Understanding FHA…

In the previous months partially due to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, FHA has been making some changes.  Some of these changes include an increase in down payment requirments to 3.5% effective January 1, 2009; elimination of down payment assistance programs as of October 1, 2008; as well as some underwriting guidelines pertaining to converting existing homes to rentals.  Are you currently in the market to buy a home and curious if you will qualify under current FHA rules, e-mail me at chris@cacartergroup.com.

It seems like everyday the press talks about FHA, government intervention, and how this will effect our economy and real estate market. The question is what is FHA?  First and foremost, understand that FHA is totally different from Freddie and Fannie. FHA insures loans and Freddie and Fannie purchase loans from banks.  If a FHA loan forecloses, FHA pays off the mortgage, takes ownership, and proceeds to sell the home (hence HUD homes).   To mitigate risk, FHA charges the borrowers insurance premiums in case of default. 

 

 

C.A.Carter Group Client Makes a Difference

Steve Cook, a C.A.Carter Group client, recently returned from a trip to Malawi, Africa. After seeing a nation where the average person makes less than $1/day, Steve decided he wanted to do something to make a difference. As a result, Steve formed Equitas, Inc. in November 2007. Equitas was formed to be the catalyst for a grassroots movement providing advocacy and relief in three primary areas: HIV/AIDS, poverty, and clean water.

 

 

Primary school is free in Malawi, a country of 13 million people, but secondary school (the equivalent of high school in the U.S.) is not. So Steve immediately went to work raising money to help put kids in the villages through school. In just a few weeks, he had raised enough money to put 75 kids in three villages through secondary school. “Education is the key to turning the economy of Malawi around,” says Steve. 

Coupled with a lack of education is a lack of clean water. Less than 35% of all people in Malawi have access to water within one mile. Many women and children have to walk as far as five miles to get water, and this water is oftentimes not safe. This is Steve’s next big goal – to build 50 wells in the villages of Malawi by the end of 2009.

For more information on Equitas, or to support Steve in his efforts, you can visit http://www.equitas.cc.

 

 

Plaza-Midwood Model Community Watch

The residents of Plaza-Midwood refuse to sit on their hands and let crime run their neighborhood. Instead they have formed, what Sergeant Mike Sloop has called, a model community watch program.

The Plaza-Midwood Neighborhood watch includes grid captains who, among many other roles, serve as liaisons between the residents and the neighborhood watch organizers, maintain an up-to-date contact data base of their neighbors, and go door to door to spread the word on how to make their neighborhood more safe and secure.

Neighbors are also strongly encouraged to be more “neighborly” by attending quarterly neighborhood meetings, by reaching out to their neighbors, learning how to contact them, and by watching out for suspicious activity.

These are only a few of the steps Plaza Midwood residents are taking to protect their community. Please visit the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood website, http://www.PlazaMidwood.org, for more information on the neighborhood watch program, and for other Plaza Midwood Events.