The last time I posted, I wrote for my wife and ActiveRain blogger, Karen George.  When I wrote that last piece, Karen was very sick, although I did not realize just how sick she was.  Anybody that knows Karen knows that she is extremely upbeat and positive and, frankly, afraid of nothing.  To be totally honest, even though I am her husband, I did not know she was so close to dying.  How I would have done things differently!

On August 23rd, 2008 my beloved wife and best friend of 15 years passed away and she was finally given relief from her poor, sickly body.  I know- from the hundreds and hundreds of emails that I've recieved-- that Karen was well-loved.  Her funeral had seating for 150, and it wasn't nearly enough.  People were standing.  Besides that, we had all of the wonderful ActiveRainers offering support via email.  All of your thoughts and prayers have brought me comfort in this extremely difficult time.

To George and Brad, who both wrote posts about Karen; I can't thank you enough.  For all of you that sent me messages of peace and love; I can't thank you enough.  I am actually in Michigan right now, but when I get back, I intend on answering all of the personal messages she recieved from her friends "in the rain."

Today is Monday, October 6, and this is the first day I have been able to sit down at my computer and actually type.  I have been crippled with grief.

Starting later on this week (or maybe first thing next week), I will be blogging in this spot.  Karen had some projects that she was too sick to complete-- does anybody remember GeoZoodle?-- and I will be completing those for her as well.  She had so much on her plate, it was impossible for her to finish everything and find the time to fight terminal cancer.

I hope those of you that enjoyed reading Karen will enjoy reading my posts.  Her and I were like two peas in a pod and I think we have a similar writing style.

Remember her breast cancer blog is at www.fighting-breast-cancer.com.  We ask that every woman take a few minutes to read the very first post, and the PDF file that is attached to it.  You don't have to read the whole thing-- just the first post.

I still have to work of course, so any Realtors out there...looking for an honest and very experienced Arizona mortgage broker, please consider calling me at 877-551-8188.

Michael George

Good afternoon fellow ActiveRainers.  From now on, this blog will be co-authored by Michael and Karen George.

As most of Karen's regular readers are aware, Karen did 90% of the writing and I (Michael George) acted as her assistant...giving her ideas to write about when she had the occasional writer's block.

Occasionally, I would write a post.  I think I wrote about 4 or 5 of the hundred posts Karen wrote.  So hopefully, those of you that enjoyed Karen's posts will also enjoy mine.  We were connected at the hip and write in a similar fashion.

As of now however, it is difficult for Karen to write.  She still wants to be involved in the online community.  She wants to read posts (and she does) but leaving comments is tough.  Her hands aren't working well.

However, for those of you that know about Karen's fight with breast cancer...  Well, you should know that she is fighting very hard right now.  I am not going to write a great deal about it here, but to those that are friends of Karen, please contact me at karen.george@azwm.com and I will fill you in.

Thank you for reading and all prayers are appreciated!

I know I haven't written about SEO in a while, so I wanted to give this important tip to my readers. Trust me, this works!

If you have ever signed up for pay-per-click ads, like with Yahoo! or Google, you will find that they do not allow superlatives when you describe your site and set up your ad. For those of you that need a refresher, a Superlative \Su`per*la"tive\ is:

1. Lifted up to the highest degree; most eminent; surpassing all other; supreme; as, superlative wisdom or prudence.

2. (Gram.) Expressing the highest or lowest degree of the quality denoted by an adjective or an adverb. The superlative degree is formed from the positive by the use of -est, most, or least; as, highest, most pleasant, least bright.

In other words, Google won't allow you to write, "For the lowest mortgage rates and best customer service, visit Arizona Mortgage."

I have always maintained that getting your website to do well in the search engines is common sense and not much more. People are always trying to "figure out" Google. As if there is some magic formula... Well, there is a formula of sorts: Provide Google with quality information and Google will reward you.

