the Element in Mortgage Lending- Cover Story Sharon Wofford

the ELEMENT age Lending in Mortg

2 0 1 9 Q U A R T E R LY E D I T I O N

UPGRADES

Small things to add value to your HOME quickly

DRESS THE TABLE FOR HOLIDAYS for pennies on the dollar

BENEFITS OF

A NEW HOME TOP PRODUCER DELIVERS EXCELLENCE and clients rave about process

COVER STORY Sharon Wofford:

Mortgage Branch with as much style as the service!

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Staying Active in the

COMMUNITY

About Sharon Throughout her 30+ years in the mortgage industry, Sharon C. Wofford has worked with an array of clients with a wide variety of needs. She is knowledgeable about all loan products and has a passion for helping homebuyers achieve sustainable homeownership by matching them with the best financing. Over the years, Sharon has built a reputation for successfully bringing even the most challenging loans to the closing table, and for counseling her clients to help them make their homeownership dreams become reality.

Sharon has been honored with several awards throughout her career, and in addition to her professional involvement in the local Board of Realtors, Chamber of Commerce and other organizations, she enjoys serving the youth of her community through involvement in youth missions, middle and high school sports organizations, and the School Advisory Council.

Sharon C. Wofford Branch Manager NMLS# 582336

As a branch manager, Sharon is available to her customers seven days a week and strives to provide superior customer service throughout the entire mortgage process. When working with Sharon, you can rest assured knowing that your mortgage is in good hands, and you can count on her to provide the same level of attentive, professional and ethical service to friends and family.

While her expertise includes all types of mortgage products, Sharon specializes in conventional, FHA, VA and USDA loans. She’s also very familiar with financing options for manufactured homes and is a great resource for first-time homebuyers. Whatever your mortgage needs, Sharon looks forward to putting her expertise to work for you!

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Meet our Team Sharon works with an elite team of experts on the mortgage process and experience for our clients.

Element Funding has a team that specialize in specific functions during and after the process for clients to deliver above the standard of service in the industry.

Zucchini Casserole

Recipe Ingredients

• 2 lbs zucchini • 8 oz. sour cream • 1 cup shredded carrots • 1 cup water • 1/4 cup onion • 1 can cream of chicken soup • 1 package (12 oz.) Pepperidge Farm herb seasoned cubes) • 1/2 cup melted margarine (1 stick)

Directions:

Cook peeled/cut up zucchini with carrots, water and onion in microwave until soft. stir.

Approx 5 min total. Do in intervals and Drain extra liquid from above.

Mix cubes, margarine, sour cream, soup and zucchini mixture together.

Heat in 350° F oven or in microwave for 30-45 minutes.

Gus Pasquale | FL

Debbie Farist Loan Processor

Baked Ham Cheese Sandwiches

Recipe Ingredients

Katherine E. France Mortgage Originator

• 2 pkgs. party rolls (heat & server Parker Ho use) • 1 8 oz. pkg. sliced ham • 1 8 oz. pkg. Swiss cheese Melt & bring to boil: • 2 stks. Margarine • 2 tblsp. Worchestershire sauce • 2 tblsp. Poppy seeds • 2 tblsp. prepared mustard • 4 tblsp. brown sugar Set aside to cool

Kelly Waldo | GA

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Directions:

Slice sideways through roll s. Separate rolls.

Make sandwiches with ham & cheese (cut the meat & cheese into siz es to fit the rolls) Put into pan side by side. Sp oon sauce over rolls. Refrigerate 2 hou rs or overnight (covered).

Bake in 350° F for 25 min utes covered. 5 minutes uncovered.

Active in the Community 1. Presenting a check to Ferst Readers of Pickens County as a result of our social media “likes=$1” campaign, wherein all of our closing posts rhymed

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2. .5K (yes, that’s a POINT 5k) for Reinhardt College’s annual Shamrock Run 3. Sponsoring a table for the First Baptist Church of Jasper pre-school tea party 4. Volunteering with the Pickens County Board of Realtors to help clean up a veteran’s yard.

5. Marble festival 5k race

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Active in the Community 1

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4 1. Habitat house #18 building walls 2. Habitat house #18 raising the walls 3. House number 18 build with habitat for humanity 4. Northeast Georgia Board of Realtors (NEGBOR) affiliate expo 5. Selected as Ball Ground Business and Community Association’s business of the month for June 2019

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Active in the Community 1

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4 1. Painting a borrower’s house so she can close on time and get the reinspection approved 2. Clay shoot fund raiser for the boys and girls club of North GA 3. Checking the insulation and sending the pics to the appraiser so the borrower can close on time 4. The NEGBOR 2019 circle of excellence 5. Closing Gift

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Our Office 1, Our first closing in our new office

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2. Building our wall in our conference room 3. T-shirt spotlight with the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce 4. Custom cookies for our grand opening in spring of 2019

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5. Outside shot of new office

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Should I just stay?

