My Thoughts - Bo's BlogSpot

Speechless Sunday....On my back porch

Bo Hussung — Sun, 03 May 2009 08:55:57 -0500

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Stay Sharp, good luck and be well!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Handle - bohussung

Are you managing your online presence?

Bo Hussung — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:32:40 -0500

The internet is awesome. Yeah, I got that.

I love the fact that I can do so much in such a short amount of time. That I can touch so many and be touched by so many. The transparency that it creates and the ability to reach out to so many different people and build new relationships, receive information at the click of a mouse, to let people know what I am thinking and doing is really cool and convenient....And all of this is made available in literally a nanosecond. Sounds cool ...>Right?

Well, as cool as this sounds and as transparent as we have become, it is still a place where unsavory types of people and predators can follow you as well. I not talking about criminals, although they are there also.....the internet is free after all, but those pesky on-line marketers, and spammers that clog up our feeds on Twitter and fill up our email with junk and connect with us through our Facebook account or Active Rain or Plaxo or even Skype. The folks that game the system and manipulate the technology to bug the living daylights out of us.

I recently read an article that a friend had forwarded about privacy and how much of our on-line activity can be tracked by other would be identity stealers and these unsavory types. As the internet continues to grow and become a part of our daily lives, the possibilities of these attacks will only increase. Below are a few websites that can help you manage your on-line identity. They are free and are useful tools in helping manage our lives online. They are also a good way to help in our marketing efforts to know our clients so we can connect with them better (I will write more about this in a later post). Transparency is a double edged sword though. Without the right tools and resources, it can spin out of control really fast. Protect yourself and continue to enjoy the benefits of this incredible community on-line.

Rapleaf

Spokeo

Pipl

Photo credit - Ryan Brenhizer

Stay Sharp, good luck and be well!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Handle - bohussung

Nashville can funk with the best of them.

Bo Hussung — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:53:40 -0500

Earth Day Celebration at Nashville's Centennial Park is always a success and this year was no exception. The day was beautiful, 70 degrees, slight breeze and just enough sun. My wife and I rode our bikes from our house to meet a friend downtown and we proceeded to ride to the park. It was about 5 miles total but oh so worth it. We had a fantastic day. There were over 100 exhibitors, live music (of course, we are the Music City) and literally thousands of Nashvillians enjoying the day. Here is an end of the day video I shot on my phone.

The Dynamites rock the band shell. Enjoy

Stay Sharp, good luck and be well!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Congratulations Captain Phillips!

Bo Hussung — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:34:31 -0500

Our United States special forces, the United States Navy and specifically Navy Seals persevered and were successful in rescuing Captian Richard Phillips of the coast of Somalia after being held hostage by pirates for 5 days. It was a high dram affair that had many on edge internationally. Vice Admiral, Bill Cortney of the USS Bainbridge ordered navy snipers to shoot in a split second decision after he determined that Capt. Phillips in "imminent danger"

I applaud the decision and wish Capt. Phillips a safe and happy return to his family and friend in Underhill, Vermont.

Great Story!

Stay Sharp, good luck and be well!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

I blog because I like it

Bo Hussung — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:17:01 -0500

Why do you....Blog that is?

I used to get all excited about the prospect of blogging for points (admit it, you did too). It is hard not to notice your ranking every time you sign in.

And then it became more about content and SEO /SEM and driving web traffic

And then it became a social media exercise along with the other social medius that have become so popular and now important in our drive to stay on the cutting edge of social media marketing.

And then a funny thing happened, I started getting to know some Active Rainers, building relationships and making friends.

And the truth is, I blog for all those reasons, but as time has worn on, all those reasons are more like benefits of something that is really fun. That is why I blog........Why Do you Blog?

Stay Sharp, good luck and be well!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

May 1, 2009 enforcement of FTC 'Red Flags' Rule

Bo Hussung — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:13:25 -0500

Ced Reynolds posted this piece today to shed light on a critical deadline for being compliant with the "GLB (Gramm, Leach Bliley) Red Flag Warning Procedures enforcement. On May 1st, which is now less than 6 weeks away, if a business is handling consumer sensitive information (social security numbers, etc) there must be regulated procedures in place to protect that data.

THIS CAN NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY!

The FTC is planning to enforce this with unannounced audits and the tolerance for not complying will be zero. The penalties for non-compliance are severe. I do not endorse scare tactics, but this is serious enough that the FTC will not mess around and they have the authority to not just fine a business (up to 25,000), but will put them out of business.

