What's Your Outlook On 2009?

An optimist thinks the glass is half full. A pessimist thinks it's half empty. I'm a realist. I think the glass is twice the size that it should be. But forgive me if I'm leaning towards guarded optimism for the 2009 housing market. Good news has been rare and isolated but for the first time in years, there's encouraging news on multiple fronts. In addition to the anticipation and hope that comes with any new presidency, especially one as historic as this, interest rates are at a record low, an influx of funds has given hope to the mortgage and auto industries, and there are signs that the credit market is loosening up.

To be sure, not all the news is cheery. Treasury prices have risen, the stock market continues to be anemic, unemployment continues to rise, and the news from several companies planning to announce fourth quarter earnings this week is expected to be disappointing (sorry to bring you back down to earth. I said I was a realist). Still, after the last two years I think we can all be encouraged by some positive signs.

Thomas Jefferson's Lesser Known Declaration

10 Rules For The Good Life

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
Never spend your money before you have it.
Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will never be dear to you.
Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
Never repent of having eaten too little.
Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
Don't let the evils which have never happened cost you pain.
Always take things by their smooth handle.
When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count to one hundred.

Wall Street Has Had Better Years

As if the plummeting stock market wasn't enough to put a serious damper on Wall Street's year, last month Wall Street big shot Bernard Madoff was arrested on charges of perpetrating the largest fraud in history. Madoff bilked Wall Street investors of a staggering $50 billion. Madoff's actions have left possibly 10,000 plus investors in the lurch, some with devastating losses. In addition to investment companies, investors included elderly victims and charities. Though nothing more than a common Ponzi scheme (early investors paid off by money from later investors), Madoff carried it out to unfathomable proportions. Madoff managed to avoid suspicion by promising moderate gains and providing detailed bogus statements.

Scott Burns writes an interesting article that puts Madoff's $50 billion theft into perspective based on United States crime statistics.

Also: One victim's story here.

The New Credit Score Formula

Credit bureaus will soon be introducing the new FICO 08 score. Yeah I know, it's 09. The implementation of the FICO 08 score was delayed while Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax fought amongst themselves. Now that they've returned their attention to beating us up instead, TransUnion will begin offering the score in late January with the other credit bureaus to follow later in the year. The FICO score is factored into mortgage lending decisions more than 75% of the time and it's used by 90% of the largest U.S. lenders. The new score puts a higher weight on how much you're using your available credit. For those who carry a higher balance on your cards, you'll see a more significant negative effect on your credit score. The new score also reacts more negatively if consumers have only a few open & active accounts. To make matters worse, many credit card companies are lowering available credit lines and card limits, further damaging credit scores (feeling a little ganged up on?).

Three positives from the new credit score: small collection accounts under $100 are ignored, serious credit setbacks such as a charge-off or a repossession are less damaging as long as other factors are in good standing, and authorized user accounts (which some credit repair companies were using to artificially inflate credit scores) will only be factored in on a limited basis.

Money Well Spent?

It's good to know that the National Association of Realtors is doing so well that they could spend $1 million to enter a float in the Pasadena, California Rose Parade on New Year's Day. Considering the rate of foreclosures over the last two years, the float was rather ironically titled "Celebrating the Dream of Home Ownership for 100 Years." As if that wasn't enough, the presentation included an original NAR commissioned song composed by Charles "Killing Me Softly With His Song" Fox, written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Oscar for Yentl), and sung by Grammy-winning singer Steve Tyrell. Way to tighten your belts and buckle up NAR!

P.S. - There's no truth to the rumor that the NAR will be raffling off the float to one lucky foreclosure victim as their new home.

If You're Wondering Where I've Been...

Take a peek at the Detroit Signing Agent site and you'll see that I've been redoing the site (yes, again). Your input is welcome. So now that it's done (well, 90% done) it's back to blogging (but not right now, it's 5 a.m. and I need some sleep).

I Make My Own Hours

Or so I'm told often by those who ask about my work. Let's see, today my 1 p.m. changed into a 10 a.m., my 6 p.m. turned into a noon, my 2 p.m. got postponed until tomorrow, my 3 p.m. moved to 2 p.m., and my 4 p.m., oh yeah, my 4 p.m. stayed a 4 p.m. I really need to do a better job of setting my own hours.

Geez, I Was Just Kidding

In late October the Fed cut their funds rate, the rate that banks charge each other, to 1%. So I sarcastically said, "Well what's next? Are they going to cut it to zero?" Umm, yep.

In a historic move: Central bank reduces the federal funds rate to a range of zero to 0.25%.

