THE LONG & FOSTER COMPANIES®
ANNOUNCES SPECIAL HOMEOWNERSHIP
PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC SERVANTS

Program Offers Special Financing and Unique Real Estate Services To State and Local Police, Firefighters, Military, School Teachers, and Certified Healthcare Providers:

The Long & Foster® Companies, comprised of Long & Foster® Real Estate, Inc., Prosperity Mortgage® Company, Long & Foster Insurance Agency, Inc., Long & Foster Settlement Services, and Home Service Connections®, have launched a unique home buying initiative called the “HELPING THOSE WHO SERVE” Homeownership Program . This beneficial program is led by Long & Foster® Real Estate agents who have teamed up with Prosperity Mortgage® loan officers, Long & Foster Insurance agents, our many Prestige Partners® settlement services, and our Home Service Connections® group to help vital public servants purchase their first homes or move up to a larger home.

Our public servants are very special members of the community. They are our neighbors, our community leaders, and our friends and include: state and local police, firefighters, military, school teachers, and certified healthcare providers. The many discounts and special financing product will be offered to public servants purchasing a home throughout Long & Foster’s seven-state Mid-Atlantic region with a ratified contract between November 10, 2006 and March 31, 2007.

Long & Foster® Agents to Partner With Prosperity Mortgage® To Offer Public Servants First Time Or Move-Up Homeownership Opportunity.

A major component of the “HELPING THOSE WHO SERVE” Homeownership Program is a series of community home buying seminars such as this one, spearheaded by Long & Foster® Sales Associates who have teamed up with Prosperity Mortgage® loan officers. Together, they will show our region’s public servants how they can afford to buy a home in the communities where they work.

Statistics show that many consumers are entering public service professions and are unable to purchase a home where they work. By using a Long & Foster® Sales Associate and by obtaining an advantageous mortgage from Prosperity Mortgage®, homeowners insurance from Long & Foster Insurance, and settlement services through one of Long & Foster’s Prestige Partners®, the homebuyer will get:

· A certificate worth $500 credit at closing
· Up to 100% financing
· Flexible credit guidelines
· Non-traditional credit profiles
· Expanded qualifying ratios up to 50%
· Discounts on a variety of Home Service Connections® vendor services for moving and storage

Steven Underwood, a home mortgage consultant for Prosperity Mortgage®, Long & Foster’s mortgage affiliate said, “There are many public servants who are first time buyers who are actually qualified to purchase a home but don’t realize it. The same is true for those moving up to a larger home. We want to help them enjoy the benefits of homeownership.”


“Homeownership initiatives such as this one dovetail perfectly with Long & Foster’s mission of making homeownership available to all potential home buyers,” said Dolores Farmer of Long & Foster’s Roanoke North. “This is an example of how a full service company like Long & Foster can work together with its many lines of business and with its agents in the field, to deliver an attractive and total solution to buying a home,” Farmer said.

Wes Foster, founder and Chairman of The Long & Foster® Companies said, “We look forward to serving those who serve us.”

Information on the products and services available through this initiative is available from the Roanoke North Long & Foster® office at (540) 966-5700.

Real Estate in the Gulf Coast


On January 1, before coming to Long and Foster as a new agent, I made a trip to the Gulf Coast with some members from our community. Like many Americans, my response to the disaster of Katrina and the events that followed were horror, disbelief, sorrow, helplessness, and anger. While most of us have experienced great loss and crisis in our lives, it is hard to imagine the enormity of such a catastrophic event. Some lost their lives, an incomprehensible number lost their property, their homes, their possessions, even their whole communities.
The week I spent in Waveland, Mississippi was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I think the thing that affected me most profoundly was the realization that were are all connected to each other in ways that are fundamental. We all have the same needs for shelter, for a place of comfort and safety, a place of community. Most of us spend the better part of our lives working to provide these things for our family and ourselves.
It would be foolish to deny that most of us come to real estate with the expectation of making money, and lots of it. Be we also have an opportunity to connect with people, to serve, to do the very best we can in assisting people at a time that is often a life-altering juncture in their lives. It seems to me that these are the opportunities and challenges that, if well met, will contribute the most to our success.

Linda Atkinson Huffard
Long and Foster Real Estate
Roanoke/Botetourt Office
1638 Roanoke Road
Daleville, VA 24083
(540)-966-5700
Licensed in Virginia

The Future is Now!!!

I have been in the real estate business for 15 years, and when I hear people say ---someday ---I am going to buy a house or I know this house is not what I need, --- someday---I am going to put it on the market. I have seen those people wait – wait and wait till its too late. They can’t do steps, the yard is too big and they have to pay to have it done, you have to hire a cleaning person, and on and on.

I think the biggest mistake is the person that says – I am going to save so I can pay for a house.

People that do the best job of building cash value in houses do a great job of keeping their house in good condition – including the yard.

The best home investors take their built up equity and invest it in a more expensive house several times before they retire, so when they are no longer working they have a great home in a great neighborhood instead of a old house in a old neighborhood. They keep moving up.

Real estate is one of the best investments that most people make in their lifetime – everyone has to live somewhere and if you are going to pay someone rent it should be – you!!

If you are thinking about selling or buying remember – to call me.

Tommy Helm , GRI, CRS
Long & Foster
540-520-1174
Licensed in Virginia