Monday, November 5, 2007 

Discover The FOUR Essential Questions You Must Ask While Shopping For A Mortgage

How can you be sure youve got the right mortgage broker as you shop around?

First: make sure you are working with an experienced, professional loan officer. The largest financial transaction of your life is far too important to place into the hands of someone who is not capable of advising you properly and troubleshooting the issues that may arise along the way. But how can you tell?

Here are 4 simple questions your lender ABSOLUTELY must be able to answer correctly. If they dont have the answersRUNDONT WALK RUNTO A LENDER THAT DOES!

1. What are mortgage interest rates based on?

(The only correct answer is Mortgage Backed Securities or Mortgage Bonds, NOT the 10-year Treasury Note. While the 10-year Treasury Note sometimes trends in the same direction as Mortgage Bonds, it is not unusual to see them move in completely opposite directions. DO NOT work with a lender who has their eyes on the wrong indicators.)

2. What is the next Economic Report or event that could cause interest rate movement?

(A professional lender will have this at their fingertips. For an up-to-date calendar of weekly economic reports and events that may cause rates to fluctuate, visit www.pdxloan.com/economicreport/ and join the weekly distribution list for MMG Weekly this is a copy of a weekly newsletter on current Economic Reports.)

3. When Bernanke and the Fed change rates, what does this mean and what impact does this have on mortgage interest rates?

(The answer may surprise you. When the Fed makes a move, they can change a rate called the Fed Funds Rate or Discount Rate. These are both very shortterm rates that impact credit cards, Home Equity credit lines, auto loans and the like. On the day of the Fed move, Mortgage rates most often will actually move in the opposite direction as the Fed change. This is due to the dynamics within the fi nancial markets in response to infl ation. For more information and explanation visit Google or research online further).

4. Do you have access to live, real time, mortgage bond quotes?

(If a lender cannot explain how Mortgage Bonds and interest rates are moving in real time and warn you in advance of a costly intra-dayprice change, you are talking with someone who is still reading yesterdays newspaper, and probably not a professional with whom to entrust your home mortgage financing. Would you work with a stockbroker who is only able to grab yesterdays paper to tell you how a stock traded yesterday, but had no idea what the movement looks like at the present time and what market conditions could cause changes in the near future? No way!)

Be smart... Ask questions Get answers!

More than likely, this is one of the largest and most important financial transactions you will ever make. You might do this only four or five times in your entire life but a reputable experienced mortgage broker does this every single day. Its your home and your future. Choose someone who makes it their profession and passion, ready to work for your best interest.

Once you are satisfied that you are working with a top-quality professional mortgage advisor, you'll want to continue with the 5 rules and secrets you must know to shop for a home mortgage loan effectively. Visit http://www.PDXLoan.com for a complete report on the 5 mortgage shopping secrets.

Ed Bisquera has previously worked as an event planner, music producer and marketing consultant. He is a Mortgage Planning Consultant near Portland, Oregon for Mortgage Express, LLC and mangages http://blog.PDXLoan.com and home mortgage loan information site http://www.PDXLoan.com. Articles, interviews and consulting are available at 1-800-862-0784 ext 21.Live Mortgage Leads
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How To Build Your Community With Community Journalism

This article will show how to use a community journalism (also called participatory journalism) platform to build and maintain a community by using the internet as a mean of communication between its members.

Why is community building important?

We are all part of communities whether we realize it or not. We have our local community, national community. Some are members of clubs or groups. Some are fans of a band or play hockey. Schools, Colleges, universities and workplaces are also communities.

Having a closer and more committed communities could benefit us all. Think about big corporations. In such workplaces people hardly know one another while they have so much in common. A tighter community in the workplace will make people feel more attached. Bring better communication and more productive relations between different departments, branches or even people at the same room.

Stronger communities also provide reliance when times gets rough or when crisis hits. The stronger the community is, the better the chance it will work together to solve problems and learn from past mistakes.

The internet is the ultimate community building tool

A good community needs a central place where community members can meet, communicate with each other, display ideas, share experiences and sound their voices. A community magazine is the perfect mean of communication and has numerous advantages as a community meeting place.

Here are some of these advantages:

1) Accessible to anyone from anywhere at any time
A community website is accessible from almost anywhere, community journalists and other members can participate at their own free time without constraints of time and place.

2) Democratic and empowers the individual
Anyone can express their opinion and submit their own content. It's the glue that keeps the community together. The fact that everyone has a voice is key.

