My Disregarded Job

Many moms have TONS of jobs. The list is truly endless if we detail laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dishes, gardening and the like as a job. I used to have another full time job that I went to each and every morning. I loved my job. I hated the commute, but I loved (still love) my job. I work with some of the BEST and I do mean BEST people in my industry. My employers, my bosses, are also my friends. I am truly blessed in that. In 2006, when I went on hiatus due to my “breakdown” is the only way I can call it. (My doctor decided to load me up on unneeded anti-depressants that almost destroyed my life…thats a post in its own!) So I am on hiatus, then the bosses tell me, “You can work from home. Be with the boy, do what you do, stop in the office every now and then.”
The idea worked great for about a month. Until Big G figured out the deadbolt and was taking the two dogs for walks around the block, unbeknownst to me until I went looking for him in the house. Luckily we have a great neighborhood and I was not occupied long enough for him to go very far. At best, the end of the street which is one house over. Nonetheless, scary to ANY parent.

What is my job you ask? Well I am a finance major. I love numbers. I know, I am a total math geek. I oogle over the opportunity to compute and talk gross margins, net margins, return on investment, loan to values, rates, recoups, you name it I love to speak the language of math and business finance love. I have been working in retail finance since I was 18. I worked in car dealerships until I was 25, I couldn’t take the hours anymore. LOVED the money, HATED the hours and my bosses were jerks back then. Really they weren’t, I was just too young to know how to deal with them. Now….they make me laugh! After working as a finance manager for that many years you are unsure of what type of job you can get out of the industry. I was blessed enough to find a position in the mortgage industry.

I know I know, lay off the comments, I went from one catfish position to another in some people’s eyes, but really the catfish in the mortgage industry are thieves and crooks. I will not be lumped with them.

I love and hate my job in the mortgage industry right now which is why I have disregarded it some and shown such a strong interest in my blog. I don’t have to hear negativity unless I want to, I don’t have to deal with crap….unless I want to. I can hit the little red X in the top right corner and ignore it all, where my job I could not do that.

I would hear horror stories of how people were in awful loans, in part I think their own negligence for not paying attention or asking enough about the loan they were getting into, I would hear how they just foreclosed, now filed bankruptcy, and I have to tell them they cannot touch a house to buy for THREE years! UGH!

Other days, I love my job. I educate folks who speak to me. If they think I am going to sell them they are SOOO wrong. I am not going to sell you on a mortgage, that is the job of the real estate agent, they sell. I will educate any and everyone on the HUNDREDS of different guidelines and regulations for purchasing and refinancing a home. I will give you the details, I will educate you on the differences, I will give you options and let you make an educated decision about YOUR finances on your house.

So my educational bit right now to any and all:

THIS IS A BUYERS MARKET!! Now is the time to go buy a home. The market did not “fall out” like all claim. For some yes the bottom did fall out of an unsupported market, while other markets merely normalized is what I like to call it. Normal appreciation on any home in ANY area is a standard of 5-15%, not the 50-100% the market saw and could not support. Coupled with crappy lending on behalf of some bankers and lenders, a recipe for disaster clearly by the state of the economy.

The other thing is that people are afraid they cannot get a loan or cannot refinance out of the loan and situation they are in now. DO NOT BE AFRAID!! Get out there, be proactive, talk to me if you need to, send me an email, programs exist to help folks stay in their homes. One plus of the reforming White House regime we have. Also ask questions. Do not be afraid to ask questions. If your loan officer or broker cannot answer your question or give you an answer, BAIL!! They are shady and lucky to still be operating.

Credit, if credit is a problem, okay, so fix the problem. We can do a government loan. Nothing wrong with a government loan. My very first house and my first loan, on a new construction home, 10 YEARS ago was a government loan, FHA. In fact, here is the kicker…….my rate……7%!! And I thought I got a smoking good deal. Today….yeah can you say 5% and still under 6% if at the worst case scenario.

Now is the time. Grab the old bull by the horns and look at your situation. Even if you situation is not dire, think ahead to the future, the lack of stability still looming in the economy. The event horizon. Refinance now at the lower rate. You can even determine your term. You don’t have to do a 30 year. 25 years, 20 years, 15, how about 10 years, all fixed rates, all smoking good rates.

So with you in mind and my blog, I may not post all the time as I need to get off my duff and yield a paycheck, by helping folks achieve the American dream of owning a home and keeping the one they already have. Please feel free to email me, everything is confidential under law. Otherwise I spend time in a 5X5 cell in the fancy Leavenworth Hotel.
BTW My card is a little dated, we are licensed in more states. Feel free to check out our web page with all of our banker license numbers and states of operation, and read all about my coolest bosses ever! www.southwestdirectmortgage.com

If it’s too good to be true…..

Then the offer generally is and not legit. I have learned this lesson the hard way in my life. The good life comes with LOTS and LOTS of hard work, elbow grease, suffering sometimes, pain, but most of all blood, sweat, and tears of hard work. I know, as most other working folks do, the good life and good things in life come with that price.

However, in this economy people are willing to do anything, no matter how simple or how complex to make a living. Unfortunately too, there are some real shit bags that will take you for all you are worth. They strip you of your bank account first, and then the rest of your life is stripped because you cannot afford to maintain your life, and finally, you are stripped of your pride.

Folks, take heed in these hard economic times. Don’t be a victim to scammers, easy jobs that may require a little bit of hard work but not a lot in the grand scheme are scams. Anything and I mean ANYTHING that wants you to pay money up front is a bunch of HOGWASH!! I have worked in the car business, mortgages, sales, finance, and I have never asked anyone for money on something that they didn’t get the product and work hard to get it, first! Never give out your credit card number, bank account, nothing!! If you want to know where I am going with this, please go check out my sister Brittany’s blog where she talks about how our brother got scammed and he isn’t the only one, especially in this rough economy where jobs are scarce. Below is also the names of the websites of the scamming companies to watch for.

Leaving you with my favorite quote from
The Weatherman (2005) with Nicholas Cage and Michael Caine:
Nothing that has meaning is easy.