http://activerain.com/blogs/jcannata My blog is filled with Frisco Texas Mortgage News, Real Estate Tips, and Local Events in Frisco and surrounding areas. I've even thrown in some Random Thoughts and information about myself so you get to know me better. Feel free to browse around and see why you should live in Frisco Texas. en-us http://activerain.com/blogsview/1383139/sometimes-the-only-good-thing-about-wearing-a-dallas-cowboy-jersey-is-that-you-get-a-discount-at-albertsons-on-game-day- <p><br /><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/3/7/0/7/ar126075360970733.png" height="183" alt="" width="250" style="float: left;" /><strong>If you live in Dallas, you will certainly hear all about it.</strong> The Dallas Cowboys are the talk of Texas, no matter what the season. &nbsp;Cowboys lose again, falling to San Diego 20-17.</p> <p>Typically, the Cowboys look solid leading into the play-offs and then fall apart. It appears they are no wasting any time this year and have 2 losses in a row. &nbsp;<strong>Last week against the New York Giants and now this week to San Diego.</strong></p> <p>You always want to see your home team play well and of course win. I'm just not seeing it. Dallas Cowboys need to win heading to play-offs because it helps build confidence. With only 3 regular season games left, its not looking good. Next week we face the UNDEFEATED New Orleans Saints, then we face Washington Redskins (who we barely beat 3 weeks ago 7-6), and then we come back home to face those Eagles.</p> <p>Obviously none of those games are a 'gimme', so Dallas will have to play tough. What started off as a solid season is suddenly coming to an end unless these players can somehow stop the bleeding.</p> <p><strong>Who is your team this season and how they doing?</strong></p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:30:53 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1383139/sometimes-the-only-good-thing-about-wearing-a-dallas-cowboy-jersey-is-that-you-get-a-discount-at-albertsons-on-game-day- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1382512/effective-time-management-skills-for-highly-efficient-entrepreneurs <p><p>Loreena shares some good tips on time management. Personally, I don't think you should get up at 4:30 am, but if that works for you GREAT! &nbsp;Certainly the first point she makes is a good one - Start the night before. &nbsp;Anyway, she provides some good points and excellent examples.</p></p><div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1381146/effective-time-management-skills-for-highly-efficient-entrepreneurs">Loreena Yeo - Broker|Realtor(R) of www.Frisco-TX-Homes.com (214) 783-2210 (3:16 team REALTY)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p>Sometimes as entrepreneurs and leaders, we wish we had more time on our hands for disposal. Perhaps more can be accomplished that way. However, like everyone else, we are given 24 hours a day to manage. I do feel that <strong>with intentional planning</strong>, that <strong>we will get more out of our day</strong>. Many of you say that there's not enough time to put out 10 posts per week and read 10 good posts to comment on, here are some tips I practice in my life:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 700; background-color: #FFFF99;">(1) Start your day the night before</span></p> <p>Always your tomorrow the night before. <strong>This will give you a head start and know exactly how your day will look like</strong> - besides the fires in store for you. If you had quick emails to send out, do them. If you have quick searches for clients, do them. Never go to bed without accomplish little tasks that will only take a few minutes to do.</p> <p><strong><span style="background-color: #FFFF99;">(2) Work when others are sleeping</span></strong></p> <p>I'm not a night owl but I do get up early. <strong>My day starts at 4:30 or 5am</strong>. 2 hours before my family gets up. Things are quiet and alot of tasks are accomplished at that time. I always practice "the ball is better on your court than mine". By that, I always get tasks for others or email instructions out at 5am before the person gets up. That way, I have everything they need to take care on the transaction in their hands, not mine. I also learnt to get to people before they ask for it. 5am is a great time to get these status updates sent out. More often that not, these practices have left me feeling on top of my world and others know that I'm on top of things.</p> <p>Many people have to sleep 8-10 hours a day. If you learn to sleep 2 hours less, you will get ALOT more done if you choose the right time to accomplish it. My optimum sleep hours are 5 - 6 at best. Over that, I feel lethargic and want to sleep/ rest more. I feel my body runs on momentum. <strong>"A body at rest, tends to stay at rest".</strong></p> <p><strong>It is also this time of the day that I get 1 post out, and usually before most people drink their first coffee, I have my 10 comments made on feature posts and subscriptions.</strong></p> <p><strong><span style="background-color: #FFFF99;">(3) Index Cards are my best friends</span></strong></p> <p><strong>I always write a list - the night before on the tasks I need to accomplish tomorrow.</strong> I am a visual person. I need to see it in front of me. Better yet, I have a white board in my office. I lay out my Long Term goals, then Monthly goals - things I want to achieve that doesn't have to be accomplish "today". But they are always there in front of me.</p> <p>I feel good when I check off my to-do lists on my index cards. The Dollar Store (if you have them near you) sells them very inexpensively. If I didn't get my index cards written out (the night before), I feel unrest at bedtime. I caught myself getting up at midnight just to write them down when I havent done so before I go to bed.</p> <p><strong><span style="background-color: #FFFF99;">(4) Business/ Marketing &amp; Financial Plan</span></strong></p> <p><strong>It's the time of the year for me to write out my marketing plans and its financial allocation for them.</strong> When I write this out, I <strong>break it down in 4 quarters</strong>. With this, my mind knows that <strong>I play ALL 4 Quarters</strong>. In the past, when I just write this down as a general marketing plan for the year, I didn't have checks and balances to hold my accountable to see what needs to be accomplish by when. So, I do have a "General" overview/ Goals I plan to accomplish for the year, but by breaking them down in 4 quarters, I feel it's bite-sizes for my mind to digest.</p> <p><strong>A financial plan is just as important.</strong> Many people see their marketing plans but do not allocate a budget for such activities. No business goes into the year without first a financial budget. You should have one too. That way, you will know when to say No, or when to pump up. Just know that these are just something you plan out in the year, if you need to change it - that's okay too. That's why there are benefits in setting your goals/ plans into 4 quarters. Make changes when necessary. It's your business, you have the final say-so.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 700; background-color: #FFFF99;">(5) Seeds of 2010</span></p> <p>The only reason why this was a Member's Only post is because of this. It's something new that I am doing for 2010. I've always started planning, but never saw how to correctly implement my "seeds", ie my pipeline until I saw this in one of my brainstorming session.</p> <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/2/0/2/2/ar126071850422028.jpg" height="251" alt="" style="margin-right: 5px; margin-left: 5px; float: left;" width="200" />First, I go through my entire email and database from people (this year) who had not accomplished their housing needs. I normally know when is their target date. Then, I list their names down and put a month as to when I expect them to get into escrow. I follow up with an email with them to see if their goal is still realistic. Make changes when necessary. From there, I will plan to see how often I need to contact them. I usually pencil these down and move them when it's not accomplished by the target date.</p> <p>Note: These are leads who have contacted me. Not those who sign up on my website and are not ready to make contact with me.</p> <p>At a glance, I see how my year (especially in 1st and 2nd Quarters) look like. My job is to get these seeds planted on my sheet. I believe they have called me to assist them, I will nudge them when necessary to get them back on track. It's a 2-way relationship process. My clients have asked me to hold them accountable to their plans, I will do so.</p> <p>Download my version of <strong> <a href="http://frisco-tx-homes.com/virtualoffice_files/Seeds%20of%202010.doc" target="_blank"> my Seed Planning</a></strong> in Word format (31KB).</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I hope you are able to take some of these tips for implementation. Please share some of your effective tips too.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">This is also my Sunday God First Post. <strong>In Proverbs 21:5, it said, The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.<br /></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img title="God First posts every Sunday by Loreena Yeo" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/5/3/7/3/ar123109435137358.jpg" height="114" alt="God First posts every Sunday" style="float: left;" width="125" />I begin my week here on Active Rain with my <em><a href="http://activerain.com/blogs/316teamrealty/tags/god%20first%20posts" title="God First posts on Active Rain" target="_blank"><strong>God First</strong></a></em> posts, written every Sunday once a week. My promise to you is that the messages I share will be day-to-day related, often times related to real estate. If these topics are important to you also, I'd love for you to <strong><a href="http://www.activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=13811" target="_blank">subscribe to my blog</a></strong>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #006699;">*********************************************************************************************</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">All contents are original. Consider <strong><a href="http://www.activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=13811" target="_blank">subscribing to my blog</a></strong> for more real estate commentaries. <br /> <br /><strong><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2886838&amp;loc=en_US">Subscribe via Email if you are not an Active Rain member here.</a> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/316teamrealty" target="_blank"></a>Contact: </strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/6/0/8/4/ar125303583648067.jpg" height="183" alt="" width="175" /><br /><strong>Loreena Yeo </strong><br />Realtor&reg;/ Broker of 3:16 team REALTY <br />(214) 783-2210 <br /><a href="mailto:loreena@loreenayeo.com">loreena@loreenayeo.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Check out my <strong> <a href="http://www.frisco-tx-homes.com/" target="_blank">Frisco TX Homes</a> website</strong>. <br /> The premier greater Frisco TX Homes local informational center for your one-stop real estate needs.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.frisco-tx-homes.com/frame.asp?f=mls&amp;selectedidx=" target="_blank"> Search MLS Listings</a> with no registration required.<br /> <a href="http://www.frisco-tx-homes.com/default.asp_Q_f_E_homevaluerequest_A_d_E_forms" target="_blank"> Home Value Request</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Super-serving <strong>Frisco, Plano, Dallas, McKinney, Allen, Little Elm, Prosper, Celina, Richardson, Dallas M-Streets, Dallas White Rock Lake</strong> area communities and other surrounding areas.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Copyright &copy; 2009 by Loreena Yeo (3:16 team REALTY)<br /> <strong>Effective Time Management Skills for Highly Efficient Entrepreneurs</strong></p></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:38:40 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1382512/effective-time-management-skills-for-highly-efficient-entrepreneurs http://activerain.com/blogsview/1379739/branding-your-email-address <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/4/7/6/8/ar126054447586748.gif" height="244" alt="" width="300" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>This month, I am focused on marketing ideas. I am not a marketing expert, but I have certainly learned some small tips that can make a difference. A few days ago, I wrote a post about <strong><a href="http://jcannata.activerain.com/post/1372603/are-you-prepared-for-a-random-visit-from-your-client-s-" target="_blank">being prepared for your client and their family to visit your office.</a>&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;Basically, the idea was to have a 'Fun Box' for the kids. Check out the article for further details.</p> <p>Today, I wanted to talk about Branding Your Email Address. &nbsp;I've seen more and more professionals that have email addresses like <strong>Jeff8932@hotmail.com </strong>or even&nbsp;<strong>BeautyQueen65@tx.rr.com.</strong></p> <p>Think about the image you want shown to your clients. Its much more professional to have an email like <strong>John@PowerhouseMortgage.com </strong>or <strong>Stacey@SellMyHome.com.</strong>&nbsp;And if you don't have your own domain name to set up an email address like the above, at least be creative with your Hotmail or RoadRunner email address. Something like <strong>MyAgentStacey@hotmail.com</strong>&nbsp;would be quite a step up from <strong>CouchPotato@mac.com</strong></p> <p>Sure, its a good laugh to use Couchpotato and it is easy to remember, but is that really the message you want to send them?</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:16:00 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1379739/branding-your-email-address http://activerain.com/blogsview/1378726/beware-due-to-the-new-respa-changes-effective-january-1-2010-it-will-not-be-as-easy-to-just-whip-up-a-quote- <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Disclaimer... this may seem a bit long, but its well worth the read if you are not totally familiar with the new changes that take effect January 1, 2010</strong>.</p> <p>I will tell you that I do not cover all of the changes, but I did want to touch on some important things that effect how a Loan Officer / Mortgage Broker receives compensation. The changes that are occurring January 1st due to the new RESPA/REG X guidelines are not just changes to the physical GFE Form. This post is not a RANT. I wanted to clarify something because it MAY effect your relationship with your Loan Officer.</p> <p>There have been many posts recently that discuss the changes to the Good Faith Estimate itself. Yes, that is very important because the form itself is completely different. I understand the purpose of trying to make the changes, although I do not see how its easier for the consumer. Again, this is not a rant, so I will move on to my point. I did not see many of these posts address some other important changes that will effect how a Loan Officer provides a standard quote.