Georgia FHA Home Loans - (& Opinion)

It's true, I read it on the Internet how the FHA, HUD, Fed and even "the White House" drew up a master plan and conspired with the media and Wall Street to abruptly terminate the rapid growth in real estate because the stock market needed those investments so the capital could be put to work to perpetuate the evil Republican money machine that even Bill and Hillary depend on to fund their socialist facade they use to keep the sheeple in line.

"The money-grubbing lawyers are about to wipe out the money-grubbing bankers." That must be one of my favorite quotes from these articles. As you read I'm sure you will find your own. Some are humorous, others are thought provoking and, depending on your personality, some may bring a little chill to your spine. Who know? "They" could be watching you read this through your own computer screen ...

Cool, heh? Well, here is a collection of links and short snippets I have enjoyed and discovered researching for this article. Actually the title is a teaser--sort of. I don't agree with that theory although I will tell you that about a year ago one of my staff members queried if it might be that HUD conspired with the media to put non-conforming (you call them sub-prime) lenders into the wall and give a new birth to FHA which had be annihilated by non-conforming loans over the last few years.

On June 26, 2005 Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, Chairman, Investment U posted a very interesting article. Keep in mind that the Doc is an investment strategist and not a real estate strategist. "Conspiracy theories always seem to show up in the financial markets. We've had them for years in gold and in the stock market. I guess it's now real estate's turn. Today, I'll briefly show you why I think real estate is in danger, and what I'm doing with my own real estate dollars." [link]

Dr. Sjuggerud did not report any actual conspiracy theories but he did elude to their existence. His article is a worthy read and contained some good, although not obvious, statutes for comprehending the effect of real estate bubbles on other economies. Keep in mind that the Japanese economy is nothing like the American economy so what was experienced there has no bearing on what is happening and what will happen hear in America.

"Eventually the system will regain economic stability, if we do not experience revolution", states Robert Chapman of International Forecaster in an undated (probably mid-2005) article published on Conspiracy Planet. He continued by writing, "Those who are profiting today from rising asset prices are financially unsophisticated. They do not realize it but they will become victims of creative destruction."

Lest you doubt that Chapman believes this is the result of a great government conspiracy you must read his closing paragraph wherein he closes with, "You may not want to hear this but the people who rule the US under the guise of a constitutional republic are totally corrupt. Their entire lives are devoted to their wealth and control of the system and the pursuit of ever more power and wealth. Their main instrument of control is the Federal Reserve System, which they privately own. They control both government and big business from behind the scenes and use economic pressure, media control, the CIA, wars and psychological warfare to control the people. They believe they are better fit to rule us then we are to rule ourselves. They should remember driven by greed inevitably ends in despair." 

Chapman's article is actually a very good read with some strong supporting figures. I'll leave the conspiracy theories to you and other people with a greater understanding of the under-workings of such things. In the meanwhile, when you have time, stop by and read that article. [link] 

This final article, from Lew Rockwell, you are going to love. It is a long read but worth the investment of time just to read the historical data and comparisons. It is laced with conspiracy innuendo but entertaining throughout. It is a more recent post, from December 19, 2007, but presents statements from mid 2005. 

"Here it is, folks: what we have dreamed about. The money-grubbing lawyers are about to wipe out the money-grubbing bankers. There is only one hitch: the world's economy could crash. Darn!" [link]

Since the beginning of the boom there have been many "one stop shops" to spring up across the nation. Not surprisingly many of these originated out of California, Florida and Texas where real estate investing was the largest. It is possible that this posting is moot with the sudden decrease in real estate investments and real estate investment lending guidelines being cut to the bone.

There is one group which appears to still be growing but I doubt their sustainability based on their business model even though their founder and CEO is an experienced financial industry participant. What disturbs me is that I have spent nearly a decade teaching people the RIGHT way to invest in real estate, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars doing so and now this newbie is coming to town stirring up the same old mess I've been combatting for years. So I shall continue, at my own cost, protecting the prospects I value so highly.

Let me state it plainly so I can later say "I warned you."

NEVER buy a property, get an appraisal, borrow the money, and hire the company to manage your real estate when all services come from the same company. Why? Simple, you'll be had one way or another. There is a reason the feds are all over one-stop shops such as builders who have in-house brokers and closing attorneys.

So before you fall for the wholesale release of your freedom of choice ask yourself how wise it is to choose the same representative to handle ALL of your transactions. 

