mike in tucson: Good News for REALTORS and VA Buyers: VA Funding Fee DECREASING!
- 08/16/11 08:58 AM
Effective for Loans closed on or after October 1, 2011, the VA funding fee will decrease dramatically! REALTORS If you are a REALTOR fortunate enough to be selling real estate in a military town like Tucson, AZ, this is great news. The VA has not given us a complete chart yet; I will post again when that happens. For the moment, this is what they have sent us. VETERANS If you're a Veteran looking to use your VA eligibility, this will reduce the upfront cost to you. Call your favorite REALTOR and let them know that you are in the … (25 comments)
mike in tucson: For You Military Afficionados: Whirleybirds Over Gates Pass, Tucson, Arizona
- 08/04/11 07:21 PM
~ Heavy Choppers Flying Into the Sunset ~ There's no mistaking the sound of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter. I could hear these two approaching from the east, behind me, as I searched for a place to park my car at Gates Pass. The sunset was exceptional tonight, and I was late. Every spot seemed to be taken. Then one opened up, and I pulled into the space, jumped out with my finger manipulating the zoom as I ran to the top and snapped this photo. Ten seconds later they were out of sight.
_____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, … (17 comments)
mike in tucson: A Good One On Bank of America... (You Needed a Smile)
- 08/03/11 02:23 PM
~ MasterCard Stock Hits 52 Week High August 3, 2011 ~ Okay. You need a smile, and I'm here to help out. Credit on demand was the stock market winner today, keeping the market from having its longest losing streak since 1978. Do you know how Credit Cards came to be? I have a Bank of America story for you... The year was 1958. Bank of America wanted to get into the credit card business. Diners Club, the very first credit card, was established in NYC in 1950 by a man named Frank McNamara. It was accepted at its outset … (31 comments)
mike in tucson: Will Your Sale Close? Is Your Buyer's Downpayment Safe?
- 07/19/11 11:15 AM
My borrower is buying a home for $300,000. His down-payment of $60,000 is in a money market fund "for safety" he says. Money Market funds are generally considered as safe as cash, and while they earn interest like mutual funds, you can write checks on them as if they were a savings account. Safe, right? Not so much. Money market funds (MMF) came into existence in 1970. Twice since then, the value of a fund has dropped below the benchmark value of $1.00. It's called "breaking the buck." (Breaking the buck has happened more often than that, but parent companies almost … (23 comments)
~ Vandalism in Pima County's Tucson Mountain Park ~ (The Park abuts Saguaro National Park's Tucson Mountain District) You may never have visited Tucson Mountain Park, but chances are that you've watched a John Wayne Western or two. It's probably the first time you saw a real (not neon) Saguaro Cactus. That's Old Tucson Studios in the photo on the left. Old Tucson Studios is located within Tucson Mountain Park, and attracts visitors … (14 comments)
~ And Quiet ~ It was one of those days peculiar to mortgage lenders. I had put my heart and soul into solving a problem for a borrower, only to have the first-time homebuyer jump ship because someone promised an eighth better on rate for a mortgage that had yet to be locked. You know what? If that's the worst thing that happens today, we'll be all right. I just needed a little peace and quiet... _____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender NMLS #223495 SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage Bank Offices … (20 comments)
~ Cumulus from the road ~ Late afternoon cumulus clouds sometimes don't have themselves all together. This one is having a bad hair day.
~ Cumulus from the road ~ This mid-morning cumulus cloud had it more together, and took time to make a lonesome saguaro look good. Don't you think so? _____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender NMLS #223495 SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage BankOffices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales I don't copyright my … (12 comments)
mike in tucson: Photo Composition: Framing The Heavens
- 07/08/11 05:27 PM
~ Anvil Cloud over Pima College ~ The foreground in a photo can add or detract from what otherwise might be an outstanding photo. The subject here is clearly the anvil cloud structure in the background. Pima College to the right in the midground of the photo seems out of place. It adds nothing to the photo; rather, it detracts from it. I raced to a neighborhood a mile north of my location for the above photo in order to capture the very same cloud structure from a different perspective. Look at the photo below. The midground and foreground of … (20 comments)
mike in tucson: REALTOR Compensation: A Look Inside The Professional Mind
- 07/06/11 05:52 PM
~ And that's why it works! ~ "Just what do they do for all that money that I wasn't doing?" A FSBO seller was commiserating with her husband about how, after more than six months of advertising with zero activity, they finally hired an agent to list and sell their house. (I'll be real surprised if its not sold before school starts in August.) "I thought it was going to be so simple..." she continued. "Doesn't it seem like it should be simple? I'd like to be able to get inside her head." "I know what you'd find," I commented. … (39 comments)
mike in tucson: Wish I Could Dump My Investment In General Motors (courtesy the Federal Gov't)
- 07/05/11 04:31 AM
Centralized vs. Free Market decisions There's a "one size fits all" commercial on TV currently, where people decide on a purchase (car, pet, etc.) only to be told that they can't buy what they want, because they have to buy what someone else chooses for them. It reminds me of our government investing our money in General Motors without our agreement. (The Federal Reserve, whose charter doesn't include manufacturing automobiles, holds 500,000,000 shares of General Motors.) You thought you were in the real estate business? You're in the automobile business too! GM Silverado inventory glut at 122 days Flush with your … (14 comments)
mike in tucson: The Monsoons Are Here After 81 Days Without Rain!
