The question was easy...the first easy one of the day. Quietly and succinctly: "Who ARE you?"Whew, finally a question I KNOW...no problems here! So I began:"I am a Mother" (my Mentor smiles and shakes his head)."I am a Grandmother" (my Mentor smiles and shakes his head)."I am a Banker" (my M
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08/12/2010
Are you among the millions of Americans who are totally confused, suffering from a severe case of "Financial Analysis Paralysis" and convinced of the country's financial downfall? Have the disjointed messages from the government and the subsequent media "spin" by the Talking Heads on the evening
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08/12/2010
Many, many loan officers and banks post mortgage rates on a daily basis. Many even have a nifty widget that enables the consumer to input a few general critera (loan amount, purpose, value, credit score...or, more likely: "excellent, good, fair, poor" and, voila', up pops a rate and the consume
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08/12/2010
Let's face it, as Americans we are pretty fed up with the double set of rules that banks have. Protected by Congress and receiving billions of dollars in TARP bail out funds AND being free to gouge consumers with their credit card practices and over draft fees. Yesterday a federal judge in the f
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08/12/2010
So, I was wondering what I could possibly write a post about and could think of nothing to spice up my thought processes so thought I would read some posts instead of write. Often times, an thought provoking post and/or my reaction to it will spark the creative juices flowing and I find I have s
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08/04/2010
Once again Jeff has laid out the specifics of an important area of finance. This is a valuable post for agents and consumers alike to understand how and when a lender will require a 4506_T from the IRS. In the ever changing world of mortgages, you really need to stay on top of what is going o
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08/02/2010
This is a great post about a home owner weighing the odds of selling now or waiting for a year or so. While every situation is different, I certainly think location has a lot to do with the correct answer to this question. Much of the Southern California market has already stablized and prices a
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07/31/2010
The following was sent to me by my dear friend and surrogate Mother, Alice Camphouse, in Sun River, Montana (my home town of 100 or less people). Alice is truly the "Salt of the Earth" and has been a "farmer's wife" all of her adult life. Mother and Grandmother to many, Alice has given me
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07/31/2010
I love this post, and it ties in with my recent post on the 3 R's needed in our industry. I maintain: too many Loan Officer's know how to READ and too many agents know how to WRITE and both don't RESPECT the other enough. Great post and worth the read...and the contemplation.When I went on my
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07/31/2010
An interesting perspective on whether or not Fannie can stem the tide of strategic defaults. Esko makes a pretty good argument that they won't. Your thoughts?Fannie Mae recently took an assertive step, in its own mind at least, to stem the growing tendency of mortgage borrowers pulling off stra
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07/30/2010