Just a little heads up, I'm not mentioning the company by name for obvious reasons but I will say they are out of California, are now in about 4 or 5 states with most locations in California, are opening in Georgia, are headed by a man with good credentials on the finance side and have a fairly slick presentation. They depend on excitement and emotion to get you involved, they claim a MUCH higher number of participants than they actually have active and consider you a crop to be harvested. 

Copyright(c)2007 Ken Cook. Ken is a real estate investor, trainer and author as well as a prolific real estate blogger and Director of Operations at Novation Mortgage. Novation specializes in real estate investor financing, FHASecure Refinance, Georgia Home Mortgages, Florida Home Loans, and small commercial lending nationwide.

... smells like ... victory.

What is victory? Is victory when only one party wins and, if so, is that true victory or is that just domination? To achieve true victory is not to annihilate or dominate one's opponent through utter and mass devastation. To achieve true victory is to give the appearance the other party has won through assisting them to reach the goals best for their situation and purpose.

There are people in the world, in our industry, even reading this who see victory only as complete and total dominance over the other party. "Ha! That gal didn't know what she was looking for so I got her in that condo with an ARM loan and it didn't cost her a penny out of pocket. I can't believe she wanted a single family home and to waste her 20% down payment and get an FHA loan. She's a single woman for Pete's sake--who would fix the plumbing? Besides, the builder was offering a $5000 bonus in addition to the regular commission and I allowed $500 of that for discount." Who won?

Sometimes when you win--you lose. Worse yet your "opponent" is your "goose with the golden eggs" also known as a future revenue resource. It doesn't matter if you are a loan officer, a real estate agent or a shoe shiner at the tram station you need referrals. Win one victory the wrong way and you'll lose the big game.

Many years ago I sold computer diagnostic equipment used for diagnosing automobile trouble. It was a contract sales position and I was on the road anyway so it worked into my daily routine well. Whether I was out looking at investment opportunities or sales opportunities there was always an automotive repair center in the area so I would stop in and speak with the owner. 

A new chain of automotive repair centers was opening throughout the area with multiple locations at the time and I happened to stop in the one where the owner was just by chance--or design if that's the way you believe. This man had the strangest response I ever heard. He said he didn't need the diagnostic equipment because he didn't diagnose: he replaced everything. In other words if someone came in with a check engine light on he did a major tune up, replaced all the sensors and the computer. He did not care what was wrong with the car nor did he care if his repairs actually repaired the problem. His reason and his words?

"There are over 2 million people in Atlanta. I don't care how many I piss off I can never piss them all off." 

I just Googled "fast brake auto repair Georgia" ... evidently he angered enough since there apparently are no more locations in Georgia. 

We've heard it and read it, written it and spoken it: win win. Do we actually think it while we are competing for the closing? In this chess game we play with buyers, sellers, borrowers, lenders--do we actually consider the win win? Sometimes I find myself thinking the client wins because of all the effort and experience I bring to the table so I don't care if they ask for a discount, they aren't getting it. They can go somewhere else because I'm not working for free.

How do you apply win win warriorism to your daily negotiations and transactions?

The first thing is always to LISTEN. I've blogged this many times and it is one of my pet peaves when I am dealing with a sales person. It is one thing that almost always turns me off. Being the nice fatherly type I am I generally offer some points of advice. Listen to me when I am talking because I am telling you something that is important to me about this transaction. I can tell when you are already thinking about what you are going to say while I'm still telling you what it is going to take to get me to say the magic words.  If you do not listen to my "pain" how can you cure it?

The next thing is to separate each transaction from the last. When I was a pre-teenager I went into a small convenience store (before they were called that) and I accidentally tracked some rain water on the floor which had just been mopped. The attendant freaked on me and said, "All of you boys keep coming in here and tracking up this floor!" I was proud of him when I looked him in his eyes and said, "Mister, it's only me and I've never tracked your floor and I never will again because I don't have to come to this store." He apologized and I went back. Besides, they had the only "Slush Dog" machine in town.

So how do you consider win win while you are negotiating? That, my friend, is your task. Sometimes it means compromise. Sometimes it means doing the right thing even if it means less of a win for you and more of a win for your prospect. For example if you are a loan officer and you have already priced a loan making .5 in yield and the rates drop--drop your client's rate and still make .5 in yield instead of giving the client the rate you quoted and making 1.5 in yield. If you are a buyer's agent and you know what your clients are looking for but there is a house just down the street for $50,000 more that you just know they'll fall in love with even though it's not in the school district they originally asked for--show them the home you know will serve their purpose in the school zone they originally asked for.

