F REAL ESTATE SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM INDEX Stone 5F Permits 6F HOUSE PLAN Versatile home The ranch-style Oak Hill, all on one level, is equally well suited for raising children and aging in place. PAGE 4F LISTING OF THE WEEK Designer finishes The Listing of the Week, with designer finishes and high-end features, is in Mustang’s Hunters Glen addition. PAGE 4F RULES DROPPED In a policy switch that could be impor- tant to thousands of applicants seeking low-down-payment home mortgages, the Federal Housing Administration re- scinded tough new credit restrictions that had been scheduled to take effect July 1. PAGE 3F IN BRIEF MULCH, WEED PREVENTER COMBINED Preen Mulch Plus puts mulch and weed pre- ven- ters together in one product. The bagged mulch is mixed with two pre-emergent herbicides for up to six months of weed prevention. Only a 2-inch-deep layer needs to be applied to suppress weed growth. The product is packaged regional- ly and is made of either shredded area hardwoods, fir, cedar, pine or mixes, tinted with iron oxide or carbon black. No treated or recycled wood products are used. A 2-cubic-foot bag covers up to 12 square feet. The mulch is available in three colors: mid- night black, russet red and chestnut brown. It sells for $4.49 at Lowe’s and at some independ- ent garden centers. BEAUTIFUL LAVENDER Some people grow lavender for its beauty, some for its fragrance, and some for its usefulness in recipes, craft pro- jects and household concoctions. What- ever the reason, “The Lavender Lov- er’s Handbook” can help. Author Sarah Berringer Bader addresses the best places to grow lav- ender, from climatic and aesthetic stand- points, and gives guidance on plant- ing, propagating, harvesting and dry- ing the plant. Reci- pes and craft pro- jects give the reader ways to enjoy laven- der outside the gar- den. “The Lavender Lover’s Handbook” is published by Timber Press and sells for $27.95 in hardcover. MCT INFORMATION SERVICES Do you find yourself in the position of having to buy a house and a car at the same time, due to a major life change? If so, to avoid over- spending, you’ll want to make the most prudent and cost-saving choices on your car purchase. That way you’ll maximize your chances of obtaining the best possible home, said Sid Davis, a real estate bro- ker and author of “A Sur- vival Guide for Buying a Home.” “Nowadays, those who make a strategic home purchase in a strong neighborhood can, at the minimum, expect that the property won’t go down in value. And over time, it could appreciate. Howev- er, a car isn’t an invest- ment because it’s bound to depreciate,” Davis said. Should homebuyers who are also buying a car choose a new vehicle or a used one? If possible, should they try to pay cash for the car or finance it? How can they determine the best choice in terms of safety, reliability and fuel economy? “Remember, if you buy a very expensive car with a big car loan, that could negatively impact your chances to buy the home you want or to get a mort- gage. Lenders hate seeing a huge car loan popping up on a borrower’s credit re- port,” Davis said. Ideally, homebuyers who also need a car should buy an inexpensive one and pay cash — assuming they have sufficient sav- ings to do so, he said. Here are a few tips for wannabe homebuyers who also need a vehicle: I Look for a great deal on a late-model used car. The very idea of buying a used car makes many people nervous. After all, it can be risky to purchase one without the assuranc- es that come with a new vehicle. But if you do your research, over time the savings from buying used can be significant, said Jeff Bartlett, deputy editor for autos at Consumer Re- ports magazine. “The greatest deprecia- tion for a brand-new car comes in the first three years — when new cars typically lose 35 to 50 per- cent of their value,” Bar- tlett said. I Research the reliabil- ity ratings for the vehi- cles you’re considering. Drawing on reader sur- veys, Consumer Reports publishes annual data on the reliability of numerous used car models. The Used Car Buying Guide is avail- able in either the print edi- tion or online at www.consumerreport- s.org. For those in the throes of buying a home and a car simultaneously, it can be tempting to consider only immediate needs. But Bar- tlett urges you to think longer-term and consider upkeep and repair costs, as well as fuel economy. For information on fuel economy ratings, go to the website of the U.S. Envi- ronmental Protection Agency: www.fuelecon omy.gov. I Have any used car you’re considering checked out by an inde- pendent mechanic. Many dealers will allow you to take a used vehicle off the lot to a service sta- tion to have it assessed. But you might also choose to pay a mechanic to check out the car on the dealer’s lot. I Give more thought to home buying than car buying. Clearly, no one should buy a car, new or used, without a substantial amount of research. But Davis, the real estate bro- ker, said those buying both a car and a home simulta- neously should realize they’ll need to pay more attention to the real estate. “Remember, a car is a commodity. At