Additionally, they have written in the code that if a businesses partners are not compliant as well, that that business is also responsible and held accountable.

Check out this link (FTC Red Flag Requirements) and be compliant. It could mean the difference between being in business or not.

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Via Cedric (Ced) Reynolds, CITRMS - (909) 597-3502 (CedReynolds.com):

November 1, 2008 was the enforcement date for businesses who deal with the non-public information of clients. Thankfully for a lot of businesses that were unaware, the six month extension (until May 1, 2009) has been a big help for them to learn what they needed to do to comply with the FTC 'Red Flags' Rule. What the FTC is requiring from businesses in certain categories is to develop and implement a written identity theft prevention program.

The Rule applies to creditors and financial institutions. Federal law defines a creditor to be: any entity that regularly extends, renews, or continues credit; any entity that regularly arranges for the extension, renewal, or continuation of credit; or any assignee of an original creditor who is involved in the decision to extend, renew, or continue credit.

Some examples of creditors are finance companies, automobile dealers, mortgage brokers, utility companies, telecommunications companies, and non-profit and government entities that defer payment for goods or services. Financial institutions include entities that offer accounts that enable consumers to write checks or to make payments to third parties through other means, such as other negotiable instruments or telephone transfers.

Is your business at risk? If so have one of our ADRS certified representatives give you a free review and find out how you can get your business compliant with the FTC. We cover North America.

Take a moment to read the Enforcement Policy Statement

Ced Reynolds

(909) 597-3502

Title Process....Did you know?

Bo Hussung — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:23:11 -0500

I started this series several months back and so would like resume by helping with the understanding of the actual process of what is involved in the ordering a title insurance policy.

So let's start at the beginning. When a title ordered is placed a whole series of events have to occur to get the ball rolling to a closing.

The 1st is an active search of public records for the property in question (kind of antiquated). Fortunately, all property records are a matter of public record. Everything from the property legal description, all the owners of the property, the liens that were filed against the owners of the property. An request is typically sent to an abstracter to go down to the register of deeds office and look up the property in a record book, listed by a book and page number and compile all the data to send to the title company so that a proper examination of the records can be assessed and insured.

Stay tuned:

Step number 2 to follow

Thanks and make sure to keep your records accurate (I will explain this later), but trust me it is impartant and a great reason to have title insurance.

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Agents......please listen! I'm Just Sayin...............

Bo Hussung — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:06:04 -0500

I am a title agent. I am in 50 states and I take a tremendous amount of pride in my work and I am with a company that shares the same philosophy. Do the right thing and try and do it better than anyone else. It is a simple philosophy. I work hard to make sure my clients are receiving the absolute best service, so they can be confident in giving their customers (the consumer) the best service experience.

I bring all this up not so much to toot my horn, but to make a point. I have a question, "Would you share the responsibilities of your work to satisfy the needs of a client if there really was no reason to?" Seems obvious, right? The team concept of a real estate sale is not one that is lost on any seasoned professional. In fact, I am perhaps it's strongest advocate. I think we improve our own credibility by surrounding ourselves with other seasoned professionals that share the same philosophical approach to business as us. I also understand when we spend so much of our time building those relationships, there is an inherent amount of trust that automatically goes with it. If it were not for the relationships that we worked so hard to forge, I think it is safe to say, none of us would experience near the success in our businesses without them.

One of the tenets of a complete and positive customer experience is the ultimate goal of making sure our customer is given the absolute best. Which should always include looking out for their highest and best interest, including saving money and time. It is almost a sure guarantee for maintaining happy clients.

The purchase of a home can be very stressful. There are many pieces of the puzzle that must fit into place in order to make sure the transaction is completed successfully, much less smoothly. The planets and stars almost have to align. So the question I have to ask is why would any of us with even the best of intentions,

insist on complicating it? Seriously, why? Of course we wouldn't and if that is the answer, then why would any of us insist on using 2 closing agents when 1 would make it more simple. Anytime we add additional individuals to the mixture, the probability of something going wrong go up exponentially. Not that either side doesn't know what they are doing, but that it complicates an already complicated and fragmented process.

I don't get it and the only reason I can think it is done is because, there is either a lack of trust, someone has a vested interest in the transaction, or just plan old stubbornness. Sadly and ironically, the real loser at the end of the transaction are the buyer and the seller.

