A way to give back to those who have done so much for us.

If you are looking for a easy to do project that will make a big impact please check out this link and video below from the Red Cross.



What a great way to show your appreciation and gratitude to the great men and women who have served and continue to serve America today.

From now until December 10th you are invited to send holiday cards to our American service members, their families, and veterans all over the world. Anyone can send a card and you can send as many as you would like! Please send all cards to

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD
20791-5456

The deadline for this year is December 10th. Unfortunately, if your cards are not postmarked by December 10th they cannot be delivered. After Pitney Bowes collects and screens the mail received in the PO Box, Red Cross workers deliver holiday greetings to service men and women in their communities. Check out how our uniformed men and women and their families expressed their gratitude for the Holiday Mail program when it delivered cards to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Why I do, What I do!

Real Estate is tough, but ever so often you get humbled and remember why you do it and what a blessing it can be. A few months ago I was introduced to Ana'lucia Bustamante, daughter of some of my best friends Greg & Nora Mitchell. She decided to work with me to help her and her family to find a house. The task was a little more difficult than usual because her husband Jose' was on active duty serving our country in the Middle East. Lots of videos and pictures were exchanged but we found the perfect house for them. While Jose' was away Ana transformed the new house into a beautiful and welcoming home. Jose' has since returned to finish his tour of duty in North Carolina. He gets home from time to time and today he and Ana came by with sons Jase and Kade and brought me a fresh loaf of bread and some cookies. How humbling! This was my first time to meet Jose', but my impression is that these two “young adults” are mature beyond their age and if this is the generation that we will be running our country in a few years, we are in great shape. To Jose' thank you for your service to our country and to the the Bustamante family thank you for allowing me to become a small part of your lives. Many years of happiness and blessings to you.

Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "In case of an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR". What's my family going to do?

What can I do to Increase the value of my home?

That's a question I receive a lot. I ran across this article that may help answer that question. Hope you find it helpful.

Dale Nichols

Lisa Kendall's Inspirational Story

I recently attended this Gateway Conference and wanted to share the facebook comments of Greg Herder, owner and commenter on the event.  I hope it touches you as it did me:

  
 "During the Gateway I conducted this week, I was truly inspired by one of Hobbs/Herder’s clients, an agent by the name of Lisa Kendall. After day one of the Gateway, which wrapped up about 7:30 pm, Linda was walking a few blocks from the convention center to the hotel she was staying at. She was talking to her husband on her cell phone when 3 people attacked her. At first she was a little confused and fought back. She was then hit in the head a number of times and decided to give them her purse, board, and You2 book. Her cell phone and been knocked to the ground and her husband heard her screams as she was attacked. Once they had her stuff, the 3 people left and Lisa composed herself, found her cell phone told her husband what had happened and called 911.

The police came and took a report, which took most of the night. She got one hour of sleep and first thing in the morning went to the doctor to make sure her head and face were okay. She then rushed back to the seminar and walked as if nothing had happened, found a chair and started taking notes. At the Hobbs/Herder hang out after the seminar, I had the great pleasure of talking to Lisa. She apologized for being a little tired during the day and for closing her eyes every now and then. She said that she had not gotten a lot of sleep the night before. I eventually found out that she had been mugged and spent the night filling out a police report. One of the ladies listening to the story asked in amazement, “How are you dealing with it so well?” Lisa simply looked at her and calmly said that as soon as it was over and she realized she was ok, she was grateful that she lost only things that could be replaced and decided that she needed to put this experience in the past and move forward. She said she was really glad she did not miss much of the seminar and had really enjoyed herself that day.

As she talked, I was blown away by her amazing attitude about being attacked and beaten, and she had bruises on her face and head that looked painful. She decided to move forward and enjoy the rest of the seminar that she had come for. It reminded me that it is truly not what happens in our life that determines the quality of our life, but it’s what we do about what happens.

