If You're a Parent and want to appreciate your kids more than you already do.... - 04/30/11 12:33 AM
Not sure how many of you have heard of this song, Cinderella. It's my girlfriend song that I share for only my 8 year old daugher, Claire and myself. It's a daddy - daughter song, HERE'S THE MOST AMAZING PART He had adopted two "princesses" from China. This is just a conviction for he and his daughters. Stunning....really. He lost his daughter two years later, at the age of 5, from an accident in 2008. Tomorrow is my 8 Year Old Claire's first communion. Each of the 5 of us have a special song. Claire and I.....this is it. We've sang … (18 comments)

A Reverse Mortgage Success Story!!!! - 04/29/11 02:50 PM
"Good morning, Mary Beth. I'm Sarah Hurlbet, here to meet with you about a reverse mortgage." "Welcome, Sarah. Please come in!" Mary Beth said with a wary smile.
Mary Beth poured me a cup of coffee, and we sat down at the kitchen table. She told me her husband died of cancer a month ago. With his death, her Social Security income dropped 50 percent, while the medical bills from his illness piled up. "I do not want to sell this house, but I don't know what else to do," Mary Beth said. "I cannot afford the property taxes and the … (4 comments)

Sell Your House for a Loss and Make Some Serious Money!!!!! - 04/29/11 09:39 AM
Three Clients this week who want to buy. Each Has a House, that they'd have to bring money to close on if they decided to close; All 3 Clients have the money to bring and all have perfect credit. Three Different Decisions are the Same as the Story of the Three Little Bears.
ALL TRUE STORIES!!! 1)  THE FIRST BEAR WAS TOO BIG - is selling his house for a loss.  He doesn't want to buy a new home.  He's between relationships and has a lot of money to burn.  However, He is also mobile and between jobs.  He has made the … (17 comments)

Wordless Wednesdays - A Dad & The Testosterone Offspring! - 04/27/11 09:37 PM

Gotta tell you.....there's nothing better than being a dad with a bunch of sons.  I'm one of those guys who actually prayed for sons before I even got married.  Well.....good, bad....and ugly.....here is one half of my family in all it's glory.  Sunday night is father-kid, cooking night.  I forget who cooked with me this night.  It was cooking over an open wood fire night.  A lot of fun, but the head honcho let teh other two hone in for this picture!
… (8 comments)

My Tough Deal Took over 1 Year, But My O' My....What a Success Story - 04/27/11 03:28 PM
So I have this client who has a mortgage rate at only 4.25%.  The problem is that her loan is currently a 15 year amortization and her income has dropped substantially.  It's not forcing her and her family into foreclosure, but it is killing her.  She's locked in.  She's prevented from doing what she wants and needs to do.  She needs her cash flow to be released a bit.  In other words, she's working twice as hard to make a mortgage payment while having earned a lot less income as well. 
SHE NEEDS RELIEF! image provided by Dreamstime.  http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-padlock-02-rimagefree877523-resi2857788 
The other issues:
… (9 comments)

Dominating in REALLY tough Economy! - 04/27/11 09:30 AM
2011 sucks! BIG TIME AND IN A BIG WAY!!!! I'm signing on some great recruits, but am seeing some great kids getting out of the business.  They're either leaving their current lender and switching companies or just saying sayanora baby!  Our industry sucks......and so it goes on and on and on and on.
2011 ROCKS.....for me, my company and for all in our industry who want it to! Those who can
Master our changes; Weather the Storm, and Adhere to there vision  Will rise to the top.....Dodd Frank, Fair Lending or not!   Illinois data shows that there are very few licensed loan officers, … (13 comments)

Illinois Now Has Highest Gas Prices in the Nation - 04/26/11 12:05 AM
Yippee....one more reason for me to love Illinois.  I guess we now have the highest prices in the United States now.  I'm really curious as to what determines what region has what gas prices?  For me, it's simply amazing that we have the highest prices.  Our average gas price is
$4.27 PER GALLON! Politics aside, I do wonder why:
1)  We aren't mining for oil within our own United States;
2)  Why aren't we drilling offshore?
3)  Why is Illinois higher than 49 other states?
People being interviewed are saying that these prices are amazed at how much that they consciously are … (13 comments)