any one time, for example, there are probably a few thou- sand 2010 Ford Explorers for sale in your region. But every home is unique in terms of features, condi- tion and location within a neighborhood. So in the long run you’ll find that every additional hour you spend will likely prove more rewarding,” he said. To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at [email protected]. UNIVERSAL UCLICK Drive hard bargain when buying car, home Ellen James Martin SMART MOVES Hollywood, the networks, cable TV — they just think they know neighborhoods and their women. “The Real Housewives of (pick one: Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Vancouver, Miami)” — those are “reality,” which, as everyone knows, is only “TV ‘real,’ ” more or less. Before that: “Desperate House- wives” — pure fiction. “Housewife” and “housewives” had almost fallen out of use as in- sulting throwbacks until TV came along and rescued them, granting them a certain risque cachet. “Homemaker” had long replaced “housewife” — and even “home- maker” had become worn. But “homeowner,” that’s an- other thing, a real one — a real real one — and P.B. Odom III can spot one at a suburban mile. Make it five. Five women home- owners, walking right down the middle of the street. Hollywood writers didn’t write it — but Odom, longtime developer and amateur photographer, realized immediately that it was a picture worth the proverbial 1,000 words. Driving around his Talavera neighborhood at SW 164 and Santa Fe one afternoon last winter, Odom happened upon the scene made for TV — or at least for mar- keting: a quintet of women strid- ing purposefully down a street, each pushing a stroller. Melissa Miller takes her twins, Jackson and Harper, for a stroll in south Oklahoma City’s Talavera neighborhood. PHOTOS BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN ‘Real Homeowners’ turn heads BILLBOARD FEATURING 5 MOMS PUSHING STROLLERS DRAWS ATTENTION TO SOUTH OKC’S TALAVERA NEIGHBORHOOD “The Real Homeowners of Talavera,” five young moms walking with their babies, inspired this billboard, by Lamar Advertising, when developer P.B. Odom III happened upon them and snapped their picture. Left to right are Arrin Hill with daughter Maddie; Sarah Zantout with son Luke; Marissa Stuckey with son Colton; Ashley Blackburn with son Mitchell; and Melissa Miller with twins Jackson and Harper. The billboard and one identical to it are on Interstate 35 on the south side of the metro area. BY DYRINDA TYSON For The Oklahoman [email protected]SEE TALAVERA, PAGE 2F Kenneth Harney THE NATION’S HOUSING
Transcript
FREAL ESTATESATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM
INDEX
Stone 5FPermits 6F
HOUSE PLAN
VersatilehomeThe ranch-style OakHill, all on one level, isequally well suited forraising children andaging in place.PAGE 4F
LISTING OF THE WEEK
DesignerfinishesThe Listing of the Week,with designer finishes andhigh-end features, is inMustang’s Hunters Glenaddition.
PAGE 4F
RULESDROPPEDIn a policy switchthat could be impor-tant to thousands ofapplicants seekinglow-down-paymenthome mortgages,the Federal HousingAdministration re-scinded tough newcredit restrictionsthat had beenscheduled to takeeffect July 1.
PAGE 3F
IN BRIEF
MULCH, WEEDPREVENTERCOMBINEDPreenMulchPlusputsmulchandweedpre-ven-ters together in oneproduct. The baggedmulch is mixed withtwo pre-emergentherbicides for up tosix months of weedprevention. Only a2-inch-deep layerneeds to be appliedto suppress weedgrowth. The productis packaged regional-ly and is made ofeither shredded areahardwoods, fir, cedar,pine or mixes, tintedwith iron oxide orcarbon black. Notreated or recycledwood products areused. A 2-cubic-footbag covers up to 12square feet. Themulch is available inthree colors: mid-night black, russetred and chestnutbrown. It sells for$4.49 at Lowe’s andat some independ-ent garden centers.
BEAUTIFULLAVENDERSome people growlavender for itsbeauty, some for itsfragrance, and somefor its usefulness inrecipes, craft pro-jects and householdconcoctions. What-ever the reason,“The Lavender Lov-er’s Handbook” canhelp. Author SarahBerringer Baderaddresses the bestplaces to grow lav-ender, from climaticand aesthetic stand-points, and givesguidance on plant-ing, propagating,harvesting and dry-ing the plant. Reci-pes and craft pro-jects give the readerways to enjoy laven-der outside the gar-den. “The LavenderLover’s Handbook” ispublished by TimberPress and sells for$27.95 in hardcover.MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
Do you find yourself inthe position of having tobuy a house and a car at thesame time, due to a majorlife change?
If so, to avoid over-spending, you’ll want tomake the most prudentand cost-saving choiceson your car purchase. Thatway you’ll maximize yourchances of obtaining thebest possible home, saidSid Davis, a real estate bro-ker and author of “A Sur-vival Guide for Buying aHome.”
“Nowadays, those whomake a strategic homepurchase in a strongneighborhood can, at theminimum, expect that theproperty won’t go down invalue. And over time, itcould appreciate. Howev-er, a car isn’t an invest-ment because it’s bound todepreciate,” Davis said.