3) Free of charge
Websites like www.comagz.com provide some communities with their own community magazine which is free and does not incur operation costs.

4) Requires minimal moderation or attention
Platforms like comagz.com provide the entire community members with the ability to post content and decide which content should be promoted and shown on the front page for example while throwing out inadequate content.All this is done by a voting system and algorithm which manages the content according to the reader's votes.

What are the ingridients of a good community magazine platform?

An online magazine look and feel with nice layout.
Sections for news, articles, recommended links and personal columns
Flexible Categories for easy browsing
Easy submission of items by all members
Automatic management of content items according to users votes
Forums for discussions and search for finding old posts.
Exposure of the content to all major search engines and blog aggregators

Conclusions

Building or enforcing a community and tightening the relations between its members can be both fun and beneficial. The web is a great enabler for community building. Community members can serve voluntarily as citizen journalists and write for the community blog or magazine. Setting up a community magazine is easy and cost free. So what are you waiting for?

Check http://www.comagz.com/webmagazine/ for an example of a CoMagzine.

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Are You Considering Buying A Repossessed Home? You Might Want To Know How That Home Comes On The Market In The First Place

Statistically, the figures for home repossession have risen by 45%, according to Government figures. There can be many reasons that lead to house repossession, such as: divorce, credit card debt, illness, secured or unsecured debts or separation.

The process of repossession can legally begin when 2 payments to a lender have been missed. The first missed payment brings the borrower into arrears with the lender, who then have to be contacted and a payment schedule agreed. If the borrower does not contact them, or cannot afford to make the payments and a second payment is missed, then the lender can begin the process of home repossession.

The first stage of this is for the lender to state in a letter that the borrower has seven days in which to meet the payments or to agree a payment scheme. If this is not possible, then solicitors will begin court proceedings, seeking a home repossession order.

Usually the court will try and see house repossession as the last eventuality. However, if the borrower is deemed to be unable to make the necessary repayments, including arrears and penalties, then he will be served with an eviction notice and a date will be scheduled to leave the house.

The repossessed home is now the legal property of the mortgage lender. The lender can then instruct an estate agent to put the house on the property market or for it to be sold at auction.

First-time house-buyers can research these properties and they can become an affordable alternative in an increasingly expensive market.

Offers can be made on a repossessed house, but the lender may decide they want to publish a notice of offer in the local press. This states that the lender will accept higher offers that are received by a certain date.

Auctions used to be mainly used by investors looking to by the property and sell it on at a profit, but now those wanting to get onto the property ladder but may not have the necessary funds for a standard purchase can do so, as the properties are usually sold for less than their market value.

Other benefits include the bidding process, which is in an open forum so all bidders know the price and do not have to bid over the odds to secure the sale. Also, the process is much quicker than the conventional sale process, usually taking 1 month from sale to occupation.

There are other factors involved, however. A repossessed home may be in need of repair and renovation or carry a negative credit rating associated with the address although this can be absolved by contacting the relevant credit reference agencies.

There are lists of auctioneers available in local directories, but it is also worth contacting estate agents and mortgage lenders who have a vested interest in the sale of any repossessed property, although mortgage lenders can be secretive about their involvement in house repossession, in terms of image-consciousness.

The Internet offers many services that can supply lists of repossessed properties, but these are likely to generate a lot of interest, due to the potential to buy a house at less than market value.

Tom Mead is a qualified mortgage advisor writing http://www.crystalclearhomeloans.co.uk editorial, on how best to http://www.crystalclearhomeloans.co.uk/Repossession/stop.html and save the house you live in.Mortgage Lead Programs
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Stock Market Investments Or Gambling? What Is The Difference

The art of speculating in one form or another has been around forever.

When it comes to speculating, there are always three things that you can be sure of there will be always people willing to speculate, there will always be people who will love to play the game with the first group. Lastly history can be counted on to repeat itself.

Sure the object of speculation may change, the rules may change and the technology may change. But in the end it is always the same.

However what has happened before is 100 %sure to happen again. You can count on it. Everyone thinks always that they are so original when it always the same story again and again. Whether it is tulip bulbs, precious metals, mutual funds, lottery tickets or penny stocks human nature is human nature.

Ignorance, greed, fear and hope determine how people react and thus how prices move and markets behave. People have speculated on everything at one time or another,

For the last hindered years and certainly into the foreseeable future speculating on stock prices offers liquidity combined with legitimacy and purpose. Stock speculation, trading and investing have become an essential and vital parts of both our economy and our lives.

