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2018 Update _ Renewed Writings_

I am updating this blog now many miles down the road from where it began. The real estate company, as you may surmise. is changed to Huntsville Homes, LLC. Much has transpired with friends and family. Always, we are thankful.

To bring this closer up to date with all that living we enjoyed should be quite the task. Suffice it now, that from time to time, I may wander through the memories as I share current times, friends and events. All, of course, are writings . . .
"Through The Eyes of Youth."

Advertising Alabama Real Estate

For Sale By Owner Consultation

Short Sales - A Better Option For Homeowners in Trouble?

(Huntsville, AL) January 14, 2010


Alert - U.S. Government Loan Modification program appears to only postpone the enevitable for homeowners who may not be able to afford the new loan payments or whose home has lost substantial market value as compared to what may still be owed to pay off the mortgage debt. Owing more for your home than what the market conditions say the value of the home is results in some homeowners simply walking away from their home rather than keep trying to overcome high mortgage payments in the face of devastating unemployment conditions. For some, these circumstances are unbearable. Loan modifications seem only to provide false hope with no real remedy for the homeowner who genuinely is trying every way they know to survive a financial crisis apparently created by those in the financial arena.


New lender guidelines set to go into affect on April 5, 2010 offer some help where lenders appear to be unable to pursue deficiency judgements against homeowners deliquent on their home loan.

This system is said to expire in 2012. Will lenders try and approve more short sales between now and April 5, 2010? The answer remains to be seen.


What next.... we have first time home buyer tax credits, and now the new guidelines also provide for homeowners who engage in short sales of their property with local investors who openly disclose their intent to quickly resale the property for a profit. This can be a good thing. A quick sale by an investor who has negotiated a short sale on behalf of the homeowner can relieve the homeowner now of the mortgage debt, hopefully saving a better result for their credit score so they can purchase a new home with payments they can afford and a market value more in keeping with the new mortgage loan balance.


On primary residences where the homeowner has lived in the property for 5 of the last 8 years, and when they sell their home pursuant to a short sale, there is talk that they may also qualify for tax credits as well.


Summary: Find a professional who can guide you through pre-foreclosures and is willing to negotiate for you the best price from the bank. That way an investor will be able to buy the home thereby releasing a homeowner from further struggle beneath the debt of a mortgage balance higher than the market value of the property, not to mention the unbelieveable payment required each month just to stay afloat. Homeowners can avoid forclosure and resulting massive hits to their credit scores and often be relieved of any defiency judgements against them as well when they commit to getting information necesary to apply for a short sale from a local real estate professional. Be prepared to complete all the necessary paperwork to convince the lender you really are a under "extreme hardship" and deserve this relief.

Your local professional real estate agent can help. Talk is cheap unless they care too and are reasonably knowledgeable to help. Try and find someone who has a ready made list of investors that may be able to make an immediate offer on your property. Then talk it through from there. Consult tax professionals as well as real estate attorneys or other professionals you may believe necessary. There may or may not be tax consequences to you from the short sale, but at least the debt should be removed, hopefully without you incurring a deficiency judgement.


Good luck to all who are in genuine need of help resolving this deeply rooted financial crisis. I hope this benefits you.

Jim Robinson
Broker/Owner
Advertising Alabama

P.S. We have investor relationships who have the ability to help. You decide what is best for you.
Call us at (256) 270-0966 for free info.

Fall 2009 Harvest Fun in Huntsville

Today, Friday, a new essence is in the air. It's time to enjoy cool moments in the sunshine and wrap up on a blanket under the stars with someone you are most fond of while making those treasured and special new memories.

(The following is from my "Men are Still Leaders" issue.)

Recipes for Families: Love is, after all, FUN!

Create a bunch of fun with a picnic! Go find the local flower peddler or florist; select the finest bunch of flowers, take all the "fixins" including your favorite finger foods (grapes, strawberries) mix in some liquified chocolate, two sterno fuel cans, a camping stand for pots, and a fondu set. Grab blankets, binoculars, toboggins, hand and foot warmer packets from your local outdoor department store, and a scarf in case it becomes cooler than expected before you are ready to leave.

