Easy Private Money

Reagan-Thatcher Quotes

2009-03-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

I just love people that say it like it is. Here are a couple of their quotes.

Thatcher: The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money

Reagan: Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.

Thatcher: If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.

Reagan: Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

Thatcher:Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus.

Reagan: No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs
, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

Thatcher:There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty.

Reagan: Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.

Rant of the Year? Or a Wake-Up Call!

2009-02-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

Rick Santelli

Someone has finally stood up and said the "Emperor is Naked!".

Rick Santelli is a CNBC Business News on-air editor and reports from the Chicago Board of Trade.

He is a veteran trader and financial executive.

I think he surprised quite a few people when he called (live) some people on the proposed bailouts of people that have made bad financial decisions.

This is well worth watching since he gives very good perspective to a very troubling problem.

Click to view the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZB4taSEoA

Lighten Up a Bit ;>

2009-02-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

Here is one of 8 cartoons I just uploaded to the website.

Click to see the others.

Whoa! Good Guy / Bad Guy - Who Wins?

2009-01-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

This is rather amazing!

Using debt to get out of debt? What is wrong with this picture?

OK, let's say I have a bad debt load to begin with. My house is mortgaged to the hilt and I have $20,000 in credit card debt.

My job is at least shaky if not being lost. So to fix this problem I'm going to borrow more money. Sure, that makes sense!

So I borrow $20,000 more to pay my monthly bills so I don't go into bankruptcy. If I use $1,000 to supplement each month to maintain my life style and make no cuts in my outgoing money then in 20 months I am in the same predicament. No not really! Now my monthly debt payment to the $20,000 is added to the already too heavy burden that I had when I started. Uh oh!

We have two faces. A happy face and a sad face. If the sad face isn't here yet, it's on it's way. And the happy face is coming as the real estate investors begin to gobble up the foreclosed homes.

Be patriotic and buy distressed property! Rent a place to those who are losing their home. C'mon, let's all help them have a place to live.

Oh yeah, use EPMoney to fund the deal!

Whine, whine, whine - Get Over It!

2008-12-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

New government report reveals some interesting data. At first blush things look pretty bad.

I realize it is hard to read the map, so concentrate on the colors instead.

States in RED have had a drop in home values -10% to -21%.
States in MUSTARD had a drop in home values 0% to -10%
States in LIGHT BLUE had 0% to 5% increase in value.

This indicates some pretty bad news. But remember that we are dealing with statistics.

Well you may remember the quote, "There are lies, damn lies - and statistics!"

So where are the lies in this map of the USA? Perhaps we won't acutally find lies, but we will find something that is very misleading.

This map comes from the "Center for Economic and Policy Research". The previous page in the report has some wonderful data. It shows numbers for Utah.

........29 = Our National Ranking
-1/64% = 1-Yr Appreciation
-1.93% = Qtr's Appreciation
...47.7% = 5-Yr Apprciation
280.1% = Appreciation Since 1980

Now the map isn't so intimidating!

Let's look at what this really means to you and I:

$189,147 Average price of home in Salt Lake Valley in November 2003
$277,685 Average price of home in Salt Lake Valley in November 2008.

So when you hear people whine, whine, whine.... oh we lost 1.64% in the last 12 months! Then introduce them to a great classic hit from the Eagles.

Have them listen to the song at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R85RjD5hnw

God Bless America!

Hard Money - And Jack Takes His Lumps!

2008-11-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

A post on Yahoo! Finance brought some swift harsh words.

Jack M. Guttenberg, The Mortgage Professor got raked over the coals for writing an article about Hard Money.

He didn't do that badly for someone not totally familiar with Hard Money. But he go skewered for his efforts. You can read the article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/mortgage/120821.

But the real fun comes from reading the comments that it pulled from cyberspace. It is like a group of angry men venting their frustrations.

I don't think they agreed with Jack!

Here are some excerpts from some that should have kept their mouth shut.

"Great Job in writing an article that you have no knowledge about and did NOT even bother doing any research on! Don't you have an editor??"

"Yahoo sensor's all his comments. This a horrible article that serves no purpose."

"Goes to show you what Jack knows...the pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other. There aren't any hard money lenders anymore!"

"Oh, now I know this guy is crazy!!!!! I have been in the Mortgage biz for over 20 years and have been unemployed for 16 months. I am a good hard money loan underwriter. There are no jobs, this guy is a FRAUD!!!! There is NO business !!! No one is lending to ANYONE right now. This old stinking LIAR needs to go back to the retirement home he crawled out of and take a long nap, that is ALL he is good for. For heaven's sake get rid of this guy already, he doesn't even know what time it is!!!!!!!!!"

