Street 2 Feet 5k and Kidz K Run

SAMMinistries has announced its inaugural "Street to Feet" 5k and Kidz' K Run.

It's a family friendly event along a route that begins at the SAMM Shelter (910 W. Commerce St.) and finishes at the new Haven For Hope. Proceeds go to help benefit SAMMinistries and its mission of helping provide for the needs of San Antonio's homeless.

REALTORS from the San Antonio Board of REALTORS are forming a group to participate in the run (or probably walk!). Contact me to join our group for a morning of fun and support of SAMMinistries.

The Street 2 Feet training group meets Saturday and Wednesday mornings at 8:15 a.m. at the W. Commerce location. New volunteers and participants are always welcome. For details you can contact Megan Cullip - megancullip@gmail.com .

Race Information:

Date: Saturday, February 20, 2010

Time: 5K - 8:00 am Kidz K - 9:00 am

Fees: 5K - $20 until Feb. 18, $25 thereafter

Kidz 1K - $10 until Feb. 18, $15 thereafter

Packet Pick UP: Friday, Feb. 19, 2:00-7:00 pm

Run Gear Run - 18720 Stone Oak Pkwy #150 210-490-9987

Online Registration: http://www.active.com/

In-Person Registration: Cash and Checks made payable to SAMMinistries only at Roger Soler's Sports, Run Gear Run, Fleet Feet Sports, Run Wild Sports

Race Sponsorships and Adopt-A Runner Program are still available. Race Sponsorships start at the $500 Level and/or you can Adopt-A Runner for $100 or $250.

If you have any questions regarding the sponsorships and/or Adopt-A-Runner Program you may contact SAMMinistries' Director of Development Services, Karen Tyler at ktyler@samm.org . This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call Karen at 210-340-0302 ext 241.

My JANUARY-2010 Housing Trends eNewsletter

Welcome to the most current Housing Trends eNewsletter. This eNewsletter is specially designed for you, with national and local housing information that you may find useful whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general.

Please click on this link to view the JANUARY-2010 Newsletter Housing Trends eNewsletter:

http://lynnknapik.housingtrendsenewsletter.com?Newsletter_ID=239&Period_ID=181

The Housing Trends eNewsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau, Realtor.org reports and other sources.

It also includes press releases with charts and videos, key market indicators and real estate sales and price statistics, a video message by a nationally recognized economist, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, plus local neighborhood information and more.

If you are interested in determining the value of your home, click the “Home Evaluator” link for a free evaluation report:

http://lynnknapik.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/dispContent.cfm?loadid=2&loadtype=0

Sound decisions can only be made with accurate and reliable information, and I am happy to be a trusted resource for you. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this monthly eNewsletter, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have and to the opportunity to be your REALTOR® in the future.

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio

It's cold outside but inside the San Antonio Alamodome this weekend things will really heat up as the high school All-American teams hit the field .

In the nation’s premier high school football game, the top 90 high school football players in the nation will compete and the top 97 high school marching band members will perform.

Everyone's invited to come celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, celebrating a decade of excellence. Kick-off is at noon on Saturday, January 9 but there are lots of activities going on before the game. Check here for all the details.

HOUSING TRENDS eNEWSLETTER

Welcome to the most current Housing Trends eNewsletter. This eNewsletter is specially designed for you, with national and local housing information that you may find useful whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general.

Please click on this link to view the DECEMBER-2009 Newsletter Housing Trends eNewsletter:

http://lynnknapik.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/?Newsletter_ID=238&Period_ID=180

The Housing Trends eNewsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau, Realtor.org reports and other sources.

It also includes press releases with charts and videos, key market indicators and real estate sales and price statistics, a video message by a nationally recognized economist, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, plus local neighborhood information and more.

If you are interested in determining the value of your home, click the “Home Evaluator” link for a free evaluation report:

http://lynnknapik.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/?Newsletter_ID=238&Period_ID=180

Sound decisions can only be made with accurate and reliable information, and I am happy to be a trusted resource for you. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this monthly eNewsletter, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have and to the opportunity to be your REALTOR® in the future.


If you'd like to receive this newsletter monthly to your email address you can subscribe at the bottom of the newsletter or just email me and put eNewsletter in the subject line.

Not the same old Christmas Music!

Music and Christmas go together but here in San Antonio you'll find some unexpected presentations of Chrismas music to enjoy. There'll be tubas on Saturday and saxophones on Sunday as special gifts to all!

At the Arneson River Theater on Saturday at noon you can enjoy musicians playing the tuba, the sousaphone, the euphonium and the baritone horn. It's the 31st Annual Tubameister Christmas. Last year there were 141 players who participated when musicians from middle school to their 80s joined together.

Registration starts for participants at 9:45 a.m. and rehearsal starts at 10:30 a.m. The band will be conducted by Lee Hipp, principal tuba of the San Antonio Symphony. The concert starts at noon at the Arneson River Theater on the banks of the San Antonio Riverwalk. You'll enjoy an hour of Christmas standards including "Deck the Halls", "Jingle Bells", "Silent Night" and more. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful  for the free outdoor concert.

