Jeff Rickard

I know I’ve gotten behind on my posts for 1760 MortgageGuide, so I decided to submit a little something about the cost of printing from your home office. I’ve worked with a lot of Realtors and Mortgage Professionals, and I know that they tend to do a lot of marketing straight out of their home offices but I wonder how many do the math and figure out exactly what it’s costing to print those fliers on your handy-dandy inkjet.

Just about everyone has owned an inkjet printer at one time, and experiences differ from person to person as to how well they liked or disliked that printer. I had an Epson several years ago that I used so infrequently the cartridges almost always dried up before I had the chance to expend them, the print head always seemed to be clogged when I did want to print and then I would get these weird stripes down the page. Not the best experience in the world and it put me off Epson’s for years.

Working in several marketing departments throughout my professional career, I’ve had a chance to work with a lot of different kinds of printers and print technologies, from an old black and white laser printer that boasted a smoking fast 1 page per minute print speed over an Appletalk connection, to a Xerox Phaser that used solid wax blocks of ink and boasted 30 pages per minute.

Inkjet printers are cheap. They’re practically given away at every store that stocks them - heck, I saw a stack of HP inkjet’s at Big Lots just before Christmas and they were $20 each - $20! The catch is that they’re given away because the manufacturer knows they will make their money back on the consumables ten fold. It’s kind of like a cell phone - they are given away to get you into the plan and once you’re signed up, everything you really want to do is an ‘extra’ charge.

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Teamwork!

     Building a team in the market today is critical if you are looking to take the next step in your business.  Knowledgeable teammates all pulling together to make your business grow is a must and there is also a comfort in knowing that there are more oars in the water paddling towards your success. 

     There are two teams you need to be concerned with, your internal team and your external team.  Internal are your team members that work with you in your company.  External team members are people you depend on to provide outside services.  Both groups not only have to provide job requirements but also have a “growth” attitude.  As the boss you need to ask; ”Did they get their job done and did they provide a service and attitude that makes me stand out in the marketplace?”  If the market is going to get tougher you need to stand out!

     Here is a link to a great article that goes into detail on team building,     http://rismedia.com/wp/2008-01-15/does-your-inner-circle-grow-your-business-seven-ways-to-know/

  1760mortgageguide.com and I want to congratulate one of our own contributing authors.  Matt George was named the 2008 President of the Colorado chapter of the Appraisal Institute.

     Take a moment this week and click on the “Economic Notes” tab and read the article.  The Fed cuts rates to stimulate the market, mainly the stock market.  A strong stock market is a weak bond market.  If people sell their bonds to get into stocks then bond values drop.  Bond values decreasing means interest rates rising.  Everyone thinks when the Fed is cutting rates that it is cutting mortgage rates - not the same thing at all.

   The past several posts on Motivation Monday and on 1760mortgageguide have discussed getting prepared for the new year.  Credit, business plans, etc. but today will be somewhat short and sweet.  This is an excerpt from “Wake Up To a Happier Life” by Amanda Dickson.

Faith Moves

It’s scary to jump into your own life, just like it’s scary to jump into the deep end of a pool from the high dive.  You’re not sure what it will feel like the first time you do it.  It may sting.  The water may be cold.  You may get water up your nose.  It’s easier to sit on the sidelines and watch other people try it.  Some of them flop.  Some make a huge splash.  You can watch them without commitment.  You can make fun of them from the safety of your towel on the grass nearby.  You can tell yourself you’re safe there, that you’re just waiting, that maybe you’ll try it later.  From that position you can criticize those who jump in, heckle them, tease them as they emerge from the water.  Or maybe you can study how they do it, compare techniques, consider how you might do it if you ever decide to jump in.

     But faith does not wait.  Faith moves.  Faith applies for the job, proposes marriage, says yes to the new assignment, sings out loud.

     It is time to start your plan, do not wait another year, do not wait to spring.  Do it now.  So in keeping with my own advice I am stepping down from management and going back into production as a loan officer.  I am very excited to be back on the street full time.  I am making this decision because all I see right now is opportunity in Colorado mortgage business and I see a lack of committed and knowledgeable mortgage professionals.

   I am going for it!  You need to do the same! 

     This is a time of year we review what we did and game plan for the future.  Part of that game planning is deciding if we want to join new organizations or continue in the groups we are already a part of.  There is an expense to these organizations and you have to ask yourself  “Am I really getting my monies worth?”  If the answer is no you need to decide is the organization wrong or are you not a person who knows how to network? 

     If you answered the question  that “you really are not very good in a strange crowd and making small talk that eventually ends up being self promotion is hard”, puts you in the majority.  Most people feel exactly like you, so if you can overcome that fear it puts you in the minority.  The minority that gets business from their organization. So how do you make these meetings work for you?  Continue Reading »

2008 - What’s your New Year’s resolution?  To get healthy?  What about your credit health?  Those credit cards came in very handy for all those last minute purchases.  You’d forgotten all about Aunt Irene until she called December 23rd to see how you liked the fruitcake she sent – didn’t you? So you had to get her a last minute gift!  But now come the bills…

Your credit score is your lifeline to getting the best rates on mortgages, auto loans and even credit cards.  And there are some changes coming up this year that will make that score even more important if you are planning on purchasing or refinancing your home.  The most significant of these is beginning on March 1st when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are adding, “credit score-based fees” to their loan level pricing models.  This also includes a quarter-percent “delivery fee” effective on all loans.  The fees will run as follows: Continue Reading »