Are there variations and exceptions? Of course there are. Sometimes clients don't know all the benefits to a "better" solution even if it is a little more costly. It really boils down to ethics, good business practice, strong communications skills, and knowledge of your market, service or product.

Let's all Make it Great in 2008 and make real estate a trustworthy profession from all facets!

Copyright©2007 Ken Cook. Ken is a real estate investor, trainer, speaker, author, prolific blogger, and Director of Operations for Novation Mortgage. Novation is a direct mortgage lender specializing in FHASecure Refinance, FHA Home Loans, Fannie Mae Home Mortgages, home improvement loans, real estate investment funding, and small commercial mortgages.

This is a true saga of a very kind real estate agent who is purchasing a "nest egg" for she and her husband. It's a HUD foreclosure with a true and accurate equity of $60,000 with a very conservative appraisal in a neighborhood where there aren't many foreclosures. In other words this is a "no brainer". The problem? She's a real estate agent, her husband is self-employed. Neither get paychecks and they need to state their income because at 90% LTV the lender wants either full doc or stated--no bank statements to prove income.

This very nice lady has been under contract for 2 months. The processor worked ON CHRISTMAS DAY to get the documents to the attorney to meet HUD's 5 day guideline. The lender cleared the file on the 14th but continued to ask for documentation, reviews, and generally stalling. Why? Because on December the 18th the Bernanke posse put a steel hammer down on stated income loans.

Who is left holding the bag? Thousands of people just like my client. Who looks bad first? The broker, of course. Never mind that the lender made my entire staff work extra hours on a file they at some point in time before we knew would never close.

Time and again the lender's underwriters told us the docs would be at the attorney's office. Dozens of follow up emails and phone calls were made. People were working extra--the poor buyer had to pay HUD extensions so she is out hard cash! We are out thousands in office hours and resources. The buyer is out thousands in hard cash and the loan officer has no commission coming even though he has worked hours on this file.

Okay, I'm moaning--but for a purpose. So you will be prepared for this:

NO MORE STATED INCOME LOANS REGARDLESS OF ASSETS AND REGARDLESS OF CREDIT SCORE

There, I said it. It's probably the most ridiculous knee jerk reaction of the entire debacle and will definitely impact sale at least 5% and as much as 20%. Were stated income loans abused? Evidently they were. I'm not sure how they did it at other brokers and lenders but even as a broker we always looked at the amount of debt on credit and if someone stated $100k per year in income but worked as a contract roofer and had only $1500 per month in debt we questioned their statement. We also used Salaries.com to verify ranges for income for those types of industries.

Stated income had its place. One good example of stated income is when the borrower had 48 months in reserves but worked as a contract CPA. This is a real client, my client. He gets paid once per year at the end of the year by his client. He earns a percentage of what he saves them by reviewing their contracts and collecting over-payments from their landlords. For the last 15 years he has averaged $450,000 in income yet he has no weekly paycheck. Now, there are loans that he can do just showing his tax returns but he was only interested in 95% or 100% real estate investor loans. They were either full doc or stated income--no bank statements as full doc. He did very well with his investments and is still doing well with them.

He's finished--until he comes up with a new plan. He refuses to sink 20% into an investment property when he knows he can multiply that same 20% into other investments. So since he can't do it the way he wants he is hanging up his investor hat. That's five home per year he won't be buying. How many of him are there?

I'll finish by saying we're still knee-jerking. People are still making panicked decisions based on emotion without playing out the lessons we have learned from centuries of free market capitalism. YES something should have been done! Have you been reading my blogs for the last 7 years? How many times can one person say, "This won't last. This isn't smart." I admit, however, like everyone else I never thought it would get this "bad" this quickly. I never knew the little yellow-bellied, candy ass little neuvo-riche investors born in the dot com era would flee Wall Street like rats from a burning warf.

So what do we do now?

100% primary residence is still available. This tells me we watch out very closely for mortgage fraud like it was in the day. People saying they are going to live in the home with no intention of ever doing so. Full doc is required with 3rd party verification--this should eliminate the old "W2's for any company online now" scams that we busted a few times in the early 2k.

You can still buy a home, you can still refinance a home. The FHASecure Refinance is a great tool for those inside of FHA lending guidelines. Fannie Mae (FNMA) still has some good owner occupied and investment loans. Owner occupied rates are fantastic right now and investor loans with 20% down aren't bad at all.