Should homebuyerswho are also buying a carchoose a new vehicle or aused one? If possible,
should they try to pay cashfor the car or finance it?How can they determinethe best choice in terms ofsafety, reliability and fueleconomy?
“Remember, if you buy avery expensive car with abig car loan, that couldnegatively impact yourchances to buy the homeyou want or to get a mort-gage. Lenders hate seeing ahuge car loan popping upon a borrower’s credit re-port,” Davis said.
Ideally, homebuyerswho also need a car shouldbuy an inexpensive oneand pay cash — assumingthey have sufficient sav-ings to do so, he said.
Here are a few tips forwannabe homebuyers whoalso need a vehicle:
I Look for a great dealon a late-model used car.
The very idea of buyinga used car makes manypeople nervous. After all, itcan be risky to purchaseone without the assuranc-
es that come with a newvehicle. But if you do yourresearch, over time thesavings from buying usedcan be significant, said JeffBartlett, deputy editor forautos at Consumer Re-ports magazine.
“The greatest deprecia-tion for a brand-new carcomes in the first threeyears — when new carstypically lose 35 to 50 per-cent of their value,” Bar-tlett said.
I Research the reliabil-ity ratings for the vehi-cles you’re considering.
Drawing on reader sur-veys, Consumer Reportspublishes annual data onthe reliability of numerous
used car models. The UsedCar Buying Guide is avail-able in either the print edi-tion or online atwww.consumerreport-s.org.
For those in the throes ofbuying a home and a carsimultaneously, it can betempting to consider onlyimmediate needs. But Bar-tlett urges you to thinklonger-term and considerupkeep and repair costs, aswell as fuel economy.
For information on fueleconomy ratings, go to thewebsite of the U.S. Envi-ronmental ProtectionAgency: www.fueleconomy.gov.
I Have any used caryou’re consideringchecked out by an inde-pendent mechanic.
Many dealers will allowyou to take a used vehicleoff the lot to a service sta-tion to have it assessed.But you might also chooseto pay a mechanic to checkout the car on the dealer’s
lot.I Give more thought to
home buying than carbuying.
Clearly, no one shouldbuy a car, new or used,without a substantialamount of research. ButDavis, the real estate bro-ker, said those buying botha car and a home simulta-neously should realizethey’ll need to pay moreattention to the real estate.
“Remember, a car is acommodity. At any onetime, for example, thereare probably a few thou-sand 2010 Ford Explorersfor sale in your region. Butevery home is unique interms of features, condi-tion and location within aneighborhood. So in thelong run you’ll find thatevery additional hour youspend will likely provemore rewarding,” he said.
Drive hard bargain when buying car, homeEllenJamesMartin
SMARTMOVES
Hollywood, the networks, cableTV — they just think they knowneighborhoods and their women.
“The Real Housewives of (pickone: Orange County, New YorkCity, Atlanta, New Jersey, BeverlyHills, Vancouver, Miami)” — thoseare “reality,” which, as everyoneknows, is only “TV ‘real,’ ” moreor less.
Before that: “Desperate House-wives” — pure fiction.
“Housewife” and “housewives”had almost fallen out of use as in-sulting throwbacks until TV camealong and rescued them, grantingthem a certain risque cachet.“Homemaker” had long replaced“housewife” — and even “home-maker” had become worn.
But “homeowner,” that’s an-other thing, a real one — a real realone — and P.B. Odom III can spotone at a suburban mile.
Make it five. Five women home-owners, walking right down themiddle of the street. Hollywood
writers didn’t write it — butOdom, longtime developer andamateur photographer, realizedimmediately that it was a pictureworth the proverbial 1,000 words.
Driving around his Talaveraneighborhood at SW 164 andSanta Fe one afternoon last winter,Odom happened upon the scenemade for TV — or at least for mar-
keting: a quintet of women strid-ing purposefully down a street,each pushing a stroller.
Melissa Miller takes her twins, Jackson and Harper, for a stroll in south Oklahoma City’s Talavera neighborhood.PHOTOS BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
‘Real Homeowners’ turn heads BILLBOARD FEATURING 5 MOMS PUSHING STROLLERS DRAWS ATTENTION TO SOUTH OKC’S TALAVERA NEIGHBORHOOD
“The Real Homeowners of Talavera,” five young moms walking with their babies, inspired this billboard,by Lamar Advertising, when developer P.B. Odom III happened upon them and snapped their picture.Left to right are Arrin Hill with daughter Maddie; Sarah Zantout with son Luke; Marissa Stuckey withson Colton; Ashley Blackburn with son Mitchell; and Melissa Miller with twins Jackson and Harper. Thebillboard and one identical to it are on Interstate 35 on the south side of the metro area.
2F . SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COMREAL ESTATE
“And it struck me. Ithought, ‘Man this is phe-nomenal. This is great, be-cause these are real home-owners,’ ” he said.
