Blog Closed Today

MORTGAGE GOLIATH STONED - We Interview Davey

26 April 2007 - Madison, Wisconsin

There is no shortage of press about the subprime market and the less savory products known as "option" ARMS and pick-a-payment loans. Many people felt they were duped or misled. Frankly, I had a hard time believing some of these people were victims - did they really believe that while the rest of America was paying 6 and 7 percent for their mortgages that they'd get a long term rate at 1.95%?!? It was tough for me to swallow and I even said so over the air on our weekly show more than once.

Then Bill and I came across this article in the online version of the Washington Post. As the couple was from Wisconsin, we wanted to interview them. They agreed. Here's a summary we later attached to the show/podcast:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/05/AR2007020501415_pf.html

This mortgage-gone-bad story is getting attention across the US as it applies to borrowers everywhere. According to an article in the Washington Post, Susan and Kevin Andrews of Cedarburg, Wisconsin refinanced their home in 2004 into what was explained - and reportedly documented - to be a 1.95% interest rate that was to be fixed for five years. It was not. The Andrews family decided to fight and eventually took the lender - Chevy Chase Bank - to court and WON, setting the table for a class action lawsuit by thousands of borrowers in the same boat. This is their story - and their caution - to the listeners of Your Home-Your Money as related in this intriguing live interview.

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=14889

Will "Older Adults" Benefit from Florida's No Property Tax Proposal?

19 April 2007

I'm not trying to whip a dead horse.

Life can throw a few curve-balls at you - some of which open eyes to a different viewpoint, a different paradigm. I think my mind's been in Florida a bit lately, especially with reports coming in about my wife's uncle who is in the hospital down there. I guess you mix that with David Podgursky's blog and an event that happened a few minutes ago, and for me, an idea akin to an epiphany moved to the surface of my mind.

The catalyst to the new viewpoint came from a very simple comment from Michael Fooladi, who comments in my Would You Trade SALES TAX for PROPERTY TAX? blog. Michael simply wrote, "Absolutely. Raise the sales tax and do away with property taxes." I then thought of the "old timers."

Wouldn't it be something if our Older Adults (the PC form of Senior Citizens) - which are our current Moms and Dads, Grandmas and Grandpas right now (and will be us some day) could actually LIVE on their social security, savings, and retirement funds!? With NO Property Tax they could even truly OWN their homes. Completely! Currently, if they don't pay property tax, they could lose them. But imagine a situation with 100% ownership, no property tax, and maybe even no insurance! Full ownership. What a novel idea!

If the burden were switched to Sales Tax, the older adults - who are in their low consumption years - would really get a break. Would this turn Florida into a gigantic retirement home (insert pun here) filled with semi-destitute retirees? I doubt it - real estate prices a too high for that to happen. There would be changes, but I don't think insurmountable ones.

The more well-heeled retirees could throw more money (and sales taxes) into the economy as they'd have more to spend. And the wealth from inheritances - which could be greater - could churn the economy, too. It'd mean less financial burden on the middle-aged children who sometimes supplement their parents living, so again more money for other things.

Of course I'm thinking ideally here for one segment of society. But our aging citizenry - many of whom have given to society for decades and decades - could really benefit from my simplistic observation. After paying for school and government for 50 to 70 years, might someone say, "Stop. Thanks - you've done your part." at some point?

It is quickly becoming nothing short of a crime to grow old in America. Does Florida have a solution, even if only as a side effect?

Art Blanchet

Bill Quigley

Your Home-Your Money.com Mortgage Talk Radio

Don Imus Has Distracted Me Today

A little departure from mortgages might be necessary here. I cannot let the Don Media Circus pass without making some sort of footnote entry. It happened, so I'll mention it here ONCE.

I am flustered - I find this Imus thing to be so morally ambiguous that I'm not sure what to think. There is no doubt his flippant remark was stupid and insulting - and I DO think the racial underpinnings were something we really didn't need to hear over the airwaves - certainly not 100 times in three days, either. It was a stupid remark - and he deserved censure.

