Tests to determine if you have toxic drywall in your home

I've been reading quite a bit about defective Chinese drywall that has the potential to be harmful not only to your person, but to your home as well. This post by a Tennessee Home Inspector named Scott Patterson provides a checklist of things to look out to determine whether you may have it in your home.

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemungroup.com

How to tell if you have Chinese Drywall in a home

After seeing in person several homes with Chinese drywall and seeing the Red Flags in those homes of what to look for I have compiled a simple list that will give you a good start in the search to see if your home has this problematic drywall in it:

1. Use you sense of smell. If you detect a sulfur like odor, you might have it.
2. Look at the soft reactive metals in your home. Copper and Silver seem to be the first to show signs of reacting to the corrosive off gassing of the drywall.
3. Copper wiring that is turning dark is a tell tail sign. It turns almost black when it is exposed to the drywall off gassing.
4. Most of us have pennies sitting in a jar, bowl or whatever. Take a look at that pocket change that has been sitting on the desk for a while. If the pennies on top are turning dark and the ones further down in the jar are not, then you might have it.
5. Silver plated picture frames are another good test. If they are turning dark, you might have a problem.
6. Silver jewelry is another good prospect to see if you might be at risk.
7. Looking for the Made in China or Knauf/Tianjin marks on the back of the drywall in black ink. This is a guarantee that you have it! This can be done form the attic or even an air return chase.

Note: If you find Made in China or Kanuf on the back of the drywall in Blue ink, this drywall seems to be OK.

Any of the above situations or items along with the smell of sulfur in the home is about the best way to tell if your home is at risk of having Chinese drywall or drywall that has been mixed with fly ash. After talking with individuals who's homes have had this drywall, they all said that it started after they had been in the home for more than a few months and some took as long as four years. A common thread was that they all started to notice their silver jewelry was turning or tarnishing more than it ever did as soon as they moved into their new home.

At this time we have no sure method of testing an entire home to see if it has Chinese drywall in it. The only way to test via a lab is to take a sample (1" round core) every 4 feet in every wall and on every ceiling that has drywall. Why every 4'? The drywall sheets are in 4'x8' sheets so you must test every sheet! It is cost prohibited and very destructive to do this type of testing. Visual is the best method we have at this time for identifying a home with Chinese drywall. Be careful of the testing scams that have popped up over the past few months.

This information is provided by Scott Patterson as a service. It may be reproduced with permission as long as credit is given to the author and it is not changed.

Best Value end unit property in Whisman Station

Steve Mun | Keller Williams Realty | steve@stevemun.com | 650-605-3188 140 Cottonwood Ct, Mountain View, CA Luxuriously appointed planned community living. 3BR/2.5BA Condo offered at $599,000 Year Built 1999 Sq Footage 1,288 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Floors 3 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size 435 sqft HOA/Maint $190 per month DESCRIPTION As one of the unique and beautifully designed planned urban communities in the heart of Silicon Valley near many premier employers, there is a strong draw of potential owners to this community. The community, itself, is beautifully maintained with walls of lusciously green trees lining the avenues while exquisitely maintained parks, pools and playgrounds abound to serve the needs of your family within its safe confines. A deep sense of community permeates here as the associations hold their yearly July 4th and Halloween celebrations to bring neighbors together. This is a rare end unit with one attached wall and lots and lots of natural sunlight. Granite counters and backsplash, bamboo wood flooring on the first two levels, central air conditioning, dual pane windows, custom window coverings, cathedral ceilings, washer dryer, extra storage units in garage and more. Everything a modern family's needs have been met. Easy access to all the major freeways and public transportation with good schools nearby. Everything your family requires is within its gated surroundings; you simply want to live here. see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES • Central A/C • Central heat • High/Vaulted ceiling • Walk-in closet • Hardwood floor • Family room • Living room • Dining room • Dishwasher • Refrigerator • Stove/Oven • Microwave • Granite countertop • Washer • Dryer • Laundry area - garage • Balcony, Deck, or Patio COMMUNITY FEATURES • Guest parking • Clubhouse • Swimming pool(s) • Playground • Gated property OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES • custom window coverings • extra storage units in garage • CAT 5 wiring ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Front Fountain Play ground Pool Walk way Driveway Park Rear Kitchen 1 Kitchen 2 Master suite 1 Master suite 2 View from living room Living Room Family Room Dining area Garage 1 Garage 2 Contact info: Steve Mun Keller Williams Realty steve@stevemun.com 650-605-3188 For sale by agent/broker Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Jul 17, 2009, 7:46pm PDT

Surprise! Loan Modifications are not working

http://www.mercurynews.com/realestatenews/ci_12789161?source=email

I cannot say it is surprising that the banks are not providing enough loan modifications to stop the number of foreclosures that are looming in the not too distant future, with the continuation of high unemployment rates here in Silicon Valley and the rest of the country. The stated goals of the top executive at the lending institutions (of helping keep homeowners in their homes) and the negotiators who directly interface with the borrowers often seem at odds; I don’t know if it is this way by design or by circumstances.

