Residential (Home) Swimming Pool Safety Tips

Here's a good short video on the basics of residential (home) swimming pool safety

What is "Green Building" Design or Principles? (Part 1)

Over the past decade or so, "Green Building" has become a real estate trade and building industry buzz word that also gets thrown around loosely in the media or press; but how many people really understand what it is?  The proliferation and use of a variety of different [non standard] "Green Building" logos or images also adds to the confusion...

Put very simply, the ideas behind "Green" building, environmentally friendly, or "eco-conscious" building designs have these principles in mind:

Fundamental Core Principles:

*  Environmentally Friendly
*  Energy Efficient
*  Minimize Water Consumption
*  Create/Maintain Healthy Indoor Environment
*  Use Sustainable Materials

Another way to remember or think about it is by using the acronym "RRRR" - The 4 R's or "R-Square"

*  Reduce - use less
*  Reuse [energy or materials]
*  Recycle - make new again
*  Reclaim


See my part 2 Article for specific ways to achieve "Going Green" and a list of some "Ecologically Sustainable Solutions".

Here are some logos which you may see in advertisements or marketing for "Green Building" designs or materials

Understanding Your (FICO) Credit Report Score & Letter Grade (Part 2)

Range of Score Numbers (from which Letter Grades are Derived)

A FICO score is between 300 and 850, exhibiting a left-skewed distribution with 60% of scores near the right between 650 and 799.  According to FICO, the median score is 723. The performance of the scores is monitored and the scores are periodically aligned across scorecards within each scoring model, as well as across the three credit bureaus, so that the score represents the same credit risk to lenders regardless of its source.

Each individual actually has three credit scores for the FICO scoring model because the three national credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, each has its own database. Consequently, data about an individual consumer can vary from bureau to bureau. Studies point out that people with higher scores have fewer claims. Studies also indicate that the majority of insureds pay less in insurance through the use of scores.

Credit scores may be a little confusing to understand. Even within a FICO score there are additional ratings that may vary from lender to lender.

FICO Credit Score Valuation Letter Grades

720 + excellent      A-credit
650 + good            B-credit
575 + average       C-credit
below 575 poor     D-credit

However, as previously stated, credit ratings may vary from lender to lender. Additionally, those A, B, C, D ratings can become A+, A-, etc. and what for one lender can be a B- for another could be a C+.

Bad Credit Ratings:

Furthermore, A-credit, B-credit, C-credit, and D-credit will be used by subprime lenders and often refer to borrowers with FICO credit scores below 630. In that case A-credit applies to people with 580+, B-credit will be 560+, C-credit will be 530+, and D-credit will be 500+.

VantageScore Credit Rating:

VantageScore was introduced by the three major credit-reporting agencies in 2006. This credit score model ranges from 501 to 990 and also assigns letters from A to F to the different credit score ranges.

VantageScore Valuation Letter Grades

901-990   A-credit
801-900   B-credit
701-800   C-credit
601-700   D-credit
501-600   F-credit

Understanding Your (FICO) Credit Report Score (Part 1)

Source:  http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/WhatsInYourScore.aspx

What’s in your FICO® score

FICO Scores are calculated from a lot of different credit data in your credit report. This data can be grouped into five categories as outlined below. The percentages in the chart reflect how important each of the categories is in determining your FICO score.

These percentages are based on the importance of the five categories for the general population. For particular groups - for example, people who have not been using credit long - the importance of these categories may be somewhat different.

 

Payment History

• Account payment information on specific types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, mortgage, etc.)
• Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgements, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)
• Severity of delinquency (how long past due)
• Amount past due on delinquent accounts or collection items
• Time since (recency of) past due items (delinquency), adverse public records (if any), or collection items (if any)
• Number of past due items on file
• Number of accounts paid as agreed

Amounts Owed

• Amount owing on accounts
• Amount owing on specific types of accounts
• Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
• Number of accounts with balances
• Proportion of credit lines used (proportion of balances to total credit limits on certain types of revolving accounts)
• Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing (proportion of balance to original loan amount on certain types of installment loans)

Length of Credit History

• Time since accounts opened
• Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
• Time since account activity

New Credit

• Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account
• Number of recent credit inquiries
• Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account
• Time since credit inquiry(s)
• Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems

Types of Credit Used

• Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.)

Please note that:

• A FICO score takes into consideration all these categories of information, not just one or two.
  No one piece of information or factor alone will determine your score.
• The importance of any factor depends on the overall information in your credit report.
  For some people, a given factor may be more important than for someone else with a different credit history. In addition, as the information in your credit report changes, so does the importance of any factor in determining your FICO score. Thus, it's impossible to say exactly how important any single factor is in determining your score - even the levels of importance shown here are for the general population, and will be different for different credit profiles. What's important is the mix of information, which varies from person to person, and for any one person over time.
• Your FICO score only looks at information in your credit report.
  However, lenders look at many things when making a credit decision including your income, how long you have worked at your present job and the kind of credit you are requesting.
• Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report.
  Late payments will lower your score, but establishing or re-establishing a good track record of making payments on time will raise your FICO credit score.

