greenville nc: Are You An Influence Agent?---The Science Of Influence - 04/19/09 01:20 PM
A couple of years ago I read an interesting book by Dr. Robert Cialdini. A Regents Professor at Arizona State University, Dr. Cialdini is a social psychologist..
I decided recently to re-read his book, “Influence: Science and Practice”. This work centers on influence triggers that help someone to say yes.
Like it or not we, in the real estate industry, are influence peddlers. We are trying to help people make good decisions. Yet many of us struggle with making decisions.
In particular we often hesitate when making big decisions. The assessment of buying or selling real estate is … (7 comments)
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greenville nc: A Collage From The Greenville, NC Tea Party - 04/18/09 09:35 AM
It seems the tea parties held this week are driving the left nuts. They just don’t know what to make of ordinary people taking time out of their day to register their disdain with politics as usual.
This was not about Republicans vs Democrats. What is misunderstood is there is a growing disgust for both parties.
Things must change all right. The change we need is to return to adhering to the Constitution.
Hope you enjoy this pictorial collage from our local tea party.
Feel free to post a picture of your tea party in the … (13 comments)
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greenville nc: “We Do Not See Ourselves As A Christian Nation”---Pandering Or A Proclamation? - 04/11/09 11:04 AM
I must admit that when I first learned President Obama stated the “we do not see ourselves as a Christian nation” I was quite distressed. Why would he say this during Holy Week while in a predominately Muslim nation?
I kept asking myself, what was the point? The two conclusions my feeble mind deduced is he is either pandering or he is making a proclamation.
Pandering
Was he just pandering to the Muslims, Agnostics, Atheists, secularists, etc? This is certainly possible. He spent most of the week in Europe pandering by apologizing for American arrogance. His perception … (50 comments)
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greenville nc: Win Or Go Home!—The National Championship - 04/05/09 02:12 PM
It’s that time of year. The first Monday in April marks the men’s basketball NCAA National Championship Game.
This year will be one of great interest to me and the hometown hero’s of the University of North Carolina with take on the Spartans of Michigan State.
I have always considered March Madness to be the hardest college national championship to win. Many years as you come to this weekend your team is out of the tournament.
One and done. Teams are so evenly matched and any game can go any way. Win or go home!
I’ve lucky … (8 comments)
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greenville nc: Finally A Bit Of Sanity—Help May Be On The Horizon For The Financial Crisis - 04/04/09 09:49 AM
One of the major culprits of the current financial crisis, in my opinion, has been a complex and little understood accounting principle. This accounting principle is called “mark to market”.
I am no accountant and will be the first to admit I don’t fully understand this hideously complex financial accounting standard. So I have to think of it in terms I understand.
For the purpose of this prose let’s suppose you live in a sub-division. You bought your home for $250,000. Your current mortgage balance is $200,000. You are paying your mortgage payments on time and you have no … (24 comments)
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greenville nc: You Better Price Your Listings Right----Appraisal Changes - 03/28/09 11:55 AM
This week FHA issued a mortgagee letter to respond to declining markets. These changes go into effect for all FHA appraisals beginning April 1, 2009. This aligns the FHA appraisal requirements with FNMA which also requires new reporting as of April 1.
Appraisers are currently expected to note the trend of property values. Are property values increasing, stable of declining? They are to provide conclusions as to the supply of properties in the subject neighborhood. Is there a shortage, in-balance or over supply of homes for sale? Additionally appraisers are to provide data of the marketing time for properties for … (23 comments)
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greenville nc: Oh I’m Outraged Over the AIG Bonuses—But Not Over Them Being Paid - 03/22/09 01:09 PM
As the news this week unfolded over the retention bonuses being paid to AIG executives I found myself becoming increasingly outraged. My outrage however, has not been directed over the bonuses being paid. This post is not about the merits of paying the bonuses.
No, rather my outrage is over:
The government has known about these bonuses all along This week, they have lied through their teeth about not knowing That Congress would seek an unconstitutional measure to correct their incompetence
The Bonuses Were Known
There is no way I believe the powers that be did not know … (14 comments)
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greenville nc: How St. Patrick’s Day Came To Have Special Meaning For Me - 03/17/09 05:25 PM
I confess that growing up I didn’t get the whole idea of St. Patrick’s Day. I suppose that growing up in the South and being Protestant probably had a lot to do with my apathy for this holiday.
I was vaguely aware that far off places like New York and Chicago had big celebrations, parades and such. I had some knowledge of snakes or potatoes I wasn’t sure which, nor did I know what it meant.
I knew that shamrocks looked like four leaf clover to me. My concept of leprechauns came primarily from the cereal, Lucky Charms. … (23 comments)
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greenville nc: The Doctrine Of Unintended Consequences—Currently In Play For The Mortgage Market - 03/14/09 10:22 AM
I recently completed a six part review the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan. In many of these posts, I mused about the Unintended Consequences that may be associated with elements of this plan.
As a disclaimer I must inform you this six part series was written between the time of the announcement of the plan and the March 4th date of details being released. I will need to conduct further review now that details have been released. I took a break and wrote about other subjects last weekend and Good News I’ve been really busy with my day job, originating … (10 comments)
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greenville nc: Is News Of Declining Home Prices Keeping YOU From Buying?----Dig Deeper! - 03/08/09 06:20 PM
The news media reports tell you that home values have experienced the largest declines in many, many years. Has this become an obstacle in your decision for purchasing a home?
I can understand your anxiety. Who wants to purchase a home when you believe it will immediately decline in value?
Understand this, real estate is local!! The new media reports national trends. Very rarely, if ever, do they dig deeper through the report.
