Last November I decided to leave the industry. The crackdown on loans, the economy in general, etc. made my business model unbearable for even the low overhead we were carrying. So while The Bertrum Group still survives, taking my overhead out kept it very viable.
Presently i'm doing outside sales (Sr. Sales Rep) in the Auto Parts industry (NAPA) in Quakertown - Bucks County. Not getting rich (yet), but with a base and commission - pretty good gig. The manager at Quakertown NAPA Auto Parts, Gary Wolthers....is top gun.
I do miss the Real Estate biz - but hey - a new challenge is always fun.
I'm posting this because I miss ALL (wow) of 'you guys' and hope things are working out.
I'll have to update my Mummers blog with the latest pics :^)
In addition..the DERBY is coming up ...woohoo !!!!!!
Any of my 'buds' wants to email me.... send it to my home addy...
A young Chinese couple gets married. She's a virgin. Truth be told, he is a virgin too, but she doesn't know that.
On their wedding night, she cowers naked under the sheets as her husband undresses in the darkness. He climbs into bed next to her and tries to be reassuring.
'My darring,' he whispers, 'I know dis you fuss time and you berry flighten. I plomise you, I give you anyting you wan, I do anyting - you juss ask.. So whatchu want?' he says, trying to sound experienced and worldly, which he hopes will impress her.
A thoughtful silence follows and he waits patiently and eagerly for her request.
She eventually shyly whispers back, 'I wan to twy someting I have hear about from udda girls . . Numbaa 69.'
More thoughtful silence, this time from him.
Eventually, in a puzzled tone he asks her.... 'You want........Garlic Chicken wif snow peas?'
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As always - I support the Landis family when an event is put out to the public. The below looks DELICIOUS. I'll have to see if I can fit this into the schedule.
Enjoy
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Greetings Friends:
Hope all is well. We are very excited to announce the final details of our upcoming wine dinner at Pacifico Restaurant in the new Saucon Valley Promanade Shopping Center. The dinner will be next Thursday October 16th
Reception and Hour d'Oeuvres beginning at 6:30 and dinner to begin at 7:00pm.
The cost of the dinner is $55.00 per person plus tax and gratuity.
Sam Landis of Vynecrest Winery will be there taking you through course by course the pairings of food and wine.
If you have not been there before you won't want to miss this, they have a fantastic menu with a very eclectic mix of dishes. For more information and directions check out their website Pacifico
For Reservations Please call Pacifico at 610 -798-9666
Below is the menu of food and wine for the evening.
Reception Passed Hors d-Oeuvres Pinot Gris, Lehigh Valley 2007 Maryland Crabcakes (sauteed jumbo lump crab cake with a kiwi-mango sauce) Duck Empanadas (with tomato and golden raisin relish) Mini Lobster & Avocado Quesadillas (chipolte creme fraiche)
First Course Dry Riesling, Lehigh Valley, 2007 Shrimp Ceviche (Ecuadorian shrimp ceviche with avocado, tomato, cilantro, and red onions) Second Course Traminette, Lehigh Valley, 2007 Tuna Tostadas (seared tuna tostadas with black-guacamole with creme fraiche and srirachi)
Entree Chambourcin, Lehigh Valley, 2007 Seafood Paella (saffron rice with shrimp, clams, mussels, sea scallops, chorizo and chicken) OR Salmon al Sarten (pan-seared plantain-crusted salmon with shrimp and yucca enchiladas and a sofritto sauce) OR Churrasco Surf & Turf (grilled skirt steak with lobster fried rice, grilled jumbo shrimp and a braised garlic mojito sauce)
Dessert Cherry DiVyne Trio of Chocolate, Dulce de Leche, and Pumpkin Desserts For reservation please call Pacifico (610) 798-9666
-- John, Jan & Sam Landis Vynecrest Winery www.vynecrest.com 610-398-7525
The Ohio Association of Independent Title Agents filed a lawsuit with the Ohio Supreme Court against Mary Jo Hudson, the director of the Ohio Department of Insurance. The suit claims that the director and her department have failed to enforce currently existing rules prohibiting banks, Realtors and mortgage brokers and their subsidiaries, also known as controlled business arrangements, from engaging in the business of title insurance. The association seeks to prevent the spread of kickbacks and referral schemes in the real estate industry by asking the Ohio Supreme Court to compel Hudson's office to comply with current laws.
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It's nice to see legal action taken against the INSURANCE COMMISSION as another front in the war against these sad arrangements of financial reward for referral business which in many cases does not put the client in the best position.
And a brilliant blog by Robert Franco of Source of Title - well worth reading
A woman takes a lover home during the day while her husband is at work. Her 9-year old son comes home unexpectedly, sees them and hides in the bedroom closet to watch.
The woman's husband also comes home. She puts her lover in the closet, not realizing that the little boy is in there already.