I have about seven websites that I am maintaining right now. With one of them, I had decided to pay-per-click. (It's not mortgage or real estate related.)

When I saw Google's rules about superlatives, it only made sense: If Google doesn't like superlatives in their ads, why would they like them in their search results?

Bottom line-- If you have a website description that states that you are the greatest, smartest and prettiest Realtor in Orange County, I can almost guarantee that your site will move up in Google and Yahoo if you offer a description that makes more sense. You can still brag about yourself. For example, being a "professional" or an "expert in Colorado Real Estate" isn't superlative.

So take a look at your page description and make sure you are doing it right.

Also, if you are somebody who uses superlatives in your site description, please post your description here, and I will rewrite it for you. First come, first serve. I don't want to spend all day writing website descriptions, but I would be happy to use one or two examples. (And then watch your Google rank increase.)

Eliminating superlatives just makes sense. We already know that Google doesn't like them and I always suggest doing what Google likes...of course.

Okay my last post was about WaMu and the way they intentionally target people who may be living hand-to-mouth -- those that tend to bounce checks.  Feel free to read it here.  I don't mean to bore my readers with more of the same stuff, but I've got a little more.  This will be the last time I write about this lousy bank...I hope to be rid of them forever.

After they charged me hundreds of dollars (over $300 so far) for bounced checks, I vowed to close my account.  In fact, I intended to do it the day I wrote my last post.  However, I had some outgoing payments coming from the WaMu account, and I just wanted to wait until the next billing cycle.

Here's what the jerks did to me this time:

The first time they nailed me with bounced check fees, it was because they put a hold on a direct wire transfer from my Bank of America account.  That's right:  I made my initial deposit with a wire transfer.  It might as well have been cash.  Why put a hold on it?  So they could charge me all kinds of bounced check fees, that's why!

My next deposit was a direct deposit from the IRS.  It was about $1500.

Altogether, I had about $2600, including the $1500 that was freshly deposited from our government.  Anybody ever hear of putting a hold on a government check?  Heck, the pawn shops will cash government checks on the spot.  Apparently, pawn shops have a better check cashing policy than WaMu does.

I needed to put some money into my Bank of America checking account, to cover some checks.  So I wrote myself a $1500 check against the $2600 in my WaMu account.  Again, every cent in my WaMu account is from some sort of wire transfer or direct deposit.

As you can see below, WaMu did not pay on my $1500 check-- although I had plenty to cover it-- and I incurred 5 bounced check fees from Bank of America.

That came to $125.  Bank of America charges $25 for a bounced check; Washington Mutual-- with their "one free bounced check per year"-- charges $34.

Above is a condensed version of my Bank of America statement.  Due to Washington Mutual's bogus policy, I went into the red by $907 and I was charged for 5 overdrafts.

So what was a girl to do?

I called Bank of America on June 20th and told them exactly what happened.  I explained how WaMu screwed me and put a hold on wire transfered funds.

What did Bank of America do?

On June 23rd, Bank of America reversed all five bounced check fees, even though-- as far as they were concerned, I was in the "red."  They were polite, courteous, and more than willing to help.

WaMu on the other hand...  Well, when I called them, they referred to their commercial and told me they would waive one fee per year.  I said, "Considering the ridiculous circumstances, is that really the best you can do?"

She assured me that WaMu would only give me back $34 of the hundreds they stole from me.

But guess what?  I have yet to see the $34 credit.  WaMu has not even given me the "one ISF fee waived per year" that they advertise.

In all my life, this is the worst banking experience I have had.  Oh, and as a mortgage broker, I can also tell you that their are many, many banks with lower rates than WaMu.  I wouldn't even consider them if I were in the market for a mortgage.

This is an opinion piece, take as you wish, but I think Washington Mutual is predatory on what economists would call a micro level.  (They may be predatory in other ways as well, but I experienced it on a very "micro" level.)