So before you insist on making sure your title partner gets the deal, think about the additional amount of potential stress that is created for ALL the individuals in the transaction. Because trust me, at the end of the day, it really is not worth it.

Give it to 1 company and then agree that the next one will go to the other company, that way everyone still gets what they wanted without 1/2 the headache and frustration.

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Don't ever Give up!

Bo Hussung — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:42:12 -0500

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Thomas A. Edison

The road to success is paved with many, many hazards along the way. Every success story has hundreds, if not thousands of examples of what did not WORK before they achieved their success. To that end, success is not a destination it is a journey.

Don't ever give up!

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

86,400 seconds...how are you utilizing yours?

Bo Hussung — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:38:49 -0600

Time is a funny thing. We all have the same amount if it. The same 24 hours. The same 1440 minutes and the same 86,400 seconds every single day. What we do with them determines the degree to which we have can impact our lives and the lives of others. I have read that some consider time an illusion. That may be true. Regardless, the impact we have on the lives of others is not an illusion. Make the best of it and use it well. Create meaningful impacts every single second of every single day.

Be your best!

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Perspective in tough times.

Bo Hussung — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:47:17 -0600

Got no checkbooks, got no banks, Still I’d like to express my thanks; I’ve got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. – Irving Berlin

I stumbled upon this lyric this morning and thought of its appropriateness to our time now. it is from the song, "I Got The Sun In The Morning" by Irving Berlin and orginally performed by Les brown and his Orchestera. The version below was sung by Doris Day and it was eventually included in the play Annie get Your Gun.

The song was written over 60 years ago right after a decade of turmoil and on the tails of another tough time in our society and yet it gives persepective. No doubt things are tough economically. I could on and on about all the things that are wrong and all the bad things to come, but despair is self fulfillingand is in in times like these that we should all take stock in what we have and be grateful.

Enjoy!

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

How to buy a house on the courthouse steps...Part III of a 3 part series

Bo Hussung — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:22:57 -0600

WARNING! This is not for the faint at heart......ADULTS, do not attempt this unless you have a strong will or desire, a good banker, enough down payment, an approval in hand and very good idea of your market, the houses in it and most importantly the home you want to buy. Our saga began about 13 months ago, but for the sake of time and space, I have decided to limit this to the last 90 days only.

Read Part I here

I left Part II with the mortgage company with which we been working suddenly going out of business! And, as my friend Michael Thornton, added, "RUTRO", except my reaction was a tad bit more dramatic!

Tuesday evening February 3rd (60 hours to deadline)

Fortunately, I had the advantage of having a great source of contacts of folks that could help me with our predicament. So I phoned a friend that local underwriting and more importantly, they could lend thier own money. They were a federally charted bank. We spoke briefly and after ai explained the situation, we agreed to meet the next morning in his office. I spent the next hour so putting the file back together and emailed the entire package to his office

Wednesday morning February 4th (52 hours to deadline)

I meet my friend in his office and we go over the package, appraisal, all the documentation. We then confirm the numbers and he pulls credit, re-runs the loan through automated underwriting and nothing changes.....whew! Off to the races yet again!

We then discuss the documents in the file and make sure we have an accurate list of items needed according to the Automated Approval. I make a check list and now I have runn around town and get the funds needed to close, the trailing documents for manual underwriting and all by that afternoon.

Wednesday afternoon (44 hours to deadline)

All documentation collected and sent to the underwriter. All funds verified and certified checks cut for pick up the next day. My friend at the bank calls and needs to discuss the details of how this loan is going to close since it is not a traditional purchase (no contract). Since I had open communication with the substitute trustee, I agreed to call him and simply request his signatures on several of the closing documents. it wnet like this...

"Hi, Mr attorney"

"Hello, Mr Hussung"

"We are moving right along" (he knew about the original lender going out of business on Tuesday). Since this is a FHA loan, the bank is requiring your signature on a some of the critical closing documents, what time can we come by Friday morning to do that?"

"I am not signing anything" (what?!!!!! Are you kidding me?!!!) There was some additional dialog that I will not mention here, but he did offer that the exact same circumstance happened 2 weeks prior with a local bank and their underwriters were ok with it and it closed.....

Okay, here is where it gets weird.

