Brad Lynch

Too many people are afraid of doing a job themselves...I was. It's starting the first step in a home project that is not reversible or very expensive to fix if you mess it up that creates the fear. I found that after doing a little research through my friends that are "handy men or women", reading the free literature on the Internet, and building my confidence, it's not that hard.

I have now done four projects that I am happy with, all and all.

1. Built my own fence. After buying all my materials, and "man tools" at Home Depot and Lowes, the difference in the cost of me doing it compared to the cost I would have paid a professional to do it was a savings of $1800. I replace my typical home builder's special and cheap would fence with wood posts that blew down twice in the 2 years I was there before I built my own with metal posts. Savings=$1800

2. Patio slab was my next project. I had the typical "builders special" 10 foot by 10 foot cement slab right outside my back door. My opinion is that Frisco Builders, because of their ability to do things so cheap during the high demand the majority of Frisco was built, should be embarrassed with the tiny little patio slabs they put in. My, the wife, and friends and family that would sit out on the patio to visit would have to all sit bunched together with no room side by side. So I built a nice addition to that of at least 20 by 15 square feet that almost triples the size. My best friend and I hired day labor at the local convenient store to help us dig out the dirt where it would go, and put in the wood forms that would hold the design of the new slab. I bought a skill saw, extra shovels, and other tools needed to cut wood, move dirt, level, and all that applies. I hired a construction company to deliver in a cement truck all the cement I needed for the project. I hired a "finisher" (finisher=person that floats and moves the cement around in the forms and forth). I bought and put in all the rebar and rebar stands...more than what a typical patio would need for such a project, and therefore making it even more strong. I was quoted up to $2300 for a professional company to do from start to finish, and after buying all the man tools, supplies, hiring the aforementioned help is cost me $800...and like the fence project, I get to keep all the tools I bought for the project for future use. Savings=$500

3. The last project was wood floors in my home office, living room, and master bedroom...over $550 square feet. I have replace my old carpet with Hickery Wood Scraped engineer wood flooring that looks awesome. I was quote by Lowes for purchase of the flooring and labor, estimated $6000. After buying the tools I needed, the wood flooring at $1,716 total, and the leveling compound to make sure that the wood is on a flat surface, I spend around $3,000. Savings=$3,000

4. Painting the exterior of my home was quoted to me at $1200. We bought the paint, and brushes for like $300. I borrowed a high pressure washer that I could have rented at L for under $100 and bam, another huge savings. Savings=$900

Total savings=$6,200

Experience and knowledge about home projects, upkeep of typical home amenities=PRICELESS!!!

I'm sure I left out some details in costs and so forth, but I did track the actual costs and may not of itemized them all to perfect detail above, but point made I think.

Patio was before I painted the house, so the picture above with the side of the house isn't after the paint job.

And That's A Fact

There are number of coverage's available in Texas to build a personal automobile policy...Frisco, McKinney, and Dallas would of course fall into that circle. The only required by state law is Liability. I will explain later why I believe this to be the most important coverage. Other coverage's available are collision and comprehensive. Comprehensive often is referred to on your policy as other than collision. Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist coverage, personal injury protection, medical payments, rental coverage, towing and labor are the typical coverage you find offered in Texas.

Today fact's about Liability insurance. The state minimum was recently raised from 20/40/15 to 25/50/25. These numbers represent thousands of dollars. These are limits your insurance company will pay up to in a covered accident that you might be considered liable for. The first is the amount payable to any one person for bodily injury and the second is what will be paid up to for bodily injury per accident. Third is the amount payable for property damage. If you are in an accident where your are found to be negligent and the bodily injury or property damage exceeds the amount on your policy you can be pursued for these amounts. This is where an insured stands to lose the most in an auto accident. Law suits for personal injury can easily exceed any other loss you might have in an accident. Now your personal assets become a target of the law suit. Much of what you have worked hard for is at stake. The simple truth is higher limits of liability are available and often cost very little. When you look at what is at stake, there is simply no reason not to carry adequate protection. If you have young drivers in your household your increased cost of additional liability insurance will be higher and your need for it may never be greater.

What is adequate protection? Because so much is at stake I feel most should carry at least 100/300/100. If your net worth exceeds these limits or if your future earning potential is attractive then I would purchase 250/500/100 and seriously consider the purchase of a Personal Umbrella Policy.

When talking to my 19 year old son, the word procrastinate often comes up. He does this often and it drives me crazy. His attitude is why should I do today what I can put off till tomorrow. I tell him to do it now so he does not forget and therefore the opportunity to act is lost. Procrastination as described in the dictionary is to procrastinate until the opportunity is lost.

I hope you have a clear understanding of this coverage. If your limits are not what you think they should be, don't procrastinate until the opportunity to act is lost.