- 07/05/11 01:49 AM
This winter was exceptionally dry in Arizona, and we always look forward to the Summer Monsoons. Well, they're here, and the seven day forecast shows rain every day this week!
Enjoy the Rain! We do. _____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender NMLS #223495 SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage BankOffices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales … (11 comments)
mike in tucson: Holding Down the Fort: Mexican White Winged Dove
- 07/03/11 02:57 AM
~ Keep your distance! ~ This mother on her nest is half again the size of the Mourning Doves that you're used to seeing in your neighborhood. They migrate north from Mexico and nest in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert. This one has found a location where the spines of the saguaro cactus protect her from reptile predators. Notice the featherless blue skin around the striking orange eye. You can't see it in this photo, but the leading edges of her wings are white. _____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender NMLS #223495 SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent … (13 comments)
mike in tucson: Hey! Don't Be Taking Pictures of My Backside!
- 07/02/11 05:02 PM
~ Gila Woodpecker Feeding Chicks ~ The Gila Woodpecker was feeding her little ones, and I was set up and taking photos. She must not have liked it that I was taking pics of her rump as she disappeared into the "saguaro boot" because the very next thing she did was to yell at me!
~ She's yelling at me! ~ _____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender NMLS #223495 SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage BankOffices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales I don't copyright my photos. It's okay for you to use … (49 comments)
mike in tucson: Uh-oh! Mama Never Told Me There'd Be Days Like This!
- 06/30/11 08:30 PM
~ Mom? ~ Some days are better than others. It helps to add humor, dark though it may be. Today was one of those days! Tomorrow is a new one. I found this photo in an email and wanted to use it to make a Mother's Day card, but my Darlin' nixed the idea. Can anyone help me identify the artist? _____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender. NMLS #223495 SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage BankOffices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales … (11 comments)
mike in tucson: Economic Model Untenable: A. Gary Shilling
- 06/29/11 06:09 AM
[The] "economic model, which leaves bureaucrats guessing about the market effects of their directives, is ultimately untenable." A. Gary Shilling Sounds like Shilling is talking about our current economy in the United States, doesn't it? He's not talking about us. He's talking about China--the country whose economy is tightly intertwined with our own. Why should you care? While macro views of the world economy don't get you listings or buyers, it's important to stay on top of events which can affect the earning of our daily bread. Shilling's article this morning on Bloomberg.com paints a bleak picture of China's economy headed … (10 comments)
mike in tucson: I Love The House! Why Won't The REALTOR Return My Call?
- 06/28/11 02:41 AM
The REALTOR won't return my call! It's one of the strangest phenomona in the universe. At a time when qualified buyers are in great demand, real estate agents aren't returning calls. I'm not talking about you. It's those other agents out there, especially listing agents for short sales. I'm seeing a shift in the business, and it has nothing to do with Gary Keller's book by that title. Listing Agents seem to be hiding from the real world of communication and interaction, confident that if only they get enough listings and set up the right systems on the internet, they … (51 comments)
mike in tucson: 110 Degrees, and Momma Woodpecker is Working to Feed the Babies!
- 06/26/11 06:17 PM
~ Self portrait at sunset ~ It hit 110 degrees in Tucson this afternoon, so I made an adjustment. I took four bottles of water on on my 4:00 hike, and I chose a trail that intersects with the Dobe Wash. Today wasn't a day for hiking a trail with a lot of lines on the topo map. This Gila Woodpecker was working, though. I could hear the babies in the nest calling for food, and I set myself up in the shade of another saguaro cactus and started clicking away. Keep at something long enough, and you'll get a … (19 comments)
mike in tucson: What Would Elimination of the Tax Break for Mortgage Debt Do To Your Business?
- 06/24/11 12:47 AM
Bloomberg National Poll: Tax Break for Mortgage Debt Is Ready for the Wrecking Ball WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS AS A REALTOR OR LENDER? In this morning's editorial, the editors of Bloomberg state the following: "Forty-nine percent of respondents in a Bloomberg National Poll said they were willing to abandon the mortgage tax break if it meant lower overall tax rates. Only 45 percent opposed the switch." Bloomberg's editors (no single name at the bottom of the article) believe that "Getting rid of the mortgage deduction is one of the most effective elements of any plan to lower overall … (23 comments)
mike in tucson: Desert Oddity: Ironwood Gargoyle #2
- 06/22/11 04:40 PM
~ Ironwood Gargoyle #2 ~ Architecture fascinates me; I'm a builder. When I was just a kid, my Dad took me to New York City, where I remember seeing gargoyles for the first time. This ironwood stump reminds me of the bat-like gargoyles that adorn the high corners of tall buildings in New York, in London and in Paris. Ironwood Gargoyle #2 lives in Saguaro National Park's Tucson Mountain District. (You can see Ironwood Gargoyle #1 here.) _____________________ I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender NMLS #223495 SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage BankOffices in Mesa, Tucson, … (8 comments)
mike in tucson: The Fed: "What We're Doing Isn't Working. Let's Do More Of It."
- 06/22/11 08:50 AM
"It didn't work the first time... It didn't work the second time... What the heck? Let's do it some more." (Click the photo for the whole story from Bloomberg News) Let's see... We printed an aircraft carrier full of money to stimulate the economy. It didn't do what we forecast it would do, and the economy is still in the tank. Hey! I have an idea. Let's do more of what didn't work, and see if we get a different result... When you're in a hole, and you realize it's getting deeper, the right thing to do is to stop … (7 comments)
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