The Fat Lady Hasn't Sung Yet

Home prices continue to fall in every major city (except our lovely nation's capital), and Atlanta, Las Vegas, Detroit and Cleveland have now hit levels not seen since the 90's.  This feels like the Caribbean limbo, a game of how low can you go. 

It's Baaaaaaaaack

Remember the Adjustable Rate Mortgage?  The mortgage that caused so much trouble during the sub-prime debacle?  Well, it's back.  New and improved: 

From MSN Money - The ARM is back, should you bite?

American Association of Notaries

The American Association of Notaries is a great resource for information, knowledge, notary supplies, and more.  You can follow them on their new Facebook page: American Association of Notaries

Where To List Your Local Business

2 articles from Hubspot:

A recent survey comparing lead generations via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, & company blogs found that LinkedIn was most effective for business to business leads.  Surprised?  I am. 

Also from Hubspot, 50 business directories for local marketing (with links to their sign up pages).

Audit Traps

7 Red Flags that could trigger an Audit:

1. Failing to include a form 1099 or other income (the IRS matches 1099s in their records to your return)
2. Inflating home office deductions  (your home office should be used "exclusively and regularly for your trade or business.")
3. Citing too many losses on a Schedule C (filing a loss year after year is a red flag)
4. Claiming disproportionately high charitable deductions
5. Using too many round numbers (tax return numbers should not be estimates, they should be exact)
6. Reporting rental real estate losses when you don't materially participate 
7. Citing too many business-related deductions (expenses should be ordinary and necessary)

Business Is So Slow And It's Not My Fault

Today I was contacted by a Metro Detroit Title company looking for notary signing agents to handle in-house closings a few days a month.  I've done several mobile closings for them in the past.  Good company, fair pay, pays in less than 30 days.  Great, where do I sign up?  But before I can start, they want to meet me in person, ask some questions, and get to know me a bit more.  You'd think the easy response to that would be "absolutely!"

But I'm reminded of a story another notary signing agent told me a few days ago.  Another Michigan title company was also looking to add some notary signing agents to their roster.  They also had the idea that they wanted to meet and interview these closers beforehand.  According to the title company, 40 interviews were set up.  How many signing agents showed up?  14.  And I just can't help but wonder, are many of these 27 no shows the same people that are constantly complaining about how slow business is right now?  Here's some business.  Someone is trying to hand it to you.  Just show up, be professional, show them you know what you're doing, and you're in.  How easy is that?  Why would you not get out from behind your computer and get some quality face time with a company that wants to work with you?

Marketing your notary services (or any service) isn't just about listing yourself online, sending emails, and filling out sign up packages.  Face to face contact is critical.  There's nothing more powerful than showing a potential client that you're, you know, a real actual homo sapien.  Let them see what you can offer with their own eyes.

As you can probably guess, my response to the title company that wants to meet me was absolutely yes.  Why wouldn't it be? 

Should You Walk Away From Your Mortgage?

Video from MSN Money

 

It's hard to do a mortgage signing when someone is looking over your shoulder.  It's even harder when they're actually SITTING ON YOUR SHOULDER.

You Get What You Pay For

That's what I try to tell potential clients when their main (or only) concern seems to be in finding the cheapest notary signing agent to handle their closings.  You may save a few bucks in the short term, but how long before errors, lack of experience, and lack of professionalism catch up with you and your bottom line?  It's inevitable.  Robert Franco at Source of Title just posted an interesting story about a client who left for someone cheaper.  I think the story fits in perfectly with what routinely happens in the notary signing industry.

Source of Title Blog: So, How's That Working Out For You? 

Sample Loan Packages For Every State

If you're a new notary signing agent preparing to handle mortgage loan signings, having a sample loan package to review can be extremely useful before heading out for signings.  I've added a link on my notary resource page that provides sample loan packages for every state.  You can find it under the heading "Forms, Documents, Resources."  Don't expect to see all these loan documents in every package, but these samples seem to do a very good job of covering 99% of the mortgage documents that you might come across. 

Thanks to Cody Doty for posting this on Notary Rotary. 

The Good News Is That The Bad News Is Not So Bad

So it's come to this.  We consider it good news when the bad news isn't as bad as we thought it would be or isn't as bad as it was before.  So, here's the news: Metro Detroit home values have dropped for the 4th year in a row.  But wait, the values didn't fall as bad as they have in the last two years.  Good News!  Yay!  OK, it does suggest to some experts that values are FINALLY bottoming out.

From October 2009 to Sept 1st 2010, values dropped an average of 7.5% in Oakland County, 8.73% in Wayne County, and 9% in Macomb County.   

