E REAL ESTATE SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM INDEX Barry Stone 4E Permits 6E HOUSE PLAN The Encino The imaginative floor plan, three hexagonal modules joined by two rectangles, invites curiosity from onlookers and creates numerous interior angles. PAGE 7E LISTING OF THE WEEK Brick home The Listing of the Week is a brick home less than a mile from downtown Edmond that is suited to first-time buyers or an investor. PAGE 5E BIRTHDAY SURPRISE FOR WIDOW Jeanette Ogle, a 92-year-old widow with a reverse mort- gage on her house, got a huge birthday surprise last week: She did not lose her home at a scheduled foreclosure auction after all. PAGE 3E IN BRIEF 3M PATCH PLUS PRIMER 3M Patch Plus Prim- er eliminates the need to prime spackled areas be- fore painting. The spackling paste contains tiny parti- cles that create a primer-like film on the surface, unlike other spackling products that can cause a change in paint sheen. The product dries fast and won’t shrink or crack, but it’s as strong as heavy- weight spackling, the company said. It comes in a square package that accom- modates a 3-inch- wide putty knife. The product, sug- gested retail price $5.99, is available at home improvement centers and paint and hardware stores. STUPID SOCK CREATURES Stupid Sock Crea- tures are what re- sult when imag- ination runs wild. Crazy, no-holds- barred wild. Artist John Murphy start- ed making little stuffed monsters called Stupid Crea- tures back in 2003 as an outlet for his off-the-wall ingenui- ty and a way to pay his bills. He eventu- ally wrote a how-to book on making lovably hideous creatures from socks, and now he’s back with a follow- up, “Return of the Stupid Sock Crea- tures: Evolutions, Mutations, and Oth- er Creations.” Bud- ding sock artists will be equipped to take on the projects in the book or branch out with their own brand of eccentricity. The book, published by Lark Crafts, sells for $17.95 in softcov- er. MCT INFORMATION SERVICES Financial advisers have long cautioned retirees to avoid taking on mortgage debt when they buy a home. But some find it unavoid- able — even when they’re down- sizing to a smaller property in a more affordable real estate mar- ket. Rodney Harrell, a housing pol- icy adviser for AARP, said older homeowners are increasingly like- ly to keep facing mortgage pay- ments in their later years. In fact, a majority of owners over 55 now have mortgages versus a minority in 1989. The data — the most re- cent available — show a dramatic change. Economic factors are the key reason why fewer retirees are able to buy a different property without taking out a home loan. “Housing costs have gone up higher than incomes,” Harrell said. Facing a substantial monthly mortgage payment can be espe- cially troublesome for retirees, who are often beginning to face health problems. The risk to those with a mortgage is that they’ll lack the funds to pay for both housing and health care, including their medicine. They may also want to have enough of a cash reserve to pursue interests and hobbies in their retirement years. Here are a few pointers for re- tired or soon-to-retire home- buyers: I Design your housing agenda in the context of a larger life plan. Sheryl Garrett, founder and CEO of the Garrett Planning Net- work, a nationwide network of fee-only financial advisers, said that for most people a home pur- chase in retirement involves life- style changes and trade-offs. Such trade-offs, she said, are highly personal and best made after a pe- riod of reflection and planning. As a first step for couples seek- ing to identify their strongest per- sonal interests, Garrett recom- mends that couples do one of the pencil-and-paper exercises she outlines in one of her many books, “Personal Finance Workbook for Dummies.” Working separately, the part- ners write down 30 things they’d like to experience, see or do. Then they classify these as A, B or C lev- el desires. Finally, the partners share their lists with each other. They then focus on the high-pri- ority items. To gain a broad understanding of retirement and how to balance your financial and personal plans before committing to a home pur- chase, Garrett recommends a book called “The New Retiremen- tality” by Mitch Anthony. I Do an inventory of your sav- ings for retirement. Any comprehensive plan fo- cused on cash-flow concerns in the present should also factor in long-term financial needs, said Eric Tyson, a personal finance ex- pert and author of “Mind Over Money: Your Path to Wealth and Happiness.” To gauge how well-prepared you are for a potentially long peri- od of retirement, he suggests you use the free planning calculators provided by such mutual fund companies as Vanguard and T. Rowe Price. “Before making any mortgage commitment, the sensible thing is to first tally up your assets and lia- bilities. Making a move doesn’t mean you have to be house poor. But you do need to plan,” said Ty- son, co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies.” I Take into account the extra time a bigger property could cost you. Suppose your housing dream involves a much bigger property complete with elaborate gardens. If an assessment of your finances indicates you could afford it, should you go ahead on that basis alone? Not without considering the implications for your time, Tyson said. “Time is precious, especially in retirement. And keeping up a real- ly big home can be draining on both the physical and emotional levels,” Tyson said. “For a lot of re- tired people, spending time with friends and family is more impor- tant than keeping up a big house.” To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at [email protected]. UNIVERSAL UCLICK Moving and shaking in retirement Ellen James Martin SMART MOVES YUKON — Here’s a story Genie Vinson won’t tell you herself: A gentleman stranded in Yukon, unable to afford a $100 part to fix his car, was referred to Compassionate Hands, the outreach orga- nization formed 20 years ago by the Yukon Ministe- rial Alliance to provide aid on a case-by-case basis to Yukon’s neediest cases. But it was a tough month. Compassionate Hands, a nonprofit that operates on donations and grants, was down to its last $24. “Thank goodness Genie happened to drive by,” said Theresa Sanders, director of Compassionate Hands since 2007. Vinson, apprised of the situation, paid for the part herself and got the man on his way. “Genie is always willing to help,” Sanders said. Sanders said Vinson personally solicits “thou- sands of dollars a year” in donations for the agency. “When you live on dona- tions, you need dedicated volunteers” like Vinson, she said. Vinson, a 28-year veter- an Realtor and an associate with Keller Williams Real- ty in Yukon, said she’s just proud that Compassionate Hands can make a differ- ence in so many lives. Her fellow Realtors rec- ognized her dedication to the organization late last year with the Open Door Award presented by the Oklahoma Association of Realtors. The award is presented to Realtors who “give un- selfishly to improve the world around them through community ser- vice,” said Joe Pryor, presi- dent of the association and an associate with Redbud Realty & Associates in Ed- mond. The Realtors group presented the $1,000 award to Compassionate Hands in Vinson’s name. Vinson has served mul- tiple terms on the Com- passionate Hands board, in addition to knocking on doors and working the phones when the organi- zation’s two annual fund- Realtor provides helping hand CHARITY | GENIE VINSON RECEIVES OPEN DOOR AWARD FOR SUPPORT OF COMPASSIONATE HANDS OUTREACH Genie Vinson, a longtime Realtor who is with Keller Williams Realty in Yukon, received the Open Door Award late last year from the Oklahoma Association of Realtors for her work with Compassionate Friends of Yukon. She is shown at one of her listings, 1600 Kingsgate in Yukon. PHOTOS BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN BY TIM FALL For The Oklahoman [email protected]Genie Vinson of Keller Williams Realty has this home listed for sale for $280,000 at 1600 Kingsgate in Yukon. SCAN IT To see a related video, scan the QR code below or go to NewsOK.com SEE VINSON, PAGE 2E Kenneth Harney THE NATION’S HOUSING
Transcript
EREAL ESTATESATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM
INDEX
Barry Stone 4EPermits 6E
HOUSE PLAN
The EncinoThe imaginative floorplan, three hexagonalmodules joined by tworectangles, invitescuriosity from onlookersand creates numerousinterior angles. PAGE 7E
LISTING OF THE WEEK
Brick homeThe Listing of the Week is a brickhome less than a mile fromdowntown Edmond that is suitedto first-time buyers or aninvestor.