"Green" Building Designs

Here are some interesting "Green Building" or eco-conscious, eco-friendly home building designs from Solaleya.

  

Floor Plans ?

Some of the best laid plans are often drawn up on napkins, pieces of scratch, or in the dirt ....

I go to the restroom for a few minutes in a restaurant, meanwhile my "Sayang" is doing this:

Oxymoron - Don't Believe Everything You Hear

"All that glitters is not gold"

Oh really?!  But gold actually does glitter, so there is an erroneous premise here.  

To be a true and correct idiom or expression it should be coined as, "NOT all the glitters is gold" (gold glitters, but it is not all that does; such as glass, diamonds, metals, etc)  

The moral of this post?  Don't believe or just take for granted everything that you hear...

Bank of America (BoA) - "Brazen, Unauthorized & Impermissible"

Bank of America is NOT one of my respected or trusted financial institution by any means.  I feel sorry for their stockholders who got completely HOSED.

Article as reported in Fortune Magazine:

A Fistful of Someone Else's Dollars

Troubled homeowners aren't the only ones having their issues with Bank of America.

A federal bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday that BofA (BAC) must return $500 million in collateral it seized without cause from Lehman Brothers two years ago, just after the investment bank collapsed in the biggest-ever U.S. bankruptcy.

Bank of America's actions were "brazen…unauthorized and impermissible," U.S. bankruptcy judge James Peck wrote in a ruling Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

BofA forced Lehman to post the collateral in August 2008 as questions started to mount about the investment bank's health. There's nothing unusual there, as rivals such as Citi (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) did the same.  The problem lies with what BofA did in November 2008, when it took the cash from the collateral account to offset debts it was owed by Lehman. The bank did so without the court's permission, the Journal reports.

Peck ruled this week that BofA's moves violated rules protecting companies from having their assets seized, and made clear he wasn't overjoyed with the bank.

In his order, Judge Peck said it was "astonishing that [Bank of America] would make the premeditated tactical decision to deliberately seize the collateral" without first seeking court permission. The judge said Bank of America acted with "apparent disregard for the consequences" and ordered the bank to repay Lehman's bankruptcy estate the $500 million plus interest.

Tuesday's ruling came on the same day a top executive at BofA's home loans divisions said the bank regrets its missteps in the foreclosure fiasco. But the bank has no regrets in this case, a spokeswoman indicates.

We are disappointed with the court's decision, and we continue to believe that our actions were fully supported by well-established New York law and the unambiguous language of the Bankruptcy Code.  We are considering our appellate options.

Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) Appraisals - New Rules

Just when I thought I had beat Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) appraisal guidelines into the ground, here we go again.....  (see all my previous blog entries on this topic)

  

The Federal Reserve proposed far reaching new rules October 18, 2010 that could affect residential real estate appraisals.  The interim rules which are to take effect December 2010, and be finalized in the Spring of 2011, prohibit outside influence in appraisers' valuations and require lenders to report evidence of appraiser misconduct to regulatory authorities.  Isn't that what HVCC was designed to do in the first place?!  So why are they "re-inventing the wheel" here on this issue?

The new rules will supersede or replace HVCC.  All of this is as a result of Congress passing the "Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act" in July 2010 and being signed into law by President Obama. The original sponsors of the bill were Barney Frank (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) in the Senate Banking Committee as a result of lobbyists pressure to change or reform the appraisal rules or guidelines under HVCC which resulted in a whole host of problems and complaints with inaccurate appraisals produced by appraisers who were were working for low fees through appraisal management companies (AMC's), short turn around time, and unfamiliarity with the local market.

Appraisers were one of the principle parties that got us into this whole real estate market meltdown in the first place, then after rules and regulations were imposed on them to prevent collusion in appraisals, they have to go and screw things up even further for the consumer!  

As a result of this whole real estate market meltdown or bubble-burst, it is quite interesting and makes a very poignant statement to note that there were no "punitive" rules imposed on Realtors.  As buyer agents we assisted people who were able to obtain financing, which was contingent upon a satisfactory appraisal.  We had no part or undue influence in either the buyer obtaining financing or in the appraisal.  As long as they had a lender's approval letter, we assisted them in buying a home and assumed that lenders (and appraisers) were practicing prudent and rational guidelines in their lending practices.  As listing agents we had to work within the constraints of "fair market value", unrealistic seller expectations and perceptions of value; and work within the constraints or confines of the real estate appraisal - in other words, if the property didn't appraise for what a buyer was willing to offer for it, they weren't going to get the financing, and the deal was not going to go through.

Realtors cannot be blamed in this whole debacle; the finger points DIRECTLY back to lenders and appraisers who were in "cahoots" or collusion with each other in driving the price of housing literally through the roof.  Wall Street of course is also to blame since they provided the funding and means for this all to take place in the first place and knew damn well that this was going to happen.

"House of Cards" from CNBC is a great video piece of investigative journalism which documents how this all happened.

Push/Pull Door Design

This is a great concept...  but where does the lock set go ?

 


Obviously this application is for interior building structures, and not the main outdoor ingress/egress, but it's a cool design....  But I guarantee that folks would still try to pull the button out, and push the handle in !