North County Real Estate News February 2014 Issue Vol.1 | Page 2

on the homefront

Retirees with Good
Credit Denied Small Loan
slightly higher interest
rate and may be for
shorter terms of
up to 10 years, but
they can be quite
inexpensive to take
out.
While it appears
you have need for
cash now and need
the loan, you may not
need a 30-year term,
and the difference of
several percentage
points on a $40,000
loan may only be
under $100 per
month.
While $100 per
month is still what some people pay
for cell phone service, home cable bills,
or other run-of-the-mill costs, a regular
mortgage on your home may cost several
thousand dollars. Having a need for this
cash for the next several years and then
paying it off may be a better solution
for you.
Finally, if you actually were denied a
loan and you find out it was due to an
unpaid medical bill or litigation you are
involved in, you might want to clear that
issue up or wait until the issue is settled,
and then reapply. n

by Ilyce Glink and
Samuel J. Tamkin
Q: Is it possible
to get a second
mortgage or loan
for a small amount
of about $40,000
if you are retired?
Even though we
have more than
four times that
amount necessary
to pay off our
first mortgage of
$200,000 and we
have a credit score
of around 850, we
were denied by a
large bank. What should we do?
A: It seems that you have great
control over your financial life and have
achieved success in saving. Your credit
score is excellent. The only problem you
have is that you are looking for a small
mortgage on your home. Frequently,
small mortgages require the same amount
of work to process and handle as large
ones, and the fees are about the same. For
this reason, many lenders shy away from
low-balance mortgages.
In your case, however, you say that
you were denied a loan. With each
denial, the lender should have given you
a letter stating the reason for the refusal
to give you a loan. If you received this

letter, look it over and see what reason
they gave. Depending on what it is, that
reason will determine the course of
action you should take.
If you weren’t denied a loan, but the
bank merely indicated that it couldn’t
help you with a loan, then we’d know
that there weren’t any specific problems
relating to your credit or your home, and
they probably didn’t want to deal with
this size or type of loan.
Although the big box lender didn’t
want to work with you, you might find
a local lender or mortgage broker that
can offer different options. One might
be to take out a second mortgage or
home equity loan on your home. These © 2013 Distributed by Tribune Media
Services
other mortgage products may have a

27 Quick and Easy
Fix-Ups
to Sell Your Home Fast
and for Top Dollar
Carlsbad – Because your home may well be your largest
asset, selling it is probably one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. And once you have made
that decision, you’ll want to sell your home for the highest
price in the shortest time possible without compromising
your sanity. Before you place your home on the market,
here’s a way to help you to be as prepared as possible.
To assist homesellers, a new industry report has just
been released called “27 Valuable Tips That You Should
Know to Get Your Home Sold Fast and for Top Dollar.”
It tackles the important issues you need to know to make
your home competitive in today’s tough, aggressive marketplace.
Through these 27 tips you will discover how to protect and capitalize on your most important investment,
reduce stress, be in control of your situation, and make
the best profit possible. In this report you’ll discover how
to avoid financial disappointment or worse, a financial
disaster when selling your home. Using a common-sense
approach, you will get the straight facts about what can
make or break the sale of your home.
You owe it to yourself to learn how these important tips
will give you the competitive edge to get your home sold
fast and for the most amount of money.
Order your free report today. To order a FREE
Special Report, visit www.BeforeiSellMyHome.com or
to hear a brief recorded message about how to order
your FREE copy of this report call toll-free 1-800-6470525 Ext. 1023. You can call any time, 24 hours a day,
7 days a week. Get your free special report NOW.. n

home improvement

10 Fast and Fabulous
by Kathryn Weber

Closet Upgrades

boxes to organize shelves, cubbies,
and drawers. Separate your dress
socks from your athletic socks
with soft-sided organizers like
the valet boxes available on HSN
(HSN.com).

Wouldn’t it be nice if you were
as happy with the walk-in closet
in the master bedroom as you are
with all the other rooms in your
house? Peering through design
magazines and websites, the pages
of elegant, organized closets make
the task seem easy. And in truth,
it doesn’t require a huge expense
to improve the look and feel of
your closet.
Here are 10 ways to update
your closet quickly and with an eye
on your budget:

8. Separate seasonally or
socially. Divide up your clothing
by season or usage. Keep dressy
or other clothing you seldom
wear away from items you use
frequently to maximize space.
Next, separate by season, then by
color. Now you’ll never have to go
through every shirt in the closet
to find a particular sleeveless top.

1. Add more lighting. Banish bare
or dim fluorescent and incandescent
bulbs. If you have a single overhead
fixture, replace it with a fixture
featuring multiple lights, or track
lighting that can be directed where
you need light the most.

9. Splurge a little. If you have
some extra room in the budget,
look at buyi ng cabinets with roll out
shelves or outfitting your current
shelves with rollout shelving. These
really make finding what you’re
looking for a snap.

2. Beautify. Just because it’s
a closet doesn’t mean it can’t be
pretty. Add rugs, chandeliers,
artwork, and accessories. If you
have a blank wall, add wallpaper.
3. Streamline hangers. One of
the key things that makes a closet
look disorganized is a hodgepodge
collection of hangers. Instead,
2

invest in large sets of hangers,
like Huggable Hangers from HSN.
For about $58, you can get sets of
72 in 13 colors, with 36 shirt and
suit hangers each (HSN.com). Try
using two colors—one for winter
and one for summer clothes.

and the tops of dressers to make
your closet shine.
5. Take a seat. Every closet
needs a spot to sit down or hold
various items. Add a padded
storage ottoman that can do
double duty, such as a burlap
trunk from Home Decorators
4. Add more mirrors. Closets (homedecorators.com).
often lack light and mirrors bring
both light and the illusion of more
6. Make it convenient. In
space. Add them to doors, walls, addition to getting dressed, closets

outfitted for other clothing needs
like ironing, shoe polishing, and
steaming wrinkles, are especially
helpful. Install an ironing board
cabinet. Add a basket or bag to
collect dry cleaning and a folding
luggage rack for packing a suitcase.
Add hooks wherever there’s space
to hold garments, belts, handbags,
scarves, or hats.
7. Box it up. Add soft storage

10. Take advantage of height.
If shelves and rods don’t extend all
the way to the ceiling, add more.
You could double your storage
space just by installing extra
shelves. n
© 2013 Distributed by MCT
Information Services