I let my friend and the underwriter know what had happened and as I am on the phone with him, the title company that closed the loan that the substitute attorney referred to was in my friends office. (Seriously!) She confirmed the closing and we had instant precedent. I was amazed, to say the least! That was a huge moment and there was no doubt that this was meant to be. They spoke to their underwriters and their HUD representative and there was indeed a precedent set. The only problem was we did not find all this out until the next day. So the pins and needles were starting to get planted pretty deep.

Thursday morning February 5th (28 hours to deadline)

My wife and I had slept on a bed of nails the night before. However, the file was complete and ready to be manually underwritten. No road blocks. Whew!

22 hours to deadline

I have to go to the bank to work some details for the certified funds. which took a couple of hours and then we were headed back to the the underwriter's office to make sure everything was set (did I mention that I am a bit of a control freak?) and then the battery goes dead on our car.....crap! We get it jumped offafter an hour of waiting, we head home and instead I make a phone call to let my friend know we have the money and we will see him first thing in the morning.

Friday February 6th (4 hours until deadline!)

We arrive, the underwriting is complete and now the closing package has to be sent and printed. The next step is sign and exchange money.....so far so good!

Except the banks computers go down, so no package can be sent....Crap! 2 hours to go!

We scurry around for the next 30 minutes and are able to print the package at the local office. But since time is running out, it is suggested to make a call to the bank that did the foreclosure and explain what happened. We confirmed we had the money, but were waiting on the package to sign and then disburse. They said okay! Whew...another bullet avoided!

30 minutes to deadline

We figure out what documents have to be signed and submitted back to the title company for disbursement. The wire is confirmed, the funds are sent and @ 2:30 PM, I confirm the money is in the substitute trustees account and all we have to do is go get the deed!

DONE! We own our house!

The most important par of this whole incident is we not only were able to buy our house, but I really think that for many folks that are in our situation in this funky economy, there is hope. There is a way to do this. if you have any questions about the process, feel free to contact me about it. I truly hope that I can help

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Where are you getting your information?

Bo Hussung — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:18:12 -0600

Internet?, print media?, television?, radio?, your next door neighbor? or colleague? And, Are they credible sources?

I ask because it is important for the quality and depth of the information your are researching. It is the cause of hyperbolic reaction, innuendo and the groundwork for mis-information. Thus creating an environment of un-necessary drama and reaction within the markets and the public at-large. In extreme cases, it can cause a panic.

Without the proper sources, there is no basis for planning and correct action. If you don't know the causes or reasons behind a particular set of circumstances, then there is no way to know the proper way to react to it. Without the right sources, it can make it impossible to know what the even right course of action should be and it can mean the difference between winning and losing, success and failure and worse, stagnation.

I preach quality sources because there is a tendency in our fast paced, "I am too busy" society and lifestyle to limit ourselves to soundbites. That can be a very dangerous predicament to be placed. Likewise, there is such a phenomonen of being bombarded with too much information. My suggestion in this fast paced world of information and technology at our fingertips, pick 3 or 4 sources. For economic and real estate information look at my list of resources to the right. I find them credible and chocked full of relevant data.

In today's world with the amount of information available and the relevant reansparency with which to get it, there is absolutely no reason to not do the proper research. Having said that however, please remember to be responsible with your opinions. I think we all welcome opinions. It is one of things that makes this country so compelling. And, I think we all would agree that the only caveat is give a well informed opinion and the only way to do that is with credible information.

Stay Sharp, be informed and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Scouting the water hazards of big water

Bo Hussung — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 23:47:04 -0600

I am sure you have heard the old adage, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" Well, the current economic environment is causing just that sort of thought process....kinda like running a class 5 river.

Many of us that have been in the business for years , whether it be real estate or mortgages or ancilary services like appraisal or title insurance, yeah!....we know what we are doing. After all we have been doing it with so much success for so long, of course we know it....right? So why are we not having the same success? Is it the economy? or something else entirely different.

I started white water kayaking about 10 years ago and I learned on small rivers, class 1 and 2 and slowly worked my way up to bigger water, class 3 to 4. The one thing I used to say was when you go to the big water, you go from a "floater, to a boater". You paddle harder, a lot harder. Your movements are more deliberate and more planned out. When you approach a particularly difficult water hazard, you get out of your boat and scout the rapid to see how to navigate it and then after some planning, you get back in your boat and paddle hard and run it.