PAGE 5E
BIRTHDAYSURPRISEFOR WIDOWJeanette Ogle, a92-year-old widowwith a reverse mort-gage on her house,got a huge birthdaysurprise last week:She did not lose herhome at a scheduledforeclosure auctionafter all.
PAGE 3E
IN BRIEF
3M PATCH PLUSPRIMER3M Patch Plus Prim-er eliminates theneed to primespackled areas be-fore painting. Thespackling pastecontains tiny parti-cles that create aprimer-like film onthe surface, unlikeother spacklingproducts that cancause a change inpaint sheen. Theproduct dries fastand won’t shrink orcrack, but it’s asstrong as heavy-weight spackling,the company said. Itcomes in a squarepackage that accom-modates a 3-inch-wide putty knife.The product, sug-gested retail price$5.99, is available athome improvementcenters and paintand hardwarestores.
STUPID SOCKCREATURESStupid Sock Crea-tures are what re-sult when imag-ination runs wild.Crazy, no-holds-barred wild. ArtistJohn Murphy start-ed making littlestuffed monsterscalled Stupid Crea-tures back in 2003as an outlet for hisoff-the-wall ingenui-ty and a way to payhis bills. He eventu-ally wrote a how-tobook on makinglovably hideouscreatures fromsocks, and now he’sback with a follow-up, “Return of theStupid Sock Crea-tures: Evolutions,Mutations, and Oth-er Creations.” Bud-ding sock artists willbe equipped to takeon the projects inthe book or branchout with their ownbrand of eccentricity.The book, publishedby Lark Crafts, sellsfor $17.95 in softcov-er.MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
Financial advisers have longcautioned retirees to avoid takingon mortgage debt when they buy ahome. But some find it unavoid-able — even when they’re down-sizing to a smaller property in amore affordable real estate mar-ket.
Rodney Harrell, a housing pol-icy adviser for AARP, said olderhomeowners are increasingly like-ly to keep facing mortgage pay-ments in their later years. In fact, amajority of owners over 55 nowhave mortgages versus a minorityin 1989. The data — the most re-cent available — show a dramaticchange.
Economic factors are the keyreason why fewer retirees are ableto buy a different property withouttaking out a home loan.
“Housing costs have gone uphigher than incomes,” Harrellsaid.
Facing a substantial monthlymortgage payment can be espe-cially troublesome for retirees,who are often beginning to facehealth problems. The risk to thosewith a mortgage is that they’ll lackthe funds to pay for both housingand health care, including theirmedicine. They may also want to
have enough of a cash reserve topursue interests and hobbies intheir retirement years.
Here are a few pointers for re-tired or soon-to-retire home-buyers:
I Design your housing agendain the context of a larger lifeplan.
Sheryl Garrett, founder andCEO of the Garrett Planning Net-work, a nationwide network offee-only financial advisers, saidthat for most people a home pur-chase in retirement involves life-style changes and trade-offs. Suchtrade-offs, she said, are highlypersonal and best made after a pe-riod of reflection and planning.
As a first step for couples seek-ing to identify their strongest per-sonal interests, Garrett recom-mends that couples do one of thepencil-and-paper exercises she
outlines in one of her many books,“Personal Finance Workbook forDummies.”
Working separately, the part-ners write down 30 things they’dlike to experience, see or do. Thenthey classify these as A, B or C lev-el desires. Finally, the partnersshare their lists with each other.They then focus on the high-pri-ority items.
To gain a broad understandingof retirement and how to balanceyour financial and personal plansbefore committing to a home pur-chase, Garrett recommends abook called “The New Retiremen-tality” by Mitch Anthony.
I Do an inventory of your sav-ings for retirement.
Any comprehensive plan fo-cused on cash-flow concerns inthe present should also factor inlong-term financial needs, saidEric Tyson, a personal finance ex-pert and author of “Mind OverMoney: Your Path to Wealth andHappiness.”
To gauge how well-preparedyou are for a potentially long peri-od of retirement, he suggests youuse the free planning calculatorsprovided by such mutual fundcompanies as Vanguard and T.
Rowe Price.“Before making any mortgage
commitment, the sensible thing isto first tally up your assets and lia-bilities. Making a move doesn’tmean you have to be house poor.But you do need to plan,” said Ty-son, co-author of “Home Buyingfor Dummies.”
I Take into account the extratime a bigger property couldcost you.
Suppose your housing dreaminvolves a much bigger propertycomplete with elaborate gardens.If an assessment of your financesindicates you could afford it,should you go ahead on that basisalone?
Not without considering theimplications for your time, Tysonsaid.
“Time is precious, especially inretirement. And keeping up a real-ly big home can be draining onboth the physical and emotionallevels,” Tyson said. “For a lot of re-tired people, spending time withfriends and family is more impor-tant than keeping up a big house.”
YUKON — Here’s a storyGenie Vinson won’t tellyou herself:
A gentleman stranded inYukon, unable to afford a$100 part to fix his car, wasreferred to CompassionateHands, the outreach orga-nization formed 20 yearsago by the Yukon Ministe-rial Alliance to provide aidon a case-by-case basis toYukon’s neediest cases.
But it was a toughmonth. CompassionateHands, a nonprofit thatoperates on donations andgrants, was down to its last$24.
Vinson, apprised of thesituation, paid for the partherself and got the man onhis way.
“Genie is always willingto help,” Sanders said.
Sanders said Vinsonpersonally solicits “thou-sands of dollars a year” indonations for the agency.“When you live on dona-tions, you need dedicatedvolunteers” like Vinson,she said.
Vinson, a 28-year veter-an Realtor and an associatewith Keller Williams Real-ty in Yukon, said she’s justproud that CompassionateHands can make a differ-ence in so many lives.
Her fellow Realtors rec-ognized her dedication tothe organization late lastyear with the Open DoorAward presented by theOklahoma Association ofRealtors.
The award is presentedto Realtors who “give un-selfishly to improve theworld around themthrough community ser-vice,” said Joe Pryor, presi-dent of the association andan associate with RedbudRealty & Associates in Ed-mond. The Realtors grouppresented the $1,000
award to CompassionateHands in Vinson’s name.
Vinson has served mul-tiple terms on the Com-passionate Hands board,in addition to knocking ondoors and working thephones when the organi-zation’s two annual fund-
Realtor provides helping handCHARITY | GENIE VINSON RECEIVES OPEN DOOR AWARD FOR SUPPORT OF COMPASSIONATE HANDS OUTREACH
Genie Vinson, a longtime Realtor who is with Keller Williams Realty in Yukon, received the Open Door Awardlate last year from the Oklahoma Association of Realtors for her work with Compassionate Friends of Yukon.She is shown at one of her listings, 1600 Kingsgate in Yukon. PHOTOS BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Your Best Cards, was Feb.15 at Yukon’s First UnitedMethodist Church — “BY-OC,” bring your own cardsor other games. Partici-pants were treated to ko-laches made by the UnitedMethodist Women group.Several Yukon businessessponsored the event, pro-viding lunch, snacks andtickets for some whomight not have otherwisebeen able to attend.