A plan without execution is no plan at all. Act today before your opportunity is lost. Don't procrastinate until it's too late. All you have worked hard for may be riding on it. And That's A Fact.

Insurance Information Sponsored by Rodney Mouton with Mouton Insurance Agency
Phone: 972-542-1388
Fax: 214-705-8376
Email: MoutonAgency@att.net

Why do mortgage rates seem kind of high?
One answer is that in order to fund the rescue and the new government guarantees, our Treasury must sell more new Treasury securities to raise money. And the Treasury has to offer higher interest rates to sell them. On top of that, mortgage related bonds always trade at a slightly higher yield due to the prepayment and delinquency risk. Lastly, the cost of financing mortgages has increased for Freddie and Fannie due to the plan for the FDIC to back the newly issued, unsecured debt of some banks. Obviously by guaranteeing bank debt, the government is making that debt more attractive for investors, and consequently creating more competition for Fannie and Freddie when they look to sell their own securities. To compete for buyers, the mortgage giants will have to raise their own yields - and to pay for that they'll have to charge borrowers higher interest.

For the past 6 years working as a self motivated Mortgage Consultant in Frisco Texas, and targeting a goal where 90% or more of my business comes by referral, I have had to search and find what "gets me going in the morning" to meet that goal. In doing this, I started a Word Document titled, "Motivational Strategies and Thoughts for a Better Life".

In this document I collect motivational phrases, words and phrases that help express myself in a unique way, and strategies that a leader can use to self motivate and maximize potential. Transferring information to longer term and permanent memory works best for me by writing them down. So, I've written today in my word document and writing it here to share and double up on my writing it down for permanent memory. Here was today's record. I hope that it can help any one person reading it today as well.

"Try not to become a man of success, rather, a man of value." Albert Einstein

• Try to understand before you are understood

• Be impressed before you become impressive

• Be interested before you become interesting

• Listen before you are listened to

My uncle moved from Katy Texas and sold his thriving Insurance Agency to bring his kids closer to family. He did it because it felt like the RIGHT thing to do. Please help me make it work out for him. Read his profile below and you'll get the feel, that he is a trusting and well experienced Insurance Agent.

Today it is more important that ever that you not only find the right price, but also find the right Agent that cares about you and your family like a father would his own. Rodney Mouton, my uncle, has a family and knows what it is like to insure the people he needs in life...his family. Give Rodney a call and you will see that after finding you the right company with the lowest rate, he will ask you the thought provoking questions that will help you decide if your chosen policy covers all the important people and possessions you want covered.
Rodney Mouton Insurance Agency

6136 Frisco Square Blvd. Suite 400

Frisco, TX 75034

Phone: 972-542-1388 Fax: 214-705-8376 Email: Moutonagency@att.net Cell: 974-439-7888
After 10 years of being a captive agent of AllState^TM, I realized my clients would be better served through an independent network rather than a captive network. Captive agents represent only one company and therefore can only offer one solution. As an independent agent I can offer clients the options they expect. It took almost 10 years for me to realize how serious this reality is for an agent who is really interested in his client getting the best the market has to offer. I would not pay more for less and do not expect my clients to. So now I offer the right products from the companies who can best deliver the value my clients require.

Most carriers today use insurance scoring as their major component to determine your cost of insurance. The insurance score will usually be the biggest factor in determining your client's rate and because of that it is really impossible for us to promise your client any rate until we have ordered your clients insurance score. It is also important to know that each company has its own proprietary scoring system which offers them the best system to get the best price to their target market. Their scoring system can change in relation to their market appetite. An Insurance score and a credit report will sometimes have little in common. In that the good credit report does not always mean the best insurance score. It is part of our job to find which insurance scoring system matches your client's credit profile.

Our major carriers are Safeco, Hartford and Traveler's. Below I have a table that shows rates based on a new home with a favorable insurance score, auto-discount, claims-free and alarm discount. I caution you to not promise a client a premium from the chart based on their credit report. Their insurance score and other factors will make a difference that you do not want to find yourself spending your valuable time trying to explain. We will do that for you. We just want to provide you with some idea of what we can offer.



Why would you want refer the Mouton Agency to your clients? We understand that happy knowledgeable clients refer more business. We like referrals. We work for our clients not an insurance company. I promise you will never regret sending a client our way and your closing will never be delayed due to a lack of effort on our part. Integrity is the foundation of our business and it is in the word of God that we discovered integrity. My office is open Monday-Friday from 8:00 to 5:00. Please feel free to call my cell phone outside of office hours for assistance.



I would like to form relationships with others who have a similar approach and understand how this will provide us with a never ending supply of clients for life. I hope you will be inclined to call.