Myrtle Beach area Samaritans roll out a place to sleep

Isaac Gene Hodge lost everything he had after his wife died from a brain tumor in 2006.

The 39-year-old from North Myrtle Beach - who has stayed in abandoned homes - is living under a bridge and looking for a job.

After three years of being homeless, Hodge hopes a new shelter expected to open by the end of the year on the north end of the Grand Strand will not only provide housing but also help those staying there find work.

"It will help us out a whole lot, especially during the winter," said Hodge, who used to do landscaping work. "In addition to housing, I hope it will help us get jobs."

Several residents and individuals at area churches have secured an 8-bedroom, 51/2 -bath house that used to be a women's shelter in Longs for the North Strand Housing Shelter. Organizers hope to have the shelter open by mid-December. Volunteer days are being held each Saturday this month for people who want to help clean and prepare the shelter for opening.

"There will be people that want to change their lives and some that just want a place to sleep and eat for a day or two," said Dana Black, one of the visionaries of the shelter who attends Barefoot Church in North Myrtle Beach. I just want to bless some of these people."

The shelter - which will allow 16 residents at one time - will give preference to veterans, but would be open to all homeless individuals.

"It's absolutely needed," said Kris Tourtellotte, director of the Veterans Welcome Home and Resource Center in Little River, about the shelter. "It's going to be huge for us because there's nothing on this end."

The last homeless count, in 2009, said Horry County had 893 homeless people, compared with 714 people in 2007.

And out of the 893 people, 62 are homeless veterans, according to the 2009 homeless count. That number has more than tripled from 17 in 2007.

But Tourtellotte thinks there are at least 100 homeless veterans in the area today.

"It's a growing problem," said Tourtellotte, who said places that cater to the veterans are struggling to raise funds. "[The shelter] is going to be good for us and the veterans."

Several North Strand churches and agencies already provide services for homeless people, and at least one agency provides some type of shelter or housing.

The North Stand shelter is becoming a reality after a fund was established through Worldview Ministry International Inc. in memory of a homeless man named Phillip who died earlier this year. The Phillip fund is to raise money for the shelter and services that will be provided there, organizers said.

Phillip, who was employed with the furniture industry in North Carolina, was laid off and couldn't find work when he ended up in the woods in the North Strand area, said the Rev. Jim Evans, care pastor at Barefoot Church.

Evans said Phillip, who had medical issues, died one cold March night in the woods in Little River.

His body was found three days later.

"We can't let another winter go by without something to offer," said Little River Methodist Church member Cookie Weber. Weber said Phillip attended the Friday evening meal served at the church's Shepherd's Table.

In addition to a place to sleep, organizers want to connect the homeless with the right resources, offer them other services such as Bible study, mentoring, transportation, and a discipleship program along with Celebrate Recovery, which works with people that have addictions. The shelter also hopes to reserve a section for people caught in between jobs and finding a place to live.

They are in need of a 16-passenger van to help transport the homeless to jobs and medical appointments, Black said.

For Chad Honeycutt, 41, the shelter would provide an opportunity to get away from temptations such as drinking.

"Everything's so tempting here," said Honeycutt, who also lives under a bridge in North Myrtle Beach. "The shelter is a good thing," said Honeycutt, who has helped clean the housing.

Black said "It's been such a blessing to see people say we want to help. I think God has his hands and blessing on this."

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

View the original article here

Sales in the open find place in the market of the Myrtle Beach area

Short sales, a means for homeowners avoid foreclosure, will be part of the local market for some time, according to local Realtors, and some of them had to learn more about the process.

A short sale occurs when an owner sells a property for less than what is due to the mortgage, and it has gained in popularity even found owners is increasing their properties were worth housing collapse .the owners must obtain permission from the lender, who must accept to take a loss when the property is sold.

Uncovered used to be a painfully slow process according to all the evidence, but now Realtors local sales that most trafficked are are approved and the process goes much faster.

Part of this success is due to the improvement of education for all persons involved in the process, said Alex Holbert, loaded with ReMax town, pays.Il broker joined 73 other which took two days to become certified distressed property experts and learn how to perform more successfully discovered sales course.

"The number of open sales increased across the country to make a concerted change, lenders", said Tony Martinez, a certified instructor of master with the Institute for the property in trouble, who teaches the courses.

The current situation trying to change or improve quickly, therefore Realtors should explore opportunities to help people through options such as short selling, he said.

"The first thing is that [owners] should realize that a short sale is not a get-me-out-of-my-mortgage-free card," Martinez said. ""The bottom line is that someone is in a difficult situation."

Sales in the open wound credit someone and could result in the owner to pay taxes on the amount that the Bank loses in the transaction, he said.

Holbert said classes as one this week are important for the agents in the whole of the community on the same page.

"We believe that the market will be here three or four, maybe five years", he said. "Many of our business is undertaken for the sale of short but we just continue she nibbles.?

Sold approximately 10 per cent of condominium apartments and 8 percent of single-family homes sold between January and September were short sales, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

Short sale process seems be accelerating the pace of the snail, he moved to the last year, said ReMax town and country estate agent Wendy Hodges.With certain properties mostly those who have mortgages, Bank of America, discusses is are worked in about two months, compared to six months or more, it took to make a first response in the past.

Bank of America has introduced an automated system that allows Realtors submit all the necessary paperwork - including a spreadsheet financial, paycheck, bank statements and a letter from difficulties - heels and communicate by email a few days to negotiate a price online.

"The key to work with a short sale is just to make sure that you have all the details," Hodges said.

Despite the speed of certain decisions, short sales are still a labor-intensive process requiring much paperwork and a seller is willing to disclose financial information to the estate agent.

Hodges said that it is increasingly see oceanfront and the luxury properties sold through short sales process.

Traci Miles, Century 21 Boling & Associates, has collaborated with short selling and decided to build on their knowledge.

"The wave of real estate is being discovered, sales pre-foreclosures," she says. "I'm really trying to help people who are in distress before they hit seizures.?

Miles said that the most important part of the process is bringing together all the information of all owners and submit to the lender in a simplified way to expedite the approval.

Greg Harrelson, owner of Century 21 group Harrelson, who was also in the class SBDC earlier this week, said that short selling local real estate market segment appears to be more and more.

A trend noted is that owners seem to be more éduqués.Il's questions on how it might be able to help before any payment of the mortgage has been skipped, not after the lockout procedure started.

"We must be prepared for an increase in this area," he said. ""I wanted to be adequately trained to assist these people."

Said Harrelson banks are looking to move these properties off the coast of their books and may consider improving the processes of short selling as a means to do so.

In addition to helping homeowners avoid foreclosure, short selling may also be better for the broader housing market, he said.

"At the end of the day, I hope that mean short sale price will be higher than the average price of locking and hopefully stabilize the market a little,"said Harrelson. ""

This entry transmitted via the service for full-text RSS - if this is your content and you read on someone to another site, please read our FAQ page fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Article five filters features: After Hiroshima - non-rapport Cancer Catastrophe of Fallujah.

View the original article here