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li><strong>The borrower will need to know prior to loan submission whether they want to pay Discount Points (lower rate), Standard Fees (flat rate), or No Fees (higher rate). Once the GFE has been accepted, fees can not change (very little tolerance) unless there is some sort of act from God that causes the change.</strong></li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Let me explain further by first providing you with an example:</p> <p>A borrower calls in and wants a quote for a purchase. The quote is for a $300,000 loan for 30 years. The loan officer provides a few quotes, all on GFEs so the borrower can clearly see the fees, rate, and payment. The below quotes are based on the customers credit, DTI, and down payment. Here are the examples the LO uses:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>4.5% with 1% origination and 1% discount</li> <li>4.75% with 1% origination and no discount</li> <li>5% with no origination and no discount</li> <li>5.125% with no lenders fees (no orig, no discount, no processing, no underwriting, etc)</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>In today's environment</strong>, the Loan Officer can lock in the rate and move forward with one scenario. Let's say the borrower originally wanted to go with the 5% option (no orig, no discount). &nbsp;All paperwork provided to the lender would be focused on the fees and rate for a 5% rate. &nbsp;Two weeks later, the customer realized that he would receive a decent bonus check at the end of the year. So, he wants to go ahead and switch the rate to 4.5% and pay the 1% orig and 1% discount. No problem! This is an easy change. New GFE signed by borrower, new TIL, updated 1003 and 1008, and send it off to the lender for revisions. ** Please note that I am talking about going with the original fees the customer was aware one day one, not adding any additional 'non-sense' fees that were not originally discussed.</p> <p><strong>Now let's move this ahead and say the borrower calls on January 2, 2010, after the new regulation changes...</strong></p> <p>Same loan scenario, same options provided above. The customer is provided QUOTES instead of a written GFE. Once a GFE is issued, this is the GFE that is used moving forward. Knowing this, the customer has to know now which loan scenario he/she wants to move forward with. Let's again say that the borrower chooses the 5% option (no orig and no discount). Again, they call and change their mind. They want to move forward with the 4.5% and pay the discount point.</p> <p><strong>UH OH!! This is now a problem. Why? </strong>Well, I can no longer add the 1% origination fee, or a broker fee. I can however add the discount fee with no problems because the borrower changed his/her mind about the product. But any fees that go back to the broker can NOT be adjusted. Not even a little. With no origination fee, how is the broker going to get paid on the loan? &nbsp;Oh, thats right... he/she wont get paid.</p> <p>Before I tell you how the LO may handle it, let me give you the reverse scenario... Let's say the borrower originally wanted the 4.5% rate. Within that quote, the broker would disclose the YSP (Yield Spread Premium... aka 'the money the lender pays us based on rate quoted' minus any scenario deductions (LTV/FICO)). On this deal, there is not YSP because the customer is paying a Discount Point to lower the rate. When the customer calls in and wants the 5% rate with no origination and no discount point, the Loan Officer/Broker is left with ZERO YSP and ZERO Origination. So, no income for this loan.</p> <p>So, how would this be handled? First, let me clarify that I am not telling you to provide inaccurate quotes. I'm also not telling you to mislead the borrower. My first suggestion is make sure the customer has agreed to the original scenario. Don't allow the changes to take place after the file has been submitted. In most cases, the customer knows which direction they want to go. Either they pay less fees and higher rate or higher fees with the lower rate. Make the choice and then move forward.</p> <p>But if you happen to have a borrower that WANTS the option to change their minds, then you will need to over quote them. With that being said, this means that all scenarios above would quote a 1% origination and a 3% YSP. Your customer may not appreciate seeing these fees, but its the only way that the Loan Officer / Mortgage Broker will be able to ensure they get paid no matter what loan scenario the customer chooses. <strong>You may also need to use this scenario if you are FLOATING the rate</strong>. ** Just a suggestion for this specific scenario and should not be the 'norm' **</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li><strong>As for the other changes according to RESPA / REG X, they are specific to fees associated to the loan. For example, all service provider quotes only have a 10% tolerance. This includes Title, Appraisal, Survey, Inspection, etc. Anything over 10% will be paid by the broker.</strong></li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Personally, I see this change as a huge benefit. This eliminates all of the erroneous quote that I have been competing against in the past. Too often a competitor will under estimate fees to look cheaper. If that happens moving forward, the broker will have to pay the difference so the borrower is not penalized. I do feel that this change eliminates the borrower being surprised at the closing table with any/all new fees that suddenly appeared.</p> <p>If you have any questions about any of the changes above, or other changes you have heard about, feel free to contact me. The above examples are just some of the changes taking place on 1/1/2010. I felt they were important to mention as it may change how Loan Officers provide quotes moving forward.</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:37:04 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1378726/beware-due-to-the-new-respa-changes-effective-january-1-2010-it-will-not-be-as-easy-to-just-whip-up-a-quote- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1376173/are-you-the-reason-your-home-won-t-sell-sunk-cost-fallacy <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In the below post, James Barath of Benchmark Mortgage shares an article WORTH the read. Definitely a good reblog.</p> <p>If you have a homeowner that feels their house is worth more than the market value, then this is the article for you.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1375670/are-you-the-reason-your-home-won-t-sell-sunk-cost-fallacy">James K Barath, CMPS - Northwest Indiana Mortgage Planner - Benchmark Mortgage (HUD Approved Lender: 219-926-1600)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p><img title="Are You The Reason Your Home Won't Sell? Sunk Cost Fallacy" src="http://cdn-img1.imagechef.com/w/091208/samp23a06892356c72ea.jpg" height="240" alt="" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 3px;" width="240" />Yesterday, I had the opportunity to provide a free mortgage consultation to a family in Northwest Indiana who had their home listed for sale. Many things were discussed as-is par for the mortgage planning process and it was refreshing to see a home buyer take the preliminary steps to see if they were actually qualified to buy the next home.</p> <p>The focus of the mortgage consultation&nbsp;became awkward as the facts revealed that&nbsp;they needed to sell their existing home&nbsp;because they had to scale down due to financial hardship. Here was the real issue. The home had been on the market for well over 9 months and this family was fixated on getting a certain amount of money from the sale based on what they had invested into their home over the past 12 years.</p> <p>In&nbsp;my analytical nature, I tried to explain to them why they needed&nbsp;to sell sooner as opposed to later. I highlighted the pros and cons of buying and selling in today's real estate market; illustrated the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns" title="Diminishing Returns - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" target="_blank">law of diminishing returns</a>; examined the principle <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrying_cost" title="Carrying Costs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" target="_blank">of carrying costs</a>; and also expressed the potential credit nightmare ahead.</p> <p><em>Guess what? This family just did not get it.</em></p> <p>Later in the day following the consultation I&nbsp;stumbled upon an article on Bankrate.com titled "<strong><em><a href="http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/are-you-the-reason-your-home-won-t-sell-1.aspx" title="Why won't your home sell?" target="_blank">Are you the reason your home won't sell</a></em></strong>" by Marilyn Kennedy Melia. It had the answer to my clients reluctance.</p> <p>In the article, Marilyn introduced a concept called <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost" title="Sunk Costs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" target="_blank">Sunk Cost Fallacy</a></strong> which is at the heart of what behavioral finance experts declare is the irrational behavior that makes home owners hold onto a home&nbsp;when they&nbsp;know they&nbsp;really need to sell. Often times it results&nbsp;in a greater loss than is necessary.</p> <p>It is hard to believe that this type of behavior is just limited to homeowners in Northwest Indiana.</p> <p><strong>Are You The Reason Your Home Won't Sell? Sunk Cost Fallacy.</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><em></em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Five Recent Blog Posts of Interest:</em></strong></p> <ol> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1369963/don-t-buy-stuff-you-can-t-afford" title="Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford" target="_blank">Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1369160/how-to-climb-mount-google-for-free-in-5-minutes" title="How to Climb Mount Google for Free in 5 Minutes" target="_blank">How to Climb Mount Google for Free in 5 Minutes</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1367369/if-you-don-t-know-sara-bonert-you-should-" title="If You Don't Know Sara Bonert, You Should." target="_blank">If You Don't Know Sara Bonert, You Should.</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1354149/are-you-prepared-to-help-waterfront-homeowners-" target="_blank">Are You Prepared to Help Waterfront Homeowners?</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1352351/real-estate-is-cyclical-so-let-s-embrace-it">Real Estate Is Cyclical So Let's Embrace It</a></strong></li> </ol> <p><strong><em>FEATURED Blog Posts on ActiveRain:</em></strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1363532/realtors-please-stop-with-the-new-listings-" title="Realtors&amp;reg; Please Stop with the New Listings!" target="_blank">Realtors&reg;Please Stop with the New Listings!</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1352290/existing-home-sales-up-but-not-all-it-s-cracked-up-to-be-">Existing-Home Sales Up, But Not All It's Cracked Up To Be!</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1023463/how-legitimate-is-the-nar-housing-affordability-index">How Legitimate is the NAR Housing Affordability Index</a></strong></li> </ul><div class="agent_signature"><p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mybenchmarkloans.com" title="Want to Know More? Contact Us!" target="_blank"><img title="Northwest Indiana Mortgage Planner Facilitating the American Dream through Responsible Mortgage Lending Since 1999!" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/3/7/3/0/ar125544803303737.png" height="250" alt="Northwest Indiana Mortgage Planner Facilitating the American Dream through Responsible Mortgage Lending Since 1999!" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Like what you see? Fantastic! I welcome your connection at any of these online communities.</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://twitter.com/myCMPS" title="http://twitter.com/myCMPS" target="_blank"><img title="http://twitter.com/myCMPS" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/0/1/6/2/ar125478382626109.png" height="64" alt="http://twitter.com/myCMPS" width="64" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/jamesbarath" title="http://www.facebook.com/jamesbarath" target="_blank"><img title="http://www.facebook.com/jamesbarath" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/2/2/3/2/ar125478386323223.png" height="64" alt="http://www.facebook.com/jamesbarath" width="64" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://welcomehomenwi.com/" title="http://WelcomeHomeNWI.com" target="_blank"><img title="http://WelcomeHomeNWI.com" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/7/0/0/1/ar125484157710079.png" height="67" alt="http://WelcomeHomeNWI.com" width="67" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbarath" title="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbarath" target="_blank"><img src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/2/1/7/1/ar12547839117124.png" height="64" alt="http://linkedin.com/in/jamesbarath" width="64" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/WelcomeHomeNWI" title="http://feeds.feedburner.com/WelcomeHomeNWI" target="_blank"><img title="http://feeds.feedburner.com/WelcomeHomeNWI" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/1/6/9/9/ar125478395299619.png" height="64" alt="http://feeds.feedburner.com/WelcomeHomeNWI" width="64" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Looking for more specific real estate and mortgage advice for Northwest Indiana and/or the greater Chicago land area please visit my <a href="http://welcomehomenwi.com/" title="http://WelcomeHomeNWI.com" target="_blank">Welcome Home NWI</a> website at <a href="http://welcomehomenwi.com/" title="http://WelcomeHomeNWI.com" target="_blank">www.WelcomeHomeNWI.com</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Need more expert advice? Ask the team of <a href="http://www.mybenchmarkmtg.com/contactus" title="Contact Benchmark Mortgage Today!" target="_blank">Certified Mortgage Planners at Benchmark Mortgage</a>.</p></div></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:37:40 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1376173/are-you-the-reason-your-home-won-t-sell-sunk-cost-fallacy http://activerain.com/blogsview/1372603/are-you-prepared-for-a-random-visit-from-your-client-s- <p><strong>Are you prepared for a client to visit you all of a sudden?</strong>&nbsp;I'm not just talking about someone that just shows up at your office, but that is certainly one situation. I'm talking about a client that wanted to stop by for a few minutes to discuss a home they noticed or the loan documents you asked for. <strong>How prepared are you and your office to have such a visit?