Odom pulled out histrusty camera, a constantcompanion he keepshandy partly for just suchoccasions. He introducedhimself and asked if hecould shoot a few pictures.
“It was definitely inter-esting,” laughed MelissaMiller, who was among thefive. “But you couldn’tmiss us because we weretaking up the wholestreet.”
The five — Miller,Blackburn, Arrin Hill, Sa-rah Zantout and MarissaStuckey — are all friendsand frequently walk theneighborhood together.
“People are always out-side, be it children oradults,” Blackburn said.“It’s the best way to meetthe neighbors.”
Odom told them he’dtaken lots of pictures in hisneighborhoods over theyears. “Sometimes theycome out, and sometimesthey don’t,” he said.
So he took several shotsof the group in Talaverathat afternoon. “And loand behold, they came outgood,” he said, laughing.
Odom decided to workthe shot into a new bill-board campaign for Talav-era, inspired, more or less,by Bravo TV’s “RealHousewives” series.
“These are moms, theseare homeowners, andthere’s babies, too,” hesaid. “These aren’t house-wives. These are home-owners.”
For the homeownersthemselves, though, thenew billboards proved tobe quite a surprise.
“I think we were kind ofshocked,” Miller said. “Weall sent a group text mess-age about it.”
Blackburn said she ini-tially thought no onewould recognize them.
“But I’ve had a couple ofpeople text me and ask,‘Um, are you on that bill-board?’ And I was like,‘Yeeeah.’ But I think it’sfun,” she said.
About TalaveraTalavera has been under
development since 2004and is about halfway done,Odom said. The neighbor-hood will have 600 homesonce it’s finished, rangingfrom about 1,500 squarefeet to more than 3,000square feet.
“It has been phenom-enally successful,” Odomsaid. “There has been noslowdown since westarted.”
Talavera homes offer anOld World air created byOdom’s daughter, Rachel,who drew on memories ofa 1997 sojourn in Spainwhere she studied eco-nomics in Madrid and pol-ished her Spanish via the
deep-end-of-the-poolmethod. Rachel Odom,who went on to graduatefrom the University ofOklahoma two years later,said the immersion ap-proach worked.
“I never really tookSpanish at OU, but Ilearned it,” she said. “I gota minor in it by immersingmyself in it.”
Her roommate, Cristina
Sanchez Ojea, hailed fromTalavera de la Reina, a cityabout an hour and a halfsouthwest of Madrid. Theroommates spent manyholidays with the family inTalavera, and those warmmemories led to much ofthe Oklahoma City neigh-borhood’s character aswell as its name.
“And I’ll always have agood memory of Talavera,”
Rachel Odom said.Closer to home, the Real
Homeowners are dealingwith their moment in thesun.
“It’s really funny,” Zan-tout said. “It was kind ofsurprising, but we’ve got-ten a good laugh out of it.”
Meanwhile, Blackburnsaid she is tamping downsome sibling rivalry be-tween her children Alex-andria, 6, and Mitchell, 3.Mitchell is in the strollerhis mother is pushing inthe billboard picture.
“My daughter said,‘Man, I didn’t get to be onthe sign but Mitchell did.’And I’m like, ‘Oh, you canbarely see Mitchell.’ ”
Miller, whose 5½-month-old twins, Jacksonand Harper, were in thestroller, said they pass thebillboard all the time.
“It’s pretty exciting,”she said. “It’ll be a goodmemory for the twins.”
Real Estate Editor Richard Mizecontributed to this report.
LEFT: Melissa and Tyler Miller and their twins, Jack-son and Harper, at their home in the Talavera neigh-borhood.
PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Talavera: Billboards convey image
Shawn and Ashley Blackburn with their children Mitchell and Alexandria.PHOTO PROVIDED
Rachel Odom shows a home at 17009 Picasso Drive inthe Talavera neighborhood developed by her father,P.B. Odom III.
PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, FOR THE OKLAHOMAN
I’ve had acouple ofpeople textme and ask,‘Um, are youon thatbillboard?’ AndI was like,‘Yeeeah.’ But Ithink it’s fun.”
ASHLEY BLACKBURN
FROM PAGE 1F
THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 . 3FREAL ESTATE
Shawnna Brown hasjoined Paradigm Advan-tEdge Real Estate’s southoffice at 1530 SW 119 as aresidential real estate salesassociate.
The Oklahoma City na-tive attended OklahomaCity Community Collegeand Oklahoma State Uni-versity. Previously, she wasthe director of a preschoolfor 10 years.
Shawnna Brown
Paradigmadds Brown
Susan Belanger hasmoved to Paradigm Ad-vantEdge Real Estate,16301 N May Ave., as a res-idential real estate salesassociate.