Trading is just another word for speculating and investing is nothing more than speculating, except that it supposedly encompasses a longer time horizon and for some odd reason implies less risk. Speculators speculate, traders trade and investors invest to make money. Traders buy stock or any other object of speculation because they anticipate a price appreciation.

Speculation and gambling are similar, with a few important distinctions. One difference is the perception, sometimes true, that successful speculators profit due to their skill or an unseen advantage, while gamblers prosper due to chance or luck.

Remember though that it may not happen to you but in the end given enough time or chances the odds will always prevail. The casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas were not built with winners money.

Another distinction is that gambling in most forms has been illegal (at least until government got involved and changed the rules in their favor) while speculation plays an essential role in our markets and thus our economy.

These important distinctions make speculating which indeed is what our investment industry purveys as an accepted occupation indeed one with one prestige and gamblers not being accepted in the same light.

Whether a gambler, a trader or a speculator, in all cases the attraction is the same the chance to make a lot of money in a hurry. It is the immediate gratification of the win that makes these games irresistible - an opiate of sorts.

Indeed problem gamblers have been compared to alcoholics in needing that rush which gives them such pleasure and serves amazingly to release endorphins to relax their troubled minds.

On top of that the unpredictability of the wins serves to even reinforce this addictive behavior.

Not far off of the methods of B.F. Skinner and the rats of operant conditioning fame.

Indeed some people will tell you that it will almost always end with crying!

Amy Goodmann Senior Investment Analyst Substantial Incomes http://www.substantialincomes.com http://www.forexforexforexforex.com.Mortgage Lead Transfers
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Energy Efficient Home Improvements

Rising energy costs affect every homeowner. If you are planning a home improvement project, it's important to look at ways to incorporate energy efficient changes as well as merely cosmetic ones. The money you invest today can quickly pay for itself with savings on monthly utility costs, and on your mortgage as well.

Of course, it takes money to save money, and energy efficient home improvements do require a certain amount of cash outlay. Even if you don't have the budget on hand, there are options available to you. If you are planning on renewing or refinancing your mortgage, talk to your bank about borrowing a little extra to invest in making your home more energy wise. Energy efficient home improvements will immediately lower your monthly energy bills, and the interest on home equity loans and home mortgages is usually tax deductible.

Energy Efficient Mortgages

Another good option is to consider an Energy Efficient Mortgage. Owning a car involves real costs like maintenance and operating expenses; the same holds true for a home. Rising utility expenses must be factored into the costs of owning a home. An Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) can increase your comfort and save you money whether you are buying, selling, refinancing or remodeling your home. These plans can be applied to most home mortgages, and provide special benefits to borrowers who are buying energy efficient homes or are planning to install energy efficient improvements. Homeowners with lower utility bills have more money in their pocket at the end of each month, and are able to allocate a larger portion of their income to housing expenses.

There are many benefits to financing your energy efficient home improvements through an EEM:

* Qualifying for a larger loan amount allows you to purchase a better, more energy efficient home.
* You can finance your cost-effective energy saving measures as part of your mortgage.
* Older homes can be improved and updated to become more comfortable and efficient
* Stretch your debt-to-income qualifying ratio with a loan for energy-efficient homes.
* Increase your overall buying power.

Other Financing Options

Many utility providers and energy-related businesses are now offering loans and incentives for property owners to install energy efficient heating and air conditioning systems, insulation, windows and other energy efficiency improvements.

Further, utility companies are beginning to offer a range of improvements to help customers enjoy greater efficiency. In the United States, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) offers a list of member company programs that offer efficiency services to homeowners, businesses and industrial plants.

More energy efficient services and ideas are available a number of websites, including the National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project (NEAPP) site.

If you're thinking of renovating, make energy efficient home improvements your first priority. Your monthly savings will quickly make up for the initial building costs, and you'll be helping to preserve our priceless energy resources.

Barbara Williams writes for several online magazines, including http://tyrid.com and http://zyod.comMortgage Leads
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Sales Letter Formula...

Sales Letters. You want to learn more about sales letters and how you can seal the deal when visitors come to your sales page.  Take a minute! Ask yourself  what all these "gurus" know that you don't?  The fact is that most online marketers are missing the key to online sales.  They have no idea what it is that forces visitors to read their content and begin pulling out their credit cards ready to purchase products before they are even finished reading the sales pages.

