New FHA Loan Changes Impact Buyers and Builders

The Departmentof Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced new FHA single-family loan limits that will go into effect on January 1, 2014. This announcement came just weeks after the department claimed that it would not lower home loan limits in 2014. The new loan limits will vary by county depending on the median cost of housing for that area. However, the new changes are mostly targeting high income earners  who looking to take advantage of favorable FHA loan financing options, and focusing instead on the lower income borrowers.

These changes will have a dramatic impact on both on buyers and builders. Buyers who were planning on purchasing a more expensive home using the favorable FHA loan terms may no longer be able to buy the home they were planning on. In turn, more builders may lose buyers who were planning on buying within the next few months.

If you are a buyer who wants to secure your FHA loan before these lower limits go into effect, you must have a case number on file with HUD before the end of the year to not be affected by these changes.

Here's a look at what the new FHA loan single-family home limits are for the counties Keystone Custom Homes builds in:

Pennsylvania

• Adams-Current: $271,050 vs. New: $271,050
• Berks-Current: $300,000 vs. New: $271,000
• Chester-Current: $420,000 vs. New: $379,500
• Cumberland-Current: $271,050 vs. New: $271,050
• Dauphin-Current: $271,050 vs. New: $271,050
• Lancaster-Current: $383,750 vs. New: $271,050
• Lebanon-Current: $271,050 vs. New: $271,050
• York-Current: $425,000 vs. New: $271,050

Maryland

• Cecil-Current: $420,000 vs. New: $379,500
• Harford-Current: $560,000 vs. New: $494,500

If you have questions about the new FHA loan limits, I would love to answer them. Feel free to leave a comment below.

Until next time,

Jeff Rutt

Americans Express Preference for Walkability in 2013 Community Preferences Survey

The results of the National Association of Realtors' 2013 Community Preference Survey are in, and the findings are definitely worth talking about.

Here are a few highlights:

• 60 percent of respondents prefer a neighborhood with a mix of houses, stores and other businesses that are easy to walk to
• 52 percent want a single-family home with a large yard
• 78 percent believe the neighborhood itself is more important than the house
• 57 percent would trade a larger yard for a shorter commute to work
• 55 percent for forego a large yard for walkability to schools, stores and restaurants

What are the takeaways from these numbers? The key factor to a successful community is walkability. Today's homeowners are putting a much greater emphasis on being able to walk from their new home to their favorite shops, restaurants, parks and schools. Americans are even willing to give up their treasured yard space to ensure they have an easier, faster commute to their workplace and local businesses. They don't want a community with just homes, they want a community that offers them a complete lifestyle; one that they very seldom have to leave, and when they do, they don't want to have to travel far.

While some homeowners will still fall in love with a single-family home in a community filled with just homes or homes and an amenities package, builders need to make sure that even these communities are readily accessible to shops, restaurants, entertainment, recreation and transportation. The other solution is to plan mixed use or traditional neighborhood developments, which incorporate a mix of homes, businesses and amenities all within one community.

What are your thoughts on the findings from this year's survey? I'd love to hear your opinion in the comments section below.

Until next time,

Jeff Rutt

Homes for Hope Program Expands to California

Jeff Rutt, here.

I recently got back from a Homes for Hope trip a wonderful group of people from all over the country to the Dominican Republic. This trip, like so many others I've taken, reminded me of the true purpose behind Homes for Hope and HOPE International. It's still amazing to me how so many people have banded together over the past few years to help make a difference in global poverty.

Following on the heels of this trip, I am glad to announce that Wathen Castanos Hybrid Homes has joined the Homes for Hope team, and that they have started construction on our first Hope home in California.

Wathan Castanos is nationally recognized for their quality, green homes. However, the builder also embodies a culture of stewardship, supporting organizations such as Project Playhouse, Youth for Christ, Habitat for Humanity and now Homes for Hope.

Through this build, we hope to raise more than $100,000 in funds for HOPE International who will use the money to find micro-loans to aspiring entrepreneurs in 17 developing countries, including the Dominican Republic.

The new home will be located in the Artisan Harlan Ranch subdivision at 4317 Salem Lane, Clovis, CA 93619.

If you're in the home building industry either as a builder or trade supplier, I hope you will take the time to check out Homes for Hope. To date, we've generated more than $10 million, which has helped more than 100,000 entrepreneurs break the cycle of poverty. By joining our team, you too can experience how giving a "hand up" can build a future of hope and promise.

Blessings,

Jeff Rutt

Using Technology to Help You Buy and Sell Homes

Unsurprisingly, as of May 2013, 56 percent of Americans owned a smartphone. And, if you're a real estate agent, chances are you fall within that 56 percent of people who have traded in their old flip phone for a smartphone. Thanks to the smartphone, we can now search the Internet and enjoy our favorite apps all in the palms of our hands. However, smartphones are good for more than just play, they can also help you be more productive in your career.

Here's a look at some of my favorite apps for Realtors:

• DocuSign: While the app may be free, the real estate edition is well worth the $14.95 subscription fee. This app gives you the ability to digitally sign legal documents on the go.
• Evernote: You never know when inspiration (or information) will strike. Evernote is productivity app that helps you organize your notes, lists and photos into notebooks you create. You can even add tags to help you find what you're looking for later. The best part? You can access everything you've stored in Evernote from your phone, tablet, computer and even their webiste.
• Houzz: Show your home buyers and sellers a world full of potential with this design eye candy app. Houzz is great for helping you find ideas for staging a home or decorating your brand new home. Plus, it allows you to easily track down professionals in your area and find out what products are used in the rooms.
• HomeSnap: Users can take a picture of a home that's for sale, and then the app matches the image and GPS location to display teal-time data from MLS and other sources on its price, size, features and additional photos.
• Mortgage Calculator: Ever wanted to quickly show your buyers just how much that home will cost them per month? There are plenty of free mortgage and loan calculator apps that quickly provide all of the financial information you need.
• REALTOR.com: This is the largest and most popular database of real estate listings. The app is GPS supported, so you can easily see what properties (and all of their important details) are available nearby.

