What can you do? Pick up the phone! Get involved. Call your senators to complain! Here's a link to find YOUR SENATORS and their phone numbers. Let's do it now! Congress doesn't worry about getting paid. They don't worry about healthcare. The only thing they worry about is what their constituents think about them, and in my humble opinion, they don't worry enough. Give them something … (12 comments)
va loans: A Loan Officer Who Makes House Calls? Differentiate Yourself! Get Noticed!
- 10/07/10 05:31 AM
A Loan Officer who makes house calls? You bet! I go the extra mile for my REALTOR friends because they remember me. It's a recipe for success that will work for you, too. Get Noticed! Stand out from the crowd. Solve problems for your business referral partners. Remember their birthdays and special occasions with a unique greeting card. Be available to answer questions. See "opportunities to serve" instead of complaining about what others should be doing to earn THEIR commission. I wrote a featured post about VA lending today. VA and FHA loans have quirks, especially when it comes to … (15 comments)
va loans: Desert Dwellers: Costa's Hummingbird At My Kitchen Window
- 10/30/09 05:18 PM
Some mornings it's downright hard to go to work. This 3" male Costa's hummingbird can be pretty demanding, sitting on the tip of an Octopus Agave, glaring at the kitchen window, just waiting for his feeder to be filled. That's not the expression of patience. He knows who's in charge, and it's not me. Perhaps if I were shooting the photos with 35 mm film, I'd be more disciplined. After all, each shot with film costs money. That's the beauty of digital photography. I can keep on taking pictures as long as he will oblige by sticking around. Too … (15 comments)
va loans: Waiting for 4.5% Money? It Could Cost You the Buy of a Lifetime!
- 01/05/09 09:51 PM
It floors me when buyers tell me that on the advice of their CPA or Financial Advisor, they're waiting for the new administration to bring down mortgage rates to 4.5% before pulling the trigger. We're within half a percent of that number right now. If someone like Secretary Paulson can't get it right (Banks' `Catatonic Fear' Means U.S. Consumers Get No Relief From TARP Plan ) what on earth makes you think that Joe Financial Advisor or Jane CPA has the ear of God? I believe that we're in the eye of a worldwide financial storm. If you live in Florida or … (21 comments)
va loans: Tucson Estates II: The Community and the Mountain Views Sold the House! (LOCALISM FEATURED)
- 01/05/09 08:34 AM
My new neighbor Jerry was out in his yard, and I was walking by, camera (as always) in hand. This particular home had been for sale for nearly a year and a half with no takers. One day I turned the corner and noticed that there was a sold sign. A couple of months later, a work crew showed up and started construction on a beautiful southwestern courtyard. As the courtyard wall went up, the home began to be transformed. A graceful archway entrance was next, and then a flagstone surface, and finally the Mexican fountain. I introduced myself. "Wow," I said, "you … (29 comments)
Shaped by sun, rain and wind over thousands of years, these two faces stand guard over a 375 acre Boy Scouts of America Camp just west of the Ajo Highway on Kinney Road. When I first saw them, the face on the right reminded me of an Indian brave with long eagle war feathers hanging down the right hand side of his face. My Darlin' saw the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The face on … (20 comments)
December is when the oranges begin to ripen in my back yard. The little monsoon begins at the same time, and the desert begins to look lush again. We've had 1 1/4 inches of rain since the first of the month. This male Cardinal has taken up residence with his mate somewhere in the arroyo behind our home, and he enters the yard by coming through the orange tree. He's headed for the bird feeder, but not until he has looked around to make sure the coast is clear. I'm … (23 comments)
va loans: Christmas Eve: Snow In the Forecast for the Mountains Surrounding Tucson, Arizona
- 12/23/08 09:33 PM
I know you'll find it hard to believe. Snow does fall in Tucson! December is our "little monsoon" season, and rain has been falling in the lower elevations for the past two days, while snow has been falling in the mountains. My office is in the neighborhood of Tucson called Winterhaven. 26 miles up the Catalina highway is the tiny hamlet of Summerhaven. It's been snowing there all week. For you ski buffs, please note that Summerhaven is home to the southerly-most ski lift in North America! Winter rains make for fantastic spring color in the desert, and I'm expecting … (24 comments)
va loans: Artists At Work! On the Corner of Campbell & Grant in Tucson, Arizona (LOCALISM FEATURED)
- 12/22/08 09:06 AM
My Darlin' and I were coming home from church this morning, and I stopped by the office to pick up a list of FHA clients. (My office is 45 minutes from our home in the Tucson Mountains.) I'm not usually in town on Sunday, but here we were, traveling west on Grant Road. As I approached the intersection at Campbell, I noticed a man on the corner, painting a picture. It's a busy intersection, and we had the green light, so I couldn't change lanes immediately. "I've got to go back and take a picture," I said. "There's a story back there on … (47 comments)
va loans: Gathering Storm: Get A Mortgage While You Still Qualify
- 12/15/08 01:59 PM
There's a storm on the horizon, and it's being fueled by the promise of cheap mortgage money someday. As long as buyers perceive that the future holds cheaper prices and lower interest rates, they're going to continue to sit on their hands. "Money's cheap," I told a group of 30 high-FICO, low-taxable-income businesspeople at a recent seminar. "The problem is, most of you can't have any." We lenders and agents depend for our livelihood on a shrinking pool of creditworthy buyers. Fannie Mae describes these riskworthy buyers like this: they're W-2 wage earners with low debt ratios. I call them "Golden Buyers." … (18 comments)
va loans: Spectacular Saturday Night in the Desert!
