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Sunday, August 1, 2010
Piercy Group Current Listings
Take a look at our current listings. If none of these listings match what you are looking for be sure to email us. We will find exactly what fits your needs.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
FHA has its day
5 tips to secure a federally insured mortgage
Mary Umberger
Inman News
In the heady days of the housing boom, so-called FHA loans ended up being the lonely guy sitting on the sidelines.
After all, at that time the mortgage market had a free-flowing and apparently limitless pipeline of funds for borrowers who had little to no money for a downpayment. Demand for the Federal Housing Administration's programs to help first-time and low-income buyers dwindled.
That was then, as they say. This is now, when lending policies have gotten considerably more stringent in the wake of the housing downturn.
Suddenly, the government program that's been around since 1934 is looking a lot more attractive to a lot more people: The agency went from being involved with just 464,000 loans in 2007 to 2 million loans in fiscal 2009, according to a recent speech by its commissioner, David Stevens.
Its share of the market, depending on the region, is 30 to 50 percent.
So, for many homebuyers, FHA is the name of the game these days. Five things to know about FHA mortgages:
1. The FHA doesn't make loans, it insures them. Participants in FHA-insured mortgages get their loans through conventional lenders whose standards meet the FHA's.
The agency's guarantees mean that lenders can be confident that they won't lose money on the loans and can make more of them -- thus, in theory, helping to keep the housing market flowing.
2. FHA loans are attractive to many borrowers because they require as little as 3.5 percent down, compared to the so-called conventional market, which these days typically requires 10 percent down or more for competitively priced rates.
They're relatively easy to qualify for: The FHA places no income restrictions. Borrowers can have middling credit histories. In addition, FHA policies allow borrowers to include gifts from family members in their downpayments.
Currently, the FHA doesn't set a qualifying credit score for borrowers, according to FHA spokesman Lemar Wooley.
"We don't really have a hard minimum score requirement," he said. "We ask our lenders to look at the entire credit picture, with the major requirement being the ability to repay the loan."
However, Wooley said, a 580 score (on an 850-point scale) is set to become the minimal requirement, though an implementation date has not been set. Currently, applicants with scores below 500 do need to increase their downpayments to 10 percent, he said.
The FHA allows borrowers to allocate as much as 43 percent of their income to housing and long-term debt costs, which in the mortgage business is called a back-end ratio; conventional loans vary slightly in that cap, although they generally limit their borrowers to a back-end allocation that's several percent less.
3. FHA's insurance isn't free: Homebuyers with FHA-insured loans will pay an upfront premium at the time of closing (2.25 percent of the purchase price) and then for an extended period will make monthly payments to cover the annual cost of the insurance, 0.5 percent of the amount of the loan, Wooley said.
4. As popular as they are these days, FHA-insured loans aren't for all borrowers.
"I'm not a big fan of government loans," said Dale Robyn Siegel, a White Plains, N.Y., mortgage broker and author of "The New Rules for Mortgages" (Penguin/Alpha).
Siegel says that if conventional loan paperwork is significant, the FHA's is even more daunting. In addition, the FHA is strict about the physical state of the home that's being purchased.
"If the property isn't in good condition, FHA might reject it," Siegel said. "If the FHA borrower is lower-income, and then has lower savings after they close (on the house), you have less money to fix it. So the house needs to be in better condition, out of the gate."
Another potential roadblock: FHA limits the sizes of loans it will insure, from about $271,000 in low-cost areas to nearly $730,000 in high-cost areas.
5. Many borrowers these days think FHA is the only game in town, but it isn't, Siegel said.
"I would always say, 'Get a second opinion,'" she said.
She said some borrowers with bruised credit presume they'd be ineligible for loans in the conventional market, though that's not necessarily so. Borrowers with downpayments of less than 20 percent from those lenders still would have to get mortgage insurance from a private source, she said.
Siegel said the threshold for getting an FHA loan sounds more generous than it would turn out to be in the marketplace. "The FICO score (that FHA will permit) is 580, but good luck, try and get it approved," she said.
More information on FHA-insured mortgages, including its state-by-state listings of mortgage limits, is available at fha.gov.
In the heady days of the housing boom, so-called FHA loans ended up being the lonely guy sitting on the sidelines.
After all, at that time the mortgage market had a free-flowing and apparently limitless pipeline of funds for borrowers who had little to no money for a downpayment. Demand for the Federal Housing Administration's programs to help first-time and low-income buyers dwindled.
That was then, as they say. This is now, when lending policies have gotten considerably more stringent in the wake of the housing downturn.
Suddenly, the government program that's been around since 1934 is looking a lot more attractive to a lot more people: The agency went from being involved with just 464,000 loans in 2007 to 2 million loans in fiscal 2009, according to a recent speech by its commissioner, David Stevens.
Its share of the market, depending on the region, is 30 to 50 percent.
So, for many homebuyers, FHA is the name of the game these days. Five things to know about FHA mortgages:
1. The FHA doesn't make loans, it insures them. Participants in FHA-insured mortgages get their loans through conventional lenders whose standards meet the FHA's.
The agency's guarantees mean that lenders can be confident that they won't lose money on the loans and can make more of them -- thus, in theory, helping to keep the housing market flowing.
2. FHA loans are attractive to many borrowers because they require as little as 3.5 percent down, compared to the so-called conventional market, which these days typically requires 10 percent down or more for competitively priced rates.
