Author Archives: Rhonda Porter

About Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter is an NMLS Licensed Mortgage Originator MLO121324 for homes located in Washington state. Her blog, The Mortgage Porter, is nationally recognized for sharing relevant information to consumers about mortgages. She has been originating mortgages since 2000 at Mortgage Master Service Corporation #40445 Consumer NMLS Website: http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/TuringTestPage.aspx?ReturnUrl=/EntityDetails.aspx/COMPANY/40445 NMLS ID 40445. Equal Housing Opportunity. You can follow Rhonda on @mortgageporter, Facebook and/or Google+

Buyer Beware: 'Tis the Season

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Boy, you’re going to think I’m the Scrooge…and this article may not apply to most of you…but I want to reach out to those of us who rely on our credit cards to help finance the holidays.  You see, years past it was not uncommon for home owners to get into the spirit and purchase many gifts for our loved ones–going over the top (meaning beyond our budget).  Yes, it feels great to see the look of joy and surprise on little Johnny and Susie’s face when the open the gifts they’ve been longing for…but this year, you may not have the “fix” of meeting with your Mortgage Professional in January to “reorganize” your debt.   Just in time for the holidays, Fannie Mae is unrolling DU Version 7.1 which really puts a damper on cash out refinances.

This officially takes place over the weekend of December 13, 2008; however lenders will start implementing this soon (so that loans are in compliance for Fannie Mae once they are purchased).   A cash out refinance will be limited to 85% of appraised value of your single family residence.   By the way, if you’re refinancing a second mortgage/home equity loan that was not used for the purchase of your residence, this is classified as a “cash out” refinance–even if you have never received cash out and you only reduced the rate on your second mortgage on a previous refinance.  (A refinance including a “non-purchase” second mortgage is treated as “cash out” with pricing and underwriting–no exceptions).   This will force more home owners to FHA mortgages which allow higher cash out refinances at a cost (upfront and monthly mortgage insurance regardless of loan to value).  

Factor in home values and you can really see the challenge with doing a cash-out refinance.  Lenders count on appraisals to establish a value for your home.  This value is based on what other homes like yours have recently sold and closed for in your neighborhood.  No sales?  A short sale?  Ugh.  It doesn’t matter what’s listed down the street, what your assessed value is or what you feel the home is worth in the lenders and appraiser’s eyes.

Tis the Season for big sales, no interest or payment for X many months and credit card companies including blank checks in our statements with dreams of sugar plum fairies and hopes that we’ll indebt ourselves further.  Please don’t do it. 

  • Make a budget for your holiday shopping.
  • Pay cash.
  • Consider a gift exchange for your family.
  • Find alternatives to spending for celebrating the Season.

You may wind up trapped, like Ardell’s Six Pack Joe, once your interest rates kick in and your bills start piling up with no refinance in sight.   I’m here to say that YOU do have a choice and you need to be informed and responsible for your debts.   Mortgages are getting tougher (especially refinances) and chances are, your home equity is not here to rescue you.

I won’t go into how credit cards and home equity loans are being frozen or the credit lines are being reduced without notice (and how damaging it is to your credit scores when your borrowed amount is above 50% of the credit card limit).  

You have less than two months to plan for Christmas.  Don’t be stuck with extra debt and tanking credit scores…your home equity may not be there to save you (even if you have it, you may not have affordable access to it).

My First House: Then and Now

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“Cautious Buyer” asks this question on my post the other day when I referenced that my first house had a rate of 11% during the comments:

“Do you think a young couple with similar jobs could buy the same place in Tacoma today? How about 1 year ago today?”

Then

My first house was a rambler in northeast Tacoma.  It’s a 3 bedroom with 1 bathroom and a galley kitchen. 

At barely 1000 square feet, it suited my boyfriend and I just fine.  We liked the 7,500 yard with fruit trees and two car garage with RV parking.  We purchased the home in the summer of 1988 for about $68,000 using minimum down FHA at 11%. 

  • 3% down = $2,040
  • Estimated mortgage payment (PITI) @ 11% = $765

At the time, we were both 21 years old.  I worked at in the title insurance industry as a “home equity title rep” and my boyfriend was a bagger/meat room cleaner for a large grocery store.   Our combined income at that time was about $34,000.

  • 34,000 /12 months = 2,833 monthly gross incomes x 28% = $793.  (We were barely below the recommend “front ratio”).  
  • 2,833 x 43% = 1218 less our mortgage payment of 765 = $453 for maximum allowed monthly debt.  

