1st things 1st: The Carrabba’s Networking Happy Hour is this Tuesday night! All details can be found at www.GregWhiteside.com! Come on out and join us!
I want to devote this newsletter to clarifying what it is I do in real estate. It is my observation that some of you think I am a real estate agent, some think I’m an economic analyst, and a host of other things that aren’t quite accurate. So let me clear the air: I am a mortgage originator. It is my job to help people get loans to purchase a home or refinance one they already own. I do that by shopping multiple lenders on your behalf to find the one that has the lowest rate and the lowest closing costs.
But Greg, can’t I just go to my bank to get a loan? Yes, you certainly can. Unfortunately, the banker is limited to one bank with one set of loan products. So, depending on your situation, they may try to cram your file into a square-peg-round-hole type of situation because they simply lack the loan product that would work best for you. And, even if you have a squeaky clean financial background, I have premium lenders (available only through brokers) that offer premium pricing to top-notch files.
Also, keep in mind that interest rates change daily depending on global markets. On top of that, different banks can have the best rates on different days. Just as retail stores have different sales at different times, the bank with the “best rate” often changes. It is my job to keep track of all of that confusion for you and help you select the best deal available when the time comes to get a loan.
Now, some of you are the analytical “I want to know how it works” type and some are the “I just want it to work” type. I do my best to appeal to both. I offer a streamlined process for those of you out there with busy schedules who want to deal with the loan origination process as little as possible. I’ll communicate directly with your realtor. I’ll drive papers out to you. I’ll call you when it’s convenient for you. And for those out there who are more analytical, I will arrange an appointment to answer every question you can conceive. If more questions come up, I am available 24 hours a day via phone or e-mail to answer them. The worst thing you’ll get is my voicemail, and I’ll call you back as soon as I am able.
So, you can randomly call a bunch of different bankers and try to do all of the legwork yourself whilst getting your credit pulled multiple times and subjecting yourself to a bunch of different sales pitches in the hopes that you aren’t being lied to and will end up with someone you can trust with your sensitive financial information…
...or...
You can just call me to get all of your questions answered and have me do all the heavy lifting for you.
All I ask is that you please don’t keep me a secret. Each of you knows someone who is thinking about buying a home or considering a refinance of their current mortgage loan. Please pass my info on to them or tell me about them (or both!). Your referrals represent 100% of my business and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them. Thanks everyone! I hope to see all of you this Tuesday night at Carrabba’s in Altamonte Springs!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Greece needs a gyro...get it? Because it sounds like "hero?" Goodness, I'm clever.
Happy Birthday to the $787,000,000,000.00 stimulus package! Wow, they grow up so fast. Yep, one year ago we slung a neighborhood-sized bag of money at the economy to stop our rapid descent into inevitable doom. Did it work? Well, no one will ever really know the answer to that question, as we didn’t get the chance to let the alternative play out. If I had to guess, I would say that if we hadn’t enacted the stimulus plan that a lot more jobs would have been lost and the debt crisis we were experiencing would still be in full swing. Obama evidently agrees with my assessment. I think it’s the big ears we both have. They’re like economic satellite dishes on either side of our heads.
Tee-hee. Self-deprecation.
Across the globe, Greece is having a fun time trying not to go bankrupt. It appears that Goldman Sachs (our good buddies from the very beginning of the debt crisis) assisted the Greek government in some “creative accounting procedures” that effectively masked the extent of their deficit. So, a la Bernie Madoff, when the money ran out, the game ended. It is yet unclear what the European Union is going to do in dealing with this new debt crisis, but it is a sobering event showing that the world economy still has some lumps to knead out.
Baking metaphor: check.
And, of course, we have a gigantic debate raging over the historically loose monetary policy that we are implementing (printing money like crazy). There are many out there that would have you believe that we are mortgaging our children’s lives away to the Chinese and we will soon be crippled by the one-two punch of unabated inflation and rising taxes.
Bad news first: they’re probably right to a certain extent. We are printing money like crazy. History has shown that such a habit never ends well. However, we are dealing with a “lesser of two evils” type of scenario. Back in the 30’s when we were mired in the Great Depression, the major mistake made was that government cut off stimulus measures too quickly and sent our country back-sliding into financial ruin. Ben Bernanke, our fearless Federal Reserve Chairman and resident Depression-scholar will not allow us to repeat that same mistake.
Does that mean we might make the opposite mistake of over-stimulating? Quite possibly. But the great hope is that our new ability to gather economic feedback in live-time (thank you technology) will allow us to be more nimble in our policy changes.
The good news here is that we can at least see this storm coming. Also, the silver lining is that inflation will increase the price of most assets uniformly, meaning home prices are going to start moving North once again. That’s good news for those who own homes and good incentive for those who are thinking about home-ownership.
Hint hint, people.
Tee-hee. Self-deprecation.
Across the globe, Greece is having a fun time trying not to go bankrupt. It appears that Goldman Sachs (our good buddies from the very beginning of the debt crisis) assisted the Greek government in some “creative accounting procedures” that effectively masked the extent of their deficit. So, a la Bernie Madoff, when the money ran out, the game ended. It is yet unclear what the European Union is going to do in dealing with this new debt crisis, but it is a sobering event showing that the world economy still has some lumps to knead out.
Baking metaphor: check.
And, of course, we have a gigantic debate raging over the historically loose monetary policy that we are implementing (printing money like crazy). There are many out there that would have you believe that we are mortgaging our children’s lives away to the Chinese and we will soon be crippled by the one-two punch of unabated inflation and rising taxes.
