Archive for July, 2008
Mortgage Week In Review
July 28th, 2008 categories: Mortgage Reviews
Happy Monday to everyone! Once a week my favorite mortgage man here at Beverly-Hanks, Cameron Lewis, puts out an excellent, to-the-point review of where the mortgage markets are going, or what’s happening in the financial markets that affects mortgages. I’m happy to share these with you on a weekly basis and you will find them most likely on Mondays or Wednesdays. If you have specific questions for Cameron, I will be including all of his contact information at the end of this article.
Besides providing support for Fannie and Freddie, the Housing Bill will also help the housing market in other ways. One program will allow the FHA to insure up to $300 billion in new loans targeted at troubled homeowners. Another program adds tax credits for first-time homebuyers, which in essence will be a 15-year interest free loan for up to $7,500. In addition, the bill provides funds for more low income housing and grants to be made for local community redevelopment. A wide range of smaller programs are included as well.
The economic news in the housing sector was mixed. June Existing Home Sales fell slightly, and inventory levels of unsold homes increased. In contrast, New Home Sales were significantly higher than expected in June, and the May figures were revised higher as well. High inventory levels will probably need to come down to achieve a meaningful recovery in the housing market, but the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) believes that the Housing Bill will play a major role in helping the housing market to rebound. In particular, he expects the first-time homebuyer tax credit to boost future home sales.
Friday will be the big day next week. The important Employment report will come out that day. As usual, this data on the number of new jobs created, the Unemployment Rate, and wage inflation will be the most highly anticipated economic data of the month, since the health of the labor market is perhaps the single biggest factor in the performance of the economy. Early estimates are for a loss of 70K jobs in July.
The first reading of second quarter 2008 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be released on Thursday. GDP is the broadest measure of economic activity. The two national manufacturing indexes, the ISM and the Chicago PMI, will come out on Thursday and Friday. Consumer Confidence and Construction Spending will round out the schedule.
Cameron M Lewis
Beverly-Hanks Mortgage Services
Residential & Commercial Financing
828-258-1945 Office
828-231-4909
828-254-7202 Fax
877-293-5946 Toll Free
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Going to Asheville’s BeleChere this weekend?
July 21st, 2008 categories: Festivals
BeleChere is definitely the ultimate arts & crafts and entertainment street party. The first time I attended BeleCher I was amazed by the sheer size and number of people. Last year there were over 365,000 over a three day period! This is a major area event you simply don’t want to miss, especially if you like people-watching! If you’re worried how you’re going to get there in the midst of so many people, don’t, two shuttle routes run every 20 minutes and cost $3, roundtrip. The east shuttle runs from the Asheville Mall’s back parking lot, the west shuttle from the Kmart Plaza shopping center on Patton Avenue.
If you go
What: 30th annual Bele Chere street festival.
When: July 25-27.
Where: Throughout downtown Asheville. Free stages at Biltmore Avenue at Aston Street, Coxe Avenue near the post office, Lexington Avenue at Hiawassee Street, Haywood Street near Pack Library, Battery Park Avenue at the Grove Arcade. Children’s area in the Renaissance Hotel parking lot. Ticketed stage at Memorial Stadium.
Bele Chere has something for everyone including great food, spectacular entertainment, quality arts and crafts and events appealing to the whole family.
Entertainment Schedule
Tickets on sale now
Fri, 07/25/08
07:30 PM
The Wailers and Third World
Sat, 07/26/08
07:00 PM
Travis Tritt and Steve Azar
Ticketed shows: At Memorial Stadium with Third World and The Wailers July 25 ($15) and Steve Azar and Travis Tritt July 26 ($20) at Ticketmaster locations, online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or call 251-5505.
Official festival site: http://www.belecherefestival.com/.
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Asheville Arts and Crafts
July 19th, 2008 categories: Festivals
It’s now time for the best Arts & Crafts show around, The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands. There are over two hundred fine craftspeople on two floors of the Asheville Civic Center in downtown Asheville, 87 Haywood St. There will be craft educators & local musicians playing live on the arena stage. If you’ve never attended this event, you’ll be amazed at the many different crafts and high quality, this is the creme-de-la-creme of arts and crafts.
