I recently was notified by my office that Mortgage Originators like myself will need to be licensed. Applications will be taken beginning in November of this year. This includes Loan Officers in Banks as well as Mortgage Consultants working under a Mortgage Broker.

You will need to fill out Form MU4,which is the application for a "Uniform Individual Mortgage License". There is a questionnaire to fill out, as well as a requirement for continuing education. There is also Fingerprinting and background checks involved.

  This will help the banking Industry keep track of who is doing the bad loans and make it easier to prosecute flagrant offenders. It's about time we got rid of the bad apples in the bunch!

    Well it looks like I've been tagged for a Meme by Karen Rice, my favorite Pike County Real Estate Agent. I don't know that I can write about myself as eloquently as she did, but I will try!

1.      Who is your favorite musical artist?  It is so hard to limit this question to one person. I love all kinds of music. It depends on what kind of mood I am in. I think Neil Young would top my list along with Bob Dylan, John Prine and Jewel.  I Have satellite radio in my car that lets me listen to music from Sinatra to Fergie.

2.      Who is your favorite artist?  I like Andrew Wyeth (because he is a Pennsylvanian) but I also love Norman Rockwell and the stories he tells in his prints.

3.      Who is your favorite blogger?  Just one again?? I would say Sarah Cooper, Jennifer Allen and Jessica Horton would be among my favorites to read.

4.      What did you want to be when you grew up?  I always wanted to be a Photographer. A Photographer for National Geographic to be exact. I even went to school and got my associates degree in Photography. (Now I can't even figure out how to add photos to this blog!)

5.      If you could meet anyone (alive or dead) who would it be and what is the most interesting thing about them?  Benjamin Franklin. He was such an idea man. He had an inquisitive mind. It would be pretty cool to pick his brain and see what made him tick.

6.      What is the most interesting piece of trivia you know?  I am full of useless trivia! I am a big jeopardy fan and love crossword puzzles as well. I don't know how interesting it is, but if you have the hiccups, eat a teaspoon full of peanut butter and the stop instantly.

7.      If you could live in any point in history what would it be and why? I would say the 1800's. I love a simpler life. With all of the progress we have made, we took a few steps backwards in other ways.

8.      What is the most interesting job you have ever held? Paying or non -paying?  I come from a long line of Country Butchers and Market men, who took their meat, vegetables, butter and eggs into the city to sell. With business as slow as it has been, it may be me who is cutting up that chicken for you at the Farmers Market!

    There you have it Karen! Thanks for tagging me. It forced me to write! Now who needs to be tagged? How about......

          Christina Clark

         Erica Ramus

  Have you ever looked back and said " I should have..." (Insert your own ending) I seem to do that all the time. I think we all do it to a certain extent. I should have bought that stock or I should have bought that house. We all look back and wish we would have done things differently. There is always a feeling of regret when we make a bad decision.

  What life lessons can we learn from the Monday morning quarterback? We should all try to take what we learned and use it to make better decisions in the future. Hopefully, we will make better decisions in the future. As time goes on, we become wiser, and perhaps we will have less bad decisions to look back on.

 Just some Monday morning ramblings of an Older (hopefully wiser) Man. Have a wonderful week everyone!

  I just noticed that I haven't written a post in months! I have been here at Active Rain since there were less than a thousand members, and now there are over 77,000! I still check in faithfully to read a ton of posts, but I really haven't had much t o say. I always said I was a numbers guy, not a words guy.

 It got me to thinking about why I haven't felt like writing. I am a very upbeat, positive and optimistic person. With the market the way it is, can really bring you down. I realized that if I couldn't say anything positive, I wouldn't write anything at all. I did however find something positive. The people here at Active Rain. When I feel a little bit defeated, I can come here and read some upbeat and positive posts.

  I just wanted to take this time to thank all of the people on my Blogroll. It keeps expanding, and I know there are more of you out there that I haven't found yet. With all of you great inspirational and informational writers out there for me to read, WHO HAS TIME TO WRITE?

   As many of you have noticed, the Real Estate industry is in a slowdown. I saw figures last night that indicate that the price of houses dropped 4.5% last quarter. Any time that prices drop like that cannot be a good thing. What is the cause of the decline? In my opinion, it is media that has created this whole 'crisis'. I use the word crisis loosely.

   For the past few years we have experienced tremendous growth in the market. Homes were appreciating at a very rapid pace. Values were increasing at 12% a year or more! This was unheard of years ago. We all knew that someday, there would have to be some kind of correction or people would no longer be able to afford homes. Unfortunately, home prices rose much quicker than peoples salaries.

  The reason I blame the media for the panic is their one sided view of Real Estate. They keep saying prices are dropping and the people who were going to buy are now waiting until the bottom drops out. Everyone wants a bargain. My question is, if you are investing in a house that you will make your home for the next few years, are you really worried about paying too much for a home you can afford but are stopped because you want a better price? 

