan.
Stay involved with your kids' care. Okay, so you work during the days, but that doesn't mean you can't be an active participant in your kids' daycare or school. If you can't drop in for lunch like stay-at-home parents, maybe you can bring in an activity for the kids, or a snack. Or you can use your work skills to do something for the class – maybe build the kids a little Web site, or else cut out the patterns for a class project. Your kids will feel like you care, and so will the school.
Save some time for you. Make sure when all is said and done that there's some time for you and your partner to be adults together. It can be a lunch date, dinner once a week, or even renting a movie – just build it into the schedule. It'll help you feel better about all the demands on your time. Because if you're not a happy camper, you can't expect the other campers to be happy.
We all have to do what it takes to keep the ship afloat. Hope these tips help to give your ship a little more buoyancy.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
It's Short Sale Time........cont'd part 3......
Push-back not a problem..........
Favorable figures and bottom-line benefits aside, lenders have traditionally been loath to engage in short sales, not wanting to take a financial hit on the front end without knowing what the property is worth. Servicers, too, have faced myriad stumbling blocks. First, there is the complexity of a three-party---or more---negotiation, with buyer-seller-lender/servicer and usually additional or even multiple subordinate lien holders beyond the first one jockeying for position and a piece of the profit pie. There is more paperwork, a longer stream of necessary documentation, and a more involved review process--a slap in the face for clock-crunched loss-mitigation departments. There is the protracted time frame, as short sales have traditionally taken much longer to carry out than regular sales, along with the difficulties of bringing the sale to closing--a balky second-or third -lien holder can put the kibosh on forgiving its portion of the loan, effectively negating the deal. And at the end of this process, the distressed property must be sold as-is. All these difficulties, in addition to asking lenders to accept less than what they're owed, historically have made short sales less than appealing to servicers. But thanks to recently enacted federal initiatives that arm servicers with the tools they need to minimize the logistical hurdles, servicers finally are adding short sales to their residential-mortgage repertoire.
Favorable figures and bottom-line benefits aside, lenders have traditionally been loath to engage in short sales, not wanting to take a financial hit on the front end without knowing what the property is worth. Servicers, too, have faced myriad stumbling blocks. First, there is the complexity of a three-party---or more---negotiation, with buyer-seller-lender/servicer and usually additional or even multiple subordinate lien holders beyond the first one jockeying for position and a piece of the profit pie. There is more paperwork, a longer stream of necessary documentation, and a more involved review process--a slap in the face for clock-crunched loss-mitigation departments. There is the protracted time frame, as short sales have traditionally taken much longer to carry out than regular sales, along with the difficulties of bringing the sale to closing--a balky second-or third -lien holder can put the kibosh on forgiving its portion of the loan, effectively negating the deal. And at the end of this process, the distressed property must be sold as-is. All these difficulties, in addition to asking lenders to accept less than what they're owed, historically have made short sales less than appealing to servicers. But thanks to recently enacted federal initiatives that arm servicers with the tools they need to minimize the logistical hurdles, servicers finally are adding short sales to their residential-mortgage repertoire.
It's Short Sale Time.......cont'd part 2.........
More lenders on board...........
Although the process often can be time-consuming, increasing indusry acceptance of short sales as a viable alternative to foreclosure is helping buoy lender buy-in. Francis Martinez Myers, SVP at Employee Transfer Corporation/ETCREO Management, explanins that short sales will reduce overall costs and produce better financial outcomes for lenders and servicers. In addition, "For the homeowner, it is a little easier on their credit and allows them to manage the exit from the property (versus an eviction) in a way that preserves their dignity." Indeed, short sales have been encouraged as a double means of dodging foreclosure: They result in a less severe loss to the lender, give borrowers the possibility of restoring their credit earlier, and facilitate the sale of the property rather than adding it to the already-saturated REO rolls.
"The banks make 25 percent to 30 percent more money on a short sale than on a foreclosure, so the short sale makes sense, " said Tim Burrell, owner of RE/MAX United in Raleigh, North Carolina. Burrell has spearheaded successful short sales since 1992 and has written the book, Create A Short Sale: Your Guide Through the Short Sale Maze. By and large, short sales are reaching new heights. Treasury figures, for example, showed an increase from 9,402 in second quarter 2008 to 23,102 at the end of second quarter 2009. And those numbers are expected to keep ticking upward.
