Dec22news08

Merry Christmas!

We don't have to worry about Santa fitting down our chimney, these super low interest rates are our Christmas presents that are getting more people calling in and looking at your listings. Jim Cramer with "Mad Money" thinks mortgage rates could go below 4%. Wouldn't that be a great Christmas present?

What that would do is set off another refi frenzy for those with at least 25% equity that can get in a great rate without PMI with some money left over for paying the closing cost. This will also allow those with debt in credit cards with equity in their house to cashout some equity to pay off some debt.

Wait a minute. Isn't that how we got us in trouble in the first place? Aren't a lot of homeowners maxed out on their mortgage now because of the last refi boom? And isn't this a big reason why many sellers are underwater and can't afford to sell at the current market price?

Well, yes this is a big factor but the declining market is another big part of this too and because of this, many won't be able to refinance any time soon.

Also, another big difference now is that we have gotten back to the basics and have the traditional underwriting guidelines that should keep this from happening again. Gone are the exotic no-doc loans and easier pre-approval guidelines.

Anyway, these super low rates might not set off another refi boom but it should get us some great buyers that have been sitting on the sidelines waiting on the bottom to hit.

Quick note! We Love Refis!! Call me!

Conditions for buying are the best they have ever been. Focus on the first-time buyers that can get the tax credit and help them see how lucky they are to be able to buy a house in this market!

When they finally realize this, they are going to love you for years to come.

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During your Christmas gatherings, make sure to hand out plenty of business cards to your family and friends. THEY WILL HELP YOU IF YOU ASK THEM!

Here's a quick story. My mom ran into a cousin at a funeral and the following week, a distant cousin that I never knew called me about his insurance business... Our moms had been talking about us and were drumming up business for their kids!

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Thanks for your business.

Senior Mortgage Advisor
President's Club Member 2007

Carolina Mortgage

843-230-7929

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Checkout the website below after reading this.

In relationship sales, people do business with those they like. So here are some questions to think about for your business.

1. How many people "know of" you?

2. But how many really "know" you?

3. If they know you, how many "like" you?

Zig Ziglar says that...

"A customer will never care how much you know until they know how much you care."

In pondering these questions, here are some additional relationship questions to think about.

1. How can you meet more people?

2. How can you get more people to really get to know you?

3. How can you get more people to like you?

Real Estate Sales is a numbers game and it really helps to get to know as many people as you can and also treat anyone you meet like they are your best friend... Ask them questions and get them to talk about themselves and they will really start to like you. This is why people spend money going to shrinks; to get someone to listen to them. Remember to pause and let them do most of the talking!

Some answers to the questions above are:

1. Network as much as you can with as many as you can.

2. Get involved in the community and open up to people more.

3. Be an approachable, warm, friendly, caring person all of the time. Smile and Move!!

Zig Ziglar also said...

"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."

Take Zig's advice and you are going to see your business take off in 2009!!

Want some help with this? Click on the link below to go to this website and buy this little book for only $9.95 and let's start a movement. You may want to buy a cap and t-shirt too. If nothing else, at least click on the site and read about this concept.

For the BICs, why not buy a book for the whole office for only $7.95 for the volume discount so your office sales really start to take off? That would be a good thing!

These small books should be on everybody's desk in any kind of relationship sales. I've already ordered mine and I ordered one for my kids too for Christmas so they will be more successful at whatever they decide to do!

Click here now: Smile and Move

Do you network with movers?

Movers can be a great networking resource for your business. Like the self-storage building owners I talked about last week, these guys are out talking to people just before they actually enter the real estate market every single day.

Think about it. Say your dad is moving to an assisted living facility or to an apartment and he asks you to help him. Are you immediately going to call a realtor to list his house? No. But you might have to call a mover, right? Eventually, you might be helping your dad find a good realtor too and these movers might be the first to recommend a great one to you...

These 3rd-party referrals are huge! This is why you need to get to know these type providers and take care of them with your referrals too.

You can get ahead of the real estate transaction cycle by working with the service providers that are working with these people early on. The earlier, the better.

I have heard that people will use the first realtor that contacts them most of the time so try to be the first one. This is especially true if the realtor takes the time to build sound rapport like in the topic above! Remember the saying..."The early bird gets the worm!"

Other resources that will get you way ahead of the real estate cycle are the HR managers. Call them too and get them to put you on their recruiting team for their next job vacancy that will require a relocation from another town!

Get to know as many people as you can ahead of the real estate cycle and let them know that if they refer their clients to you, you are going to refer your clients to them or you will help them with their career goals too.

Rate Lock Advisory - Sunday, Dec 21st.

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This significantly shortened trading week brings us the release of six monthly or quarterly economic reports and a fairly important Treasury auction. Most of the data being released is not considered to be of high importance to the markets, but with the Christmas holiday falling during the week we can expect very thin trading. This means that we may see a larger reaction than normal to some news because there will be fewer traders working and less transactions being made. We also may see profit-taking by some firms to capture the sizable gains in bonds this year as it winds down, so by no means can we be guaranteed a quiet week.

There is no relevant economic news scheduled for release tomorrow. Five of the week's events are scheduled for Tuesday. The first is the final revision to the 3rd Quarter GDP. I don't think this data will have an impact on mortgage rates unless it varies greatly from its expected reading. Last month's first revision showed that the economy contracted at a 0.5% annual pace during the quarter and this month's revision is expected to show the same.