We find ourselves in that weird week between Christmas and New Year’s – that week that feels a bit like the Twilight Zone where no one’s sure what’s real and what isn’t.   Because of that, most people tend to focus on one of two things: eating as much as possible or setting goals for the upcoming year.   The former is squarely focused on the present – how much can I stuff into my gaping maw at this very moment before I pass out and/or puke – while the latter is focused on the future.    Last week, before the Twilight Zone kicked into full gear, I read a short article that resonated with me, and I think it’ll prick up your metaphorical ears, too.   The author of the article is a gentleman who professionally trains Olympic athletes, and he highlights the talents of a particular athlete from the Philippines who is training to be a marathon runner.   He points out that this runner is not a professional athlete, nor does she receive any type of financial support from any organiza

  Recently, I went into a clothing store to look around and let the sales clerk who has an unusually high opinion of his fashion sense believe that I was going to purchase something – it’s always fun to tease those guys!   As I was milling about, the following occurred: Older Woman (approaching younger woman):   “What are you looking for?” Younger Woman:   “Owen.” Me:   “You’re not going to find him in that rounder of shirts.   I just looked through it and didn’t find anybody.” Both women first looked at one another and then looked at me with a quizzical look on their faces – no words.   I just smiled back at them.   They narrowed their eyes and fixed me with a cold, hard stare as they backed away (and I just kept smiling and didn’t break eye contact with them – it was an epic staring contest).    What in the name of all that is holy and licensed by Disney does this have to do with mortgages and real estate, you ask.   Well, absolutely nothing, really.   I just

  Last night, I finished reading a book (some of you might be shocked to learn this – you might find it even more shocking to learn that the book had absolutely NO pictures, just WORDS), and the author made a point at the end of the book that he purposefully didn’t give a step-by-step guide on how to follow his advice – he felt it would be better to let the reader determine her/his own path.   Kudos to the author for his . . . l aissez faire approach to teaching, but that doesn’t quite work for me.   In light of recent developments with the economy and signals that the housing inventory shortage should come to an end in about 18 months, I thought I should go back to an article we published previously that gives a step-by-step guide on how to prepare oneself to purchase a home.   Here goes: I once met a man whose upper body was entirely covered in tattoos.   He told me that all this ink took well over 100 hours in total at the cost of $85.00/hour.   Mortgage geek ma

Previously, I’ve written about a man who works in our office who lived in New York City back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s – let me assure you that while that does seem like a very long time ago, it’s not nearly as far bac k as when the wheel was invented and humankind learned to harness the power of fire. If you’ve been to New York City recently and blissfully walked around Harlem to get chicken and waffles at Sylvia’s on Malcolm X Boulevard between 126 th and 127 th Streets or stopped in at Keybar on 13 th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A to wedge yourself into a cozy corner next to their notable fireplace, you wouldn’t get a sense that these areas were once . . . not as welcoming and glitzy as you now see them. Our office mate has told some fairly interesting stories of living in those and other areas of New York City that give a much different sense.   In the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, no matter how many great things you heard about Sylvia’s food, 127 th Street

  On a recent episode of a podcast I follow (I won’t tell you which one in case it would lower your opinion of me – if that’s even possible), the host was chatting away with the show’s supporting cast, and he made a comment about cars that struck me: the Ferrari that Tom Selleck’s character (and mustache) drove in the television series Magnum, P.I . takes longer to go from 0-60 than the latest model of the Mini Cooper S.   They thought he was pulling their legs, so one of his staff Googled the info while the host nattered on about some other things and quickly came back with confirmation that the 1983 Ferrari 308 GT goes from 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds while the 2017 Mini Cooper S can do it in 5.3 seconds.   Get out of town! The host of this podcast is a huge car aficionado (although that’s not the theme of his podcast), so he obviously knows his stuff.   However, I’d be willing to bet if you walked up to random people on the street and asked them to place a small wager on wh

  There’s an old saying: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”   Personally, if I’m being honest, I believe the bird in the hand is worth a lot more than the two in the bush because, let’s be honest, we have no idea what those birds are doing in the bush and whether they’ve been taking care of themselves (working out and eating a healthy diet v. binge watching “Jersey Shore” and eating gluten).   I’ll just add this to the old saying: “But one that’s been plucked, roasted, and served up on a silver platter is worth the most.”    When submitting an offer on a house, there are generally three types of offers: 1.   Based on a pre-qualification (two in the bush) 2.   Cash (bird in the hand) 3.   Based on a qualified approval (plucked, roasted, and served)   Let me describe how the seller sees each type of offer (using “Jersey Shore” as my backdrop): 1.   Based on a pre-qualification: the buyer is basically saying, “C’mon.   You can trust me.   I’m goo