</strong></p> <p><img title="TOY BOX" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/2/4/0/4/ar126020731440421.gif" height="178" alt="" width="175" style="float: right;" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Maybe you keep a neat office, so this isn't an issue for you. But let's take it a step further. <strong>How about if your client(s) brought the rest of the family? </strong>If you want to be sure that your client(s) is not distracted, its best to have something in your office for children. <strong>Having a 'play box' in your office is a start.</strong> Fill the box with things like these:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Crayons</li> <li>Coloring Books</li> <li>Toy Cars</li> <li>Dolls ('action figures' for the boys)</li> <li>Puzzles</li> <li>Crosswords</li> <li>etc.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Do they have older kids? </strong>It doesn't hurt to have a Nintendo DS (or similar hand held game system) and a few games. A good used Nintendo DS can be picked up at a GameStop, or local game store. They are pretty inexpensive and come with a charger. Plus while you are there, you can pick up a few games. It does not have to be expensive and you may have this stuff lying around your house already.</p> <p><strong>It will help keep the kids occupied while you and your client(s) talk about business</strong><strong>. Plus your client(s) will appreciate the extra thought.</strong></p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:36:02 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1372603/are-you-prepared-for-a-random-visit-from-your-client-s- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1371962/-tis-the-season-holiday-selling-tips <p> <p>Did you get a chance to read this post from Debe? It was a featured post, so you may have. Its good timing considering homeowners are decorating for the holidays and may still be very interested in selling their home.</p> <p>Have you spoken to them about how to decorate their home during this time? Here are a few tips.</p> </p> <div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1369884/-tis-the-season-holiday-selling-tips">Debe Maxwell, Realtor® - Charlotte NC MLS - Charlotte NC Neighborhoods (Helen Adams Realty)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><h3 style="color: #990000;"><big><big>'Tis the Season: &nbsp;Selling During the Holidays</big></big><br /></h3> <h3 style="color: #990000;"><img title="'Tis the Season to Sell Your Home" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/0/5/0/2/ar126003593820505.jpg" id="debe" height="200" alt="'Tis the Season to Sell Your Home" style="margin: 10px; float: right;" width="200" /></h3> <h3 style="color: #990000;"><big><big><br /></big></big></h3> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><big><big><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">During the holiday season,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>the focus for many turns to home and family. &nbsp;Many buyers cease searching for a new home during this time; however, there are many others who have no choice--they must continue their search because of job transfers, family changes or relocation. &nbsp;Due to the fact that many sellers feel that during this holiday season, they would prefer not to be 'disturbed,' they will temporarily remove their homes from the market until after the first of the year.</big></big></p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><img title="Place a simple wreath on your front door" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/4/2/0/0/ar126003603100248.jpg" id="debe" height="412" alt="Place a simple wreath on your front door" style="margin: 10px; float: left;" width="275" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><big><big><span style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">I recommend that my sellers remain on the market during this time if at all possible.</span> &nbsp;The reason--there is far less competition. &nbsp;Yes, there are fewer buyers but, the competition is far less and you've got a better chance of selling during this season than waiting for the spring's flood of new listings.</span></big></big></p> <p><big><big><br style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;" /><br style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;" /><span style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">Consider this--</span>holiday festivities are a breeze at your home that is on the market during this season because you have already done the work to constantly keep your home in showing order to be prepared for a showing at a moment's notice. &nbsp;Your efforts to reach out to potential buyers could pay off during this challenging time!</span></big></big></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><big><big><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">When your home offers the features and amenities. location and price that a potential buyer is looking for, you are more likely to sell it quickly in the winter than waiting for the spring or summer buying seasons.</span> &nbsp;Your home may very well be looking its best this time of year. &nbsp;Here are some tips for setting the stage for your holiday listing:</big></big></p> <ol style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"> <li><img title="Simple, Classy Holiday Decorations" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/5/2/4/4/ar126003614244258.jpg" id="debe" height="134" alt="Simple, classy holiday decorations" style="margin: 10px; float: right;" width="200" /><big><big>Adorn your front door with a <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">festive wreath</span>.<br /><br /></big></big></li> <li><big><big>Place a <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">fresh welcome mat</span> at the front door.<br /><br /></big></big></li> <li><big><big><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">Minimize your holiday decorations</span>--tastefully selected decorations will give the buyer a 'warm' feeling but, not distract their eyes from your home, which is what you want to ultimately <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">sell</span></span>.<br /><br /></big></big><img title="Simple, Classy Holiday Decorations" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/6/8/0/4/ar126003627040867.jpg" id="debe" height="133" alt="Simple, classy holiday decorations" style="margin: 10px 20px; float: left;" width="200" /><br /><br /></li> <li><big><big><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">Remove furniture to accomodate your decorations</span>--you don't want your home to appear smaller than it is because you've tucked a small tree in the corner and pushed your furniture together to accomodate that tree.<br /><br /><br /><br /></big></big><img title="Appeal to the buyers' sense of smell" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/5/6/5/ar126003637056512.jpg" id="debe" height="266" alt="Appeal to the buyers' sense of smell" style="margin: 10px; float: right;" width="200" /><br /><br /></li> <li><big><big><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">Holiday scents</span> will make your home seem warm and welcoming--consider boiling an apple slice and a stick of cinnamon just before a showing. &nbsp;You can store your boiling pot in the refrigerator for several days for re-use.<br /><br /></big></big></li> <li><big><big>If you're only stepping out of the home for the agents to show, leave it toasty with <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">a fire in the fireplace</span>. &nbsp;Do not leave your home unattended with a fire burning though!<br /><br /></big></big></li> <li><big><big>Because winter months can be dreary because of the weather, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">raise your blinds and leave the lights on</span>.<br /><br /><br /></big></big><img title="Simple, Classy Holiday Decorations" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/6/3/2/7/ar126003653872362.jpg" id="debe" height="262" alt="Simple, classy holiday decorations" style="margin: 10px 25px; float: left;" width="200" /><br /><big><big><br /></big></big></li> <li><big><big>Do not over-decorate--all buyers do not celebrate the holidays in the same manner that you do so, give your home a warm feeling but, don't overdo it.<br /><br /></big></big></li> <li><big><big>Leave your <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">stereo playing classical or jazz music softly</span> during showings.<br /><br /></big></big></li> <li><big><big>As you leave your home for showings, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">ask yourself if you've appealed to all senses</span>: &nbsp;visual, smell and sound. &nbsp;You may even want leave them <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">cookies</span> to appeal to their sense of taste!<br /></big></big></li> </ol> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><big><big><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">Other holiday incentives</span> you can offer:</big></big></p> <ul style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"> <li><big><big> If you can cover the buyer&rsquo;s <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">closing costs</span>, or a portion thereof, you may attract potential buyers to your home by advertising this information.</big></big></li> <li><big><big>Offer a &ldquo;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">decorating allowance</span>&rdquo; for purchasing your home during the winter months.&nbsp;</big></big></li> </ul> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><img title="Simple, Classy Holiday Decorations" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/8/9/6/6/ar126003661766987.jpg" id="debe" height="134" alt="Simple, classy holiday decorations" style="margin: 10px; float: right;" width="200" /><big><big></big></big></p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><big><big>Keep in mind that when you place or leave your home on the market during the winter holiday season, people rarely &ldquo;browse&rdquo; for homes during this time of year. <span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; color: #990000;">The potential buyers who do visit your home are serious about buying and are often in a hurry to do so.</span></big></big></p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Cambria; color: #000066;"><big><big>The equation is simple: &nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: #990000;">Serious buyers +&nbsp; tastefully done festive d&eacute;cor = you, well on the way to selling your home!</span> &nbsp;'Tis the season!</big></big></p><div class="agent_signature"><p><img title="Debe in Charlotte" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/8/4/0/1/ar12536389310483.png" height="47" alt="Debe in Charlotte" width="89" style="margin: 10px;" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/DebeinCharlotte" title="Subscribe to my Active Rain Blog" target="_blank"><img title="Subscribe to My Active Rain Blog" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/0/2/2/9/ar125363953292207.png" height="46" alt="subscribe to my Active Rain Blog" width="169" style="margin: 10px;" /></a>&nbsp; <a title="Email Me!" target="_blank"><img title="Email me" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/1/0/8/1/ar125363957418011.png" height="50" alt="Email me" width="158" style="margin: 10px;" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.SoldByDebe.com" title="Shop for Homes for Sale in Charlotte NC" target="_blank"><img title="Search Charlotte NC MLS" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/2/6/2/6/ar125363960062629.png" height="49" alt="Search Charlotte NC MLS" width="168" style="margin: 10px;" /></a> &nbsp; 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text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:40:11 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1371962/-tis-the-season-holiday-selling-tips http://activerain.com/blogsview/1370166/merry-main-street-frisco-texas-don-t-miss-the-fun- <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; color: #ff0000;">&nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/4/9/9/1/ar126005179119941.png" height="220" alt="" width="150" style="float: left;" /><span style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; color: #ff0000;">19^th ANNUAL MERRY MAIN STREET</span></span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px;">The City of Frisco Texas has put together a fantastic evening once again, which of course it topped off with the official Tree Lighting Ceremony @ 6 pm.<span>&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><strong>Festivities start at the event at 5 pm until 9 pm.</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>For your convenience, shuttle busses will be running from 4:30 &ndash; 9:30 from Pizza Hut Park, but the actual events will be happening across the street at Frisco Square.<span>&nbsp; </span>Did I mention the tree lighting at 6:00 pm?<span>&nbsp; </span>I just want to be sure you make it there on time. Every year, the tree is lit up with beautiful lights and decorations.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>If you have never been, you will also catch the light show which consists of lights through out Frisco Square which plays to some wonderful Christmas Music.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>And if that is not enough, Listen to the Beautiful sound of Frisco elementary school choirs on three different stages all evening.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>OF COURSE SANTA WILL BE THERE! He is taking time out of his very busy schedule to take some photo&rsquo;s with children and usually he brings some of his reindeer as well.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>So&hellip; bring your camera, wear a thick coat, and be ready for an evening of fun.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><strong>You still are not convenced?</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Perhaps some of these other items will change your mind&hellip;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: Symbol;">&middot;<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span>Snowflake Light Show</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: Symbol;">&middot;<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span>Holiday Treats</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: Symbol;">&middot;<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span>Santa&rsquo;s Workshop</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: Symbol;">&middot;<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span>Frisco Express Train Rides</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: Symbol;">&middot;<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span>Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: Symbol;">&middot;<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span>And hey&hellip; don&rsquo;t forget about the LIVE Reindeer</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><strong>I&rsquo;m looking forward to see you all out there. If you recognize me, please do say HELLO!