Utah Weekly Event Update

October 9, 2012

EVENT SPOTLIGHT:

Witchfest October 5-31, 2012 Gardner Village - West Jordan Join the Gardner Village witches for all the fun and festivities, the shows and the shops, the tricks and all the treats that Gardner Village has to offer! < More Info

FEATURED EVENTS:

Utah Shakespeare Festival - Les Miserables Season Extended! June 23-October 27, 2012 Randall L. Jones Theatre - Southern Utah University After more than twenty-five years of box office records and enthusiastic audiences,  Les Miserables  comes to the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This timeless story of revolution and love has touched lives around the world with the powerful story of Jean Valjean and his life-long struggle for redemption. Whether this is your first or your twentieth exposure to this soaring epic, you'll be enthralled by its characters, their powerful and touching songs, and their universal stories. < More Info

Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour October 10, 2012 Maverik Center - West Valley City Carrie's two previous headline tours, 2008's "Carnival Ride Tour" and 2010's "Play On Tour," performed for a combined total of nearly 250 shows with 2.2 million fans in attendance, and she wrapped both years as the top-ranked female country touring artist. Since releasing Some Hearts in 2005, Underwood has sold more than 14 million albums with Some Hearts, 2007's Carnival Ride, and 2009's Play On. She's amassed 14 No. 1 singles, six of which she co-wrote, and became the first country artist in history and the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 10 No. 1 singles from their first two albums. Underwood currently leads the nominations for the upcoming CMT Music Awards with five. She is a five-time Grammy winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry. < More Info

Switchfoot October 16, 2012 The Depot - Salt Lake City Switchfoot will get The Depot rockin' when their tour with guest Paper Route rolls into town. < More Info

HOMES OF FAMOUS WRITERS

Writers are known much more for their way with words than for their ability to put impressive roofs over their heads. Of course, there are many exceptions, and their names can be found on the bestseller lists.  

(King: Marc Andrew Deley/Getty Images | Home: Adrian Beaulieu / Flickr)

Stephen King
Location: Bangor, Maine

Even if you didn’t know whom it belongs to, it wouldn’t be hard to guess that this 150-year-old Italianate mansion belongs to Bangor’s most famous resident, horror writer Stephen King, and his wife, novelist Tabitha King. It’s also known as the William Arnold House and is said to have been built for $7,000 in 1856.

The Kings have lived here since 1980. A car crashed into the emblematic spider web gates in 2010, nearly destroying them, but after an extensive repair job, they are back looking fresh as wrought iron spider webs can be.

(Steel: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images | Home: Wally Gobetz/Flickr)

Danielle Steel
Location: San Francisco
Bathrooms: 9
Square footage: 14,966

The French Baroque limestone chateau in Pacific Heights known as Spreckels Mansion was built in 1911 for the son of a sugar tycoon and appeared in the 1957 Frank Sinatra film “My Pal Joey” as a nightclub. It is now the home of Steel, the queen of romance novels, and not coincidentally the author of “The House,” a novel about a San Francisco woman restoring a mansion.

Steel also owns a more modest home elsewhere in San Francisco, a single-story house under 3,000 square feet.

(Rice: David Livingston/Getty Images | Home: Realtor.com)

Anne Rice
Location: New Orleans
Price: $3 million
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 7
Square footage: 7,609

Some of bestselling novelist Rice’s stories are set in New Orleans, and the author herself is a native and long associated with the Crescent City. Her Uptown Victorian, which is currently on the market, certainly looks the part of a house owned by the writer of “Interview with the Vampire” and numerous other gothic tales.

Rice’s former house on First Street in New Orleans, the Brevard House, is said to be haunted, and it inspired the setting for her novel “The Witching Hour.”

                              ( Vidal: Getty Images | Home: villarondinaia.it)

              
Gore Vidal
Location: Amalfi Coast, Italy
Price: $17.87 million
Bedrooms: 6

When Vidal, who died July 31 of this year, could no longer easily navigate La Rondinaia (“Swallow’s Nest”) in his wheelchair, the essayist/novelist put his retreat on Italy’s Amalfi Coast on the market. It sold for nearly $18 million, according to reports, and it is now a luxury rental retreat .

It has 6 acres of gardens including olive trees, chestnut trees and lemon trees, and 20 terraces overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. Guests have included Sting, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger.

(Lewis: PhotoQuest/Getty Images | Home: twinfarms.com)

Sinclair Lewis
Location: Barnard, Vt.
Price: $10,000 in 1928

Lewis’ wife, journalist Dorothy Thompson, was savvy enough to devise a prenup when he proposed. She said yes to his marriage proposal, but only if he would buy her a farm in Vermont. She even stipulated it must have sweeping lawns, orchards and “delicious air.” It worked.

The Nobel Prize-winning novelist, whose works include “Babbitt,” picked up this 1795 farmhouse and 300 acres in 1928 for just $10,000. The couple named it “Twin Farms,” and there they hosted legendary parties attended by politicians and literary guests. It changed hands after their deaths, eventually becoming a bed and breakfast in the 1980s, and it remains a small adults-only resort today.

Article by By Colleen Kane

Getting a Mortgage Refi: Kick the Tires!

Record Refi Rates Tempt Utah Homeowners  

Getting a mortgage refinance has seldom looked more attractive than it does this October. Ads for seemingly ridiculously low teaser rates are popping up all over the place -- and even if the closing costs are hefty (many aren’t), the underlying rates make them all but irresistible. 

But do you qualify?  Some folks don’t realize that a refi can be just as tough as getting a mortgage in the first place. Or tougher. One client has a stunning property, top credit, and a guaranteed income stream that was more than adequate to fund the refi. She put together all the required paperwork, hosted an inspection (the inspector told her, ‘this is the finest property in the area’), and then waited a week before being told she had failed to qualify. Why? Because her place had a guesthouse -- and that particular loan program was for single dwelling properties only!

The lesson here is that it pays to ask all sorts of questions before actually applying for a specific refinance offer; in other words, kick the tires! Nevertheless, when all is said and done, locking in lower monthly payments can still be worth the trouble.  

You will want to present a solid picture -- one that shows that you are financially stable with a good credit rating. Getting any kind of a mortgage in Utah is twice as hard if there are significant issues in your credit report or instability in your employment history.

Of course, the basic math has to work, too. The more income you have, the more the lender will be willing to lend. If you are married, you can opt to borrow as a couple so that your joint income is considered. Since the lender will factor in your debt load, subtract your monthly from your income number: if the remainder is healthy, the lender will see that, too.

Lastly (and of key importance), your home will need to appraise for the loan you desire. Although a resurgence in property values seems firmly underway, some neighborhoods have had time to show those rising values, and some not. I can help you get an idea of how the ‘comps’ in your part of Salt Lake City and Beyond.. have been faring recently – good to know when you are getting a mortgage or refinancing an existing one.

The bottom line?  Getting any type of mortgage requires all the usual suspects.  Reliability and predictability are really the key here.   If you are tempted by today’s record rates to try to refinance, contact a reputable mortgage broker to go over your options.  As always, please consider me your local real estate resource – call me if you need an introduction!