If there is one thing that two and half months on ActiveRain has reinforced in me, is that if you are going to be in the Real Estate Industry, then we MUST always be prepared.  Both of my boys are Eagle Scouts, and the Boy Scouts Motto of “Be Prepared”.  This Motto was drummed into them very early in life.  The Boys Scouts not only teach the Scouts to “Be Prepared” they live it.  Scouting involves a lot of camping and back packing.  A Scout has to “Be Prepared” for anything and everything when they are out in the woods.  They have to learn how to pack not only everything that they will need, but also to pack only what they will need since they will have to carry everything they pack by themselves.  They have to take every situation into consideration, and then make sure that they are eq... 12/01/2006

This is the time of year when most people in the Real Estate Industry are putting together their Business Plans or setting goals for 2007.  Some will be doing their Business Plan or setting goals in writing, while others will take a less formal approach and just make a conscious personal decision to what they want to accomplish in the up coming year.  We all need goals in our life and in our business.  If we do not have goals and a direction of where we want to be, then we will never get there. Can you imagine stating out on a trip to a specific location, and not have a clue as to how you were going to get there.  What do you think the odds would be that you would just accidentally find your way there?  Not very good I would say.  So what makes anyone think that they are going to get wh... 11/27/2006

Tomorrow is Sunday and I have made it a practice to stop by two to three Open Houses on my way home from Church.  This practice has been a great marketing tool for me, and one that I enjoy doing.  Many of the business relationships that I have formed with the Realtors that I work with have been a result of stopping by Open Houses on Sundays. Here in upper Middlesex County most of the Open Houses are done on Sunday between the hours of 1:00 – 3:00 in the afternoon.  This time works great for me because I am usually leaving Church around 12:30, and it takes me about 20 to 30 minutes to get into the territory that I cover.  I live about 30 minutes from Church, so my wife and family are getting home about the same time that I am stopping by the first Open House.  Our main meal on Sunday is ... 11/25/2006

Yesterday was my oldest son’s twenty-fourth birthday, but we could not go out because he had to prepare some things for his class today (he teaches 7th and 8th grade math & science), so we took him out to dinner tonight instead.  He loves barbecue food, so we went to this restaurant that specializes in barbecue ribs.  It is a fairly new restaurant, and their St. Louis style ribs are unbelievable. This was our second time there, and each time the service has been fantastic, maybe even better than the food.  My wife and I were very impressed on how the waitress made it a point to constantly be at everyone of her tables.  She really seemed to want everyone’s experience there to be a memorable one.  She wasn’t the only waitress doing this, all of them serviced their table this way. When we ... 11/21/2006

As everyone knows the Election is gratefully OVER yesterday!!!  For me it was a very long day, because I am the Republican Head Moderator here in Middletown, CT.  We were one of the test towns for the new Voting Machine that will be used State wide in 2007.  This Voting Machine is presently used in many other states, and works very well.  But since it is new to us, the Secretary of State had us go through several procedures that made for a very long and tiresome day.  My day started off yesterday at Town Hall at 4:30 in the morning, I was not done verifying all the Election figures until 12:45 this morning.  I think I am still seeing Election Returns, and will probably dream about them tonight.  OK enough about my day yesterday, but the idea for this blog is a result of yesterday.  No I... 11/08/2006

Hooooo Eeeeeeee!  If I sound all charged up, it is because I am.  I just got the new Rates for the week from Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), and the 30 Year Fixed Rate has dropped to 5.25% until next Thursday.  That is right, it isn’t a typo, it dropped to 5.25%, and it is a 30 Year Fixed Loan.  CHFA, is the premier mortgage loan in Connecticut for first time homebuyers. It is only available to buyers who have not owned a home in the last three years (with a couple of exceptions).  It is FHA Insured and only requires a 3% Downpayment.  However, CHFA lets the borrower keep $5,000 of their own money before they make them apply their own funds toward the Downpayment and Closing Costs. If the borrower does not have the necessary funds to make the 3% Downpayment and Closing Cos... 11/02/2006

I am sure that there are lots and lots of blogs out there about ".Com Lenders", so if no one reads this one it is OK, but I just wanted to share a recent experience I had with a Borrower. I got a call from one of the Realtors that I call on, and she wanted me to call one of her family members, because she was concerned about how they were going about getting pre-qualified for a loan. It seems that these young family members had decided to try to purchase a house and had not talked to her first about it. They had the right idea about getting pre-qualified and seeing what they could afford, but unfortunately they watch a little too much TV. Like most young couples they still have a lot of lessons to learn in life. One of them is, talk to your elders before you make major decisions in you... 10/14/2006

Point are generally looked upon by Borrowers as a bad thing. One of the first things I hear from a Borrower is I want the lowest 30 year fixed loan with no points. I can understand that because can be a negative, for example points are charged on some loans if the LTV is to high, if the credit scores are to low, or if the Borrower is not going to escrow tax or insurance.  Points are also a negative if the Borrower only intends on owning the property for a short period of time. But if the Borrower is going to own the property for an extended period of time, points can also be use in a very positive way. For example 2 points could buy about .750% off the rate. Over 30 years that can be a huge savings, or a Borrower that is having a hard time coming up with a downpayment or closing costs ... 10/09/2006

Both Loans with PMI and 80/20 Loans have a place in the Mortgage industry.  The problem comes when Loan Officers try to fit the buyer into the wrong program.  This happens a lot more often when Loan Officers are trying to fit a Borrower into an 80/20 more for their gain then the Borrowers. Example, if the Borrower has 10 or 15 percent to put down, putting them into an 80/10/10 or 80/5/15 is doing them a dis-service. The reason for this is that at 10 or 15 percent down, the PMI factor is very low .52 & .32.  Right off the bat this is generally lower than them paying 8% to 9% on the second loan along with the closing costs.  Second, even if the payments are about the same (which they won't be), the Borrower can get rid of the PMI payment a lot quicker at a lot less cost then the second lo... 10/04/2006