Doing our jobs in this environment is not much different. All the things we learned are still in place, but the market and the conditions are bigger like a rapid on a clas 5 river. Success is never easy all the time. Sometimes it requires some scouting and careful thoughtful planning to navigate the treacherous waters.

Stay Sharp, paddle hard and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

How to buy a house on the courthouse steps...Part II of a 3 part series

Bo Hussung — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:47:14 -0600

Read Part 1 here..........WARNING! This is not for the faint at heart......ADULTS, do not attempt this unless you have a strong will or desire, a good banker, enough down payment, an approval in hand and very good idea of your market, the houses in it and most importantly the home you want to buy.

Our saga began about 13 months ago, but for the sake of time and space, I am going to limit it to the last 90+ days. We ended part 1 the other day with not quite knowing where the bid was going to start, which was stressful enough because we had no way of knowing where our financing was going to end up. The substitute trustee simply stated that we should call him the Friday before the sale and he should have a number then. He added however that sometimes he does not know until the day of the sale.....that was comforting.....NOT!

January 23

I completed my 2008 tax return and applied for the 1st time home buyer tax credit, since it had been almost 7 years since I had owned a home. It gave me the amount of additional money needed to qualify for the loan. The only pronlem was that I was not sure I was going to get it enough time for the sale. The IRS website gave us an anticipated deposit date of the 10th which would have been a week after the sale. So needless to say, the pins and needles were getting deeper by the day....OUCH!

January 26

I decide to go to an auction to see how they proceeded and who showed up. Very interesting. I found out that only a handful show up and most of them are regulars, like they do this every single week. It is fairly uneventful. They read the notice and legal description and start a bid. Usually the winning bid is $1.00 over the start unless it is bid up. But they are cash sales only and there are no exceptions! Oh crap! How in the heck am I going to get a loan closed and funded in 24 hours? Sweat, sweat pouring from my brow. More stress!! Yeah that's all I needed!

January 30

Everything is wrapped up for the financing, but we still had no idea how much. We wait.

February 2

Call to the attorney yields nothing, except he has a number and but e can't tell me until he confirms it Tuesday morning. He is not sure it is correct because it seemed so low. That is good, right? Geez, how much longer do we have to wait. The auction is tomorrow for pete's sake!! He did mention however that a representative of the bank would be at the auction the next day, which he thought was in our favor since it clearly showed a willingness to work this out, maybe give us an extension?

February 3 (The day of Reckoning)

12:00 Absolutely beautiful day, sunny, not a cloud in the sky and colder than a witches broom. We get to the regsiter of Deeds office, meet the attorney, meet the bank representative and the usual cast of characters is present. All the same guys that were at the auction the week before (kind of weird!) One of them even asked if i wnated to buy the house from him.....amazing. So the attorney / substitute trustee "crys" out the notification and bidding begins by the bank. I raise the bid $1.00 and then the bank counters. I go up $1.00 more dollar and going once

going twice...sold to Mr. Hussung! Sweet! I won it. We were able to negotiate with the bank and were given unitl Friday at noon to wire all the money to the substitute trustees account or the house automatically goes back to the 2nd highest bidder. In this case the bank.

We are off tho the races!

1:00 A close friend who ws kind enough to attend and show his support offers to take my wife and I to lunch to help celebrate. I call the lender and tell him the final bid, he congratulates me and says he will get working on it. We have lunch and agree to touch base later in the afternoon.

4:30 I call the lender back and leave a message. He calls me back and then the world literally stopped revolving. He tells me that the lender just shut their doors.....WHAT?!!! Kaput, out of business!

It just keeps getting better ........Stay tuned for the rest of the saga

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

How to buy a house on the courthouse steps...Part I of a 3 part series

Bo Hussung — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:11:27 -0600

Our saga began about 13 months ago, but for the sake of time and space, I am going to limit it to the last 90+ days. To get started though, it is important to lay down some groundwork: So here goes-

~My family and I moved into a completely renovated home on December 26th of 2007.

~It had been put on the market right at the very beginning of the decline in the housing market and remained for well over 5 months without even an offer

~There were 2 owners and they had utilized a management company to handle the rental agreement

~We signed a 13 month lease with an option to purchase

~There were signs that the owners were having a little trouble from the outset

-The had an appraisal done within the 1st 4 weeks to refinance a construction loan

-They took almost 6 weeks to replace a faulty appliance and a broken window on the front door

Here is where the fun begins

September 2008

We received a phone call that the bank had given the owners a final extension on their construction loan

and had directed the management company to take our rent payment directly to the bank (hmmmm!)