Bout Time Active Rain - 04/25/11 10:40 PM
Geez, I've been trying to sign on most of the day and all I get is that stupid HTTP 404 error. Then, later I got server issues were being worked on!  You put a kink on my Monday morning routine.  If I'm a creature of habit, and I am, you screwed me up.  So here I sit on Monday night.  I'm thrilled to be up and running.  Irrespectively, I have a lot of work to do, but I'm just glad to be back in the saddle! 
Helloooooooooooo Monday! … (12 comments)

Speechless Sundays - - 04/24/11 12:57 AM
I love this shot.  I just had this taken right before Tessa went to bed.  She loves Otto and Otto loves Tessa.  He's a 140 pound Bernese Mountain Dog who loves being manhandled by 35 pound 3 year old.  Tessa just loves hanging with Otto.  In fact, I think she loves Otto more than all the rest of the family combined.  That says a lot.
Have a Blessed and Holy Easter! … (10 comments)

Silent Saturday! Can I have more than Just one Hot Chick in my life? - 04/23/11 12:03 PM

OK....so it's not often that I will go along with all that estrogen.  However, there is so much estrogen going in this picture and all Three are looking in unison that I'd be remiss to not post this as a Saturday Favorite.  My wife probably isn't enthralled all of the time for me having 3 boys and a male dog.  I guess their beauty sure beats our brawn.  Plus....all 3 know how to work it!!!
… (11 comments)

April's Showers are going to bring a Florist Shop - 04/23/11 10:51 AM
April's showers bring May flowers.  If that the case, I'll have a florist shop.  For two weeks, we've had no, and I mean, no sun whatsoever.  Gross!  I am not one who quibbles about the weather.  I like inclement weather, but this is non-ceasing.  With the amount of rain we've had recently, I keep looking for Noah....I keep looking for the animals coming out two by two.  At least, for Easter, it appears that there is a break in the action, but the weather resport indicates that we're going to be mired in this crap for another week or so....
It's … (4 comments)

Friday Night Tunes - Non-Fiction Inspirational Tune....AWESOME! - 04/22/11 11:58 PM
Radney is my favorite artist of the last 10 or so years. I love this song. Its 3 verses about 3 real people.....who are, in fact....EVERY DAY ANGELS, as the Title of the song implies. Short stuff on each true verse. 1) Lady helped build a jail in tuskeegee; 2) A story about his dad, yes Radney's dad, who took a woman into their home when Radney was growing up. The woman was being beaten by her husband.....great example of an everyday angel; 3) Most touching one is a woman who was going to meet her husband in a coffee shop … (1 comments)

Mother Teresa....I am Not, but I Like the Thought! - 04/22/11 11:47 AM
So I have 2 closings yesterday.  The borrower had bad credit and I had them hook with a very reputable credit repair company.  They called.  Believe it or not they actually did the things that the credit repair company told them to do.  Within the pre-determined set time, the client got their credit scores up high enough to qualify for an conventional mortgage with a 620 FICO.  My client puts the offer in and it gets accepted for a conventional loan.  During the approval process his scores climb to above 640 and the client switches to FHA.
The buyer's contracted on … (15 comments)

Planet FASSA, Part II.....This is great for closing gifts for those with families! - 04/21/11 05:08 PM
Yesterday I wrote a post about a great idea for families, parents and realtors:
PLANET FASSA? A Great Gift for Your Clients, Part I
What does Planet Fassa contain?  Check out www.planetfassa.com.  But to give you an idea, the site is filled with activities (called Nuggets) for kids to do offline.  Hmmmmm, offline....what a novel approach in today's day and age.....offline.....I like that sound. 
There is an:
online incentive of getting points for the activities done offline.  
For example, kids can play Towel Ball (a fun game where you try to flick a ball into a basket using a towel) and they will … (3 comments)

Wordless Wednesdays - Man's Best Friend??? A Man Sized Dog! - 04/20/11 04:38 PM

The weather here has been so dreary for so long it seems that summer will never come.  For me, it's all about the dog days of spring.  With the dog days of spring in mind, here's a photo of my Bernese Mountain Dog Otto.  You can even see "otto" on his name tag if you zoom up close enough.  Otto doesn't care about the weather...he only cares about affection.  WOOF!  All 135 lbs of him!
… (13 comments)

PLANET FASSA? A Great Gift for Your Clients, Part I - 04/20/11 01:19 PM
OK in my perpetual quest to bring something new and great to my readers I discovered something really cool.  Planet Fassa.....