He also personally insulted young women athletes he knew nothing about. As a father of three young women, I was angry at his abject ignorance and thoughtlessness. It was MEAN to say those things.

Perhaps even more deplorable than what Imus himself said is that it launched the programs of the reactionaries and opportunists. A raging tirade was unleashed with many self-aggrandizing semi-political celebrities vying for the spotlight and trying to expand a stupid, callous remark by one has-been into a national agenda. The spotlight grabbing and self-serving spillover has been sickening.

Who are the victims here? Who was injured? We can certainly broaden the scale to include an entire race, or even an entire gender - isn't that what's already going on?. However, it appears to me that while we can go that route, the true victims were the Rutgers players and their families. And how did they react? They met with the offender - discussed the matter - and forgave him. The victims forgave the offender. Who has greater demands on justice than the victim?! Certainly the politicians do not.

A year ago the Amish community was shattered when a man - known to them - kidnapped, bound, and slew their precious daughters. What was their reaction? They forgave the offender, forgave his family, attended his funeral, and reached out in healing to the family of the very man who had harmed them so deeply - a man who had taken innocent lives. The Amish leaders did not launch a a diatribe against those they perceive to be different or even oppressive. They did not blame society. They didn't say it was television, or music or media either. They simply, quietly offered forgiveness and closed the books on the painful matter. They will heal and grow. They are now also admired and respected as a result of adhering to the ideals to which most of us can only wish to aspire.

Imus made a stupid remark, but it was his stupid remark. It did not represent any other individual on the planet. The Rutgers team behaved well. Everyone else in media did not.

"He who takes offense when none is intended is a fool. He who takes offense when it is intended is usually also a fool." - Brigham Young. The court of public opinion seems to be presided over by very, very foolish judges.

Florida Residents Might Trade PROPERTY TAXES for SALES TAXES

12 April 2007

With the April 17th Federal Income Tax deadline looming as a reminder, "taxes" in all forms moves to the forefront of our minds. Property tax in particular is becoming a major issue in Florida (although I think insurance should). No one is certain as how to get rising taxes under control - the massive real estate appreciation of the first five years of this century didn't help a bit -

I received this email today from a "Doris". I do not know who Doris is, but she has a message.

The web address "Doris" provided in her message (below)linked to a website entitled No More Property Tax, which states it is sponsored by the Republican Party of Florida. I Googled "nomorepropertytax" and many news articles and blogs showed up - 133 in 0.26 seconds (slow for Google). It appears this movement - which is essentially will raise sales tax to 8.5% while essentially eliminating property taxes for full-time residents and reducing it for 2nd homes.

There are skeptics on both sides of the equation. While in Florida in February, I read a newspaper article that said Florida would have to raise sales taxes to 13.8% to eliminate property taxes. I suppose the elimination for residents coupled with the reduction for non-residents resulted in the 8.5% number.

There is more to this than just swapping numbers. A few questions are posted at the end of this blog entry for consideration.

Here's is Doris's email and the link to No More Property Tax dot-com:

If you haven't already heard, the Florida State government is looking to make dramatic reforms in how Florida property taxes are paid (if at all), and this could go into effect by next year. I don't have to tell you the incredible impact that this would have on Florida's real estate market.

Here is a summary of what is being proposed (and we are expecting it to pass:)

- If you own a residence in Florida and are homesteaded (as your primary residence) you would no longer pay property tax. Zero.

- If you have a Florida residence as a second home, or if you have a commercial property, property taxes would be rolled back to 2000-2001
levels.

- Future property tax increases would be limited.

To accomplish this aggressive measure, the State of Florida would increase general sales tax by 2-2.5%.

Those of us who live in Florida are extremely excited about this initiative.

We would like to ask you to add your name to the petition in support of this initiative. Click on link below and register your support.