September 13

We were told they were going to have to try and re-list the house and so it was put back on the market (hmmm!)

No offers! And a short sale contract rejection from us (hmmmmm!)

November 2008

Both owners file for bankruptcy protection and the bank applies for a relief of stay in order to accelerate the foreclosure proceedings and not be held up in bankruptcy court

December 10th

A notice of default was filed with the county clerk and a demand for payment in full by the substitute trustee by December 26th

January 5th

Foreclosure date is set for Tuesday, February 3rd @ noon at the "courthouse steps" (register of deeds) as a cash sale only

At this point, it is important to know that the bank, the trustee and myself had open communication about the proceedings and besides acting within the limits of the law, they were giving us the courteous of the complete listing of all actions with regard to the property and the foreclosure proceedings (they were not wasting anytime!) The law does not require this and many renters are never informed of what is happeneing in most cases until is is too late. We were very fortunate.

January 15th

The process of finding a lender to handle my loan and working out the details of financing were begun.

We prepared at this point for anything. There was the distinct possibility that we would not win the bid and may be evicted by either the new owners or simply have to move. Either way, it goes without saying, we were under a lot of pressure during this period of time and as the "day of reckoning" approached, it became even more stressful and it was all happening during the holidays. We acquired the financing and were approved for the loan and so all the wheels were moving very rapidly. The bigger issue is that we had no idea where the bid was going to start and so, that pushed the final underwriting of the loan to what would end up being to the last minute............

Stay tuned for part 2 in this series

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

13 bank failures this year...is this a sign of things to come?

Bo Hussung — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:07:49 -0600

This time one year ago, the recession was officially in full bloom and there was 1 bank failure to date and 13 through the end of the 3rd quarter (5 on February 13th alone). The FDIC reports 13 year to date. That equals a 1300% increase over the same time last year and assuming that statistic holds true, then there will be an additional 312 failures this year alone. A scary prospect for those of us looking for a positive nugget of hope in an otherwise dismal forecast.

So what does all this mean?

Well, our banks are in rough shape....no doubt. The detritus of bad assets currently out there are just now starting to show themselves on bank balance sheets. The credit crisis is real. Investors are concerned. Financial institutions are not able to raise money to cover their capitalization ratios. The assets are performing worse than expected and perhaps worst of all, we have a long way to go before we see the bottom.

Okay, I laid it out there. It is really ugly and for all intensive purposes getting uglier. Does this mean the end is near. I hardly think so. The fact is that the assets that are clouding the balance sheets of some of our most venerable financial institutions is troubling and must be dealt with swiftly. Valuing them and moving them off the books is a remedy that has to be done with conviction and a clear plan. Our entire financial well being and the international communities is at stake. I do believe we will find the solution some time by the end of the 3rd quarter, probably in the way of an additional stimulus package (maybe more on that later). In the meantime, let's hope that the largest bank at the end of the day is not a nationalized one in the form of Uncle Sam.

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

No down payment? No problem in today's market!

Bo Hussung — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:01:47 -0600

Steve Bucher blogged this earlier this evening and after a recent personal experience of buying a home in Nashville, TN utilizing the 1st Time Homebuyer Federal US tax credit, I was able to acquire a large enough refund for the 3.5% FHA down payment requirement. The only other requirement was that we could not have owned a home within the last 3 years and we had to purchase before June 30, 2009.

FHA does not have minimum score requirements (although many lenders do of 580 or higher) and thier underwriting guidelines are a little more reasonable.

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Via Invis Mortgage Consulting:

New home buyers without a down payment have been at the mercy of high housing costs and inflated interest rates until now! Housing costs have dropped and the interest rates offered by banks for a no down payment mortgage today are comparable to what you would have gotten for a traditional down payment mortgage last year. What a switch!

Realtors, this means a new segment of the market is capable of purchasing, but they may not be aware of it. Get out there and spread the word. Ask your local mortgage broker about what no down payment products may be available in your area.

New home buyers will still need a minimum 650 beacon (in Canada) to qualify, but this means down payment is not a barrier to home ownership anymore. Now I won't tell you how it's done, that's my trade secret, but I will tell you the products I can offer.

Good luck out there!

