Ed Wacaster

As we sit in our air conditioned offices trying to make a living, there are some things to be aware of. As we take endless calls and leave for home with a phone receiver permanently imbedding onto the side of our head, as we read so many e-mails that our eyes are now bloodshot and resemble something out of a horror movie, and as we think of how much we desire our favorite drink laced with a heavy alcohol content, let us not forget who we really are.

We really are the "Friggin Expert" and the straw that stirs the drink so people can buy or sell a home! We're the ones that make it possible for people to access the lifestyle that they've been dreaming of. We may not have access to the expensive cars and other fluff that comes with a dream life, but we hold in our grubby mitts the keys to that next home, be it as the agent or the money person.

And as such, there is so much we must maintain as we go through our lives at mach 32. Mack 31 will leave us in the dust and blow our hair off regardless of our gender. If we're going to keep up, we must adjust to mach 32 and like it. And while we're traveling through life at such a breakneck pace, we have some keeping up to do. Keeping up with ever changing loan programs and underwriting guidelines. And keeping up with all of the new "point of sale" issues that dimwitted legislators keep heaping on us. At times this "keeping up" can be overwhelming and obnoxious even on a good day. Yet keep up we must. If we are to be that "Friggin Expert" we better keep up or end up the pile of waste that lies beside the highway of mach 32.

As a mortgage dude I get to keep up with three licenses at this point just to be in business in California. I would move to another state, but which one has better weather and beautiful lakes within driving distance of my home? So I'm going to do what every self respecting mortgage dude would do in my situation. I'm going to take up drinking and cussing out loud in public.

Anyone want to join me?

Wishing you the best!

Ed

So I was minding my own business at work one evening when I felt my head to go numb. It took a few minutes to completely numb up and by the time I got a little afraid of the situation I couldn't talk. No joke!! This silly man who likes to make people laugh couldn't move his lips and tongue in any meaningful way. I wanted to tell the teenage girl on my team to call 9-1-1, but I could talk. So I did what I thought was a great idea. I dialed it myself on my cell phone and handed it to her. She took the phone, put it to her ear and when the 9-1-1 operator came on the line she looked down at me as I was sitting on a bench and asked in a shocked voice: "Did you call 9-1-1?" I shook my head yes and the poor girl began to answer questions into the phone and then ask me questions she was told to ask. Needless to say, this was an awful experience and probably one of the most frightening things I've gone through I my 51 years on this planet.

What had happened was called a "TIA" or Transient Ischemic Attack. When I was a nurse, I had heard of these, and even had a few friends experience them and they said the same thing: It was a bit scary for them too.

As you can already guess, prior to this happening my stress level was already was quite high. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 32. I could tell in the evenings that my blood pressure was going up and apparently the medication I was taking wasn't holding it down all day any longer.

On my way to the hospital in the back o an ambulance, with the siren blaring, I was finally able to begin talking again, but wasn't sure that the words I was using were correct all the time. I had to think of what I wanted to say before I could actually say it accurately. Yet another frustration of this ordeal. It took about a good hour and a half to two hours before I could actually talk again without thinking about it first. I was even wondering if I would recognize my wife when she got to the ER. By the time she got there I was pretty much back to normal and had no trouble knowing it was her while I watched her walk towards me.

I was told by the doctors that I was way too stressed to not expect something like this given my current "Health situation." I'm too fat, my labs were a bit off, my diet was all wrong and then for the second opinion they told me I was ugly too. Other than that, I was fine.

And here's the big thing in this entire story: a "TIA" is a precursor to the real thing happening sometime down the line at a time that I won't be prepared for it to happen. And it'll probably happen within a few years. This has my attention at this point folks, and has caused me to do some real soul searching and re-evaluation of everything in my life. There isn't anything right now in my life that is safe from elimination. Not my job, my hobbies, even my wife who stresses me out a lot these days, and I'm partly responsible for that. Needless to say, I've changed my diet, began losing weight, which I had already been doing, and have now began thinking of the things that need to go away. At this point it's a matter of survival and being able to watch my twin grandsons grow into men and have great character like their grandpa.

The reason I'm sharing this very personal story is to bring attention at how difficult our job can be for some of us and perhaps make you think a bit about not getting to this point in your life before you stand back and evaluate your situation. Had I done that prior to this experience, I can assure things would be much different today. I would be thinner for sure. I might even be in a new occupation which less stressful. I might even be single again for all I know. Like I said, everything is on the table today. Had I really put some thought into everything, I can assure you I would never have gotten here.

I spent 20 years a Crisis Counselor prior to getting into the Mortgage Industry and talked countless people through this process. So don't get here is my wish for you. Be good to yourself and take a breath now and then. Take that day off when you need to. Go way with a good friend or by yourself if you need to and get to the point where you can relax. After all those years of teaching stress management classes to countless thousands here I sit writing about the effects that stress recently had on my body and my psyche too. Don't come to where I'm at right now, I'll come to you okay?

Wishing you the best!

Ed

In today's' society where information is at our fingertips, in our cars and in our face every waking second of the day, it's imperative to decide who and where we will get the information that is correct, truthful and means something to us? And in the Real Estate Industry where most of us are "Self Employed" correct information is priceless to say the least. But where are you getting your information on all of these industry changes and can you trust that info to be correct?

