mortgage: Politics and Real Estate: It's Getting Downright Annoying! - 03/18/08 07:42 PM
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There I was, pumping gas at Costco, minding my own business. I looked up, and there he was. I caught him in the lens before he could make a clean getaway. This is the old west, after all.
I don't know if this guy has had a rough life, whether his wife … (27 comments)
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mortgage: Local Rag: Tucson Wildflowers Best in 30 Years! - 03/08/08 08:51 PM
The Arizona Daily Star headline sent my Darlin' and me down 86, west of Tucson, looking for the poppies, bluebells and other wildflowers that blanket stretches of our Arizona-Sonoran desert after the December rains. The morning was cloudy, but by lunchtime, the sun pushed the clouds south. It was beautiful, and we want … (26 comments)
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mortgage: Countrywide's Portfolio of Loans is the Ugly Duckling... - 03/03/08 08:52 PM
...with little hope of becoming a beautiful swan. While companies like AmNet (American Mortgage Network) were busy originating 100% loans in the form of 80/20s and Pick-a-Pays, it was Countrywide who was buying and servicing the loans.
That portfolio, a beautiful swan in 2005, has become the industry's biggest ugly duckling. Late payments on option … (24 comments)
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mortgage: Tucson Arizona Relocation Package - 02/29/08 02:45 PM
Please think of me as your preferred mortgage lender and Relocation Consultant. I'll work closely with you and your real estate agent or REALTOR. Not many people have the privelege of knowing a town like I know Tucson.
You see, in a previous life as National Sales Manager for an international manufacturing … (23 comments)
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mortgage: If You're Walking Through Hell, Don't Stop. - 02/24/08 04:46 AM
From a distance of only ten feet, entrance to the courtyard beyond seemed a formidable task. Impossible.A fools errand, this. The high sunwashed adobe wall and the great iron throw-bolt seemed to say "go away."
I almost did just that. No one, after all, was expecting me, and see? The gate is barred, padlocked. I nearly turned … (38 comments)
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mortgage: Inside NAR Political Contributions: A Major Shift From Right to Left? - 02/18/08 12:08 AM
The 3rd largest contributor to political campaigns (per http://www.opensecrets.org/) is the National Association of REALTORS®. Since the 1996 election cycle, NAR contributions to Democrat candidates have increased in every cycle. This cycle, it's exponential. For the first time in a long time, giving to Dems will surpass 50%.
Here are the numbers.
Granted, … (31 comments)
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mortgage: "Daddy, Make Him Stop!" Why Uncle Sam Isn't the Answer in a Free Market - 02/15/08 12:55 PM
Where is uncle Sam? Why isn't he watching this [short sales] and have control on it? Why allow the lending institution to do whatever they feel like giving crazy mortgages or short sales why is it up to them?
This question was posted by a young woman (a real estate agent) bemoaning the effect of short … (79 comments)
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mortgage: Yes I Can! Inspiration from Patrick Henry Hughes - 02/15/08 12:22 PM
I get discouraged from time to time. Don't you? A client's home underappraised last week, and the loan was denied. I let discouragement creep in. I didn't stop at the denial, however, and found a way to get it done. I was pretty proud of myself.
And then I met Patrick Henry Hughes and his … (7 comments)
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mortgage: 2500 Home Development in Tucson May Revert to Original Owners - 02/08/08 06:59 AM
Word has it that the development known as Saguaro Springs, a 2,500 home development in Marana, AZ (near Tucson) may have tanked, and will revert to the original sellers for the original sales price of $30,000,000., resulting in a loss of approximately $70,000,000 for a national developer who has invested that … (26 comments)
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mortgage: Mortgage Pro Week In Review--1/28/2008 Through 2/03/2008 - 02/04/08 06:00 PM
Useful. That's the highest compliment I can pay to a professional who gives me advice. When Jeff Belonger asked me to take the reins of the Mortage Pro Week in Review for this past week, that's what I went looking for--posts that are useful to the general public--those people we hope … (32 comments)
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mortgage: Late Night Rain: Who's Minding the Store? - 01/30/08 04:28 AM
2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 30, 2008: While 68,657 of you are asleep in your beds, 25 of us are cruising your blogs, looking for inspiration, encouragement, insight, and laughs. 12 are insane enough to have clicked the little button that lets others see when we're online. (For Newbies, it's under … (32 comments)
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mortgage: You're Not My Lead. You're Not My Contact. You're My Customer! - 01/23/08 06:34 AM
Kudos to Chris Drayer, Active Rain member from Shawnee, Kansas, who wrote a post about this video clip. AR's Mike Jaquish in Cary, North Carolina (I subscribe to Mike's blog) mentioned it in a post, and has been sending it to everyone he knows. That's how I found it.