As we talked, Lisa told me that when she had gone to urgent care to get checked out by a doctor, the receptionist was amazed at how calm she was after being mugged. Lisa told her that in her personal brochure her slogan is “Because Every Moment Counts” and I am trying to live what I talk about. The receptionist asked for a copy of her brochure, so Lisa got some from her car and gave one to the receptionist. When the doctor came in to examine her, the receptionist had told the doctor about her brochure, and he asked for one. When she gave it to him, he took the time to read it right there and told her what an amazing attitude she had. Lisa was sent for an x-ray. The x-ray technician asked what she was doing in town and she told her she was attending a real estate marketing seminar. The x-ray technician said she was looking for a house; Lisa gave her a copy of her brochure. The x-ray technician read it while they were waiting and said, “I sure wish I could find a Realtor like you here to work with me.” Lisa told her she would happy to find a great Realtor for her locally, that she would receive a referral fee and she would make sure she was well taken care of. The x-ray technician was thrilled and gave Lisa all of her contact information and told her how much she appreciated Lisa helping her out.

This is one of the most amazing ways I have heard of an agent using their personal brochure. I really want to thank you, Lisa, for your inspirational lesson in moving forward and focusing on the good things in our lives. As Jim Rohn would say: It’s not what happens that makes a difference in the quality of our lives, it’s what we do about what happens."

Greg Herder

Make Your Kids Smarter in the Car

For all you parents out there who will be taking vacation in the car, with the kids. I thought this was a pretty good article.

Make Your Kids Smarter in the Car

Great News! More jobs are heading to Murfreesboro, TN

NHK Seating of America will begin construction of a new manufacturing plant estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $54,000,000.00 on a site just off I-24 on Joe B. Jackson Highway. Based out of Japan, NHK expects that when the facility reaches full production in 2015 some 224 full time and salaried people will be employed. In the mean time many construction jobs will be created, and local suppliers will be positively impacted.

NHK supplies seats for Nissan, Toyota and hopefully VW when the Chattanooga plant opens.

Another reason Tennessee, Rutherford County and Murfreesboro continues to be a great place to call home. Let's get America back to work.

Dale Nichols

Rutherford Co. TN Primary Voting Help

Sometimes if your unprepared when you go to vote it can be very confusing. Here a couple of links that should help.

Rutherford County Sample Ballot

Early Voting Times and Locations

Remember the motto: Vote Early and Vote Often!

Dale

Recycling is about to get easier in Murfreesboro & Middle Tennessee

I don't know about you, but one of the biggest excuses I have for not recycling is that it would consume more time than I have. Well looks like I'm going to have to come up with another one, because that one isn't going to work anymore. My friend Charlie Harrison told me about a new company that is about to launch named All in One Recycling. Service is scheduled to begin January 3, 2011 and they are offering a special of the 1st month free for those who sign up before September 30, 2010.

Rates appear to be reasonable and you have 2 options to choose from. We all could do more and be more responsible for our impact on our planet. This solution seems like a easy way to do our part. No more separating and sorting just put it in the can and they take care of the rest.

Trying to become more GREEN. Dale Nichols

Heard around Cannon County, TN

According to the Cannon Wire and other sources there is a possibility of 2 new businesses relocating to Cannon County. One of the main concerns for one of the representatives was a lack of new homes available for sale in Cannon County. To watch the Industrial Board meeting click here.

Dale Nichols

What in the World?

Somethings just make you really wonder. Whatever this is, is one of them.

What do you think? Here's the video.

Dale

Middle Tennessee an Affordable Place to call Home!

According to a recently released survey by Money.CNN.com Murfreesboro, TN ranked 20th among the most affordable places to live. Just another reason to consider a move to Middle Tennessee.

Dale

Jobs for Middle Tennessee

A new study from MTSU says Tennessee is poised to be the beneficiary of a growing medical industry here in Middle Tennessee and Nashville. Watch the WKRN report below.



Good news if you are looking to make Tennessee home or looking for a job.

Where is the Real Estate Market Heading?

That's the top question for most homeowners. It's a very legitimate question and the answer may not be what you want to hear. The Economist has just published a story titled "The Bust's Second Act" that you may want to read.

My advice is if you don't have to sale, don't! If you do, choose your Realtor, and listing price very carefully. It may be the difference in a 90 day sale or languishing on the market thru the summer and into next year.

The silver lining is that here in Middle Tennessee, inventories are starting to become what we considered balanced. Balanced being about a 6 month inventory of homes, but that is not in all sectors of the market. For instance when the price exceeds the $250,000 mark, months of inventory starts to spike concurrent with the price.