We are expecting it to pass, however, your voice would be welcomed.

Please forward this email to other property owners you know in Florida.

(Fields marked with * are required)

http://www.nomorepropertytax.com/endorse.php

(end of email)

So, the taxation question exists for YOUR state as well as Florida:

• Would you favor an elimination of property taxes by raising sales taxes?


• What would the consequences be?

Imagine qualifying borrowers and home buyers without property taxes:

• Would the result drive up sales prices again? Would this jeopardize borrowers ?


• How do you think this would affect your state's economy?

Other insights or ideas?

Art Blanchet

Bill Quigley

FREE SWEEPSTAKES at Your Home-Your Money - $1000 Monthly Prize

11 April 2007

Our website is provided by ALAMODE.com. We pay for the hosting service and template. We can modify it within certain limits, so it is unique. ALAMODE really strives to support us and help us provide tools, value, and information (much of which we customize) to our visitors and clients alike. It's a good relationship.

ALAMODE now sponsors a monthly Sweepstakes with a nice prize. It is absolutely FREE for visitors to enter - their goal is to increase traffic on the websites and give us - THEIR customers - something to give back to our visitors. It's a nice perk that doesn't hurt anyone or cost money. We are accountable to RESPA, so the contest is open to everyone (of age).

If interested, take a minute or two to enter. Rules are posted on a link provided on the entry form. It's not very invasive and as a result of your entry you get put in our (Bill and Art's) database, where you occasionally can get special emailed reports, ideas, and info. You can opt out (and get eliminated from our personal list) any time.

You don't need to be a client or customer to enter - just a visitor. We appreciate you reading this blog, so we decided to share to chance to win through Blogger, too.

Here's the blurb:

We wanted to make certain you got this, so we posted it on our blog page. Thanks for visiting and looking around. To enter go to www.yourhome-yourmoney.com/sweepstakes or click HERE. Good luck, too!

Visit our website and get registered (click on the word "SWEEPSTAKES" in the right-hand column.) for our monthly sweepstakes drawing and you could win $1,000! That will go a long way to a down payment on your dream home, some new landscaping, or your next home loan payment. Either way, it’s cold hard cash – so register now!

While you’re there, check out all the ways we can help you with any of your real estate needs!

• Thinking of looking at some homes? It pays to pre-qualify and we can help you in just minutes. Give us a call at 608-831-HOME (4663) to get started right away.


• Need to refinance? Rates are great right now and we can help you with refinancing. Get out of that nasty ARM and take advantage of excellent FHA products only one-quarter of brokers can offer.


• Want a hassle-free loan? Then you’ve definitely come to the right place. Our loan process is super easy for you and we don’t drown people in excess paperwork.


• FREE Reports, loan calculators, and borrower's tools. All here for your use.


• Listen to our podcasts, Ten-Minute Lessons, and radio archives. Here you'll find a great discussion about some of real estate's most pressing issues - and simple solutions - as they pertain to your home and your money.

You don't need to be our client to enter the sweepstakes - just fill out the entry form and you're in! Don't forget to come back every month - or more often if you want!

Good luck with your entry! We hope you’re the next lucky winner!

Bill Quigley
Art Blanchet

608-831-HOME (4663)

Microsoft Small Business Summit - Rieva Lesonsky

6 April 2007

(Reprinted from ActiveRain blog dated 22 March 2007)

The good people at Microsoft held their annual Small Business Summit this past week (it ends Friday March 23rd) - unfortunately I only had the time to catch 3 or 4 sessions online at my home in Madison, Wisconsin during the entire five days. I try to get more time in, especially when some of the sessions offered have nothing to do with Microsoft and plenty to do with business.