There are a lot of things to be excited about in 2008 and I used a last of 2007 example of the state of the market to drive home this point: We together, professionals of the industry, have massive power and authority in shaping the new real estate market. This is not the time to be quite and just let policies be made, regulations be imposed or sentiment to be held without speaking up. Get active. BLOG! Write your congressmen, send articles to your local newspaper or radio talk show. Together we can shape tomorrow but we cannot do so with out silence. Let your voice be heard!

If you are not blogging at The 24: A Real Estate Blog -- 24 of America's Select Real Estate Bloggers there are still spaces available. It's all about your voice, your SEO and America's hope for tomorrow!

Copyright©2007 Ken Cook. Ken is a real estate investor, prolific blogger, trainer, speaker, author, and Director of Operations at Novation Mortgage. Novation specializes in FHA Home Loans, the FHASecure Refinance, Fannie Mae and all residential and small commercial loans. 

Consider one of the best known and most often referred to little lizard called the chameleon. Most of us already know the chameleon from her most famous ability of changing colors and even patterns to match the environment. While as real estate agents our goal is to stand out the chameleon's goal is to blend in. Nevertheless the lizard, out of necessity to survive, changes colors to visually camouflage into the backdrop. The change is almost instant so that one moment you see this little iguana and the next moment she is very difficult to spot.

Change can be painful and costly.

When I was a young boy my father and I would spend much time at the river or lake behind  our home fishing. Well, my father would fish and I would play, talk and complain. I'm sure he enjoyed my company because as he would be leaving to go my mother would always say, "Kenny, daddy is going fishing and I'm sure he would like to have you go with him." Hmm, maybe she had a little peace and quiet in mind. Maybe she wanted some change!

One Summer's evening as we were walking the path through the woods on the way to his favorite spot where the river emptied into the lake I was running ahead and came across the skin of a snake. The skin was almost intact, but empty. Lot's of skin--no snake,

Using a fallen tree branch to lift the skin into the air I asked, "Daddy, is he dead?" I probably had never seen a snake skin and if I had it likely had not been as complete as this one.

My dad answer, "No, son, snakes have to shed their skin to grow. Snakes grow but their skin stays the same so when the are ready to get bigger they have to shed their old dead skin."

Keep in mind that at the age of 7 or so this wasn't poignant--just cool. The poignancy hit me about 30 years later. Remember the story of the snake as we visit other places of change.

If you are a personality who greatly resists change let's look at some things that seem to not be changeable but see the change within. We all know the Grand Canyon as one of the most evident examples of massive change in nature. We also know that glaciers as the move south carve monstrous valleys left in their pathway and as they melt they wash away massive tons of earth.

Niagara Falls is a beautiful display of power and awe. For those who understand hydro-dynamics and consider that just one gallon of water weighs about 8.4 pounds and at any given second there are 12,600,000 pounds of water flowing over the combined falls. What we don't think about because for all of our lives there has been an observation deck and power generating buildings near the top of the falls is that the falls changes every day. In fact they are currently moving upstream nearly 4 feet every year.

Consider the continents. We once believed they were anchored steadily in their place. Now with modern studies and the discovery of plate tectonics we know that entire continents are constantly on the move and constantly changing! In fact they often move up to 2 inches per year. Can you imaging the force required to move North America two full inches?

For you, like the continents themselves and the Niagara bed and elevation drop, resistance to change is futile. In fact, absence of change is a symptom of death. Change is not only coming, change is here. We are told to be like a reed in the wind, bend but do not break.

I'm going to recommend you read a book called "Who Moved My Cheese". It's a very quick read from the co-author of the One Minute Manager series. It is basic in language and message and that was how it was intended. It is not a guideline for remodeling your future--it is an elementary admonition and encouragement to always be prepared for change and on the lookout for why it may be coming.

Learn to change your situation without rebuilding yourself. You can maintain your values while adapting to the situation you are in or facing. Learn to anticipate change and prepare for it. What would have happened had the snake not shed her dead skin? Where would the United Sates be if the plates did not move? Where would we be in medicine if Sir Alexander Fleming did not seek change?

One of you reading this may be the Master Key for change in the real estate, housing and mortgage industry. You may be the one to help the rest of us change.

MAKE SURE YOU SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG because 2008 is the year of advancement and we're advancing together!