As a short sale agent, I speak almost on a daily basis with loss mitigation negotiators who work in the same departments as the loan modification folks and let me tell you, they are overwhelmed and not in the frame of mind to think about your files to give them just consideration that each hardship warrants. If you don’t know how to deal with them, they will walk all over you and some have been known to flat out lie to the borrowers. Depending on the size of the lender and its loss mitigation department, each negotiator may be working from 200-500 files! Now how much consideration do you think a negotiator can give each file or consider the circumstances when you are file number 301 out of 400, unless they absolutely have to? Do you wonder why you hear horror stories about contacting loss mitigation departments and having to submit documents over and over or waiting on the phone all day to talk to someone?

Another thing to consider that the article does not mention is this: when the lenders do provide some sort of loan modification, it is often not enough to get the borrower out of their financial difficulty. You hear this quite often.

Let me give you a real life example of a past client. She had a combination of hardships that piled on top of each other rather quickly: relocation due to husband’s job, two unexpected medical complications that resulted in huge bills, and a pay cut to keep her job. All of these things and facing an upside down mortgage made her reach out to her lenders (both the same institution) for a loan modification. She needed to reduce her mortgage payments by about $1,400 to be able to continue making payments viable. The primary lender gave her a reduction in rate and a saving of about $700 per month, but added an additional $15,000 which was wrapped into the loan as “interests, costs and expenses” and re-amortized over 40 years. The HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) flatly denied any modification when the first thought she warranted a modification. After speaking with her CPA and lawyer, she contacted me about doing a short sale.

Where was the “modification” from the “Home Retention Group” when they simply wrapped the reduction cost back into the loan and offered to reduce an amount that was not consistent with what the borrower needed due to her pay cut? They knew from looking over the financial statement what the monthly deficiency was, yet offered to reduce it by less than what was short? Don’t they know, this is a recipe for pushing their borrowers into foreclosures; or are the negotiators so swamped with files, they simply don’t care. Either way, these types of loan modification are not working out for the borrowers. The lenders lose money when the borrower stops paying and go on the foreclosure track. Why not hire more people in their loss mitigation departments to reduce the work load and have the negotiators really look into people’s financial situation and give them the necessary help they need to keep them in their homes? That would truly be a win-win for the lender and the borrower and consistent with their executive’s stated goals to the congress and to the general public.

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemungroup.com

Desist and Refrain orders and/or accusations from California Department of Real Estate resulting from Loan Modifications

Here is the list of people whom the California Department of Real Estate has served Desist and Refrain orders and /or accusations resulting from a loan modification and/or foreclosure rescue transaction. Please read the preamble on the web page for an explanation.

I am just re-posting this list (which is public record) and make no comments or judgments about these individuals or their activities.

The consumer is advised to make their own informed decisions.



Steve Mun
www.stevemungroup.com

Obama's Refiance Program raises the limit on it LTV ratio!

Obama's Home Affordability Refinance Program (HARP) raises its maximum Loan-To-Value (LTV) limit from 105% to 125%.

This change finally makes better sense for the average homeowner here in California, who may be facing a distress situation or involved in short sale of their property. Being unable to qualify for a re-fiance if you were more than 105% underwater made no sense in the more expensive areas like California. With unemployment rate continuing to rise unabated, this is a bit of good news.


http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/pr_07012009.html



Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemungroup.com

Appraisers can be way off

“He is not a BPO agent, he is a professional appraiser” was what the Bank of America negotiator told me; the subtext obviously being that the latter is better at getting valuation than the former.

Well, regardless of whether he was a professional appraiser or a Realtor, the value was off by more than $70,000 by my valuation. I was shocked: $7,000 off maybe, but over $70,000? I’m no fool, I wasn’t going to challenge this as the appraiser was telling the lender that the house was worth far less than the offer I had in hand. This was going to be truly a win-win situation for my Silicon Valley Short Sale client.

But the valuation was too far off and I needed to understand why it was this way.
I asked that the negotiator provide me with the MLS listing numbers of the comps that the appraiser used to reach his conclusion. I had not seen any recently sold properties that would justify such a low appraisal value. When I’ve asked for comps before, some negotiators would provide them while others would not, so I asked in the nicest manner in which I am capable.

It turns out the appraiser was looking at properties that had one less bedroom, the interior space was off by about 400 square feet. How “professional” can this appraiser be if he was comparing apples with oranges? I cannot believe he was so far off, especially since he visited the property but it was not to my client’s detriment, so I did not raise a fuss.

However, this does raise a new flag for me and for my future practices. I typically did not ask for comps unless there was a reason to look into them, but from now on, I will ask for comps on all BPOs and appraisals and double check them for accuracy.

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemungroup.com