tucson mortgage: Loonie Rules! Canadian Buying Power Up 6% for Tucson Home!
- 11/01/07 12:02 AM
Goooood morning, Canada! While you're having your cuppa tea this morning, consider this: the cost of owning your winter home in warm, sunny Tucson, Arizona went down by more than six percent yesterday. The Canadian Dollar is worth $1.06 US since our Federal Reserve dropped the Fed Funds rate yesterday. How long has it been since the loonie had this kind of buying power in the US? Never in your lifetime! You have to go back 130 years to find a south-of-the-border real estate shopping opportunity like this. That would be the year 1877. The main man in the Santa Cruz valley where Tucson is … (8 comments)
tucson mortgage: Countrywide Still Has Power to Move Markets
- 10/29/07 03:51 AM
Here's a short list to put a smile on your face. Stock markets worldwide rallied on news from Countrywide Financial that the worst is over for them in the subprime mortgage crisis. Search "Countrywide" on Bloomberg this morning, and the results will touch every corner of the globe. Among the markets that are up on the news: Asia Japan Australia South Korea Taiwan US futures Add to that the news that the the risk of buying corporate debt is down in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's Halloween pajama party, and this just might be a good week for those Real Estate … (22 comments)
tucson mortgage: Li'l Sarah Cooper and Roadkill
- 10/28/07 06:24 PM
This evening, when you say your prayers, say one for Sarah's car. It has a one in fifty-seven chance of wearing Odocoileus virginianus on the hood, a door or any of four fenders. That's pretty good odds! Not good for the deer or for Sarah--just good odds. I heard on the radio that West Virginia leads the nation in collisions between large mammals of and automobiles. I was thinking of retiring there. Now I'm glad I moved to Arizona. Not every collision results in roadkill. Take a look at that mule, for instance. The pickup truck fared worse than he did. But I got to thinking about … (35 comments)
tucson mortgage: Tarred With The Same Brush? Tarheel Predatory Lending Law Coming to You!
- 10/25/07 10:22 PM
Business Week's November 5th issue will have an article in the Finance section titled "These Tough Lending Laws Could Travel North Carolina's progressive protection laws for borrowers may become a nationwide model" Click the link to read the full article from Business Week. I wanted to see what the North Carolina community on Active Rain had to say on the subject. I searched AR Blogs every which way, and found only two articles: North Carolina Real Estate Agents: Tracy Santrock, an Active Rain heavy hitter closing in on 90,000 points, wrote an article on September 7th titled Lenders Beware -North Carolina … (9 comments)
tucson mortgage: 10 Year Bond Slumps; Rates Rise on Jobs Report
- 10/05/07 04:14 PM
Friday, 5 October '07--For the next couple of weeks, don't look for mortgage interest rates to move any lower. Today's surprise jobs report showed stronger than expected growth, sending stocks up and bond prices down. The ten year bond, bellwether to future mortgage interest rates, posted a yield of 4.64%, up 12 basis points. Expectations for a second rate cut by the Fed diminished. Stay tuned, though. October has been known to hammer the stock market, and if this happens, the price of bonds will soar, giving mortgage lenders and REALTORS a little boost for the upcoming holiday season. And that's … (10 comments)
tucson mortgage: Tagged For A Meme! Jungle Boy--Mike in Tucson
- 10/04/07 07:09 PM
I got Memed! Mike Mueller, a lender in California, notified me with a single word: "Sorry." He's a great lender. Go check him out. That smiling fellow on the left is not Mike Mueller. It's a Three Toed Sloth from the jungles of Suriname, South America. Top speed: .15 mph But I digress... If you are new to Active Rain, you'll find that Meme themes make you smile. Just hit the "Search" button up there, type in "meme," and be prepared to spend an hour learning about your AR neighbors. So: 5 things no one knows about Mike in Tucson... Meme … (34 comments)
tucson mortgage: Me! Me! Me! The Heck With You--What's In It for Me?