While I'm at it, I also think they have lousy customer service and could care less about improving. (We'll see how they respond to this post.)  Over the years, while working as an Arizona mortgage broker, I have had many clients tell me that they've had negative experiences with WaMu, both on the mortgage side and with smaller issues, such as credit and checking accounts.  I never thought too much about it, even though Washinton Mutual seemed to come up more regularly than other banks. 

I never thought much of it, that is, until I opened a checking account three weeks ago.

I have my primary checking account with Bank of America, and I honestly do not recall ever bouncing a check with B of A or ever incurring a fee for insufficient funds...let us say for at least as long as I've been married (7 years).  I know I did it a few times in college, but that's pretty much it.

I've incurred over $200 in bounced check charges since I opened my account with WaMu earlier in May.  I also opened it with a starting deposit of two thousand dollars. 

How did this happen?  I have no idea.  But I can tell you this much:  WaMu ain't coughing up they money they took from me.  I just have to close my account and accept it and move on.  Do that a few million times, and WaMu is in the money.  Nice quarter fellas!

Wamu's Predatory Advertising:  Trapping The Hand-To-Mouth Crowd

I was watching television a few weeks ago when a Washington Mutual commercial aired.  You may have seen it; it is aired pretty often.  Basically, WaMu presents a spokesman who brags that Washington Mutual will waive one bounced check fee per year.  Behind him are "angry" bankers who are upset about the awesome deal he is offering.

That's it.  That's the entire theme of the commercial.  Washington Mutual was bragging about reversing one bounced check fee per year for their beloved clients.  At first I thought it was weird, but after my husband mumbled "predatory" under his breath, I realized that the commercial was predatory in the most basic definition of the word.

The whole purpose of that commercial was to get people to sign up for a free checking account at Washington Mutual, but not just any people-- they want people who bounce checks.  Think about it, the only demographic the commercial appeals to is the demographic that bounces checks.  The commercial didn't appeal to me at all, because I haven't paid an ISF fee in years.  It pretty much went in one ear and out the other.  But if getting one bounced check fee per year is enough to make you change banks, and matters just that much, WaMu wants you.

It doesn't really seem like a desired demographic, does it?  But they know they are going to milk those people for so much more.  They give you $34 for one reversal, and you pay for six more that year.  (I don't actually know the average amount of bounced checks per year.)

How They Ripped Me Off

I needed to open a new checking account.  WaMu is the bank on the corner and it seemed as good as any.  I opened my account with a $2000 wire transfer.  That is, I supplied my Bank of America routing and account numbers for what is normally an instant transaction.

Instead, Washington Mutual put a three-day hold on my TRANSFER.  This was not a personal check, this was not even a payroll check; this was a transfer from my Bank of America account.  Even better than a paper cashier's check as far as I knew.

Because that is incredibly stupid and makes no sense, I wrote six checks against the account.  Although I showed a "balance" in my account, WaMu bounced all six, for a total of $204.  I've even bounced more since then, with equally ridiculous explanations. 

Yes, I have closed my account.  And remember:

Be especially wary and cautious of those businesses that advertise to those who may be less fortunate in our society.  (Payroll cashing, title loans, payroll loans, Washington Mutual Free Checking)

Usually, most always, they are bad news on every level.

I received the ad below, via email, just a few weeks before the subprime market crashed, not too long ago actually.  This is actually a typical ad from a subprime lender, and every mortgage broker on AR has dozens of these in their trash folder.  Now please take note: This is not an offer for loan services and my company does not offer the loan advertised below.  I just thought I would share...and show my Realtor friends the kind of stuff that mortgage brokers were offered by banks...and probably tried to pass on to your clients at some point.

Check it:

The lender was Wilmington Finance.  I removed their phone numbers from this ad, but I did give them a call today.  Guess what?  They no longer offer this loan.  In fact, they stopped offering this loan just shortly after they announced it.

