tips: Perception Is Key In Delivering Successful Results - 04/13/09 06:23 PM
Do you see a Old Woman or a Young Woman in this picture?
Many of you have seen this picture before and there is no right or wrong answer. We see what we want to see or believe. Both women are actually shown here and it's up to you whether you want it to be a Young Woman, Old Woman or both.
I think, Therefore I am........
I have done a couple presentations these past few weeks and when talking about Technology and Change, some recipients tend to speak like this
"I am too old for this … (9 comments)
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tips: VA Mortgage 4% Seller Concession & Closing Cost Assistance Clarification - 04/08/09 09:45 PM
Photo Credit : Randy Son of Robert's There seems to be a lot of confusion with Seller Concessions and Seller Assistance with VA mortgages, mainly due to the FHA guidelines which is another government loan. However, these 2 loan programs are very different and heres why. 4% VA Seller Concession VA Mortgages has a limit of 4% of the Appraised Value that the seller can contribute to a buyer on a VA purchase without it being considered excessive. For VA purposes, a seller concession is defined as anything of value added to the transaction which the buyer pays no additional amount … (9 comments)
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tips: 7 Texting Tips Etiquette - 03/27/09 03:34 PM
photo credit: Nesster 7 Texting Tips Etiquette It seems that a majority of us have and regularly "Text Message" on a cell phone. Texting is a great tool to use because its fast and convenient to use on the fly. If you ever need to get a hold of someone who seems to not be picking up the call or is quite busy in a meeting, try texting the person to grab their attention. Chances are the person on the receiving end might find texting you back more convenient than call you back at the moment. However, there are some things to consider … (61 comments)
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tips: 7 Tips On How Not To Use Twitter For Your Business - 11/01/08 11:12 AM
How Not To Use Twitter For Your Business
Twitter is a great FREE ONLINE TOOL for your business and with the correct formula, it could spell success like I have shown here.
Twitter is a place to gain EXPOSURE and PROVIDE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS to develop real time networking referrals.
Twitter can be a waste of time if not properly used.
Below are 7 tips on how not to use Twitter for your business.
Auto Feeders
Activerain has a great Auto Feeder for all our blogs, this can be a great tool if used properly. If you have a profile and … (36 comments)
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tips: Punctual Payment Program: A Worry Free FHA Loan Reimbursement - 10/29/08 08:04 PM
Punctual Payment Program: A Worry Free FHA Loan Reimbursement
Here is another option to FHA Alternatives to Down Payment Assistance programs that went away. I wrote a blog last week talking about the alternatives here
What is the Punctual Payment Program?
The Punctual Payment Program in a nutshell rewards home buyers in a reimbursement program for on-time payments.
The program is hosted by the Rainy Day Foundation that began in May 2006.
The website can be found here http://www.rainydayfoundation.org.
The fee for this program is $499.
How does the Punctual Payment Program work?
In a nutshell … (15 comments)
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tips: 10 Tips National College Savings Month - 09/25/08 10:09 PM
September is National College Savings Month
To help families plan and prepare for the future, the U.S. Congress has declared the month of September National College Savings Month.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college costs are increasing at a rate of 8 percent per year. Children today will face college costs that are three to four times what they cost now.
The goal is to promote the idea that it is never too early to start saving for college.
Keep the change savings - Check with your bank about special and unique savings programs. I have … (9 comments)
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tips: First Time Home Buyer Overview and Quick Tips - 09/10/08 02:01 AM
There are some great benefits in being a First Time Home buyer but what exactly defines a First Time Home Buyer and what are the benefits you may ask?
A First Time Home Buyer is considered an applicant who has not have held an ownership interest in a principal residence within the past three years.
Benefits of being a First Time Home Buyer:
On FHA Loans the MIP Cap of 2.25% can be lowered to 2.0% if the client is a First Time Home Buyer Eligible to qualify for State Specific Finance Companies like VHDA for Virginia … (6 comments)
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tips: VA Mortgage Quick Tip: BAH and BAS Income - 09/05/08 11:34 PM
Military Mortgage Progam - VA Loan Quick Tip
When calculating income used to qualify for a VA Mortgage, make sure you are working with a Mortgage Expert that can analyze your income correctly.
Many mortgage professionals fail to calculate the correct income on LES Statements.
A LES statement is a Leave and Earnings statement. This is the best summary of all income.
The 3 main entitlements on the LES are Base Pay, BAS and BAH.
Your Base Pay should NOT BE THE ONLY income to qualify for a house. If just your base pay is used you could lose … (13 comments)
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tips: Young and Inexperienced Can Spell Success - 09/01/08 11:25 PM
Blog-o-sphere proclaimed Condo King and Rising Real Estate Rock star is named Jared Seligman of Corcoran Properties.
Who is Jared Seligman?
Currently at just only the age of 21, he is becoming widely known as the young powerhouse in Manhattan Real Estate. Most Notable for his famous clients from the Olsen Twins, Tommy Hilfiger Family and almost all runway models in the city Jared is a rising superstar.
At age 20 in 2007 he became Real Estate Rookie of the year selling more than $40 million dollars worth of property.
With his success also came criticism placing him in 3 categories … (21 comments)
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tips: Appreciate Your Blogs Before Its Too Late - 08/26/08 10:51 PM
This is a Re-Blog so to speak to provide additional awareness and promote blogger rights.
The Blog in reference is from Tina Merrit's Blog "A Sad Story of A Wonderful Blogger"
Naoma is actually a real good friend of mine who I met when I first started in the Mortgage Industry. We both pretty much started our Loan Officer careers together and kept a good relationship in the office and outside aswell.
Its no surpise that this story has hit hard with me witnessing Naoma's past success from blogging and her passion in blogging even while pregnant!