Steve Bucher, Mortgage Consultant

www.mortgagebuilder.ca

Fun Facts for the Day

Bo Hussung — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:38:39 -0600

Did you know that without Mr. Hollerith, we might not be doing what we are doing night now?

In the year 1886, Herman Hollerith had the idea of using punched cards to keep and transport information, a technology used up to the late 1970s. This device was originally constructed to allow the 1890 census to be tabulated. In 1896, the Tabulating Machine Company was founded by Hollerith. Twenty-eight years later in 1924, after several take-overs, the company became known as International Business Machines (IBM).

....and to think that in 1984, my computer science class consisted of punch cards being read through a machine that was not too different than what he created in the late 19 century. Can you imagine?

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

What Does a Trillion Dollars Look Like?

Bo Hussung — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:21:46 -0600

My Friend Michael Thornton I believe has started something of a groundswell that today and for the next how ever long it takes, should be a national priority. My personal thoughts are that this should be strongly considered and debated by the public and our leaders. I believe with the right amount of guidelines for spending the money that the affects of allowing taxpayers to spend the money by staying in their homes and paying down debt could lubricate the wheels of an otherwise very rusted economic engine and possibly help set this country back on track.

Right now our brightest and best are completely befuddled by the unprecedented economic straight-jacket we have found ourselves in and since everything else has been thrown at the one-eyed green monster of recession perhaps it just might work.

I say give the people of this country a chance to correct their own problems! Why give it back to the fools that created the problem in the first place.

Let us speak up and tell our leaders we have had enough!

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Via Michael Thornton - Nashville, TN area Home Inspector (Complete Home Inspections, Inc.):

We hear so much razzmatazz from the talking heads about this economic stimulus package that is surely going to surpass a Trillion dollars. This word is being tossed around like it were chump change or something. Folks, we are talking trillion with a capital "T". If you are like me, I needed some kind of visual so that I could wrap my puny mind about what these lawbreakers are talking about strapping us with.

1) - Imagine, if you can, having a $1,000.00 bill. A stack 4" high will equal a million or so. Now a Trillion $$$'s would be a stack 63 miles long - or about the length of the drive to Grandma's house.

2) - Since most of us will not see a $1,000.00 bill in our lifetime, lets put it in a little more laymen's terms - say $20.00 bills. That same trillion changed out would stretch for over 3100 miles or about the one-and-a-half times the length of the US.

This stimulus package will spend about $275,000 to create a $42,000 job (average US household income).

So instead of giving the money to big business and to even bigger government who will find ways to fritter the money on more pork and other wasteful crap, why not divvy the money out equally to every household and let us spend the money on what we want. We can then use that money to stimulate this US economy. Only makes sense to me. What do you think?

Wishing all my fellow drips and tweeps a great day... 8-)

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© 2009 michael thornton | complete home inspections, inc. - your building consultants for life | brentwood, tn | 615.661.0297 | www.completehomeinspectionsonline.com

Is title boring? It depends how you look at it...right?

Bo Hussung — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:16:23 -0600

Title is often referred to as a necessary evil. It is insurance, after all. We pay for it in the hope that we will never need it, but when we do, we are typically glad we had it.

Well, title insurance is no different. What would you do, if you found out 12 years ago that the house you bought had a lien that was attached to an owner that was no linger living? Your options are fairly thin and there really is not much you can do, except try to work it out through the legal system......Unless!

You have a title insurance policy.

Title insurance protects you or the holder of the policy against any potential problems attached to the property that were recorded or not as a matter of public record prior to the transfer of the property to you. It is typically paid for only once, at the time of close (which technically means it is assurance) and lasts for the life of the owner of the property until it is transferred again or an additional lien is recorded via a refinance or recorded lein (HELOC). The cost involved is minor to the peace of mind that it provides.

I recommend it strongly and a local title agent or national title agent can assist in getting ou the right coverage. Additionally, they can give you the correct advice to the proper closing costs for your new loan. You never know when a creditor can come back to claim their rightful interest in the property and make your life a living hell.

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

If no one is looking....what's the point?

Bo Hussung — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:55:24 -0600

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, BLAH!..........

Speaking hundreds of hours, crafting your thoughts into words is meaningless if you no one looks at them. It made me wonder with all the technology available to track our activity via SEO's and SEM's and Google juice, are we utilizing all the tools available to us (that are essentially free) to maximize our presence here on the web?

Do you check where you are currently ranked regularly on Google or Yahoo?

