Community Magazine July 2012

Picture It Morris Antebi, Photographer Help! My photos got wet. If the basement flooded and your old pictures are all wet, don’t panic. Photographs are immersed in water during the development process, so they can handle the wetness. Just soak the photos that are stuck together in clean water and peel them apart one by one. Once separated, hang the pictures up on a line using a binder clip, and your precious memories will be fine. For older negatives that have a film of chemical buildup, soak them in water and softly rub off any chemicals; then hang them to dry. Mortgage Matters Larry Aboudi, Senior Mortgage Consultant Beware the “rate and switch.” When it comes to buying a home, consumers can no longer shop for a mortgage based simply on lowest interest rate quotes. Interest rates quoted over the phone or on the internet before an assessment of the customer’s family, finances or lifestyle are almost never accurate. Besides market conditions, mortgage rates are based on a long list of criteria. An interest ratequotedwithout a thorough knowledge of the borrower’s unique financial situation is bound to change once the customer is qualified. There are 26 criteria that affect mortgage rate: 1. Loan amount 2. LTV 3. CLTV 4. Credit score 5. Credit history 6. Escrow preference 7. Closing date 8. Loan type 9. Property type 10. Occupancy type 11. Residency 12. Available assets 13. Asset seasoning 14. Co-borrowers 15. Debt ratio 16. Housing ratio 17. Improvements needed 18. Employment type 19. Employment history 20. Documentation type 21. Paying points 22. Length of loan 23. Relocation 24. Seller contributions 25. Gifts 26. Cash-out So talk to a lender you trust and avoid the “rate and switch.” Garage Gab Ralph Czeisler, Emil’s All Tire - Edited by Rachel Dayan Don’t idle to warm-up your car. Ideally, you should drive slowly for 5-10 minutes while the engine warms up, rather than let the car sit idling. Warming up a car that’s parked and idle can actually put more strain on the engine. Avoid the gas tanker. Don’t fill up gas if you see the gasoline tanker at the station. As the tanks are being filled, more sediment will be stirred up and into your gas. Wait a couple of hours or fill up elsewhere. They are the trained professionals, experts in their fields and masters of their domains. Community magazine’s savants share their best tips on how you can make your life a bit simpler, more economical, and more efficient. Are you a savant in your field? Email your hints and advice to editor@communitym.com. Tech Know Morris Massry, Technology Partners Assoc. Program your phone your way. Imagine your phone automatically texting your wife when you leave work or reminding you to take an umbrella on a rainy day. The on{x} app fromMicrosoft (developed in Israel) is driven by a website which provides users with extended control of their Android phones using conditional tasks they call “recipes.” Recipes include things like reminding you to visit the gym if you haven’t been there for three days, automatically sending your location to someone when they text you “where?”, and opening a certain web page when you unlock your screen. The web app, which uses your Facebook login, is really easy to use and has a very elegant user interface. A dashboard and log show you all events created and executed. Savant 44 Community magazine