One of the speakers who gave a very animated and interesting presentation was Rieva Lesonsky - senior vice president and editorial director of Entrepreneur Media Inc. (Entrepeneur Magazine et al). Her topic was entitled Coping With Risk and she really delivered her message with energy, humor, and enthusiasm. She pointed out that the entrepeneur is by nature a risk-taker, and as such is going to make mistakes as he grows. And mistakes when you are small are not as brutal to your business, because you can always start over if close to the beginning. For emphasis, she cited this memorable quote from George Bernard Shaw, "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but one more useful than a life spent doing nothing." I gobbled that up and will definitely use it next time I fail to ask for directions when traveling with my wife. (Wish me luck.)

Rieva also spoke about making your risks small ones. When using technology such as word searches to penetrate a market, don't go up directly against the Big Dogs as their pockets are way to deep and they have name recognition. She said it is better to work the fringe markets, the areas where there is less competition so you can establish yourself, your reputation, and your client base more easily. Then let that success carry you into your bigger market. In her words, in the beginning, take the road less traveled (which is the excuse I can give my wife when lost).

In the Q&A session, Rieva recommended that the small business entrepeneur get a niche. She said to make your business personal - to do the little things the heavy hitters cannot or will not do. She also said to incorporate your business, and to work it full time. Participants were instructed to continue moving forward with their plans. As she put it, "Even if your on the right track, you're gonna get run over if you're standing still." I liked that one - so true.

My next blog (I hope) to report on Jennifer Laycock, editor of Search Engine Guide. She tells us How to Get a Higher Profile on the Web.

The Microsoft Small Business Summit will have all videos and audio archived for 12 months, but not until the summit has concluded for three days (rescission?). After that time, you can catch them all at www.sbsummit.com.

Art Blanchet

Bill Quigley

You and Your Debit/Credit Card - link here

Ocean View Follies: You and your debit/credit card

Came across this blog - not really a real estate blog - when googling credit info. The author takes a few minutes to cite some of the dangers and results of loss of credit cards or credit card into. Consumer rights and procedures were discussed in this brief, concise article.

If you like it, be sure to leave them a positive comment.

Thanks.

Mortgage Lessons Learned from Tiger Woods

4 April 2007

Reprinted form Tom Domin's Mortgage Marketing Toolkit article pages. As some of you may have figured out, I like Tom and his advice, tools, and helps. He asks what appears to be a more-than-fair price for his materials, but also gives away much for free. While his info is geared toward Mortgage Professionals, there is much in the way of truth for all pros here. I also like this article as I am a Tiger fan and enjoy the stats. (Art Blanchet)

A Valuable Mortgage Lesson Learned From Tiger Woods

Unless you've been living in a cave or under a rock the last few years, you've seen first hand how Tiger Woods has become one of the most dominate forces in men's golf.

We watched as he won the CA Championship at Doral Golf Club this past weekend by two strokes. Woods won this event for the sixth time, more than any other tournament. Tiger is believed to be the first player to win a tournament six times on six courses - in Spain, Ireland, Atlanta, San Francisco, London and Miami, the latter on a Blue Monster course where he has won the last three years.

There is no doubt we are witnessing the performance of a truly great athlete. His dedication and preparation is truly amazing. He finished at 10 under par at 278 and earned $1.35 million for his second victory of the year, and 56th of his career.

You're probably asking...Where's that mortgage lesson you talked about? OK...Here we go!

On every hole that Tiger plays (whether it is practice or sanctioned play) a gentleman follows Tiger closely...charting each stroke and documenting the results. He maintains a low profile and you would find it difficult to pick him out from the gallery that follows Tiger on every hole. He documents each hole, of each round, at each location that Tiger plays.

Just so you know, the gentleman's name is Hank Haney and he is the "Swing Coach" of Tiger Woods. Tiger pays Hank one million dollars a year plus expenses to perform this function. Hank Haney charts each stroke from tee to green, analyzes each stroke, and then recommends the appropriate practice to correct the problems that he may have noted.

