Washington Post Asks: Are you Ready If Snowmageddon 2011 Hits?

When the next monster snowstorm hits the D.C. area, you can be prepared

By Tracey Longo

Special to The Washington Post
Friday, November 5, 2010; 8:01 AM

Barry Perkins has vivid recollections of fighting a losing battle last winter with his flat roof and ice-dammed gutters, which sent water leaking into three levels of his Reston townhouse. The cost of repairs? A startling $4,50

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MSNBC REPORTS: Homeowners Refinancing are Opting for Shorter Mortgage Lengths

Refinancing homeowners are going short
By Bill Briggs
Many customers take 30-year loans down to 15 or 20

After being blindsided by a job loss last spring, sales exec Ren Chirakos didn’t need his new MBA degree to calculate the scary numbers: The math got simple real fast.
Zero income + new COBRA bills + a house payment = something had to give in the Chirakos family budget. The answer: refinancing his 30-year home loan to a shorter mortgage that tapped into the trend of ever-shrinking interest rates.
“I needed to keep my house,” said Chirakos, who since has found work at a different company in Cuyahoga, Ohio. His wife is a stay-home mom who cares for their two daughters. “It forces you to look at 'OK, where is our money going?' You start looking for ways to shave fixed expenses. It really gives you cause to think.”
Chirakos was paying 5.375 percent on a 30-year loan before he became a victim of downsizing at toolmaker Snap-on Inc. As rates sank and slipped over the summer, he watched and waited. Then he pounced, locking in a 20-year, fixed-rate loan at 4.3 percent and slashing $140 off the monthly bill for his $220,000 home. With excellent credit and little debt, the re-fi cost him $900, so will pay for itself in about six months. “Every little bit helps,” he said.
For many refinancing homeowners, going shorter is suddenly more appealing. Fixed mortgages of 15 and 20 years are quickly gaining fans among those who previously held 30-year loans, balloon mortgages and adjustable rates, according to a new report from mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The number of fixed-rate, 15- and 20-year loans are at their highest level since 2004, the government-controlled company said.
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NBC Washington Reports: More Help For Homeowners in Trouble

Homeowners Hope for Mortgage Help

Thousands of struggling homeowners, hoping to get a break on their mortgage payments, started lining up outside the Washington Convention Center early Friday morning.

They were waiting for the start of the Save The Dream tour. The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America has brought together lenders, financial counselors and homeowners in danger of losing their houses.
Over the next week, many homeowners will be able to negotiate lower interest rates. Some may also be able to lower the principal on their homes.Click Here for Full Article

Washington Post reports: severe weather inspring homeowners to invest in generators

Generators, portable or automatic, can help homeowners survive weather's wrath

By Kimberly Lankford

Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, June 5, 2010 

Home generator sales surged after this winter's snowstorms left many people without power -- and heat -- for days.
Roy Cranford, president of CDS Emergency Power Services, a Baltimore-based company that sells and installs generators throughout the mid-Atlantic region, did 40 estimates for permanent home generators from January to March 2009. The number swelled to 400 for the same three months of this year, when snowstorms blew through the area.
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Hope for Homeowners message from Martin O'Malley

 Message from: Martin O'Malley/Anthony Brown

Friend —  Imagine having to look your children in the eyes and tell them you'll have to leave your home, maybe your whole community, for good. Over the course of the national foreclosure crisis, thousands of Marylanders haven't had to imagine this ordeal. They've lived it. And every uprooted family, every boarded-up house, affects all of us — our neighborhoods, our towns and cities, our state.
We can help more families stay in their homes — by forcing mortgage companies to give homeowners facing foreclosure a chance to negotiate better

terms on their loans.  Yesterday, Rep. Elijah Cummings and I urged the General Assembly to pass an emergency bill to do just that.  Join us in taking action today. Urge your state legislators to support the bill, and help protect our families and communities from foreclosures:
http://www.martinomalley.com/HopeForHomeowners
Since 2007, we've helped thousands of families hold on to their homes through programs like the Homeowners Preserving Equity (HOPE) initiative.  But thousands more could be saved if we act together to stop huge, faceless mortgage companies from crushing homeowners under their heel because they're more concerned with profits than with helping families stay in their homes.  Writing your legislators will only take a few minutes, and your support of this emergency bill could have an immediate impact. The emergency bill just needs three-fifths of the votes in the General Assembly to pass and be enacted immediately.
Help make today the beginning of the end of the foreclosure crisis in Maryland. Write your state legislators now:
Thank you,
Gov. Martin O'Malley


http://www.martinomalley.com/HopeForHomeowners