</strong></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:26:13 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1370166/merry-main-street-frisco-texas-don-t-miss-the-fun- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1368442/today-is-a-great-day-it-s-my-15th-wedding-anniversary <p style="text-align: center;">Today is my 15th Wedding Anniversary. Thought I'd share a little story about how my wife and I got married.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img title="Happy Anniversary" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/5/0/1/1/ar125994568311055.jpg" height="217" alt="" width="422" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: #339966;"><strong>Happy 15^th Anniversary to us.</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: #339966;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong>Our story goes back 15 years with no engagement, completely unplanned, and very memorable.</strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="color: blue;"><strong>Are you thinking VEGAS??</strong></span><strong> </strong>&hellip; you may be right but keep reading. I&rsquo;ll just provide some basic highlights because this could be a very long story otherwise.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img title="weather" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/6/8/7/7/ar125994980977868.gif" height="151" alt="" width="150" style="float: left;" /></span>It was a Saturday Morning, December 3^rd, 1994 in Simi Valley, California</strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">. <span style="color: blue;"><strong>No, we didn&rsquo;t get married on this day so I didn&rsquo;t forget my anniversary but this is when the trip started</strong></span><strong>.</strong><span>&nbsp; </span>Anyway, it had been raining a little North of us and we though it would be fun to see if any snow fell in the mountains about 2 hours away. Heck we were in our early 20s, no kids, and hardly any real responsibilities&hellip;. don&rsquo;t you miss those days sometimes?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Well, after 2 hours of driving, we came up empty. No snow. We probably should have known because California hardly gets any snow unless you are further North. Plus we didn&rsquo;t watch the weather channel. Now its one of our favorites. <strong>Does that make us old?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">We didn&rsquo;t want the entire weekend to be wasted so discussed a further road trip. As long as we were back by Monday morning for work, we should be good to go. If you guessed Vegas earlier, you would be right. Vegas was only 3 &frac12; - 4 hours further and we had already traveled 2 hours&hellip;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img title="Wrong Way" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/9/4/8/1/ar125995007118491.jpg" height="118" alt="" width="175" style="float: right;" /></span>Have you ever taken a trip to Vegas from California?</strong> It&rsquo;s pretty much <strong>one road for a long time&hellip;.unless you make a wrong turn</strong>. I did just that. I was one block off from where we should have turned. Hey, I didn&rsquo;t make this trip often, how was I supposed to know?? We ended up driving through a place called &ldquo;Desert Valley&rdquo; AKA &lsquo;a whole lotta nothing&rsquo;. What should have taken 4 hours, ended up taking us a little over 8 hours. The good thing was that we could turn off the car lights and see every single star in the universe, which was beautiful. Plus we were still &lsquo;wooing&rsquo; each other, so it was a good chance to stop and admire the view as though I did that all the time. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span>J</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">By the time we hit Vegas, it was about 11:30. We traveled the strip a little but were really tired from the long trip. We found a nice place to stay just off of the strip and figured we would wake up and do some gambling.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The next morning (December 4^th, 1994 for those of you keeping track at home) we got up and headed out for<span>&nbsp; </span>day of gambling.<span>&nbsp; </span><strong>I was WINNING&hellip;</strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><strong>They have a game called ATM and I was hitting all the right numbers</strong></span>&hellip; well for a little while anyway.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><img title="ATM Machine" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/2/5/3/4/ar12599501743521.jpg" height="133" alt="" width="200" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">While driving to Vegas, we joked about getting married but only if my wife asked me. It was all in fun, after all we had only been dating for a little less than 6 months. But this joke really became serious to me during our trip because <span style="color: blue;"><strong>I had actually known 5 months prior that this beautiful woman would make me very happy</strong></span>. While driving to our next ATM &hellip; okay I don&rsquo;t actually remember where we were headed, but we were still in Vegas&hellip; I pulled over, stepped to my wife&rsquo;s side of the car (of course she kept saying &ldquo;what are you doing&hellip; what are you doing&rdquo;). I got down on one knee and proposed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">She laughed at first because we had been joking about it, until she realized I was serious. Luckily for me, she said YES. I hadn&rsquo;t been in that situation before, <span style="color: blue;"><strong>I can only imagine its not very pleasant to hear &ldquo;ummm&hellip; I don&rsquo;t think so but thanks&rdquo;</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">We drove to the nearest pawn shop (yes&hellip; a pawn shop) and picked out 2 gold rings with a few small diamonds. It could be seen as bad luck because clearly these rings didn&rsquo;t work for another couple, but we have been going strong for 15 years now and added two great kids into the mix (12 and 11). Anyway, we went to the court house to get our license and then to the &lsquo;Chapel next to the Courthouse&rsquo;. I&rsquo;m still convinced that was the official name, but my wife says it was just a sign that told us it was next to the courthouse.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Keep in mind, we were not really prepared for this ceremony. My wife&rsquo;s hair was in a ponytail and we were both in shorts. It was not a pretty site by any means, but we didn&rsquo;t care.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">On the way home, we decided to take the right route so it only took us 4 hours to get back. Long story short (is it too late to say that?) it was an odd trip that ended up shaping the wonderful life and family I have today.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><img title="Yacht" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/8/6/7/5/ar125995044057686.jpg" height="151" alt="" width="219" style="float: left;" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong>A year and a half later, we got married again on a yacht in Marina Del Rey, California (April 29, 1995). </strong>This time we were surrounded by 50 of our friends and family. We fed them, liquored them up, and played some music. It was another great day filled with so many memories.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong>If you stuck around to the end of the story, THANK YOU and I hope you enjoyed our trip.</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:17:42 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1368442/today-is-a-great-day-it-s-my-15th-wedding-anniversary http://activerain.com/blogsview/1363689/don-t-forget-the-original-social-media <p> <p>Do you follow JL Boney? If not, you should. He often will post about things that should really be a 'no brainer', but its done as a friendly reminder.</p> <p>The below post was written to remind us&nbsp;about the original 'Social Media'. Get away from your computer and meet with people. Remember this is a people business. People can meet you through your blogs and get to know you, so the message isn't 'don't blog'. The message is to make sure to add some face time with your sphere.</p> <p>Enjoy!</p> </p> <div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1359516/don-t-forget-the-original-social-media">JL Boney, III Columbia, SC Real Estate (Russell and Jeffcoat)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p><img title="Columbia, SC Real Estate" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/0/9/1/1/ar125951522811906.jpg" height="170" alt="Columbia, SC Real Estate" style="float: left; margin: 5px; border: black 3px solid;" width="170" /></p> <p>&nbsp; <strong>During this day and age of faster than light Internet connections and so many places to maintain your Internet presence, it would be easy to lock yourself up in a little room and work on your laptop forever. </strong>There are countless sites that you can join, most are even free, that will help you stay in front of millions of potential clients and customers through the use of Social Media.</p> <p>&nbsp;<strong>Without a doubt it's here to stay in one form or fashion, and more and more people are making use of it. </strong>I got friend request on Facebook a couple months ago from my Mother, so now I know that everyone truly is on there. I would think that any or all of these places, provided you use them correctly, can be an excellent addition to your business plan and marketing strategy. After all, you do want to go where the people go and obviously for now, the people are interested in Social Media.</p> <p><img title="Columbia, SC Real Estate" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/5/9/4/4/ar125951558844959.jpg" height="128" alt="Columbia, SC Real Estate" style="float: right; margin: 5px; border: black 3px solid;" width="170" /></p> <p>&nbsp;<strong>But in the process of maintaining that online presence, try to remember the original Social Media. </strong>Actually going out in the public and meeting people. Your website is a fantastic form of advertising, so is your blog and anything else that you may have in your arsenal. But nothing will represent you better than yourself.</p> <p>&nbsp;<strong>So don't forget to make the most of opportunities to go to parties or get togethers and actually meet people in person. </strong>Some of the best friend requests you'll ever make consists of walking up to a stranger and introducing yourself with a handshake.</p><div class="agent_signature"><p>______________________________________________________________________________________________________</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>JL Boney, III - Columbia, SC Realtor - Russell and Jeffcoat Realtors</strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;I specialize in <strong>Columbia, SC real estate </strong>and the surrounding areas, including Blythewood, SC, Kershaw County, Fairfield County, and Lexington, SC. If you are in the market to buy or sell a home in Columbia, SC or any of the surrounding areas, I would love the opportunity to speak with to see how I can help. Thanks for reading and feel free to contact me if I can be of service to you.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Office- 803-788-1450&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cell- 803-730-9601&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Email- <a href="mailto:jlboney@russellandjeffcoat.com">jlboney@russellandjeffcoat.com</a> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.jlboney.com" title="Columbia SC real estate" target="_blank">My Columbia SC Real Estate Website</a> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.columbiascrealesateblog.com" title="Columbia SC real estate Blog" target="_blank">My Columbia, SC Real Estate Blog</a></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jlboney.com/columbiascrealestateblog.html">www.jlboney.com/columbiascrealestateblog.html</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="http://www.activerain.com/blogs/jlboney/rss">www.activerain.com/blogs/jlboney/rss</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=JlBoneysColumbiaScRealEstateBlog&amp;loc=en_US">Subscribe to JL Boney's Columbia SC Real Estate Blog by Email</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.lakeportsc.com" title="Lake Murray SC Homes For Sale" target="_blank">Lake Murray SC Homes for Sale</a></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.rockbridgevillage.com" title="Forest Acres SC Homes For Sale" target="_blank">Forest Acres SC Homes for Sale</a></strong></p></div></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:17:21 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1363689/don-t-forget-the-original-social-media http://activerain.com/blogsview/1357818/foto-friday-my-favorite-costume-from-halloween-2009 <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/0/7/1/1/ar125938033611701.jpg" height="400" alt="" width="300" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>This costume was my favorite from this past year. The boy (yes boy) belongs to my neighbor. They purchased this old lady costume and made some alterations...&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>This poor Old Lady is missing her little dog... have you seen this little dog????</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Luckily.. she was able to locate the puppy after a few hours. &nbsp;<strong>PHEW!!!</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Personally, I hadnt seen a costume like this. Maybe its quite popular, but it cracked me up.<img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/6/3/4/1/ar125938041014369.jpg" height="400" alt="" width="300" style="float: right;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:56:36 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1357818/foto-friday-my-favorite-costume-from-halloween-2009 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1356622/a-little-late-but-happy-thanksgiving- <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/8/2/7/6/ar125929606567287.jpg" height="244" alt="" width="325" style="float: left;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Its a little late in the evening, but I realized I had not wished my pals here in ActiveRain a <strong>VERY Happy Thanksgiving</strong> holiday!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;">We spent the afternoon and early evening at my sister-in-laws as we do each year. She supplies the Turkey, stuffing, and some other goodies. We supply most of the starchy side dishes... mashed potatoes, corn souffle, yams, etc.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">The whole afternoon was wonderful and <strong>the meal was FANTASTIC!