Mrs Fish Thursday Tips and Tricks

VLOG Style Baby!

This is for you all who have lots of questions about money savers, I couldn't fit everything in.....but I tried. ;)

Thursday Tips and Tricks from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

Also.....give me your questions!!

Mortgage

Auto Loans

Financing

Debt

Investments
What banks look at credit wise?
What affects your credit negative / positive?

Gimme some questions, I love to help out with that.

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.

www.overtimesports.us.com

www.gameday-usa.net

www.531854.info

www.game-time.us.com

www.in-sports.biz

www.gameday-usa.net

Who's to Blame?

I have to say that I am totally and utterly sick and tired of bullshit emails reaching my inbox about the economy. I mean really, we see enough of the gloom and doom each night on the local news and then top it off with a sugary version from Brian Williams. I love our country for all of the greatness she possesses along with her weaknesses, this is what American culture is all about.

However! I have to say that I am so sick and tired of our new president and the poor folks (such as myself) who work in the mortgage industry continue to take the blame for the current state of the economy, union, and world.

Yes, I am in the mortgage industry. By trade. My educational background is business and finance, however, you can make a mean living on commission and live larger than most doctors or lawyers. Funny thing the mortgage industry. We have been called greedy bastards, we forced SOOO many of these poor souls who have lost their homes into to terrible loans, we might as well be the devil's advocate. For a moment, lets pretend that the mortgage crisis did not happen. Then what? We still have greedy bastards who want to buy more house than they can afford. I mean truly this is the case. I live in one of the hardest hit areas in the country, I am at ground zero and I watched folks grasp, steal, lie, pillage, and damn near thieve their ways into these homes and loans. In the mortgage industry I helped folks refinance their homes, purchase homes, and extend lines on their homes. But I refuse to be blamed as the sole contributor to the state of things.

My job and duty as a personal loan consultant is to advise my clients about their finances, the future of their finances, and tell them what they can and cannot afford based on lending guidelines. I lost many loans this way. Fine by me is what I can say. i can say that I did not put folks into stupid loans unless they insisted and I basically informed them of the inherent risks and would do what any professional would do......tell them they are going against sound advice. Just as if you were a patient seeing a physician and decided to go AMA (Against Medical Advice). Don't get me wrong....there are some really shady MoFo's out there that conned someones aunt, uncle, sister, mother, brother, father, who ever into a crap loan that defaulted....however, everyone has a choice. The choice to sign the documents at closing, the choice to not sign documents at closing, or rescind the loan altogether. Which means they void the loan within the three day grace period allowed on all refinance loans.

I think another big beef is the carry over of blame....lets blame Obama. I mean really???!! Where were you guys the last eight years? I remember in 2004 the Fed was putting the stops on interest rates because they foresaw these events, economists saw as the bubble was growing like a monster, the economy was doomed. I think the only ones to really blame are ourselves....for wanting too much, for nothing (Yes I had morons calling me for 4% loans with no money down....sorry that ship has sailed), and blaming everyone else but ourselves. This goes for the corporate heads who also reaped the rewards and were so sinfully blind with greed they too are now paying.

That's my rant for the day....I just had to share....especially because I am on the front lines helping folks reorganize their mortgages and helping folks to still buy homes...the old fashioned way.