Do you keep a log of search engine topics and search words?

Do you make sure you are using all the correct search words in your blog posts?

It is interesting to look at these dynamics and think how simple it is, but to easily forget that the daily management of it is not that easy.

Last week, I was asked to meet Larry Brewer and Michael Thornton at Larry's office today, the 29th and unbeknown-est to me, was actually invited to be in the Franklin office of Keller Williams SEO /SEM Active Rain Social Media workshop that Larry coordinates once a week. It was actually pretty cool and as an AR newbie, I was simultaneously honored to not only be a part of the group, but to learn some new stuff as well. This whole social media environment that we have all agreed to participate (at no cost, I might add) is a wonderful "cutting edge" experience that we should all count ourselves fortunate to be a part. The workshop that Larry coordinates is a fantastci opportuinity to not only meet some great people, but to receive some fantastic feedback to better my web experience. Sopme of the newest Active Rain members that I had the pleasure of meeting were:

Mike Nastri

Susan Salazar

Tiffany White

Monica Neubeaur....And many, many others (forgive me if I did not meet all of you one on one)

It was a great morning and I am grateful that I not only met you but got some great feedback and fresh ideas.

Thanks

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Ah, those magical words!

Bo Hussung — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:35:52 -0600

".......I read your profile on Active Rain"

SWEET!

Now that got my attention. So it went something like this: I have been posting and studying blogs, SEO's and tags, etc., now for about 9 months (human gestation?-kind of weird) and last week the phone rings. I do not recognize the number from Florida and so I answered, " Bo Hussung" - my usual salutation. "Hi, my name is Nick, is this Bo Hussung? I am a real state investor in Florida and I read about you on Active Rain and I noticed you do title work in all 50 states"

DOUBLE SWEET! (I thought)

The conversation lasted for another 20 minutes or so. We discussed his business and how mine was perfectly suited for his particular needs. I did a little more "discovery", asked some pointed questions and requested his contact info for my database. We ended the conversation and I forarded him some additional information about my company and thanked him for contacting me. We are going to start reviewing some deals this week he is working in Texas, California and Florida and test the waters, so to speak. Fantastic!

I've arrived?

Overall, it was great and I left the conversation with the realization that this stuff (Active Rain) actually works. Had I arrived? Maybe! But, I certainly was proud that I could now add my story to the many great testimonials read everyday here by our Active Rain brethren. The time and hard work that we put into this medium for marketing and promotion, when done properly will yield the exposure and results for which you are looking. Be patient and I promise it will happen.

Stay Sharp, be Awesome and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

37 bottles, wort, sugar, 2 weeks and Voila! BEER! Fun Facts of the Day

Bo Hussung — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:28:48 -0600

Sweet! I started this post last week and promised to stick with it at least once a week. So it is time. I thought it would be fun to incorporate it with something I have taken on as a new hobby.

So, I started this several weeks ago with a gift from my wife and began my first experience of brewing beer at home. I blogged about it and have now essentially finished the process. Now I just wait. I am so fired up! I can't wait....except I have to, because I have to wait for the yeast and sugar to react to create carbonation in the capped bottles. But rest assured in 2 or 3 weeks, I will have Oatmeal Stout. Pretty Cool!

This whole process has been fascinating. I never knew I would have so much fun making beer. It is comparable to a cross between a science experiment and a kitchen recipe.

Bread in a bottle (Fun fact of the day)

Beer is the third most consumed beverage in the world besides wine and coffee. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of grains and starches, mainly derived from cereal grains. The commonly used are malted barley, and wheat. Much like flour comes from milled wheat. When it is combined with leavening ingredients that mixed together create a chemical reaction when heat is applied, makes bread, Beer is created using the chemical reaction of sugar and starch using a leaving agent called yeast.

The end result is beer!

I will keep you posted when the tasting is complete.

Do something fun and Have a great day !

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com

Today is the rememberance ....Tomorrow is the manifestation!

Bo Hussung — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:44:35 -0600

Today we remember Dr. Martin Luther King. This impact should not be lost in the events of the next 24 hours. They should be recognized and celebrated. Change manifests into realty. Barack Hussein Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States and the hopes and dreams of a Nation facing the toughest times in recent history will begin the process of being reaized.

For now however, let's take a moment and recognize how far we have come. It truly is historical and it began in our collective conscious over 45 years ago.

I have a Dream Speech

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com