“We did really well,”Sanders said, with in-creased participation anddonations over last year’sevent.
Next up is the StilettoFun Run, scheduled forMay 2 in Yukon. In 2012 theevent brought in morethan $8,000 in donations— “thanks to Genie,”Sanders said.
“We’re hoping to top$10,000 this year,” sheadded.
Vinson said that she wasattracted to Compassion-ate Hands because “theywant to help people stuckin a cycle” to get out of itthrough counseling, bud-geting classes and otherpractical outreach mea-sures.
“It’s just like I alwaystried to teach my ownkids,” said Vinson, whoraised her two sons in Yu-kon and now has sevengrandchildren and 10great-grandchildren.
“I have a lot of boys,”Vinson added with achuckle.
Vinson said real estatehas been a good career forher.
“I’ve never been a 9-to-5 person,” she said.
She earned her real es-tate license and startedworking for Marolyn PryorRealtors during what Vin-son called “the height ofthe bust” of themid-1980s.
“Some of my listingshad birthdays,” she re-called about houses thatsat on the market for morethan a year.
Vinson said she“learned fast” how to han-dle lender-owned proper-ties, wading through years’worth of depressed inven-tory, always with the vi-sion “to rebuild the com-munity.”
To this day, Vinson con-siders working as a Realtorher way of serving the Yu-kon community.
She spent a recentmorning preparing a newlisting at 1600 KingsgateCourt, a 2,800-square foothome built in 1994 that shesaid features “tons of stor-
age” and a backyard put-ting green.
The four-bedroom,four-bath, light-filledhome is built around aspacious, granite-toppedkitchen and an open livingroom-dining room withfireplace. The two-storyhouse has two bedroomsdownstairs, including a gi-ant master suite. The up-stairs bedrooms are linkedto a central game roomwith wet bar, opening upto a deck with a view overthe backyard.
The home is listed for$280,000, or $100 a squarefoot.
Vinson said that Yukon“did not participate” in therecession of the past sev-eral years, experiencinginstead “a steady real es-tate market” throughout,although, she said, somebuyers are still havingtrouble getting qualifiedfor the financing theyneed.
The home at 1600 Kingsgate in Yukon has an expansive master bath. PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL FOR THE OKLAHOMAN
This view of the entry is from the balcony at 1600 Kingsgate in Yukon. PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Holstein-patterned stools add a touch of whimsy tothe kitchen island at 1600 Kingsgate in Yukon.
PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Genie Vinson was competitor No. 5 at last year’s Stiletto Fun Run to raise moneyfor Compassionate Hands in Yukon. The Oklahoma Association of Realtors recog-nized her contributions to the ecumenical ministry with an Open Door Award.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Play Your Best Cards, a fundraiser for CompassionateHands, was Feb. 15 at First United Methodist Churchin Yukon, with 132 players participating in games frombridge to Mah Jongg. PHOTO PROVIDED
Vinson: Enjoys real estateFROM PAGE 1E
THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 . 3EREAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON — Jeanette Ogle, a92-year-old widow with a reversemortgage on her house, got a hugebirthday surprise last week: Shedid not lose her home at a sched-uled foreclosure auction that haddrawn scrutiny from federal andstate agencies and consumer ad-vocates.
Because of obscure federal rulesthat critics say have snared unwit-ting elderly homeowners acrossthe country, Ogle’s home in LakeHavasu City, Ariz., had been setfor foreclosure Feb. 27, her birth-day. But after interventions on herbehalf by the federal ConsumerFinancial Protection Bureau,AARP and the Arizona attorneygeneral’s office, the auction wascanceled.
In a letter to Ogle, the companythat ordered the foreclosure, Re-verse Mortgage Solutions Inc. ofSpring, Texas, said it changed itsplans and is now “committed toallow you to remain in your home”and will “take no action to dis-place you as long as the mortgageagreement … is not in default.”
According to government esti-mates, more than 9 percent of allfederally insured reverse mortgag-es — the ones hawked on TV byHenry “the Fonz” Winkler, amongothers — were in default in 2012.This is especially significant be-cause so many reverse mortgageborrowers, like Ogle, are in their80s and 90s, living on Social Se-curity, and may be unaware of cer-tain fine-print details about their
loans.Reverse mortgages work just as
the name implies: Rather than theborrower paying the lender, thelender provides money to thehomeowner, secured by a mort-gage on their property. Borrowersunder the most popular form ofreverse loan, insured by the Feder-al Housing Administration, mustbe 62 or older to qualify. As a gen-eral rule, the principal and interestbalances owed do not become dueand payable until the borrowermoves out, sells the house, dies orfails to pay property taxes or haz-ard insurance premiums.
One technicality tucked away inFHA’s regulations can snag own-ers whose spouse dies after takingout the reverse mortgage. If thesurviving spouse’s name does notappear on the mortgage docu-ments, the outstanding debt bal-ance becomes due and payable. Ifthe surviving spouse can’t affordto buy the house to make thepayoff, the property may be put upfor foreclosure sale.
Ogle’s situation illustrates theproblem: She did nothing wrong.Ogle and her late husband, John,
who died in 2010, refinanced a re-verse mortgage in 2007. ThoughOgle believed her name remainedon the mortgage documents andshe was a co-borrower, a loan offi-cer listed only John’s name. Oglesaid she never agreed to her namebeing removed and suspectsfraud.
When her husband passedaway, the loan balance becamedue and payable. Bank of America— the servicer of the mortgage onbehalf of Fannie Mae, the big na-tional loan investor — informedOgle of the FHA rule. She com-plained to the Arizona attorneygeneral’s office, which negotiatedan agreement with Bank of Amer-ica that it would not foreclose.Subsequently, however, when theservicing contract was transferredto Reverse Mortgage Solutions,that firm renewed the threat offoreclosure and set the date for thesale.
Reverse Mortgage Solutions re-fused to comment on the matter.Meanwhile, Ogle’s son, Bob, filedcomplaints with the ConsumerFinancial Protection Bureau andwith the state attorney general,seeking their help in saving hismother’s home. He told me in aninterview that “I don’t think mymother could survive a move, shejust couldn’t handle foreclosure.”Fannie Mae, owner of the loan,expressed sympathy for her situa-tion and promised not to evict her,but would not postpone thescheduled foreclosure.
Enter the Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau. Though pre-cisely how it brokered the finalresolution of Ogle’s problem hasnot been made public, its inter-vention into the case appears tohave been a catalyst. Bank ofAmerica, which had made apromise in 2010 to Ogle not toforeclose simply because hername was missing from the docu-ments, purchased her loan fromFannie Mae and now owns it. Thebank then canceled the Feb. 27auction.
“We wanted to stay true to ourcommitment,” said Dan Frahm, aspokesman for Bank of America.“So we bought back the loan.”
Ogle’s reaction? “Oh, I’m oncloud nine,” she said. “I’m stayingput in my house. I don’t have tomove. And even though I’m 92,I’ve got all my marbles — so every-body should know I plan to bearound for a while.”
Oh, I’m on cloudnine. I’m staying putin my house.”
JEANETTE OGLE92-YEAR-OLD WIDOW
Prudential Alliance Re-alty has formed a PremiumListing Partnership withthe nation’s second lead-ing real estate website,Trulia.com.