- 10/01/07 05:24 PM
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 books as the "Me Generation." "Generation Me" followed, born in the 70's, 80's and 90's. You can't tell me what to do! You're not the boss of me! You can't make me! Me. My. Mine! From our youngest years we're selfish. Selfishness used to be something parents … (21 comments)
tucson mortgage: Unintended Consequences: Hang On to That Sears Card You Got in College
- 10/01/07 02:15 AM
Bad things happen unnecessarily. This four ton boulder obeyed the law of gravity just a little sooner than the construction crew intended, as it was being hoisted by crane into the back yard of the home. A little better planning would have avoided a very negative consequence. It's the same with your credit score. As predictably as the law of gravity brought this rock to earth, your credit score will plunge if you cut the line that's holding it skyward. A major strand in that line is a little thing called credit history. Here's how it works, (and you need to teach this to your kids.) … (32 comments)
tucson mortgage: Does Confidence Matter? It's All Downhill From Here.
- 09/30/07 12:29 AM
Mothers will be horrified, no doubt. Mine would have been. There's not much difference between confidence and utter lunacy... except from the kid's perspective. Let's give him a name. Mikey! Confidence shows in his stance, the set of his shoulders and arms, and in the initial direction of the skateboard. If your palms get sweaty just looking at this, it's because you're focused on the potential danger--something you've learned to avoid through long practice. Mikey's not thinking about any of that. You may see a disaster waiting to happen. Mikey sees success in his mind's eye, and he's excited about it. … (24 comments)
tucson mortgage: Because of Active Rain... I'm Focused!
- 09/14/07 07:27 PM
Talk about an "eagle eye!"This... is Focus! That photo, by a gifted Canadian, is the wallpaper on my office computer, courtesy of Caedes.net It reminds me time and again to do one thing at a time, to do it well, and to get it done before starting something else. Because of Active Rain, I'm focused. Attention Deficit Disorder hadn't been invented when I was a child, but I'm afflicted. My parents raised me to develop diverse interests. If my lending business dips into a trough, it's because something else captured my attention, and my focus was diverted. Blogging on Active Rain, and even more than that--reading … (22 comments)
tucson mortgage: You Might Want to Consider Moving to Tucson, Arizona!
- 09/13/07 05:58 PM
An intrinsic value of holding title to Real Estate is that one owns the sky above it. Spectacular cloud formations move into the Southwest as the June sun heats the desert floor. I like to think that the towering clouds drive before them flocks of the Lesser Hardy Snowbirds. They seem to leave en masse. One day they're there, chattering like magpies about cabins, and lakes to the north. The next, they're gone! This seasonal migration provides a necessary period of tranquillity for Tucsonans. True desert denizens, we settle in to enjoy one of the true delights of desert living--the summer monsoons. I'm no economist, but … (21 comments)
tucson mortgage: HONESTY...a Parable
- 09/12/07 08:43 PM
It's called Honesty, and it will grow in your garden. Google "honesty" and a plant pops to the top of the charts! Or the front of the page. Or something like that. The plant comes in two varities: an annual version, and the perennial version. The annual version will grace your garden for a season, so long as it is warmed by the sun and caressed by the rain. When winter comes, annual Honesty shrivels and dies. The perennial version of Honesty also graces your garden during the good times of sun and rain. Unlike its abbreviated sister, however, it is firmly … (22 comments)
tucson mortgage: Post More Blogs About Real Estate! Active Rain is on Page 3!
- 09/06/07 03:31 PM
Google "Real Estate Blogs." I did, after reading TLW...ROAR's post yesterday. Active Rain (my favorite forum) is listed all the way back on page 3. If I had a bigger screen, maybe it would have been at the bottom of page 2. Maybe not. The point is, as an entity, Active Rain's web presence isn't where it needs to be. It was listed at number 27 as of 4:30 this morning. Inman is number 5. So what, you ask? With nearly 47,000 members--many of you the best and brightest in our industry--we can change that with a little focus on two … (32 comments)
tucson mortgage: She was afraid... to go out... in the water...
