Tag Archives: water

Real Estate

Financing Foreclosed Homes

Foreclosure properties, especially those with the water and power turned off, may not qualify for standard financing, but would-be owner-occupants may qualify for a federally insured 203(k) loan.

 

  • Would-be owner-occupants who do not have enough money to purchase a foreclosure home using cash, may qualify for the federally insured 203(k) loan, which allows borrowers to roll projected rehab costs into the loan.
  • According to one real estate expert, most foreclosure properties are sold as is, and, oftentimes, heat, plumbing, and electric are turned off, making it unlikely a lender will lend money on the home.
  • To qualify for a 203(k) loan, buyers generally hire an independent consultant hired by the Federal Housing Administration to review contractor cost estimates and architectural plans for things like whether the work will bring the property up to minimum standards, while not going overboard on improvements.
  • Buyers should be aware that not all foreclosure properties are eligible.  For instance, a partially built house that has never had a certificate of occupancy requires a construction loan of the kind that a commercial developer would use.
  • The interest rate on a 203(k) loan is approximately a quarter of a percentage point higher than on a standard FHA-insured loan, and a buyer also can expect to pay 1 or 2 points.
  • Also, as with other FHA-backed loans, down payments may be as low as 3.5 percent, and loan limits apply.  Currently, most FHA loans are capped at $729,750.

Read the full story

For all your real estate needs, call or email:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
jodell@nevadacounty.com

Bits & Pieces

Stay Hydrated Without Putting Yourself in Danger

by Lisa J. Lehr

The weather is warming up, people are heading outside to exercise, and we’ve been told our entire lives to drink “plenty of water.” Not everyone realizes, however, that it’s possible to drink TOO much. How much is enough, and how much is too much?

You may remember back in January 2007, when Jennifer Strange, 28, a Sacramento-area mom of three, was found dead in her home of water intoxication. Jennifer had competed in a radio station’s “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest. The contest winner would be whoever drank the most water without going to the bathroom; the prize, a Nintendo Wii video game system. Jennifer wanted to win it for her kids.

“Holding it” against nature’s urging to get rid of it is intuitively a bad idea, and putting yourself in danger in order to gain some material thing is just foolish. The bulk of the blame lies with the radio station, however; station officials had been advised that someone had previously died of the same cause in a hazing incident, and they reportedly didn’t take Jennifer seriously when she complained of feeling ill. Still, this story should be a warning to everyone who might think that if drinking plenty of water is good for us, then there’s no such thing as “too much.”

Wrong. Continue reading Stay Hydrated Without Putting Yourself in Danger →

Real Estate

Buying Land, be Careful

By John J. O’Dell

I recently met a couple at one of my favorite coffee shops, the Flour Garden. We started talking and they were looking for some cheap land to buy, figuring that there was a lot of good deals out there because of the economy.

Since I always carry my laptop with me, I did a search for land under $50,000.  I found a parcel that was a little over an acre in a great part of Nevada County.  The parcel was listed at around $30,000.  I thought to myself this seems too good to be true because of the price and location.

The clients and I drove out to look at the parcel.  The first thing I noticed was that there was evidence of at least three attempts to drill for water. Talking to the neighbors, they stated that there had been at least six attempts to drill for water! So here was a great parcel of land, no treated water nearby to tap into, and no apparent possibility of finding water by drilling a well. In other words, right now, you can’t build a house on the parcel.

I hate to tell you what the owners paid for that property, but it was well over $150,000, now listed at around $30,000.

The moral of the story is, never buy land that does not have either water available or if it doesn’t,  without drilling a well prior to closing.   Make sure you have an agreement with the seller as to how much money you are going to spend in case you don’t find water. That way, when you reach your budget you can cancel the purchase contract. Determine if the seller will work with you and share some of the expense of drilling a well.

John J.  O’Dell
Is a licensed real estate broker
You can reach him at 530-263-1091

animals

Dog Dreams and Angel

1 Comment

I love dogs and dogs do dream. Angel my pit bull dreams like the dog in this YouTube video all the time.  Sometimes I think she is having a dream about the experience she had when coyotes attacked her.

httpv://youtu.be/xBoRilB7lRY
 

I normally let Angel out in the morning, fix my breakfast, watch the news and wait for Angel to come back upstairs. I usually give her a pigs ear as a treat, fresh water and she’s ready to start the day.  That morning she did not come back in her usual time frame.  So worried, I called her several times, no response. I started down the stairs, when all of the sudden, she hobbled up, blooded, with skin torn and puncture wounds all over her.

Panicked, I picked her up, getting blood all over me and took her to the vet. The vet confirmed that she had been attacked by coyotes and said she was lucky to get away from them, since they usually work in pairs. The vet sewed up her torn skin, gave her anti-biotics and she made a full recovery.  I must say she it took her several weeks to get back to herself, which is probably quicker than my recovery if I had been attacked by coyotes!

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