- 12/13/08 03:06 PM
You can't see the mountains in the distance, but they're there! A cold front blew in this afternoon, and the strong winds that came along with it whipped up a rolling dust storm across the desert. I live in the little community of Tucson Estates II, on the west flank of the Tucson Mountains. Our little community is just three or four miles from the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum--one of the ten best Zoos in the world. That's where I was at 4:15 p.m. when I took this picture. Dust in the air makes for some fantastic sunsets, so we drove … (21 comments)
Elsewhere in the West, and in most parts of country, I've heard these big cats called Cougars. Here in Arizona we call them Mountain Lions. You've read stories in the past few years about joggers in California being attacked by them. It's not hard to imagine. These are very powerful animals. This one lives with its mate at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ. It's only three miles from our home in the Tucson Mountains, and a few years ago, my Darlin' and I saw one of these in our backyard.
Whenever out-of-town guests come to … (27 comments)
va loans: Accenture Match Play 2009 at the New Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, AZ
- 12/10/08 09:15 PM
It's going to sneak up on you if you're not careful. The dates are February 23 to March 1st. 2009's Accenture World Match Play will be held at the brand new Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona. Tickets are already on sale. Here's a link to get yours. Tiger Woods won last year's match on a bum knee. He had surgery in June following his win of the US Open at Torrey Pines, and has been in rehab since then. As the defending champion, will Woods make his return to competition here at Dove Mountain? I'm betting he will. I'm Mike in Tucson, … (11 comments)
va loans: Florida Rainer Christine Bohn Brings Her Lender Into the Fold. (WELCOME to AR, Leslie Remy!)
- 12/09/08 08:10 PM
I just love to read first blog posts! Chris Bohn, REALTOR in Gainsville, Florida, has been a member of Active Rain since July of 2007. That's Chris on the right. Her friend Leslie Remy, on the left, has an office right across the hall. Leslie has 30 years of mortgage banking experience, but she's brand new to blogging, and maybe a little bit shy about the whole blogging thing. Please click here to read that first post of hers and let her know this is a friendly community! I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.Think of me … (13 comments)
va loans: Need A Christmas Present For Yourself? Buy This Tucson Home In My Neighborhood!
- 12/07/08 03:21 PM
Sunday afternoon. I had visited three open houses. The most beautiful by far is in my own neighborhood of Tucson Estates II. The address: 2020 S Triangle X Lane, Tucson, AZ 85713MLS# 20827872 The owner/agent is my neighbor and Century 21 REALTOR (and agente bilingue) Pensa Dominguez. Take a look:
You can contact Pensa Dominguez (Century 21 Heritage Realty) at (520) 390-3889. I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.Think of me as your Tucson mortgage expert.Call me if I can help you with a mortgage to buy your next house: (520) 349-9090 VA Loans: 100% purchase loans … (32 comments)
va loans: Please Welcome My Friend Scott Genteman, Copper Canyon Insurance, to Active Rain!
- 12/05/08 02:26 AM
I've just joined a new BNI group here in Tucson. It's called the Thomas Morgan Professional Partners Chapter, and it's got some fantastic members. Scott Genteman is one of those! He's been in sales since his childhood days on the northwest side of Chicago, but we don't hold that against him. LOL Please click this link to visit his very first Active Rain post, and tell him who sent you his way. If you don't know about BNI, please click the link in the first paragraph. BNI has been a solid source of referrals for me for the last three years. … (29 comments)
va loans: Become Skillful at Selling! I Sell Money. You Sell Houses. Active Rain Sells International Exposure.
- 12/02/08 07:53 AM
While his competitors at other intersections sit on a milk crate holding a stack of papers and hoping someone will roll down the window and buy one, this guy is actually selling newspapers! I go out of my way to buy my newspaper from him. Selling has gotten a bum rap, IMHO. I attended a seminar where the speaker went to great lengths to help the audience find ways to distance themselves from the dreaded moniker "salesperson." "People don't want to be sold," he said." Really? IMHO, people don't want to be manipulated! "Oh, I don't sell." (As if that's a … (75 comments)
va loans: Do You Have a VA Loan on Your Home? Refinance is Now Allowed to Purchase Loan Limits!
- 10/23/08 05:11 PM
Here's what it says today on the United States Department of Veteran Affairs website: "On October 10, 2008, the President signed S 3023, the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. The maximum guaranty for cash-out refinance loans has been made the same as purchase loans - they are no longer limited to $36,000. In addition, cash-out refinance loans may now be made up to 100% of the appraised value of the home." If you thought that you were stuck, and that a cash-out refinance wasn't available to you, this is great news for you. Click my profile link below for my … (9 comments)
va loans: What's Working Now? VA Loans for Purchases in Tucson.
- 10/23/08 04:55 PM
VA Loans are the hot thing for buyers in and around military bases like the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base here in Tucson. Prices for homes are very, very affordable right now, and rates are down! And VA Loans just got better! On October 10, 2008, the President signed S 3023, the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. Click HERE to check out the improvements. Are you a veteran? Have you been assigned to DM? Are you making your landlord rich by making his/her mortgage payment each month? Call me to schedule some time to talk. No pressure, just straight talk. You'll … (2 comments)
;)
;)
;)