Before we go into the key to making online sales, I want you to be aware of one major thing. Everyone wants you to think they are making money online, but here's a big secret. Everyone IS NOT. There are only a select few bringing in the hundreds, thousands, and even millions of dollars online every year. But these marketing gurus all have something in common, which is the key to online sales. They all have a marketing formula that they have created, copied, or even tweaked. And when they have found the formula that works, they stick to it.

Each of these gurus formulas can vary widely from each other, but all of their formulas have one point of commonalitythe sales letter. Have you ever wanted to make sales letters like these gurus? Of course, everyone has. Did you know that these gurus do not spend hours working on their sales letters? They actually only spend a small amount of time on their sales letters. They use point-and-click technology. Well, now you can use the exact same point and click technology they use when they design their sales letters. The key to the masters making online sales is sealing the deal at the POS, point-of-sale. When it comes to the point of sale, dont you think you would rather have the same technology in your hands that the masters have? Of course, why wouldnt you want that?

If you want more information on this leading-edge technology, visit the link below:

http://www.ezcogtemplates.com

Bradley G. Smith developed a passion for developing web sites while he was a college student. Today, he spends most of his time developing scripts for Web 2.0. He is a freelance professional web designer. To view his most recent script, you should visit http://www.ezcogtemplates.comMortgage Lead Programs
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Relationships: Five Little Things You Can Do to Cultivate a Peaceful and Happy Home Life

Today's typical couple is busier than ever. Whether you're working overtime, shlepping the kids around, traveling or fulfilling social obligations, life at home can be a chaotic scene. But is this any excuse to let good-old-fashioned manners and consideration go out the window? Of course not. A peaceful and loving home starts by showing respect and courtesy to your spouse and children. Here are five little reminders to keep you on good behavior!

1. Remember your manners.

Kindness and consideration go a long way. Don't interrupt when another family member is speaking. Make please, thank you, may I, and excuse me part of your daily repetoire. Apologize if you've accidentally hurt someone's feelings. Give others the benefit of the doubt.

2. Eat meals together.

Sure, life on the run has everyone grabbing a quick meal when they can, but quality time is the key ingredient to a happy family life. Even if it's just once a week, schedule a day when everyone can sit down together at the table and enjoy a home-cooked dinner and some good conversation.

3. Be a unified parental front.

If Mom and Dad can't agree on what the rules are, let alone enforce them, you can be sure that your kids will have the upper hand and the two of you will be left feeling ineffective and resentful of each other. Lay down the law and present yourselves as a Unified Parental Front!

4. Listen to each other.

Sure, Moms and Dads often know best, but that doesn't mean shutting your mind to what your children have to say. Listen to each other with open hearts and minds, and start your children on the path to positive communication and great relationships.

5. Never go to bed angry.

Sure, disagreements happen from time to time, but there is no better indicator of a secure and loving home than agreeing to put differences aside when the lights go out each night. Explain to your children that even though you and your spouse don't always see eye to eye, it doesn't mean you don't love each other. Same goes for the kids!

Now more than ever before, we must instill solid family values in our children. The best way to teach them to respect others is to show respect for each other in our own homes.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

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Spanking - Is it Proper Punishment - Essay

For year parents have been using spanking as a means of disciplining a child. It was always seen as a good method until now. Many have come to question this form of punishment wondering whether this method is too harsh. Some argue that it may lead to abuse, while others say that without it children might not learn from their mistakes. By looking at the several views of people we may later come to understand and go along with one side of the argument.

In the article, Study: Harm Outweighs Benefits of Spanking, Shankar Vedantam questions whether spanking is a greatly harmful or beneficial method of disciplining a child. She does so by comparing the opposite views of Elizabeth Gershoff and Robert Larzelere. Elizabeth believes that spanking is 100% harmful to children, as it makes them temporarily complaint and raises the risk of the child becoming aggressive, antisocial, and chronically defiant. Conversely, Robert Larzelere believes that if a child becomes aggressive after spanking, it is because he or she had problems to begin with, and if it wasnt for the spanking, he or she would have been worse off. The most argued problem with spanking is that it might turn into abuse. On that ground, both researchers agree that spanking delivered in vexation is indeed not effective and could turn into abuse. The great controversy about spanking lies along a societal fault, whereas the rights of parents conflict with those of children. For example, spanking is illegal in most states in the U.S.; however, it is still practiced. Larzelere then argues that the severity and circumstances are more important than whether parents spank their children. This controversy has many baffled, as even the American Psychological Association are undecided about whether spanking in the house is a bad practice.