They're relatively easy to qualify for: The FHA places no income restrictions. Borrowers can have middling credit histories. In addition, FHA policies allow borrowers to include gifts from family members in their downpayments.
Currently, the FHA doesn't set a qualifying credit score for borrowers, according to FHA spokesman Lemar Wooley.
"We don't really have a hard minimum score requirement," he said. "We ask our lenders to look at the entire credit picture, with the major requirement being the ability to repay the loan."
However, Wooley said, a 580 score (on an 850-point scale) is set to become the minimal requirement, though an implementation date has not been set. Currently, applicants with scores below 500 do need to increase their downpayments to 10 percent, he said.
The FHA allows borrowers to allocate as much as 43 percent of their income to housing and long-term debt costs, which in the mortgage business is called a back-end ratio; conventional loans vary slightly in that cap, although they generally limit their borrowers to a back-end allocation that's several percent less.
3. FHA's insurance isn't free: Homebuyers with FHA-insured loans will pay an upfront premium at the time of closing (2.25 percent of the purchase price) and then for an extended period will make monthly payments to cover the annual cost of the insurance, 0.5 percent of the amount of the loan, Wooley said.
4. As popular as they are these days, FHA-insured loans aren't for all borrowers.
"I'm not a big fan of government loans," said Dale Robyn Siegel, a White Plains, N.Y., mortgage broker and author of "The New Rules for Mortgages" (Penguin/Alpha).
Siegel says that if conventional loan paperwork is significant, the FHA's is even more daunting. In addition, the FHA is strict about the physical state of the home that's being purchased.
"If the property isn't in good condition, FHA might reject it," Siegel said. "If the FHA borrower is lower-income, and then has lower savings after they close (on the house), you have less money to fix it. So the house needs to be in better condition, out of the gate."
Another potential roadblock: FHA limits the sizes of loans it will insure, from about $271,000 in low-cost areas to nearly $730,000 in high-cost areas.
5. Many borrowers these days think FHA is the only game in town, but it isn't, Siegel said.
"I would always say, 'Get a second opinion,'" she said.
She said some borrowers with bruised credit presume they'd be ineligible for loans in the conventional market, though that's not necessarily so. Borrowers with downpayments of less than 20 percent from those lenders still would have to get mortgage insurance from a private source, she said.
Siegel said the threshold for getting an FHA loan sounds more generous than it would turn out to be in the marketplace. "The FICO score (that FHA will permit) is 580, but good luck, try and get it approved," she said.
More information on FHA-insured mortgages, including its state-by-state listings of mortgage limits, is available at fha.gov.
Mary Umberger
Inman News
In the heady days of the housing boom, so-called FHA loans ended up being the lonely guy sitting on the sidelines.
After all, at that time the mortgage market had a free-flowing and apparently limitless pipeline of funds for borrowers who had little to no money for a downpayment. Demand for the Federal Housing Administration's programs to help first-time and low-income buyers dwindled.
That was then, as they say. This is now, when lending policies have gotten considerably more stringent in the wake of the housing downturn.
Suddenly, the government program that's been around since 1934 is looking a lot more attractive to a lot more people: The agency went from being involved with just 464,000 loans in 2007 to 2 million loans in fiscal 2009, according to a recent speech by its commissioner, David Stevens.
Its share of the market, depending on the region, is 30 to 50 percent.
So, for many homebuyers, FHA is the name of the game these days. Five things to know about FHA mortgages:
1. The FHA doesn't make loans, it insures them. Participants in FHA-insured mortgages get their loans through conventional lenders whose standards meet the FHA's.
The agency's guarantees mean that lenders can be confident that they won't lose money on the loans and can make more of them -- thus, in theory, helping to keep the housing market flowing.
2. FHA loans are attractive to many borrowers because they require as little as 3.5 percent down, compared to the so-called conventional market, which these days typically requires 10 percent down or more for competitively priced rates.
They're relatively easy to qualify for: The FHA places no income restrictions. Borrowers can have middling credit histories. In addition, FHA policies allow borrowers to include gifts from family members in their downpayments.
Currently, the FHA doesn't set a qualifying credit score for borrowers, according to FHA spokesman Lemar Wooley.
"We don't really have a hard minimum score requirement," he said. "We ask our lenders to look at the entire credit picture, with the major requirement being the ability to repay the loan."
However, Wooley said, a 580 score (on an 850-point scale) is set to become the minimal requirement, though an implementation date has not been set. Currently, applicants with scores below 500 do need to increase their downpayments to 10 percent, he said.
The FHA allows borrowers to allocate as much as 43 percent of their income to housing and long-term debt costs, which in the mortgage business is called a back-end ratio; conventional loans vary slightly in that cap, although they generally limit their borrowers to a back-end allocation that's several percent less.
3. FHA's insurance isn't free: Homebuyers with FHA-insured loans will pay an upfront premium at the time of closing (2.25 percent of the purchase price) and then for an extended period will make monthly payments to cover the annual cost of the insurance, 0.5 percent of the amount of the loan, Wooley said.
4. As popular as they are these days, FHA-insured loans aren't for all borrowers.
"I'm not a big fan of government loans," said Dale Robyn Siegel, a White Plains, N.Y., mortgage broker and author of "The New Rules for Mortgages" (Penguin/Alpha).
