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Choose Your Mortgage As You Would Your Shoes

By
Education & Training with Tech and Social Media Consultant

Not my actual closetI like shoes.  Yes, I'm a man and no, I'm not what you might call "metro".  Never had a manicure.  But I do like shoes.  I have all sorts of shoes for all sorts of activities.  I'll bet you do as well.

Just looking in the Black Leather section of my closet, I have:

  • My very nice hand stitched Italian leather lace ups,
  • My "Basic Banker Wingtip Blacks",
  • That old pair of scruffed yet comfortable Oxfords, I might wear these everyday if I could
  • My Loafers (penny included of course),
  • My "Broker Tour" loafers for those houses that make you take your shoes off,
  • My black Mandals, perfect for semi formal bbq's,
  • I can't forget about my Ghillie Brogues, a Kilt isn't complete without them!

Remember this is just the Black Leather Department!
I have hiking boots for summer, hiking boots for winter, I have boots specifically made for climbing to the summit of very tall mountains.

In motorcycling boots, I have boots for dirt riding, for street riding, and for racing on the track.  I also have running shoes, I have "work out at the gym" shoes, I have running shoes I specifically use just for driving.

Not great for cimbing mountainsI have a lot of shoes.  Maybe more than most but the point is, I cherish each pair because each pair serves a very specific purpose. 

Yes, I could wear my Sweet Italian's out on Broker Tour.  I could also wear my winter hikers to Yosemite in the summer.  Each one would work fine, not great, but they would be good enough to get me through the day.  So why own so many different pairs? 

While the Winter Hikers would support my ankles and provide the grip and traction needed, they are also so incredibly heavy and oh so hot!  You canmy climbing boots, not the best for Broker Tour understand that can't you?  Good.  It's the same thing with my wife and her three pairs of red dress shoes.  I know better than to ask why there's three different shades of red, three different heights of heel, and I know all about how that lace bow matches that lace of that particular dress.  I don't even need to go there!

What is so basic and extraordinarily simple of a platform - The Shoe, has evolved from just a simple covering of the sole into something high tech, something of high fashion, something closely resembling art in of itself.  Why?  Because we can see the value a specific style, or model, or feature brings to the experience.  Back in Cave Man days, shoes came in one color, one style. Handmade animal hide.  That matched the one lifestyle - survival.  Today is a very different story.

My track boots, so great at the beach  -  NOT!Shoes are sexy.  Mortgages are not.  Yet there are so very many different styled mortgages available.  Each with their own distinct features. Mortgages are very much like shoes.  We have sleek fast ones, comfortable livable ones, big and bulky ones, and plenty in between.  Like my Mountaineering Boots there are mortgages that exist for very specific applications.  Like my black scruffed up Oxfords, some mortgages offer a level of comfort not found in other programs.

I mentioned, I would wear that pair of old shoes everyday if I could.  But that would be highly impractical.  The same could be said for any pair of my shoes.  Each pair works best under certain conditions.  Those conditions change for me sometimes three times a day.

Let's now change the metaphor from shoes to mortgages.  Unlike my personal life, the conditions thmy tux shoes, Shine, Shine, Shine!at may require me to change my mortgage don't happen three times a day.  In fact, they may never change at all.  Then why are there all those different mortgages out there?  The mortgages are just different pairs of shoes.  And just like a pair of shoes, there is one pair out that is absolutely perfect for you.  Maybe not perfect for you forever, but perfect for you over a period of time.  Your mortgage needs don't change nearly as fast as your shoe needs.

Gee, Mike has great legs!We have a problem.  People don't think of mortgages like they do shoes.  They don't look at them as fitting a specific need.  Mortgages to them are simple commodities, like a gallon of milk or a cup of sugar.  They just aren't sexy!

Here's the truth.  Every mortgage product in existence, Fixed Rate or Adjustable, has a specific need that it fulfills better than any other program. Every one of them!  From the Best A-Paper Conventional Conforming 30 yr Fixed Rate Loan, to the Payment Option Arm, to the 2/28 Stated Income Interest Only Loan to the Hard Money 6 Month Bridge Loan. 

There's a catch.  It takes a mortgage professional who fully understands what you need to match you up for the best possible fit.  You can't try on mortgages like you can shoes.  You wouldn't order shoes over the internet.  You wouldn't call in to the home shopping channel either  That's why you need to meet one on one with a true mortgage professional.  They will "size you up", they'll measure this and that, they'll ask you about your needs, your wants, your goals.  What you like, what you don't like.  Unlike the shoe store, you get only one chance to get it right.  They are the experts and they will find the right mortgage to fit you.

Adjustable or Fixed.  Sexy or Boring. 

Your mortgage, just like your shoes, has to be a perfect fit for you!

 (also does mortgages on the side)

 

 

Comments(21)

Rick & Ines - Miami Beach Real Estate
Majestic Properties - Miami Beach, FL

I'm dying to see your closet Mike!

