Doug Jones's (dougj) Blog

I am posting 45 days of affirmations that I wrote in 2006 and recently found them in my garage. This is day 2.Sometimes to win we just have to be persistent and tireless.  My Favorite persistence book and a favorite sales book is (ready for this?)  Green Eggs and Ham.   The closing question is as...

In my garage I found a stack of  papers that I wrote back in  2006 . They are daily affirmations and personally I like them. This first one is shorter than the others but it is sufficient. There are 45  daily affirmations and I will be posting one a day. Maybe they will help someone. Today is Mar...

 Mortgage Magic started as a wholesale lender. The first loan we funded was $150,000 in 1991 and immediately we got a message that the loan was a fraud loan and we needed to buy the loan back. That was a shock and besides that I did not have $150,000. I called the mortgage broker who represented ...

We have been open for 34 years and have had many unusual situations in lending and real estate.We once got a loan approved that I thought the lender would turn  down because the property was poorly maintained. The banker was in my office and I mentioned that, and he said the property was beautifu...

How the industry has changed.33 years ago we ordered credit reports on the telephone and the report was delivered to us in one or two days. We ordered an appraisal and the appraiser had to take pictures and develop the pictures and then glue them on the report. For verifications we did not only a...

I have been in Real Estate for a long time but 99% of my sales have been SFR's on lots, not acreage. I have sold all over California but my sales have always been in cities or towns. It is easy most times to price the home and know who the buyers will be.Once I had a really unusual listing in dow...

I wrote a blog in 2013 about the Scout Law being a Fantastic Sales Law for Realtors and Mortgage Lenders. Going into 2024 I see the world as a sad place and am starting to work on me and my goals toward what is really important to me and what I want to (and need to ) improve on. The Boy Scout La...

The Pandemic is over. The economy is settling .Maybe not as good as we would like but it is settling. Mortgage rates and getting to a number that will encourage some people to start to start the buying process. So how can a Realtor or a Mortgage Lender get started to attract business again ?  Per...

If you count the Friday after Thanksgiving as a business day, mortgage rates had fallen for 6 straight days as of yesterday afternoon.  Moreover, they'd reached the lowest levels in 3 months and had put an impressive amount of distance between themselves and the highs seen just over a month ago.I...

Ah, the eternal question for first-time buyers: Single-Family Residence (SFR) or a condo? Well, the answer really depends on personal preferences and lifestyle. Let's explore both options:A Single-Family Residence (SFR) offers more privacy and independence. You'll have your own standalone home wi...