I didn’t have a company car yet and so I’m sure we were pretty close to using the maximum allowance when we qualified for this mortgage.  Plus, I began receiving offers for credit cards at 18 years old.  I think I was the first girl in school to get a Nordstroms card (I haven’t had a Nordie’s card in YEARS.   I was young and naive when it came to credit.  I managed to pay our bills on time but did learn the hard way…I digress).

Now

Current guestimated value of my first house is around $220,000.  I verified this with ARDELL and it happens to be fairly close to what Zillow is zestimating as well (Zillow is a little higher).   This is assuming it has been updated along with the rest of the neighborhood.

  • 220,000 x 3% down payment = $6,600.  Assuming the seller is paying closing costs.
  • Base loan amount = $213,400 plus upfront mortgage insurance @ 1.75% = $217,134.
  • Interest rate of FHA 30 yr @ 6.500% (apr 7.191% per Friday’s rates) = $1,372.44.  Plus monthly mortgage insurance of 0.55% = 97.81.  2008 taxes = $2525/12 = $210.43.   Total payment (incl. estimated $40 per month home owners insurance) = $1,720.68.

I estimate incomes for both jobs at $67,000.  (I have close sources in both the title and grocery industries).

  • 67,000 /12 = $5,583 gross monthly income.  The total proposed payment of 1,720.68 divided by the monthly gross income = 31%.   This is an acceptable front ratio with FHA. 
  • $5583 x 43% = $2400.69.   2400 less the proposed payment of 1720 =  $680 of allowed monthly debt for FHA in order to stay within a 43% total debt ratio.

It’s been twenty years since I bought my first house.   The house has tripled in value while the incomes for our jobs have pretty much doubled.  I commuted 27 miles one way each day (not even factoring when I made calls on accounts, which at that time my territory was banks and credit unions in King County)…I was thankful once I was promoted to a real “title rep” and had a company car to clunk the miles onto instead of my personal one.  

The answer to your question, Cautious Buyer, is:  YES.  Someone could buy that home today with the same jobs that we had when we purchased it.  Last year’s value?  Since it’s in NE Tacoma, I would say that it hasn’t experienced the same degree of “appreciation” as the Seattle/Bellevue markets did.   According to Zillow, the home is worth 0.9% more now than a year ago and 0.4% less in the last 30 days…so we’re splitting hairs.  

What I wonder is how many first time home buyers would be willing to commute like I did or to buy a true starter home? 

Our agent for our first home did select our loan officer.  As I mentioned, we were 21 and were totally green.  Even though I had worked for a title company for a few years, it’s completely different to actually go through the process.  With our subsequent home purchases, we selected our loan officer first and then the home.

By the way, we did sell that house one year later.  There was a bit of a housing panic (at least I had one at the time) and we sold it for $90,000.  The proceeds was the down payment on our next home located in Federal Way’s “Affordable Street of Dreams“.  Yes, that’s how the new plat was marketed.  Affordable dreams (our “affordable dream” was $125k for 1500 square feet in 1990).   We were able to move just a little closer to family and jobs (and continued to do so with the next home we purchased together).   This photo is from our second home in Madrona Meadows.   We lived in my grandparent-in-laws (we were married at this point) basement for a few months until this home was finished since our first home sold in days with back up offers.

FHA Update: The "It Girl" of Mortgage

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This morning I’ve been trying to update articles I’ve written on FHA in an attempt to have the information be accurate during this day and age of the ever-changing-loan-guidelines.  Please don’t rely 100% on information you find about mortgages on the web.  Programs and products are simply changing too often to keep up and information is becoming quickly outdated.  

This month, FHA loans have seen a few changes, many with the passage of HR 3221.   Let’s see if I can get us all caught up in one post. 🙂

Effective for FHA case numbers issued October 1, 2008 and later:

  • FHA mortgage insurance increase.  First FHA mortgage insurance was going to have risked based pricing, then HR 3221 came along and put a moratorium in effect until September 30, 2009.   Until then, for a FHA purchase 30 year fixed mortgage, upfront mortgage insurance has increased to 1.75% and monthly mortgage insurance is 0.55% for loan amounts over 95% LTV and 0.50% for borrowers putting more than 5% down on their home. 
  • Down payment assistance programs.  Seller funded down payment assistance programs are currently not allowed.  However there is a bill in Congress (HR 6694) that if passed, would allow DPAs once again but only to borrowers within certain credit scores.   Home Buyers can still obtain a gift or loan from family members as long as it meets underwriting guidelines.
  • Rental income credit when buying a new home and renting the existing residence.  This actually became effective in mid September.   When converting a primary residence to a rental home, the rental income can only be used for qualifying if:(1) the borrower is relocating or (2) the new rental meets at least 25% equity (to be determined by an appraisal < 6 months old or the existing mortgage balance is 75% of the original sales price).   Both mortgage payments are factored for qualifying purposes.  HUD (and Fannie/Freddie) have cracked down on this due to home buyers purchasing a new (less expensive) home and “walking away” from their McMansion mortgage payment.

Effective January 1, 2009:

  • Minimum down payment increases to 3.5%.  Home Buyers have until the end of the year to purchase under the 3% down payment requirement.   Sellers can pay actual closing costs once the buyer meets the minimum down payment requirement (which can be gifted or loaned by a family member).
  • FHA Jumbo loan limits to change.   HUD is in the process of reevaluating median home prices and will announce new loan limits before the end of the year.  With the passage of HR 3221, the maximum loan amount for FHA Jumbo was reduced to 115% of the median home price (currently, the $567,500 limit is based on 125% of the median home price).   Should HUD determine that our home values are unchanged, then the new limit would be reduced to around $522,100.   However, many areas have not had their values reevaluated by HUD in many years…so for now, we really don’t know what the new “FHA jumbo” loan limit will be.

A few more reminders about FHA insured mortgages…

  • Not all lenders are approved to originate FHA loans.  Check HUDs site to verifyif the mortgage company you work for is approved.   One clue I’ve noticed by LO’s who are trying to “fake it” is that they’re charging more than a 1% origination fee.   This is not allowed.
  • FHA does not have income limitations or geographic requirements.
  • FHA is not limited to first time home buyers.
  • FHA is not just for lower credit scores.

Sellers, you are reducing your exposure to more buyers if you are not considering those approved with FHA financing…especially with the higher loan limits.   A $700,000 sales price with 20% down is pretty close to the current limit.  Anything shy of 20% down would probably lean towards FHA jumbo.

Want more reasons to consider FHA financing?  Here’s how conventional compares:

  • Tighter guidelines.  And if you think DU 7.0’s been tough…wait until you get a load of version 7.1 which goes into effect in mid-December.
  • Risk based pricing on credit scores below 740. (FHA has risk based pricing starting at 620 and below).
  • More expensive private mortgage insurance for loans over 80% loan to value.

It’s easy to see why FHA has become very popular…you could say FHA is the “It Girl” of Mortgage.

Are Washington Consumers Safer Working with DFI Regulated Lenders?

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I’ve always thought so and you may say I’m biased since I work for a company that is regulated by Washington State Department of Financial Institutions.  At the very least, home owners who have been wronged by a loan originator under DFI’s watch can rest assured that the company has much higher odds of having actions taken.  When a borrower contacts me because they want a second opinion or they have a complaint about their lender, the first step is trying to figure out what type of lender they are (mortgage broker, mortgage banker, correspondent lender…) and determine who regulates them.   It’s a mess and there are no innocents.  Bankers are not more ethical than brokers or vice versa.

Here’s an example, from the front page of this morning’s Seattle PI:

In a typical case in late 2002, state bank examiners believed that National City Mortgage was violating the state’s Consumer Loan Act by charging extra fees on mortgages…when asked to explain the costly “discount loan fees, underwriting fees, processing fees and marketing fees,” National City Mortgage sought intervention from federal regulators, records show.

The investigation was stopped by federal decree….the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency wrote National City a letter…saying the state had no right to examine or even visit its offices.  Because National City’s parent bank…was chartered with the OCC, the federal agency preempted the state’s authority….

The federal agency didn’t go after the mortgage fee complaint because it had no authority to enforce state consumer protection laws…

Also from this article:

Banks are governed by a patchwork of federal and state laws, which are notably weak at the federal level in areas of predatory lending and consumer protection, according to  to law professors, attorneys and other experts.  Some states…have passed tougher predatory lending laws with provisions holding Wall Street liable for financing bad loans.  But the two federal agencies in recent years have increasingly shielded their chartered banks…from state laws.