"Hard money lenders, ha. The MOB must be having a field day right now, they are the true hard money lenders. Maybe I should change occupations, and become a collector for the "hard money lenders". I love to hears the sound of snapping bones in the morning."

"I am going to become a Tahoo expert as I am able to write about things I know nothing about and have no experience with and ask my readers to comment. What a useless POS article."

""I don't have any experience with this market, however, and readers who have taken loans from hard-money lenders are invited to let me know how they did." Dear Jack If this statement is true, why did you write an article about it? Please answer me, if possible. "

OUCH!

Many comments were complimentary though.

Jack admitted not knowing much about this topic. He probably should have left it alone, but he did get some things right.

It's a niche. It works for some on not others. Investors make decisions to use Hard Money because they can show that that will allow them to make money. Investors look at things clearly and say "If the cost of money is $10,000 and I'm going to walk away with $40,000 profit, then I'm in." And therein lies the reason why Hard Money is helpful.

I like the investor's answer, they others don't count.

Can you belive it!

2008-10-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

Whoa.

Socialism or capitalism, that seems to be the question.

I listen to talk radio. OK so they are a little radical. But some comments resonate with me. We're all entreprenuers and get only what we work for. So here's a couple of comments from them.

"when we reach a point where the majority of people are getting some kind of government assistance, its over."

"should we really let those on welfare vote? Won't they vote themselves a raise?"

I love capitalism! But that might be because I love to work. It is so invigorating. It is so empowering. It is so self perpetuating. I just love it!

But, some people cannot work and help themselves. I say let's help them. Of course the problem now is who is going to be the 'can they provide for themselves police'.

Let's give them physicals, let's give them psycology workups, let's give them attitude adjustments, let's help with their self esteem, let's lift them to higher ground. Then let's monitor, evaluate, encourage, hold their hand, on and on and on. But let's help them to stand on their own. And lets give them appropriate WORK to do.

The vast majority of people, even those that need help can do something. Let's give them their self esteem back by allowing and requiring that they do some sort of meaningful work and/or service. If we extend a helping hand we are 'paying it forward' and all will benefit.

I believe it is fair to get right in the middle of someone's life and ask tough questions when they will be spending my money. Let's find ways to do it empathetically.

God bless America and the capitalist system!

We are the most ingenious, generous and productive people in the world. Why don't we just go ahead and celebrate this fact!

Have a great day. >;

Moan, Groan, Whine-Whine

2008-08-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

Lee Benson's column today (Deseret News) is "Newspapers' cash cow being slaughtered". At the same time, sources for news have grown exponentially.

Newspapers have a real history in this country. They come from humble beginnings. Lee is experiencing what so many have already experienced. The times change and capitalism is not very forgiving. You either adjust or die.

The latest in news at your fingertips is compelling. And being 'connected' just took a quantum leap with the new Instinct. The newspapers have taken no leap at all. Why should we all cling to the newspaper when there are so many better outlets.

Here are a few other products/industries that had to adjust:

8-track tapes
corner pay phone booths
5-1/4" floppy disks
pagers
paper grocery sacks
the Chicago stock yards
manufacturing of steel
Oldsmobile
yellow pages

So why bother to post to our blog the demise of the newspapers. Well, I think it is something that will continue to happen in the market place and it can be instructive to us as entrepreneurs.

Our investing arena is changing before our very eyes as well. Real estate has always been cyclic and I don't see that changing any time soon. Therefore, now is the time to buy properties and hold them. For instance, a deal came in from Park City today (it could just as well be Midvale, Salt Lake, Provo, Ogden, etc) that is going for 1/2 the tax value.

And just look who's coming to town to sell their 'secrets' - Donald Trump and Robert Allen. They think it is a good time to educate others to go do what we already know how to do.

Now is the time and epMoney is chomping at the bit to help.

If you find a deal, then you ought to do it now! If you can't do the deal right now, would a partner help? I'd venture to say that 1/2 a deal is better than no deal at all.

It is Rarely Crystal Clear What is Going On.

2008-07-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

Let's take a look at a few of the trends we are seeing at the moment.

Retail sales are up but so is unemployment.

Consumer confidence is down and so are existing home sales.

So what does it mean? Could it just be election year jitters?

As the population grows - so will the retail sales numbers. It also says that we don't stop spending just because someone says we are in bad economic times. We stop spending when we are individually in bad economic times.
Unemployment is increasing, but keep it in perspective (see the numbers below). Also, the experts say that you can never quite get to 100% employed because not everyone wants to be employed.

