5:45 a.m. and three of us had a tee time at the Santa Rita Golf Course in Vail, AZ. We played nine before starting the workday. I thought I was doing pretty well until we reached the fifth tee.
We were greeted by a sight I'd never seen. Donte' Ormsby (who lives on the course) told us that these vultures roost in this huge tree every night. That's Donte' on the right. (He's the man who created my website mikeintucson.com)
The vultures were catching the day's first rays, stretching and talking amongst themselves, when Kevin Wood (left) stepped up to do the honors. Kevin's a REALTOR with Realty Execs in Tucson.
"Ready?" he said. He saw me with the camera pointed upwards, and expected that the birds would take flight when he rocketed the golf ball down the fairway. He was right. The birds didn't hang around.
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I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
I took a little heat last week about a post that complained about the HVCC appraisal process. "Hey," said the email, "you didn't answer my comment."
Here's the reason for that: (It took a little time for it to percolate in the old brain.)
I'm a newbie. I've only been in the lending business since 2003.My relative inexperience is one reason that I'm so active on Active Rain. I learn from colleagues who have been at this for decades, and I appreciate them for their knowledge and willingness to share it with people like you and me.
Prior to April, 2003, I was National Sales Manager for OPEX Corporation, a Moorestown (NJ) company that designs, manufactures, sells and services high speed automation for the payment processing industry (banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, mortgage companies) and for the United States Postal Service.
The product? Think $400,000 letter openers the size of your office that suck in envelopes and spit out data files, image files & cancelled checks at the rate of three envelopes per second. With one operator. Chase Bank has seven of these machines, last I knew, at a processing site in Phoenix. They run seven days a week, 24 hours per day, so long as the mail keeps coming.
If I'm not blogging to impress potential clients with my level of expertise, why would I spend an average of two hours a day on Active Rain and my outside blogs?
I do it for the RELATIONSHIPS.
Relationships are the key to a successful business. People expect competence, and if they don't find it, they won't ever refer business. But competence isn't what attracts people to do business with us.
It took me a long time in sales to learn that truth.
When I found Active Rain in 2007, I knew I had found gold. It was the Active Rain Real Estate Network that allowed me to reach out to the world with my business in a way that made me comfortable, and at a price I could afford: FREE!
People refer business because they have come to know, like and trust us. My blog on Active Rain is designed to let you:
...know who I am. If you're one of my regular readers, you have a sense of my character from what I say, and in particular, how I respond to criticism in a public forum.
...like what they see. People find us on the internet by accident. They click a link, and there we are, on their computer screen in their office, at Starbucks, or in their home. Photos on my posts are designed to arrest your attention. (I spend another hour a day taking photos of anything and everything. I catalog them on my computer and use them to engage my accidental viewers.)
...come to trust me. I can't tell you how many times my phone has rung, and a total stranger on the other end says something like this: "I've read your articles on the internet, and you seem like someone I can trust."
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I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
Donte' Ormsby and I played 18 holes of golf yesterday at the Santa Rita Golf Course south of Tucson, AZ. We had intended to play only nine holes, but you know how that goes.
These two young hawks were roosting in a pine tree on the 18th hole. I have a few birding books, but try as I might, I haven't been able to identify them.
I got a view of the back of the hawk when one flew into a sycamore tree. The tail is barred, and it's underside has the same creamy yellow that you see on the breast.
Active Rain has become my favorite resource for stuff I can't figure out. Can one of you identify them?
EDIT: Here's an email from one of our local Audubon Society gurus, Darlene Smyth, with the answer. Darlene has birded extensively in North, Central and South America.
Hi Mike,
What wonderful photos! However, it is no wonder you all were having a hard time deciding upon an identification for theseRed-tailed Hawks. There are 13 accepted races for this species and there are several color morphs (light, intermediate, and dark) for many of the races. One region of North America can have several resident (breeding) races and, as in the case of SE AZ, several more winter here. The various races of this bird will also interbreed so one can have the characteristics of two races in one single bird. This is always a very difficult species to pin down as to race and very few books even begin to show all the variations of Red-tailed Hawks.
These birds would be of the light morph "Western" race. Young birds have light colored irises, a light colored cere, and have not yet molted into a rufous red tail. General characteristics that make this a Red-tailed Hawk: "Belly" band of dark streaks (not all races have this), large size, from the rear, the markings on the "shoulders" (scapulars) of the bird form a lighter colored V when viewed from the rear. (Diagnostic for this species in flight is the dark leading edge of the wing seen from below). Young birds have longer tails than adults, have grayish-brown tails barred with black, and have pale irises. Pages upon pages have been written to describe this species, the various races, the various color morphs, and the juvenile traits of the various races. A great book for western raptors is: Raptors of Western North America by Brian K. Wheeler 2003...Princeton press).
I would like to invite all of you to come along on Tucson Audubon Society field trips. We can not promise great hawks on each trip, but we usually manage to find interesting birds. http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/fieldtrips/index.htm
Cheers,
Darlene
EDIT 2: Here are a couple of other shots of the juvenile hawks. The box above the bird is the nest.
___________________
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
Photos copyright Mike in Tucson, (except photo of Darlene Smyth is courtesy of the Tucson Audubon Society.)
The cactus doesn't attract one bit of attention... until it blooms.Google "night blooming cereus," and you'll find a community of ardent admirers of the plant, some utterly magnificent photographs, and reams and reams of print.
We're fortunate to see them in the wild here in Tucson. This one bloomed along a riding trail in Catalina State Park, just north of Tucson, AZ, in the shadow of Pusch Ridge.