What really frustrates me is to hear the media and our elected officials wrongly use the term “mortgage brokers” when discussing the current mortgage crisis we are in.   It’s clear that there was not enough regulation and enforcement for all mortgage originators (regardless of type of institution they are employed by).

The federal OCC took about a dozen formal enforcement actions against banks for “unfair and deceptive practices” in the current decade, agency spokesman Robert Garsson said.  The other federal agency, OTS, took about half as many, in “the five to six range,  OCC Cheif Operating Officer Scott Polakoff said.   States…took 3,694 enforcement actions against mortgage lenders and brokers in 2006 alone…

The feds were set up as rivals.  Bank oversight is “the only place I know where regulated entities get to pick their regulators,”said Kathleen Keest, with the Center for Responsible Lending.

Last year, in a case involving Wachovia, the Supreme Court ruled that “the OCC has the absolute right to insist on exclusive oversight without states intervening.

According to the Seattle PI article, Barney Frank has indicated he might try to overturn the current system…until then, it’s my opinion that consumers are more protected by selecting lenders who are regulated by DFI rather than relying on the Fed or the banks to look out for them.   Our State’s system is not perfect but atleast a consumer can visit DFI’s site and verify on a local level if a loan originator or their company is licensed or has had actions taken against them.

With the recent passage of HR 3221, the SAFE ACT was passed to help protect our nation from unsavory mortgage originators.   Once again there are different rules for originators who work for banks and those who work for state regulated institutions.   On a comment at RCG, “DFI Examiner” confirmed that “LO’s with FDIC insured banks and credit unions need to register, but they don’t need to be licensed.”   Ahh…but that’s a whole post on it’s own!

The Fed drops the Funds Rate to 1.5%

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This morning, the FOMC cut the Fed Funds rate 0.5% to 1.5% in a globally coordinated move in advance of the scheduled FOMC meeting October 28-29, 2008.   Another rate cut at the scheduled meeting is not out of the cards.

From the Press Release:

“Inflationary pressures have started to moderate in a number of countries, partly reflecting a marked decline in energy and other commodity prices. Inflation expectations are diminishing and remain anchored to price stability. The recent intensification of the financial crisis has augmented the downside risks to growth and thus has diminished further the upside risks to price stability. 

Some easing of global monetary conditions is therefore warranted. Accordingly, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, and the Swiss National Bank are today announcing reductions in policy interest rates. The Bank of Japan expresses its strong support of these policy actions….

Incoming economic data suggest that the pace of economic activity has slowed markedly in recent months. Moreover, the intensification of financial market turmoil is likely to exert additional restraint on spending, partly by further reducing the ability of households and businesses to obtain credit.”

The FOMC does not directly control mortgage interest rates, which are based on mortgage backed securities (bonds).   Actions of the Fed does influence mortgage interest ratesas traders/markets will react accordingly.    HELOCs based on the Prime Rate (which follows the Fed Funds Rates) will enjoy a lower rate from this move (if the rate is unfixed).

Mortgage interest rates are for the most part unchanged…but the day is young!  The markets continue to be very volatile.  The DOW is currently down over 200.   Treasury Secretary Paulson will be speaking later this afternoon…which may impact markets.   

I’ll be posting a rate update tomorrow at Rain City Guide…if you can’t wait, then check out my live rate quotes.

How Long is a Preapproval Letter Good For?

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I recently had a newly preapproved client ask me that question.  It’s quite a timely one!  Before this market, I would say that a preapproval letter used to be good for about 90 days assuming that none of the information on provided on the loan application has changed.  Now-a-days, you have to factor in guideline changes and interest rates.   You’re really not approved by the sales price or loan amount, it’s based on the total mortgage payment and funds for closing (down payment, closing costs, prepaids/reserves, etc.) along with any other conditions (such as having a certain amount in your savings account after closing).

Assuming that the loan program you’re preapproved with does not have guideline changes and still exists, before you write an offer on a home, I recommend that you contact your mortgage originator to make sure you’re still approved based on that home’s property taxes and current interest rates.  In fact, it wouldn’t hurt to get an updated Good Faith Estimate with current rates and actual property taxes.  If you’re asking the seller to pay closing costs, let your mortgage originator know so they can verify the amount will be allowed per guidelines.  If you’re offering less than you’re preapproved for, your real estate agent may want to have a preapproval letter that is written specifically for the offer (especially if you’re asking the seller to pay closing costs).

