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!
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