Barbequed pork or chicken is good for the main course (sandwiches may be less messy of course), some sauce for dipping chicken in and a select mp3 player with the softest Italian violins or classical romantic music. Get different mp3's for the children so they can select music that they enjoy best while playing away from the picnic blanket. Don't forget your favorite beverage(s). Try to select each family member's favorite drinks AND glasses.

Next, some game balls and frisby type toys for the kids, and a confirmation with your babysitter as to your location and the time she is to pick up the children to take them for ice cream desert before they go home to bed for the evening. Your babysitter is also your confidante who will go before you with all of the trappings you selected earlier for the evening. This includes a match or lighter for lighting the sterno cans, which later on will become candlelight when you place an amber tinted globe around it while you dip the strawberries in the chocolate fondu. Romantic? That part's up to you! But maybe wait till after the kids go for ice cream.

Finally, you call your wife and schedule this wonderful evening at least one week in advance telling her some well planned ruse that involves her time with you and the kids for dinner. (Be sure your work is apprised of your "family plans" and your chosen priority as well.) If you leave early enough in the evening, you may even bring kites for the kids if the area you choose is suitable.

Ok! So Guys... I have provided the unbelievable simple "Plan One" of my new book - here for all to see and take advantage of. Enjoy your families and your mate! You'll find they will enjoy you more as well. (Ladies if you happen to be fond of the guy who can't "get" this, just do it for him and he'll start thinking again, even if it is close to football season.) :-}

God bless you through the next writing from..."Through The Eyes of Youth"

Be a Giver of Gifts - One Word at a Time

I am not sure what today may bring, but signs shall abound about us now. Tuesday morning is peaceful, quiet like a summer mist as it lifts off the water. Slight drizzles of rain here now, nurturing the growth yet to expose itself with the warmth of spring.

Daily works we must do. Get up and go forth. Touch lives, encourage others and know the strength within each of us. We can achieve unity in peace and community in love. Commit therefore this day not to be moved by errant drivers on the highway and more, to become a courteous driver ourselves. Attune ourselves to what is around us at any moment. Is there a kind word or deed we may extend to another soul? Is our day so busy (we think at times) that we should lapse our thinking that we are the only beings that matter? Have we determined to get only what we want to the detriment of our well being?

Philosophy of words, a meaning deeper than our thoughts, for God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts than our thoughts. Love is missing, choked out as a seed upon the rocky road that has no hope of finding fertile soil in which to grow. So has our media of communication replaced love with carnality, and ignorance. Shall we rather choose that thing which is good, that which is wholesome and right? Yes, I believe the struggle is not for the weak, but truth shall be availed of her daughters. Wisdom shall arise now because it is sought by her pupils. So shall we become emulsified in truth and strengthened by her promise.

Enough. Small portions will keep us from becoming to heavy to walk in our growth. Each line shall build upon a foundation, and let not sand be found beneath.

Let me encourage you to take a moment and view others and your surroundings from a determined perspective to love regardless of what may seem to be practical circumstances surrounding you. For against such is no law.

Enjoy the moment. Stop and be thankful it was created for you. Yes, you! Share love, share moments of joy and laughter. Share peace from within. Forgive. Now, while you are able. It's good to work and produce in this world, but be cautious not to work so hard in climbing that company ladder that when you finally get to the top, you stop and recall all the times you could have spent sharing love with your family. Then slowly, as you reflect back down that ladder, the realization that the ladder is, after all, leaning on the wrong house.

Take your moment. Break from habit. Kiss your loved one a little longer this morning. Change it up a little bit. Pack a note in that lunch for school just to let your child know their worth the extra effort. Plan a surprise babysitter to allow a spontaneous evening out with your spouse simply to celebrate the love and appreciation you have for them. Build up yourself also. Take a hot bath. Go for a nature walk. Read a biography of a proven leader. Become one yourself. Accept yourself. Know yourself. Know yourself what is true and valuable; for though the barn be built, it remains to be seen if we shall live to see it filled.

Go now and share love with someone this day. You deserve it and so do they. After all, love is a gift. Deeper than wells of living water, whose essence and properties abound only in those who choose to accept it.


Still I am . . .

Living Life "Through the Eyes of Youth" (sm)