Steve Richman's (thatmiguysteve) Blog

As we try to write our blogs and send out our newsletters and our daily inspirational e-mails (marketing never sleeps), we can always use a new source for information.  I use a site that lists 54,000 quotes and categorizes them by subject and author.  Using a geat quote helps add legitimacy and f...

MBA's Weekly Mortgage Loan Application Survey Highlights      11/5/08 Last Week Refi Index 1075.4 1489.4 Refi Share 42.9% 46.9% 30 Year Fixed Average Rate 6.47% 6.26% 15 Year Fixed Average Rate 6.14% 6.01% ARM Share of Applications(based on number of loans) 2.5% 1.9% Source: MBA Weekly Applicati...

One of the best people I have ever met my entire life is Barry Winovich.  There is nobody that lives life larger or has a bigger heart.  Barry has ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease.  This disease does not dampen his spirit.  Rather, he has gone out and created the Bright Side of the Road Foundation to ...

The New American Pastime So if you read this blog (and who doesn't?), you know I travel.  A lot. And recently I noticed something in the airports.  There have always been people at tables throughout the terminals with credit card offers trying to get you to sign up.  Who can resist a free stuffed...

The "C" Word On September 7, 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorship.  What does this mean? Conservatorship means that a Conservator, in this case FHFA (which replaced OFHEO as the GSE regulator) has taken over control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (referred to as the GS...

Mortgage Meltdown. Real Estate Crunch. Credit Crisis. Banking Collapse. Pick your favorite phrase and call it what you like, but the ever-popular question remains and is debated -  who caused this mess and how did we get here?  For a great description that discusses politics and regulations and n...

A friend of mine (Jean Bradley, for those of you who may know her) handed me an article a few minutes ago.  The article begins with a quote from Abigail Adams, wife of the 2nd President of the United States, John Adams.  Here's the quote - "These are the times in which a genius would wish to live...

Looking for Leads in All the Wrong Places Are you sitting on a gold mine? Do you manage your database and work with your past customers? If you answered no, let me ask you this: are you willing to give your customer database away? Would you sell it? Seems to me it is pretty valuable. Did you know...

They Say You Should Never Talk Politics at a Business Meeting... They say you should never talk politics at a business meeting. But, when we are in the middle of an historic election, and with markets (real estate, mortgage, stock) on a roller coaster ride (mainly downhill), what else is there to...