Copyright©2007 Ken Cook - Real estate investor, lender, author and fat guy. Specializing in real estate investment loans, FHA home mortgages, FHA refinances, all Fannie Mae Home Mortgages and my true love small commercial loans! 

We all know among the best reasons we blog are to share our experiences, our ideas, our viewpoints, and to lead others out of their darkness and into our light. Another truth, not so well known, is that blogging creates awareness and awareness can translate into business and real dollars. How many of you have multiple blogs? It doesn't matter if you do most of your writing on Active Rain, having other blogs strengthens your SEO results (search engine placement) and having those blogs be relavant to your industry is key.

Not too often do new invitation only blogs come along that are specifically for our industry but my final Christmas Gift to 23 of you is to participate in the new "The 24 - A Real Estate Blog" at http://www.blogx3.com

All I ask of you is that you (a) be in a real estate related industry including sales, appraisal, staging, mortgages, inspections, (b) post at least one original blog per week (c) be transparent and accurate with your posting information and (d) invite others to comment and question on your comments.

There will only ever be 24 bloggers on this site--you will be one of them. If you cannot keep up with the one (1) post per week I ask that you either submit someone to take your place or give me a fair notice to replace you. As one of the 24 you will have an equal say over any blogger indiscretions and will have an equal vote in reviewing content accuracy and quality which we will do from time to time--no more than once per month with the exception of a blatant necessity. 

We will develop protocol as we go along. Our intent is not to compete with or replace any other blog or website but to provide an additional opportunity for you to be seen and read and to increase your market recognition.

Go to http://blox3.com now to register and the first 23 of you will receive your own blog to post whenever you like.

It's just another way to strengthen our community and move forward with the restoration of the market as quickly as possible based on fact, professional guidance and community spirit.

Ken Cook - Novation Mortgage 866-946-0120 - Real Estate Investment Financing, FHA Refinance and FHA Mortgages in Georgia and Florida. Small commercial mortgages and construction mortgages nationwide. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my Active Rain family, friends and acquaintances. You are all a big part of my day and some of you (like my little sister Susan McClure who is NOT a blogger ;) but she is a fantastic writer ) are a part of my life. 

In case you don't know we are licensed for residential home loans in Georgia and Florida, we are FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Alt-A (some BC) with a specialty in real estate investments, jumbo home loans, home improvement loans and I personally handle small commercial mortgages nationwide.

Your ads seen by millions of people very explicitly say, "No one can do what Countrywide can do."  PROVE IT. Show me a deal that you can do that I cannot. Show me ONE DEAL you can do that no other lender can do. Until you can prove otherwise I'm calling your advertisement a LIE, or at least into serious doubt. Yes, I am saying your advertisement is apparently misleading and exactly the kind of advertisement we don't need in our down and out industry and I am saying I believe you cannot stand behind your statement "No one can do what Countrywide can do."

All you have to do is show me one loan, publicly, right here on Active Rain, that you have ever closed that no other lender could have closed. If you can prove me wrong I will not only apologize, I will author a blog proclaiming your might and power. You have to prove it by January 31, 2008.

If you work for Countrywide start the grapevine and find us a deal nobody else could do. It MUST be a closed deal and I MUST find a closed deal reasonably similar before March 31, 2008 or I will honor my agreement. Otherwise... 

My wife will not like me today just for the title. She's a head underwriter, you see. But she's not the only one we deal with. There are others and we know their names. We even know their habits. But let's look at the oft maligned underwriter in just a snapshot from a normal day. (Honey if you read the entire post you'll appreciate me--and recognize some stuff, ahem.)

8:20 Arrives at work. Nobody else in office so I check my email first as I always do. While my 260 messages are downloading I glance to see there are 14 voice messages since 7:30 last night when I left causing that lovely blue lite to blink. I look at the picture of the monkey on my wall reminding me of the book "The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey" which reminds me of the other "Who Moved My Cheese"?

8:25 I hear the main line ringing already and breath a thanks to God it won't stat ringing at my desk until 8:45. Thanks to the Operations Manager who gave us 15 minutes to breathe in the mornings. My emails are finished downloading and since I do not want a bigger one, I do not need any V1AG-RA and I couldn't care less about a Rolecks watch I delete the 150 spams just to get to the 110 real messages. (Yes we have anti spam that caught another 500 messages automatically.)

8:35 I read the first email from a processor in Kennesaw in response to my request for a more recent pay-stub on a file I have already reviewed twice because of missing documents. She has included a scanned copy that is barely legible. I send back an email asking for a clearer copy and preferably the original.