There's a deep seated need in … (19 comments)
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mortgage: For My Newbie Friend, Kevin Wood, Listing Agent and Active Rain Member - 01/21/08 11:15 PM
This is for Kevin Wood, (Active Rain Newbie,) and Jeff Turner, two people who need to do business together. The listing in the Real Estate Show I've created below is Kevin's; I lifted his photos off MLS and created it for him, with his permission.
IMHO, Real Estate Shows is just fantastic. Active … (22 comments)
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mortgage: Broken Priority: When "Free and Clear" Isn't Good Enough for the Bank - 01/20/08 06:55 AM
The retired couple sitting in my office were incredulous. They had:
photos, architect drawn plans, and aloan denial letter from a local bank."We own the property free and clear," said the husband. "We bought it as is, and we also bought the rights to the plans."
He was a builder from out of state who knew … (32 comments)
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mortgage: Sign of the Times: Plead My Case for Fraud - 01/19/08 06:34 AM
High visibility, low cost per view. Intersections are a great place to advertise.
The usual fare is a cardboard box advertising a yard sale. This wasn't your usual sign. This one got my attention.
Target market: A good lawyer. Incentive to call? Up to half a million dollars if you win the case. … (35 comments)
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mortgage: Rent! You Can Always Buy Later for Less! - 01/14/08 10:19 AM
I'm going out on a limb here. I was just watching NBC's Today show, and the talking head was being interviewed about the wisdom of renting versus buying.
"Much better to rent right now than to buy," he said. "The price of housing is still going down. It will cost you … (39 comments)
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mortgage: Play BIG? I Can't. I'm Just an Ordinary Agent--Loan Officer--Title Officer... - 01/09/08 04:34 PM
If you don't have four minutes to stay here, click on another post. On the other hand, not having enough time might be what your clients sense when they interact with you. If so, take the time. This is worth it! I promise.
"I'm just an ordinary person. I don't have the talent … (34 comments)
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mortgage: "Rise in Pending Home Sales at Odds with Local Closings" - 01/08/08 07:25 PM
That was the headline in the business section of Tucson's Arizona Daily Star. A bar chart shows the MLS data. It supports the headline.
The National Association of Realtors sees pending sales as a leading indicator of housing market activity. Christie Smythe (not a REALTOR®) quotes an NAR spokesperson, Walter Molony, as saying that the "discrepancy … (15 comments)
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mortgage: Rotting Apples: The Psychology of Foreclosure on your Community - 12/31/07 09:11 PM
"Thank God that's not MY problem," is often one's reaction upon hearing that someone in the neighborhood has been foreclosed.
Please take this to heart: as a homeowner, it really IS your problem. Foreclosures are an equal opportunity occurance. They don't just happen in middle and lower middle class neighborhoods. Driving home … (17 comments)
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mortgage: Adam Waldman Has The Best Perspective for 2008 - 12/29/07 09:26 AM
So you had a bad day? That's what I read this morning when I checked in on Adam Waldmans blog. (Real all the way to the end. This has a good ending!)
You bet I had a bad day yesterday! My client, after months of looking, found the perfect home for herself, … (46 comments)
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mortgage: There's a Floor Under the Tucson Real Estate Market. How's By You? - 12/27/07 10:36 PM
Two UP arrows. Five DOWN arrows. That's the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service sales snapshot for the month of November, 2007.
Quick glance? "Boo! Hiss! See? I told you the sky was falling!" But that's not the real picture at all.
First: Look at the UP arrows.
The average sales price is … (15 comments)
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mortgage: Differing Google Strategies for Active Rain: Tucson's Top Three 'Rainers - 12/01/07 08:40 PM
I'm addicted to statistics in the pursuit of "What Works?"
For Active Rainers, "what works" is visibility to Google. It's what makes the phone ring. The top three Rainers in Tucson, AZ have achieved this visibility on Active Rain in very different ways.
Tens of thousands in the Active Rain ranks never get a … (106 comments)
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mortgage: Real Estate Correction: I Don't Want Help From My Government - 11/26/07 01:00 AM
Today's Active Rain front page Featured Posts included this title, by Lenn Harley: MASSIVE FORECLOSURES COMING? THE MARKET IS SPEAKING LOUD AND CLEAR. You might want to read it, and the commentary it's attracted, before continuing.