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Funerals - Masonic Service

In this article we're going to discuss a certain kind of funeral called the Masonic Service, which is a special funeral service for men only who are a member of the Masonic Fraternity in good standing at the time of their death.

Every religion has its own way of honoring the dead. And while the Masons are not a religion per say, they do believe in a supreme being and do have their own type of funeral service.

To be eligible for a Masonic funeral service a person has to be a man for starters. Women are not allowed to become Masons but they do have their own organization and their own funeral service. This will be the subject of another article. Not only must a Mason be a man but they must also be a member in good standing, meaning that they have to have been paying their dues on a regular basis and must not have been brought up on any Masonic charges. There is also an age requirement that a man has to be at least 21 years of age to become a mason. Boys under that age, even if their fathers are masons are not entitled to a Masonic funeral.

So just how is a Masonic funeral different from other funerals? To answer that, we need to discuss some of the similarities. For starters, Masonic funeral services are held in some kind of funeral parlor or temple. The same preparations are made as far as getting the body ready such as embalming. One difference in the preparation is that the deceased has his white lambskin apron placed over the body in the casket during the service, not before. If the body is not viewable for whatever reason, be it that the site would be a bit gruesome or if there is no body at all, then the apron would be placed over the casket or urn.

The service itself begins with a prayer, usually the 23rd psalm. Unlike services performed by ministers, which are prepared in advance and unique to a degree for each service, the Masonic service is a standard ritual. In other words, the service is the same for each Mason who passes away. There is no deviation in the service except for the part of the service itself where the Mason's name and date of birth and death are given.

The ritual itself is about 20 minutes long and is done from memory. Masons spend many months learning this service which consists of over ten pages of dialogue which has to be read word for word. The ritual team consists of the person reciting the ritual, a chaplain and a marshall. Any other masons from that particular lodge also participate in the service as observers and marchers.

At the end of the service the family and friends go up to the casket to pay their final respects. A Masonic service is a great honor to a man who is a mason where the one belief is that from Earth we came and to Earth we must shortly return.

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Kids Are Professional Athletes - The Curse of Athleticism or the Big-League Myth

How much is too much?

For youth sports, the answer is apparently nothing. An average professional hockey, basketball, or soccer player might have 80 games a year. Eight- or nine-year old kids often play the same, along with practices and weekend tournaments.

So whats going on?

Whats going on is that adults are ruining sports from kids. Weve professionalized youth sports, organized the games kids used to play in the schoolyard or in parks. Instead of that endless and unstructured fun, parents drive their kids to games and practices, where coaches tell kids what to do and how to do it. This goes on five, six, even seven times a week. Sure, a precious few go on to superstardom as professional athletes, but theyre the one percent of the one percent. The rest burn out.

Is it really necessary to travel every weekend to yet another tournament? Is that third practice a week really adding to a young persons enjoyment? Has society forgotten about the Law of Diminishing Returns? Is there not something wrong about $30,000 budgets for a hockey team of 12-year olds?

More is not necessarily better. The magic number is three - one game and two practices a week. Until a kid is 13 or 14, that is enough of any one activity. Let them develop a number of interests - sports, reading, music, and maybe hanging out with friends once in a while. After that age, if the interest is still there, then it might be appropriate to let them focus on one sport or activity. Two- and three-sport athletes are going the way of the Dodo bird. We do no lack for great athletes, but we force our kids to specialize at an early age. Cross training is widely accepted by experts as an essentially part of an athletes development. Yet, I do not see many kids cross training at all.

Naturally, if any of my kids were a Michael Jordan or a Tiger Woods I would encourage them to focus. Unless yours belongs to that elite class, however, perhaps your kid would be better off playing a number of sports; and make sure they have time to play after school, without coaches and referees blowing whistles all the time.

There is also a worrying commercial side to this issue. Leagues and tournaments have become a big business, along with equipment sales and sports facilities. Ironically, all this money depends upon a constant stream of kids who play a whole lot of sports. The more they play, the more money is made. I find it hard to ignore this connection; and, also not to believe that business has been an active partner in fueling the belief so prevalent among parents and coaches that kids have to play their sport every day of the week.

We need to remember that youth sports are for kids - not for those watching from the sidelines, or tournament organizers, or equipment manufacturers. Professional athletes are paid millions to play 80 games a year; how much are our kids getting for becoming professional athletes at 8-years old?

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