Naoma was … (18 comments)
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tips: Deceptive Spam Protection - 08/10/08 11:31 PM
Most people understand what SPAM is and have developed some ways to prevent SPAM. Email filters, blockers and even getting new complete e-mail addys.
What most people don't know is the difference between Marketing Spam and Deceptive Spam. Marketing Spam is the least threatful but still annoying.
Marketing Spam deals with advertisments or marketing information mass mailed to consumers. The Best Protection against these threats is to simply just forward these e-mails to your Host or IP provider like AOL, MSN or Verizon.
Deceptive Spam can be very dangerous as the whole main goal is to get personal information from you … (3 comments)
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tips: FHA Quick Savings Tip Regarding Increased MIP Change - 07/31/08 11:19 PM
Risk Based Mortgage Insurance Premiums
July 14 2008 FHA implemented a new system for the Mortgage Insurance Premiums.
FHA Premiums has been normally 1.5% and have now increased up to 2.25% based on credit worthiness.
Money Saving Tip
There is a way to avoid paying the max tier of 2.25%.
Participating in a Pre-Purchase Counseling by a HUD approved counseling agency can cap your max tier at 2.0% for First Time Home Buyers.
You can find a list of approved counselors on HUD's main website Hud Approved Counseling
Key-Points to Counseling
Counseling must be completed before … (2 comments)
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tips: Tax Incentive For First Time Home Buyers - 07/28/08 10:17 PM
Great News - Great News - Great News
A new incentive passed by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 allows First Time Home Buyers to receive a $7,500 Tax Credit from the purchase of their new home.
From June 1st 2008 - June 1st 2009 will be in effect. ( Can be retroactive back to April 2008 ) Income restrictions is $75k income for Singles and $150k income for married couples. This is a Tax Credit and not a Tax deduction which means mostly will add to your refund money instead of just another write off. For … (6 comments)
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tips: Being Consistent - 07/23/08 08:17 PM
Consistency and practicing your core fundamentals is a strong trait to have.
Many times especially in this business professionals tend to become cumbersome in following through a complete transaction process and tend to find shortcuts or alternatives in doing their job.
I have had recently came across golden opportunities through the misfortunes of my competition in their costly mistakes.
One client was 90% done with the purchase process with another lender and during the closing conditions of the loan (homework that needs to be done before closing a loan)
The client was asked to provide bank statements showing … (6 comments)
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tips: 5 Tips in Virginia Beach To Save Money And Enjoy Summer - 07/14/08 06:19 PM
Lets face it, we all can save a little bit more money nowadays with the increase in economy rises but that doesn't mean it will buzzkill our summer.
Here locally in Virginia Beach is just 5 simple tips to save some money and still have fun.
1.) Local Gym - If all the fancy Gyms and work out centers are too much try looking into your local Recreation Center.
There is a local City built Recreation center in almost every neighborhood and county. I currently use the Princess Anne Rec Center and I only paid $35 for the … (7 comments)
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tips: Multi-Task Social Networks, Im's & E-mail Accounts With Digsby - 06/16/08 10:38 AM
With Social Networking on the Rise and plenty of new sites out there to get yourself more exposure and more in the mix with all the online Buzz, it seem that it's harder to keep up with all your Social Networks than joining one.
Combination Clients
I recently began my crusade by joining as many Social Networks and Social Media out there. The problem is I rarely have time to jump from site to site to check update, to do updates and basically maintain the networks.
The main contenders are Instant Message Clients like Yahoo … (36 comments)
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tips: Returning Phone Calls Spells Success - 06/07/08 11:50 AM
I just had an interesting week of coming across misfortunes of clients who had explained to me that the effort in their Mortgage Broker / Loan Officer getting back in touch with them or even to touch base was unbelievable.
I know we are not at a time where business is too much to handle or that we portray ourselves as the part time experts where we only get back to clients at our convenience.
I do understand that its nearly impossible to be available to recieve every phone call and will inevitably reach your voice mail at some … (9 comments)
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tips: 411 Free from Google - 06/03/08 07:41 PM
The Power of Google
Seems like Google is everywhere nowadays and I recently had a chance to try out another FREE service they provide. The service is called Goog-411 and is meant to provide a free alternative to 411 services.
411 Madness
We all hate paying the 411 Service Charge Fees normally associated with our mobile carriers because we usually need 411 information on the road and on the go.
The fees can rack up as high as $2 per connection and possibly another $1 to connect to a number.
Another aspect of popular 411 calls is the heavily advertisements … (16 comments)
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tips: FHA Tip on Seasoning Issues - Don't Delay Closings - 05/28/08 08:16 PM
With the increase in FHA production in the last few months, there has been a lot of confusion on seasoning issues.
With the market being a great investment for investors wishing to buy and sell houses, theres a major factor that gets overlooked many times.
Please arm yourself with knowledge so you won't delay a closing or lose out on a lot of money.
Financing through a FHA deal the seller must own the property (be the owner of record) for at least 90 days before he can sell the property. (He can go to contract on day 91 … (35 comments)
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tips: Buyers Don't Fold your Cards, Use Your Ace Up Your Sleeve - 05/03/08 12:12 AM
The Pre-Flop
I work with a couple Real Estate Investors in the Virginia Beach Area and they mainly invest in Short Sales and Foreclosures to sell back to potential buyers.
I had a client pre-qualified up for a $200,000 FHA Mortgage and the client was interested in buying a short sale, I called up my Investor to ask for a few listings in that price range and showed my client the listings.
The Flop
My client was excited to see a house he wanted and worked with his Realtor to put in an offer. He offered my investor $180,000 for the listed price at $185,000. … (10 comments)
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