Chance Gates' Blog

A new program could save qualified borrowers $3,000 a year, even those who owe more than their home is worth.

The White House recently announced significant changes that will reduce the fees charged for the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Streamline Refinance Program.

Beginning June 11, 2012, the Streamline Refinance upfront fee of 1%* will be reduced to 0.01% of the total loan amount. And the annual fee will be lowered from 1.15% to 0.55% of the total loan amount.

By refinancing through this streamlined process, the average qualified FHA-insured borrower will save approximately $3,000 a year or $250 per month, on top of any savings from refinancing to a lower mortgage rate.

The “streamline” refers to the minimal amount of documentation and underwriting that needs to be performed. Streamline refinancing can be done without an appraisal or income verification, providing the person(s) on the loan hasn’t changed.

There are no loan-to-value (LTV) restrictions on streamline refinancing. This is significant for underwater borrowers whose loan amount may exceed the current value of their home. However, second liens must subordinate with a maximum combined LTV ratio of 115% based on the original appraised value of the property.

The basic requirements of a streamline refinance are:

• The loan must already be FHA insured and endorsed on or before May 31, 2009.
• Borrowers must be current on their mortgage payments with no late payment in the previous 12 months.
• The refinance must result in a lowering of the borrower’s monthly principal and interest payments.

Currently, 3.4 million households with loans endorsed on or before May 31, 2009, pay more than a 5% annual interest rate on their FHA-insured mortgages.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_armstrong_custer.html#AT0VbUPF0mPoStSR.99

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Retail sales rose 0.5% for the week ending April 7, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 4.5%.

Wholesalers increased their inventories 0.9% to $478.9 billion in February. Sales at the wholesale level rose 1.2% to $409.4 billion in February. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 9.3% higher since February 2011.

The trade deficit decreased to $46 billion in February from a revised $52.5 billion in January. Exports rose 0.1% to $181.2 billion. Imports dropped 2.7% to $227.2 billion.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending April 6 fell 2.4%. Refinancing applications decreased 3.1%. Purchase volume fell 0.5%.

The producer price index, which tracks wholesale price inflation, was unchanged in March after increasing 0.4% in February. On a year-over-year basis, seasonally adjusted wholesale prices are up 2.8%. Core prices — excluding food and fuel — rose 0.3% in March.

Consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in March, following a 0.4% increase in February. Compared to a year ago, consumer prices are up 2.7%. Consumer prices at the core rate — excluding volatile food and energy prices — were up 0.2% in March.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for April’s preliminary reading fell to 75.7 from 76.2 in March.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Reno Aces Foundation Dream Week The Reno Aces Foundation Dream Week will serve to highlight people in our community deserving of recognition, by rewarding them with once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Driven by professional baseball, the Aces will grant wishes to outstanding and exceptional people that have helped made a positive impact on our community. Dreams will be granted during the week of June 25-29. The nomination process will begin very shortly; check back here for details.

Brett’s Big Leaguers The Reno Aces launched Brett’s Big Leaguers in 2010, as an initiative to benefit the lives of local underprivileged and seriously ill children. Each child selected for the program is given the chance to participate in once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, including one-on-one interaction with Butler and members of the Aces team. The program serves to offer positive role models for at-risk or underprivileged youth and tender a positive outlook for seriously ill children in the area. The Aces have partnered with the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation to select participants for the program. The Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation aims to enhance the quality of life for children with cancer and their families by providing financial assistance and compassionate support programs, while advocating for increased research funds and raising public awareness. Levy Restaurants, concessionaire for Aces Ballpark, will provide a complimentary meal for each child and his or her families during that day’s game.

United Federal Credit Union Extra Credit Challenge The Challenge, a partnership between the Reno Aces and United Federal Credit Union, is an incentive-based program open to students in pre-school through middle school. Participants must complete two book reports and take two online math tests during the summer. Students who complete the program will be honored at our Saturday, August 20 game with a pre-game ceremony and the chance to run the bases before the game. Click here to learn more and enroll in the program.

US Bank Student Heroes U.S. Bank is the exclusive sponsor of the Reno Aces Student Heroes Program. The center piece of the program consists of 5 school assemblies each spring, where U.S. Bank will donate more than 1,000 tickets to 5 elementary schools across Northern Nevada. U.S. Bank in partnership with the Aces will bring current players from the team for a Q&A session with the students, discussing education, hard work and the perseverance necessary to become a professional as well as a few minutes to meet the players. In addition, Archie, the beloved mascot of the Reno Aces, will be there to stress the importance of education.After the assemblies, all students in attendance will receive a Reno Aces ticket based on academic achievement, attendance and superior citizenship in the classroom as determined by their teachers. To add your school for consideration, click here.