Hope this helps!

Dale

Williamson County, TN #14 in US richest counties

Ran across a great article in the Huffington Post that lists Williamson County at the 14th richest county in the nation by income. Just another great reason to live in the Middle Tennessee area. Neighboring counties with high jobs growth, income, home values usually positively effect the value you of your home.

As compared to other parts of the US, here in Middle Tennessee our home and land values have not been nearly as adversely affected as other parts of the country. 2010 appears to be shaping up as a year of figuring out where we are and where we are heading. The feeling I get from those I talk to seem to think this is a year we find our footing and the foundation for a slow rebuilding process.

Let's just all keep hanging on and we'll get through this!

Dale

Frosty Bacon!!!! The amount of coverage in such a short amount of time is impressive.

Great Game! Congratulations

Well, it's the day after the big game here in middle Tennessee, it's back to home sales, but wanted to make a quick observation. I have had the privilege to work with Drew Brees doing charity work and want to congratulate him, his team and the city of New Orleans for the great underdog victory. Drew is one of the most humble and accommodating celebrate athletes that I have had the privilege to meet. I must admit it would have been okay with me to see the Tennessee Stud Peyton Manning win another Super Bowl, but all in all Brees is a great guy and from the emotions we witnessed coming from him last night it made him even more enduring. Doesn't hurt that New Orleans featured three former Tennessee stars on their side of the ball. Great game!

Dale

Groundhogs Day

For all you Groundhog Day fans I have some news. The giant rat saw his shadow! So depending on your particular inclination it is 6 more weeks of winter. Happy Groundhogs Day! See the official link here.

See it here on YouTube.

Dale

Turning Home Improvement into increased Value.

As Spring approaches, many are preparing for the inevitable spring cleaning and other home projects. I was recently reading a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors and HomeGains.com and wanted to share the information with you. Click here to read article and download a very helpful PDF.

Dale

Making the most of Snow days!

Well we wanted some snow and we got some snow and some ice. So we decided to make the most of it. My girls and I met their Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle at Barfield Park for some wintertime fun. For those of you who thought skiing in the 'Boro was impossible, think again.

Dale

Well it's here. Disregard previous posted complaint

Well it is finally here. ;)

Dale

FROSTY BACON!!!!! is what we say instead of SNOW, we wouldn't want to jinx it!

I'm like the little old Wendy's lady. Where's the Snow?

Here in Middle Tennessee, more specifically Murfreesboro, we want to know where the snow is?! It always seems we are the brides maid and never the bride when it comes to snow.

We took all the proper precautions, p.j.'s on backwards, ice in the toilet, spoon under the pillow and not saying the s word. We refer to it as frosty bacon. ie. do you think it's going to frosty bacon? Kids have their coats and boots on but no snow to play in. Come on, frosty bacon, get here already! We want to build a snowman.

Dale

Here is a link to the latest Middle Tennessee Weather.

Dale Nichols

As promised here is the information on the new 2010 house flipping rule!

As promised here is the information regarding the relaxing of the FHA flipping rule. Click here to see all the legal regarding this change in policy.

If you’re a house flipper, you will certainly want to be familiar with the “FHA 90-Day Rule,” more-so than any other housing regulation. It’s so important that I’m writing a long article about it, as opposed to just summing it up in a sentence or two…

First, here’s the text of the actual FHA regulation:

(b) Time restrictions on re-sales—(1) General. The eligibility of a property for a mortgage insured by FHA is dependent on the time that has elapsed between the date the seller acquired the property (based upon the date of settlement) and the date of execution of the sales contract that will result in the FHA mortgage insurance (the re-sale date). The mortgagee shall obtain documentation verifying compliance with the time restrictions described in this paragraph and must submit this documentation to HUD as part of the application for mortgage insurance, in accordance with §203.255(b).

(2) Re-sales occurring 90 days or less following acquisition. If the re-sale date is 90 days or less following the date of acquisition by the seller, the property is not eligible for a mortgage to be insured by FHA.

(3) Re-sales occurring between 91 days and 180 days following acquisition. (i) If the re-sale date is between 91 days and 180 days following acquisition by the seller, the property is generally eligible for a mortgage insured by FHA.