If you've been in the industry for any length of time you more than likely have relationships established that will last until hell freezes over. But what if the mortgage person just decided to call it a career and move to that island off the coast who knows where? I know a real estate agent that moved to the Caribbean until the market comes back to his liking. He decided not to participate in this down market, and he could afford to do so this time. He ain't back yet.

Many good solid Professionals remain in our industry and really aren't that hard to find. You'll find them doing the Lender's Reports at your Association Meeting's, on the radio, (most of them are good), and then there's always that referral thing too.

My point in all of this is this: Make sure your Professional Relationships are just that, Professional and top notch Professional to boot. Anything less is asking for frustration, baldness, ulcers, marital discord and the Giants will never win the World Series because of it.

On a serious note however, true Professionals are pretty much what's left at this point in the game and very few of them are unaware of what's going right now. The Realtors that don't associate with their peers and attend the office meetings regularly have set themselves up for great disappointment when they insist on a 15 day escrow and expect it done with out question or laughter. So protect yourself and get good honest hard working professionals in your corner. You'll be so glad you did. If you need help finding someone in your corner of the world let me know and I'll help you find someone close to you threw my network.

Wishing you the best!

Ed

So I was minding my own business this morning doing my daily reading like I do every day, when all of a sudden I had this thought!!! OMG how can this happen on such a beautiful day in Lincoln California. I began to wonder how much money the Fed has out into purchasing the Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) they began buying last year to stimulate the housing market. So actually went tot heir website to find the answer to my question that began to bring shade into my office. The website for you who would like to see what I saw this morning is: http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/soma/sysopen_accholdings.html There you will find a list of current activities and balances on several items.

Thus far the Fed has purchased $976,864,637 in Mortgage Backed Securities of a promised $1.25 Trillion by the end of the 1^st Quarter 2010. So, looking at the amount of what they have purchased thus far, and what remains of that total, we have a gap of $274,245,472,700 to be purchased in the next six weeks. So we have more 1/5^th of the total amount promised in circulation to date. If the Fed were to use the rest of the money in this short period, mortgage rates would decrease to the point of historically even lower rates. But yet we still haven't addressed the issue of what happens when the FED begins to sell these assets to the general public and "reap" the rewards of this wise solution to the government shoring up the housing market and increasing the Federal Debt to unknown amounts. Whatever happened to cutting taxes and letting people figure out how to spend the money and balance the checkbook they've been balancing all these years? Washington doesn't have a checkbook, they have a printing press!

Mortgage rates appear to be headed higher this year as everyone agrees. Where we begin to differ is how high they will go. I thing they're going to end up somewhere in the mid sixes, others think a bit lower and others think a bit higher. No one anticipates rates getting to double digits this year, but be ready for them to go there in the next few years. What this means is this: If you have wanted to purchase a new home or refinance a current home, the time is ripe to jump on that thought. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying the sky is falling right now and you better act before we get to 20% rates by Christmas. Rates will go up but it will be a gradual increase so there really is no need to panic and rush into something without the proper due diligence. So relax a bit, but put more thought into stashing money so when things don't pick up as promised by people who have never held a public job, you'll be able to weather the storm once again.

Wishing you the bestest.

Ed

Welcome to 2010! Now try to breathe again. Good luck!

As most of us during the Christmas Season did, I drove a lot more than usual during the past week or so. And being one of them there people who listen to the radio while I drive I heard all of the commercials, some of which ticked me off. One even made me yell at my dashboard and it didn't know what it did wrong. Poor thing!

Then I went home and watched TV, and again, the poor thing had no idea what it did wrong either. Then I threw my shoe at the dog. The dog however, knew exactly what it did, nothing at all. So she got a couple of cookies out of the deal. (I promise I didn't throw my shoe at the dog.) Then my wife treated me like a god and made me burnt offerings for dinner. Oh what a life I have! But you didn't hear that from me.

What made me yell at nearby electronics? Commercials offering mortgages at no cost, or very little cost. One even offered an unrealistic mortgage rate that you cannot get without significant costs, much less for nothing. Should the biggest investment most of us ever make be so trivialized? My answer is, of course, no. But apparently others don't share my sense of fairness or have my sense of ethics and morals. Thus, because these companies that offer such trivial and terrible customer service, I have had to change the way I do business significantly over the past year. And did these companies change the way they do business? Not much! They still stick it to the consumer and laugh all the bank to the bank! But how can this be after all the changes made by our legislators and other misguided people? The answer will make you yell at your computer but here it is: You cannot legislate morals and ethics to people who have none.

What's the lesson to be learned here? As a consumer, you need to make a decision to use a professional and quit trying to save three cents on a mortgage. Cuz when you do business with a company like that, you won't know you've been ripped off until way down the line when something doesn't seem to add up. And when someone calls me at my office and asks me what my best rate is, my answer is this: Do you want me to lie to you like they did at the last place you called, or would you like to work with a professional? And it never ceases to amaze me when some of them think I'm the crook. Go figger.

So 2010 is dedicated to educating the consumer as best I can and I would love for you to help me. Do your best will ya? Cuz these people are killing our industry. If we don't do our best to put them out of the business, they're gonna get us first.

Love ya big bunches!

Ed