The little boy says, 'Dark in here.' The man says, 'Yes, it is.' Boy: 'I have a baseball.' Man: 'That's nice' Boy: 'Want to buy it?' Man: 'No, thanks.' Boy: 'My Dad's outside.' Man: 'OK, how much?' Boy: '$250'
In the next few weeks, it happens again that the boy and the lover are in the closet together.
Boy: 'Dark in here.' Man: 'Yes, it is.' Boy: 'I have a baseball glove.' The lover, remem bering the last time, asks the boy, 'How much?' Boy: '$750' Man: 'Sold.'
A few days later, the Dad says to the boy, 'Grab your glove, let's go outside and have a game of catch.'
The boy says, 'I can't, I sold my baseball and my glove.'
The Dad asks, 'How much did you sell them for?' Boy: '$1,000'
The Dad says, 'That's terrible to over charge your friends like that...that is way more than those two things cost. I'm taking you to church, to confession.'
They go to the church and the Dad makes the little boy sit in the confessional booth and closes the door.
The boy says, 'Dark in here.' The priest says, 'Don't start that shit again; You're in my closet now.'
I had a call last nite from a Mortgage Loan Consultant that stumbled over my name on the net. I talked with him a bit - but being a 'Title Guy', was not very helpful. I told him I'd toss out his situation on AR and see what kind of input you fine people can provide.
THe guy lost a great commission. His employer referred to RESPA regulations - but not anything specific.
I work for a Mortgage Brokerage Company that is licensed to do loans as a broker in many states. I just closed a loan in Alabama.
It was an FHA Rate & Term Refi.
After taking the complete application and pulling credit I then sent out the initial disclosures but forget to put the YSP listed, well I recieved the signed disclosure and reliazed that the YSP was not listed so then I redisclosed and added the YSP and the client signed and returned and then we went to closing and everything went great.
But when my employer reviewed the file after the loan funded they took my comission which was the YSP and sent it to the borrower.
My employer said to me that since I did not disclose the YSP on the first initial disclosures then it has to be refunded to the borrower. And I have been in the business for 7 years and I have always been paid and not lost commisions as long as you redisclose if any fees change prior to settlement. I thought thats what redisclosure is for. So if you know and State specific laws for Alabama that could show me that my employer was correct or wrong by giving my YSP comission check to the borrower after funding. Because if thats the case why in the world do they even have such a rule of redisclosure.
So.... is this group very active? I just bounced through a couple blogs. Are you bringing BNI experiances, suggestions to the table, etc?
I saw some thread title about using AR to assist in BNI referrals... and I never even thought of that. I would think a well written blog placed into localism may be a method of driving business to the group.
In any case... I seem to come and go in AR....like a Real Estate cycle :^O ...... but look forward to reading your BNI related blogs and comments.
Some of you know that many moons ago, I actually blogged about important issues that I faced day to day or experiences.
One common theme was my absolute HATRED of Affiliated Business Arrangements (AfBA's) in which RESPA allows legal kickbacks from TITLE Companies to Realtors and/or Mortgage Brokers.
From the client standpoint, this of course may not be the best option. The Title company being recommended by the Realtor or LO is in almost all cases being recommended because of the money kickback. The vast majority of consumers do not really know what a Title company does, assume the Realtor/LO has their interests in mind when steering them (yeah right).
While scoping out SOT (Source of Title), basically an Abstractor site - I came across an organization in OHIO formed by independent Title Companies.... quite an interesting concept to unify against the 'big boys' and bring integrity back into the industry.
Has anyone come across organizations like this in their states?
Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with that expensive double-pane energy efficient kind, and today, I got a call from the contractor who installed them. He was complaining that the work had been completed a whole year ago and I still hadn't paid for them.
Hellloooo,...........just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid. So, I told him just what his fast talking sales guy had told me last year,
...that in ONE YEAR these windows would pay for themselves!
Helllooooo? It's been a year! I told him.
There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally just hung up. He never called back. Guess I won that stupid argument.I bet he felt like an idiot.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=779234
Peter Tubic ignored a $50 parking fine in 2004, and on Monday, it cost him his $245,000 house.
Among other health issues he's dealing with, Peter Tubic has had headaches dealing with his van, which is parked in his driveway without a license plates. He faces foreclosure on his home and is in a dispute with the city over citations he received for the van's lack of plates.
A Milwaukee man received a $50 fine for parking a van with no license plates in his driveway. He ignored the ticket for more than four years, and last week the city foreclosed on his house.
In what city officials believe is the first case of its kind, the city foreclosed on Tubic's house on W. Verona Court after repeated attempts to collect the fine - which over the years had escalated to $2,600 - had failed.
"Our goal isn't to acquire parcels," said Jim Klajbor, special deputy city treasurer. "Our goal is to just collect taxes. . . . It is only as a last resort that we would pursue . . . foreclosure."
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard Sankovitz technically stayed the judgment to give Tubic one last chance to explain why he hasn't paid or even responded, but Sankovitz ruled in favor of the city's foreclosure.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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