Sabby Ann

After going back & forth on the subject quite a few times, I finally decided to pursue a Masters. I contemplated several degree programs, including Business Administration (MBA), Public Administration (MPA), Urban Planning & Development (MUP), and Civil Engineering (MS-CE). 

I’m most interested in going for an advanced technical degree, focused on the engineering or planning side of things… but there aren’t any universities in the area that offer a comprehensive program in the evenings and on weekends. Plus, those programs would be substantially more in cost. 

After talking with a few friends from high school & college who have gone on to pursue a Masters in Public Administration, I decided to shy away from it. It sounds far more interesting than an MBA, but it also requires FAR more analytical writing. So that left the business degree. Oakland University’s MBA program indicates that students admitted must “demonstrate proficiency or complete coursework in the following areas…”

1. A college course in the principles of microeconomics.
2. A college course in the principles of macroeconomics.
3. A college course in financial accounting. 
4. A recent college algebra course or mathematics at a higher level. 
5. A college course in calculus, … or course in quantitative methods which includes basic calculus. 
6. A college course, workshop, … in computer applications. 

The only courses that weren’t included in my undergrad were microeconomics and financial accounting. I guess I didn’t technically take a course in computer applications in college, but I strongly suspect that I’d be able to satisfy their proficiency requirement. 

So in advance of applying for the masters program, I enrolled in an accounting course at Oakland Community College. I skipped the introductory-level course, selecting one that matched the Financial Accounting course description in OU’s Course Catalogue. I had planned to continue on to Managerial Accounting this summer. 

Well it turns out that the Accounting department at OU is essentially refusing to accept this course as an acceptable prerequisite. I can either take another 4-credit course at community college, or I can take an undergrad course directly from OU (that covers 75% of what I’ve already learned). Only then would I be able to continue on with the required grad-level Accounting courses. I would also have to take a microeconomics class. They will need to evaluate my transcript before deciding if I also need to retake macroeconomics. I’m also unlikely to be waived out of their international economics course, despite having taken a global economics course at Michigan Tech. So in all, I’d have to take at LEAST 2 additional courses, plus there would be 2-3 “core” courses that I had expected I’d be able to waive out of that I will likely need to retake… adding a full year (or more) on to the program, and a significant cost. 

So I’m irritated at the MBA program. And if I’m going to have to take 48+ grad-level credits (I had estimated only 36 grad-level credits), I might as well switch to another degree. With the MPA, I would be required to take exactly 48 credits (including 3 pre-req’s), and I wouldn’t have to take the GMAT. 

Heck, it’s tempting to go for something completely unrelated to my current profession (perhaps pottery, or cooking?)…

For my previous blog posts on this subject, refer to: 
Can We Refinance & Home Affordable Refinance (Part 2)  

With the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program finally off the ground, after weeks (months?) of delay, President Obama has decided to expand the program. He announced today that second mortgages/liens will also be eligible for modification, but only for homeowners that participate in the Home Affordable Modification program. It doesn’t appear to apply to those who are just refinancing through the Home Affordable program… like us. 

For those with little to no equity, and with a mortgage payment that exceeds 31% of monthly income, the modification is a great deal. A portion of the principal amount is forgiven, the interest rate on both the first and second loan is reduced, and monthly payments are significantly decreased. 

But for those like us, with absolutely no equity (thanks to rapidly declining property values), but with payments that are less than 31% of our monthly income, the second mortgage will remain unchanged. Sure, we’ll see a reduction in our payment by refinancing… but at what cost? 

I called Chase yesterday to find out what they could offer. Since our current loan is backed by Fannie Mae, we’re able to “shop around” and refinance with any participating lender under the program. Here’s what they had to offer (supposedly a “zero points” loan, as we are not interested in “buying down” the interest rate!):

• 5% fixed for 30 years
• 1.5 points to refi, assessed directly by Fannie Mae  ($2175)
• 0.5 points for having a FICO<740, and for a high loan-to-value (LTV) ratio ($544)
• $693, Bank fees for processing 
• $400, Appraisal
• $752, Title search & closing fees to title company
• TOTAL COST: $4745  (plus escrow of $500-3500, depending on closing date) 

I also called Flagstar, and their estimate of cost to refinance is: 