The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands is going on now through July 20th and again in the fall, October 16-19. Hours are Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. Admission is $6 per person and children under 12 free. Don’t miss it!
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Looking for good wine?
July 15th, 2008 categories: Restaurant Reviews
In little ol’ Weaverville there is the best wine and cheese shop named Maggie B’s. The owner is Elspeth Brown and she is what makes it special. I love good customer service and product knowledge and she delivers both. Elspeth is the daughter-in-law of our very good neighbor friends Dan & Linda Brown, so of course we were going to support her no matter what. But, the first time I shopped at Maggie B’s I found that I was very impressed at the depth of knowledge Elspeth had about each wine she carried. I think that Sommalier certificate means she serious about this!
This isn’t just any wine shop where you walk in, pick up a bottle, pay and off you go. Well, you can go about it that way if you want to, but if you explain what you like and don’t like about certain wines, she can direct you to something you’ll be very happy with. She has some very fun wine tastings at least once a month, it’s a great opportunity to try before you buy! I also want to mention that she has the best olives and specialty cheeses around too! Located right on Main Street in downtown Weaverville on the corner of Main Street & Hamburg Mountain Rd. in the Preservation Hall building.
This past weekend Maggie B’s combined tastings with Pastry Chef Stacy Haas of Inventive Icings. What a magical combination! Wine and cake! There were five kinds of cake to taste: Coconut, Pineapple white cake, Double Fudge with Port icing, Flourless & Sugarless Chocolate cake & Bread Pudding with caramel. For those of you who haven’t discovered Chef Stacy yet, she is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont and has several years experience with large resorts and fine dining establishments in Florida and Asheville.
Her specialties are wedding cakes, cupcakes, birthday cakes and special occasion cakes. She also specializes in made-to-order truffles. I had one of her chocolate cakes with chocolate ganache for my birthday a couple years ago, my friends still talk about that cake! If you want something truly special for any occasion, Inventive Icings is ”THE” place to order from. She has a very impressive porfolio in which to view her artistic renderings. Chef Stacy can be reached by calling her at 941-223-8415.
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Holy Renovations!
July 7th, 2008 categories: Interesting Tidbits
Can I confess my recent revelation to the renovation world? Watching HGTV and all their wonderful makeovers is fun, actually going through a makeover ISN’T!! For the past several weeks we’ve been going through a total kitchen reno. For those of you out there going through this, we belong to a club: “I renovated and survived”! There are only two “fun” parts to a renovation, when you get to order all the new stuff, and the end result when everything is in place. In between is nothing but the blood, sweat & tears! We gutted everything ourselves, kitchen cabinets, tile counters, vinyl flooring and the subfloor beneath it. I’ve been lucky through, I haven’t had to live without the use of a sink for more than a couple days, thanks to my husband Gary. I’ve been living in an inside dustbowl reminiscent of the wild west, complete with tumbleweeds! Just when I get everything relatively clean, with an emphasis on “relatively” because the clean doesn’t last long before the next batch of dust comes . . . It’s time to install the granite!
I really did my research on our granite purchase, and ended up going to Travelers Rest, S.C. for the best selection at Slabco. I’ve never seen such beauty in stone, I commented to the Slabco employee assisting me that each slab looked like a piece of art. I chose a Brazilian Granite named Juparana Vesper, lovely shades of chestnut, blue grey and cream with some movement to it. My choice of installers was Asheville company Alpha Stone, owned by Sergey Shtempel. Sergey was recommended to me by my cabinet man, Barry Gardner of Lowe’s. Sergey was the best price and quickest turnaround time that I found, he got it done in two weeks, all the others I contacted quoted me 5-6 weeks. Timing is critical when your kitchen is torn up and living in complete upheaval. So, with fingers crossed that my granite would be installed when promised, I entrusted the job to Alpha Stone and was never disappointed! Sergey was upbeat, on time, did a beautiful installation and answered his cell phone every time I called him!!! If he doesn’t deserve an “Atta Boy” for his superb customer service, I don’t know who does. GREAT JOB Sergey!! I highly recommend Alpha Stone for your stone needs, give Sergey a call, he’ll answer!! 828-777-1965.
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