Art's Mortgage Solutions Blog

With all the events and family and feasts and fun associated with the holidays, is it worth it to work and try to make sales in December?  Or is it better to regroup and plan for the 2010 year? First, let me say that my largest closing month ever was a December!!!!! Year end considerations can so...

Reflecting on Thanksgiving A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked the stock boy, 'Do these turkeys get any bigger?' The stock boy answered, 'No ma'am, they're dead.' Big Turkeys and Little TurkeysIf a big turk...

  It is getting more and more common that my company is asked to save a real estate transaction at the 11th hour.  I got three calls in the last two days from listing agents that have had their sales put in jeopardy by pure incompetence from the lender handling the transaction for the buyer.  Two...

State of Oregon 6A football playoffs As those of you who read my blog know, I am a huge football fan.  I love it on every level!  I will watch peewee football, middle school football, high school football, or NFL football.  Heck, I am such a football nut that I will even sit down and watch a CFL ...

Yesterday I faced a common dilemma for business; was it better to give my services away and have my customer leave the transaction happy or make a profit and risk a potential failed sale? Let me first explain the circumstances. I had received a loan application from a couple about 6 weeks ago for...

Where are we headed from here?   This real estate market continues to confuse and perplex.  One day I am so busy that I do not have time to eat lunch.  The next, nobody calls, and my outgoing marketing efforts meet with deaf ears.  One day I am encouraged by a drop in rates that should create ref...

Every once in a while you have to hit a curve ball.  Last month my father-in-law, who is 81, had triple bypass surgery.  After the operation we moved him into a facility in Lynnwood, Washington call Manor Care.  The correct name should be "Manor Could Care Less", but that is a different story.  L...

With Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years heading our way soon.  It is time to make some cheese balls :) The Best Cheese Ball Recipe From the kitchen of Audrey Howe Handed down from my mother  My recipe is just from memory - from watching and helping my mother make this for every hol...

  Fall is my favorite time of year in Oregon and it always has been.  I am not a fan of hot temperatures so the fall brings relief.  Nothing is better than a cool crisp October day to bring about that euphoric feeling of all things macho.  Of course, I speak of college football, a deer, elk or bi...

Looking for a good pumpkin patch opportunity for the kids?  Some of the best in the Portland metro area are in the vicinity of Canby.  I good way to start your Saturday adventure would be to head cross the Willamette River on the Canby Ferry.  This is always a thrill for the kids and at the barga...