 
 
 
 
 
Planet Fassa is an interactive site geared and designed to bring families back together the way that most of us had it as kids.  While Planet Fassa is technology based, it has some critical and unwavering goals:
Motivating kids to get off of the computer and away from video games - remember the fun that we had as kids doing things outside with friends and family; Bringing families closer together; Talking with kids and kids talking … (5 comments)

With All This Pressure, Lenders Can't be Lazy....So Why are They? - 04/19/11 06:20 PM
I have known this lender friend of mine for years.  She and I have become very good friends over the course of time.  She has an engaging personality, is beautiful, ridiculously engaging and seems to be just on top of things when I had met her.  Over the years we have become closer and I look forward to meeting her when the opportunity allows.  I've always hoped that one day she'd join our company. 
Recently, she's had a number of setbacks because of the economy.  But, like most, I has had some setbacks.  Needless to say, I took an application from a new … (11 comments)

One of the Best Movies...EVER!!! TRULY!!!!! - 04/17/11 12:46 AM
BELIEVE IN ME! I love inspirational stories....especially when they're true stories. So my Mom and Dad (pretty hip for their early 70's, my children and my nieces and nephews all say that this true story is one of the best stories that they all have ever seen. We watched it tonight as a family at the nagging of my kids. The only reason I agreed is because my mom and dad agreed with our kids. Good enough for me to give it a shot. Worth the cost of buying off of Amaxon or E-bay or whatever....and keeping. Bottom line it was … (12 comments)

Saturday Fun - I totally Want to Do This! - 04/16/11 09:25 PM
YOU HAVE TO PLAY THIS FULL SCREEN....REALLY! I'm doing part II first. Part I will be on wordless Wednesdays. Here's something that I'd love to do. Just so cool for me. I've seen this quite a bit lately. You drop 3 times slower by wearing these wingsuits instead of just a parachute. I've done sky diving before, but this would be nothing short of insane. As an extreme sports enthusiast, the two sports that I haven't done......Hang Gliding and Wingsuiting. Man does this look cool......120 MPH without a motor. Can you say..."how cool is that?" … (10 comments)

How's 100 basis points of compensation sound to you? - 04/15/11 09:37 AM
I feel confident that we've found the sweet spot post Dodd.  We're paying as aggressively as any mortgage banker out there.  We're at 100 basis points just in the Chicagoland area alone.  That's huge compared with other mortgage companies.  Refreshing in the post Dodd-Frank world.
Here's a success story from one major recruit that I sent to our corporate offices this past Monday:
 "Larry, you can use this for your recruiting.  First, I wish that I had met you guys a few years ago before I came to my company.  I will say that had I only been doing forward mortgages, the … (1 comments)

Wordless Wednesdays - Dad's Face Says it All - 04/13/11 10:52 PM
s
I'm not really sure who is more fake here me or Grant?  Grant doesn't want to take the picture because he wants to be playing, not posing with dad.  Dad, however, is lying with this smile.  Sure, I love my dude, but let's be really....A full day of events, finishing and ending with Chuck - E - Cheese!  Yeah baby!  I'd rather have my tonsils out!  In all seriousness, I love my bud.  I don't mind the 1 or 2 times per year Chuck - E - Cheese.  Grant's pleased and I'm good for a while.....
… (21 comments)