Program changes? Boy, we’ve had a few.  There are also changes with private mortgage insurance and various lender guidelines too.  I recommend that people who are in the market right now as “preapproved” buyers, check in with their mortgage originator on a weekly basis (if you’re actively looking) and before you present that offer to make sure it meets current guidelines and that you are still qualified based on the present rate.

Don’t be surprised if your mortgage originator requires you to provide your most recent paystubs and copies of your asset accounts (where your down payment is coming from) before providing an updated preapproval letter.

Last note: Be careful when searching blogs for information on mortgage programs and guidelines.  If the posts are even a few months old, the information may very well be outdated (if it was correct in the first place).

Note: I have modified this post.  I had incorrect data (kind of ironic).

Are you ready for FEMA Mortgage?

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Congress and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson are working this weekend to hash out details of the proposed $700,000,000,000 bailout during this amazing time in American history.  My brother-in-law is an adjuster for FEMA, spending months away from his home evaluating damaged property across the country.   FEMA Mortgage could be created to essentially do the same thing.

Now that Uncle Sam will be buying bad mortgages, they could utilize FEMA mortgage adjusters to evaluate the borrowers current situation:

  • Can they afford their mortgage payment? 
  • Is this a situation worth modifying their existing loan?
  • Was income over-stated or not verified with the mortgage?
  • Was the property purchased as owner occupied and it’s now an investment property? 
  • Are there signs of mortgage fraud?

Home owners in trouble who have financial ability to stay in their home, would have the opportunity to re-qualify at either a lower rate and/or reduced loan amount with a silent second that would be called due if the home owner sold the property within a certain period of time (similar to State bond programs).   This would be available to home owners who were having difficulty due to an ARM adjusting or perhaps a financial set back that is now resolved (such as temporary loss of employment).    Loan modifications with Uncle Sam owned mortgages would be streamlined, very low cost  and legit.

Home owners who could not re-qualify based on their actual income, may have the opportunity to rent a property at a payment they can afford.  Having property occupied as a rental is better than abandoned–for that home and for the neighborhood.   Perhaps Uncle Sam will start FEMA Property Management…they can even re-use some of the trailers they bought for Huricane Katrina.  

If fraud was used on a mortgage now owned by Uncle Sam, the FEMA Loan Adjuster would determine if it was caused by the borrower or loan originator and proper actions would be taken.

A plan such as this, could provide jobs for out of work Loan Originators (of course they would have to pass the National Licensing requirements) and employ Real Estate Agents, builders and contractors, too.   FEMA Adjusters could also determine which foreclosed properties, owned by Uncle Sam, need repair before it can be resold at a higher value or if they should just be sold “as is”.

Your thoughts?

Waiting on the Fed's Decision

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I’m preparing this post so I’ll be ready to publish as soon as I hear what movement, if any, the FOMC will take to rates.  I really can’t guess if they’ll leave the Funds rate unchanged or cut.  This morning, the Fed Funds Futures had a 100% change for a 0.25% cut and a 50% changes for a 0.50%.   Although  reducing the Fed Funds rate is great for home owners with HELOCs, it could mean higher mortgage interest rates for the rest of us.

And the decision is….(to be continued)…

Update September 15, 2008 11:15 am:  NO CHANGE!  In a unanimous decision, the Fed Funds rate remains at 2.0%.  You can read the entire press release by clicking here.

Reviewing Your Adjustable Rate Mortgage

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RCG’s Jillayne Schlicke was interviewed on King 5 last night…I wish her spot would have been longer.  Check her out here!  The piece is about resetting subprime adjustable rate mortgages.   King 5’s, Chris Daniels reports that locally, we’ll see around 12,000 subprime mortgages reset over the next 6 months.  Combined with lower home values and tougher underwriting guidelines, if home owners are not able to swing their new payment or refinance, may be in a tough situation. 

I thought this would be a good opportunity to go over how to determine what your new mortgage payment may be in the event you have an adjustable rate mortgage.  This does not only apply to borrowers with subprime mortgages–this is for anyone with an adjustable rate.  

First, drag out your Note for your mortgage.  