8:38 I open an email from a loan officer in Stone Mountain demanding to know why we ordered an appraisal review on a home being purchased from an investor, who purchased it from an investor, who purchased it from a bank all in 2 months and the sales price has gone from $84k to $198k. She also reminds me they are closing in 3 days with or without our loan.

8:42 I only have another 158 more emails to go through and 11 more just came in ... none were spam.

8:45 The phones come on and the first voice I hear is the broker for the loan officer in Stone Mountain shouting.

8:56 I finish with the shouter who is still not happy but there is nothing I can do about it. I note the system the time he called, the file it was regarding and some select comments from the conversation and flag the file for QC which can be concurrent to the appraisal review.

9:01 I continue checking emails as my assistant arrives to begin listening to my voice message. Three in a row are from a staff underwriter sounding progressively ill. She has four closings today and seven tomorrow--her stip sheets, she informs me, are clipped to the front of the folders in her black file cabinet. I need coffee.

9:13 An appraisal review we ordered three days ago on a file from Marietta we've had for six days shows up and the value is about 3% less than the value shown to us by the broker's appraisal. I have my assistant phone the processor and deliver the news. Only 177 emails and 14 voice messages to go.

9:15 One of the guys from QC brings me coffee just the way I like it: half cream, one-quarter sugar and the rest vodka--er coffee.

9:16 One of the underwriters has a document she needs me to look at and it appears to be a set of tax returns from 2 years that exactly match to the penny. I don't even bother I just send her to Fraud and Compliance.

9:18 The next email is from a processor in Tucker thanking me for expediting a file that I must say was perfect. I have just enough time to send him a thanks and a :) 

9:20 Another email from a broker in Savannah on an FHA file indicating we were not supposed to use GaFLA to determine high cost since it was an FHA deal--obviously one of their first. A quick phone call to explain that GaFLA covers ALL conforming range owner occupied loans in Georgia. She didn't like it but I was nice and she really should have known.

9:28 I've been working for eight hours and I only have 30 more hours worth of work today. Would you like to join?

Soooooooo.... I wrote all of that to give you an almost actual example of the first hour of a month's end day from a head underwriter's life. Other days in the month may not be quite so hectic but they are close. Did the head underwriter get to everything? Yes, she touched every email and responded. She or her assistant responded to every voice mail and she managed to take care of the absent underwriter's files, too.

This holiday season take time to thank an underwriter. You probably have no idea how stressful their days are. The next time you think they are idiots or just asking you for something to be a pain remember they answer to someone like me! I'm nothing but a big old teddy bear with a big responsibility to my investors! 

- When other blogs may not be able to.

Active Rain is truly community. The open forum has a great friend for real estate agents, loan officers, home stagers, title agents and attorneys, appraisers, inspectors--the list goes on. Not only do all of these people and the groups they represent have an equal voice here they each get to see inside the other's world.

It saddens me that still, outside of AR pretty much, agents and loan officers seem to be at each other's throats trying to lay blame. But here on AR we get this:

Blog post by agent: "Last month my closing was delayed for over 10 days because the loan officer was not doing her job" 

Comment from a friend: "Unless you know differently give the loan officer the benefit of some doubt because many times in my years behind that desk I was blamed for holding up a closing when it was first the borrower not getting their documents in time, then the underwriter asking for things we had already sent, then the review appraisal and on and on."

Follow up comment by posting agent: "Friend - thank you. I actually had not considered that and I called the loan officer and that was almost exactly the story."

Exchanges like this happen every day on AR and it strengthens our industry--it pulls us together and is good not just for our community but indeed the entire nation.

Active Rain has introduced me to many new people I would consider friends and many of us have spoken and a few of us have met. Some of us, wouldn't you know it, have actually messed around and done some business together.

Is blogging a waste of time? Some probably is. I have blogs that few people ever read, blogs that too many of the wrong (negative) kind of people read and then I have the Rain. So in 2008 I plan to continue posting to AR at least 3 or 4 times per week when possible and meeting more and more of you.

This is a relational business and it's a small business, too. I have heard a few names from Active Rain in conversation with other people and I always find that fascinating.

In 2008 let's draw closer together, lay the blame aside and get this industry moving back in the right direction. The government needs our input to avoid mistakes and the public needs our best expertise to help guide them through what many see as stormy waters. Together everyone achieves more is appropriate for the day.