Gilt Groupe - Discount Shopping for the Really Rich - 04/12/11 04:37 PM
OK....so this past weekend, I see this special feature on Nightline or 20/20 or some late night TV rag, but this totally grabbed my eye.  It's a site called GILT GROUPE.  Check out www.giltgroupe.com.  What is it all about? 
It's some insanely rich brand (that I've never heard of) selling some of their wares at incredible discounts.  On TV they had some women's shoes that were $1,000 going for more than 60% off.  They have great buys for men, women and kids.  Also, they sell from top retailers from Beverly Hills, Nieman Marcus, etc.  Maybe you'd find a great closing give for that high end closing, … (4 comments)

Why Do You Blog? REALLY! - 04/11/11 10:39 AM
OK....in my quest to build my business, I've really begun to rely on SEO, and specifically, Active Rain.  I just got my 86th referral since joining the Rain.  Over the weekend, I was reminiscining on why I got into the Rain at all.  My buddy, Randy Keberlein, said "I can't explain what Active Rain really does, but you gotta do it, you just have to."  I took the plunge and for 6 months didn't receive a single inquiry.  Six months later I got my first referral and today I sit here glowing in the bask of my 86th.  Life is good … (41 comments)

Speechless Sundays - May the Force Be With You! - 04/10/11 11:42 AM

OK....here's my dude.  Grant.  He's into Lego Star Wars and just Star Wars in general.  So here he is in all of his glory loving life.  He's captain positive.  That's amazing considering that he's the 4th out of 5.  Maybe he doesn't know any better!  Anyway, not much action here today, but hey.....here's the dude!  Happy Sunday!
… (14 comments)

1 Week after Dodd-Frank, I'm...... - 04/09/11 04:40 PM
Today....I've worked, worked and worked.  I wanted to make sure that I got my work done as the temperature was to climb from a balmy 41 to today's temp of somewhere in the 70s with the 80s hitting us tomorrow. 
We did all of our outside work this morning; We did all of our homework this morning; I did office work early this afternoon, and tonight, I'll probably relax and take it easy a bit.... Just so amazing.  Winter has left and Summer seems to have arrived a bit early.  I hope not too early as I can't stand the hot … (7 comments)

Illinois 7th Highest Real Estate Taxes in the Nation - 04/08/11 10:41 AM
I do like where I live.  In fact, aside from local politics, I love where we live.  Comcast came out today with the 10 highest states for real estate taxes.  In all truth, I was suprised that we are as low as we are.  I always thought we were in the top 3.  Well, fortunately, I was off, but not by much.  We're the 7th highest tax rate.  Does that mean that our taxes are increasing or decreasing?  Not really sure.  I'm curious as to the tax percentage compared against the value of home.  Here they compare it against the income.
… (5 comments)

Campton Hills is Amazing....REALLY! - 04/07/11 11:44 PM
I've been out here since 1972.  I've lived in a great township for most of my life, never living in a village or city.  I've always hated bureacracy.  Frankly, it's appalling that a big brother thinks that they're smarter than the citizens who have invested literally hundreds of thousands of their hard earned dollars into buying their dream homes.
It appears that Patsy Smith won.  Am I bitter?  You bet!  I'm not a sore loser, kudos to you and your "entourage" Patsy.  Again, I'm not a sore loser, but I am bitter.  Illinois judges have continually criticized and questioned her credibility.  And … (3 comments)

I STILL Want to Follow You...But Sometime I Need to 'Drop You - 04/07/11 10:38 AM
Hey Rain Makers....I wrote on this a while ago, but it's worth revisiting.  For me, I'm always interested in finding out who're some of your favorite folks to follow on Active Rain?  Why?  I'm kind of a snob when it comes to following people.  I don't wnat to follow just anyone.  But I do like to follow a lot of folks.  But what gets me to follow a blogger on the on the
BLOG-0-METER!!!!!
In Illinois the Blog-o-meter was use seing how much time Rod Blagojavech had remaining as governor of Illinois.  Now that Rod is history the Blog-O-Meter for me, … (25 comments)

Wordless Wednesdays - 2 Out of Three Ain't Bad!!!! - 04/06/11 11:07 PM

This is great.  One of my favorites.  The pissy one is my 2nd oldest.  He gets moody when he doesn't eat every two hours.  God only knows what his issue of the moment was, but I can assure you that he has one of these moments daily.....In fact, he has more of these moments daily than the rest of them combined.  Needless to say, my wife and I are immune to them.  So are his siblings.  We couldn't resist the photo op. 
… (12 comments)

