Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Back in the swing of things

Dear friends,

I apologize that I have been away from writing for so long. Much has taken place in both the market, my business, and my family causing me to have to pull back from much of my daily activities. I will give you a recap on all three.

1. The Market.
As you all know, the mortgage and real estate industries have taken a beating over the past year. I am no different and it has had a dramatic negative impact on our business, especially since many of our lenders have gone out of business or gone bankrupt. We have re-established lenders and once again, are lending in all 50 states. I had the privilege of hearing Robert Kiyosaki speak last weekend and his thought is that it will still get worse before it gets better. If you bought a home within the past 3 years, this is not what you want to hear. If you are in the market to buy a home, well, now is still a great time to do it. There are SO many deals to be made, it's almost unreal.

2. My Business. Over the past year, we took HUGE losses. We had to take a long hard look at what we were doing and figure out what we were going to do to stay afloat. The first thing was to establish relationships with solid lending partners that were going to be around for the long haul. There are never any guarantees, but we think we have a winner. Additionally, we are still on track to launch a few new products and services, here is a brief overview of them:

- Price Shopping Service. I cannot tell you how many times I have offered this service for free, only to have it used against me for someone to get a better deal with their lender. we are now launching an official Price Shopping Service and we will have to charge up front fees for this. It will be best suited for those that are not "perfect credit" clients, because it is the not so perfect credit loans where unscrupulous lenders often try to take advantage of people. We believe in treating people as we want to be treated, so we usually are very competitive in this market.

- Foreclosure Assistance. I have joined a nationwide Foreclosure Consulting Network whose goal is help people save their homes. If you are in need of this service, please visit this page and fill out the contact form: http://www.consumersadvantagemortgage.com/stop-foreclosure.cfm

- Real Estate Services. We are currently seeking to grow the real estate side of the business, where we will offer both buyer and seller assistance in the DC Metro and Phoenix, AZ Metro markets.

Lastly, we have relocated our office to Mesa, AZ - a suburb of Phoenix (more on that below).

3. My Family. Many may not know, but my wife suffered for many months with a hormonal and adrenal imbalance that caused multiple symptoms. For months she went through testing, ER visits, and saw multiple doctors, and none could really offer any hope or answers. In June of this year, she had to stop working due to her condition, which left us in the position of trying to figure out what our next step was. I have to say, the DC Metro area is a very expensive place to live, no matter what you do for a living. My wife has family in AZ so it seemed to make sense to relocate here to have their support, and also to have a simpler a cheaper lifestyle. We certainly miss our friends and family back east, but I will not miss cold winters. We have been here for almost two months now, and we did find a great doctor who is successfully treating my wife and by God's goodness she is doing better than she has done all year.

I know this was a long one, but thanks for reading it all. If you have any mortgage or real estate needs, do not hesitate to contact me and I am happy to be of assistance as always.

Until next time,

Anthony

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