Just a few days ago the Federal Housing Finance Agency published the latest Housing Price Report for the quarter ending December 31, 2008. Yes, this … (7 comments)
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greenville nc: Facebook Business Pages---Is This The Change We’ve Been Looking For? - 03/07/09 10:49 AM
I’ve been spending some time this morning reviewing the changes Facebookhas made to its business page application. I think I like what I see!
Essentially the Facebookbusiness page will have the same look and feel as your facebookuser page. Business pages will now have customizable tabs, which were not available previously.
A HUGE enhancement is that soon posts by your business page will appear in the News Feed of you “fans”. And comments by your fans will go to their friends News Feeds. This, in my mind, will accomplish a couple of things:
Drive more traffic to your business … (20 comments)
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greenville nc: Looking For Acorns---Homeowner Affordability And Stability Plan---Part 2(E) - 03/01/09 09:00 AM
The final component mentioned in the Stability section of the White House housing plan has a stated goal of supporting local communities. Information concerning this in the Executive Summary is, at best, sketchy. We will want to review the details, once they are released March 4th.
Strengthening FHA Programs and Providing Support for Local Communities
Ease restrictions in Federal Housing Administration Programs, Including Hope for Homeowners Strengthening Communities Hardest Hit by the Financial Housing Crisis
The current Hope for Homeowners, as I understand, has experienced limited success. This initiative was designed to assist struggling homeowners with an … (13 comments)
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greenville nc: Here Comes The Judge—Homeowner Affordability And Stability Plan----Part 2 (D) - 02/28/09 10:15 AM
I have been breaking down the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan and providing a review of the plan’s various components. We are awaiting more details to be provided by the Administration, due to be released March 4th. The source of this review comes from the White House.
The component I am reviewing today is one for which I have great trepidation. I’m interested in hearing what you think.
Allowing Judicial Modifications of Home Mortgages During Bankruptcy for Borrowers Who Have Run Out of Options
This provision will allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages. (OH MY!)
The portion … (8 comments)
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greenville nc: Reaching Up To 4 Million At-Risk Homeowners—Housing Affordability And Stability Plan—Part 2 (A) - 02/22/09 11:18 PM
Reviewing the Housing Affordability and Stability Plan I intend to dig a little deeper in the leg directed toward stability. This initiative creates $75 billion to reach up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners. Oh my!!!
I wrote about the affordability section earlier and you can view that post by clicking here. I also have written an overview of the stability component. You can view the entire plan by going to the White House web site.
Section A of the stability component is an initiative to reach up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners. This is being … (10 comments)
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greenville nc: Homeowner Affordability And Stability Plan—Part 2—Stability - 02/22/09 12:53 PM
This week President Obama announced the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. You can view a summary of this plan on the White House web site. Additional details are to be forthcoming on March 4th.
The three legs of this plan are:
Refinancing for up to 4 to 5 million responsible homeowners to make their mortgages more affordable A $75 billion homeowner initiative to reach up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners Supporting low mortgage rates by strengthening confidence in Fannie and Freddie Mac
Earlier I wrote a blog on the 1st leg, refinancing. Now I would like to … (4 comments)
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greenville nc: The President’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan---Part 1 - 02/21/09 10:28 AM
The White House, this week, announced the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan. An executive summary of the plan may be viewed on the White House web site.
President Obama’s plan for the housing market consists of three components:
Refinancing for up to 4 to 5 million responsible home owners to make mortgage payments more affordable A $75 billion homeowner stability initiative to reach up to 3 to 4 million at-risk home owners Supporting low mortgage rates by strengthening confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Today I want to address the first component of Obama’s plan. Understand that the … (11 comments)
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greenville nc: The Chattering Class And Porky Amendments - 02/16/09 09:28 AM
I have been fuming for days now over Senator Charles Schumer’s comments regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Arrogance is on full display and you can view this for yourself.
I suppose this and other blogs make me part of the “chattering class”. And I do care. I have tried to be fair with this new administration. However, I find myself being thoroughly disgusted.
In the effort of fairness the license to pass this omnibus spending bill was granted by the Bush Administration. The passage of TARP both in its size and speed by which it was passed … (14 comments)
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greenville nc: Your Home Loan Application----Series 5----Assets and Liabilities - 02/15/09 04:30 PM
This review of the Residential Loan Application addresses your assets and liabilities. Quite simply what do you own and what do you owe.
Liabilities
For the most part this information will be populated with data gathered from your credit report. I find that many are very cautious about having their credit report pulled. This is primarily driven by a concern that credit inquiries will reduce your credit score.
I’m not going to go very deep, in this post, about the credit report, because this subject will be best addressed by separate postings in greater detail. However, let me … (4 comments)
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greenville nc: The History of Valentines Day--A Valentine Blog Card - 02/14/09 10:18 AM
This morning I determined to check out where this idea of Valentines Day came from. With a little quick research let me share with you what I found. Isn’t Google amazing? Sometime you just have to do some fun stuff.
In 496 Pope Gelasius declared February 14 a feast day honoring a Roman martyr St. Valentine. Amazingly, there are three Christian saints bearing the name Valentine. More surprisingly all three are purported to have been martyred on February 14th. Go figure!
Merging these legendary figures together develops this story. The Roman emperor Claudius outlawed marriage for young men because … (8 comments)
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greenville nc: “The Situation Could Not Be More Serious” - 02/08/09 09:14 AM
"It is inexcusable and irresponsible to get bogged down in distraction and delay while millions of Americans are being put out of work; It is time for Congress to act. It is time to pass an Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to get our economy moving again...” President Barack Obama in a speech on February 6, 2009
I am becoming dismayed with the speed at which the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is moving toward passage. We all would like to see something done to help revive our economy. But, exactly what is in this legislation?
I decided to … (37 comments)
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