Although the process often can be time-consuming, increasing indusry acceptance of short sales as a viable alternative to foreclosure is helping buoy lender buy-in. Francis Martinez Myers, SVP at Employee Transfer Corporation/ETCREO Management, explanins that short sales will reduce overall costs and produce better financial outcomes for lenders and servicers. In addition, "For the homeowner, it is a little easier on their credit and allows them to manage the exit from the property (versus an eviction) in a way that preserves their dignity." Indeed, short sales have been encouraged as a double means of dodging foreclosure: They result in a less severe loss to the lender, give borrowers the possibility of restoring their credit earlier, and facilitate the sale of the property rather than adding it to the already-saturated REO rolls.
"The banks make 25 percent to 30 percent more money on a short sale than on a foreclosure, so the short sale makes sense, " said Tim Burrell, owner of RE/MAX United in Raleigh, North Carolina. Burrell has spearheaded successful short sales since 1992 and has written the book, Create A Short Sale: Your Guide Through the Short Sale Maze. By and large, short sales are reaching new heights. Treasury figures, for example, showed an increase from 9,402 in second quarter 2008 to 23,102 at the end of second quarter 2009. And those numbers are expected to keep ticking upward.
It's Short Sale Time...........
Could the New Treasury Program Help This Foreclosure Alternative Run Like Clockwork?
An all-too common outcome in the housing industry today, foreclosure is a fact of life for defaulting homeowners who are saddled with mounting mortgage bills --and seemingly no other way to dig themselves out of debt. There may be a glimmer of hope, though, on the horizon, thanks to meaningful procedural changes to short sales that may eventually help ease this onerous situation for borrowers, servicers, and lenders alike.
With distressed property sales accounting for 40 percent of U.S. home sales in 2008, and the resulting logjam this has created for banks and servicers trying to address the glut of problem properties on the market, short sales --once resisted by banks --are gaining firm traction and positive attention.
Dave Liniger, chairman of the board at RE/MAX, said the short sale process has been cumbersome for all involved. "The vast majority of the real estate agents have not been properly trained to understand the actual process; the lenders have been overwhelmed with the sheer volume of the inventory; and the investors have not trusted the process, " he explained. But, he says the new guidelines issued November 30, "will add structure, policies, and procedures to the process." He predicts that short sale transactions will increase dramatically, leaving neighborhoods across the country with fewer vacant and vandalized properties.
Gerald B. Alt, president and CEO of HEART Financial Services, LLC, said "Short sales and deeds-in-lieu have to happen. The majority of moratoriums are finished, so these are one of the only options left for borrowers who don't qualify for a modification or refinance."
So will short sales become the savior of the housing crisis, helping emancipate masses of homewoners from the throes of foreclosure? While it's still too soon to tell exactly how much short sales will increase in the coming years, according to industry insiders, short sales very well could help alleviate many of the ills plaguing the servicing sector.
An all-too common outcome in the housing industry today, foreclosure is a fact of life for defaulting homeowners who are saddled with mounting mortgage bills --and seemingly no other way to dig themselves out of debt. There may be a glimmer of hope, though, on the horizon, thanks to meaningful procedural changes to short sales that may eventually help ease this onerous situation for borrowers, servicers, and lenders alike.
With distressed property sales accounting for 40 percent of U.S. home sales in 2008, and the resulting logjam this has created for banks and servicers trying to address the glut of problem properties on the market, short sales --once resisted by banks --are gaining firm traction and positive attention.
Dave Liniger, chairman of the board at RE/MAX, said the short sale process has been cumbersome for all involved. "The vast majority of the real estate agents have not been properly trained to understand the actual process; the lenders have been overwhelmed with the sheer volume of the inventory; and the investors have not trusted the process, " he explained. But, he says the new guidelines issued November 30, "will add structure, policies, and procedures to the process." He predicts that short sale transactions will increase dramatically, leaving neighborhoods across the country with fewer vacant and vandalized properties.
Gerald B. Alt, president and CEO of HEART Financial Services, LLC, said "Short sales and deeds-in-lieu have to happen. The majority of moratoriums are finished, so these are one of the only options left for borrowers who don't qualify for a modification or refinance."
So will short sales become the savior of the housing crisis, helping emancipate masses of homewoners from the throes of foreclosure? While it's still too soon to tell exactly how much short sales will increase in the coming years, according to industry insiders, short sales very well could help alleviate many of the ills plaguing the servicing sector.
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