“Our decision to createthis partnership was aneasy one. Trulia’s reach tohomebuyers throughoutthe country will dramat-ically increase the alreadyunsurpassed level of onlineexposure our sales profes-sionals are able to providetheir listed properties,”said Jared Kennedy, direc-tor of strategic operationsfor Prudential Alliance Re-alty.
Charis Moreno, seniormanager of strategic part-nerships for Trulia, saidthat Premium Listingsbenefit from increasedvisibility on the website.
“Sixty-eight percent ofour audience are not onother real estate websites,and 61 percent plan to buywithin the next sixmonths. In addition, 42percent are prequalified fora mortgage,” Moreno said.
“A Premium Listing onTrulia results in prominentplacement among searchresults. When a visitor
searches for a home in theOklahoma City area, Pru-dential listings will behighly visible.”
Prudential forms listing partnershipFROM STAFF REPORTS
Don and Marlene Laddhave moved to ParadigmAdvantEdge’s south office,1530 SW 119, as real estatesales associates.
Marlene Ladd was bornin Stillwater, grew up insouth Oklahoma City andhas been selling real estatein the metro area for 36years. Previously, sheworked at Tinker Air ForceBase for a number of years.
Don Ladd is a lifetimeresident of Oklahoma Cityand graduated from theUniversity of Oklahomawith a degree in education.He taught in the OklahomaCity public school systemfor several years and thenstarted a career in mort-gage and banking.
Marlene Ladd
Don Ladd
Ladds moveto Paradigm
Mark Murphy hasmoved to ParadigmAdvantEdge’s north officeat 16301 N May Ave. as aresidential real estate salesassociate.
He has worked in realestate sales for 15 years andspecializes in historicalhomes and luxury homesin Oklahoma City and Ed-mond. After graduatingfrom McGuinness HighSchool, he attended theUniversity of Oklahoma ona tennis scholarship andgraduated with a bache-lor’s of business adminis-tration in finance. He pur-sued graduate studies intax accounting at the Uni-versity of California at LosAngeles.
Before turning to realestate, Murphy was thecontroller of a national lawfirm, a licensed securitiesexecutive for a West Coastinvestment company andwas a production account-ant in the making of sever-al motion pictures. Heachieved world ranking onthe American Tennis Pro-fessionals Tour in 1986.
Mark Murphy
Murphy movesto Paradigm
Misha McCollom hasjoined Churchill-Brown &Associates Realtors officeat 4401 W Memorial Roadas a real estate sales asso-ciate.
Previously, she workedin retail management fornearly a decade.
Misha McCollom
Churchill-Brownadds McCollom
4E . SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COMREAL ESTATE
DEAR BARRY: We arebuying a house. The homeinspection is scheduled fornext week, but we’re notsure what to do once weget the report. Is the in-spection report just for ourinformation, or can we useit to negotiate with thesellers? Can we walk awayfrom the deal if we don’tlike the report, or are weobligated to go ahead withthe purchase? What canyou tell us about this?
AlanDEAR ALAN: A home
inspection empowers youwith essential options as abuyer, but with some limi-tations. In the majority ofhome sales, the deal iscontingent upon the
buyers’ acceptance of thehome inspection report.This means that you, asbuyer, have a specifiednumber of days to acceptor decline the property in“as is” condition. If youdecline acceptance, youhave four basic choices:
I Ask the sellers to makea few repairs.
I Ask the sellers to makemany repairs.
I Ask the sellers to re-duce the sales price.
I Decline to purchasethe property.
If you request repairs ora price adjustment, basedupon the home inspectionreport, the sellers also havechoices. They can:
I Agree to all of your re-
quests.I Agree to some of your
requests.I Agree to none of your
requests.I Decline to sell you the
property.The sellers’ only obliga-
tion is to address defectsthat are named in the pur-chase contract or requiredby state and local laws. Ifthe contract specifies an
“as is” sale, the sellers mayrefuse to make repairs ofany kind or to adjust theprice in any way. Lawfulexceptions may includestrapping water heaters forearthquake safety, provid-ing smoke and carbonmonoxide alarms in spec-ified locations, or upgrad-ing plumbing fixtures forwater conservation.
As long as you are in thecontingency period of yourtransaction, the choice tobuy the property or to walkaway from the deal is en-tirely yours. This is yourdiscovery period, the timeto learn what you are buy-ing and to decide whetherto proceed with the pur-chase or to renegotiate the
terms of the sale.DEAR BARRY: We have
old steel-frame windowsin our home and would liketo minimize heat loss.Rather than install dual-pane replacement win-dows, we’d like to installinside windows and leavethe old windows in place.This might not look asgood, but we don’t wantthe mess and expense ofremoving the old win-dows. Do you think this is agood idea?
WalterDEAR WALTER: Add-
ing interior windows willprobably reduce heat lossfrom your home, but vinyl-frame, dual-panereplacement windows are
likely to do this much moreeffectively. Removal of theold windows is not as mes-sy and expensive as youmight think and does notinvolve removing theframes from the walls.
When replacementwindows are installed, theold glass and dividers areremoved, and the replace-ment windows are in-stalled over the old metalframes. Check out theprices for replacementwindows before buying theinterior windows you hadin mind.
To write to Barry Stone, visit him on theweb at www.housedetective.com.
ACTION COAST PUBLISHING
What to do after your home inspectionBarryStone
INSPECTOR’S IN THEHOUSE
WASHINGTON — U.S.sales of previously occu-pied homes rose in Januaryto the second-highest levelin three years, a sign thatthe housing market is sus-taining its recovery andhelping bolster the econo-my.
The National Associ-ation of Realtors said thatsales rose 0.4 percent inJanuary compared withDecember to a seasonallyadjusted annual rate of4.92 million. That was thesecond-highest sales pacesince November 2009,when a temporary homebuyer tax credit had boost-ed sales.
The median price for ahome sold in January was$173,600, a 12.3-percentincrease from a year ago.
Analysts said purchaseswould be higher if morehomes were available. Thesupply of homes for saledropped to nearly aneight-year low in January.
The 1.74 million previ-ously owned homes forsale at the end of Januaryrepresented a 4.2-monthsupply at January’s salespace. That’s the lowestsupply since April 2008.
Lawrence Yun, chiefeconomist for the Realtors,said sellers normally beginlisting homes in Februaryin advance of the springbuying season. But he saidthis increase might not beenough to alleviate thetight supply.
The inventory of homesfor sale is 25.3 percent be-low the level a year ago,when there was a 6.2-month supply of unsoldhomes.
In December, sales de-clined to a seasonally ad-justed annual rate of 4.9million from 4.96 millionin November, according torevised figures. The De-cember drop was linked, inpart, to the tight supply ofhomes.
For all of 2012, sales roseto 4.66 million, accordingto revised estimates. Thatwas 9.4 percent more thanin 2011 and the most since2007. But even with the
gain, sales were below the5.5 million that economistsassociate with a healthymarket.
Analysts foresee furthergains this year. Steady hir-ing and near-record-lowmortgage rates have helpedboost sales and prices inmost markets. Still, salesare being held back by thelow supply.
First-time buyers, whoare critical to a housing re-covery, made up only 30percent of sales in January,unchanged from Decem-ber. That’s well below the40 percent typical in ahealthy market.
And since the housingbubble burst more than sixyears ago, banks have im-posed tighter credit stan-dards and required largerdown payments. Thosepolicies have left manywould-be buyers unable toqualify for super-lowmortgage rates.
The average U.S. rate ona 30-year fixed mortgage is3.56 percent. That’s nearthe 3.31 percent reached inNovember, the lowest onrecords dating to 1971.