</strong> &nbsp;This year was the first year with our newest family members (my brother and sister in law<strong> adopted 3 children in June</strong> and it was finalized just last week.... I'll be blogging more about them a little later).</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong>I hope you had a fantastic turkey day (or what ever you choose to eat).</strong></p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:30:26 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1356622/a-little-late-but-happy-thanksgiving- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1336207/2009-frisco-community-parade-november-14th <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>2009 Frisco Community Parade</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;">It happens each year around this time, both Residents and Non-Residents come out and support our community parade. The <strong>parade&nbsp;r</strong><strong>oute will begin at Pizza Hut Park and head Eastbound down Main Street through Downtown Frisco.</strong> The parade<strong> starts at 11:00 am</strong>, but don't get there at 10:45 or else you don't get good seats. Streets between World Cup Way and Dogwood Street will be closed between 9:30 am and 1:30 to allow residence to set up and to prepare for the parade itself.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Here are some great photos from 2008 <em>** Please note that these are not my photos **</em>:</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img title="unclesam_ladyliberty" class="size-medium wp-image-193" src="http://friscoparade.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/unclesam_ladyliberty-300x197.jpg" height="197" alt="Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam make a patriotic addition to the parade" width="300" />&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<img title="frisco-garden-club2" class="size-medium wp-image-213" src="http://friscoparade.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/frisco-garden-club2-300x200.jpg" height="200" alt="The Frisco Garden Club's Blossoming Entry" width="300" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img title="mayor_fire-engine1" class="size-medium wp-image-191" src="http://friscoparade.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mayor_fire-engine1-175x300.jpg" height="300" alt="Mayor and Mrs. Maher Maso, Mayor Pro Tem Tony Felker and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Joy West ride in style high above the crowd" width="175" />&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<img title="centennial-hs-sweethearts-drill-team" class="size-medium wp-image-216" src="http://friscoparade.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/centennial-hs-sweethearts-drill-team-300x200.jpg" height="200" alt="Centannial High School Sweethearts" width="300" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Come on out and celebrate our Frisco Texas!</strong></p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:24:27 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1336207/2009-frisco-community-parade-november-14th http://activerain.com/blogsview/1336072/faq-s-on-the-new-tax-credit-programs-for-homebuyers <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I personally have not done a post about the enhanced/extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, but Gary W. put together a good list of FAQs that I thought I'd share.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1333010/faq-s-on-the-new-tax-credit-programs-for-homebuyers">Gary Woltal - Associate Broker REALTOR® Dallas Ft. Worth (Keller Williams Realty)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p><img src="http://www.gwoltal.myfastmail.com/files/Home%20Buyer%20New%20House" height="675" alt="Home Buyer New House" style="float: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" width="400" />Much has been written on the extension of the first time homebuyer tax credit and the credit for existing homeowners. A few frequently asked questions with answers to go along with all of that:</p> <p><strong>Question: Existing homeowner credit: Must the new house cost more than the old house?</strong></p> <p><em>Answer: No. Thus, for example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who </em><em>meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6500 credit.</em></p> <p><em>&nbsp;</em></p> <p><strong>Question: I am an existing homeowner. On October 25, 2009, I signed a contract to purchase a </strong><strong>new home. I have lived in my current home for more than 5 consecutive years and </strong><strong>am within the new income limits. I will go to settlement on November 20. &nbsp;If </strong><strong>President Obama has signed the bill by the time I go to settlement, will I qualify for </strong><strong>the new $6500 tax credit?</strong></p> <p><em>Answer: Yes. The existing homeowner credit goes into effect for purchases after the date of enactment </em><em>(when the bill is signed). There is no reference to the date of contract for the new credit. The </em><em>provision looks solely to the date of purchase, which is generally the date of settlement.</em></p> <p><strong>Question: I am a first time homebuyer but was not within the prior income limits at the time I </strong><strong>entered into my contract to purchase on October 30, 2009. I will be covered, </strong><strong>however, by the new income limits. If the new rules have been signed into law by the </strong><strong>time I go to settlement, will I be eligible for a credit?</strong></p> <p><em>Answer: Yes. The new income limitations go into effect as soon as the President has signed the bill.</em></p> <p><em>The income limit and other eligibility rules will look to your status as of the date of purchase,</em></p> <p><em>which is the settlement date. So if the new rules have been signed when you go to settlement,</em></p> <p><em>you should be eligible for the credit (or a portion of the credit if you're within the phase-out</em></p> <p><em>range).</em></p> <p><em>&nbsp;</em></p> <p><strong>Question: I am an eligible existing homeowner. I have a fair amount of equity in my home. I </strong><strong>have found a home with a non-negotiable price of $825,000. Will I be able to use any </strong><strong>of the $6500 tax credit?</strong></p> <p><em>Answer: No. The $800,000 cap on the cost of the purchased home is firm at $800,000. Any amount</em></p> <p><em>above $800,000 makes the home ineligible for any portion of the credit. The $800,000 is an</em></p> <p><em>absolute ceiling.</em></p> <p><em>&nbsp;</em></p> <p><strong>Question: I owned my home for 10 years, but sold it two years ago year and have been renting </strong><strong>since. If I purchase a home, will I be eligible for the $6500 tax credit if I meet all the </strong><strong>other eligibility tests?</strong></p> <p><em>Answer: Yes. Because you lived in the home for more than 5 consecutive years of the previous 8, you</em></p> <p><em>will qualify for the $6500 credit. For example, Say John and his wife bought a home in 2000</em></p> <p><em>and lived there until 2008 when he got a divorce. Whether John has been renting or bought in</em></p> <p><em>the interim, he WOULD INDEED be eligible for the credit because he owned a home and</em></p> <p><em>occupied it as his principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years. The</em></p> <p><em>keyword here is "consecutive." As long as he lived in that house for 5 years straight what he</em></p> <p><em>did since 3 years doesn't impact eligibility.</em></p> <p><em>&nbsp;</em></p> <p><strong>Question: I am an eligible first-time homebuyer. I entered into a contract to purchase on </strong><strong>November 1, 2009. Do I have to go to closing before December 1? How does the </strong><strong>extension date affect me?</strong></p> <p><em>Answer: You do not have to close before December 1. Once the legislation has been signed, it will be as</em></p> <p><em>if the Nov 30 date had never existed. Therefore, so long as the contract settles before April 30</em></p> <p><em>(or July 1, worst case), the purchaser will be eligible for the credit.</em></p></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:16:23 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1336072/faq-s-on-the-new-tax-credit-programs-for-homebuyers http://activerain.com/blogsview/1324422/chunk-your-junk-in-frisco-texas-saturday-november-7th-2009 <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/2/4/1/0/ar12575520401428.jpg" height="286" alt="" width="250" style="float: right;" />It's time for <strong>Chunk Your Junk</strong> in Frisco Texas, this Saturday November 7th from 8 am to 12 pm.</p> <p>Do you&nbsp; have things at your home that you just can't throw away? Once a month you have an opportunity to <strong>Chunk Your Junk</strong>. This includes appliances, chemicals, fencing, yard waste, and much more. For a more detailed list of what is allowable, go to <a href="http://www.friscotexas.gov/communication/press/Pages/TimetoChunkYourJunkthisFall.aspx" target="_blank"><strong>their website</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <p>To <strong>Chunk Your Junk</strong> in Frisco Texas, go to 6616 Walnut Street between 8:00 am and 12:00 pm. Don't forget to bring your Driver's License and a current water bill.</p> <p>If you are unable to make it to <strong>Chunk Your Junk</strong>, you can call Texas Waste Management and see what is allowable in your weekly trash. They can also schedule a one time pick up of certain items. Last year, we got rid of a 52 inch television and a mini fridge.</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:03:22 -0600 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1324422/chunk-your-junk-in-frisco-texas-saturday-november-7th-2009 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1308830/determining-your-budget-how-much-money-do-you-need-to-buy-a-home-in-texas- <p><strong>How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a Home in Texas? &nbsp;<span style="font-weight: normal;">First and foremost, you should not just focus on the down payment, although that's not a bad place to start. When you <a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/" target="_blank"><strong>contact a Mortgage Consultant</strong></a>, they will typically walk you through a few scenarios and help you determine which type of loan is best for your financial situation.</span></strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>When buying a home, you need to consider the following cash factors:</em></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li><strong>Down payment</strong> - min. 3.5% FHA or min 5% Conventional of the purchase price</li> <li><strong>Earnest money</strong> -usually requested by the seller, but overall will be deducted as part of the transaction</li> <li><strong>Hazard Insurance</strong>&nbsp;- typically, insurance companies require the first year to be paid upfront</li> <li><strong>Closing Costs &amp; Pre-paid Expenses</strong> - Displayed on the Good Faith Estimate which is provided by a Mortgage Consultant. <ul> <li><em>Lender Costs</em></li> <li><em>Title Costs</em></li> <li><em>Pre-paid items </em>- 2 to 3 months worth of hazard insurance/tax reserves</li> <li><em>Mortgage Insurance Premium</em> - Can be financed into the loan</li> <li>Can negotiate with the seller to pay for some/all of the closing costs (speak with your Real Estate Agent)</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Reserves</strong>&nbsp;- 2 to 3 months worth of cash reserves, after all costs above are paid.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>As you can see, there are many factors to consider when buying a home in Texas. </strong>The exact amount needed to close can fluctuate depending on the loan amount, property taxes, and hazard insurance plan. For an accurate breakdown of what fees to expect, <a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/" target="_blank"><strong>contact your local Mortgage Consultant.</strong></a></p> <p>These items should be determined before you make an offer on a home. Part of your offer will include the request for the seller to pay for some of the closing costs. Without knowing the closing costs, it makes it harder to request the exact amount (although it can be done).</p> <p><strong>Have you hired a Real Estate Agent?</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;Watch for my upcoming post which will help you narrow down your search for a Real Estate Agent in your area. If you are in the market and need a few suggestions, feel free to contact me directly as I can assist you with finding a Real Estate Agent anywhere in the state of Texas.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:31:10 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1308830/determining-your-budget-how-much-money-do-you-need-to-buy-a-home-in-texas- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1303921/should-your-life-stop-just-because-you-re-buying-a-home-in-short-yes- <p><strong>Should your life stop just because you're buying a home?</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;Truthfully, you never know what affect actions you take today will have on the mortgage you apply for. Even if you don't plan on refinancing or purchasing for another three to six months from now.</p> <p>Something as simple as transferring money from your savings to your checking account can create hassles in the mortgage process. I know it may seem a bit much, but lenders are paying closer attention to mortgage transactions today. Sure, the transfer of money seems simple enough.. and maybe it is. But when lenders see a large sum of money transferred into an account, they want a paper trail to know where the money came from and be sure that all accounts balance.</p> <p>There are at least <strong>six things that should be avoided when purchasing a home or refinancing</strong> your existing mortgage.&nbsp;<strong>Even if you are already </strong><a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/AreYouPre-Approved" target="_blank"><strong>'pre-approved'</strong></a>, you should wait until the loan has closed<strong>.</strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/1/6/1/7/ar125657397071611.jpg" height="94" alt="" width="100" style="float: left;" /></span></strong></p> <p><strong>Buying, Leasing, or Refinancing a Car - </strong>Many people are inclined to 'improve their social standing' by purchasing a car and buying a home at the same time (yes, this includes leasing a vehicle). There's nothing wrong with the concept itself, but buying the car before buying a home can affect what the lender determines you can afford for a home. Since a car is such a big ticket item, it can greatly raise your<a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/Debt-to-IncomeRatios" target="_blank"><strong> debt-to-income ratio,</strong></a> which lenders use to determine the amount of home you can afford. Ultimately, it will affect how much home you can purchase. Refinancing your automobile can affect your credit scores. Even though you are probably lowering your payments, the refinanced loan is considered new debt when calculating your credit score.