Holiday Survival Tips...Taking care of "self".

Holiday Survival Tips

The Holiday’s is a time filled with joy, giving, communion, and celebration, but the holidays also bring a certain level of stress for many.  It is important during this time of the year that we practice self-care so that we are able to enjoy our time with others with a loving and peaceful spirit.

                                                           

Here are a few helpful tips in keeping your sanity during the holidays and not allowing the focus to be on gifts, and the perfection of menus, décor, timelines, parties, etc. 

                                                           

1. Lay the Foundation of Your Day      

Each morning before you reach for your phone to check social media, jump out of bed, or turn on the news take a few moments and take deep abdominal breaths and focus on 5 things that have positively impacted your life and what it means to you.  This can be a family member, friend, pet, or experience or just simply being alive.  We cab even find a negative experience produced something positive that gave us clarity, strength or a new path.  By filling your mind and heart 1st thing in the morning with gratitude and positive thoughts lay the foundation of your mood and attitude for the day.

“Gratitude is one of the most medicinal emotions we can feel.  It elevates our moods and fills us with joy.”  

2.  Connect with Nature

Research has shown just a few minutes in nature or outdoors can lower your blood pressure, and release the happy hormone called oxytocin.  Although social media can be a great tool to connect with family and friends it can also cause anxiety with negative media feed, or the illusion of everyone else's life being perfect without blemish.   Instead of sitting on social media after lunch, or dinner get up from your chair, grab your earphones, pump your favorite happy vibes song and take a short walk and connect with nature.  You will be surprised of the moral boost you will receive and renewed energy from moving your body and getting fresh air.  

Even better if you can infuse a hike or explore a local national park.

"Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction” ~ E.O Wilson

3. Settle any old tiffs   We are human and we are all uniquely different with a variety of experiences and viewpoints that often shape our behavior and response.  Holiday time can bring old wounds to the surface.  Social gathering can call for us to be in the presence of a friend of family member we have had a disagreement with.    Instead of avoiding the person or festering try writing a short email or IM just simply stating your wish to be in harmony and let go of the past.  Avoiding who did what is critical in minimizing further offense.  I offer the vehicle of writing because it gives an opportunity for the writer to collect their thoughts and speak from the heart, the reader the ability to listen without interjection or rebuttal. Tip: stick to peace making words and avoid any terms along the lines of “you did”.



“Learn this from me. Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.”   ~ Mitch Albom

4.  There is no greater gift than LOVE

Regardless of your spiritual belief system we all get tangled in the web of commercialism…”buy this”, “you need that”, “bigger is better”,” MORE, MORE, MORE”.  Don’t fall for the overwhelming pressure to go beyond your budget, not pay a bill, or place yourself in credit debt to shower your love ones with gift or out do the Jones last holiday party.  Focus on spending quality time and sharing memorable activities together.  It can be something as simple as baking together, game night, making a craft together, or attending a local festivity.  You will be surprised at the joy and love you will bring to each other that will far outweigh the designer purse or new gadget.  Better yet, it is a gift that will keep on giving as you have the shared memory that is timeless.

“Since time is the one immaterial object we cannot influence – neither speed up nor slow down, add to nor diminish – it is an imponderably valuable gift.” ~ Maya Angelou


Over the years I have found making these small shifts during the holidays has greatly enriched my relationships and helped me maintain the peace that I so desperately need. Holiday time should be filled with joy but I have witness high divorce rates, suicide, excessive debt and mental breakdowns in our society from the sheer pressure of performance and loss of focus on what matters in life.

Take care of one another.

Kalencia Sanders
Arizona Realtor "The Dream Maker"

All You Need to Know About Using FHA Financing to Purchase a Home in Phoenix Arizona

From Start to Finish, All You Need to Know About Using FHA to Purchase a Home in Phoenix Arizona

Finding The Home

When searching for a home that will be financed through FHA a buyer needs to be aware that not all sellers will accept FHA financing.  Reason being there are a few additional requirements of the seller regarding the condition of the home and seller paid fees.  When a seller accepts a contract with FHA financing they should be aware of the commitment to abide by the regulatory standards of a government secured loan.  These additional requirements come as an added benefit to the buyer by increasing the level of quality the seller will deliver to the buyer in the homes condition.  If a buyer is looking to purchase a major fixer upper or a home sold “as is” needs to discuss at length with his Mortgage Broker and Realtor what will be the best way to structure their loan and strategize the purchase.  Hold-backs and buyer contributions are allowed but limited.

Making an Offer

When making an offer on an FHA loan you want to make sure your offer is in line with a professionally assessed fair market value.  Making an offer over fair market value can hinder the purchase of the home and ultimately cause financing to fall through. Making a higher offer is tempting as a “sweetener” when the buyer is requesting a seller contribution towards closing cost.   The appraiser will make an assessment of the value of the home based on the fair market value and the condition of recent sales of like homes compared to the home being appraised.  In the event the appraised value is below the sales price of the home FHA will not fund the loan leaving hard decisions to be made by both the buyer and the seller as to what to do with this differential. 

Seller's Property Disclosure Statement

The "Seller's Property Disclosure Statement" offers the buyer and their Realtor 1^st opportunity to identify any potential damage to the property that would be of concern to Fannie Mae in the financing of the home such as water damage, wood infesting pest, or an occurrence that has affected the structure of the home. Any repairs as such, it is best if done professionally with receipts.  Documentation of the repair and receipts can be provided to underwriting to show proper remediation of the damage.   When there is water damage and the repair was made, however visually you can still see where the damage happened, the seller should be advised to make the cosmetic repair immediately.  The seller making the repair at this stage of the purchase alleviates the hassle of the Appraiser making a notation of a required repair on the appraisal report that could potentially delay the closing or even worse…prevent closing all together.

Buyer Inspection Notice Seller's Response

When financing with FHA it is important when the buyer is making their request for repairs based on the inspection, appraisal and termite report and any other investigations the buyer has made, to focus on the mechanics and structural repairs.  The sooner any potential red flags that can hinder FHA from securing the loan be found and fixed the better.  You want to make sure the seller repairs any evidence of water intrusion or leaks, exposed electrical or non-working, non- working appliances or potential susceptibility of wood eating pest.   These types of repairs must be made in order to close with FHA financing.

To discuss how your financing options in purchasing a home, FHA vs Conventional down payment assistance programs and how I can will set you up for success in the purchase of your home contact me today, Kalencia Sanders 480-233-3102.