In your Note, you will find the following information that you will need in order to determine what your payment may be once your mortgage adjusts:

  • Index/Indice — this is what your rate is based on.  Most common are LIBOR, Treasury, MTA, etc.   It can vary so you need to determine this.  The index is a variable and not a fixed figure.
  • Margin — the margin is added to the index to determine what your new rate will be.
  • CAPS — caps limit how much your rate can adjust at the first adjustment, every adjustment following and provides a lifetime limit on how high or low the rate can adjust.
  • Start Date — when you started paying your mortgage.
  • Fixed period term — is your ARM fixed for 2, 3, 5… years (etc).
  • Amortization — Does your mortgage offer an interest only feature?  Do you have negative amortization? 

If your mortgage is set to adjust within the next 6 months, I especially recommend that you go through the following exercise.   I’ve been sending letters to my clients with adjustables that are set to adjust with this information:

Start Date:  May 1, 2003

Start Interest Rate:  4.125%

CAPS (first/after first/lifetime):  5/2/5 (Lifetime CAP: 9.125%)

Margin/Index:  2.75%/1 Year LIBOR – 3.16 as of June 1, 2008 (currently 3.22)

Start loan amount:  $131,500

Fixed Period:  60 Months

First Adjustment Date:  June 1, 2008 and adjusting annually on June 1 for the remaining life of the loan.

This is not a subprime loan.  Many subprime loans have much higher CAPS and margins.   This is a classic 5/1 LIBOR ARM.   This home owner has not refinanced nor do they need to.  Their rate is attractive compared to current market. 

Based on their estimated balance (assuming they did not pay additional towards principal over the last 5 years) of approx. $118,500; their rate for the next 12 months will be 6.00%.  (Index from when the mortgage reset: 3.16 plus the margin of 2.75 = 5.91.  This is rounded up to the nearest 0.125%).   6.00% is a pretty good rate for not having to pay closing costs to refinance as long as you can tolerate the annual adjustments (which may work in your favor or not).   Their pricipal and interest payment will be approx. $763.50. (balance at adjustment/projected interest rate/remaining term of 25 years).

On June 2009, the highest this rate can be is 8% since there is a 2% annual cap.  The lowest the rate can be is 4%.  The most the rate can change on the anniversary of the change date is up or down 2% from the current rate.  It can never go beyond the lifetime cap of 5% plus the Note rate (9.125%) and it can never be lower than the margin of 2.75%.

How will your ARM treat you?  It all depends on the term of your Note and what the Index is when it adjusts.   This reset I’ve reviewed here is prettier than most–especially compared to subprime.   With FHA and Conforming Jumbo loan limits being reduced at the end of this year, I would consider meeting with your Mortgage Professional sooner rather than later if your ARM has you feeling itchy.

Twitter is AMAZING

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Over this past week, I’ve had the misfortune dealing with cable (Comcast) being down and just today, my email being out (an issue with Network Solutions).   Both times, I vented with 140 characters (or less) on Twitter.  Of course, I had to use my Treo to whine about Comcast.  But what happened in both cases really surprises me.   Apparently these big corporations have their own “David G’s” out there with their own Twitter profiles and alerts set up to address issues brought up on the internet.

Here’s my Tweet:

pulling out my hair…network solutions email seems to be down…argh! No emails for me.

And the response I received minutes later.

netsolcares @mortgageporter Hi this is Gerry from Network Solutions. I’m sorry your having issues. If you’d like to contact me I’ll see what we can do

I just got off the phone (after holding for over 11 minutes) with Gerry @ Network Solutions and they narrowed down what my issue was (too technical for me to explain) and the good news is, everything is back up and working.   And it’s the weekend.  I’m amazed.

The Comcast response and issue was very similar.   A “tweet” from me saying Comcast is out…no email or internet and this reply from “Comcast Scott” within moments

comcastscott @mortgageporter how often has this been happening? Can we help

Along with this one

comcastcares@mortgageporter Keep us updated

and

comcastscott @mortgageporter glad to help! Keep those tweets coming

By the way, if you have Twitter and you find your Comcast or Network Solutions services not working, you can always tweet these fella’s…they react quickly.  I am impressed and would have never pictured large corporations utilizing social networking this way.

So for all of you who are not utilizing Twitter because you think it’s a fad, I encourage you to check it out.  It is what ever you make it.  I’ve found it to be real useful for communicating what I doing during the day, like providing live rate quotes, in a consultation, writing a blog post, etc.  And I’ll post something “non-business” every once in a while like what I’m cooking up for dinner.

If you do sign up (it’s free and easy to do) please “follow me” or at very least, send me a tweet!