 Nobody has seemed to noticed, but mortgage rates have dropped significantly in the past few months. That $10,000. you are trying to save on price may actually be saved by buying now! That's right, buying now!

  For example:

    If you purchase a home today at $250,000. at 6% you would pay less for your home over 30 years than if you would buy a home for $225,000. next year at 7%. About $25,000. in savings! The home you buy THIS year just may be less expensive than a home you buy NEXT year.

   Keep this in mind when you hear from the media that the sky is falling. Everything has a different perspective.

  As some of you may know, I love the movie "It's a wonderful life". I watch it every year around Christmas time. Usually several times. What intrigues me so much about this movie is how they show what life would be like without someone. I think it is important that we all are conscious about how our actions affect everyone around us. Even the simple things can turn out to be major things down the road.

  " The Butterfly Effect" is another movie with the same concept. Something so innocent can turn future events into different circumstances. We all get angry when our hurried lives are invaded by inconveniences, but who here was late for an appointment only to find out there was a fatal car crash where you were going and at about the same time and place you would have been? You weren't happy when you were inconvenienced by being late, but the end result could have been worse.

  We all need to not let the little things in our lives turn into bad circumstances. Revel in each moment even when we miss that green light. We need to think about how what we say and do affects others. Sometimes in a positive and sometimes in a negative way.  

  This post wasn't meant to be a sermon, just a life lesson I have learned to appreciate. The way we interact with others can leave a lasting effect.

  Working with a Mortgage Broker has it's advantages. I have a customer who came to me for a mortgage. He was concerned that the interest rate was higher than he expected. I find that most customers remember interest rates when they were at their low point. Now they are over a percent higher. Right away they want to shop around for a better rate. I may be giving my age away here but I remember taking my 14% mortgage and refinancing it for 9.75% and I was happy!

  My customer came back to me to see how I compared to another lender. I gave him my Good Faith Estimate to look over. This always makes me nervous because I have seen other lenders estimates and they always seem to conveniently leave out some fees. My customer called me back and said the other guy had a little higher interest rate, but his fees were $4,000. less! How could this be! I am VERY accurate when making out a Good Faith Estimate.

  After questioning him on the "other guys" fees, I learned that the difference was in the tax escrows. I had shown him escrowing about $4,000. for his taxes,as did the "other guy", but he had an agregate adjustment of $4,000.! Now I don't know how he came up with that, but my customer thought he was saving money going to the "other guy".

  Well my customer questioned him on it and he couldn't give him a straight answer. Needless to say, my customer came back to me because I was honest with him. Sometimes it's hard to keep your customers happy, but it pays to be honest!

  Summertime is full of activities for families. There is swimming, camping,going to the beach, picnics.... the list goes on and on. One of my favorite summertime activities with the family is to go to a County Fair.

  Next week is the start of the Schuylkill County Fair. You can find more information at www.schuylkillfair.com. It's an old fashioned fair complete with rides, music food and livestock. Yes I said Livestock. There are competitions for who has the best cow, pig and goat in the county. There is even a livestock auction if you are inclined to buy a prize farm animal.

  Sometimes it's nice to forget about the fast city pace that some of us are accustomed to, and get a taste for the country. If you can, visit an old fashioned County fair in your area. You will be glad you did!

    One of the pieces of advice my Broker gave me years ago was to manage your customers expectations. What he meant by this is to keep them informed so they know what to expect. If you think there is going to be a problem with an appraisal,income, or assets, tell your customer there may be a problem.

 There is nothing worse than a Loan Officer, or any salesman for that matter, who strings along a customer hoping his deal will go through. When talking to a customer, I give them a Good Faith Estimate of the costs involved in buying a home. I explain each line to the customer and how that can vary. Most of the time you can only give them a close estimate of costs. Many things can pop up unexpectedly if you don't keep your customer filled in.

  A prequalification for a certain loan amount never makes the same payment from home to home. For example:

   You are buying a home for $250,000. You are putting 20% down. Your loan amount is $200,000.You have 3 homes in mind. Will the money you need at the table be the same? Will your payment be the same? The answer is no. Taxes will be different, homeowners insurance will be different. One may have a homeowners association fee the other may not. It depends on what day of the month you settle, what lender you get your loan through, along with other variables.

  I think it works best if you are up front with your customers and let them know how it all works. It helps me to "manage my customers expectations"

  How do YOU manage YOUR customers expectations?

   I have been originating loans for over 6 years now. I had some sales backround, but not a sales job that was 100% commission. If I didn't sell, I didn't eat so to speak. One of the first thing my broker taught me was to return phone calls. Every call, as quickly as possible. In this business, in some cases, if you aren't there, the customer will move on to number 2.

  Through the years I have made it a practice to return all calls, even the ones I dread making. It shows my colleagues and customers that their needs are important to me. In this day and age of cell phones there is no excuse to NOT return calls.

  When I deal with someone who doesn't return MY phone calls I get irritated and frustrated. Isn't my call important to them? How do you feel if someone doesn't return YOUR phone calls? Do you want to move on to number 2?