Rising demand forhomes is encouragingbuilders to step up pro-duction. In January, build-ers started construction ata seasonally adjusted an-nual rate of 890,000homes. That was downfrom December but wasstill the third-highest pacesince mid-2008 and near-ly 24 percent above thelevel a year ago.
And applications forbuilding permits, a sign offuture construction, rosein January to their highestpoint since June 2008.
Home sales riseto 2nd-highestpace in 3 years
AP PHOTO
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Every dayLarry Schweber can see his8-year-old daughter comehome from school, evenwhile he’s at work. He getsa text message with a videoclip every time someonewalks through the frontdoor of his home in Geor-gia’s Ansley Park neigh-borhood.
The thermostats on thefirst floor start to rise au-tomatically at 5:30 a.m.every day and then lowerthe temperature at 8:30a.m., once everyone hasleft the house. The ther-mostats adjust again whenLily Schweber comeshome after school and atnight they rise to warm thebedrooms upstairs whilethe family is sleeping.
Welcome to the “con-nected home,” the newway of managing yourhome’s security system,lights, temperature andentertainment systems. Byusing an app on a smart-phone or tablet, consum-ers now can turn lights onand off, let in a deliveryperson or see whethertheir kids are doing theirhomework — from any-where in the world.
Programmable sensorsand cameras help monitormovement, detect risingcarbon monoxide levelsand signal if there’s risingwater so consumers knowabout possible burglaries,water leaks and otheremergencies immediately.Companies are toutingpeace of mind as well aslower homeowner’s insur-ance and utility bills be-cause of the extra layers ofsecurity and energy man-agement.
AT&T Mobility devel-oped its Digital Life systemin Atlanta and has beentesting the system thereand in Dallas. The nation’sNo. 2 wireless companywill start selling the pack-ages in those cities and sixother markets soon. Thecompany is pushing theconcept of having every-thing in your home re-
motely accessible fromanywhere at any time,CEO Ralph de la Vega said.
“This way you know ifthe (coffee) pot is off, thegarage doors are down andwhat the weather is like,”de la Vega said, no matterwhere you are.
For companies likeAT&T Mobility and Com-cast, already giants in thetelecommunications in-dustry, pushing into homeautomation is one way toexpand their services andraise the competitivestakes.
AT&T is selling its pack-age to any consumer, re-gardless of wireless pro-vider, giving the companythe widest market optionsavailable.
Customers of Comcast’sXFinity Home system alsomust have the company’sbroadband Internet. ButComcast’s connected sys-tems offer wider enter-tainment options that in-clude Facebook and Pan-dora apps for your TV andthe ability to downloadmovies and TV shows andwatch them on a smart-phone or tablet.
“It’s about taking yourservices with you or being
at your house when youcan’t be,” said CharlieHerrin, Comcast’s seniorvice president of productdesign.
Home automation hasbeen around for years, butthe systems used to costthousands of dollars, mak-ing them affordable onlyfor the richest homeown-ers. Changes in technologyand the ability to controlthe systems using smart-phones and tablets havehelped bring down theprice and make them morewidely available.
“It’s something that willgrow initially slowly,” saidRoger Entner, a telecom-munications analyst withBoston-based Recon Ana-lytics. But, he said, onceyou’ve seen it, “you’rethinking, ‘I can use that,and it’s not that expen-sive.’”
The systems — typicallya package of cameras, sen-sors and other devices —range from $200 to $400to buy, but can be more ex-pensive depending on ad-ditional features. Servicefees can start as low as $30a month for some basicpackages but can run morethan $100 for premium
services.“The moment that the
savings are really showing(on insurance and utilitybills), that’s when this re-ally becomes a no-brain-er,” Entner said.
Insurance companiesoffer discounts for addi-tional home monitoringsystems. The amount cus-tomers save depends onthe type of monitoringservice and features thatare included, an Allstatespokesman said.
Users of traditionalhome security systems areslow to add the “connect-ed features,” said Jim Call-ahan, CEO of Atlanta’sAckerman Security, whichhas transformed its sys-tems from using tradition-al wires and landlinephones to a wireless onethat can be controlled by aremote device.
About 25 percent to 30percent of new customerswant the additional ther-mostat monitoring sys-tems, remote lock devicesand cameras.
“Not everybody we’retalking to is clamoring forit,” he said.
MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
This Comcast XFinity console allows home customer Larry Schweber to control the all-digital security mon-itoring system at his Atlanta home. MCT PHOTOS
New technology monitorshome from smartphone
Comcast XFinity home customer Larry Schweber is able to watch TV shows re-motely through his iPad or turn on his alarm, view video camera angles or turn onlights from his smartphone as part of the all-digital security monitoring system athis Atlanta home.
BY KRISTI E. SWARTZThe AtlantaJournal-Constitution
THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 . 5EREAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES — Actor Ja-son Bateman and his wife,actress Amanda Anka, aredropping anchor in the Be-verly Crest area with thepurchase of the estate ofErnest Borgnine for $3million.
The gated country En-glish compound sits on ahalf-acre knoll. The 6,148-square-foot home featuresa formal entry hall, a grandstaircase, a paneled library,an office, a den, six bed-rooms and seven bath-rooms. There is a guest-house and a swimmingpool.
Bateman, 44, stars inthe comic film “IdentifyThief,” released lastmonth. He is known togenerations of TV viewersfor his roles in “ArrestedDevelopment” (2003-pre-sent) and “Valerie,” laterretitled “The Hogan Fam-ily” (1986-91). Anka, 44,has appeared in “Bones”(2008), “Notes From theUnderbelly” (2007) and“Beverly Hills, 90210”(1996).
Borgnine, who died lastyear at 95, is rememberedfor his Oscar-winningperformance in “Marty”(1955) and his work in thetitle role as commander ofa madcap crew in the sit-com “McHale’s Navy”(1962-65). Until 2011 hewas the voice of Mermaid-man on “SpongeBobSquarePants.”
The estate came on themarket in October for thefirst time in 60 years,priced at $3.395 million.
The 25-acre ocean-viewestate, which includes asingle-level custom home,a swimming pool, fruittrees and a guesthouse,was designed as a creativeenvironment. Avocadoranches sit on both sides of
the property.Features include solar
power, an art studio and ascreening room whereBreathed worked for thelast 12 years on Hollywoodprojects, including “MarsNeeds Moms” (2011) and“Secondhand Lions”(2003). There are five bed-rooms, five bathrooms and5,241 square feet of livingspace.
He is selling the con-temporary Mediterraneanto be closer to his chil-dren’s school.
“I’d gotten quite used toworking high above theSanta Barbara clouds in aXanadu-like studio thatappears designed for Cap-tain Nemo,” Breathed said.“Their particular schoolforced a painful decision tocome back to downtownEarth.”
Breathed, 55, won thePulitzer for editorial car-tooning in 1987 for “BloomCounty.” Among the au-thor, novelist and screen-writer’s other comic stripswere “Outland” and“Opus.” His most recentfilm project is his novel“Flawed Dogs,” presentlyin development at Dream-Works Studios.
Rock on — and onHard Rock Cafe co-
founder Peter Morton hasmade his mark on L.A.’s re-al estate scene of late, buy-ing the old Elvis Presleyestate in Beverly Hills atyear-end for $9.8 million.