• 5.4% fixed for 30 years (slightly above market rate, due to credit score <740 & LTV>90%)
• $650, Bank fees for processing 
• $400, Appraisal
• $700, Title search & closing fees to title company
• TOTAL COST: $1750  (plus escrow of $500-3500, depending on closing date) 

The representative at Flagstar wasn’t aware of any fees or points being assessed directly by Fannie Mae for modifying loans (the Chase rep indicated that any change of terms, whether a Home Affordable Modification or a Home Affordable Refinance, was subject to a mandatory 1.5 point fee). He said that Freddie Mac wasn’t doing this, and that consequently it’s much more expensive to have a Fannie Mae loan under the MHA program. But five grand seems excessive… 

I guess I could understand if we had bad credit scores, or had any late/delinquent accounts, but we don’t. Not a single one. We just don’t meet the new guidelines for “top tier” financing. 

And of course we have a high LTV ratio. That’s what happens when you buy a house (with less than 20% down), and then home values fall upwards of 25% (and rising!). Wasn’t that the point of this program, to help homeowners who are underwater in their loans and therefore at a “higher risk” of default/foreclosure?

This year the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has a ton of construction projects planned in the metro-Detroit area. One project includes rehabilitating eight bridges and four miles of of pavement in Oakland County along I-696. As part of that project, they’re reconstructing both eastbound on-ramps at Novi Road and I-96. A second project includes pavement patching and bridge rehab (including substructure & deck repairs) for another 42 bridges in Oakland County along I-696.  

Now I’m not usually one to criticize road construction. Sure, I hate the inevitable longer commute… these projects have turned my 15-20 minute ride into a solid 45 minutes every morning! But I fully support my tax dollars being spent on infrastructure construction, because that’s where my paycheck comes from. And MDOT is usually pretty good about construction projects, ensuring that the proper sequence of warning signs and arrow boards is up and in good working condition, applying temporary pavement markings, providing well-signed detour routes, etc. 

This year I’m not at all impressed. In fact, I’m rather surprised at how poor the I-696 maintenance of traffic has been. I think the prime contractor is Dan’s Excavating, and they’re a big outfit that usually does good work. I saw PK Contracting laying down the temporary pavement markings, and they’re also pretty knowledgeable at what they do… so I couldn’t believe how uncoordinated it seems to be, and how blatantly unsafe portions of the construction zone are. 

For example, here’s a photo taken on the ramp from westbound I-696 to westbound I-96, in Novi. This is normally two lanes, with a paved shoulder on each side. They’ve barreled off the left lane (see the solid yellow line), but have added a couple feet of asphalt pavement on the right side. Then they re-striped the road to maintain two lanes of traffic, with the right lane driving essentially on the shoulder.

I believe the posted speed limit is 60 mph (normally 70 mph) through this stretch. There isn’t much separation between the right-hand travel lane and the guardrail, but that isn’t unusual in construction zones (or on surface roads, for that matter). What bothers me is what’s up ahead, maybe 1000′ to the west (where Haggerty Road crosses over the ramp). The expressway ramp curves to the right, and this is what it looks like: 

There are still two travel lanes. I took the photo in the left lane - there’s still a second travel lane on the right (sandwiched between that solid white and the guardrail). It definitely feels tight, but it’s at least tolerable… until you get to the bridge. The bridge supports (the concrete columns) are VERY close to the travel lane (definitely less than 3′, quite possibly only 1′-2′). There’s very little clear space, it’s located on a curve, and there are absolutely no warning signs or object markers. At nighttime or in adverse weather conditions (rain or fog), a driver wouldn’t see the obstruction until they’re right on top of it. I first drove through it a week ago, on my way home from class (after dark), and I couldn’t believe that MDOT would allow it! 

Maybe it’s just because MDOT has placed such a strong emphasis on mobility (maintaining traffic through construction work zones), or maybe they’re just too swamped with stimulus jobs to notice how incredibly unsafe this is… Either way, I wish someone would do something about it.

I’m tempted to get some better photos and contact the local MDOT TSC myself!

Nearly three years after it was first conceived, the brick paver patio project is finally coming to be. Most of the soil is silty-clay, so the plan is to remove about 5″ in depth. I’m going to put back 4″ of 21AA stone (21AA denotes the gradation, and basically means that everything will be smaller than 1.5″), an inch of sand, and then lay the pavers. 