Siegel says that if conventional loan paperwork is significant, the FHA's is even more daunting. In addition, the FHA is strict about the physical state of the home that's being purchased.
"If the property isn't in good condition, FHA might reject it," Siegel said. "If the FHA borrower is lower-income, and then has lower savings after they close (on the house), you have less money to fix it. So the house needs to be in better condition, out of the gate."
Another potential roadblock: FHA limits the sizes of loans it will insure, from about $271,000 in low-cost areas to nearly $730,000 in high-cost areas.
5. Many borrowers these days think FHA is the only game in town, but it isn't, Siegel said.
"I would always say, 'Get a second opinion,'" she said.
She said some borrowers with bruised credit presume they'd be ineligible for loans in the conventional market, though that's not necessarily so. Borrowers with downpayments of less than 20 percent from those lenders still would have to get mortgage insurance from a private source, she said.
Siegel said the threshold for getting an FHA loan sounds more generous than it would turn out to be in the marketplace. "The FICO score (that FHA will permit) is 580, but good luck, try and get it approved," she said.
More information on FHA-insured mortgages, including its state-by-state listings of mortgage limits, is available at fha.gov.
In the heady days of the housing boom, so-called FHA loans ended up being the lonely guy sitting on the sidelines.
After all, at that time the mortgage market had a free-flowing and apparently limitless pipeline of funds for borrowers who had little to no money for a downpayment. Demand for the Federal Housing Administration's programs to help first-time and low-income buyers dwindled.
That was then, as they say. This is now, when lending policies have gotten considerably more stringent in the wake of the housing downturn.
Suddenly, the government program that's been around since 1934 is looking a lot more attractive to a lot more people: The agency went from being involved with just 464,000 loans in 2007 to 2 million loans in fiscal 2009, according to a recent speech by its commissioner, David Stevens.
Its share of the market, depending on the region, is 30 to 50 percent.
So, for many homebuyers, FHA is the name of the game these days. Five things to know about FHA mortgages:
1. The FHA doesn't make loans, it insures them. Participants in FHA-insured mortgages get their loans through conventional lenders whose standards meet the FHA's.
The agency's guarantees mean that lenders can be confident that they won't lose money on the loans and can make more of them -- thus, in theory, helping to keep the housing market flowing.
2. FHA loans are attractive to many borrowers because they require as little as 3.5 percent down, compared to the so-called conventional market, which these days typically requires 10 percent down or more for competitively priced rates.
They're relatively easy to qualify for: The FHA places no income restrictions. Borrowers can have middling credit histories. In addition, FHA policies allow borrowers to include gifts from family members in their downpayments.
Currently, the FHA doesn't set a qualifying credit score for borrowers, according to FHA spokesman Lemar Wooley.
"We don't really have a hard minimum score requirement," he said. "We ask our lenders to look at the entire credit picture, with the major requirement being the ability to repay the loan."
However, Wooley said, a 580 score (on an 850-point scale) is set to become the minimal requirement, though an implementation date has not been set. Currently, applicants with scores below 500 do need to increase their downpayments to 10 percent, he said.
The FHA allows borrowers to allocate as much as 43 percent of their income to housing and long-term debt costs, which in the mortgage business is called a back-end ratio; conventional loans vary slightly in that cap, although they generally limit their borrowers to a back-end allocation that's several percent less.
3. FHA's insurance isn't free: Homebuyers with FHA-insured loans will pay an upfront premium at the time of closing (2.25 percent of the purchase price) and then for an extended period will make monthly payments to cover the annual cost of the insurance, 0.5 percent of the amount of the loan, Wooley said.
4. As popular as they are these days, FHA-insured loans aren't for all borrowers.
"I'm not a big fan of government loans," said Dale Robyn Siegel, a White Plains, N.Y., mortgage broker and author of "The New Rules for Mortgages" (Penguin/Alpha).
Siegel says that if conventional loan paperwork is significant, the FHA's is even more daunting. In addition, the FHA is strict about the physical state of the home that's being purchased.
"If the property isn't in good condition, FHA might reject it," Siegel said. "If the FHA borrower is lower-income, and then has lower savings after they close (on the house), you have less money to fix it. So the house needs to be in better condition, out of the gate."
Another potential roadblock: FHA limits the sizes of loans it will insure, from about $271,000 in low-cost areas to nearly $730,000 in high-cost areas.
5. Many borrowers these days think FHA is the only game in town, but it isn't, Siegel said.
"I would always say, 'Get a second opinion,'" she said.
She said some borrowers with bruised credit presume they'd be ineligible for loans in the conventional market, though that's not necessarily so. Borrowers with downpayments of less than 20 percent from those lenders still would have to get mortgage insurance from a private source, she said.
Siegel said the threshold for getting an FHA loan sounds more generous than it would turn out to be in the marketplace. "The FICO score (that FHA will permit) is 580, but good luck, try and get it approved," she said.
More information on FHA-insured mortgages, including its state-by-state listings of mortgage limits, is available at fha.gov.
No need for another tax credit
Some markets will hardly notice absence of stimulus
Steve Bergsman
Inman News
The federal homebuyer tax credit is fading away, and it won't be missed by all.
It looked good on paper: an $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers and $6,500 for existing homeowners buying a new house.
And, the general consensus is the tax credit helped a lot of first-time buyers enter into homeownership, which a majority of folks still think is a good idea -- despite the destruction of the financial markets and encompassing recession that has forced millions into foreclosure.
