Over the last couple of days, I have been at a Mortgage Planning Summit in Las Vegas. I have been surrounded by several top mortgage planners in the country, peers and business coaches who have the insight and wisdom to help us through the tough times. And lets face it, it’s a tough time in our industry right now!
I wanted to share with you a couple of insightful thoughts that I find meaningful and extremely valuable and I believe you will too.
Trust and Stress
Don Hutson, co-author of The One Minute Entrepreneur talked about the inverse relationship of trust and stress in business. When trust is high, stress is low and vice versa. When I think about this in perspective to my clients, I realize that when I trust in myself, my clients place higher trust in me, our relationship or transaction is smooth and there is very little stress. However inversely, when I do not trust that I am going to create new business, work with a particular client or earn enough money, my fear about not having enough money and my finances creates lack of trust in my own abilities and then projects out to my clients and referral partners and I manifest just that, lack of new business. Nobody wants to do business with someone who is not confident in their skills. Read the rest of this entry »
Vision (I made “vision” realllly big because it takes as much energy to think BIG as it does to think small. Pretty cool, right?)
“People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile. Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get yourself a project. Always have something ahead of you to look forward to…to work for and hope for.”
Dr. Maxwell Maltz
Author and Psycho-Cybernetics
The inspiration for my video this weeks comes from a very personal story of mine that happened last week and it has everything to do with asking the right questions of your paid professional before AND during the loan process. A great point that I mention in my video this week is the importance of knowing what your trusted advisor is going to do for you AFTER your escrow is closed. I mean, don’t you want to know? If you are working with someone who isn’t a cheerleader for what his/her company does for their clients after a transaction is closed, well, I hate to break this to you but, there probably isn’t a whole lot that company AND that person has to offer you by way of continuing education and debt management. It’s an unfortunate part about the mortgage industry. We are doing our part to fix that problem!
Please take a few minutes to watch this video (that was supposed to go out two days ago….arrrrgh!), then read the rest of my email:
Do Something Different
“A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.”
~ Thomas Watson Jr., executive
Only Successful People Fail “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
~ Steve Jobs, entrepreneur
If you are unable to view the video, simply cut and paste the YouTube information and paste into your browser.
If you know anyone that would like to avoid this last resort, please give me their name and number or simply forward this email to them. Preparing for the future NOW is the best and most efficient way to plan, no matter when you plan to retire. It requires pro-active thinking and a team of experts. If you’re already retired, even better! Let’s make that retirement the best it can possibly be before values fall even further….and they will, fortunately! Why do I say fortunately? Just ask me and I’ll tell you…
Today I talk about what I have been seeing and hearing in the real estate market. There is a lot of fear about buying property because values are still dropping and yet when you look at the facts, homes are on sale, interest rates are still at historic lows and money is still available. BUT, it’s next to impossible to time the bottom of the market AND money is getting harder to get every week and interest rates are expected to rise.
You have a choice. Risk is waiting until you think prices have hit rock bottom and hope that you can still get financing OR be stoked that homes are on sale today and financing is still relatively decent.
And that brings me to my Quote of the Week….
“When you realize that by changing your perspective, big things can be seen as little things, it becomes much harder to worry about anything at all.” ~Tut - A note from the Universe
80% of all millionaires in this country made their money in real estate, and it wasn’t simply because they owned investment property! Owning real estate as an investment is a great tool because you can leverage the asset to further your wealth. BUT of course you have to own it first before you can take advantage of appreciating and declining home values. Shouldn’t you get to be one of the 80%? Absolutely!
Do Something Different
“A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.”
~ Thomas Watson Jr., executive
Only Successful People Fail “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
~ Steve Jobs, entrepreneur
Watch this video first!
If you know anyone that would like to avoid this last resort, please give me their name and number or simply forward this email to them. Preparing for the future NOW is the best and most efficient way to plan, no matter when you plan to retire. It requires pro-active thinking and a team of experts. If you’re already retired, even better! Let’s make that retirement the best it can possibly be before values fall even further….and they will, fortunately! Why do I say fortunately? Just ask me and I’ll tell you…
Stocks are under selling pressure today, after touching resistance exactly on their 200-day Moving Average. Should Stocks continue to move lower, Mortgage Bonds should benefit somewhat. We’ll keep an eye out for any major moves.
No real market excitement this week and it may be a good thing. Mortgage Bonds are trading slightly higher this morning and with not many economic reports due this week, prices may take some direction from trading in the Stock markets.
Mortgage Bonds are trading higher at 69bp from the worst levels seen earlier in the day, after the worst University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment number in 26 years. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment was reported at 59.5, worse than expectations of 62.0 and well below whisper numbers of something in the mid-60s.
Some not so great news regarding Oil…Goldman Sachs, the world’s largest securities firm by market value, said today that oil prices for the second half of 2008 will now average $141 a barrel up from an average of $107. The firm went on to say that prices will rise even higher in 2009, averaging $148 a barrel. The nationwide average for a gallon of regular unleaded hit $3.787 up 22% from year-ago levels. Oil hit a record $127.43 a barrel in early trading today. The folks at Goldman are pretty smart and if their forecast is accurate, you have to wonder how further increases in energy prices will impact the consumer and our economy.
While Initial Jobless Claims came in at the expected number Capacity Utilization, Industrial Production and the Manufacturing Index all reported lower than expected numbers this morning. This news is what has caused money to flow into the bond market. Another factor helping today is that March Net Foreign Purchases of US securities and bonds far exceeded expectations with a $80.4 Billion reading. The street had expected a number closer to $62.5 Billion so this reading of strong foreign demand for our Bonds has given prices an added boost today.
