Real Estate Financing...

In any industry, the question begs the answer.  What makes him/her good at what they do?  What makes a good mechanic, doctor, bartender, secretary, plumber, insurance agent, stock broker, professional roller derby referree, etc, etc, etc?  For this forum, this less than insightful and totally ridiculous blog, I will focus on the financing professionals in the real estate industry, Loan Officers.  So I say, in fact I beg, and the question is, "What makes a good Loan Officer?"

                                                         A Good Loan Officer:

-  Tells you what you want to hear

-  Always has the lowest rate and no fees

-  Wears a badge

-  Works a long & grueling 20 hour work week

-  Never delivers bad news

-  Is too busy to return phone calls promptly

-  Delivers rate sheets & donuts to their realtor friends

-  Charges Application Fees

-  Can quote you accurate rates just by you asking the question, "What's your rate?"

-  Can take your application in less than 5 minutes

-  Doesn't worry if you think your property is only worth $350K and you need $400K to make the loan work, they 'Know A Guy'

-  Can get you a mortgage for a $350,000 house at the low, low, payment of $650.00 a month and never mind what is going on 3 years down the road.

-  Is a fast-talking, smooth walking, kiss stealing, dealing & wheeling, works at home in their bathrobe son of a gun.

If you happen to be in the Raleigh, North Carolina area in your travels and have a taste for Italian, I'll clue you in what was once the best kept secret in Carolina Cuisine.  In Northern Raleigh, just off of Capital Boulevard is a place called CASALINGA.  The word means 'Home Cooking' in Italian.  I even worked there for a couple years after college while debating on what I wanted to do for the rest of my occupational life.  So, if you want to impress family, the loved one, or want to add something special to your menu, check this out.....Bon Appetit!

                                               Chicken Casalinga

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
4 large button mushrooms, sliced
2 ounces diced prosciutto
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons brandy
2 artichoke hearts, halved
3 to 4 large fresh basil leaves
2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2- inch thickness
About 1/2 cup flour, for dredging
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups (loosely packed) fresh spinach leaves
2 slices mozzarella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 7-by-11-inch baking dish.

Melt butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and prosciutto, and saute until the mushrooms begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add cream, brandy, artichoke hearts and basil, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, stir in Parmesan, and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

While cream sauce is cooking, dredge chicken breasts in flour. Shake off any excess flour. Heat olive oil in a skillet or heavy-bottomed saute pan over high heat. When oil begins to smoke, add the chicken breasts to the pan. Sear until breasts are cooked through and lightly browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.

Line bottom of baking dish with spinach leaves. Pour sauce over spinach. Place chicken breasts, side by side, on top of the sauce and top each breast with a mozzarella slice. Bake until cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: calories, 1,154 (63% from fat); fats, 81 grams (43 grams saturated); cholesterol, 307 milligrams; carbohydrate, 32 grams; sugar, 5 grams; fiber, 4 grams; protein, 60 grams; sodium, 2,394 milligrams

FROM CASALINGA

"Allentown, PA, the financial capitol of the free world." Hmmmmm........maybe I won't hold my breath!  That was one of the comments made by a fellow Rainer when I made mention of the plan to have the financial instituitions in New York City backed up in nearby (but not too close) Northeastern Pennsylvania.   First off, I had made no mention of Allentown specifically, rather the Lehigh Valley here in Pennsylvania that was a part of this plan.  And by no means is my now beloved hometown of Allentown, Pa (which I daringly refer to at times as the armpit of the East Coast) the next financial capital of the free world.  Yet, I thought upon hearing the story of establishing a back up in case something happened remotely akin to 911 was a good idea.  When I saw his comment, I thought of one thing.................(see picture below)

None the less, here's an update on what's happening.  For those of us who do business

here in Pennsylvania, this could be of great importance to a lot of aspects of the real estate market.

• The link is here http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060924/NEWS/609240329/0/NEWS16

Check it out and if you are holding your breath.....you may be a tad bit blue in the face my friend.

Got a message this morning when I got into the office, a young lady looking into refinancing her home.  So, I called her back and throughout the interview one of the questions I always ask is, "How did you come across me."  Her retort was that she did an internet search for the top mortgage companies in Pennsylvania and up popped ActiveRain and me!  While I wasn't about to ask her what specific criteria she used in her search, I was excited so I decided to do a little bit of investigating myself.

                                    I went onto the ever popular Google search engine.  I typed in top mortgage companies in Pennsylvania and low and behold, the fifth listing down reads, "Top Mortgage Companies On ActiveRain."  I quick clicked on the link and up popped the top mortgage companies listed on ActiveRain throughout the nation.  Seventh down was yours truly, your humble author, just a few keystrokes away from exposure to anyone across the nation.  Amazing!  Not even a year old, ActiveRain is fast becoming not only a great source of information & networking opportunities, but apparently an easily accessible search away from exposure to those inquiring about their mortgage needs.  Take heed folks, big things are a coming so let's not be anything but ACTIVE here on ActiveRain.

Ok, I have yet to do this here on the ActiveRain blogging that I've done, but I'm going to blog on something that has absolutely nothing to do with real estate.  It has to do with a movie.  The movie 'Borat' to be specific.  Well, I guess there is a little something about it that involved real estate.  Part of the movie takes place at a Mortgage Broker Convention which was ironically perhaps the funniest scene and part of one of the worst visuals ever seen on the silver screen.

I'm not sure how many of you have seen this flick or even know the premise.  It's so not for everybody though.  The humor is very, shall I say, very politically incorrect.  So, if you haven't watched it or not familiar with the premise, go do some research on it or go to a movie theatre.  Then you might appreciate what I'm about to share.  I'm not about to go off on what that movie entailed.  I will say though, that it was worth the watch from my vantage point.  At various moments I was almost in tears laughing.  It is amazing how 'bad visuals' and extreme political incorrectness are so funny to me.  My sense of humor may a bit skewed though, onto the story.

On Thanksgiving, I went to Raleigh, NC to visit the folks.  We have a tradition on the Thanksgiving and/or Christmas holidays of going to theatre to watch a movie of collective agreement.  This year, Borat was the choice.  Now, my parents while very conservative people, have senses of humor that would surprise most.  I wasn't worried at what they were about to see. 

After a gut busting couple of hours in which we saw the ridiculousness that is the movie, we went home to retire to the evening.  A couple of days passed and my parents, who are very good friends with a retired couple down the street (Doug & Priscilla), got a phone call from them as a holiday, "How are you doing?"  Well, Priscilla went on to ask my mother what we did to enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday.  My mother said that we had went to see the movie Borat.  Priscilla went on to say they had went to see the movie as well.  Which I found amazing knowing how their personalities worked.  Even more, she had said that her and Doug had went to the movie along with the entire Retirement Social Group they were a part of.  Turns out, they had been under the impression it was a documentary on Arabic Relations w/ Our Country.  And trust me when I say I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall.  Of course they didn't like the film but what was just as humorous is my mother had asked if they got up and left and Priscilla had said, "No, we paid for the tickets and Doug is way too cheap to not get his money's worth."  Now that is hardcore.

I thought I would share this with all, not too promote the movie itself, but to promote the fact that sometimes fact is funnier than a little piece of worked fiction.