Jason Roebuck

We had a few agents come in and out of the office today, but no referrals for pre-approvals :( I don't see myself giving up on going in on Saturday anytime soon though, because I know that I can be a value to the realtors at the office but it may just take some time for them to get used to me being there.

My nine year old son came to the office with me today, and we worked on my yearly and monthly goals. We also reworked the family goal sheet. I finished the fourth chapter in MREA, and walked around the office looking at the opportunities for our growth as a mortgage company.

So, back to the goal setting, my son got an idea of what the numbers are and that makes one sixth of my accountability team that is currently aware of the goals that we are shooting for the rest of this year and for the month of September. Other members of my accountability team that need to be made aware of the goals are: (in no particular order) Debi, my processor. Kobe, my younger son. JR, my boss. Tonya, my wife. Zach, my accountability partner.

When I get back to the office on Tuesday, I will add the goal sheet that we made, to this blog. We made two copies of to track our progress toward our goal both on the fridge at home and at the office. I will also be adding the rest of the members of my team to my profile on Tuesday as well. Have a great weekend and God Bless...Jason

Well, if your reading this over the weekend, it means that you didn't have plans for the labor day weekend or you didn't have the money to make plans. If you reading this on Monday/Tuesday, congratulations, you have survived the weekend, with your significant other telling you that you should find a new line of work, to make it back to your desk. Maybe, I have caught you while you are sitting at an open house and had the presence of mind to bring your laptop for the occasional lull in activity. Yes, I have been there and I feel your pain.

Ok, on to the purpose of the blog. If you are still in the industry at this point, you either had a huge savings account or you have a large enough referral base to survive this market or you have the ability to put the blinders on and just go to work and do your job and you know that if you build it, they will come...I am in the last category, just in case you were wondering. Now, how about the news that we hear from the non main stream media? How do we survive it? In case you are wondering what news it is that I am speaking of...Check this out: (not for the faint of heart)

http://www.shadowstats.com/article/292

As for the source of this information, it is the same radio program that I have been listening to for the last couple of months on Saturday mornings. It is called "Follow the Money" with Pat Kiley. He uses John Williams inflation statistics to make his point about how poorly the economy is operating right now, and how we are walking around with our heads in the sand because that is where the government needs us to be able to pull us out their way.

I don't know who coined the phrase first but I am going to plagarize it, "Hears the News!" We do not necessarily need to be reminded of how bad the economy is right now because we are experiencing it in our business (or lack therof), but we do need to understand what is really going on. However, it is up to us to share this knowledge with the buyers and sellers that are currently in the market and let them know that without the houses to sell and buyers to buy them, the economy will not get worse, it will collapse. The reason being is that the fact that fannie mae/freddie mac do not have enough good loans in their portfolios to offset the bad loans that they are sitting on, is eventually going to lead to the demise of those two government sponsored lending institutions.

This does not mean that you have to walk around your office and your community like the angel of death, but when someone asks about the economy or if this is the right time to buy or sell, be honest and tell them that without buyers and sellers in the market right now, who knows what would happen to the economy.

On to a very positive note, there is a change on the horizon. I don't know if I should say what political party that I am a registered voter in, but you will probably figure it out sooner or later. (if you haven't already) I am very excited about the prospect of having change coming to the highest office in this country. Hopefully, it is going to be a change that is in line with the faith that our country was founded on...One nation, under God...

However, it is going to be change that is going to shake things up in Washington and hopefully it will not just be business as usual, regardless of who gets elected. God Bless you all and I hope you have/had a great labor day weekend...Jason

I don't know if everyone else has noticed but the Federal Housing Authority is now advertising on Active Rain...What does this mean to us? It means that the government is actively moving to show the real estate world that they are here to support us getting the market moving again. It is obvious to all of us at this point that the banks are going to hold out to make as much money on the loans that we are selling them. So rate cuts by the Fed to the discount rate are not going to effect bringing more buyers into the market, because they don't equate to any real change to what we can offer them. The banks are still just sucking it up to cover their losses.

I am very happy to see that the FHA is taking this active role in changing the mindset that exists that FHA is an obstacle to closing loans. I wondered out loud to my office mate about the idea that this new role may have been kicked off by the housing bill that just passed, but honestly every time I start to read it, I fall asleep. Whatever has gotten the FHA to start advertising on Active Rain, I for one, really appreciate it. Anything that gets our names out there in front of the public, associated with the programs that are working to get people into homes, is a really good thing in my book. I don't have a title for my book yet, but I will keep you posted...LOL...God Bless...Jason

This is a message going out to everyone that decided to get into an adjustable rate mortgage, whether it was on some bad advice from a loan officer or of your own choice. Even if you are in a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and you can't afford the payment anymore. Here is the news, the bank does not want to foreclose on your home. A foreclosure costs them way too much money, and they are not in the business of real estate, they are in the business of lending money.

Therefore, my message today is talk to the lender and work out a loan modification and there may be hope for you to stay in your house. However, if you know that you cannot afford the house than you are doing yourself a disservice by not contacting a real estate agent and getting the property listed as soon as possible.

The more houses that end up being foreclosed on and the more homes that are sold by the bank for less than what they are worth, short-sale, the less your home is going to be worth. If you believe what they are saying about the prospect of how many more homeowners there are in mortgages that they will not be able to afford when they adjust and they won't have a way to refinance, the picture will not be getting better, before it gets worse.

I wanted to post this blog today to say that there is hope for the people that will take the time to talk to their lender. Sometimes they will not be all that willing to release information about their loan modification programs, but stick to your guns and know that it is either modify your loan or contact a realtor to put the house on the market. Really, those are your two options if you cannot afford your mortgage payment.

Here is the name of a website that was created to help borrowers contact the right people at the lender to talk about this issue. (loan modification or hardship) They do not charge the borrower anything for this service, and they have a contact at most of the lenders that I know of...God Bless...Jason

www.HopeNow.com

To follow up on my previous blog about the King Estate Winery...We visited the Sweet Cheeks winery when we left King Estate, and the views were just as breathtaking and the little picnic lunch for $15 was well worth it...Besides the lunch, they were still tasting the "Rosy Cheeks" that I thought my mother was going to absolutely die over.

They have a new "Pinot Fusion" that I also thought was interesting enough to deserve some further investigation, to the tune of a bottle purchased for home inspection.

As for the views, you can see what God gave us to enjoy while we ate our delicious picnic lunch:

This is me with our bottles for further inspection!

I don't know if the beauty of the scenery comes through on these pictures, but I can say that between the "Rosy Cheeks" wine and the amazing day we had at the wineries, Mom was truly happy. Once again, God has truly blessed Oregon and we should all take the time to enjoy it...God Bless...Jason