Dispite the Rumors, I’m Still Alive….

July 23, 2008 – 11:03 am

I know….  It’s been a while since I posted.

I guess that’s what happens when you get busy. You forget to update all those blogs you thought were cool when you started writing therm. Tell me you have never done that….

So, here’s the quick version of what’s been happening.

  • I am now working with Mortgage Professional Group, Inc. in Valparaiso, Indiana. A great bunch of folks to work with.
  • The position I took with US Consumer Credit Restoration Association has expanded and I am spending more time with that and trying to help the newest Executive Consultants that are under me. I now look back and shake my head, as this was supposed to be my “evening” job that would help a few more clients into my pipeline. I guess with the sheer number of credit challenged buyers right now, I should have known.
  • My “other” “evening” job is going OK also. I have a couple new websites up and running. The newest, www.fix-my-poor-credit.com, is different than any of the other sites because it includes audio. The other, www.my-vacation-destination.com, is a work in progress and will hopefully be able to give viewers opinions on vacation destinations and the ability to get discounts when they travel. Again, it’s a work in progress.

Ok, gotta go for now. Be sure to check out my other sites at www.nwiloanguy.com and www.usccraonline.com.

Scott

I Was Abducted by Aliens!

May 7, 2008 – 2:49 pm

Ok, maybe I wasn’t carted off by small little green guys, but I have been held hostage by a 2-year-old. If my hair was a little longer so that I could grab it, I would probably pull it out.

YES, I love him very much, but he is just a little to keep in the office unrestrained.  :0-

Anyway, business is picking up, both on the mortgage side, but on the credit restoration side also. We have seen some great results so far, so I am very encouraged that we will continue to see the same in the future.

Anyway, gotta make this quick. I’m working on several new projects and my time is limited.

 Talk to you soon!

 Loan Guy

PS. If you get a chance, stop by www.my-vacation-destination.com and tell me what you think. I am also taking suggestions for locations to post about.

I’m Excited

March 12, 2008 – 8:59 pm

I’m really excited. I have been sitting through training for for the credit restoration program that I am associated with for the last three evenings, and there are a bunch more coming up. I’ve probably logged 30 hours so far, but I keep learning more and more.

I thought I understood the credit system pretty well. I know the things to do and not to do to increase credit scores and have spent a lot of time studying what the experts write about the system. But still, I’m blown away.

I guess I just didn’t understand how hard the credit reporting agencies try, not to mention how much they spend, to get the comsumers to think that there is nothing they can do to help their credit. These companies sell unverified information every day to those who look at your credit. They take what the creditors send them and turn around and sell it (for a healthy profit, I might add) without ever checking to see if it is accurate or even true.

To top it all off, they make it difficult for the average consumer to get erroneous information removed.

I guess my revenge is when I see credit reports with the errors and improper information that they were forced to remove by our attorneys. Although I had very little to do with the actual disputes, it is great to see others scores improve (although they should have never had the improper information on them in the first place).

If you would like to hear some stories or have questions about your own credit, just send an email to scott@USCCRAonline.com. I’d be more than happy to oblige!

Scott  (drop by my website at nwiloanguy.com

You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish.

February 24, 2008 – 10:04 pm

As I sit here attempting to write, I have deleted a lot of words. A lot! I have been trying to come up with  something witty, but I have thus far been slamming into a wall. Head first, full speed. The title to this post is called “Untitled”. How’s that for original?

And to add insult to injury, I have an REO Speedwagon song that keeps running through my mind. Any REO fans out there?  I really like them, have liked that, and will continue to like them. But why are they doing this to me???

The problem is the song is a strange hybrid between “Riding The Storm Out” and “Roll With The Changes”. Maybe that’s because what my business model has become.

 For those of you that are following the “credit crunch”, the “mortgage crisis”, the “sub-prime meltdown”, and what ever else the talking heads are gonna call it this week, you’re probably scared. BY them and OF them! What they’re doing is talking in generalities.

I wish they would stop. Or at least give local residents a clear view of what is happening here in our own backyards. Because really, the picture is not that bad. Sure, each community has it’s own problems; East Chicago underestimating the resident’s property taxes because they accidentally have the old Inland Steel on the books twice under two different names. Oops. Valparaiso is doing well, Gary is hurting. Lake County can’t figure out what to do with the property tax / county income tax issue coming from the state, as Dyer doesn’t want a big chunk of their contributions going north on them. Blah, blah, blah….