Agents, what apps are you using on your phone or tablet? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below!

Until next time,

Jeff Rutt

Hope International Announces Jeff Rutt Winner of 2013 Epoch Lifetime Achievement Award

HOPE International is pleased to announce that its founder and board chair, Jeff Rutt, has won the 2013 Epoch Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding work in the missions field. The award was presented to Rutt on October 28 at Atlanta’s historic Fox Theatre during the second annual Epoch Awards presentation.

The vision of Tim Abare of Adventures in Missions, the Epoch Awards honor those who are persistently tackling issues of poverty, sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS, the need for clean water, homelessness, and other concerns in today's society.

“More than anyone else I know, Jeff models ‘humbition,’ that rare combination of humility and ambition,” says Peter Greer, president and CEO of HOPE International.  “Jeff is tenacious in pursuing his goals, but his success is never about him. The result: both the homebuilding industry and the philanthropy community have appropriately honored Jeff with their highest awards for lifetime achievement. Jeff is a remarkable leader, a true visionary, and a servant who follows the example of Jesus.”  

Since Jeff started HOPE in 1997, the organization has grown to serve over 575,000 men and women in 17 countries through discipleship, biblically based business training, a safe place to save, and small loans. As chairman of HOPE’s board, Jeff provides ongoing leadership in the nonprofit’s work transforming lives both spiritually and physically, empowering men and women to escape poverty, and restoring dignity in families around the world.

“Jeff Rutt is a leader whose heart is set on serving people and motivating others to do the same,” comments Paul Marty, Tomorrow Clubs director and HOPE’s first president.  “I had the privilege of working alongside Jeff on a courageous vision that turned into a global missions organization. Because of Jeff’s passion and dedication to helping underserved communities, I have seen people in poverty set free, with reasons to celebrate new hope and new purpose. It’s been incredible and inspiring to witness over the years.”

During the Epoch Awards ceremony, $50,000 in cash grants were given to help further the endeavors of each award winner and to encourage these innovators to continue making a difference in the world.

First North Dakota Home for Hope Under Construction

Credit: Homes for Hope

I love building homes, but there's nothing more rewarding than building lives.

In my life, I am proud to stand by this statement. When I founded Homes for Hope back in 1998, I knew I was doing something good by providing home builders and their trade partners with the opportunity to build new homes for a greater purpose. Hopes for Hope was a project that allowed me to combine what I am good at, home building, with my passion to help others and to help my still relatively new nonprofit, HOPE International. Since that time, Homes for Hope has been able to build more than 90 homes, impact more than 500,000 lives and raise more than $10 million in revenue benefiting HOPE International.

Last month, we were lucky enough to break ground with Red Door Homes to build North Dakota's first Home for Hope. The Bismarck-based builder and its trade partners will build and sell the home knowing that the profits, which are estimated at $100,000, will benefit thousands of people in more than 17 countries.

Art Goldammer, owner of Red Door Homes, said, "Homes for Hope gave us the opportunity to help more people than we could possibly serve alone. It is hard to put your finger on just the sense of joy that you can help out that many people and that, things you can’t even relate to, but you can make that big a difference in the world from Bismarck, N.D."

If you're looking for a new home in North Dakota, this home located at 3819 Crest Circle in Bismarck is a great opportunity to help a lot of people.

If you're a builder looking to benefit your community, not just locally, but also globally, I hope you'll consider getting involved with the Homes for Hope program.

Until next time,

Jeff Rutt

Weathering the Storm

Last year, I had the chance to speak at the 2012 Entrepreneurs Conference. This conference was a great honor and opportunity to share my message with other business owners. We all know the past five to six years have been a trying time for businesses in every industry, so I thought a message with the theme of weathering the storm was quite appropriate.

Here are my top three take home messages from my speech about weathering the storm:

• Survival - Whether you think of survival in terms meeting of basic needs (300 million children will go hungry today and 92 percent of the world is without clean drinking water) or a home building company (half of the home builders in the country have gone out of business during the recession), we have to take challenging situations and turn them into positive ones.                                                                                                                                                       Here's a look at what we have done at Keystone Custom Homes to survive:
  
  
  
  
  1.       Built an incredibly strong and effective leadership team
  2.       Provided more value without raising costs and reduce costs without reducing value
  3.       Developed our own risk/reward continuum
  4.       Reinvented areas of our business
  5.       Made decisions using Jim Collins' triangle of fanatic discipline, empirical creativity and productive paranoia
  6.       Created a strong work culture
  7.       Communicated transparently
  8.       Trusted God and understood he is in control
  9.       Remained humble
  
  
  Many of these same tactics can be applied to businesses in other industries. Consider how you can implement these actions to make your business more effective and successful.
  
  
• Success - Instead of focusing on ourselves, focus on others and the small successes you can create.

• Significance - Focus on the true purpose behind what you are doing. Each one of us has a purpose in our life, and at the end of the day, our businesses are not really ours, they are God's. Always remember that you are serving for and working for a greater purpose.

I hope you will watch my speech in its entirety, so that you too can hear the message of weathering God's storm.

Until next time,

Jeff Rutt