By the time I read Lenn's post, almost eighty people had commented. One comment, by my … (69 comments)
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mortgage: Mortgage Site Has Answers for Agents & Buyers! - 11/07/07 05:26 PM
As an Agent, you know your new buyer is going to grill you. Some questions you can answer; others you cannot, even if you want to, for legal reasons. If you're a buyer, I know that bugs you sometimes. You have questions like these:
What's happening with interest rates? I want to do my … (14 comments)
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mortgage: Inspired by Light - 11/06/07 10:15 PM
In a market where one house competes with ten thousand others for the attention of a single buyer, you--the listing agent--have a most powerful ally in presenting your house to the world.
Allow me to present that ally. Meet the setting sun. Its rich, deep yellow rays have a unique power … (48 comments)
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mortgage: Life Before Real Estate? You Bet! - 11/04/07 02:25 PM
All of us had a previous life. This was mine. What was yours?
I was a high end real estate developer on Long Beach Island, a barrier reef off the coast of New Jersey, six miles at sea. This oceanside condo complex, the Breakers, exceeded the height limitation for the town of … (26 comments)
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mortgage: Home Prices & Pending Sales in Tucson. Going Up! - 11/02/07 11:46 AM
We have more inventory, but new listings are drying up.
It's taking longer to sell, but Pending Contracts are up 32%.
These numbers, published in the Arizona Daily Post, are for the month of September, year over year, and they're tremendously encouraging!
The average sale price for an existing home is up 7.8% … (8 comments)
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mortgage: Late Night AR--The Few, The Awake! - 10/31/07 06:48 AM
Out of 55,526 members, 53 are currently logged in. It makes me wonder who the other 52 are, and why they can't sleep through the night like normal people.
We're not your normal Active Rainers.
That's Cheryl Johnson in the first position, top-left, with the big glasses. What you can't see from … (27 comments)
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mortgage: Jones Joins Lenderama, Is Immediately Bamboozled by Wordpress - 10/09/07 05:51 AM
When Yahoo rolled out it's customizable home page, I signed up, and went looking for MyYahoo content.
First on my list of added content was Todd Carpenter's Mortgage Blog - Industry insights from lenderama.
And may I toot my own horn? That's Mike in Tucson there on the page!
I owe a big Thank … (13 comments)
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mortgage: Me! Me! Me! The Heck With You--What's In It for Me? - 10/02/07 12:24 AM
Somebody smack this kid! Make him sit down. I can't see!
An unavoidable consequence of successful business marketing is a greater emphasis on me, myself and I--the three most selfish people on the planet.
I'm one of the first "boomers." I came around in 1948. My generation found its way into the history … (21 comments)
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mortgage: How Much Does It Take to Make You Happy? - 09/27/07 11:50 PM
David Oliver, in Deming, NM, captured the essence of optimism in the face of a storm in this photo. (You can save a high resolution version for your desktop by clicking here. Do it. You deserve a gift for subscribing to my blog.)
Does the market for Real Estate have you complaining … (32 comments)
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mortgage: Have We Bottomed Out in the Credit Crunch? - 09/26/07 08:17 AM
Is the worst behind us in the credit crunch? When my account exec from First Franklin stopped calling on me earlier this year, it seemed that the handwriting was on the wall for another mortgage lender.
Merrill Lynch bought the mortgage unit from National City a year ago to compete with … (8 comments)
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mortgage: For Better. For Worse. Never Static. - 09/04/07 02:41 AM
I didn't choose my darling. Oh, I bought the ring and posed the question. But even though she responded to my "marketing campaign" in the affirmative, it would be a mistake to think the relationship was my choice--that I decided, and it was so. She did the choosing.
As in love, so … (47 comments)
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mortgage: How Do They Do That? Posting the Mortgage Payment Correctly - 08/12/07 01:00 AM
Think about it. We're still paying our mortgages and credit cards with paper checks. Not you, maybe... You're paying online. But companies like Countrywide and Option One receive millions of payments per month in envelopes. Millions! And they almost always get it right! It works like this:
The post office delivers the … (3 comments)
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mortgage: Loan Officer Licensing in Arizona is Non-existent! EDIT: Until Now! - 08/08/07 01:04 PM
EDIT: A BILL REQUIRING LICENSING WAS PASSED THE FIRST WEEK IN JULY, 2008, AND THE GOVERNOR HAS SAID SHE'LL SIGN IT!
(Last Summer-2007) I've only been in the mortgage business for four years, all of them here in Tucson, AZ. I'd like to hear what people in Tucson, Arizona think about licensing for … (2 comments)
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mortgage: AZ Account Executive Has a Secret Legacy - 07/31/07 10:36 PM
Rick has a secret life. (If you're just browsing, or if you can't stand the suspense, scroll to the end of the post and leave a comment.)
In real life, Rick is my AE for ComUnity Bank. Rick's been in the business for a long time, and he knows just about … (7 comments)
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