By the way, these are just examples. I’m not beating up on anyone. However, what this has done is scared future home buyers, leading to a lot of homes for sale and the few buyers out there are not willing to pay full asking price. (Hint: this is 2008 and your home may or may not be worth what you paid for it two years ago… no matter what your remaining mortgage balance is.)

So what is the solution?

Understand that this is temporary, not matter how long it takes to solve. Be assured that houses are now on sale and that if you intend to buy and hold, you should be fine (notice I used ”should” as a disclaimer) in the future.  

Use this time to look around and do your research. It’s like the stock market; if you are trying to “time” your trades by getting in at the absolute bottom, you could lose a lot. Buy and hold. I think Warren Buffet agrees with that philosophy, and he’s the 2nd richest guy in the US.

If you have credit issues, you will have a much harder time getting financing in this environment. Fix it NOW! A recent report states that 79% of credit reports have errors and 25% of those are serious enough to get your loan denied. If you have not done it lately, go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get your FREE copy. Yes, it’s FREE, so you have nothing to lose! Check it out thoroughly and make sure everything is correct. If you have questions, look on my site at www.nwiloanguy.com for answers or use the contact info to ask me personally. If it is really bad, let’s talk credit restoration…….

Speaking of credit restoration, I have signed up to be an Executive Consultant for US Consumer Credit Restoration Association. What an unbelievable company. OK, before you say anything, I know what you are thinking. It took us months to find a company that does honest, legal and ethical credit repair so that I could refer my clients. The more I found out about them, the more impressed I was, so I accepted a position that allows me to sign people up. Once I have done that, they are assigned a team to work with them and I am done unless the client wants me to assist them somehow. The temporary site is still up, but the “real” one with video and lots of info should be up by March 1, 2008, if not sooner. Please visit www.USCCRAonline.com if you have questions. Doing mortgages is my love, I just now have another tool on my belt to get them done…..

Now that I have put some words on the screen, I guess the REO songs hold a little merit. We are in a storm that we just need to ride out. It may take a year or so to stabilize, but don’t try to time the bottom of the market. There are great buys to be had today.

We also need to roll with the changes. This environment is new for everyone; there has never been a time in history like it. It’s a learning process for everyone, including the Federal Reserve. Take a deep breath and figure out how and where you need to be when this “crisis” breaks so that you are positioned right. Get your credit in order, save a few dollars if possible, and know that if history repeats itself, and it always has, then things will be better in the future. It is just going to take some creativity and some self control to get through this time.

Note to home sellers: if your house has been on the market a long time, you may need to think concessions. Notice that I did not say cut the price. Just add value. If you need some suggestions, contact me at scott@nwiloanguy.com.

Scott  (visit my website at nwiloanguy.com)

PS. I just thought of a great title for this post!

PPS. After looking back at my last few posts, the www.USCCRAonline.com website is taking longer than I thought. I apologize for that. We spoke with the designers just the other day and they are still adding the multimedia and other cool stuff. I wish they would just put it up……… Thanks for being patient with me!

Messages For Our Military

February 20, 2008 – 8:14 pm

I just received this link from my guys in our main office. Joe Shotwell has come up with this idea to send video messages to the servicemen and women overseas as a gift for them serving us.

They are having the families come in and record a 3-5 minute message that is sent to their loved one to see and hear them.

They have gotten great response so far. Way to go Joe!

Click here to see the newspaper article.

Scott  (visit our site at nwiloanguy.com)

Happy Wednesday!

February 13, 2008 – 2:39 pm

Yes, it is hump day and one day before that big Hallmark holiday, Valentines Day. Make sure you get something nice for your sweety….

Just a real quick update. Our new website, www.USCCRAonline.com is not online quite yet, but should be very soon. We are hoping this week!

This company is going to turn the credit repair business on it’s ear. If you have tried the companies that just bombard the credit reporting agencies with dispute letter after dispute letter in hopes that the creditors forget to respond, you will now have an alternative.