So the stimulus did its job, but it couldn't last forever. And if the housing market at this point in the cycle can't push into the positive on its own momentum, there are serious structural problems in the homeownership business and another stimulus would only forestall a reckoning.
In addition, the tax credit literally skipped past a number of individual metros, leaving barely a footprint, so in those particular markets the exit of the tax credit will really not be noticed.
It's going to just take a few months to figure out where we stand, but most believe the housing market has been stabilized and will get stronger before the end of the year.
Before the tax credit headed into the sunset (contracts needed to be signed by April 30 and loans need to close by Sept. 30 -- the closing deadline was extended past the original June 30 expiration), there was a surge of buyers trying to wrap up sales before the contract deadline.
That's going to lead to a drop in sales over the summer months, and normal purchase levels should be reached again in September.
"We got a tremendous jump, both times, when it looked like the tax credits were ending, then there was a fall-off in pending sales," said Jed Smith, managing director of quantitative research at the National Association of Realtors.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the sales decline attributed to the contract deadline for the tax credits was more severe than expected, with some markets showing a drop-off of 25 percent to 30 percent.
In the past, that fall-off was short-lived -- two to three months at the most -- and Smith suspects there will be a pick-up in home sales in August. (According to his data, the fall-off began in May.)
Smith projects home transactions for 2010 will come in around 5.3 million sales, which is where the market has been trending for the last 12 months.
Those are national projections, which, when viewed in isolation, mask a number of anomalies in the tax credit program's implementation.
A few months back, when I interviewed Glenn Plantone -- a Las Vegas real estate investment adviser who founded the Real Estate Insider Club of Las Vegas -- about investor interest in Las Vegas' single-family home market, he alluded to the fact that the tax credit made little impact in his town for the simple reason that so much of the homebuying has been by third-parties (investors) paying cash.
Investors had little use for the tax credit because deals are driven by returns and cap rates.
"Last year, 50 percent of the home purchases were with cash and this year it's 34 percent," said Plantone. "The next largest percentage was by buyers putting down 20 percent or greater of the total cost. The number of buyers actually taking advantage of the tax credit might only be 5 percent to 15 percent."
He added, "last year I sold 14 homes to one buyer and 10 homes to another. I know other Realtors here that have sold 10-20 homes to just one person. That being said, I don't think the tax credit has had as big an effect in this local market as maybe some other markets."
Sales in Las Vegas were down in June (3,360 homes sold that month vs. 4,186 homes sold in May), but that could have been because of hot weather, said Plantone. "We need to see what happens over a few months."
One must also clarify the data points. House sales in Las Vegas may have declined on a month-to-month basis going into the spring, but if one compares May 2010 sales to May 2009 sales they are roughly flat.
Miami has experienced the same "cash" phenomenon as Las Vegas, with some local twists.
"Our typical buyers this year are individuals with a lot cash and foreign nationals who have no interest and no idea about the tax credit," said Patrick O'Connell, a senior vice president with EWM Realtors in Coral Gables, Fla.
The tax credit was not really a buying decision for his clients, O'Connell, said, adding that he could see where it was important elsewhere.
"My brother lives in Cincinnati and he recently bought a $92,000 house. That $8,000 tax credit meant a new healing and cooling system for the house," he said. "That was one of the reasons why (he) bought now."
The tax credit was a lesser factor in some high-end markets. When someone is paying $1 million-plus for a condominium in Manhattan or a home in Newport Beach, Calif., that $8,000 tax credit is negligible.
In June, when the National Association of Realtors reported a sales decline compared to May, home prices in the generally expensive Northeast popped 7.9 percent.
Markets in recovery, and especially those beaten down (like Las Vegas), didn't get the full effect of the tax credits either, said NAR's Smith. "The tax credits might have helped a little bit, but the volume would have picked up regardless of the tax credits."
There is little chance for another round of tax credits because the general feeling is that the country is past the point of getting things stabilized. And for expansion to occur, people need to go back to work. Employment levels, not government programs, will be the key growth factor for the housing market in the months ahead.
"The big issue in buying a house is jobs," Smith asserts. "If the job market is declining, regardless of what incentives you offer people, you are not going to get a lot of sales."
Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer in Arizona and author of several books. His latest book, "After the Fall: Opportunities and Strategies for Real Estate Investing in the Coming Decade," has been ranked as a top-selling real estate investment book for the Amazon Kindle e-reader.
Steve Bergsman
Inman News
The federal homebuyer tax credit is fading away, and it won't be missed by all.
It looked good on paper: an $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers and $6,500 for existing homeowners buying a new house.
And, the general consensus is the tax credit helped a lot of first-time buyers enter into homeownership, which a majority of folks still think is a good idea -- despite the destruction of the financial markets and encompassing recession that has forced millions into foreclosure.
So the stimulus did its job, but it couldn't last forever. And if the housing market at this point in the cycle can't push into the positive on its own momentum, there are serious structural problems in the homeownership business and another stimulus would only forestall a reckoning.
In addition, the tax credit literally skipped past a number of individual metros, leaving barely a footprint, so in those particular markets the exit of the tax credit will really not be noticed.
It's going to just take a few months to figure out where we stand, but most believe the housing market has been stabilized and will get stronger before the end of the year.
