My Schedule…and A Little Extra: There is a very gratifying feeling with successfully fixing something yourself. Keep in mind that calling me a handyman would be a gross exaggeration…something like calling Donald Trump modest. Anyway, over the years my father-in-law helped me with enough projects that I’m much more confident about tackling things I never would have attempted in the past. But when it comes to computers, I’ve always been more confident and adventurous…it’s the geek in me I guess. About 4 months ago after I bought my traveling-crazed wife a new lightweight Ultrabook computer, I inherited her old 100-pound slow-running and hot-to-the-touch laptop. Mind you “old” means within five years in the computer age…it was still a perfectly adequate albeit unpleasant machine in its present condition. So, I decided to self-refurbish her old computer and see if I could use it. That meant defaulting the computer to factory settings and reinstalling all the software one program at a time, etc. Although it sounds somewhat painless, it was a pretty big project. And I executed it successfully and the laptop had worked flawlessly for four months. UNTIL, just the other day at Starbucks it made some clicking sounds and then sparks sprung out from the mini fan…yes sparks! YOWZA! The person sitting next to me at Starbucks gave me a pretty concerned look, that same sort of look I get from kid-less observers to one of my kids having a mini-tantrum in a public place. I chuckled, shut down, and headed home. It was time to fix the computer! I decided there must be a tiny broken piece of plastic or something in the fan causing the sparks. And so, I took the laptop completely apart to investigate…I mean I totally dismantled it…see the picture. I cleaned every millimeter of the innards with a small brush and then carefully reassembled everything. Not only did I find the culprit causing the sparks, but it was extremely dusty and dirty in there…now it’s spotless and running beautifully. Success! Satisfaction! For now anyway….
My Schedule: Available all day….
My Market Watch: Rates are slightly better today by 0.125 in certain places. With little reports this week you can expect rates to trade opposite the stock market, that is, if stocks perform well, bonds will probably not and rates will remain worse or get worse. Conversely, if stocks perform poorly, then rates could improve. Tomorrow is the Fed Minutes release from the last meeting and that sometimes triggers movement if something pops up on the minutes that was not acknowledged after the actual meeting. Otherwise, everyone is watching the bond’s movement to see if it stays above certain moving averages (floors of support and ceilings of resistance)…read my Glass Elevator Analogy from Friday. || Did you see the CFPB report? “CFPB” stands for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…they are the financial services watchdog of late. Anyway, they just put a report that recommends lenders and Brokers offer on every single loan a no-fee, no-point mortgage and they seem to have abandoned their suggestions for a mandatory flat fee by LOs which is good in my opinion. Also, they are suggesting more or revised LO qualification requirements and specific requirements for conflict resolution. Here are the proposed CFPB rules, here is the link to the CFPB release, here is an article by The Wall Street Journal, and here is a link to a CFPB website with a nice little video for consumers to watch. ||| DON’T LET YOUR LOCKS EXPIRE WITHOUT CONSULTING ME FIRST! My Disclaimer
Updated Frequently:
My Guideline Guidance to get a clean underwriting decision resulting in happiness and adulation, or, you could Ignore This and find yourself with a long list of conditions, a huge hassle, and massive frustration.
My Procedures are updated all the time – check it out.…
My Schedule…and A Little Extra: I watched some of the festivities as Mitt Romney officially accepted the republican presidential nomination. He is a very accomplished speaker…I thought he did a pretty good job. And it doesn’t hurt that the guy is very good looking, as my wife pointed out. What I find interesting is that the scheduled date of the convention…was it a coincidence that Romney’s speech was delivered the night before the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced the economy is a “grave concern?” Hmmm. || I’m going to Disneyland tomorrow morning early and I’ll be returning Monday…I hear the crowds will be light, the lines short, the heat very mild, and the cost minimal. ||| My wife, better known as the Travel Mama is launching her book in November! I would appreciate your support so please reply if you’re interested in receiving updates and discounts related to the book!