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hought about moving? Then thought, maybe if we just did _____________ it would be perfect to stay? Well we have some great options on home improvements or rehabilitation financing. It doesn’t always have to be a huge project but think about what you are planning, will it reflect in my value? One of the major points of any rehab work to a property is to make sure that you know the cost and you know the outcome. Meaning we often will recommend getting an appraisal completed “subject to” what you plan to improve (ie: new kitchen, new bath). I like to call it a “what if” appraisal. You simply get the cost for the work to be done and the plans to complete it with the contractor, then we order the appraisal. We are looking for the “what if we do this to the home” value and we want to make sure your investment is strong. Meaning what do we need to put in and what will be a direct influence to the value. Some of the optional items to have a direct impact on the value are: 1. Landscaping 2. Bedroom conversion 3. Lower level basement completed 4. Window replacements 5. Bathrooms 6. Kitchen remodel

Here is a recent remodel project for a new kitchen that was a direct increase in saleability as well as the value for the investment return. The cost to complete the kitchen upgrade was completed for approximately $6000. The cost to complete the below

examples range between $6,000 and $30,000. We have programs that allow for up to $30,000 plus improvements.

As an example if you added $30,000 to your mortgage the payment is as low as $170 per month. For more details please contact Element Funding.

Before

After

Before

After

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Sara’s Cranberry Salad

Online Home Value vs. Accurate Planning?

Are you looking for a better option to find out what your home is worth? Instead of using online value estimators that can be incomplete and not always accurate and leave you lacking the information you need to make an informed decision.

Let AMC Links help!

Our Restricted Appraisal product provides you with: • A professional appraiser that will provide you with a hand completed appraisal report that includes MLS property history, county property info, and local MLS sales and listings.

• Complete market research using the most viable and typically relied upon data sources for the specific market area • An opinion of the value range of your subject property.

• Give you the peace of mind you need to make an informed decision, before paying $500-$600 for a full appraisal.

Recipe Ingredients

nberries • 1 12 oz. bag of fresh cra • 1 cup of sugar , halved • 1/2 lb seedless red grapes pes, halved • 1/2 lb seedless green gra cored and cubed les app • 1 large red delicious • 2 large kiwi cut in chunks • 1/2 cup cool whip • 1/2 cup apple spice yogurt

Recipe Directions:

Coarsely chop cranberries in food processo Transfer cran r. berries to bow l an d add sugar.

Cover and ch ill several hour s. Drain cranbe mixture well. rry Add fruits. Com bine cool whi and yogurt. G p ently fold topp ing into fruit mixture. Chill until ready to serve.

Sara Sut ton | GA

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The benefits of a BRAND NEW HOME are plentiful.

W

hen buying a home there are two choices one has to make, a brand new home or a resale.

As my career spans it’s third decade I have guided thousands of clients through the mortgage process to acquire a brand new home or a resale.

DESIGNING THE HOME AS YOU WISH. The benefit of starting from scratch, your vision, your lay out, your elevations and your bathrooms . Whether you are building custom or building with a larger national builder you get to make the selection of your options and upgrades. You will not inherit the previous owners choices which you may be changing out once you close and incurring a cost to do so.

A FRESH START If your moving from a resale into a new home you are the first to use that new kitchen, and first to park the car in the garage.

No repainting, no re-flooring and no re-landscaping.

Older homes have older appliances, older electric

installation and older plumbing that could need repair on your watch. New homes will facilitate current technological advancement with wiring, sophisticated lighting options and last but not lease security systems. In addition to which many if not all come with a builder warranty that will protect defects. Typically 2 years for many items and 10 years for structural defaults.

STRUCTURAL SAFETY In the span of 30 years I have seen devastating storms throughout the regions we serve in the southeast Unites States.

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In each of those occurrences there has been significant improvement to the building codes making new home enhancements not available in older homes. Homes being built today are the safest homes available in the marketplace.

GOING GREEN Builders now are incorporating the world wide initiative of going green to the design of their homes. Many homes being certified by green building coalitions in the markets they serve.

These new homes strive to reduce the ecological impact while maximizing sustainability to create efficient and healthy environments.

Focus points of lower utilities, efficient water usage, maximum insulation, zero voc paints, echo friendly floors, and the usage of solar power.

A new home community offers just that~ a sense of community. Many new construction homes are part of a Planned Urban Development (PUD) where the builder has incorporated a vision of a community lifestyle.

This offers homeowners instant access to many things not offered in an older home.

Typically they include guarded access, bike/hike trails, community fitness center/ clubhouse, tennis courts and more.

5 Ways to Dress the Holiday Table

On a Budget!

CREATE A THEME

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Pick something like ‘pumpkins’ or ‘a colo scheme’ and stick with it!

BE CREATIVE

Use new things but mix in some old such antique candlesticks

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USE A VARIETY OF GREENERY AND LEAVES To give the table a unique look and fill in

blank spaces

DON’T BE AFRAID TO PAINT!

like, A lot of time you can see something you but wrong color scheme that may be an easy fix.

BE SURE TO CHANGE THE HEIGHT

Have multiple items that give the display using different sized decor

These popular amenities and built in benefits only enhance the sense of community while enhancing the interaction of the neighborhood.

Thinking about buying a new home? We are subject market experts please allow us to be your mortgage resource!

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A DIVISION OF PRIMARY RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE INC

Sharon C. Wofford Branch Manager | NMLS 582336 O 706.530.5853 | C 770.893.7097 | F 678.809.3172 swofford@elementfunding.com 275 Gilmer Ferry Road, Suite 2&3 Ball Ground, GA 30107

A HIGH POWERED MORTGAGE COMPANY

with a hometown feel

www.ElementFunding.com Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc., DBA Element Funding, NMLS #3094. PRMI is an Equal Housing Lender. Some products and services may not be available in all states. Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change and are subject to borrower(s) qualification. This is not a commitment to lend. Georgia Department of Banking and Finance 6521.