But flying under the ra-dar was his bigger off-market purchase midyearfor a property in Bel-Air at$25 million, public recordsshow.
Area real estate agentsnot involved in the trans-action said Morton plansto take down the existinghome and build another onthe site.
The estate had belongedto Joseph Farrell, whofounded National Re-search Group Inc. in 1978and brought market test-ing to Hollywood. Farrelldied in December 2011.
The gated Beverly Hillscompound that Morton
bought — once home tothe iconic rock ’n’ rollsinger and his wife, Pris-cilla — encompasses 1.18acres. The French
Regency-style house, builtin 1958, features four bed-rooms, five bathrooms,5,367 square feet of livingspace and an attached
guesthouse. There is aswimming pool, a four-carcarport and a motor courtand spa.
The property had been
listed in October at $12.995million.
MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
Jason Bateman buys Borgnine estate
The Ernest Borgnine estate in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles sold for $3 million. It was listedfor $3.395 million. MCT PHOTOS
Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed has listed his mountainside retreat in Santa Barbara, Calif., for $4.95 million.
BY LAUREN BEALELos Angeles Times
The Listing of the Weekis a brick home less than amile from downtown Ed-mond that is suited tofirst-time buyers or an in-vestor.
The 1,006-square-foothome at 824 Cedar CrestDrive has three bedrooms,1½ baths, one living room,one dining area and an at-
tached single-car garage.The living room has a ceil-ing fan. The kitchen haseating space and a ceilingfan. The master bedroomhas a half-bath, ceiling fanand walk-in closet. Thehome has an open patioand a large backyard and a2010 roof.
The home, built in 1974,
is listed for $85,000 withLaurie Patterson, of KellerWilliams Realty. For moreinformation, call 330-2626 or 826-2589.
Nominations for Listing of the Weekare welcome. Send a copy of the MLSinformation sheet on a single-familyhome to The Oklahoman, Richard Mize,P.O. Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK73125. Nominations may be faxed to475-3996.
LISTING OF THE WEEK: 824 CEDAR CREST DRIVE, EDMOND
The Listing of the Week is at 824 Cedar Crest Drive in Edmond. PHOTO PROVIDED
Q. I completed a shortsale on my home, and theagreement didn’t ad-dress whether I still wason the hook for the forgi-ven debt. I was justserved with a lawsuitfrom a mortgage insur-ance company thatwants me to pay the defi-ciency. What’s going on?
A: I’m seeing more ofthese lawsuits. A commonmisconception about pri-vate mortgage insurance isthat it protects the bor-rower. In reality, while theborrower pays for this in-surance, it actually is de-signed to protect yourlender if you default on themortgage.
Not all loans have PMI.But if yours does, and youcomplete a short sale or
lose the home in foreclo-sure, your lender can makean insurance claim withthe PMI company. Thecompany then can stand inyour lender’s shoes to tryand collect the moneyback from you, a legal con-cept known as “subroga-tion.”
The theory is that be-cause your actions result-ed in the insurer having topay the claim, the compa-ny can seek repayment
from you. You can respondto this lawsuit by makingthe company prove it hasthe right to collect the de-ficiency, just as you wouldmake the lender prove ithas the right to foreclose.
You may be able to settlewith the insurer for lessthan the full amount youowe. Of course, if the defi-ciency had been previouslywaived by your lender inthe short sale or foreclo-sure, you don’t have toworry about any of this.That’s why it’s so impor-tant to make sure the lend-er forgives the debt.
Gary M. Singer is a Florida attorney andboard-certified as an expert in realestate law by the Florida Bar. Send himquestions online athttp://sunsent.nl/mR20t7 or follow himon Twitter @GarySingerLaw.
MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
Mortgage insurer can suefor debt after short sale
GaryM.Singer
REAL ESTATE LAW
John Santos, of Los Angeles, wants hishome to be a healthy gathering place forfamily and friends, some of whom are re-covering from major illness. As part of hiseffort, he recently had his home’s duct-work professionally cleaned.
“I wanted to make certain the air thatthey were breathing was as clean as it pos-sibly could be,” said Santos, 54, a highschool technology teacher. “Especiallyliving in a city like Los Angeles, where theair quality can really be poor and cleaningthe air systems can provide value.”
Although many homeowners considerduct cleaning a way to make their indoorair cleaner, research on whether it can re-ally create a healthier home is in the earlystages.
The Environmental Protection Agencyrecommends looking into duct cleaningafter fires, floods, pest infestations and inhazardous waste situations, or if you cansee particles coming out of your ducts.Otherwise, the agency says it’s not neces-sary for the average household.
Tom Keys, president of Atlantic DuctCleaning in Sterling, Va., said his compa-ny has done more than 80,000 duct-cleaning jobs, and that many customersreport back that they have better air qual-ity, a cleaner home and lower energycosts.
“Most of the people who do it, do it forpeace of mind,” Keys said. His company
has found all sorts of items in ductworkbeyond dirt and grime, including classrings and rare baseball cards.
Keys encourages homeowners to askduct-cleaning technicians for evidencethat there is dirt in the ducts that shouldbe removed.
Jodi Araujo, executive director of theNational Air Duct Cleaners Association,said homeowners can tell when ducts aredirty by simply removing a register cover,inserting a camera and clicking a photo.
On the other hand, John DeSilvia, acontractor and host of DIY Network’s“Rescue My Renovation,” doesn’t gener-ally recommend duct cleaning to home-owners. It’s normal for dirt to accumulateand stick to the sides of air ducts, he said.The exception, he said, is if there’s visiblemold growth.
If you do have ductwork cleaned, he ad-vises getting a few estimates and ensuringthat the service you hire uses high-pow-ered equipment to capture what they dis-lodge.
Duct cleaning gives somehomeowners peace of mind
A technician uses a brush to cleanductwork. AP PHOTO
BY AMY LORENTZENAssociated Press
6E . SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM6E . SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COMREAL ESTATE
Oklahoma CityFrankfurt Short Bruza,
4001 N Lincoln Blvd., of-fice, remodel, $5,000,000.
First Mortgage Co., willhave a representative onhand to answer questionsabout home loans. Amer-ican Eagle Title Co. willprovide lunch and refresh-ments.
For more information,call Sandy Vereb, sales andmarketing director for
Rausch Coleman Homes,at 694-5353. Or call com-munity managers MandyAllee at 420-1616 or KristyStevens at 208-2684.
Canyon Creek andBrighton Point are RauschColeman Homes’ Mus-tang-area neighborhoods.
MUSTANG — Rausch Co-leman Homes LLC willpresent a new home own-ership seminar free for thepublic from 11a.m. to 1p.m.March 9 at Mustang Com-munity Center, 1201 NMustang Road.
Rausch ColemanHomes’ preferred lender,
Home ownership seminar March 9
THE OKLAHOMANTHE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 . 7E
The Encino’s imagina-tive floor plan, composedof three hexagonal mod-ules joined by two rectan-gles, invites curiosity fromonlookers and creates nu-merous interior angles.
This rustic-lookinghome is a natural for awoodsy site, or a sea or la-keshore lot, but is equallywell-suited to an urbansetting.
Despite its intriguingshape, the Encino is nei-ther more complicated normore expensive to buildthan others in the midsizerange. And although everyroom has an odd angle ortwo, each also has at leastone square corner.
Vast expanses of glass inthe living room and kitch-en take advantage of apanoramic view to the rear,whether it be a natural set-ting or artful landscaping.A wide rear deck unifiesthe elements and expandsthe already generous livingspace still further.