Hank Haney doesn't organize Tiger's travel plans or make hotel reservations, and he doesn't chart the golf course (that's the job of Steve Williams, Tiger's caddie of six years). As a side note, Tiger pays Steve some 10% of all purse monies. Hank Haney gets paid to do just one thing...to be Tiger's "Swing Coach."

Today, most of the top pros on the tour employ a "Coach." We picked Tiger to underscore our point here: Why would a man so naturally talented and currently so dominating in his profession, be willing to invest such a huge amount of money into his game?

The answer is simple! He's investing in his business...his livelihood...and, his future. He knows that to stay ahead of his competition he needs to invest, or better yet...re-invest in his business at every opportunity. With tour earnings of $9.9 million in 2006...Tiger spent more than 20% of that amount to improve his business

I am always amazed by the number of Loan Officers/Mortgage Brokers who don't spend more than fifty dollars a year on their own professional growth. We're in a profession that's changing daily and by leaps and bounds, and most mortgage folks refuse to invest in their business.

There's no doubt, you began a strong mortgage career, and you really got into it - but then you fell asleep at the switch and forgot to do those basic things like read industry publications or new books by sales masters. You don't go to sales seminars. You don't listen to audios or view videos on sales-related topics. You don't have any paid subscriptions to newsletters that could improve your mortgage knowledge or capability. In short, you don't constantly re-invigorate and improve your business or yourself.

If you want to survive and prosper in the Mortgage Business today...you need to be a "Tiger."

************************************************************************************************

About the Author: Tom Domin has over twenty-five years of experience in Real Estate and Mortgages. Tom is the author of "101 Ways to Originate Mortgages" available at http://www.101WaysToOriginateMortgages.com/ and publisher of "Tom's Mortgage Tips" a twice monthly Mortgage Newsletter that is geared for Mortgage Professionals. You can sign-up by visiting http://www.MortgageMarketingToolKit.com

Copyright (C) 2007 Sunset Management Solutions, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Khaddafi and SubPrime Lending (humor)

3 April 2007

Now is the Time

The (fill in title here) ruler of Libya since 1969 is a man known as Moammar Khaddafy...or maybe Muammar Qaddafi...perhaps Mommar Gaddafi...or... ?? The truth is no one really knew because his name didn't transliterate very well into English. An article in the London Evening Standard reported 37 different spellings in 2004, which is odd because everyone had forgotten who he was a decade earlier, much less cared about how to spell his name.

Sure, we all could have referred to the Libyan leader by his honorific "Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" or even "Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution" or my personal favorite - "Mo G" - but we couldn't reach a concensus as a public. So the chaos ran rampant.

The point is, this inability to communicate even the simplest of messages - a man's name - threw the nation's communication system into turmoil and wreaked havoc on every kid trying to write a term paper on North African Geo-Political Systems and Its Effect on Old World Economics (when spelling counted) throughout the 80's and early 90's. We are approaching such a crisis again.

We as Americans need to decide - once and for all - the spelling of the dreaded word being slaughtered by the media (forgive my presumption here), "SubPrime." Every headline, every article, every blog, every AdWord, every television network, and every legal writ or class-action lawsuit utilizes a different spelling of the word that has become a political hotcake (or hot potato(e), or hot-something). As Real Estate Professionals, it is not only our job to set the public straight, but our sworn duty as almost semi-public servants.

There is no need for protracted discussion on the matter (hold the applause). As we are Children of the Great Democracy, we will embrace our constitutionally guaranteed privilege of freedom - and VOTE!

By the power vested in this blog, I have pared the choices down to the following, most probable choices:

· Subprime

· Sub-prime

· SubPrime

· Sub-Prime

· Not Ready For Prime Time Mortgage

· Non-Prime

· Loans That Are Past Their Prime

· Sub-prime, as in not quite Choice or Select

· Sublime

· Substandard

· Subway (I was hungry when I wrote this)

· UnPrime

· Pseudo-Prime

· Quasi-Prime

· Semi-Prime

· Sorta Prime (a scam-artist special)

· Serta-Prime (this blog is making both you and me sleepy)

· Neo-Prime

· Nouveau-Prime

· Optimus Prime (did I mention the Transformers movie is coming out in July?)