(ii) However, HUD will require that the mortgagee obtain additional documentation if the re-sale price is 100 percent over the purchase price. Such documentation must include an appraisal from another appraiser. The mortgagee may also document its loan file to support the increased value by establishing that the increased value results from the rehabilitation of the property.

As you can see, the 90-Day Rule is actually a set of rules regarding the resale of property to FHA buyers.

Here are the key points of this rule:

• A property is ineligible to be sold to an FHA buyer within the first 90 days after the most recent purchase. In other words, if I buy a house today, and want to resell it to a buyer using an FHA loan, I have to wait 90 days (91 actually) from today before I can resell the property to that buyer. As a house flipper, it should be clear why this rule can cause frustration — it generally takes about 4-5 weeks to rehab a house after I purchase it, but given this rule, I can’t resell the house to an FHA buyer for at least 8-9 after that; that means I either hold off putting the property on the market, or I risk finding a buyer but not being able to close for nearly two months.
• A property is eligible to be sold to an FHA buyer after 90 days, but any sale occurring before 180 days that is at least 100% over the purchase price is subject to additional appraisal scrutiny. In other words, if I buy a house today, and want to resell it a buyer using an FHA loan in 91-180 days for more than double what I bought it for, I will have to get two appraisals for the property. While this rule isn’t nearly as harmful as the first one — if I plan to sell it for more than double what I bought it for, hopefully it’s really worth that — it can still cause issues. Appraisals these days are all over the map, and anytime you need to rely on multiple appraisals to support your sale price, you run some risks of at least one of them coming in low. Additionally, the second appraisal takes time and money, often delaying these property closings.

Those are the general rules/guidelines that will affect you as a flipper, but there are some details that must be kept in mind as well:

FHA underwriting won’t consider the buyer’s loan unless the Purchase Contract, the Appraisal, and the Loan Application are dated at least 91 days from the date the current seller purchased the property

What this means specifically is that while a buyer can submit a letter of intent or a contract prior to the 90-day mark, for it to be considered by FHA underwriting, a new contract must be signed (and all loan preparations must be completed) after the 90-day mark.

Additionally, while not a formal requirement by the FHA, many FHA underwriters will stipulate that the 90 days doesn’t start the day the seller purchased the property, but instead, on the day the Warranty Deed was recorded. And in many places, the closing attorney legally has at least 60-90 days to send the Warranty Deed to the records office, and it can take a week or two after that before the deed actually gets recorded; therefore, it could be 90 days or more after the property is purchased before the FHA 90 day clock even starts ticking! Meaning it could be up to 6 months before you can sell the property to an FHA buyer!

While not all FHA underwriters will require the 90-day seasoning to start after the Warranty Deed is recorded, keep in mind that some will. A good flipper will control his/her deal from the outset, and part of controlling the deal is to control the lending process; make sure you know the rules that your buyer’s lender will be following to get the deal done, and if those rules don’t meet your basic requirements, insist that your buyers use a lender that you are willing to work with (and who is willing to work with you).

Regardless, if you’re a house flipper who targets FHA buyers, be aware of these rules, as they can severely impact your holding time and holding costs. At very least, make sure you work these restrictions into your business strategy, your schedules, and your contingency plans.

Thanks www.123flip.com/education/fha-90-day-rule for this information

Dale

Homebuyers information for Federal Housing Tax Credit

Here is a very helpful site to help answer questions you might have about the current tax credit for homebuyers.

If I can be of assistance in helping you find a home please give me a call or visit my website to get started.

Have a great day!

Dale

Exciting Real Estate Financing Changes, Coming Soon!

Property Flipping Guideline changes from FHA.

Check back tomorrow for more information.

Dale

My girls are so excited about the Snow we are supposed to get!

Well we are supposed to get the first snow for 2010 tomorrow. To insure it happens my youngest Kristen has he PJ's inside out, on backwards, ice cubes in the toilet and a spoon under her pillow. School has been cancelled and I bought the mandatory gallon of milk and loaf of bread. Now bring on the 1/2" of dry snow that won't stick and will blow off the roads. I'm ready!

Dale

First Post

So excited to start in the world of blogging!
Please check out my New Web Site or bobparksauction.com

Dale