In the kitchen, a range-oven and microwave ovenare centered in the eatingbar that marks the junc-ture between kitchen anddining room. A step-inpantry is nearby, and asmall utility room andpowder room are equallyconvenient to the kitchenand garage.
The owners’ suite has agenerous walk-in closet,double vanity and an ele-vated spa tub. The Enci-no’s other bedrooms share
a bathroom with a combi-nation bath and shower.
A review plan of the Encino 10-016,including floor plans, elevations, sectionand artist’s conception, can bepurchased for $25 by phone, mail or
online. Add $5 for shipping and handling.Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Drive,Eugene, OR, 97402. www.associateddesigns.com. (800) 634-0123.
HOUSE PLAN
Floor plan invites curiosity
Mortgage delinquencies posted significant declines atthe end of 2012, signaling that distress in the housingmarket is diminishing just as prices rebound and demandsurges.
The national delinquency rate for mortgage loans onone- to four-unit properties fell to 7.09 percent, accord-ing to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That was thelowest level since 2008. It was also a decline from 7.4percent the previous quarter and 7.58 percent during thesame period the year before.
“We are seeing large improvements in mortgage per-formance nationally and in almost every state,” said JayBrinkmann, chief economist for the mortgage bankersgroup.
“With fewer new delinquencies, the foreclosure startrate and foreclosure inventory rates continue to fall andare at their lowest levels since 2007 and 2008, respec-tively.”
The number of loans that were seriously delinquent —those gone more than three months without a paymentor in the process of foreclosure — dropped to 6.78 per-cent, down from 7.03 percent the previous quarter and7.73 percent during the same period a year before.
The only note of caution flagged by the association:The number of loans that were more than 90 days delin-quent increased to 3.04 percent, up from 2.96 percentthe quarter before but down from 3.35 percent during thesame period a year before.
The declines in delinquencies come as home pricesrise. One measure of national home prices rose lastmonth with a vigor not seen since the bubble days as thenumber of foreclosed homes and other distressed prop-erties on the market shrank.
The median sales price for previously owned U.S.homes rose 12.3 percent annually in January to $173,600,the National Association of Realtors said.
It was the 11th consecutive month of annual increasesand the strongest such gain since November 2005.
Delinquencies onmortgages fall ashome prices riseBY MCT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
8E . SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COMREAL ESTATE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. —The sunken tub inside themaster bathroom has po-tential. But the dusty, dat-ed black countertop is agoner.
“Back in 1982, some-body thought that wasawesome. We don’t,” saidAndrew Ginsburg, an ex-ecutive with WaypointHomes, whose subsidiarybought the bank-ownedproperty last month for$160,000.
The three-bedroom,mint green residence inLauderhill, Fla., also isgetting a paint job, newcarpeting and appliances— all part of a face-lift de-signed to attract a renterwilling to pay more than$2,000 a month.
Oakland, Calif.-basedWaypoint started buyingproperties in South Floridalate last year, one of agrowing number of invest-ment firms pouring mil-lions into distressed realestate nationwide.
Malibu, Calif.-basedAmerican Homes 4 Rentbought more than 200Florida homes last year,according to figures fromRealtyTrac Inc. New York-based private equity giantBlackstone Group was be-hind the acquisition of 166properties.
In all, dozens of compa-nies scooped up more than5,200 Florida homes in2012, figures show.
Although the foreclo-sure crisis is easing, Flor-ida remains a hotbed fordistressed homes, analystssaid.
The Sunshine Stateposted the country’s high-est foreclosure rate in Jan-uary for the fifth month ina row, RealtyTrac said.
Florida had 29,800 prop-erties in the foreclosureprocess last month, whichalso led the nation. Thou-sands of other delinquenthomeowners are on theverge of foreclosure.
Most of the bulk buyersare acquiring three- andfour-bedroom homes inthe $100,000-to-$400,000 range withplans to fix them up andcapitalize on a robust rent-
al market.“As part of this process,
not only are we improvingneighborhoods and pro-viding high-quality homesto our tenants, but we areemploying thousands of
local contractors acrossthe country, supportinglocal businesses, and ulti-mately stimulating localeconomies,” Mark Beiss-wanger, chief operatingofficer of InvitationHomes, said in a state-ment. Invitation wasformed last year by Black-stone to buy foreclosures.
In some cases, the firmsare buying short sales andforeclosures that nevermake it on to local multiplelisting services.
“It probably will helpthe housing market recov-er faster by disposing ofthese properties in chunksrather than individually,”said Daren Blomquist,spokesman for RealtyTrac,an Irvine, Calif.-basedforeclosure listing firm.“But individual buyers arebeing cut out of the proc-ess. The biggest loser is thepotential homebuyer whowants to get a home in thismarket.”
South Florida real estateagent Michael Citron saida few of his clients haverun up against these in-vestment firms. But Ci-tron downplayed the im-pact of companies rehab-bing and renting fore-closed homes in bulk.
“It’s definitely happen-ing, but they’re not takingover the market,” he said.“I think it’s a fad.”
Mike Larson, a housinganalyst with Weiss Re-search in Jupiter, Fla., saidthe companies are realiz-ing big profits. But at somepoint, the market couldbecome saturated, he said.
“The issue going for-ward is, when is there toomuch money chasing toofew deals?” Larson said.“If you’re going to get intothis, you have to make sureyou’re not another me-tooplayer.”
Ginsburg insists Way-point isn’t one of those.
While the company isnew to Florida, it hasbought and renovatedmore than 3,500 homesnationwide since 2008.The firm, co-founded byformer NFL place-kickerDoug Brien, is backed by$400 million in private eq-uity.
Waypoint’s AdalwinLLC has bought 27 homesin Florida’s BrowardCounty since late last year,property records show.Ginsburg wouldn’t dis-close how many homes thecompany is targeting innearby counties, sayingonly that it’s committed tothe region.
Once the homes arerenovated, Waypoint willrent to residents who signtwo-year leases. The ten-ants can earn “waypoints”for paying on time, main-taining the properties andattending financial fitnessclasses.
The company doesn’tsell the homes, thoughtenants are allowed to con-vert the points into cashthat can be used for downpayments to buy otherhomes after their leasesexpire.
Waypoint won’t rent tofelons or to people previ-ously evicted from a rental,but the company will lookpast a foreclosure. In fact,the typical Waypoint cli-ent struggled through thehousing collapse, gettingthe runaround from banksand harassed by collectionagencies, Ginsburg said.
“A lot of them probablyhave been treated verypoorly,” he said. “We neverwant them to have that ex-perience with us. We wantthem to feel heard and re-spected.”
MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
Investors flock to top foreclosure market: FloridaBY PAUL OWERSSun Sentinel
David Sullivan, a painter working for Waypoint Homes, paints a home bathroom inLauderhill, Fla. MCT PHOTOS
Andrew Ginsburg, regional director for Waypoint Homes, shows a house beingrenovated in Lauderhill, Fla. Waypoint Homes, based in California, is making apush into the South Florida market to buy, renovate and rent foreclosed homes.
THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 . 9EREAL ESTATE
Since my column on vaporbarriers first appeared, I’ve got-ten more reader questions onthis topic than on any other thatI can remember. I’ve had the op-portunity to talk with several ex-perts in the field, as well, andhere are some questions and an-swers that might help clear up afew more issues about this im-portant subject.