- 09/03/07 11:43 AM
Isn't this situation a little ridiculous? Roy H. Williams, my all-time favorite "Wizard of Ads," asked the question in his Monday Morning Memo: "Will Fear of Risk Blind Your Client to Opportunity?" It got me thinking about my own clients who have pulled in their horns, so to speak, because they're afraid of investing "before real estate bottoms out." These are the same real estate investors who absolutely mock stock market "timers."Later in the day I was reading another favorite of mine--economist, author, actor and lawyer Ben Stein. You really ought to read his entire article in the September 3rd … (26 comments)
tucson mortgage: Paint Your Success with Words: The Powerful Canvas of the Mind
- 08/21/07 04:38 PM
I visited Technorati's Tag Page to see what the world outside Active Rain is talking about. The biggest topic of concern in the English speaking world this hour is PHP (lots of techies on line right now,) followed by SHOES, RINGTONES, Diet and Weight. Discount the techie types, and Shoes rule the blogosphere. Ringtones are being downloaded by the zillions. Moms are worried more about their figures than about the Real Estate market or the pricing of a jumbo loan. That's pretty wonderful! It gives me a hopeful perspective on my business. Tomorrow, I'll spend three hours prospecting--something I've let fall … (7 comments)
Southeastern Oklahoma is home to some very rocky soil. Ranchers anchor their long barbed wire fencelines with "rock posts" because it's a whole lot easier than sinking anchor posts. It's cheaper, too. You don't have to buy the rocks; you just pick them up. My friend Dick Carson in Caddo has taken this to a whole 'nother level. He makes art out of his rock posts with different colored stone. He calls this one "Jack Flash." If you've seen rock posts like this, you may have been in Caddo once or twice. Judi Barrett over in Idabel knows Oklahoma real estate. Check out her Active Rain … (7 comments)
The Arizona Sonoran desert is surprisingly beautiful. Eons of wind and rain sculpt the granite backbone of the Tucson Mountains into amazingly intricate forms. My favorite is the Rock Angel of the Desert. Facing an outcropping opposite Cat Mountain, she stands silent, wings folded, head bowed, face obscured by its cloak. Her form is ethereal. For half an hour during the afternoon the sun paints the rock face with shadows, and she appears. As the sun inexorably moves on its way to evening, she disappears from view. No named trail leads you to her, but the location between Cat Mountain and Cat Back … (16 comments)
tucson mortgage: Hiking The Tucson Mountains: Wasson Peak's Stairway To Heaven
- 08/18/07 04:50 PM
The Hugh Norris Trail to Wasson Peak is a 4.9 mile hike each way that gains and loses more than 2,100' in elevation. A portion of the trail is created out of the mountain itself. It's a stairway to Heaven! These stone steps near the beginning of the trail have been around since shortly after the depression that hit the US economy in 1929. They were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. (the CCC) I've hiked up and down the old steps since 1998 with my old friend George Mitchell. The summer before last, I was pleased and surprised to find that … (6 comments)
tucson mortgage: It's the Weekend! Inspiring Story Just for Animal Lovers
- 08/17/07 12:07 PM
Glenn Dickens and his buddy Bo Warren felt like going fishing last Saturday. They were one and one-half miles offshore in the Chesapeake, trolling for stripers in 80 feet of water. The fish weren't biting. Trolling is lazy work. Overcast skies don't keep the heat away, and after a couple of hours staring at the water and the horizon--and no fish biting--you can begin to see things that don't really exist. Glenn didn't mention what sort of beverages they had on the boat, but he did say that the fish weren't biting. I'm thinking the boys were sort of bored. Then … (6 comments)
tucson mortgage: MIKE'S TUTORIAL: FAST & EASY (DYNAMIC IMAGES)
- 08/15/07 11:10 PM
Okay, listen up. You're going to like this because1. it's useful2. it's easy3. it's effective4. it's an attention grabber5. it adds PUNCH to what you have to say6. it appeals to the little kid in you7. and #6 likes easy! Step 1. Go to Hetemeel.com and pick one of the dynamic images that you see on the website. Click on it. I chose Uncle Sam to create the image on the left. (Are you paying attention?) Dictionary is another of my favorites. You can create an image in Uncle Sam and import it into Dictionary. But I'm getting carried away here. … (16 comments)
Goooood morning, Canada! While you're having your cuppa tea this morning, consider this: the cost of owning your winter home in warm, sunny Tucson, Arizona went down by more than six percent yesterday. The Canadian Dollar is worth $1.06 US since our Federal Reserve dropped the Fed Funds rate yesterday. 
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