Bad news first: they’re probably right to a certain extent. We are printing money like crazy. History has shown that such a habit never ends well. However, we are dealing with a “lesser of two evils” type of scenario. Back in the 30’s when we were mired in the Great Depression, the major mistake made was that government cut off stimulus measures too quickly and sent our country back-sliding into financial ruin. Ben Bernanke, our fearless Federal Reserve Chairman and resident Depression-scholar will not allow us to repeat that same mistake.
Does that mean we might make the opposite mistake of over-stimulating? Quite possibly. But the great hope is that our new ability to gather economic feedback in live-time (thank you technology) will allow us to be more nimble in our policy changes.
The good news here is that we can at least see this storm coming. Also, the silver lining is that inflation will increase the price of most assets uniformly, meaning home prices are going to start moving North once again. That’s good news for those who own homes and good incentive for those who are thinking about home-ownership.
Hint hint, people.
Monday, February 1, 2010
In big Ben Bernanke we trust
Well, it’s been an interesting time in both politics and economics this past week. Where to begin…
Ben Bernanke was re-appointed for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Four more years! As was widely expected, Big Ben was re-appointed just before the expiration of his term. The big surprise was the Republican support that he ended up getting in the final vote. It’s not that the GOP didn’t have their qualms with Mr. Bernanke, it’s just that no one could figure out a viable alternative to replace the guy. Honestly, the mere act of a changing anything would have spooked the markets on it’s own. So “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” wins again. In Ben we trust.
Advance 4th quarter Gross Domestic Product reported at 5.7%. Yyyyyyowza! For those of you just tuning in, that’s a big ol’ gain in production. But here’s what’s really up: business has realized that we’re not all riding the bullet-train to bankruptcy. You see, when everyone thought that we were entering a Book of Revelations-style cataclysm, they slashed production and started reducing inventory that they already had on hand. It’s best to clear the shelves if you might go out of business. Now that it doesn’t look like we’re all doomed, businesses are just starting to replenish their bare warehouse shelves. It’s going to be a while before big GDP gains translate to job growth, though.
Institute for Supply Management’s PMI registers 58.4%. Basically, any number above 50% here indicates an expanding economy from the perspective of suppliers and anything below 50% indicates a contraction. This is the 6th month in a row that we’ve been above that dividing line. No huge deal, but indicative of some distant, glimmering rays of hope for our weathered economy.
Obama gives his State of the Union address. I’m not going to try to cram all the things our Commander-in-Chief expounded into one paragraph. It was a good speech. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should. YouTube search for “State of the Union”. Now we watch and see what action transpires from his strong words.
The long-awaited Obama Budget Plan was released. It adds a new jobs and wages tax credit amongst an aggressive business stimulus plan in order to curb unemployment. It anticipates higher tax revenues through increased taxes on certain population segments. It looks for above-average GDP growth over 2011-2015 which may or may not happen. It freezes investment in a lot of localized discretionary programs. It expands the deficit spending in an effort to focus on righting the economy before reigning in our growing mountain of debt. It, like every other thing in the world of politics, will be hotly debated for untold months to come. It is also going to throw a gigantic monkey wrench at getting anything accomplished on health care reform. Things were hard enough when we were trying to get both sides of Congress to agree on something BEFORE we threw a 3.834 Trillion (with a ‘T’) dollar budget at them to argue over.
There’s nothing like the smell of endless political gridlock in the morning. Mm hm.
Ben Bernanke was re-appointed for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Four more years! As was widely expected, Big Ben was re-appointed just before the expiration of his term. The big surprise was the Republican support that he ended up getting in the final vote. It’s not that the GOP didn’t have their qualms with Mr. Bernanke, it’s just that no one could figure out a viable alternative to replace the guy. Honestly, the mere act of a changing anything would have spooked the markets on it’s own. So “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” wins again. In Ben we trust.
Advance 4th quarter Gross Domestic Product reported at 5.7%. Yyyyyyowza! For those of you just tuning in, that’s a big ol’ gain in production. But here’s what’s really up: business has realized that we’re not all riding the bullet-train to bankruptcy. You see, when everyone thought that we were entering a Book of Revelations-style cataclysm, they slashed production and started reducing inventory that they already had on hand. It’s best to clear the shelves if you might go out of business. Now that it doesn’t look like we’re all doomed, businesses are just starting to replenish their bare warehouse shelves. It’s going to be a while before big GDP gains translate to job growth, though.
Institute for Supply Management’s PMI registers 58.4%. Basically, any number above 50% here indicates an expanding economy from the perspective of suppliers and anything below 50% indicates a contraction. This is the 6th month in a row that we’ve been above that dividing line. No huge deal, but indicative of some distant, glimmering rays of hope for our weathered economy.
Obama gives his State of the Union address. I’m not going to try to cram all the things our Commander-in-Chief expounded into one paragraph. It was a good speech. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should. YouTube search for “State of the Union”. Now we watch and see what action transpires from his strong words.
The long-awaited Obama Budget Plan was released. It adds a new jobs and wages tax credit amongst an aggressive business stimulus plan in order to curb unemployment. It anticipates higher tax revenues through increased taxes on certain population segments. It looks for above-average GDP growth over 2011-2015 which may or may not happen. It freezes investment in a lot of localized discretionary programs. It expands the deficit spending in an effort to focus on righting the economy before reigning in our growing mountain of debt. It, like every other thing in the world of politics, will be hotly debated for untold months to come. It is also going to throw a gigantic monkey wrench at getting anything accomplished on health care reform. Things were hard enough when we were trying to get both sides of Congress to agree on something BEFORE we threw a 3.834 Trillion (with a ‘T’) dollar budget at them to argue over.
There’s nothing like the smell of endless political gridlock in the morning. Mm hm.
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