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I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
June 10th, 2009 marked the highest yield for the 10 Year Treasury bond is the past eight months. That yield was 3.9%. What that means for the would-be homeowner is rising interest rates for a 30 year mortgage. The average 30 year mortgage rate for the week ending June 18th was 5.625%. That's wonderful from a historic perspective, but not so great for buyers who could have had an interest rate as low as 4.5% only two weeks earlier.
Buyers are confused as go whether rates will come down again, and have decided to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. That's not surprising, considering that the bond market is equally confused. Mortgage applications are at a seven month low.
It won't be long, in my humble opinion, before mortgage rates at 6% will be considered attractive, and we'll be pining for the days of 5.625%.
The reason: Consumer Price Inflation. Central bankers around the world are grappling with trying to reverse the stimulus they created just months ago.
Reverse it? Isn't the Federal Reserve going to give us more stimulus? The answer is that they cannot. Don't look for a $15,000 gift from the government (your neighbors, actually) for first time homebuyers. There was talk of monetizing the $8,000 first time stimulus for homebuyers so it could be used as the downpayment. It hasn't happened. It may not happen.
Here's the question facing REALTORS and their buyers: Is inaction--doing nothing--the prudent course right now? Or would you rather buy a home and secure your future?
___________________
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
She turned 10 three days ago. This morning my grand daughter and I drove to the Pusch Ridge Stables in Catalina State Park for her first ride.
The drive took 45 minutes, and on the way, she asked to see my Blackberry. The next ten minutes were a monologue to no one in particular, emanating from the little one in the back seat.
"Cool! You have a web browser!" "I wonder if I can get to my email on Verizon.net?" "Whoa! That's fast." "Let's see what other applications you have on this thing..." "A bunch." "Grandpa, did you know you can watch TV on this?" (I didn't.) "My daddy just got one of these, and I'll bet he doesn't know it can do this..." "You have your own schedule on this! Let's see if I can put everything we're going to do today into your schedule." "May I?" Sure.
Ten minutes later, she had scheduled the horse ride at 7:00 a.m., breakfast with friends and Grandma at 9:00, the International Wildlife Museum for 11:00, going to the pool at 3:00 and a night visit to the Desert Museum for 6:00 p.m.
I would have been president of the universe at age 60 if I had half the brain she has when I was her age. LOL
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I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
The mountains that seems to be floating in the backround are the Santa Rita Mountains, part of the Coronado National Forest. The Santa Ritas form the Tucson valley's southern boundary. You're looking southeast with me from my vantage point along the David Yetman trail in the Tucson mountains.
In the photo above, the cities of Tucson and South Tucson lie to your left. You wouldn't be able to see either city, however, or hear the sound of cars and trucks on Interstate 10, because the Tucson Mountains intervene (photo on right.)
Nestled in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains are the communities of Tucson Estates II (foreground above) and Tucson Mountain Sanctuary (left above.)
44,000 acres of green desert surround TE2 and Tucson Mountain Sanctuary, with scores of miles of hiking and mountain biking trails. Stands of giant saguaro cacti put you in mind of the old western movies with John Wayne. Actually, any movie with both John Wayne and saguaros was shot in part just over that mountain (photo with sign) at the Old Tucson Studios.
Interested? Homes in the two communities range in price from the mid $100,000s to $400,000 or so.
Ten minutes away, and still on the west side of the Tucson Mountains, is the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, one of the ten best zoos in the world. The emphasis is on natural habitat. The mountain lion on the right is one of their most well known "critters."
During the summer, when daytime temperatures climb over 100 degrees, the Desert Museum is open at night on Saturdays. With two excellent restaurants, it makes for an enchanted evening!
___________________
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
This steel coyote sings from his perch on a fencepost along open range west of Tucson, Arizona. Whimsical art such as this is one of the joys of living in Tucson. You'll see artwork in the most unlikely places.
Stare at the coyote for too long, and the ears and nose seem to trade places. One moment, he's howling at the sunset with his nose up. The next, he's got his head down, mouth closed, and he's staring right at you.
___________________
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender. Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage; (520) 349-9090
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
5:45 a.m. and three of us had a tee time at the Santa Rita Golf Course in Vail, AZ. We played nine before starting the workday. I thought I was doing pretty well until we reached the fifth tee.
"Ready?" he said. He saw me with the camera pointed upwards, and expected that the birds would take flight when he rocketed the golf ball down the fairway. He was right. The birds didn't hang around.
I took a little heat last week about a post that complained about the HVCC appraisal process. "Hey," said the email, "you didn't answer my comment."
People refer business because they have come to 
Donte' Ormsby 
EDIT: Here's an email from one of our local Audubon Society gurus, Darlene Smyth, with the answer. Darlene has birded extensively in North, Central and South America.
June 10th, 2009 marked the highest yield for the 10 Year Treasury bond is the past eight months. That yield was 3.9%. What that means for the would-be homeowner is rising interest rates for a 30 year mortgage. The average 30 year mortgage rate for the week ending June 18th was 5.625%. That's wonderful from a historic perspective, but not so great for buyers who could have had an interest rate as low as 4.5% only two weeks earlier. 
In the photo above, the cities of Tucson and South Tucson lie to your left. You wouldn't be able to see either city, however, or hear the sound of cars and trucks on Interstate 10, because the Tucson Mountains intervene (photo on right.)
Nestled in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains are the communities of Tucson Estates II (foreground above) and Tucson Mountain Sanctuary (left above.)
;)
;)