Ines

Jul 28, 2007 02:17 AM
Thomas Weiss
Thomas R. Weiss - West Palm Beach, FL

Mike,

You did come out different, But well put, I was really looking forward to your post and i'm glad you waited, it gave me more time to read it... Great post!!!

Tom Weiss

Jul 28, 2007 05:01 AM
Mike Mueller
Tech and Social Media Consultant - Walnut Creek, CA

Jason - Thanks.  I loved the diversity of approaches.  I spent the whole morning reading each and every one.

Ines - I am not the Imelda Marcos of ActiveRain - but I could be...  : ) 

Tom -  Thanks, theres a bunch of great reading to be done.


Jul 28, 2007 06:13 AM
Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

Very interesting.  I love you guys who kept us waiting until the last minute.  Or, I should say after my bedtim. 

We have some very interesting mortgage folks on this blog.

Jul 28, 2007 06:21 AM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Mike, I think that you hit the nail on the head in your summary at the end.  For me it comes down to that and not "rate".

Now about the shoes .......... you have got to be kidding me, you have your shoes divided into sections in your closet?????? :) 

Oooops, Mike I just noticed that you missed the dead line on the contest.

Jul 28, 2007 07:18 AM
Mike Mueller
Tech and Social Media Consultant - Walnut Creek, CA

You bet I do.  And in the garage, and in the rafters, and in the shed...

Doesn't everyone?

 


Jul 28, 2007 07:23 AM
Jeff Belonger
Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ
The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Mike.. I am like Ines...  ;o)   In regards to the analogy, I agree, Your mortgage, just like your shoes, has to be a perfect fit for you!   

Good point......

jeff belonger

Jul 28, 2007 03:49 PM
Kim Murphy
Draper and Kramer - Lombard, IL
Mortgage Loans in DuPage, Kane, Cook, Lake, Will C

AWESOME!  I love it!  Great Post!  Great Job!  I cant say enough about this!  You did WELL!

BTW.. I like a man that can understand shoes!

Jul 28, 2007 04:05 PM
Sarah Cooper
Real Estate Shows - Hurricane, WV
Mike, you make me want to be much more sensible with my mortgage than I am with my shoes.  ;o)
Jul 29, 2007 05:25 AM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

My shoes...hmmm. They're all sandals except for a nice pair of tennis shoes. Hey...how about simple.  Make it simple.

Jul 29, 2007 06:28 AM
Mike Mueller
Tech and Social Media Consultant - Walnut Creek, CA

Jeff - Thanks - By the way, where was your submission?

Kim - Thank you as well, I do believe my shoes outnumber the wife's.  How cool is that?

Sarah - Mortgages can be sexy too.  Ask any Mortgage Guy.

Sally - In Hawaii, everything is simple isn't it?   I'll bet you have 20 pairs of sandals.

I'm surprised nobody has picked up on the graphics.  I had a little fun with those. 


Jul 29, 2007 06:46 AM
Sarah Cooper
Real Estate Shows - Hurricane, WV
Mike, suddenly I want to hear more about mortgages ... ;o)
Jul 29, 2007 07:18 AM
Jeff Belonger
Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ
The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
It's in the mail.....
Jul 29, 2007 07:27 AM
Jeff Belonger
Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ
The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Mike... congrats on a honorable mention.....   your analogy was well done. Even the women on AR would like this, since they are shoe people... lol  Seriously, good job.

jeff belonger

Jul 30, 2007 04:22 AM
Kim Murphy
Draper and Kramer - Lombard, IL
Mortgage Loans in DuPage, Kane, Cook, Lake, Will C
Mike, I loved this post as you know from my earlier comments!  Congrats on the honorable mention!
Jul 30, 2007 04:25 AM
Thomas Weiss
Thomas R. Weiss - West Palm Beach, FL

Mike,

Congratulations and I don't think I can play poker with you because your have that poker face going for you :0)

Tom Weiss

Jul 30, 2007 04:35 AM
Rey Gallegos
Supreme Lending (NMLS ID #2129) - Las Vegas, NV
FHA, VA, Home Loans Las Vegas, NV

Mike,

Great, Great post!  Congratulations on the mention!

Jul 30, 2007 04:38 AM
Sarah Cooper
Real Estate Shows - Hurricane, WV
Congratulations, Mike!  :o)
Jul 30, 2007 04:39 AM
Mike Mueller
Tech and Social Media Consultant - Walnut Creek, CA

Jeff - Thanks, I just knew you had to be a judge!  Did you get that $20 I sent you?

Kim - Thanks I really dug yours as well.

Thomas - You'll have to teach me how to play first.

Rey - Thanks, same back to you!

Sarah - Let's talk about your shoes...  I seem to rember a post not that long ago with some bare feet and some toe wiggling?

And not one person mentioned anything yet about the advanced graphic features I worked so hard on?

Hint: check the image descriptions 

 

 

 

Jul 30, 2007 05:19 AM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
Mike congratulations on your honorable mention, this blog could have very easily been one of the first three place finishes.
Jul 30, 2007 07:01 AM