I went back and forth on the type of aggregate, debating whether to use just crushed gravel, limestone, or crushed concrete. My summer construction jobs have given me some experience working with a variety of materials, so I decided that 21AA crushed concrete would be the best product for the money. It tends to clump together (the crushed cement pieces “stick” to each other with humidity), but it’s relatively cheap and should perform reasonably well. I would definitely prefer limestone or natural stone (granite), but it just wasn’t worth the premium (it costs about about 40-45% more). 

The patio will be approximately 500 SFT in size, so I calculated out the materials that we’ll need: 
- 6.5 CYD of aggregate base   [500 SFT x (4"/12") x (1 YD/27 SFT)]
- 1.6 CYD of sand    [500 SFT x (1"/12") x (1 YD/27 SFT)]
- 500 SFT of brick pavers

Except I forgot one crucial thing. The volume of the stone and sand is the calculated “compacted in place” (CIP) quantity. Landscape supply places sell it loose. They actually sell it by the ton, not by the yard, but that’s a pretty easy conversion (roughly 2600 Lbs/Cyd). Anyways, it works out that 1 Cyd of loose 21AA crushed concrete is only 0.7 Cyd when compacted in place. Ooops! 

I felt rather dumb when I realized the error. Engineers almost always pay for the CIP quantity, and contractor’s always convert it when they order from the gravel pits… I totally forgot about that conversion, even though I’ve  calculated it out dozens of times on homework assignments, exams, and projects. 

I did realize it BEFORE placing the order. Unfortunately, the additional quantity meant that the landscape supply place wasn’t able to deliver it all in a single load. They have relatively small trucks, and we need more than they can carry… which means a second $38 delivery fee for the rest of the stone.

I’ve been clipping coupons pretty religiously for the last six months or so, and I’ve gotten much better at figuring out sale patterns at the local stores. I could get our grocery bill much lower if I put more effort into preparing bag lunches, but I’m content paying a slight premium for our favorite convenience foods. 

This week Kmart is running one of their douple-coupon promotions, where they’ll double manufacturer coupons up to $2. My luck at their double-coupon sale has been hit & miss in the past… but I did great this time!  All this, for only $15.19 (including tax)! 

The original sticker price of these items would have been $55.14, but a few things were on sale - bringing the total to just over $46. With doubled coupons, I saved an additional $29. 

A few highlights: 
- Five “family size” Suave shampoos & conditioners,  $0.75  (that’s for all 5!)
- L’Oreal eye shadow,  $0.29
- Rice Krispies cereal, $0.50/box
- Deodorant, $1.33 for all three 
- St. Ive’s face scrub, $1.39

Earlier this week I received a pretty decent balance transfer offer from Citi on one of my credit cards. The card has a pretty high interest rate (somewhere in the 16-19% range), and doesn’t offer any rewards points, so I rarely use it. When I do, it’s just for a tank of gas or something small, and it gets paid in full at the end of the month. Since it’s my oldest credit card, closing it would hurt my credit score - so I want to keep it open despite the crappy terms. 

The balance transfer offer was 0% until January 1, 2010;  OR 2.99% until July 1, 2010. There was also a 3% balance transfer fee (which increases the effective rate to around 4% and 5.5%, respectively). 

Then I logged in to the CreditBoards forums, and found a few rumors of an upcoming Change in Terms to Citi credit cards. If the rumors are correct, Citi will be hiking interest rates. Balance transfer fees will increase to 4%. And accounts with a low interest rate fixed for the “life of balance transfer” will see a new annual fee, with monthly minimum payments increasing to 5%.  

For someone carrying a $5000 balance with a 6% interest rate, this would mean their minimum payment would go from $75 to $250. Not super horrible, but that’d be a hefty increase that many families wouldn’t be able to absorb into their monthly budget… 

The banks have been acting absolutely crazy the past few months! Some banks are slashing lines of credit and hiking rates, while others are desperately trying to lure new money in. I’m content to just lay low until the dust settles. Not make any large purchases on credit. Not call any of the credit card companies to ask for a higher credit limit or lower interest rates. Always pay more than the minimum balance due. Pay well ahead of time. Not apply for any new lines of credit. Scrutinize the mail to see if there are any major notice of change of terms. 

There are just too many stories of people who are getting a big surprise when it comes to their credit cards or credit scores. I’m certainly not going to be one of them!