And if that doesn't work?

2008 - The Year In Pictures

Some truly dramatic images. MSNBC.

Tis The Season For Bogus E-mails

I don't understand why people continue to forward e-mails without verifying the validity of the claim being made. Two e-mails currently making their rounds involve barcodes and gift cards. The first one claims that you can avoid buying products that are made in China by reading the first three digits of the barcode. The e-mail provides a list of barcodes and countries. The first three digits can only tell you where the barcode itself was issued which is irrevlavent to where an item is made. The second e-mail tells you not to buy gift cards from certain stores that will be going out of business after January 1st. The list is fraught with misinformation and lies.

Before forwarding any of these friendly tips to 100 people, do everyone a favor and go to Snope.com or UrbanLegends.about.com first.

Gotta go, I've got business to handle. There's a rich widow from Nigeria that wants to give me $100 million if I just give her my bank account information.

Personal Branding

My new favorite blog is The Personal Branding Blog by Social Media Specialist Dan Schawbel. I've just discovered it and can't stop reading it. There are great tips from experts on how to brand yourself in today's marketplace, something that's especially vital for signing agents and all those who are self-employed. Today's topic focuses on personal ethics, including the dilemma we face when we observe others performing illegal or unethical acts (say, a signing agent who backdates or falsifies their qualifications?).

Why Do You Ask, Does My Political Preference Matter?

Yesterday I received a call asking if I was a Notary Republican. Well as a matter of fact I am. Is that acceptable or would you prefer to call a Notary Democrat instead?

The Economic Blame Game - NCAA Tournament Style

Having trouble deciding who's to blame for the worldwide financial crisis? Check out this innovative idea from the Grand Rapids Press. They took 32 reasons for the worldwide economic situation and pitted them against each other in a NCAA bracket format. The winner may surprise you.

Why The Double Standard?

We've all seen the clips over the last week; auto executives getting skewered by Congress for flying private planes and making exorbitant bonuses. It certainly makes for dramatic sound bites despite the fact that it completely misses the mark when it comes to what's really ailing the auto industry. However, these auto executives generally displayed a shocking lack of preparation and planning. It's not unreasonable for Congress to demand that the auto industry show a solid plan for how any bailout money would be spent. But where was this same demand for accountability and planning when Washington earmarked 700 billion dollars for the housing industry? Has anyone demanded that these CEOs fly coach or give up their outrageous bonuses? Have we demanded to see their plan for future solvency? Why, despite almost daily examples of ineptitude or greed, do lenders still avoid having to show accountability and competency?

More Great News For Detroit!

Forbes recently published results from the Urban Land Institute, which named the best (and worst) places to invest in commercial real estate in the coming year. The top five cities are:



Seattle
San Francisco
Washington DC
New York
Los Angeles

And scraping the bottom of the barrel? The Motor City! Motown! Hockeytown! This kind of news has become so predictable that I've actually started reading these kind of lists from bottom to top.

HUD Announces RESPA Changes

On Monday, Housing & Urban Development published its final ruling on the much discussed proposed RESPA changes. The new rules are intended to make it easier for consumers to compare terms on loans offered by different lenders and limit the ability of lenders to offer final terms that are far different from initial estimates given to potential borrowers. After much debate, thankfully (and I know some of you have disagreed) HUD appears to have dropped the proposed script to be read at each closing.

Congress has 60 days to decide whether to block its implementation or allow the changes to go into effect. Some provisions will then go into effect immediately, but HUD won't require loan originators to start using the new standardized Good Faith Estimates and HUD-1 settlement statement until Jan. 1, 2010. Companies can chose to follow the new rules during the preceding 12-month transition period.

5 Dumb Housing Questions

Why are we still building?
Do we simply have too many houses?
Where do foreclosed families go?
Why not offer foreclosed homes to poor people?
How long can a house sit before its not salable?

See this MSN article

The Best of 2008

50 Best Inventions of 2008 (including the short refi)

100 Best Products of 2008

Say What?

I am a Notary Public, not a Notar Republic.

The plural is Notaries Public, not Notary Publics.

There is no such thing as a Quick Claim Deed. It's called a Quit Claim Deed.

An Apostle is a religious figure. The legalization of a document under the Hague Convention is an Apostille.

You do not get your notary, you become a notary or you get your notary commission.

You don't do a notary, you notarize a document. Unless you're dating a notary, then you might very well do a notary.

Free Rice

Whittle away the time, sharpen your vocabulary, and help feed the hungry. What more do you want?

Free Rice