The Texas native movedto Oklahoma eight yearsago. She had a real estatelicense in Texas for twoyears and has had her li-cense in Oklahoma foreight years. She has alsohad a real estate license inHawaii for nine years.
She and her husband,Scott Belanger, are real es-tate investors and builthouses in Hawaii and Ed-mond. She also worked inresidential property man-agement for several years.
Susan Belanger
Belanger joinsParadigm
WASHINGTON — In a pol-icy switch that could beimportant to thousands ofapplicants seeking low-down-payment homemortgages, the FederalHousing Administrationrescinded tough new cred-it restrictions that hadbeen scheduled to take ef-fect July 1.
The policy changewould have affected bor-rowers who have one ormore collections or dis-puted-bill accounts ontheir national credit bu-reau files, where the ag-gregate amounts were$1,000 or greater. Somemortgage industry expertsestimate that if the now-rescinded rules had goneinto effect, as many as onein three FHA loan appli-cants would have had dif-ficulty being approved.
Under the withdrawnplan, borrowers with col-lections or disputed un-paid bills would have beenrequired to “resolve” thembefore their loan could beclosed, either by payingthem off in full or by ar-ranging a schedule of re-payments. In effect, if youcouldn’t resolve the out-standing credit issue, youmight not be able to obtainFHA financing. The re-scinded policy would havereplaced more lenientrules allowing loan officersto discuss the accountswith applicants, and de-termine whether they rep-resented material risks
that the borrower mightfail to make the mortgagepayments.
Disputed bills are com-monplace in many con-sumers’ files, but may notindicate serious credit risk.Rather, they might simplybe a disagreement be-tween merchant and cus-tomer over price, quality ofthe product or the terms ofthe credit arrangement.Open collection accountsare also common but tendto be viewed more omi-nously by lenders sincethey often indicate non-payment over an extendedperiod. Unpaid creditorsfrequently charge off un-paid accounts, then sellthe files to collectionagencies who pursue thecustomer and report non-payments to the nationalcredit bureaus — Equifax,Experian and TransUnion.
Critics of the policycomplained that it tiltedthe scales too heavily in fa-vor of creditors and dis-proportionately harmedFHA’s traditional core bor-rowers — low- to moder-ate-income families, first-time buyers and minoritygroups. Other critics ar-gued that the policy would
not help FHA weed out se-rious credit risks since pri-vate lenders already aredoing so by imposing theirown credit score and otherrestrictions on applicants,known as ”overlays” in themortgage industry.
Clem Ziroli Jr., presi-dent of First MortgageCorp. in Ontario, Calif.,noted that although FHAaccepts FICO credit scoresas low as 580 — FICOscores run from 300 to 850with lower numbers por-tending higher risks of de-fault — many large lendersrequire 640 scores orhigher. Why? Because theyare super-cautious in thepost-bust marketplaceand don’t want to be re-quired by FHA to “buyback” a mortgage that hada marginal FICO score atapplication, then went toforeclosure.
As it is, FHA’s recent av-erage scores are far higherthan historical norms. Ac-cording to an analysis byEllie Mae LLC, a companythat tracks conventionaland FHA loan origina-tions, the average FICOscore for an FHA-ap-proved loan to purchase ahouse in May was 713.Though down slightlyfrom March, when averageFICOs for purchases hit724, according to EllieMae, both scores suggest astrong trend toward fi-nancing applicants whohave relatively fewer issuesin their credit files. This
contrasts with the agen-cy’s long-standing tradi-tion of helping “low tomoderate wage earnersand the underserved” —often minorities — to buyhomes, Ziroli said. Muchof the last decade, FHAroutinely financed bor-rowers with credit scoresin the low to mid 600s.
Deputy Assistant Secre-tary Charles Coulter saidthe FHA’s ongoing interestin re-evaluating its creditpolicies — such as the re-scinded collections anddisputes rule — is “to find abalanced yet flexible ap-proach to promote access
to affordable credit whileprotecting the mortgageinsurance fund.” FHAplans to issue a new rule“soon,” agency sourcessaid, that addresses col-lection accounts and dis-putes separately.
Meanwhile if you plan toapply for an FHA loan andyou think you have collec-tions or disputes on file,here’s the good news: Youwon’t be forced to pay offor resolve the accounts be-fore closing, but you arelikely to have your applica-tion referred for “manual”underwriting, where aloan officer takes a hard
look at the facts and cir-cumstances of your col-lections or disputed ac-counts. This, in turn, willalmost certainly slowdown your approval. Thereare exceptions such aswhen the disputed ac-count is both less than$500 and more than 24months old. But bewarelenders’ overlay practices.They may get you turneddown even if FHA’s moregenerous rules say you areacceptable.
MIDWEST CITY — LisaLucas has joined the Para-digm AdvantEdge Real Es-tate office at 2150 S Doug-las, Suite F, in MidwestCity as a residential realestate sales associate.
