How to Prepare Your Home for the Winter with Chris Coffey

Welcome to the Shine Team’s video blog. Today we have Chris Coffey from Textar Inspections with us. He is going to help us with some tips to winterize your home.

What are the most important things we need to do to prepare our homes for freezing weather?

Make sure to have your heating system serviced. You also want to check whether all the weather stripping around the doors and sealing around the windows aren’t cracked. If those are damaged they can let cold air in causing an increase in your heating bill.

How do you take care of the sprinkler system?

It’s really important to take care of these before the freezing temperatures come. It’s an easy homeowner’s fix or there are companies that can help with that.  They’ll also help with not only your irrigation system, but your exterior plumbing as well.

You can buy frost caps at your hardware store. They are very simple to install and they can save you hundreds of dollars.

Anything else?

Check out your roof. If you have any shingles missing or issues it will only get worse in the winter. Hire a roof inspector to make sure everything is in good shape.

I want to thank Chris for being with us today. If you have any more questions for Chris you can give him a call at 254-616-9399 or e-mail him at texstar.inspector@gmail.com. If you would like to know more information about Texstar Inspections you can visit their Facebook page.

If you have any other questions for me about how to winterize your home, please give us a call 254.690.4321

Texas Veteran Home Loan

Welcome back to my video blog.

Today, I have with me Cyd West from First Community Mortgage. She is the best lender I’ve worked with in my 35-year career. She’s going to tell us about the Texas Veteran Home Loan and how it can help many of you.

Cyd West

The Texas Veteran Home Loan is available to anyone who has served in the military in the past or is currently active. You must be stationed in the state of Texas and claim Texas as your home residence for tax purposes. You also must register with the state by filling out a short application form.

So, how can the loan help you? The Texas Veteran Home Loan can be combined with any VA, conventional or FHA loan. Most often it is paired with a VA for a no down payment option.

Texas loves its veterans and wants to make living here easy.  There is also a further discount for any veteran that received a service-related injury. In that case, the veteran would receive a half percent discount.

There is a one percent participation fee that is never waived. The VA funding loan is treated the same as a regular VA loan. If you are exempt from VA Loan funding fee then you will be exempt from Texas Veteran funding fee.

The Texas Veteran Loan also does conventional loans, but it does require a 10 percent down payment as well as private mortgage insurance.

I want to thank Jean for having me here today. If you have any questions about the Texas Veteran Home Loan, please give me a call at 254.690.3765 I’d be more than happy to help!

Cyd West Discusses Why It's a Great Time for a Loan in Central Texas

Hello everyone! When you are considering buying a home, you not only want a realtor you can trust, but a mortgage lender, as well. That’s why I have with me today, Cyd West.

Some of you may have worked with Cyd before, but those of you who haven’t, I assure you, she is the best!

Cyd West

Jean and I have a lot of experience working together. Never in my career, have I seen such a wonderful time for buyers. With low prices, low interest rates and motivated sellers it’s just a phenomenal time to be in the market.

One of the advantages we have right now in our local market is doing lots of VA Loans. The underwriting process for VA Loans has changed much less than others. You have the option of no down payment, rates are low and the underwriting rules are designed to understand people who move around the country a lot.

Some of our smaller communities in Central Texas also have the option of USDA Financing.

I strongly encourage anyone thinking of buying to do so now! There has been a lot of talk about the recent increasing interest rates. The Federal Reserve recently announced they are stopping quantitative easing after this year. Because of this, the ability to get a mortgage loan is becoming increasingly harder.  While I do not expect rates to skyrocket, they definitely won’t remain this low!

One of the recent changes to underwriting is the Ability to Repay Test.  Many lenders before the housing market crash did not stress so much over your ability to repay as long as you had a good credit score and large enough down payment.

I am proud to say that First National Bank has always abided by the Ability to Repay Test; we want to protect the money from our clients and not just hand it out freely.

I want to thank Jean and everyone from the Shine Team. If you have any questions, please call me at 254.690.3765.

5 Things to Do Before You Move In

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Moving into a new home can be an extremely exciting time in a person’s life.  However, it can also be incredibly hectic.  There are some things that can be placed on the back burner during the move in process.  With these five easy tips on moving into a new home, you can be sure to have your home as safe and cost efficient as possible.

Spray for Bugs
Right when you get your keys, before you start moving in furniture, have an exterminator come out to your property and spray for bugs. A thorough spray before you move in will save you the hassle of clearing everything out for the exterminator at a later time. Make sure you are the only tenants of your new property and that there are no pesky pests sticking around!

Change the Locks
At closing time, the seller of a house turns over the keys to the new owners.  Many times, though, the previous owner will have given a spare key to a friend or neighbor in case of emergency.  Enlist a locksmith to come to the house and change all of the locks and get new keys made.  This final transition from one owner to the next will give the new homeowner peace of mind. 

Reprogram Your Garage Door Remote
Along with changing the locks of your home, reprograming your garage door remote will ensure the safety of your house.  Depending on the brand of remote, steps in reprograming it may differ, but the process is simple for nearly all brands.  Most remotes have a “Learn” button, which you must hold until the indicator light blinks.  While the indicator light blinks, press the button on your remote.  This should reprogram your garage door opener remote.  If this does not work, contact your remote manufacturer or local hardware store for assistance. 

Change Your Home’s Air Filters
Most air filter manufacturers recommend that you change the HVAC air filters once every month. Due to the increased amount of activity of moving furniture in and out of the house, a larger concentration of dust will collect in the ventilation system.   In order to improve the air quality in your home and increase heating and cooling efficiency, make sure you change your air filters right when you move in.

Install New Batteries in Smoke Alarms
When a person is selling their home, there are many different procedures they must do to ensure that it is ready for sale.  Often times, during the stress of the home selling process, the smoke alarms are forgotten about.  Ensure the safety of your home and family by changing the batteries in the smoke detectors when you move into a new house.  This cheap and quick home improvement has the potential to save your family’s life.