Before the tax credit headed into the sunset (contracts needed to be signed by April 30 and loans need to close by Sept. 30 -- the closing deadline was extended past the original June 30 expiration), there was a surge of buyers trying to wrap up sales before the contract deadline.
That's going to lead to a drop in sales over the summer months, and normal purchase levels should be reached again in September.
"We got a tremendous jump, both times, when it looked like the tax credits were ending, then there was a fall-off in pending sales," said Jed Smith, managing director of quantitative research at the National Association of Realtors.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the sales decline attributed to the contract deadline for the tax credits was more severe than expected, with some markets showing a drop-off of 25 percent to 30 percent.
In the past, that fall-off was short-lived -- two to three months at the most -- and Smith suspects there will be a pick-up in home sales in August. (According to his data, the fall-off began in May.)
Smith projects home transactions for 2010 will come in around 5.3 million sales, which is where the market has been trending for the last 12 months.
Those are national projections, which, when viewed in isolation, mask a number of anomalies in the tax credit program's implementation.
A few months back, when I interviewed Glenn Plantone -- a Las Vegas real estate investment adviser who founded the Real Estate Insider Club of Las Vegas -- about investor interest in Las Vegas' single-family home market, he alluded to the fact that the tax credit made little impact in his town for the simple reason that so much of the homebuying has been by third-parties (investors) paying cash.
Investors had little use for the tax credit because deals are driven by returns and cap rates.
"Last year, 50 percent of the home purchases were with cash and this year it's 34 percent," said Plantone. "The next largest percentage was by buyers putting down 20 percent or greater of the total cost. The number of buyers actually taking advantage of the tax credit might only be 5 percent to 15 percent."
He added, "last year I sold 14 homes to one buyer and 10 homes to another. I know other Realtors here that have sold 10-20 homes to just one person. That being said, I don't think the tax credit has had as big an effect in this local market as maybe some other markets."
Sales in Las Vegas were down in June (3,360 homes sold that month vs. 4,186 homes sold in May), but that could have been because of hot weather, said Plantone. "We need to see what happens over a few months."
One must also clarify the data points. House sales in Las Vegas may have declined on a month-to-month basis going into the spring, but if one compares May 2010 sales to May 2009 sales they are roughly flat.
Miami has experienced the same "cash" phenomenon as Las Vegas, with some local twists.
"Our typical buyers this year are individuals with a lot cash and foreign nationals who have no interest and no idea about the tax credit," said Patrick O'Connell, a senior vice president with EWM Realtors in Coral Gables, Fla.
The tax credit was not really a buying decision for his clients, O'Connell, said, adding that he could see where it was important elsewhere.
"My brother lives in Cincinnati and he recently bought a $92,000 house. That $8,000 tax credit meant a new healing and cooling system for the house," he said. "That was one of the reasons why (he) bought now."
The tax credit was a lesser factor in some high-end markets. When someone is paying $1 million-plus for a condominium in Manhattan or a home in Newport Beach, Calif., that $8,000 tax credit is negligible.
In June, when the National Association of Realtors reported a sales decline compared to May, home prices in the generally expensive Northeast popped 7.9 percent.
Markets in recovery, and especially those beaten down (like Las Vegas), didn't get the full effect of the tax credits either, said NAR's Smith. "The tax credits might have helped a little bit, but the volume would have picked up regardless of the tax credits."
There is little chance for another round of tax credits because the general feeling is that the country is past the point of getting things stabilized. And for expansion to occur, people need to go back to work. Employment levels, not government programs, will be the key growth factor for the housing market in the months ahead.
"The big issue in buying a house is jobs," Smith asserts. "If the job market is declining, regardless of what incentives you offer people, you are not going to get a lot of sales."
Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer in Arizona and author of several books. His latest book, "After the Fall: Opportunities and Strategies for Real Estate Investing in the Coming Decade," has been ranked as a top-selling real estate investment book for the Amazon Kindle e-reader.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Quick tips for patching chimney
Leaky basement calls for thorough inspection
Bill and Kevin Burnett
Inman News
Q: After a hard rain, we found water in our basement near where our chimney attaches to the house. We noticed that the caulking between the chimney and the house is dry and cracking. We also noticed that the basement's ceiling has water spots, which leads us to believe it has happened before.
Is there a special caulk we can use after we remove the old material? And some of the mortar between the bricks is cracked. Our house is about 30 years old.
A: A 30-year-old chimney needs a good inspection. You can do the inspection on the outside yourself. But we recommend that you get a chimney sweep for the inside.
Over time, creosote, a byproduct of wood, builds up in the chimney liner. Creosote buildup is the main cause of chimney fires. If you use the fireplace regularly during the winter, an annual inspection and cleaning is a must.
As for the chimney's exterior, get on a ladder and take a look. Pay special attention to the joints, where the chimney meets the siding. Cracked caulking means water penetration for sure, but also pay attention to where the roof meets the chimney.
Is the flashing in good shape? If not, this could be a cause of leakage, too. Recaulking is in order, but first take a look at the mortar.
Given that you have cracked mortar joints, we suspect that the mortar is beginning to fail. Test the joints by trying to remove some mortar with a teardrop paint scraper. If mortar comes out in a granular mass, it's time to repoint the chimney, which means replacing the decayed mortar with new mortar.
First, scrape about an inch of mortar from the joints. You can either do all the scraping at once or you can scrape as you go. While you're at it, scrape out the old cracked caulk where the chimney and the siding meet.