She earned an associate
degree from Central TexasCollege in Killeen, Texas,and moved to the MidwestCity area two years ago. Inaddition to real estatesales, she works as a mediaassistant at BriarwoodElementary School.
Lucas joins Paradigm firm
Lisa Lucas
4F . SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COMREAL ESTATE
Stone veneer wainscoting accents theOak Hill’s three-car garage and covers thebold column supports that bound its wideporch. Wide multipane windows fillmuch of the front facade, and a parade ofgridded glass runs along the tops of bothgarage doors.
Because this ranch-style home is all onone level, it’s equally well suited for rais-ing children and aging in place. And ifsomeone in your family needs a home of-fice, that’s covered too.
Entering, you move forward into a long,high-ceilinged foyer, naturally brightenedby sidelights. The home office is throughdouble doors on the right, while a wideopening on the left leads into what couldbe either a parlor or a dining room. Lightwashes into both of these front-facingrooms through wide multipane windows.
You can reach the vaulted great roomand adjoining kitchen two ways: either bycontinuing to the end of the foyer, orpassing through an opening at the rear of
the dining room-parlor. French doors intothe great room offer privacy when need-ed. Rear windows flank a fireplace thatprovides warmth while creating a colorfuland relaxing focal point when skies aregray or dark.
Kitchen workers can survey most of thegreat room and all of the nook and coveredpatio, looking out across the flush eatingbar. A step-in pantry adds to the amplekitchen storage space.
Secondary bedrooms and the mainbathroom are to the right of the Oak Hill’sfamily gathering space. They are linked toeverything via a long hallway that ends atthe double-door entrance to the owners’suite. Amenities there include a deepwalk-in closet and a skylit bathroom withan oversized shower, his-and-hers vanity,and a private toilet.
A review plan of the Oak Hill 30-810, including floor plans,elevations, section and artist’s conception, can be purchasedfor $25 by phone, mail or online. Add $5 for shipping andhandling. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Drive, Eugene, OR,97402. www.associateddesigns.com. (800) 634-0123.
Ranch-style home canhandle variety of ages
HOUSE PLAN
The Listing of the Week is a home withdesigner finishes and high-end featuresin Mustang’s Hunters Glen addition.
The 1,916-square-foot home at 542 WGeronimo Court Way has four bedrooms,2 ½ baths, one living room, one diningroom and an attached three-car garage.The living room has a ceiling fan and cor-ner fireplace. The kitchen has a pantry,double ovens and a gas cook top. Themaster bedroom has a walk-in closet and
whirlpool tub and shower. Two secondarybedrooms have ceiling fans. The home hasa covered patio, underground sprinklerand a security system.
The home, built in 2006, is listed for$187,000 with Lisa Mollman of Century 21Gold Castle Real Estate. For more infor-mation, call 210-8736.
Nominations for Listing of the Week are welcome. Sendinformation on single-family homes to The Oklahoman,Richard Mize, P.O. Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK 73125.Nominations may be faxed to 475-3996.
LISTING OF THE WEEK
The Listing of the Week is at 542 W Geronimo Court Way in Mustang.PHOTO PROVIDED
4-bedroom has designer finishes
Q: Several years ago, Ilost my house in a fore-closure. Last week, myemployer informed methat my wages were be-ing garnished. I looked in-to it and found out thatthe lender on the foreclo-sure got a deficiencyjudgment against me.What can I do?
A: When your lenderforecloses on your homeand the value of the prop-erty is less than what youowe the bank, the lendercan typically go back tocourt and get a judgmentagainst you for the differ-ence. This deficiencyjudgment is basically thesame as any other judg-ment that someone getsagainst you. The creditorhas the ability to “execute”on its judgment by takingthings you own and havingthe sheriff sell them. It alsocan take money from yourbank accounts and forceyour employer to hand
over some of your wages.But you also have rights.
For example, if you are theprimary wage earner tak-ing care of your minorchildren, you are typicallyexempt from having yourwages garnished. Also,certain property (such asyour homestead), bank ac-counts and retirement ac-counts are protected.
Now that your wageshave been garnished, youmay be able to claim an ex-emption if you fit into anyof the protected catego-ries. You will need to hurrybecause the time forclaiming these protectionsis extremely limited. You
might also want to consid-er trying to negotiate withyour lender, because gen-erally banks would ratherwork something out thansee you quit your job or filefor bankruptcy.
Q: I am considering re-financing. Will the ap-praised value for the newmortgage have any im-pact on the county’s ap-praised value and the realestate taxes I pay?
A: No. The value thatthe property appraiser as-signs to your property isbased on the market valueof similar properties soldin the same or comparablesubdivisions during theprevious year. So a drop inproperty values in 2010would have shown up onthe 2011 tax bill.
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
Foreclosure deficiency cantake bite out of your wages
GaryM.Singer
REAL ESTATE LAW
JEFFERSON, Ga. — Thenortheast Georgia homeowned by country singerKenny Rogers that wasscheduled to be put up forauction has been sold.