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/7/6/0/0/ar125657406900675.jpg" height="113" alt="" width="150" style="float: right;" />Becoming Self-Employed or changing jobs - </strong>Either of these could have a negative impact on your loan application and overall approval. In most cases, lenders want to see at least 2 years of self-employment. Keep in mind that this means 2 years worth of tax returns, which really means you probably have to be self-employed for more than 2 years in order to provide a full 2 years worth of returns. ** also, income is determined based on the 'Adjusted Gross Income' (after your deductions) ** Wait until after buying a home to become self-employed.</p> <p>Changing jobs to a 'sales' environment is also risky while you are considering a home purchase. Even though the position you accept is not considered 'self-employment' is it still sales based. If you were receiving a salary prior to your new 'sales' job then you will need to show 2 years worth of sales income. Being in a sales position has similar considerations as being self-employed.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/0/2/4/4/ar125657415144205.jpg" height="150" alt="" width="150" style="float: left;" /></span>Moving Money Between Accounts - </strong>I mentioned this in an example above. When a lenders underwrites your loan to determine your eligibility, they will request complete statements (yes, even the blank pages) from your accounts that contain liquid assets. When you move money around between these accounts, especially if they are large amounts, you will have withdrawals in some and deposits in others. The lender will want to see documentation for these transactions. Most people do not keep all of this paperwork, so it's much easier to leave the money in the accounts until after you have purchased or refinanced your home.</p> <p><strong>Change Banks - </strong>This pretty much ranks up there with 'moving money'. It just creates additional paperwork for you and the lender. The more paperwork, the more likely issues could arise for your home purchase. Not only could there be questions/concerns from the lender, but it could cause unnecessary delays in closing your loan. Stay with your current bank until the mortgage process is complete.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><br /><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/4/1/9/9/ar125657434599149.png" height="64" alt="" width="145" style="float: right;" />Make a Large Purchase - </strong>A large purchase is not just about a car or boat. Now that you are moving into a bigger place, you will probably want to fill it with furniture... and that <strong><em>'One Year Same As Cash'</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">&nbsp;deal sounds really tempting. Resist the urge to purchase that new sofa set until after you have obtained the mortgage. Again, this is for two reasons. First, it could affect <a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/YourFICOscore" target="_blank">your credit scores</a> and <a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/Debt-to-IncomeRatios" target="_blank">debt-to-income ratios</a>. Secondly, remember that you are not done buying a home until the loan closes. There are no guarantees until that happens. Unfortunately, there are a number of things that could happen which results in a declined loan application. Contact your local <a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/Home" target="_blank"><strong>mortgage professional</strong></a> to help you avoid any costly mistakes.</span></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/2/3/7/2/ar125657445127324.jpg" height="98" alt="" width="110" style="float: left;" /></span></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Apply For a Credit Card - </strong>Although this is the last item I mentioned, this is equally as important. The new credit card won't hurt your credit score too badly if you already have good credit, but it will cause the to question your financial stability for buying a home. For the time being, don't apply for no interest credit cards or department stores. After you are settled into your new home, there will be plenty of time for shopping.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In summary, when you are buying a home or refinancing your current mortgage, it is best to stay away from anything that will look as though you don't have your finances under control. The items above are just a few examples that could cause such a determination.</p> <p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:39:19 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1303921/should-your-life-stop-just-because-you-re-buying-a-home-in-short-yes- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1300531/foto-friday-my-first-attempt-and-lots-of-iphone-photos-to-share <p>This is my first 'Foto Friday'. I've thought about sharing pictures before and thought today would be a good day. I needed a little 'Pick Me Up" today and pictures of family and friends seem to always do the trick.</p> <p>I'll warn you that these photos are not as good as the ones taken from <a href="http://activerain.com/pauls4you" target="_blank"><strong>Paul Henderson</strong></a> or <strong><a href="http://activerain.com/radnorlake" target="_blank">Michael Thornton</a></strong> (If you love photo's and do not subscribe to them, I strongly urge you to). But they are moments in my life over the past 2 years or so that I've been able to capture on my iPhone. The iPhone takes pretty good photos in comparison to my previous phones, and I can easily upload them to my computer at the end of the day.</p> <p>These are my wacky kids... Okay.. the blonde headed kid is not mine, but I'm pretty sure he is over my house more than his own, so we claim him on taxes (I'm kidding if anyone from the IRS is looking at this post).</p> <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/9/3/1/5/ar125635335851392.JPG" height="400" alt="" width="300" />&nbsp;<img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/4/7/9/9/ar125635345999743.JPG" height="400" alt="" width="300" /></p> <p>My wife can be pretty goofy herself. This is Andrea wearing some Mickey Mouse ears. Yes, these are her Mickey Mouse Ears. She has a few pairs. On these, the ears light up.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/8/4/4/7/ar125635374774489.JPG" height="400" alt="" width="300" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Plus you can never go wrong when you stumble upon an amazing view or photo opportunity..</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/4/5/0/6/ar125635386160549.JPG" height="200" alt="" width="300" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/3/8/5/8/ar125635423285831.JPG" height="225" alt="" width="300" />&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;&nbsp;This is fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl in California. We took the kids there on our family vacation this summer. My wife and I have enjoyed the Hollywood Bowl for years.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/5/1/9/4/ar125635398149154.JPG" height="400" alt="" width="300" /></p> <p style="text-align: left;">Well, thats just a small venture into my iPhone. I have about 190+ photo's in there. Far too many to share in one night, but each of them hold some great fun and memories.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/3/6/8/1/ar12563549718636.JPG" height="266" alt="" width="400" /></p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:32:24 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1300531/foto-friday-my-first-attempt-and-lots-of-iphone-photos-to-share http://activerain.com/blogsview/1297785/windor-place-hoa-fall-festival-saturday-october-24th-2009 <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; color: blue;"><strong>Windsor Place HOA &ndash; Fall Festival</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: blue;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">On Saturday, October 24^th, 2009, <span style="color: blue;"><strong>Windsor Place HOA</strong></span> in Frisco Texas will be hosting a Fall Festival Party.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/9/1/5/5/ar125622295555194.jpg" height="187" alt="" width="200" /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The festival will be held in the <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Pavilion at Newman Park</strong></span>, located on the corner of Angel Falls and Twin Falls. <span style="color: purple;"><strong>Party starts at 3 pm until 5 pm</strong></span>. Don&rsquo;t be late or you may miss some of the activities.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: #993366;"><strong>What&rsquo;s on tap?</strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Pumpkin Carving Contest (<a href="http://friscotexasmortgage.com/channels/regional_localism/topics/halloween_pumpkin_contest" title="last years post" target="_blank">check out last year's entries</a>)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Kids Costume Contest (parents <a href="http://friscotexasmortgage.com/post/1212538/keep-in-mind-these-are-dogs" title="pet costumes" target="_blank">and pets</a> are also welcome to dress)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Fall Photos</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Goodie Bags</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong><span style="color: #000000; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/8/2/6/0/ar125622307606281.jpg" height="140" alt="" width="190" style="float: left;" /></span></strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong>FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED!</strong></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> That&rsquo;s right. <span style="color: blue;"><strong>Windsor Place HOA</strong></span> has hired <strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.mooyah.com/the-story/" target="_blank">Mooyah Burgers</a></span></em></strong> to cater our family fun event.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So, bring your kids, your smiles, and plan on having some good food and lots of fun!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">**** Quick Update ****&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We held the Fall Festival today and we had approx 30 homeowners show up, out of 182 homes. Probably the biggest showing we had were from the kids in the neighborhood. I'm sure that was due to the delicious burgers though. &nbsp;The contest consisted of many babies. My wife took pictures, so I'll share them once available.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank" style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;"><img src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" height="43" alt="" width="350" style="border: 5px none #a3a392;" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata &nbsp;<strong>Reliant Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;p# 214.545.5604 &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.johncannata.com/" title="John Cannata's Link" style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:14:39 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1297785/windor-place-hoa-fall-festival-saturday-october-24th-2009 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1290266/fireplaces-hidden-dangers- <p><p>This post was featured and has been reblogged a few times already, but I wanted to share it with you. If you have a fireplace and use them during the winter, this is a good post to read about the safety (or lack there of) of your fireplace.</p></p><div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1289429/fireplaces-hidden-dangers-">Michael Thornton - Nashville, TN area Home Inspector (Complete Home Inspections, Inc.)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="color: #660000;">Fireplaces - Hidden Dangers... </span><br /><br /></span></big></span></big></big><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="color: #660000;">With old man winter just beginning to clear his throat </span>with the first cool snaps of the winter season, many Americans begin firing up their fireplaces. But before you start enjoying the ambiance of the warm embers glow with the blanket, a bottle of bubbly and your sweetie, is your fireplace really safe from the hidden dangers that most folks do not even know about?</span></big></span></big></big><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"> </span></big></span></big></big><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big></big></span></big></big><br /><br /><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="color: #660000;">Statistically, over 1/3rd of Americans use solid fuel (wood) as their primary source of heat. </span>Most of these are in rural areas. Statistics also show that 36% of residential home fires start in the fireplace or wood burning stove.<br /> <br /> </span></big></span></big></big><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="color: #660000;">When was the last time you:<br /> </span></span></big></span></big></big></p> <ul> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Had your chimney or flue evaluated by a licensed chimney sweep? Most residential fires are caused by creosote build-up and flue fires.</span></big></span></big></big></li> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Checked the air inlets? Some modern fireplaces draw air from the exterior. Insects find these protected areas a cool spot to build their nests. Blocked inlets can cause poor combustion and CO to build up.</span></big></span></big></big></li> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">When was the last time you checked to see if tree branches were hanging over the flue? <br /> </span></big></span></big></big></li> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">When was the last time you checked the batteries in your smoke detector? Statistics show that most deaths could have been prevented. Missing/dead batteries was the number one cause.<br /> </span></big></span></big></big></li> </ul> <p><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><br /> </span></big></span></big></big><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="color: #660000;">Be safe. <br /> </span></span></big></span></big></big></p> <ul> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Do not use incendiaries to start a fire. Flammable liquids are unsafe.</span></big></span></big></big></li> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Use only seasoned hardwoods. Soft, green wood causes creosote to build up in flues and liners.</span></big></span></big></big></li> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Keep firewood away from your home. We do not want to bring in WDO's do we?</span></big></span></big></big></li> <li><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Build smaller fires. These burn better and produce less smoke.