· ShouldaPaidYourBillsOnTime-Prime

· Almost Prime

· I-Can-t-Believe-Its-Not Prime

· Psycho-Prime (insert own pun here_____________)

· Sign-Here Prime (another good scammer, the longer name follows)

· Sign-Here-Without-Reading-Prime

· Still SubPrime (After All These Years)

· SeemsLike Prime

· Silly-Prime

· Prime-Lite

· Biggie-Prime

The choice with the most votes - write-ins accepted - will be the OFFICIAL designation of the loans-that-people-with-good-credit-and-regular-employment-don't-get. If you cannot vote here (it's best if you don't), there are blogs across this Land of the Free that will need correcting comments.

Do your duty! Vote with your hearts, your minds, and your keypads. We will be a great people once again and make the world a more homogeneous place.

Thank you.

Avoid FREE CREDIT REPORT Scams - Here Is the Safest Way to Go

2 April 2007

The Feds have given you the right- by law - to receive a FREE annual credit report from each of the three credit repositories. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion- three credit reporting agencies - to provide consumers with a FREE credit report every 12 months.

There are three ways you can receive your own report:

1. Via a mailng addresss
2. By calling a toll-free number.
3. By visiting a specialized website.

Before we list the web address of the site, we want to remind you that there are many counterfeit websites out there hoping to cash in on this mandated option. They lure you in through careful online and print advertising - often through banks and credit card companies - using teasers and official-sounding names. There are sites all over Google and other search engines that are similar. Some sites take advantage of misspellings and sloppy typing to get your link. BE CAREFUL. You do not want your personal information in the wrong hands.

These "imposter" websites will allow you a free report, then upcharge for subsequent reports. While there are legitimate services who will monitor your credit for a fee, they are not a part of the FCRA system.

The authorized website is at https://www.annualcreditreport.com. ANNUAL CREDIT REPORT dot com. This website will ALWAYS open in a separate window. This I know from a letter I received when I requested a link to my website. It is their policy.

The SAFEST way to get to annualcreditreport.com is by linking directly through the Federal Trade Commission website. Despite popular media depictions and late night TV talk show rhetoric, the government websites appear to be considerably more secure than your average site. Linking is the safest way.

The FTC webpages about consumer credit are

here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm and

here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/index.html

You'll see the difference - one's more colorful than the other. Cuter. More pictures.

Now your credit report contains information about an individual's payment history, debts, legal matters such as judgments, collections, and bankruptcies. Your address and social security number - as well as employment history - is there, too. Safeguard that information.

Even if you are not buyinga home, refinancing, or making a credit purchase - major or minor - you need to should consider getting your credit report for these reasons:

1. To deter to identity theft - even if you aren't using your credit, you need to make certain no one else is, either. Identity theft victims find out when damage is done and the repair to name and credit costly and time-consuming.
2. To check for accuracy - approximately one-third of credit reports have errors. People with common last names (Smith, Jones, etc) and multi-generational family names (Jr, Sr, III, etc). Imagine what it's like in the Foreman household with George - boxer and grill champion - with all of his sons named George, too.
3. To monitor reporting- a simple error in payment date on a mortgage could delay a home loan closing for weeks while the error is being corrected - and rescoring, while possible, is expensive and requires an imposing burden of proof.

Remember, when going to the free credit report website, you will need to provide at least your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. Other information MAY be necessary, but understand it is all about confirming YOU as the subject of the credit report.

The phone numbers and address are in the bottom paragraph for your convenience, exactly as printed on the FTC website. You can use it, but if you're as wise as we believe, you will NOT take our word for it, but go to the FTC website instead. Your tax dollars at work.

Art Blanchet

Bill Quigley

To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is on the back of this brochure; or you can print it from ftc.gov/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.