To replace the mortar, you'll need a pointing tool and some mortar. A point tool is a handheld metal tool about a foot long with two half-round sides on the ends. Mix the mortar to the consistency of thick peanut butter. If you use packaged mortar mix, we suggest you enrich it with some additional Portland cement.
Brush the joint with a wet brush. The added moisture will seep into the existing mortar and allow the cement to seep in. This will provide a stronger bond between the old and new work. Pick up some mortar in one hand and coax it into the joint using the pointing tool. The first few times you'll lose a good bit of mortar. Don't worry, pick it up and use it on the next joint.
Let the mortar dry for 20 minutes or so. Then tool the joints with the pointing tool. The tooling produces a smooth finished joint. Let the mortar dry for a few days before caulking the joint between the siding and the chimney.
Caulking brick should be done with paintable clear caulk. Paintable clear caulk goes on white but dries clear after a few hours. Unless you're perfect, white caulk can make a mess on brick. If clear caulk is not available, choose an elastomeric caulk. Use blue painter's masking tape on both sides of the joint to get a crisp, clean line.
Bill and Kevin Burnett
Inman News
Q: After a hard rain, we found water in our basement near where our chimney attaches to the house. We noticed that the caulking between the chimney and the house is dry and cracking. We also noticed that the basement's ceiling has water spots, which leads us to believe it has happened before.
Is there a special caulk we can use after we remove the old material? And some of the mortar between the bricks is cracked. Our house is about 30 years old.
A: A 30-year-old chimney needs a good inspection. You can do the inspection on the outside yourself. But we recommend that you get a chimney sweep for the inside.
Over time, creosote, a byproduct of wood, builds up in the chimney liner. Creosote buildup is the main cause of chimney fires. If you use the fireplace regularly during the winter, an annual inspection and cleaning is a must.
As for the chimney's exterior, get on a ladder and take a look. Pay special attention to the joints, where the chimney meets the siding. Cracked caulking means water penetration for sure, but also pay attention to where the roof meets the chimney.
Is the flashing in good shape? If not, this could be a cause of leakage, too. Recaulking is in order, but first take a look at the mortar.
Given that you have cracked mortar joints, we suspect that the mortar is beginning to fail. Test the joints by trying to remove some mortar with a teardrop paint scraper. If mortar comes out in a granular mass, it's time to repoint the chimney, which means replacing the decayed mortar with new mortar.
First, scrape about an inch of mortar from the joints. You can either do all the scraping at once or you can scrape as you go. While you're at it, scrape out the old cracked caulk where the chimney and the siding meet.
To replace the mortar, you'll need a pointing tool and some mortar. A point tool is a handheld metal tool about a foot long with two half-round sides on the ends. Mix the mortar to the consistency of thick peanut butter. If you use packaged mortar mix, we suggest you enrich it with some additional Portland cement.
Brush the joint with a wet brush. The added moisture will seep into the existing mortar and allow the cement to seep in. This will provide a stronger bond between the old and new work. Pick up some mortar in one hand and coax it into the joint using the pointing tool. The first few times you'll lose a good bit of mortar. Don't worry, pick it up and use it on the next joint.
Let the mortar dry for 20 minutes or so. Then tool the joints with the pointing tool. The tooling produces a smooth finished joint. Let the mortar dry for a few days before caulking the joint between the siding and the chimney.
Caulking brick should be done with paintable clear caulk. Paintable clear caulk goes on white but dries clear after a few hours. Unless you're perfect, white caulk can make a mess on brick. If clear caulk is not available, choose an elastomeric caulk. Use blue painter's masking tape on both sides of the joint to get a crisp, clean line.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
36 hours in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY is known for its barbecue, bebop and easy-does-it Midwestern charm. But a decade-long effort to revitalize the city's downtown has transformed this former jazz mecca, which straddles the Kansas-Missouri border, back into a culturally rich metropolis. The city's standing will be further bolstered next year when the much-anticipated Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts opens, giving a sleek new home to the symphony, opera and ballet. True, Kansas City is no backwater, but don't expect high polish. In fact, it's the city's unvarnished grit that may be its best asset.
Friday 4 p.m.
1) CROSSROADS REDEFINED
Industrial stagnation and suburban exodus in the 1960s left the Crossroads neighborhood nearly deserted. But thanks to the recent efforts of arts advocates and city tax breaks, the Crossroads Arts District (kccrossroads.org) is now home to some 70 galleries. Two pioneering mainstays are Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art (2004 Baltimore Avenue; 816-221-2626; sherryleedy.com), which specializes in midcareer artists like Jun Kaneko, and the Byron C. Cohen Gallery (2020 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 1N; 816-421-5665; byroncohengallery.com), representing several artists from China, including the photo-artist Huang Yan. If it's the first Friday of the month, many galleries hold open houses until about 9 p.m.
7 p.m.
2) SAUCE IT UP
Debates over the best barbecue rouse as much passion here as religion or politics. Some swear by the old guard like Gates Bar-B-Q (gatesbbq.com) and Arthur Bryant's (arthurbryantsbbq.com), both of which have multiple branches. Others cross the state line into the Kansas side, to a relative newcomer, Oklahoma Joe's (3002 West 47th Avenue; 913-782-6858; oklahomajoesbbq.com), which opened a second location in 2005. It serves up pulled pork and beef brisket piled high on white bread, in a sauce that may just be the perfect amalgam of sweet, smoke and vinegar. At a little under $19, a full slab serves two or three people.