Grand Estates AuctionCo. in Charlotte, N.C.,said Rogers, 73, sold thehouse and its 150 acres lastweek for $2.25 million.
The property is locatednear Nicholson, Ga., andincluded a 5,681-square-foot-house, a 2,675-square foot pool, an 8-acrelake, horse riding trails,go-cart track and otheramenities.
The Athens Banner-Herald reported that theauction was called off afterattracting nearly a dozenpotential buyers.
THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 . 5FREAL ESTATE
CHICAGO — Not only doprophets lack honor intheir native land, somedon’t do much for real es-tate values — at least tojudge by Walt Disney’schildhood home on Chica-go’s Northwest Side.
On the market for morethan a year, it offers pros-pective buyers a two-flatwith new windows, hard-wood floors and built-innostalgia for fans of Do-nald Duck and MickeyMouse. It was built by Dis-ney’s father, a carpenterwho worked on the 1893Columbian Exposition,the world’s fair that re-portedly inspired Disney’stheme-park ventures.
Some see the failure tosell the home, at 2156 NTripp Ave., as a case ofgood news and bad news,among them Fred Seidel.
“The city of Chicagoshould buy it and chargevisitors for admission,”said Seidel, a constructionworker. “I’m interested inthe arts.”
The upside, Seidel said,is that lacking a privatebuyer means it won’t beknocked down for newconstruction, a commonfate of older buildings asChicago gentrifies. TheDisney home lacks a his-toric landmark designa-tion, a campaign by pres-ervationists having stalledyears ago.
Walt Disney was bornDec. 5, 1901, on the secondfloor of the house in theHermosa neighborhood,then a newly developedsection of Chicago andnow a largely Hispaniccommunity. He attendedMcKinley High School,now a primary grades fa-cility, and took classes atthe now-defunct ChicagoAcademy of Fine Arts.
With his brother Roy,Walt Disney went to Hol-lywood and, in 1923, start-ed making the animatedcartoons audiences quick-ly embraced as part of themoviegoing experience.
Even without a bronzeplaque, the Tripp Avenuehouse attracts Disney
buffs, reports its ownerRadoje Popovic.
“Some came from Ma-drid to see it,” Popovicsaid. “A camera crew fromGermany took pictures.”
Popovic, himself a realestate dealer, bought thebuilding from a previousowner, June Saathoff, whohad lived there for manyyears and opposed land-mark designation.
“She was holding thewindows together withduct tape,” he said. “Shewas an older woman livingon a fixed income.”
In 1991, the Commissionon Chicago Landmarksproposed the Disney homefor landmark designation,inaugurating the drawn-out process often involved.When a City Council com-mittee took up the issue sixyears later, Saathoff pro-tested that landmark sta-tus could make her prop-erty hard to sell. Potentialbuyers would be scared offby the prospect of havingto get the city’s approvalfor changes to the facade.
In fact, the frame struc-ture where Disney wasborn had been remodeled,but the president of the lo-cal chapter of the Ameri-can Institute of Architectsargued that it was none-theless worthy becauseDisney was a worthy man,quoting President DwightEisenhower: “We shall notsee his like again.”
Popovic, who acquiredthe property in 2002 for$195,000, offered it oneBay, four years later for$280,000. Subsequently,he wanted to honor itsheritage by turning it into acommunity center whereneighborhood young peo-ple could take art lessons.The project failed for lackof funding.
Disney’s home is on themarket for a reduced ask-ing price of $179,000.
Popovic had several nib-bles, but would-be ownerscouldn’t get financing.Popovic said he’s not op-posed to landmark desig-nation, should the issue berevisited, a long-shot pos-sibility under Chicago’slandmark ordinance.
MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
Walt Disney’s boyhood home, 2156 N Tripp Ave., Chi-cago. MCT PHOTO
BY RON GROSSMANChicago Tribune
Walt Disney’sChicago homedoesn’t sell
DEAR BARRY: We’reabout to buy a brand-newhome and have decidednot to hire a home inspec-tor. My husband prefers todo the inspection himself.When we sold our lasthome, he accompanied thebuyers’ home inspector tolearn what inspectors do.He proposes to go throughall the same exercises asour buyers’ home inspec-tor, and he should be ableto find any serious defects.
Our Realtor, however, isuncomfortable with thisidea and urges us to hire aprofessional inspector. Butthe home comes with aone-year warranty, so anydefects not spotted duringour inspection will cer-tainly surface during thattime. Our family andfriends also believe a homeinspection is unnecessary,but your opinion would begreatly appreciated.