Read More About the Reno Aces

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

No sociologist should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in his head and perhaps for months at a time.
Max Weber

One can say that three pre-eminent qualities are decisive for the politician: passion, a feeling of responsibility, and a sense of proportion.
Max Weber

Only by strict specialization can the scientific worker become fully conscious, for once and perhaps never again in his lifetime, that he has achieved something that will endure. A really definitive and good accomplishment is today always a specialized act.
Max Weber

Only he has the calling for politics who is sure that he will not crumble when the world from his point of view is too stupid or base for what he wants to offer. Only he who in the face of all this can say In spite of all! has the calling for politics.
Max Weber

The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world.
Max Weber

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The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of manufacturing activity rose to 53.4 in March after a reading of 52.4 in February. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 32nd straight month of expansion.

Total construction spending fell 1.1% to $808.9 billion in February from a revised $818.1 billion in January. Economists had anticipated an increase of 0.7% in February. Compared to a year ago, construction spending is up 5.8%.

Retail sales fell 3.8% for the week ending March 31, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 4.2%.

Factory orders rose 1.3% in February to a seasonally adjusted $468.4 billion, following a revised 1.1% decrease in January. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders increased 0.9% in February.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending March 30 rose 4.8%. Refinancing applications increased 4%. Purchase volume rose 7.2%.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 56 in March from 57.3 in February. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 27th straight month of expansion in the services sector.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

RENO, Nev.  – The University of Nevada baseball team defeated the Reno Aces, the Triple A affiliate of the MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks, by a score of 7-3 in an exhibition contest at Aces Ballpark Tuesday night.  The Wolf Pack and Aces were meeting for the third consecutive year and Tuesday was the first time the Pack won the annual exhibition.
The game is a fundraiser for Nevada’s Dugout Club and the Reno Aces donated $15,000 for the third year in a row.
Pack left fielder Tom Niebergall got things started when he hit the first pitch of the game for a single then stole second base and eventually scored the first run of the night.  Center fielder Jamison Rowe followed Niebergall with a bunt single and scored Nevada’s second run as part of a three-run top of the first.
The Aces rallied to tie score at 3-3 in the fifth inning but the Pack responded with a four-run sixth.  Rowe collected his second hit of the contest in the big inning and also made a diving catch in center field earlier in the game.  First baseman Kewby Meyer nearly hit a home run that stayed in the park after bouncing off the top of the fence in right field to drive home a run in the inning.
The Aces pitchers took the mound for both squads and the game lasted just seven-and-a-half innings. The game was played in traditional Spring Training format.   Nevada outhit the Aces 9-3.

Nevada Wolf Pack Baseball

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Other Details

Date last updated by agency rep

2012-04-02

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

I look at life, the experiences I’ve had, at the human condition, the dynamics between people, the news (world news), and draw from the compelling realities all around us.
Leslie Banks

I love the paranormal, because there, every genre I write can become one beacon for my imagination.
Leslie Banks

In all honesty, at that time, I never saw myself as an author… I was just a Mom in a state of panic, trying to enter a short story contest to win the prize money in order to keep the lights on in my home.
Leslie Banks

It was all a back-handed blessing, and my friends were the ones who kept the faith, read my work, and urged me to submit it to publishers (by sending it out for me – they would not hear no for an answer.
Leslie Banks

That has always been it for me: family first.
Leslie Banks

The story grew, got way bigger than the contest rules called for, and next thing I knew I had a book.
Leslie Banks

Congratulations to Reno’s Veterans Guest House for winning $250,000 by taking first place honors in our inaugural Aprons in Action grand prize contest. The Veteran’s Guest House won $25,000 in the February round of Aprons in Action and went on to compete against the 10 other monthly winners in the March finale. Utah State Veterans Home in Salt Lake City took second place honors and won $150,000, while LifeBUILDERS of Detroit secured third place honors and won $100,000.
Congrats are also in order for Great Falls Children’s Receiving Home, Ronald McDonald House of Detroit, Jerusalem House, New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, Northwest Hospital Foundation, Taylor VFW Post 4422, Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans, and Jewish Family Service- Project Build for participating in the Aprons in Action grand prize contest. Each of these nonprofits does wonderful work in their respective communities, and we look forward to our continued partnerships.
During the Aprons in Action Contest, which began in April 2011, The Home Depot Foundation’s Facebook page served as a platform for 44 non-profit organizations to earn funds totaling $1 million through Facebook votes and to generate further awareness of their community efforts.
Through Aprons in Action, each nonprofit heightened its visibility both locally and nationally. As a result, the nonprofits have been able to establish new community partnerships; have experienced an increase in volunteers lining up to help; and have seen exponential growth in Facebook fans and followers.
Learn more about The Home Depot Foundation’s web site.

Read all about Reno Veterans Guest House

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.