11 p.m.
3) BEYOND BLUES AND JAZZ
If the city's indie music scene hasn't garnered the same hype as those in other Midwestern cities like Minneapolis or Omaha, it's not for lack of guts or artistry. Homegrown bands like Ssion, a gender-bending art-punk music collective that has built a following with over-the-top live shows, cut their teeth in downtown galleries and dives. Hear up-and-comers at the Record Bar (1020 Westport Road; 816-753-5207; therecordbar.com) and the Brick (1727 McGee Street; 816-421-1634; thebrickkcmo.com). One of the newest spots is the Czar Bar (1531 Grand Boulevard; 816-221-2244; czarbar.com); it's owned by John Hulston, who also runs Anodyne Records, which counts the Meat Puppets, the BellRays and Architects among its better-known acts.
Saturday
10 a.m.
4) PARK LIFE
Kansas City is said to have more fountains than any other city except Rome. One of the loveliest can be found at Jacob L. Loose Park (51st Street and Wornall Road), a Civil War site, where the Laura Conyers Smith Fountain, made of Italian stone, is encircled by thousands of roses in some 150 varieties. The park is popular with picnicking families and bongo-playing teenagers on furlough from the suburbs.
Noon
5) CONTEMPORARY GREENS
If last night's barbecue has you yearning for a salad, head to Café Sebastienne, an airy, glass-covered restaurant at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (4420 Warwick Boulevard; 816-753-5784; kemperart.org/cafe). A dish of seasonal greens with cucumber, red onion, grape tomatoes, sheep's milk cheese and grilled pita is $11. After lunch, pop inside for a quick look at the Kemper's small but diverse collection of modern and contemporary works by artists like Dale Chihuly and Louise Bourgeois, whose gigantic iron spider sculpture looms over the front lawn.
1:30 p.m.
6) MUSEUM POW-WOW
In 2007, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (4525 Oak Street; 816-751-1278; nelson-atkins.org) was thrust into the national spotlight when it opened a new wing designed by Steven Holl. The Bloch Building - which holds contemporary art, photography and special exhibitions - consists of five translucent glass blocks that create what Nicolai Ouroussoff, the architecture critic of The New York Times, described as "a work of haunting power." The museum, which is free to the public, also unveiled a suite of American Indian galleries in November. It's an assemblage of about 200 works from more than 68 tribes, considered one of the most important collections of its kind.
4 p.m.
7) 18TH STREET COUTURE
The Crossroads cultural awakening extends beyond art and into fashion. Three boutiques carrying the work of up-and-coming designers occupy a former film storage unit on West 18th Street. Peregrine Honig and Danielle Meister handpick lingerie and swimwear to carry at their shop, Birdies (116 West 18th Street; 816-842-2473; birdiespanties.com). Kelly Allen selects a quirky cross-section of locally designed clothing and accessories at Spool (122 West 18th Street; 816-842-0228). And Peggy Noland (124 West 18th Street; 816-221-7652; peggynoland.com) sells Day-Glo spandex bodysuits in a space covered floor-to-ceiling with stuffed animals.
7 p.m.
8) MIDWEST TAPAS
Stay in the Crossroads to sample modern Mediterranean-style tapas at Extra Virgin (1900 Main Street; 816-842-2205; extravirginkc.com), the latest restaurant from Kansas City's culinary titan, Michael Smith. The fare is more playful and adventurous than that of his formal restaurant next door. And if the loud, euro-chic décor, replete with a floor-to-ceiling "La Dolce Vita" mural, seems to be trying a little too hard, the crowd of unbuttoned professionals enjoying inspired dishes like crispy pork belly with green romesco and chick pea fries doesn't seem to mind. The menu is diverse, as is the wine list. Single plates range from $3 to $25.
10 p.m.
9) 'ROUND MIDNIGHT
Love it or hate it, the flashy new Kansas City Power and Light District (1100 Walnut Street; 816-842-1045; powerandlightdistrict.com) offers a wide range of bars, restaurants and clubs that can feel like an open-air fraternity party. A smarter alternative can be found in the West Bottoms, an industrial neighborhood that draws a more urbane crowd. The R Bar (1617 Genessee Street; 816-471-1777; rbarkc.com), which opened in September, features live jazz and bluegrass, as well as old-time cocktails like Moscow mules and mint juleps. When midnight strikes, head to the Mutual Musicians Foundation (1823 Highland Avenue; 816-471-5212; thefoundationjamson.org). The legendary haunt opened in 1917 and public jam sessions are held every Saturday until around 6 a.m. For $8, you can catch impromptu sets by some of the city's undiscovered musicians in the same room where Charlie Parker had a cymbal thrown at him in 1937.
Sunday
11 a.m.
10) VIVA BRUNCH
As any resident will tell you, Mexican food is a big deal here. One of the most authentic spots is Ortega's Restaurant (2646 Belleview Avenue; 816-531-5415; ortegas.synthasite.com), tucked in the back of a mom-and-pop grocery store in midtown. On Sundays, Ortega's draws a lively mix of churchgoing families and hung-over art students with its $6 huevos rancheros.