</span></big></span></big></big></li> </ul> <p><br /> <big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="color: #660000;">By practicing a few "rules of the road" </span>you and your sweetie can cuddle and enjoy the bubbly</span></big></span></big></big><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">☺☺☺</span></big></span></big></big><br /> <big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">&nbsp;</span></big></span></big></big><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">&nbsp; </span></big></span></big></big><br /><big><big><span style="color: #3333ff;"><big></big></span></big></big><big><span style="font-family: 'veranda';"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />&copy; 2009 michael thornton | complete home inspections, inc. | <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=618+split+rail+drive%3B+brentwood,+tn&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=62.70117,99.052734&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;z=17&amp;iwloc=addr" target="_blank">brentwood, tn</a> | <span style="color: #ff0000;">615.661.0297 | <a href="http://completehomeinspectionsonline.com/" target="_blank">www.completehomeinspectionsonline.com </a></span></span></span></span></big></p> <p><big><big><big><span style="font-family: 'veranda';"><span style="color: #8b2500;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream... </span></span></span></big></big></big></p></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:53:53 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1290266/fireplaces-hidden-dangers- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1271655/fright-fest-2009-at-six-flags-over-texas <p><p>Okay Texas Readers... I was going to do a post on Fright Fest at Six Flags, but our local Dallas Realtor Steve Shatsky has put one together already. Are you dressed and ready to have fun? Well, get started. Between the Texas State Fair and Fright Fest at Six Flags, you should be quite busy.</p></p><div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1269635/fright-fest-2009-at-six-flags-over-texas">Steve Shatsky - Dallas Real Estate & Short Sale Specialist (469)449-9840 (Prudential Texas Properties)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p>Now through November 1, 2009, it will be <strong>"Thrills by Day, Chills by Night"</strong> at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington as Snickers&reg; presents <strong>Fright Fest 2009</strong>.</p> <p>The event will transform Six Flags into a Halloween&nbsp;Extravaganza with special Halloween themed shows, street entertainment, and hair raising haunted houses.&nbsp; <em>The haunted houses are my favorite!</em>&nbsp; And don't forget that admission still includes access to all the park's rides... <em>in the dark!</em></p> <p><em>For more information, visit <a href="http://www.sixflags.com/overTexas/events/FrightFest2009.aspx">http://www.sixflags.com/overTexas/events/FrightFest2009.aspx</a> </em></p> <p>Don't miss this opportunity to&nbsp;celebrate a devilish Halloween time... Six Flags style!</p> <p>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</p> <p><em>If you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and are looking for a REALTOR&reg; to help make the home buying or selling process easier and more friendly, call me today at </em><strong><em>(469)449-9840</em></strong><em> to schedule a consultation. &nbsp;Or visit my website at </em><strong><em>EasyTexasRealEstate.com</em></strong><em>.&nbsp; I'd be happy to help you move forward and achieve your Real Estate dreams and goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;Not&nbsp;located in&nbsp;the D/FW area?&nbsp; Contact me anyway... I'd be happy to refer you to a real estate professional in your area who can help you.</em></p></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:06:15 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1271655/fright-fest-2009-at-six-flags-over-texas http://activerain.com/blogsview/1267167/when-you-are-stuck-ask-your-social-media-friends-for-advice <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/9/2/0/5/ar125453836750297.JPG" height="266" alt="" width="400" /></p> <p>A few weeks back, I wrote about <a href="http://friscotexasmortgage.com/post/1149227/how-many-parents-can-say-their-son-was-drafted-by-the-cowboys-i-can-" target="_blank"><strong>my son becoming a member of the Cowboys,</strong></a><strong> </strong>as part of the Frisco Football League. They have had three games so far and they get better each week. So, why I am telling you this? Well, tonight I am sitting at the computer and putting together some music for the game tomorrow. I did the same thing about 2 weeks ago. See, I am the game announcer during the home games only. During that time I get to announce the players and the plays, but I also put together some warm-up music before the game and play music during timeouts and half-time.</p> <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/3/7/2/5/ar12545387552739.JPG" height="266" alt="" width="400" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>2 weeks ago, I went through my entire list of music and was still looking for more. <strong>I then decided to send a message on twitter, facebook, and myspace</strong> for some ideas. To my surprise I received a TON of suggestions of good football songs. Songs that add some excitement to downtime during the game. Don't misunderstand... I'm not trying to be a DJ but I do like to have fun.</p> <p>So, whenever you are in a bind, know that you have thousands of social media friends that are willing to help out. I utilize these friends often. See, social media/networking is not just about you sharing a link to your website. Sometimes its about sharing other knowledge and experiences... and other times its about asking for advice or suggestions.</p> <p>Alright, back to putting additional music on the list. Wish us luck against the Chargers tomorrow and watch for some updates on <a href="https://twitter.com/jcannata" target="_blank"><strong>Twitter @JCannata</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank" style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;"><img src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" height="43" alt="" width="350" style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata &nbsp;<strong>Reliant Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;p# 214.545.5604 &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.johncannata.com/" title="John Cannata's Link" style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://activerain.com/blogs/www.twitter.com/jcannata" title="Follw Me On Twitter" target="_blank" style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;"><img src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/7/0/7/2/ar123774842427075.png" height="124" alt="" width="150" style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" /></a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:43:48 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1267167/when-you-are-stuck-ask-your-social-media-friends-for-advice http://activerain.com/blogsview/1266239/my-morning-coffee-mug-and-a-few-family-stories <p>Working from home has its advantages. After getting the kids up, fed (sometimes chocolate chip pancakes), and out the door, I can then sit and start my day. I thought I'd share with you the mug I enjoy each day with some fresh coffee and tasty creamer.</p> <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/2/8/2/8/ar12544999482822.jpg" height="200" alt="" width="150" style="FLOAT: left;" /></p> <p>&nbsp;<strong>This mug is my favorite that I drink out of every day.</strong> I'm able to add pictures, instead of something like a credit companies name, a lenders name, or something that reads 'class of XX'</p> <p><strong>On one side is my&nbsp;daughter, Sidney.</strong> She is not this small anymore. In the top picture she is almost 2 (now 12 1/2... you have to add the 1/2 now) and is wearing a Nike hat that I use to wear. It was a little big for her, but she was so darn cute in it with those big cheeks.</p> <p>The bottom picure is of my daughter and son together. They are 13 months apart. In this picture we were in the snow</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/9/6/4/0/ar125450038404691.jpg" height="200" alt="" width="150" style="float: right;" /></p> <p><strong>If I turn my mug slightly to the right, you will see my&nbsp;son, Quinten.</strong>&nbsp; Again, he isn't this small anymore. At the time of the above picture, he was just over 2 years old. When he was a baby, it would take a miracle to get this boy to laugh at us (and I'll have you know I'm pretty funny). He was not a cranky baby... just didn't find us amusing... at least not that often. After a year, the boy was cracking more smiles and now has a big grin on his face most of the time. As a matter of fact, he thinks he's the funniest kid around. I compare him to Jim Carey because he is goofy like that all the time. My wife and I often laugh at the thought that he didn't laugh at us at all in the beginning and now he has quite a sense of humor.</p> <p><strong>The bottom picture is&nbsp;of the kids together.</strong> They are around 5 &amp; 6 years old and we were at the park where Quinten was learning to play Tee Ball. It was also the last day that Quinten tried Tee Ball.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/7/5/2/0/ar125450074602574.jpg" height="200" alt="" width="150" style="float: left;" /><strong>Of course, the mug would not be complete without my lovely wife Andrea</strong>, who has put up with me for 15 years (in December).&nbsp;We will leave her age out of this post, but I can say she was younger in each of these pictures.</p> <p><strong>The top picture was in 1994.</strong> It was our first apartment together in Moorpark, California. A simple 2 bedroom, 2 bath. She laughs at me when I tell her its one of my favorite pictures. I'm a simple man and don't need all of the fancy dresses and make-up. The ponytail/scrunchy works just fine for me. :-)</p> <p>In the <strong>bottom picture was one of our first real dates</strong>. We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. The date was 8/15/94, it was a work day. We both ditched work and of course were spotted by other employees. It was a lot of fun. That was when we use to go on the scary rides....</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I could change the pictures around, but honestly they have been the same pictures for 6 years now. We take lots of pictures, but these are some of my favorites.&nbsp; Thought I'd take a moment and share my mug with you and share some stories.&nbsp;<strong>Now I'll get back to work!</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" height="43" alt="" width="350" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata &nbsp;<strong>Reliant Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;p# 214.545.5604 &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.johncannata.com/" title="John Cannata's Link">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://activerain.com/blogs/www.twitter.com/jcannata" title="Follw Me On Twitter" target="_blank"><img src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/7/0/7/2/ar123774842427075.png" height="124" alt="" width="150" /></a></p><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:39:19 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1266239/my-morning-coffee-mug-and-a-few-family-stories http://activerain.com/blogsview/1262511/shopping-for-mortgages-the-public-image-of-advertising-that-is-misleading-part-1-of-2 <p><p>Jeff Belonger shares with us today a few examples of 'Shark Advertising'. &nbsp;These are companies that lure consumers with false and misleading statements. I've used one of these companies in the past and spent quite a bit of time explaining the true facts to the consumer.</p></p><div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1259078/shopping-for-mortgages-the-public-image-of-advertising-that-is-misleading-part-1-of-2">Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages - USDA loans (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; color: red;">ADVERTISING &ndash; </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #0070c0;">Those ads that seem too good to be true.</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img title="shark of a salesman" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/4/8/6/4/ar125414657446847.jpg" height="211" alt="shark of a salesman" style="float: right;" width="237" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I have been in the mortgage business for 17 + years.&nbsp; <strong>I have seen so much advertising when it came to mortgage companies and how many of the ads were misleading or just flat out lies.</strong>&nbsp; Those companies advertising low rates that didn't happen.&nbsp; This easily went on from 1992 to 2002. I always wondered why this wasn't regulated as strongly as it should have been.&nbsp; I found out that some of these companies had 100's of complaints, yet they still operated for those 10 years. I think this is misleading and I call it Shark Advertising.&nbsp; It's dangerously misleading, yet it worked for many companies, at the expense of the borrower.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>If anyone has noticed, we haven't see as much advertising from mortgage companies or large banks in the last 18 months or so. I am now seeing a few mortgage companies advertise on the radio and as of lately, a few advertise on TV, especially ESPN. The ads are misleading because they appear to make you believe that it's being backed by the government.&nbsp; (Miriam Bernstein made this comment below that explains this part..&nbsp; <a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1259078/shopping-for-mortgages-the-public-image-of-advertising-that-is-misleading-part-1-of-2#5377860" title="Miariam Bernstein's comment" target="_blank"><strong>- Comment # 30 -</strong></a>)Has anyone seen a few ads on tv that look like a news update, a spokesperson telling you about government funded programs or that the government is helping in sponsoring these programs. Yet if you read the fine print, it's a mortgage company, disguising this ad very carefully, spinning it as thought the government is putting this out to the public??</p> <p>I am even seeing this more and more in such places as Facebook. Below are a few that I am seeing on Facebook now.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img title="advertising endorsed by obama?" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/1/0/9/4/ar125415430549019.jpg" height="266" alt="advertising endorsed by obama?" style="float: left;" width="307" /></p> <p><img title="misleading advertising" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/3/6/5/1/ar125415451315635.jpg" height="187" alt="misleading advertising" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="157" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img title="facebook ads" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/6/0/2/7/ar125415486672066.jpg" height="291" alt="facebook ads" style="float: left;" width="336" />&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Here are some ads found on facebook and comcast.net.