New Words
          The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.  Here are this year's winners.
          Each is an artificial word with only one letter altered.  Some are terrifically innovative.  This would be a great party game - maybe.  (Are we up to this?)

1.    Intaxication:  Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you      realize it was your money to start with.   2.    Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
3.    Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people, who stops bright ideas from penetrating.  The Bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
4.    Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
5.    Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
6.    Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get  it.
7.    Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. 8.    Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.  (?) I don't get it.
9.   *Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.  (This one got extra credit.***) 10.  Karmageddon:  It's like, when everybody is sending of all these really bad vibes, right?  And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer. 11.  Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. 12.  Glibido: All talk and no action.
13.  Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
14.  Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
15.  Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
16. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

 

-original author unknown, received via e-mail

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Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
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302.731.1400 Tel
800.390.8919 Toll-free

Apply online at my website ApprovedByBrian.com

1.Consult your tax advisor regarding deductibility of interest.
Information is accurate as of the date of printing and is subject to change without notice. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. © 2007 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved.

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Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
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Newark, DE 19713
302.731.1400 Tel
800.390.8919 Toll-free

Apply online at my website ApprovedByBrian.com

Credit is subject to approval. Some restrictions apply. This information is accurate as of date of printing and is subject to change without notice. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. © 2007 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved.

Ok, here is a summary:

The original blog :New Marketing Idea.... Sponsor some one else's cards had an idea to sponsor those little business card size reminders you get at the dentist, doctor, salon, etc.  negotiate with the owner to pay for the cards in exchange they put a line like "this reminder sponsored by..."

So last time I got my hair cut I mentioned it to the lady who cuts my hair (also the owner, and the same place I have gotten my hair cut at since I was 10) She loved the idea and made a funny comment about how she can't believe her husband, an insurance agent, didn't think of it.

The Snag: She orders those reminder cards by the CASE, she gives out around 30 a day, and she has enough to last her for at least 6 months or more. 

The Triumph: She is creating a "menu" to have all the other service they are starting at the salon (masage, waxing, make-up, etc.)  She offered for me to have my info on that.  We even thought of a great tag line, "sponsored by Brian Papaccio of Wells Fargo, customer since 1987"

The Dentist:  It is a big office I have yet to hear back from an owner, or person incharge of marketing, or person who orders the cards.  my next appointment isn't for a couple months.

A new wave of junk mail and telemarketing that consumers are starting to become aware of are "Trigger Leads".  Trigger leads are leads that can be bought by lenders, mortgage brokers and others who want to solicit to consumers who are already interested in a mortgage.  Here is how it works, you want to buy a home or refinance, so you go to your mortgage professional who gets you approved.  Part of that approval process usually includes checking your credit.... BAM...  it has happened, the credit bureaus see that a mortgage company pulled your credit so they sell your information off to other lenders and mortgage professionals.  That is when you start to get the calls, e-mails, and mail.  The foxes have entered the hen house.

There is a way to avoid those annoyances, a way to protect your self and your personal information from companies you don't know and don't want to talk to, you can Opt Out.  Similar to the Do Not Call list, there is a website and phone number you can use to prevent your information from being sold.

(888) 567-8688 or http://www.optoutprescreen.com/

To read more about Trigger Leads, and how government agencies are trying to ban them read Mortgage 'trigger leads' might get shot down; Delaware News Journal

Ok besides the rest of this blog, what is your opinion on the title, I was debaing between this and "Love in an Elevator" you will see the connection shortly.

Do you need to work on your "Elevator Pitch"?

If you only have one minute to tell some one who you are, what you do, and why they should use you does your 1 minute get that message across and capture that prospect's attention?

What do you include in your elevator pitch?

 

The problems in SubPrime lending are starting to take a toll on the rest of the lending world.  As fewer and fewer lenders exist to approve, underwrite, and fund loans the remaining SubPrime AND Conforming lenders have to pick up the slack.  Well this sounds great for them... at least at first.

The new problem is that lenders have to figure out how to fit "80 pounds of [loans] in a 5 pound bag".  The result is that underwriting times are becoming extended.  Long gone are the days of 24 hour turn around times.  Some lenders are running at 5 or more business days between the time the loan is submitted and the time it is finished, add in another 3 days at least between when conditions are submitted and when it is cleared.  What used to be a couple days to a week process has become at least a two week process.

So what is the solution?

Keep on top of things, be proactive not reactive (get it done ahead of time, don't wait to be asked).

Or find a lender that can still get things done tomorrow... literally.  If you know who to work with you can submit a loan today and fund it tomorrow.

Ok. I am confused is this a Real Estate Blog or a Shakespeare blog....

"As concerns about subprime mortgages plague the nation's leaders and lenders, America's homeowners are confused and worried about their own mortgages, according to a recent poll commissioned by Bankrate.com."

From Bankrate.com Mortgage ignorance rampant 

Could some of the subprime woes and mortgage industry changes and record foreclosures be the responsibility of the consumer too? 

I was shocked to read in this article that when "asked what type of mortgage they had. A stunning 34 percent of the homeowners had no idea."

That means 1 of every 3 people in the United States did not pay attention to anything they were told in a 1 month process consisting of hours of conversation concluded with a potentially 50 page stack of papers they signed. 

Even more perturbing is that another 1 of every 3 people in the United States do not know what they will do when their Adjustbale Rate Mortgage starts to Adjust.  This is why the media has story after story of people suffering from payment shock.  Those people surffering most likely either didn't know they had an ARM, or didn't know what to do once it adjusted.

I don't know about everyone else, but if I have a borrower going into an ARM I make a plan with them.  I make sure they know they know what they are getting into, why they are doing it, what the plan is, and how to get out of it.