Texas 30-yr Mortgage Rates As Of April 25, 2009
SPI Considers Artificial Reef to Battle Erosion
Artificial reefs as a means of helping stop beach erosion are once again drawing the attention of South Padre Island officials.
Marie Garrett, president and CEO of Coastal Solutions of Galveston, presented a plan to the Board of Aldermen last week that she said would halt the erosion in the area from just south of the Tiki to north of La Quinta into Andy Bowie Park.
The design she showed to aldermen utilizes what she called a "patented process" that would help stabilize the sand in that area.
Because the reef structure is under water, Garrett said the process helps trap sand to keep it from being swept out to sea by wave action and water currents.
The main body of the reef would be made from geotextile fabric tubes, known as equalizers, filled with sand that is compatible with the sand on the beach.The reef structure is designed to work with nature, Garrett said, by recirculating sand that would otherwise be carried out to sea, and keep it in the area behind the reef.
The equalizer concept is different from groins, which have been used in other coastal locations to combat erosion, including Galveston.
Galveston used groins, which are made of rock, that were placed perpendicular to its seawall. The groins are visible on the surface and do not trap all of the sand moving through, Garrett said.
Equalizers are also built perpendicular to the beach, but are all underwater, and allow some sand to move over them.
Garrett said what makes her company different from others that install artificial reefs is that Coastal Solutions actively helps find funding for the projects. She had already been in contact with the Texas General Land Office,she said,and they are interested.She was confident that grants would be available to help with the cost of the project.
As for private funding, she said that La Quinta owner Barry Patel had pledged $150,000 toward the project if the town decides to proceed with it. Patel, in attendance at the meeting, said he planned to talk to his neighbors about the project in an effort to drum up some more contributions to the financing.
Patel added that La Quinta had participated in building artificial reefs in other places and that some were successful, and others were not.
Garrett said this particular project would cost anywhere from $1 million to $1.4 million, but would save many times that amount in beach renourishment costs.
"Each project is unique," she said,noting that there is no standard one-size-fits-all design for a reef and that each location demands its own design, created to fit the local hydrologic conditions.
Garrett said she had installed a reef in Florida off the coast of Charlotte County before moving to Galveston to form her own company, which includes some engineers and scientists from the previous company for which she worked.
Since Cameron County park land is involved in the contemplated South Padre Island project, she said she plans next to present her plan to the county. What she wanted from the town's aldermen, she said, was an expression of interest in her proposal.
Aldermen provided her with formal assurance of their interest.
Source: Carl Phillips, Island Breeze
| Understanding The
Pre-Approval Process
Loan shopping is as intricate a process as house shopping, and the terminology is often confusing. The terms "pre-qualification" and "pre-approval" sound like the same thing, but they're not. And in fact, neither pre-qualification nor pre-approval means a bank actually has to give you the loan.
Clear as mud, right? Don't worry -- the loan approval process is fairly straightforward, as long as you understand a few key points:
- Pre-qualification is the first step you can take -- but it's not mandatory. If you want a ballpark idea of how much a bank will loan you so that you can shop within your price range, pre-qualification is a quick and easy way to find out. Most banks and credit unions will do this over the phone, and your credit history will usually not be checked. A loan officer asks you about your income, assets, debts and projected down payment and then calculates what kind of loan you'd likely qualify for. The process takes just a few minutes.
- Pre-approval is more involved and usually requires an appointment. In this step, the lending institution gathers all the information it requires to offer you a loan, and your credit report will be checked; you may be charged a fee for this at the time of the appointment. You'll need to bring some items with you to document your identity and your assets:
- A copy of your most recent bank statements (this includes your daily checking account as well as any money market, savings or other accounts)
- Your most recent W-2 (or entire tax return if you're self-employed)
- Proof of IRAs or retirement accounts and their current balances
- Ditto for any stocks or mutual funds you own outside of retirement accounts
- Your driver's license
- The most recent month's paystub(s) from your job
- An application fee (this depends on the lender)
- The result of the pre-approval process is the good faith estimate. At the end of the pre-approval process, if the bank looks you over and likes what it sees, you'll receive what's called a good faith estimate (GFE), which is a brief document spelling out the likely terms of the loan, including the interest rate, loan type (fixed-rate, adjustable and so on) and closing costs.
- The pre-approval step may be a bit time-consuming, but you'll need to complete it with a few lenders in order to comparison-shop. Without a GFE, you can't truly compare terms among lenders. And it pays to compare -- for a loan as large as a mortgage, little things like the interest rate make a big difference. To negotiate for a great interest rate, reduced closing costs, or lender-paid private mortgage insurance, you have to make lenders compete with each other. (Lining up GFEs is also a good way to spot lenders who charge unnecessary fees.) So don't just accept the first offer you get -- make sure it's a good one by soliciting several in a short time period. Don't worry about nicking your credit score with several loan applications, because credit scoring recognizes multiple checks in quick succession as part of the loan-shopping process and does not penalize you.
- Pre-approval does not mean the bank guarantees you the loan. It just means that you're approved to get loan -- unless something goes wrong. Commitment to the loan generally comes after the bank has had the house in question appraised to make sure the price you're paying isn't higher than the home's market value. This protects them in case you default on the loan, which would leave them in the red even if they evicted you and sold the property. Banks also check to make sure the home has a clear title and that you've insured it for replacement value.
Source: Frontdoor.com
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