</strong> As you can see, these mortgage companies and or companies that are lead generators, make you think that the government is behind this.&nbsp; Obama hasn't asked homeowners to refinance. The first one on the left, upper left, is from a company called Lower My Bills.&nbsp; They sell leads to other mortgage companies, after they have gathered your information online. Then you have like 4 to 10 lenders call you, sometimes daily.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; color: red;">People on </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #0070c0;">Facebook </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; color: red;">that give basic information &ndash; eye catchers to pull you in.</span></strong></p> <p><img title="people on facebook" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/8/3/7/9/ar125424101997381.jpg" height="112" alt="people on facebook" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="562" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Here is a loan officer on Facebook that placed this on his Wall, to capture the attention of others. You just need to be aware of what you read. Sure, this can happen, but there are some unknowns not mentioned. And sometimes the loan officer will raise that unknown, so you can't obtain that great rate and get the next best thing.&nbsp; Keeping in mind, it's not always about the <strong>Best Rate</strong>.&nbsp; How service?&nbsp; Integrity?&nbsp; Educating the borrower? And so much more....&nbsp; Please read : <a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/961054/i-want-that-same-deal-that-my-friend-got-" title="same mortgage deal" target="_blank"><strong>I want the same deal that my friend receivd...</strong></a>&nbsp; &amp;&nbsp; <a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1159741/mortgage-payment-vs-mortgage-interest-rate" title="mortgage payment vs interest rate" target="_blank"><strong>Mortgage payment vs Interest Rate </strong></a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt; color: red;">Web Sites that are deceiving !!!! </span></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img title="USDA site" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/5/5/ar125415437755098.jpg" height="356" alt="USDA site" style="float: left;" width="634" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As I explained in this blog post, <a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1051475/usda-loans-fha-loans-be-very-careful-of-deceptive-web-sites-" title="deceptive web sites" target="_blank"><strong>deceptive web sites</strong></a>, here is a great example above. Doesn't this look like it could come from the USDA themselves?&nbsp; But it isn't. It acts as a lead catcher, catching your info to call you and or sell you about USDA loans or any other type of mortgage loan. <strong>No Cost Obligation</strong> is mentioned on the site. - We always love to hear about free things, but are they free overall?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt; color: red;">Here is a FAVORITE of mine !!!</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p><img title="free credit report.com" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/5/7/1/ar125424589617561.jpg" height="223" alt="free credit report.com" style="float: left;" width="573" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img title="free credit report.com" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/6/4/3/8/ar125424615283465.jpg" height="325" alt="free credit report.com" style="float: left;" width="299" /></p> <p>I am sure many of you have seen this one on tv, <strong>FreeCreditReport.com</strong>. The commercial announces a free credit report. But at the very end, it says that you need to enroll in their <strong>Triple Advantage program</strong>.</p> <p>A free credit report?&nbsp; They have tons of commercials &amp;&nbsp; commercials cost money to display on TV. They also have like 3 to 4 different kinds of commercials and.&nbsp; producing commercials cost money.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Well, I feel like an investigative reporter for the news. I filled out my info online, trying to see what I get. It says that it takes 3 to 5 days for me to obtain these credit reports from the 3 credit agencies. <strong>(giving my credit card #)</strong> And then there is a button that says, to obtain your 3 reports now, click here. Imagine that, it's asking for $24.95 now. See the 2nd paragraph on the left, highlighted in yellow?&nbsp; It talks about the new Federal Law and I am wondering if that is what they are sending me now, because that is free. But from what I know, you have to go to <a href="http://www.annualcreditreport.com" title="annual credit report" target="_blank"><strong>annual credit report</strong></a> to get the free reports.</p> <p>All 6 commericals - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dFbNw3bpKE" title="free credit rpeort.com" target="_blank"><strong>Free Credit Report.com</strong></a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conclusion :</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; Just be very careful of what you read and what says free, when it might not be free.&nbsp; I always have said, someone has to pay for it from some where. Is it you?&nbsp; Is it me who pays for it?</p> <p><span>Overall....No matter what, consumers will fall for some of these ads.&nbsp; It's called false hope.&nbsp; Especially when desperate, you just want to believe that someone can help you.. or, that it's cheaper with them than the others.&nbsp; thanks</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1259078/shopping-for-mortgages-the-public-image-of-advertising-that-is-misleading-part-1-of-2" title="shopping for mortgages" target="_blank"><br /></a></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1259078/shopping-for-mortgages-the-public-image-of-advertising-that-is-misleading-part-1-of-2" title="shopping for mortgages" target="_blank"><strong>Shopping for mortgages - The Public Image of Advertising that is misleading !!!! - Part 1 of 2</strong></a></li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Shopping for mortgages - The Lending Trees of the World (lead generators) - Part 2 of 2</strong></li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/969780/advertisements-is-the-grass-greener-on-the-other-side-" title="advertisements - is the grass grenner on the other side?" target="_blank"><strong>Advertisements - Is the grass greener on the other side?</strong></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://twitter.com/jeffbelongerfha" title="follow Jeff Belonger on Twitter" target="_blank"><img title="follow Jeff Belonger on Twitter" src="../../..http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/9/5/3/9/ar123585163393594.png" height="72" alt="follow Jeff Belonger on Twitter" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="195" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/The-FHA-Expert/90939462374?ref=ts" title="The FHA Expert on Facebook" target="_blank"><img title="The FHA Expert" src="../../..http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/4/2/6/3/ar124494537136245.jpg" height="69" alt="The FHA Expert" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="200" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">- FHA Loans - USDA Loans - VA Loans - </span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">- Energy Efficient&nbsp;Mortgages -&nbsp;</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">- Conventional Loans - 203 k loans - </span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">- Mortgages -</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Experience &amp; Knowledge at its BEST !!!</span></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>_________________________________________________________________________________________</p> <p>For more information on <strong>FHA loans</strong>, please go to this link. <strong><a href="http://www.fhaloansfhamortgages.com/" title="The FHA Expert" target="_blank">The FHA Expert</a></strong></p> <p>For more information about the <strong>2009 Tax Credit for First Time Homebuyers</strong> : <strong><a href="http://www.fhaloansfhamortgages.com/8-000-first-time-home-buyers-tax-credit-the-specifics" title="$8,000 first time homebuyers tax credit" target="_blank">2009 Tax Credit</a><br /></strong></p> <p>For important mortgage insight to watch for, please read : <a href="http://www.fhaloansfhamortgages.com/mortgages-aamp-real-estate-consumers-need-to-be-aware-of-these-red-flags" title="Red Flags" target="_blank"><strong>Consumers need to be aware of these Red Flags!</strong></a></p> <p><img title="HUD" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/0/7/4/ar125415006747038.jpg" height="81" alt="HUD" style="float: right;" width="83" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Copyright </strong><em><strong>&copy; 2009 </strong></em><strong>by Jeff Belonger of Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc</strong></p></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:26:40 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1262511/shopping-for-mortgages-the-public-image-of-advertising-that-is-misleading-part-1-of-2 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1262228/how-memorable-is-your-30-second-commercial- <p><p>Anna Kruchten of Arizona "AnnaBananaRealty" reminds us to revisit our #0 Second Commercial or Elevator Speech. She provides some good tips on spicing it up a little and keeping it energized.</p></p><div id="reblogging_tag">Via <b><a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1261779/how-memorable-is-your-30-second-commercial-">Anna 'Banana' Kruchten, Anna Banana Realty, Phoenix AZ</a></b>:<br/><blockquote><p><strong>How Memorable Is</strong><img src="http://www.marketingbestpractices.com/members/images/dept3.jpg" height="190" alt="Are you bored? You might be boring!" style="margin: 3px; float: left;" width="187" /><strong> Your 30-Second Commercial?</strong></p> <p><strong>I don't know what things are like in your area of the country, but in Phoenix, there are so many networking opportunities, you could literally attend 4 meetings a day and not hit all of them.</strong></p> <p>You know the kind ... chicken caesar salad for lunch, and eveyone gets a chance to give their 10- to 30-second elevator speech. So be honest. How bored are you by the time it comes around to your turn? More to the point, how many people do you actually remember? How many names have you written down of those you want to meet afterwards?</p> <p>So ... if you're bored during what can seem like an unending parade of uninspired introductions ... have you ever stopped to <em><strong>think about how bored </strong><strong>other people might be listening to yours?</strong></em> Especially in a crowded industry like real estate!!! I was at a meeting just the other day, and I was one of 5 Realtors in the group! I had a teacher in grade school who used to say, <strong>"If you're bored, you're boring!"</strong> Sometimes, those lessons just keep on giving, don't they?</p> <p>What can you do to spice up your self-promotion? Here are just a couple ideas:<img src="http://www.doglovergiftbaskets.com/files/1586691/uploaded/Cinco_3_408.jpg" height="281" alt="Spice up your 30-second commercial - be remembered!" style="margin: 3px; float: right;" width="275" /></p> <ul> <li><strong>Tell a story</strong></li> <li>Paint a word picture<br /></li> <li><strong>Sing a song</strong></li> <li>Tune in to everyone's favorite radio station: WIIFM (What's in it for me?)</li> <li><strong>Recite a poem</strong></li> <li>Be funny</li> <li><strong>Wear a standout hat/shirt/coat</strong></li> <li>Have a startling call to action</li> </ul> <p><strong>People do business with those they know, like, trust ... and REMEMBER. </strong>Put on that thinking cap and set yourself apart. You'll see the changes in no time flat.</p> <p><em><strong>************************ </strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Do you live in the Phoenix, Arizona area? Are you thinking about making a change in real estate companies? </strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Give me a call at 602-595-8900 or <a href="mailto:anna.banana@cox.net" target="_blank">e-mail me</a>. Let's talk about your marketing strategies - and the best ways to make yourself memorable. </strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><a href="http://www.annabananarealty.com" target="_blank">AnnaBananaRealty.com</a></strong></em></p></blockquote></div><div class='agent_signature'><p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Do you want to know all of your mortgage options?</strong>&nbsp;Call me today and let's discuss them further.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/subscribe?subscribed_agent_id=117041" target="_blank"><img style="border: 5px solid #a3a392;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/3/6/0/ar123774878006312.gif" alt="" width="350" height="43" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Always available for your&nbsp;<strong>Frisco Texas Mortgage</strong>&nbsp;needs!</p> <p style="text-align: center;">John Cannata Legacy Texas Mortgage&nbsp;&nbsp;p#214.728.0449</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="John Cannata's Link" href="http://www.johncannata.com/">www.JohnCannata.com</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/">Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.FriscoTexasMortgage.com" target="_blank">Frisco TX Mortgage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a style="color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: underline;" title="Frisco Texas Mortgage Consultant" href="http://www.txmortgageconsultant.com/"></a><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="follow John" href="http://twitter.com/johnloanguy" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/9/0/2/0/ar125622357802098.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Times, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/FriscoMortgage" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/4/6/6/ar125622359166438.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="John on Linkedin" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jcannata" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/6/0/ar1256223606176.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #1e77b9; text-decoration: underline;" title="Activerain Reader" href="feed://jcannata.activerain.com/rss" target="_blank"><img style="border-style: none;" src="http://activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/0/9/ar125622364090676.png" alt="" width="62" height="78" /></a></span></span></p></div> John Cannata - Reliant Mortgage Ltd Texas Mortgage Consultant - Frisco Texas ( 214-545-5604 Also available evenings and weekends) Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:09:05 -0500 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1262228/how-memorable-is-your-30-second-commercial-