My Schedule…and A Little Extra: Question – How many people really love you? Write their names down. Perspective my friends. || The NMLS sent a reminder to LOs about CE – Continuing Education for 2012. If you did not know, you are required to do CE for 8-hours annually. For details see state specific CE requirements 
My Schedule…and A Little Extra: The NMLS sent a reminder to LOs about CE – Continuing Education for 2012. If you did not know, you are required to do CE for 8-hours annually. For details see state specific CE requirements 
My Schedule…and A Little Extra: I walked out with more money than I walked in with. Winner!! It took a couple of races to figure out that in order win any money I had to limit my betting (and my wife’s betting). That is, on one race I bet $25 and ended up winning $27.50. It’s fun to win but $2.50 wasn’t going to make up for the parking fee, the entry fee, and all the beverages and food. So I changed my strategy and focused in on a couple horses…I paid no attention to what my wife was doing…let it ride baby! I decided to take two horses that were not the favorites but were expected to be in the top five. Then I put some different bets on those two horses. It worked! Later in the evening we figured it all out…after all the expenses of going to the races, and after taking into consideration the amount of money we wagered, we walked out with about $5. That’s HUGE! As Charlie Sheen would say, “WINNING!”
My Schedule…and A Little Extra: I’m off to the races! I haven’t been to the Del Mar Race Track in a few years…just didn’t seem like something I wanted to do…I even stopped playing poker and I was a pretty strong player. Why did I stop playing you ask? Simply put, I was afraid to lose money. In the last few years, like most of us in this crazy industry, my income took a significant hit. Well, you just can’t gamble if you’re afraid to lose. At the races it’s not that big of a deal…betting on the horses is like going to the movies…it’s a form of entertainment. But I took poker more seriously…I’ve read over a dozen books on poker…I like the math and I love reading people to see if they’re bluffing…I love the psychology of it. Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not like I was a professional gambler…but I played recreationally often enough and in some tough games on occasion which was really fun…and, I won more than I lost. But when the industry turned, I knew immediately it was time to only play in friendly home-games. My father taught me well…never gamble what you cannot afford to lose. And here’s my added advice…if you’re scared to lose, you’ll lose…it’s a guaranteed formula. Now, let’s go to the races!
My Schedule…and A Little Extra: It’s About time…football season is upon us! I like baseball and even went to a couple games. But it’s not my first choice, or second choice. Football, basketball and golf are the sports of choice for me. And the Padres haven’t made an argument for me to change that position…at least not this year. There are so many exciting things to watch in the NFL this year. Like Peyton Manning, Randy Moss, the New Orleans Saints and the list goes on. Oh boy! Oh boy! || My son does not want to sleep in his own bed. He’s not scared…he just doesn’t want to sleep in it because his bed sits on the floor. Yes, I’m a cheap bastard and put the trundle from under my daughter’s bed in his room so I wouldn’t have to go and buy a new bed. He claims it hurts his neck but I don’t buy it…he’s four-years old for the love of all things holy in this land…how could it hurt his neck? I wouldn’t mind so much but I can’t sleep when he’s in my bed…he sleeps like he’s possessed by the Tasmanian Devil…I slept on the couch last night. I guess I have to buy him a new bed, eh?
My Schedule…and A Little Extra: Ned Ryerson from Groundhog Day…remember him? Ned-The-Head…Needle-Nose-Ned…bing! He was a character but you had to love him! Our docs and funding departments pump out an extraordinary large amount of docs sets and fundings each month…you gotta love them. But recently they’ve been going through some changes. For example, we are in the process of finding a new Funding Department Manager so if you know anyone in Chicago that might be interested please let me know. Our volume is tremendous…we’re driving fast…when you’re putting out the number of doc sets and funding as many loans as we do each day, even a slight bump in the road can take the wheels off the road. I am temporarily quoting an extra day on doc instructions and an extra day on doc sets despite the schedule, and, I’m quoting 5 days in funding. As always, purchases get priority. 
Phil Grossfield's Blog 