Geoffrey Davis

In 2003 I was able to handle the mortgage financing for my sister and brother in law as they bought a larger home in Dallas so they could have more room for the boys. This place is awesome and only a few blocks away from Richardson Bike Mart's Coit store location. But with their boys off to and out of collage, time for these empty nesters to downsize. Wait till you see the back yard and the study- just a great house and well off the main streets but so close to every thing. Now, when they sell I wonder if we can have them move in with us so they can help us with all of our kids.

I took on more than I should and need a bit of help. Many of you know that Julie and I meet at the 1st Lance Armstrong event called Ride for the Roses down in Austin TX. So, when my buddy asked me to join him this year to ride it- I quickly said yes. Then remembered that I now have 4 kids and planning a weekend away on my own could be a tough sell but Julie was all for it. Hopefully you might open this link and send me $5 towards my fundraising goal. Or, join us on the team and come down to ride with me and Lance.

The other day a friend told me that he has noticed my habit of asking people where they go to church. He finds it uncomfortable to speak of his church in a business setting. Somehow it has always been easy for me to invite people to St. Philips and I never hesitate to do so.

Perhaps it would be best to illustrate this with a story. Eric Austin and I participated in the Frisco Chamber of Commerce Leadership Frisco class #10. We were part of a 16 person group who spent 9 months touring the city of Frisco and learning the ins and outs of the city government and social service agencies. Eric and I talked about our church at times and before the class finished, four families had visited St. Philip's drawn to it by nothing more than conversations between the two of us and our invitations to them to drop in any Sunday. One family whom I invited visited on a Sunday when both Clay and our assistant priest both happened to be away. Clay's wife, Jill, gave the sermon that day and did a wonderful job but, of course, she is not Clay and I had promised him Clay! I'll admit I was a little concerned but when I called him a day or so later he said, "It was just great! The minute we got in the car, our children (5 and 3 years old) asked if they could come back because they said it was great!"

The best thing about inviting people to St. Philip's is that I know the level of hospitality extended to them will make them want to return. St. Philip's members are proud of their church, inspired by their priest and his teaching, grateful for the sense of community their church provides and anxious to share what we have with others.

So welcome to St. Philip's Frisco. We look forward to your visit.

The other day I read in Scott Burns' column in the Dallas Morning News as a reader was asking about ARM's. I like to read what Mr. Burns has to say on all subjects but do listen more when he gives mortgage advice. The reason: I have yet to read him give bad advice.

ARM style loans came out in the 1980's here in the States when the interest rate market was through the roof. You might be surprised if you ever move overseas and want to purchase a home. ARM's are very popular in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. An ARM has a fixed and an adjustable time line. They are available for 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years and even 10 years. Those numbers represent the length that the loan will be fixed. After that time, the interest rate can either go up or down depending on the details of that ARM program. Most ARM's are amortized over a 30 year loan period. Each ARM has what is called a margin and an index. A margin is a number given by the lender that stays with the loan and helps calculate what the rate will be during the adjustable timeframe. An index is what that the ARM follows. It could be the LIBOR 1 month, 6 month or 1 year; the MTA; or one of the Treasury options. Now for the complicated part: an ARM will have a floor and a ceiling with limits as to how much the rate can go up or down depending on the index to which the loan is tied. Some say no more than 2 points up or down at the first adjustment and no more that 5 total, but all of those details vary and you want to know all of that information before you get to the closing table.

For example, you are in a 5 year ARM and the 5 year's are up. A few months before the anniversary date would be a good time to dig out the closing papers that the title company gave to you as they have all the details you need. Minor details will be on your monthly mortgage statement but the real info lies in the papers. You want to look and see what your margin, index and details are so you can decide if staying in that loan at time of adjustment is the correct move. Say you are in a loan with a 2.25% margin (most are) and follow the LIBOR 1 year index. Head to the internet to find out what that index is trading. At the time of this writing it was 1.381%. Add that to the margin and your new rate will be 3.63%. Now look at the details. If your beginning rate was 5% and your contract says that it may move no more than 1% up or down, you would have a 4% rate for that next 12 months. Repeat those steps each year, making sure that the index is not trading in a way that would make your rate unbearable.

The person in the above example made a good move by picking the ARM program as their rate dropped, but what about if we were not in a falling rate environment? What if, while in that loan, their FICO score dropped as did their home value, making a refinance impossible? ARM's are never the problem; it is the details and the knowledge that goes with them. Just like anything else in life, buyer beware and know what you are getting into.

Have an ARM story you would like to share with me? Send it over. I'd love to hear it.

Lance wants you to sign this: In his quest to raise awareness about Cancer, Lance Armstrong would like for you to sign this commitment to help. He shares these lists with World leaders, showing how many folks want this to end.

I think he is in Irland right now at some big summit. His note said he wanted all the names he could get to show the wants the World has-