This percent unemployment data comes from the CIA World Factbook, 14 June 2007.

2.0% - Vietnam
2.9% - United Kingdom
3.8% - Denmark
4.1% - Japan
4.8% - United States
6.4% - Canada
7.1% - Germany
8.7% - France
9.6% - Brazil
10.3% - Egypt
13.0% - Saudia Arabia
14.9% - Poland
18.7% - Sudan
20.3% - Gaza Strip
25.5% - South Africa
35% - Yemen
40% - Afganistan
50% - Zambia
60% - Turkenistan
80% Zimbabwe

Now for the Consumer Price Index. It does have a modest upward trend since 1998. But also, the historical charts show that it moves upward in election years. So this may taper off.

Consumer Confidence might be compared with the "Misery Index" of the Jimmy Carter era. The index is the unemployment rate + the inflation rate. The index peaked during the Carter administration at 20.76%. It has had a steady decline since then and is now at 10.52%. I think that all the political hype at the moment can make people feel unsettled too.

This next graph shows the Existing Home Sales since January 1994. This is a disturbing trend. The graph is hard to read but the trend is clear, we have peaked and have now been falling since January 2006.

Well, so much for the numbers. Since it is an election year, some of the numbers may not give a true perspective of what we are presently going through.

I like the fact that the retail sales continue to grow. I'm not overly concerned with the unemployment rate because it does tend to fluctuate and around 5% is not all that bad. The consumer confidence numbers could be related to the Presidential campaign that is going on right now. But the housing trend moving downward is a concern to me. Especially since the beginning of the decline dates back to 'before' we had a mortgage crisis.

Once the campaign is over we will hopefully settle back down.

DesNews Article Comments

2008-07-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

The Deseret News published an article on Saturday; "Foreclosure rate in Utah jumps more than 113%".

It was a good article, but the reader comments (53 as of this posting) made it a whole lot more fun to read.

One wrote; "Maybe this housing crisis will help restore some sanity to the housing market. ". I agree. Many are culpable for this mess. Sanity is needed.

Earl said; "It's impossible to legislate greed out of the system". Kudos to Earl. The wholesale lenders wanted more deals so loosened standards. The retail lenders and home buyers got caught in the frenzy.

NY said; "Living beyond our means is our greatest economic problem nationwide". Yes - not an easy thing for us to conquer either.

HarryL said; "I think there needs to be some compassion here for the misguided and deceived.". It is true that we often rely on someone we shouldn't for advice. Buying a home is our largest purchase and we spend less time figuring it out than we do going boating on Lake Powell.

Stewart said; "Taxpayers to the rescue!". Ouch!

Anonymous wrote; "You wanted to show off. Now you get to show off your FORECLOSURE sign!!! ". Now their's compassion for you.

Clare: "I feel sorry for the people who have made these poor choices.". Thank you Clare, I needed that!

Skeptic said a mouthful; "I wish I were a foreclosure attorney so I could cash in on what's to come. "

Anonymous writing to Anonymous; "Anonymous 6:42 you are a nit wit." Yahoo!

A thoughtful note from djt; "The banks were stupid?"

I like this guy; "I think Congress should cut some checks for those of us that are living within our means and didn't assist any of this mystical foreclosure crisis."

Mountain Man; "As is the case with every other story in Utah, let's have the U blame the Y and Y blame the U. "

GWB said; "They should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and quit whining."

OK, enough already! Great stuff though and thanks to all who contributed.

What's The Long View?

2008-07-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

When the head of the Chinese firm was finally convinced to sit down with the American for an interview all the workers were very surprised. This was just not what they were accustomed to seeing.

The executive was asked about his long range plans for the company. His answer was not want one would have expected. His long range plans looked 500 years into the future!

During the present turmoil with falling appreciation, high foreclosure rates and a waffling FED what might we look at to help us weather the storm.

How about the 75+ year view of the stock market. If you take a look at the graph and "fit a line" to it you will get a better perspective of where we might be headed.

I'll bet on a positive outcome. History is on the side of the optimist!

Capitalism Works!

2008-07-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, 7/14/08, George W Bush lifted the ban on offshore drilling.

Today the price of oil is $134.15. This price after a $6.44 per gallon plunge - the 2nd largest drop ever.

Here is an amazing show of how capitalism works. You show an entreprenuer that competition is on the way and BAM, prices drop.

But how is this for a thought. Let's pay the high price at the pump and hold off on drilling and let the Middle East use up all their oil. Then we could raise the price even more and sell to the rest of the world including the Middle East for a great profit - or keep it to ourselves, you choose.