Buy, Don't Rent

According to Trulia, it costs less to buy than rent in 72% of the top 50 major U.S. markets.  Sounds like a no-brainer.  Unfortunately, higher credit score requirements, larger down payment requirements, and stricter underwriting guidelines make buying easier said than done.    

Elizabeth Warren Is Watching Our Backs

I seriously like this woman.  Elizabeth Warren was appointed by President Obama as a special advisor to help set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency in charge of financial, credit card, and mortgage oversight.  The agency creation is part of the Dodd Frank Financial Reform Act.  Thought the CFPB won't have rule making power until July 21st of this year, Warren has been an active and vocal advocate for years, and has already been meeting with banking executives and consumer groups.  One of her first goals will be to make the true cost of financial products easier to understand:

  "Think about how long a credit card agreement has become," said Warren.  "It's become pages and pages and pages of largely incomprehensible fine print. In effect, it's paperwork that says "Don't read me," and that's a real problem. Because hiding in that fine print can be anything.  So one of the things we want to push toward is trying to clear out that kind of shrubbery. So that if there are real changes that a company is proposing, they stand out. They're not camouflaged by all those other words." 

Hmm.  Couldn't that philosophy work with mortgage documents too?  Haven't we all seen the "shrubbery" in loan packages?  Endless disclousures, repetitive forms, confusing wording, the same thing over and over.  A mortgage package could be cut from 100 pages to 25 pages and still say the same thing without overwhelming the consumer.  I sure hope that's on her radar as well.

More from ABC News (Oh, and I love the photo.  Seriously, you wanna mess with her?)

 

National Snow Day - Snowpocalypse 2011

2011 Rescission Calendar

For those who are mathematically challenged, the 2011 Rescission Calendar for calculating a borrower's 3 day right to cancel is available for download.  You can find it on my resource page under Forms, Documents, & Resources.   

NASS Releases A Summary Of Key Notary Issues

The National Association of Secretaries of State released its report summarizing state notarization policies in key areas.  Let's call it the 2011 notary state of the union report.  The report covers 4 key issues:

Basic Notary Practices (which covers the general functions of a notary, including acknowledgments, jurats, and in some cases certification of true copies)
State Commission and Regulation of Notaries (including how to become a notary in each state and seal requirements)
Electronic Notarization (including which states allow e-notarization). 
Recognition of Out of State Notarizations (including a discussion of the much talked about and blown out of proportion Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act) 

You can download the PDF report from www.nass.org.  I can also send a copy to anyone who requests it.  Email me at alex@detroitnotary.com

How To Get A Mortgage In 2011

From Bankrate.com: 10 tips to snag a mortgage in 2011

1. Have the right credit score (740 or higher gets you the best deal)
2. Protect & preserve your credit (multiple credit inquiries within a few weeks of each other will only count as one inquiry)
3. Shop around (compare rate, fees, points, terms)
4. Know your borrowing limit (payments of no more than 28 - 30% of your gross monthly income)
5. Don't reset your refi calendar to 30 years (amortize the new loan for the remaining period of the old loan)
6. Consider a no closing cost refi (but understand you may end up with a slightly higher rate)
7. Small down payment? See the feds(FHA loans require less down)
8. Small loan? Act Early (the rules are changing April 1st and loan officers might not want to spend time on a smaller loan)
9. Make an extra payment any time of year (pay your loan off early)
10. Behind on your payment? See a counselor (you're more likely to keep your home and qualify for a loan mod if you receive certified foreclosure counseling) 

Michigan Running Out Of Home Buyers

The 2nd highest unemployment in the country.  The 9th worst vacancy rate.  The worst population decline in the last 5 years.  According to The Wall Street News, those combined factors put Michigan number one on the list of states running out of home buyers.

To Seal Or Not To Seal

Notary Seal Requirements for every state. 

Notarizing By Video?

There's been quite an uproar over the last few days about notarizing by video.  First, a company called Notary Now popped up on everyone's radar.  The company claims to offer video notarization.  You upload your ID and then the company uses online video technology to witness the signature of the individual.  Notary Rotary has been buzzing about it, as has the Secretary of State notary administrators.  And now the state of Virginia is consider a bill to allow similar video notarization.

The pitfalls are numerous.  The uploaded ID can be forged or altered.  Directly viewing an ID is paramount to fraud prevention and identity theft.  The signer could be coerced or under duress by someone off camera.  But the biggest problem I see with all of this is that witnessing a signature by video does not, in my opinion, meet the standard of personal appearance.  In an age of increased fraud, identity theft, and robo-signings, the LAST thing we should be doing is making it easier to perpetrate a fraud.  There seems to be a unanimous thumbs down from notaries, secretaries of state, and the NNA.  

Say no to video notarization.  To vote on the two Virginia bills, you can go here & here.