Q: I just purchased a house afew months ago and installedR-19 batt insulation in the attic(with paper facing up). I real-ized afterward this was notideal, but to save cost I left it asis. The house is shaded by lotsof trees and is still very cold soI’d like to add a second layer ofinsulation to the attic, perhapsanother unfaced R-19. I read inyour comments that the insu-lation paper has to face downwhen installing batt insulation.
What should I do with theexisting insulation? To allowthe air to flow, can I just makeincisions on the paper on thefirst batt, or can I remove thepaper from the first batt? Ordo I have to reverse the firstbatt such that the paper is fac-ing the inside of the house?Can I use unfaced R-19 as a sec-ond layer of insulation, or arethere better choices? I am try-ing to save cost.
A: The vapor barrier on the in-sulation is designed to face to-ward the heated space, so yes, itshould have been installed facingdown toward the house. Howev-er, most experts agree that be-tween the drywall and the paint
on the ceiling, you have a prettygood vapor barrier already, andwhatever moisture makes it intothe attic has sufficient avenuesof air movement to escape to theoutside through the attic vents(assuming your attic is properlyvented). So, you shouldn’t haveany problems installing a secondlayer of unfaced R-19 over theexisting layer. Install it perpen-dicular to the first layer for bestcoverage over the joists.
As far as better options areconcerned, blown-in insulationwill give you more uniform cov-erage over all the joists. To savemoney, you can rent the equip-ment from most home centers todo it yourself.
With either option, checkwith your local building depart-ment to be sure there aren’t anycode restrictions against insu-lating over the existing vaporbarrier.
Q: I am remodeling a bed-room, and I’m not going to in-sulate my interior walls until Iremodel the adjacent rooms(only insulating for sounddeadener) so I don’t tear upnew insulation on the next re-model. Do I need to put a plas-tic vapor barrier in the currentbedroom before I put drywallup?
A: The purpose of the vaporbarrier is to deal with moisturethat might get into your exteriorwalls and condense there in thecold weather, turning to liquidwater and creating mold orstructural damage. There’s noneed to create a vapor barrier in
walls between conditionedspaces, since the heat in thosespaces keeps the moisture fromcondensing.
Q: I recently had a new “polebuilding” garage built. It has ametal roof and siding, and aloft-storage area above the ga-rage. The whole building iswrapped with 2-inch insulationblanket, including between theroof and the 2-by-8 rafters. Iwant to fill the area in the ceil-ing between the rafters withinsulation and then dry wall.My question is about whethera vapor barrier or faced insula-tion batts should be used ornot. I would be putting new in-sulation up against the exist-ing blanket, which has thesmooth plastic side facing theinside. I want to eventually dothe same thing on the walls.
A: Here’s a bit of controversyfor you. I’m of the opinion thatwhen you install a second layerof insulation, you can create asituation where moisture canpass through the first layer andpotentially be trapped againstthe vapor barrier on the secondlayer (the smooth plastic facing),where it could condense into aliquid and cause damage. Howmuch of a risk that actually is
depends in large part on the hu-midity and temperature condi-tions in your area, as well as howmuch moisture is being createdby your use of the pole barn.
However, not all the expertsagree with me on this. As withthe previous question, othersfeel that there is ample opportu-nity for the moisture to escape,and that it won’t be trapped.
I’m not comfortable tellingyou to proceed with additionalinsulation, especially over a con-tinuous vapor barrier such as theone you describe. Since you justhad the building constructed,you need to err on the side ofcaution and talk with both yourlocal building department andthe original contractor beforeyou make any final decisions.
Q: I am a Realtor and I recent-ly got the results of a house in-spection where the inspectornoted that the vapor barrierdid not go all the way to thefoundation. The property own-er contacted the company thatinstalled the vapor barrier andwas advised that they alwaysleave a couple of feet of the soilexposed, because they wantthe crawl space to breathe.They say if they covered theentire crawl space all the mois-ture would be trapped underthe vapor barrier. Well, yes, Ithought that was the purposeof the vapor barrier. Shouldn’tit extend all the way to thefoundation?
A: You’re correct in assumingthat the vapor barrier is there tostop moisture from the soil from
coming up into the crawl space.If it’s only partly covering thesoil, it’s only partly doing its job.The crawl space does indeedneed to “breathe,” but it doesthat through its ventilationopenings, not by allowing excessmoisture to come up through theground.
If they’re going to install a va-por barrier, then the acceptedstandard is 6-mil black plasticsheeting installed directly on theground, with joints lapped 12inches at all seams and the plas-tic extending up the foundationwalls 12 inches all the way aroundthe crawl space. In addition tothe vapor barrier, foundationvents are required at a rate of 1square foot of vent area for every1,500 square feet of under-floorspace, and there has to be onevent opening within 3 feet of ev-ery corner of the building. Ifthey’re not going to cover theground completely, then theamount of ventilation needs toincrease dramatically, to 1 squarefoot of vent area for every 150square feet of floor area.
The people who installed thevapor barrier can’t have it bothways. I’m assuming they don’twant to come out and install abunch of foundation vents, soyour homeowner should havethem come back and finishproperly installing the remainderof the vapor barrier.
Remodeling and repair questions? Email Paul [email protected]. All product reviewsare based on the author’s actual testing of freereview samples provided by the manufacturers.
INMAN NEWS
Are your vapor barriers doing their job?PaulBianchina
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Easy Approval » Call for mapswww.property4sale.com
405-273-5777
FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERSFREE Downpayment Assistance
Available to Buy Your Home!NO Closing Costs - Save $1000'sCall for FREE list of 2-4bd homesPatrick w/Allied 405-740-6616
For Sale by Owner18420 Abierto Dr., 73012 Beauti-ful 2yo home in Valencia commu-
Open House Sat./Sun. 1pm-5pm2752 Warwick Dr Newly remodled
home for sale with sun room2bed, 1ba, 1 Car Garage, $109,900
Brent Stovall(405) 370-1279
PIEDMONT OPEN SUN 2-5Model home. New hms on 1/2
ac lots. From NW Expwy &Sara Rd go 4.5 mi N Cleaton &
Assoc 373-2494
Double Your Tax Refund up to$5,000!! Use refund & receiveVisa gift card with new homepurchase. No refund, use yourland/family land ZERO down. E-Zqualify by phone. WAC 631-7600
Double Your Tax Refund up to$5000 w/new home purchase.Don't prejudge credit. E-Z qualifyby phone. New & repo homesavailable 405-631-7600 WAC
Refurbished '93 Fleetwood 3bd 2bht & air in park. Yukon Schls.$19,995 owner will fin. 324-7566
Abandoned D/W set up on 6acres. Ready to move in. Many tochoose from. Statewide 631-7600
3 Bed, 2 Bath, Newly RemodeledDuplex! All Appliances Included! 2Car Garage, Fenced in Back Yard.$1100 per month, (less with longterm lease), plus $500 initial de-posit. Pets under 20 pounds Wel-come With Additional Deposit.
405-274-6299 or 405-274-9503.
2317 Woodward 1 bd 1 ba 1 car950sf $600/mo $400/dep
wash/dryer conn405-409-7989 no sec 8
1719 NW 1st 1bed 1bath $365681-7272
Bills PaidFurnished/Unfurnished
Weekly/Monthly 370-1077
6200 N College St, Warr Acres,big house, 3bd/2ba, new carpet,PC schls $1100/mo 405-410-2166
