"Making Home Affordable" is for Me?

When Obama’s plan to help homeowners with their mortgages was released in March, I took a look at it and presumed it could not help me- I would not qualify for a restructure, and my mortgage was not backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Or so I thought.

I got a letter a couple of days from my mortgage servicer. In it, they invited me to apply for a refinance even though my house’s value has come down, and they would pay all the associated costs. My rate could go as low as 5% (I’m not sure where they got that from). The Making Home Affordable program made this possible, they said. So I went to that site, and I took the brief test to see if I could qualify for the refinance. It turns out that my loan is held or secured by Freddie Mac, making me eligible. Now, call me naïve, but I still don’t understand what that means, even after researching it. I went to my mortgage servicer’ site to apply online, as they requested I do. The problem is it won’t let me change any of the pre-filled data, so now I fear it will be weeks before anyone gets back to me about how I should proceed. In addition, I have these questions that I can’t find answers to: must I refinance with my orfginal servicer, or can I go elsewhere? Will the rate I receive be a market rate, or derived from some other calculation? I hope it’s not a market rate, because those are the same as my current. I’ll let you know if I ever hear back from my servicer.

When to Undergo Improvements in This Environment

Gene brought up an interesting point about my previous post.  He basically says that if I plan on doing improvements in the future, why not just do them all now so that I have more time to enjoy them, regardless of the current economy.

I understand that logic.  But, I never thought values in my area would ever go this low. Every day that they continue to go down, I ask myself "when will this bottom out?"  My fear is that if I did the improvements now, even if I stay in the house another five years, I won't be able to recoup all I have invested in it.  I don't expect to recoup 100% of any improvement, but I do have a tolerance level.  So to make sure I don't waste any more money on a sinking investment, I figure it is best to wait until the market at least begins to show some signs of life.  

It might be a different story if I'd planned to be in this house for 10 or more years.  That was never my intention, but that may now be the reality, unfortunately.    

I'm Getting Depressed

For the past couple of years, housing prices have been going nowhere but down. But where I live (metro NYC area), we never really saw all that much depreciation. Nothing that no more than a couple of years of average appreciation or inflation couldn't cure. Recently, however, things really seem to have gotten to a pretty scary level. Prices just keep coming down. I had plans to fix my lawn, get a new porch, and maybe change the siding- but I'm holding off now until prices begin creeping up again. I feel that it does not make sense to keep putting money into something whose value is approaching my mortgage balance.

So for the time being, I'm sticking to things that need to get done. All the niceties will have to wait, no matter how disappointing it is.

Seed vs. Sod

I've been occupied lately by trying to decide what to do to my front lawn: seed or sod.

My front lawn right now is nothing but a collection of weeds.  It is unsalvageable.  So I've priced out doing the job myself and contracting it out, for both seeding and sod.  

With the weather warming up, it looks like seed is not a good option until the fall.  However, do I want to wait that long to install it, and then wait for it to all fill in?  Also, seeds seems to require more water than sod.  But it would save about $400.

Sod seems easy to lay, but comes with that pricetag.  And if I mess up the watering or get inferior sod, that's quite a loss.  But it looks great and will be a better weed barrier than would planting seed.  Mainly for that reason, it looks like I will go with sod, as I am afraid of weed reemergence in a year or so if I seeded.

The prep work for either is the same: remove existing grass, add top soil and fertilizer, and grade.  Doesn't sound too tough, but I looked into sod cutting machines for rent, and they weigh nearly 400 pounds.   I weigh not even half of that.  I am concerned about my ability to handle it. And then what do I do with the rolls of weeds?  My recycling center won't take them.   

I got a couple quotes so far on sod installation, and it is $1000 for the complete job on my 930 square feet.   I was hoping to do the job myself and spend only half that, but I am afraid I will run into the troubles I described above.  I will also need to rig up a watering system, which will cost arounf $50-100.  

Fixing Patio Door

So I came back from vacation last night to find that the person taking care of our dog broke the lock on our sliding patio door. Today I visited a locksmith and an authorized Andersen retailer and they both told me the same thing- they couldn't fix or get the part.

I called Andersen and found that the part was still under warranty. They couldn't have been more helpful. I should have the new lock next week and they even told me how I could continue locking it until then. It's nice to be able to fix things without having to spend money!

Busy...

I apologize for my absence- getting married and preparing for a honeymoon will do that. I've also continued working on my yard. So far I've planted most of the garden and put out most of the planters and such.

Lawnmower Conditioning

Last weekend I got my mower ready. I changed the oil, cleaned the air filter, put gas in it, and charged the starter. All I need to do is either sharpen the blade or buy a replacement (depends on price). I had planned to do that on Sunday, but I forgot it was Easter.

This was the first time I really followed the directions for getting the mower ready, as I only used it a couple times in 2007 when I bought it, and thus felt it wasn't necessary last year. I hope doing these little things extends the life of the mower, because in my past I haven't had much luck with their longevity.