Rock REAL ESTATE FURTHER????....Qualified & Non-Qualified Residential Mortgages - 04/05/11 09:41 PM
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, The SEC (why the SEC?  Oh yeah...a mortgage is a security), the Federal Housing Agency (FHA) and HUD announced that the agencies will release a rule that addresses section 941 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Riddle me this Batman..... If You are a Mortgage Lender What Sort of Liability can Kill and industry, but still be required by consumers????  A Non Qualified Residential Mortgage
So....that begs two questions! 1)  Why Should I care? The reason we need to care is that the rates of Non-Qualified Residential Mortgages ARE … (14 comments)

Post HVCC! Where Have All the Good Appraisers Gone? - 04/04/11 11:13 AM
It's now the third time in the last month that I've commented on this topic.  I'm so frustrated with appraisers since HVCC has been implemented. 
THE WHOLE PREMISE OF HVCC IS TO KEEP UNDUE INFLUENCE AWAY FROM APPRAISERS I GET IT.... BUT IT'S GONE WAY TOO FAR! If the government ever did what they are there for, they would never have to create new laws.  All they ever needed to do was prosecute crooks in our business.  They didn't and our industry and economy subsequently collapsed.  As a result???  U bet....maybe as a direct and proximate cause, or maybe not, but … (23 comments)

Speechless Sundays - Best Friends Part II - 04/03/11 11:16 PM

I was really thrilled when I got the picture today.  Needless to say, my youngest, Tessa is not a thumb sucker and never has been.  In fact, none of our kids have been or were.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to catch that one innocent moment when big sister coddled little sister.  For big sister having three brothers, it's great for her to have someone to take care of like a little doll.  Little sister, I think loves it even more!
… (7 comments)

Campton Hills has 2 sets of Lemmings - 04/03/11 10:44 PM
The election is here.  For me, it's important that we have major change in Campton.  I've lived here for most of my life never wanting to live in some power controlled village, but here I am living with some sort of leadership that seems to be straight out of the Twighlight Zone.  Of course, I've put my house up for sale, but since Campton seems to have so many lemmings, I just don't have the desire to follow the others over the cliff.
Patsy recently wrote that our population is down 17%.  But as she wrote:
"This number represents a 17% … (2 comments)

Dodd-Frank : Judge Stays the Implementation of the Law....for Now! - 04/01/11 11:11 PM
As posted in the Washington Examiner.... http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/01/dodd-frank-financial-reform-law-unconstitutional-violation-separation-pow   
In the Washington Post, former White House counsel C. Boyden Gray recently argued that the sweeping Dodd-Frank financial "reform" law passed last summer is unconstitutional, since it gives the government virtually unchecked power to seize financial firms that supposedly might fail, and to legislate through regulation.  For example, under Dodd-Frank,
" The Treasury can petition federal district courts to seize not only banks that enjoy government support but any non-bank financial institution that the government thinks is in danger of default and could, in turn, pose a risk to U.S. financial stability. If … (32 comments)

Dodd-Frank Starts Today and April Fool's is On the Consumer - 04/01/11 09:37 AM
I can't believe the compensation changes are here.  This is going to cost the consumer....Big Time.  Mistakes, whether caused by the consumer or not are going to be eaten by the lender.  Guess who's gonna pay????  The consumer....Lenders will raise their rates to insure that they can't get hurt bad from the new law.  Ouch
I've had the privilege of talking to so many people who are concerned about this new law.  There may be a last minute injunction that stalls the bill, but unless something drastic happens, we all need to be prepared to deal with the Dodd-Frank Act as … (3 comments)

 
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Larry Bettag Illinois FHA Specialist

Saint Charles, IL

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Larry Bettag - Cherry Creek Mortgage

Address: 40W310 LaFox Road, Saint Charles, IL, 60175

Office Phone: (630) 524-9677

Cell Phone: (630) 417-7172

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 1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
(John 14:1-4, New King James Version) I review for BookSneeze

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