Let's face it though, it is not prudent to have those that detest us be able to have a strangle hold on us. Drill Here, Drill Now makes sense!

Will the Down Payment Assistance Money Dry Up!

2008-07-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

I never was a big fan of the Nehemiah Program.

Since I have a real estate license as well as a mortgage license, I look at both sides of the issue.

Down payment assistance always seemed to bit less that honest to me. I know, you disclose it to everyone, but why not just give someone a 100% loan.

Now FHA is re-thinking the whole concept. They have submitted a rule change that will no longer allow this practice. I know that some deals will dry up, but it never did feel right.

VA has a 100% program so why not FHA?

Realty Times website has followed this issue pretty well. Here is the first article that mentions the rule change that was put into the Federal Register: http://www.inman.com/news/2007/05/1/tighter-down-payment-assistance-rules-proposed.

Let's face it. There never was a free lunch. Someone always had to pay for it.

In the case of down payment assistance, the buyer paid for it because the sales price would be inflated.

The mortgage company was put at risk as well since they now loaned money on an inflated value.

It makes the most sense, to allow 100% loans. That way everything is very clear. The market will adjust since money is now sitting idle and needs a place to go.

And it continues...

2008-06-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Few really know what might happen next.

One moment things are getting better, the next they are in the hopper.

We are still optimistic that even though we are locally 'off' our real estate game we still feel that it has a great chance to turn around. Enough so that we continue to look at opportunities as they arise. We loan money because we are optimists.

And we are not trying to sell any of the properties that we own because we sense that appreciation will pick up again.

This just means that you 'go with what you know'. We are betting that the 50 year averge of 5% per year appreciation will continue.

How many times have you heard someone say, "I should have bought it" or "I never should have sold it.". We are betting that the next 50 years will prosper like the last 50 did.

More often than not we regret what we didn't do, not what we did.

If you have a home at 60-70% LTV deal staring you in the eye, then it is pretty hard to go wrong making that purchase.

It remains a great time to make reasonable investments. We are.

What are they thinking?

2008-05-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

The great benefactor is at it again.

When will they learn that the federal goverment cannot solve all the problems out there. And they certainly cannot make dumb people smart.

A bill was introduced yesterday by Congressman Raul Grijalva, (D-AZ). It incorporates a "own to rent" proposal. In this proposal it would force a lender to allow an owner going through foreclosure to stay in the home as a renter.

No exit strategy was given. It appears the previous owner could live in the forever.

If the lender wanted to sell the home, they would have to get the new buyer to agree to take on the "renter for life".

OK, they say you can up the rent - but only via the Labor Department's consumer price index.

Sniffing Out Fraud

2008-05-19T15:32:00.001-07:00

For some reason this last week I got another call that was fraud.

Most of the times you can sniff it out using common sense. But other times during the review process you have to dig a bit deeper. In this case, the MLS was tainted. Fraudulent information was put into the MLS and then used as a comp for a deal. Pretty sneaky. So be careful and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

You can always run deals by me . I'll do my normal 'sniffing' around and give you honest feedback.

Daniel Mauer - 801-278-6600

Whoa! Home Equity Lines Dissapear...

2008-05-09T04:52:00.000-07:00

Imagine that your home equity shrinks to the point where you no longer have access to even one lousy penny.

That's what just happened in Las Vegas.

Good credit scores don't even help. Countrywide just suspended the home equity credit lines of almost all its Las Vegas customers. See the full article.

As you can imagine, this was not received well by homeowners. But what can one do, since the man with the money makes the rules!

Of course all dark clouds have a silver lining. If you can't get money out of your HELOC it may be time to refinance using an FHA cash-out loan.

Executive Summary

2008-05-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

It's done!

We've been working on this summary for weeks and it is finally available to share.

We spent a ton of time and money in research to get this completed. Now we are terribly excited about the results and ready to share it with all our closest clients and affiliates.

The summary gives a little history of the mortgage industry as well as what is currently happening and affecting us in the industry. Then it outlines some great strategies on how to excel during these tumultuous times we find ourselves in.

I plan to share this 'one on one' as well as in a seminar setting. I will also do 'lunch and learn' at noon time both at our office and to offices across the valley.

You can send me an email to set a time to get together.

Click to get on our schedule.

Need help with a scenario now, just call me at 801-278-6600.

First Post

2008-05-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

I just love a place to speak my mind. And please, feel free to become involved.

I'll be sharing stats and thoughts about things in general.

Look forward to hearing from you.

...Daniel