I know hindsight is 20/20, but no lie: The subprime market never sat well with me.  I don't even know how to describe it exactly.  It just kind of made me feel dirty.  I never did them myself.  I'm an A-paper girl.  Bad credit?  I'll get you in with FHA.  Ruin your life?  I'd really rather not.

Now let's look at this ad a little closer:

Right across the top, you'll see "90% LTV with a 525 FICO."  I don't know how to say this nicely, but this is just ridiculous.  The FHA, which is extremely lenient, offers loans with a score as low as 550.  If you have a 525, take a year and work on building your credit.  (You'd be surprised what a year of good behavior can do.)  It will be so much better for you in the end.  Nobody deserves this mortgage.

When people have credit scores of 550, it is common- almost guaranteed-- that they will have collections on their credit report.  FHA requires that the collections be paid prior to funding, or out of escrow at the closing table.  Wilmington Finance?  No such requirement.  Just set 'em up and they'll knock 'em down.

The ad even says that they will take borrowers who have paid their current mortgage 30 days late up to two times!  Isn't that just amazing?  (On the ad, that's what 2 X 30 means.)

Next you will notice that this loan is a 2/28 ARM.  Which means the loan is fixed for 2 years and then adjusts in year 3 and every year thereafter.  Why is that bad?

Because you will also notice that this loan allows for 50% DTI (or debt-to-income ratio).  That means that if you earn $60K per year or $5K per month, they will allow you to have total bills (mortgage + car + credit cards, etc.) that amount to $2500 per month.  That is, 50% of your gross income.

Trouble is, after taxes, you are taking less than $4000 home.  Do you contribute to your 401K?  Or maybe you pay for your health insurance?  You could, realistically, only be "taking home"...well...let's just say $3500 if you have to pay for your own insurance.

That leaves you $1000 from which to live.  Now what is going to happen when your rate actually goes up in 2 years?  What if-- God forbid-- you lost your job and you had to take one that pays less?  You could refinance... Oh wait, no you can't-- this loan has a horrible prepayment penalty.

Gas will cost you at least $200 per month; your car insurance is another $100; maybe a couple hundred for groceries?

Bottom line:  This mortgage sets the borrower up for failure.

So what are people doing?  Foreclosing in record numbers.  Gee whiz, I'm totally shocked.  This loan seems so logical.

I won't even get into the fact that this company also offers an interest-only version.

Pardon my brashness, but whomever set this loan program up just might be a certified moron.  It's practically criminal, it's so stupid.

Now, I worry if mortgage brokers will exist five years from now.  All because my colleagues chose to put people in mortgages like this.

*** This works best in Internet Explorer.  Not so great in Firefox. ***

Good morning! It is a beautiful in Arizona right now-- 67 degrees with a light breeze. I should be outside. But I made something last night and I thought I would share.

My husband and I have a digital camera that also records little movies. We do have a video camera, but we find the camera to be easier.

This is because when you plug the camera (via USB cord) into your computer, the movies are already divided into their own convenient .avi files. This takes away the editing step that one has to do with a video tape.

But by all means, you can do this with a video camera as well.

I'm rambling. Time to write about what I made! You've probably noticed it by now, in the top left corner of the page.

My husband and I were taking pictures and we thought, "why not try to animate our portraits?" (If somebody else is already doing this; we're sorry; we really thought of it on our own!)

This is our first time, and it looks a little rough, but I am hoping to make one that is much better.

So do you want to know how to do it? Unfortunately, you need to buy an inexpensive software program called GIF Construction Kit Professional. The program is only $25 and it actually has a drop down menu in which you can choose "AVI to GIF".

The software is intuitive and easy to use. (And no, I'm not getting paid for this in any way.)

If you don't want to buy the software, but you have a camera that takes short movies, email me your movie and I will convert it to a .gif for a $5 donation to SOMAD.org, a breast cancer charity.  Email me for information regarding this.  All donations are tax-deductible.