Credit Restoration is just one of the benefits of our program. We can help get you multiple lines of positive credit and the attorneys will be able to help you with other legal issues including wills and misc. letters.

I’ll let you know when we are live so that you can see the site and watch the videos to see all the great benefits available.

Scott  (visit us at nwiloanguy.com

It’s Late and I’m Tired

February 9, 2008 – 12:30 am

I know. You don’t care.

And I’m OK with that.

Refi business is up due to the drop in rates. I don’t know how long it’s gonna last, so if you’re still sitting on the fence, fall on over and let’s get you locked in!

I have been working on a couple other blogs lately. The one that seems to take the majority of my time is available here. It gets really in depth about what a credit score is and how to improve yours.

Click on over there, check it out and leave me some feedback so I’ll know if I’m hitting the mark.

Take care and have a GREAT weekend.

Scott   (visit my site at nwiloanguy.com)

PS. The new website, www.USCCRAonline.com, is not up and running yet. My understanding is that it will be within the week. The delay is that the designers are making it BIGGER AND BADDER (no, not worse) than I originally thought. It should have some pretty cool options, so I’ll let you know as soon as it is “live”.

Ok, I’m back.

February 4, 2008 – 3:36 pm

Ok, I didn’t stray too far, but I’m back anyway.

Looks like the Fed’s rate cuts have stirred the pot very little. By now, it seems to be old news and everyone is focused on the election.

How about those NY Giants? Gotta love the underdog winning a big game like that. In my humble opinion, they just wanted to win more than the Pats. That’s all. Great game overall though!

I wanted to update today, so here I am while taking a break. Lot’s of people looking to refi since the rates are down a little. With the crystal ball broken, it’s hard to say what the rates are going to do in the future, but they have trended higher each time the Fed cut the rates like this.

Just use this to make your own decisions……..

BTW, one of the other reasons I have not in over a week is because I am involved with another venture and am working to get it up and runnng right. US Consumer Credit Restoration Association (www.USCCRAonline.com) is going to turn the credit repair world on it’s ear. I’ll tell you more later, but it doesn’t involve scams, getting a new social security number, or someone sending you a bunch of letters to sign and then send to the credit reporting agencies. It’s legal, moral, ethical, and most importantly, effective!

Be back soon!

Scott  (be sure to visit my website at nwiloanguy.com

Da Fed!

January 23, 2008 – 10:10 pm

If you think I am referring to Kevin Federline, save yourself a few braincells and stop reading now.

On the other hand, if you think I am referring to Big Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve, we’re on the same page.

I’m not going to give my usual diatribe about what the market is gonna do with this rate cut, but I don’t think it is going to be positive for fixed rate mortgages in the long run. As for now, I have vowed to take a wait and see attitude and hope for the best.

If you are interested, you can check out my blog on ActiveRain at…

http://activerain.com/blogsview/350403/Should-We-Spank-the

Lots of good comments on my last posting…..

Be back soon.

Loan Guy (visit my website at nwiloanguy.com)

PS. Check out this site that I have become involved with lately at www.FindMyNewHomeOnline.com. Once we get the advertising going full strength, we’ll start rockin’

WOW… Has it Been a Week Already

January 19, 2008 – 11:44 am

A whole week since I posted last? WOW… time flies when you are really busy!

Anyway, I’ve posting on another blog intermittently this week. Check it out if you want. It’s at http://activerain.com/blogs/nwiloanguy

It’s hosted on ActiveRain, a real estate type site. Very informative if you are not in the business and lot’s of networking opportunities if you are.

The new website I have been working on is up and running at about 98% full functioning. There are still a couple issues, but they are minor. Please share the site with everyone you know that needs to buy, sell or rent. The address is http://FindMyNewHomeOnline.com.

The great thing about the site is that private sellers and investors can post their properties “for sale” or “for rent” free for 30 days (with pictures) and then for as low as $9 a month after that. How can you beat that price? For a small upgrade fee, they can add more pictures, make it a “featured home”, or even show video.

I even have a special package price for real estate agents so that they are able to post multiple properties for a low price.

If you have any suggestions, just let me know.

Talk with you again soon.

 Loan Guy  (visit my site at nwiloanguy.com)

PS. I have had three articles I submitted published this week. You can check them out, if you are so inclined, at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Scott_Swinford