LorraineDEAR LORRAINE: The
decision to forego a homeinspection is typicalamong buyers of brand-new homes, but it is an in-vitation to costly trouble,
and here is why:You say that your hus-
band plans to repeat “thesame exercises” as yourbuyers’ home inspector.Please understand thatthese were not exercises.They were the carefullyconsidered applications ofyears of home inspectionexperience and a vastamount of property defectknowledge. Your husbandobserved the inspector’smovements only, not theforensic processes that oc-curred within the inspec-tor’s mind while he eval-uated your home.
It takes at least 1,000home inspections to be-come reasonably qualifiedas a professional home in-spector. There is simply noway that an average home-buyer can discover the de-fects that would be appar-
ent to a well seasonedhome inspector. If yourhusband does the inspec-tion, undiscovered defectswill be inevitable.
You say also that anyproblems not spotted dur-ing the inspection will cer-tainly surface during theone-year warranty period.This is only true of defectsthat are visibly apparent orthat affect observablefunctions, such as rubbingdoors, a leaking dishwash-er or a noisy garbage dis-posal.
Here are just a few ex-amples of the kinds ofproblems that would mostlikely not be discovered ona do-it-yourself home in-spection or during the firstyear of occupancy:
1. Inadequate ventilationof the attic.
2. Faulty wiring withinthe breaker panel.
3. Improper flashing atroof penetrations.
4. Chimney contactwith combustible con-struction.
5. Noncompliance at thegarage firewall.
6. Substandard flue
connections at the waterheater.
7. Inadequate combus-tion air supply for the fur-nace.
8. Reversed polarity atwall outlets.
9. Lack of ground fault(shock) protection at re-quired outlets.
Problems such as thesewould eventually be dis-covered by the buyers’home inspector when youeventually sold the home.By that time, the builder’swarranty would probablyhave expired, and the re-sponsibility for repairswould then be yours.
To resolve these detailsnow, while the warranty isin effect, find the mostqualified home inspectorin your area.
To write to Barry Stone, visit him on theweb at www.housedetective.com.
ACTION COAST PUBLISHING
Failure to have home inspected can cost
BarryStone
INSPECTOR’S IN THEHOUSE
6F . SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COMREAL ESTATE
Oklahoma CityN.E. Construction, 425
N Oklahoma Ave., apart-ment, erect, $11,719,000.
Manhattan Construc-tion Co., 818 NE 8, hotel-motel, erect, $8,000,000.
Cook Sheet Metal, 3140 S Ma-dole Blvd., canopy-carport,add-on, $2,000.
David Anderson, 1324 SW 126,storm shelter, install-stormshelter, $1,995.
Hung Thach, 3215 N MilitaryAve., residence, remodel, $1,500.
Kermit Walker, 2620 NE 21,residence, remodel, $1,500.
Carl Baldwin, 611 Collin Drive,manufactured home, move-on,$1,300.
Alton Walker, 1801 W ParkPlace, duplex, remodel, $1,000.
DemolitionsK&M Wrecking LLC, 12316 SE
38, house.K&M Wrecking LLC, 908 NW
7, house.K&M Wrecking LLC, 829 NW
7, house.Midwest Wrecking, 4500 W
Reno Ave., restaurant.
PermitsFROM PAGE 7F
Vonna Self has joined Paradi-gm AdvantEdge Real Estate’ssouth Office at 1530 SW 119 as aresidential real estate sales asso-ciate.
Previously, she worked in salesand marketing in the health careindustry for seven years.
Vonna Self
Self joins Paradigm
THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012 . 9FREAL ESTATE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — CarlAndrietta is among a growingnumber of “underwater” home-owners nationwide who are refi-nancing their mortgages througha revised government program.
The original Home AffordableRefinance Program reduced fees
and loosened eligibility require-ments starting in January, butthe changes were not fully avail-able until March.
More than 180,000 home-owners nationwide have refi-nanced through the program inthe 2012 first quarter, up 38 per-cent from a year earlier, accord-ing to the Federal Housing Fi-nance Agency. It credits the pro-
gram changes for the increase.The program debuted in 2009,
but many homeowners couldn’tqualify because they owed farmore than their properties wereworth. Even with the revisions,borrowers must be current ontheir payments and the loanshave to be originated by May 31,2009, and backed by Fannie Maeor Freddie Mac, the govern-
ment-run companies that ownabout half of U.S. home loans.
Andrietta has lived in hishome in Pembroke Pines, Fla.,for 27 years but found himselfunderwater after refinancingnear the peak of the housing bustin 2007 to pay for his daughter’scollege education. He qualifiedfor a refinancing that lowered his$1,595 monthly payment to
$1,291.“That $300 allows us to pad
our savings for the future,” saidAndrietta, a 59-year-old mail-man and college baseball coach.
While the housing market hasshown signs of strength, nearlyone-third of mortgages are un-derwater, according to first-quarter data from Zillow.com.
MCT INFORMATION SERVICES
More homeowners refinancing under revised programBY PAUL OWERSSun Sentinel
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