Have fun! And if you try it, please email me a copy so I can see how others do! And just refresh your browser to see the animation again. My next one will be much better!

I'll just give a quick note to my friends, regarding why I haven't been around, regarding my fight with breast cancer.  I will post an update soon.  Things have been kind of crazy and I'm not sure how to write a post.  I'm completely bald again.  So there's that.  But I will post something with more detail soon.

Simply Not A Good Fit

Today I received a rude email from a potential client, but I think I handled it properly. 

In this man's communication, he wrote that he had emailed me on Wednesday regarding Arizona mortgage rates.  Unfortunately, I had never received this email.  However, because I hadn't responded yet, he assumed that my posted rates-- which is what he emailed me about in the first place-- must be a lie.  So in all caps, (representing "yelling"), he writes:

"IF YOU CAN'T DO IT, WHY IS IT ON YOUR SITE?!?!?"

I hadn't responded to him on Wednesday, so naturally he wants to accuse me of lying.  I went through my spam folder and I found his email from Wednesday.   I was actually the CC: on the email and then he addressed the main "TO:" box to himself.  So, because I wasn't the "primary" on the email, Norton thought, for some reason, that it was spam.  Sure it stinks, but these errors happen very infrequently.  And who addresses an email from the CC: box anyway?  You're just asking for trouble.  If you want a copy, CC yourself for goodness sakes.

But either way, this guy is sending me an aggressive, accusatory email because his misunderstood perception was that I was a cheat and there was absolutely no chance that something else happened.  I must be a crook. 

Well, I'm sick of people who treat me like a crook, just because I work in finance.  I am an honest, ethical person and am proud to say that none of my clients has ever been treated unethically.  There has never, ever been a complaint to the Better Business Bureau about us.  They only show records for the past three years, but I wish they would post for the past ten years.  Every year has been without a single customer complaint to the BBB.  I honestly cannot remember ever having an angry client or potential client.

Oh, and something else:  I never post bait and switch rates and I really hate the practice.  It's quite a shame that it's the rule, rather than the exception at many internet "mortgage guide" sites.

Okay, so back to the guy...  Sorry I ranted.

I told him that I was sorry that his email ended up in my spam folder.  I then wrote that the next time he has such a pressing issue (he told me he needed financing ASAP), the telephone is the general best bet. 

Then I told him to go ahead and find another mortgage broker and that I didn't think I would be a good fit with him, based on his angry email.  I told him I don't like people who accuse me of lying, especially people who don't know me.  I basically told him off and then told him to hit the road.  It felt good.  (Regarding the legality, for those of you who think I broke the law:  I did give my attorney a quick call about this.  If you want to hear what he said, email me.)

Too harsh?  I'd like to know your opinions, even though I don't think I'll change my mind.  Any email with one of these things in it:  "?!?!?!" is an email I don't need to read.  It's an economic decision really.  It could be a question on an economics exam:  "Exactly how much abuse can you handle for X dollars of commission?"  Hint:  Be sure to include a gas surcharge kids!

And to those who might think to advise me to make this post private-- no way.  I am happy to make my new policy available to potential clients.

(To the potential clients reading:  You will find that I am extremely easy to work with; I never cheat my clients and I won't ever lie to you.  All I ask is to be treated with a tiny degree of respect.  Like you would expect to be treated yourself...  I'm sure you understand.  Thank you!)

For the past four days, I've been pulling my hair out in frustration.  Yesterday, my husband became so enraged and frazzled, he poured himself a drink after a lengthy period of sobriety.  (Thankfully, he came to his senses and poured it back down the drain.)  My home phone has been down, I've had no email or internet, and my office phones are a mess.

This is all due to the failure of my Cox high-speed internet connection (cable modem).  I never realized just how dependent I was on this evil little box and the company that controls it.  I could have strangled the customer service reps at Cox...  But I am getting ahead of myself; let me back up a bit. 