If saxophones are more to your liking then be sure to catch the 27th Annual Holiday Saxophones at one (or both!) of two concerts on Sunday. There will be an afternoon 2 p.m. concert at The Buena Vista Theater on the downtown UTSA campus and an evening concert at 7 p.m. at the Guadalupe Theater. There is a charge for these concerts - $20 for each at the door. Check the Express-News or MYSA.com for location addresses and more ticket information.

The afternoon concert will feature five saxophonists, piano, drums, and bass. There will be some Christmas songs, some standards and some new material by Larry Slezak. The evening concert will have an even larger band with at least nine additional saxophone players - and probably more! Aaron Prado is quoted in the Express-News as saying, "People come from all over the state to play. People know about this." Sounds like an event not to be missed and a great way to celebrate the season.

Just a few more things that make San Antonio, Texas one of the most special places to live, work and play in the Lone Star State!

Mortgage Loan Workout Options

In my last post we talked about options for homeowners who are having trouble making their mortgage payments and facing the possibility of foreclosure. Today I'll go into a bit more detail about one of the options available - a loan workout program.

Let's look at what's available to get that mortgage back on track and save your home. Get more information here. Here are some terms you'll want to know.

Forbearance – This is the process by which a lender allows a borrower to make partial payments or skip payments if they have a reasonable plan to catch up – such as a tax refund, a bonus, or a new job.

Reinstatement - Reinstatement occurs when all late payments are caught up and it usually occurs at the end of a forbearance period.

Repayment Plan – A plan is established to allow a borrower to make payments to catch up; the lender may allow payment of an additional amount each month until the delinquent payments are caught up.

Loan Modification – The lender may agree to amend the mortgage to avoid foreclosure. Options included adding all the missed payments to the loan amount and increasing the monthly payment to cover the larger loan; giving more years to pay off the loan, lowering the interest rate, and/or forgiving part of the loan to lower the monthly payments; switching from an adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage, so that the borrower is not exposed to increases in monthly payments; and/or requiring amounts for taxes and insurance to be included with monthly mortgage payments (escrowing) so that the borrower avoids large bills in addition to mortgage payments.

Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure – This is signing over the property to the lender in exchange for debt forgiveness.  WARNING – this can hurt your credit but is better than having a foreclosure in a credit history.

Contact an attorney or accountant for advice if you're considering any of these options.

For any San Antonio or Houston real estate needs that you, your family or your friends might have just send me an email. I'm always here to help with "Service Beyond Your Wildest Expectations!"

Know Someone Having Mortgage Trouble?

You hear about it everyday. People continue to have problems paying their mortgages. Maybe they've lost their jobs; maybe unexpected medical bills have taken a toll on their finances; or maybe they have one of those ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) that now has adjusted them past their ability to pay.

Maybe it's not them but you with the problem. Either way there is hope and I'll be talking about what to do if you have the problem and give hope that there is a way out of the financial problem so you can stay in your home. But if that doesn't work, I'll tell about other options to hopefully save your credit and get you out of trouble in upcoming blog posts.

While the San Antonio real estate market has not been hit as hard as other areas, we do still have problems and there is still help available. If you need answers right away please contact me by email and I'll be glad to answer your questions. Just email me at Lynn@LynnKnapik.com .

HERE ARE SOME OPTIONS FOR DISTRESSED HOMEOWNERS

Refinance – Homeowners occupying a one to four unit home; with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac backed loan; with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio above 80% but no more than 125%; and are current on existing mortgage payments and with enough income to support new mortgage payments MAY qualify to refinance their home. Contact HOPE NOW at http://www.hopenow.com/ to see if you qualify

Sell and Take Cash to Closing – Homeowner can avoid the credit damage of a short sale of foreclosure by selling their home and curing any deficiencies at closing if they have the assets to do so. Might this be your answer?

Lender Workout – Lenders often will work with distressed homeowners to help them keep their homes by reducing or rolling back interest rates, forgiving back payments, adding them to the loan amount, or possibly recasting the entire loan and wrapping all fees into a fixed-rate mortgage. Contact your lender and talk to them about it.

Short sale – A situation in which the seller (1) owes more money on the loan than the sale of the property will likely produce on the market and (2) is unable or unwilling to bring money to closing. The seller may or may not be in pre-foreclosure.

Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure – The homeowner signs over the property to the lender in exchange for debt forgiveness. Warning – this can hurt credit but is better than having a foreclosure in a credit history.

Foreclosure – The legal process by which a defaulted borrower is deprived of his or her interest in the mortgaged property.

Do nothing or walk away – Before considering this option a homeowner should definitely contact an attorney for advice.

Actually you should contact your attorney or accountant for advice if you're considering any of these options.

Here's another place to check out avoiding foreclosure. Available at: hud.gov