Noon
11) VINTAGE FINDS
Kansas City has great secondhand shopping. Bargains are easy to find, and flea markets have yet to be ransacked by collectors from the coasts. Grab a copy of The Kansas City Star (kansascity.com) or search Craigslist (kansascity.craigslist.org) for current listings of auctions and estate sales. Better yet, take a drive through the sprawl of surrounding suburbs on the lookout for garage sales. Even if you don't find that perfect antique, an afternoon spent chatting with the friendly residents of this changing city will remind you that some things don't need making over.
IF YOU GO
Continental, Delta and Midwest Airlines fly nonstop from New York City to Kansas City International Airport. According to a recent Web search, round-trip fares start at about $325 for travel this month. A car is recommended for getting around, though to paraphrase an old song, if you have to walk, you'll get there just the same.
The Raphael(325 Ward Parkway; 816-756-3800; raphaelkc.com), a 126-room hotel in a neo-Renaissance manor overlooking the Country Club Plaza, recently finished a major renovation, with black marble bathrooms, flat-screen televisions and two spacious conference rooms. And with standard rooms going for as little as $139, it's one of the city's best bargains.
The 120-room Q Hotel + Spa (560 Westport Road; 816-931-0001; theqhotel.com) opened in 2007 in the historic Westport district and bills itself as the city's first green hotel, offering eco-friendly hand soap, energy-efficient lamps and in-room recycling service (unused paper is given to a school next door). Standard rooms start at $107, if booked 23 days in advance; otherwise $137.
This story was taken from the New York Times.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Electronic Signatures?
FHA has approved Docusign. What are your thoughts on using electronic signatures? I am starting to use them with some clients and thus far I have had good reviews. Let me know your thoughts.
DocuSign®, the leader in on-demand electronic signature solutions, today announced that e-signed third-party documents, including real estate contracts, are now being accepted by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). DocuSign spearheaded an industry-wide effort to move the FHA to formally recognize e-signed third-party documents. The April 8, 2010 dated FHA mortgagee letter is the first in what is expected to be a series of responses to this initiative. With this policy statement from the nation's largest mortgage insurer, real estate professionals can use DocuSign to get real estate contracts, addenda and other documents signed electronically, and their buyers can apply for FHA insurance with confidence. The FHA mortgagee letter can be found at http://nhl.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/10-14ml.pdf.
"We commend FHA's action today. By clarifying its position on electronic signatures, the process of buying, selling and financing of homes across the country will be greatly improved," said Ken Moyle, chief legal officer at DocuSign. "Buyers, sellers and agents can use DocuSign's online process to eliminate the time, expense and environmental impact of printing, delivering and signing large stacks of paper documents, and mortgage lenders can take comfort in knowing that DocuSign's e-signature process is designed for legal compliance in all 50 states and is fully evidenced by a comprehensive audit trail."
Real estate agents can quickly access the DocuSign e-signing service from any laptop with Internet access, drag and drop familiar yellow StickEtabs® onto the contract and send the envelope. The recipient immediately receives an email notification that can be accessed through a computer or any Web-enabled mobile device, including Apple® iPhone®, RIM® BlackBerry®, Google® AndroidTM, Windows Mobile®, adopts an e-signature and signs the document. Once completed, an email notification is sent to all parties with a link to the final executed document. The result is a legally binding, fully ESIGN-compliant document supported by a comprehensive audit trail.
As on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS), DocuSign requires no additional software or hardware purchases and no downtime for training. DocuSign eSignature service offers users one of the easiest, most simple to use and safest electronic signature experiences available today. For more information on DocuSign, visit www.docusign.com
DocuSign®, the leader in on-demand electronic signature solutions, today announced that e-signed third-party documents, including real estate contracts, are now being accepted by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). DocuSign spearheaded an industry-wide effort to move the FHA to formally recognize e-signed third-party documents. The April 8, 2010 dated FHA mortgagee letter is the first in what is expected to be a series of responses to this initiative. With this policy statement from the nation's largest mortgage insurer, real estate professionals can use DocuSign to get real estate contracts, addenda and other documents signed electronically, and their buyers can apply for FHA insurance with confidence. The FHA mortgagee letter can be found at http://nhl.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/10-14ml.pdf.
"We commend FHA's action today. By clarifying its position on electronic signatures, the process of buying, selling and financing of homes across the country will be greatly improved," said Ken Moyle, chief legal officer at DocuSign. "Buyers, sellers and agents can use DocuSign's online process to eliminate the time, expense and environmental impact of printing, delivering and signing large stacks of paper documents, and mortgage lenders can take comfort in knowing that DocuSign's e-signature process is designed for legal compliance in all 50 states and is fully evidenced by a comprehensive audit trail."
Real estate agents can quickly access the DocuSign e-signing service from any laptop with Internet access, drag and drop familiar yellow StickEtabs® onto the contract and send the envelope. The recipient immediately receives an email notification that can be accessed through a computer or any Web-enabled mobile device, including Apple® iPhone®, RIM® BlackBerry®, Google® AndroidTM, Windows Mobile®, adopts an e-signature and signs the document. Once completed, an email notification is sent to all parties with a link to the final executed document. The result is a legally binding, fully ESIGN-compliant document supported by a comprehensive audit trail.
As on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS), DocuSign requires no additional software or hardware purchases and no downtime for training. DocuSign eSignature service offers users one of the easiest, most simple to use and safest electronic signature experiences available today. For more information on DocuSign, visit www.docusign.com
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