Here's how it all went down:

I thought I'd save some money and get Vonage telephone service.  You've seen the ads right?  $24.95 per month with free long distance to the U.S. and Canada-- sounds great!  So I canceled my home phone service with Qwest, and got ready to start saving a bunch of money.

The Vonage phone service was fine; the connection is clear; everything was as was promised.

So, because Vonage seemed to work so nicely, I decided to set them up as the alternative lines for the office.  What I mean is, my main telephone number is (877) 551-8188.  That is a standard Qwest land line.

Anyway, when calls come through and that main line is occupied-- which is practically 100% of the working day-- the incoming call hunts for another open line...just like any office.

Except, I decided that all of the hunted lines would be of the Vonage variety.  So the office consists of only one "real" telephone line and a bunch of Vonage lines to be hunted.  I'd save a small fortune I thought.

This, of course, was idiotic on my part.  You do get what you pay for folks; I can attest to that right now.

Vonage depends on the internet and late Friday afternoon, my internet went down.  It actually never dawned on me that if I lost internet connectivity, I would lose my phones as well.

Cox told us the best they could do was get a repairman out on Tuesday, which is today.

Monday is the busiest day of the week and tends to be very stressful as far as the telephones go.  Yesterday, the main line would ring, but that was it.  No more than one incoming call at a time.  That was very strange, but I couldn't pay too much attention to it, because I was so frustrated without email.  Many of my clients communicate with me via email...so I kept hitting "refresh" hoping I could somehow will the connection to come alive.

Of course, I was getting lots of calls and they all had nowhere to go.  Some clients got busy signals, others told me the phone just rang and rang.  Very professional.

So that's it.  That's my Vonage horror story.  I hope it helps anyone who was on the fence about signing up for this new service.    

First a few quick words about copyright: The, um, er, breakfast (?) photo to the left is the property of the International House of Pancakes. In most cases, you cannot download and use artwork from IHOP or anybody else's site for that matter. However, this post is a "review" and a "critique" and that makes our use of this art perfectly legal, no permission necessary.

It's why Hollywood can make spoofs of entire movies and not be obligated to pay any royalties to the spoofees.

Okay, now that the copyright thing is out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks. Let us please get serious-- just for a moment-- about IHOP's new "Who Cakes", celebrating the new film Horton Hears a Who.

Should it eat even be legal to serve this heaping pile of sugar to an innocent child?!? A child who really knows no better? Aren't we supposed to protect the poor innocents?

Okay, I will admit that I have not tried the Who Cakes. So I am not acting completely fair right now.

In all truthfulness, they just might be delicious. The pancakes are dressed with two opaque sauces-- one pink, one blue-- in the style of classical French sauce-making of course. Although I can't say for certain, I would guess both sauces to be a simple confectioner's sugar icing and differentiated from one another only by the food colorings. Hmmmmm..... Pretty good idea, I think. Maybe the next time I make pancakes, I'll try the icing thing. Ooooh! Delicious! Like cinnamon roll pancakes. And icing is so much less expensive than syrup! Just powdered sugar and water. If you want to be super fancy, you can add a dropper of vanilla to your icing syrup.

But wait. It actually gets worse. What's that on top? Is that a lollipop? Are you kidding me? Well, I certainly hope it's the kind of lollipop that's stuffed with chewing gum or a Tootsie Roll.(TM) It seems a shame to go through all that trouble and miss a last-minute detail like the stuffed-with-more-candy lollipop. The devil is in the details you know.  I know that I would be up in arms if I ate all of my icing-covered, fried-dough breakfast-- just like a good girl is supposed to do-- and then didn't have a Tootsie(TM) stuffed lolly as an after breakfast treat.

Thanks patient reader, for allowing me this forum to screw around and write a post about about nothing. Sometimes, I like the posts about nothing most of all.  We don't need to be serious all of the time, do we?  However, with home prices and interest rates as they are-- soon, we should all be too busy to write fanciful posts about nothing.