Jeff Baxter

On Saturday, June 5th, my wife Sue participated in the annual Seaside Craft Show in Bethany Beach, DE. This is a juried craft show and is usually one of the highlights of the start of the summer season at the beach in southern DE. Unfortunately this year, Saturday also brought 94 degree temps and very high humidity which evidently melted the crowds and their enthusiasm. It's a shame because I saw first hand how hard all of the participants worked on their crafts and setting up their displays.

Sitting out in the sun all day, trying to sell your arts and crafts to small crowds isn't exactly fun, but I saw first-hand the enthusiasm and grace with which these folks worked through the day. I hope they all had some modicum of success.

I'm very proud of Sue and Baxter Bags for participating in her first show. She did very well considering the conditions and our combined inexperience in preparing for a full day (6:00 AM to 6:00 PM) on the Boardwalk in Bethany.

I work long hours on my mortgage business, but I've never seen such a grueling 12 hours. You really need to love your craft and that's something that shows through in every Baxter Bag that Sue designs.

Save the date - May 12th - for the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce 1st Golf n' Gab networking event at the Bayside Resort Golf Club. This is a 9-hole scramble designed for networking - it's not your typical golf tournament. You'll have fun whether you're a beginner or experienced player.

The sole purpose of the event is to network, so the Chamber will put together the foursomes. This event costs $40 and includes 9-holes @ Bayside, tips from the club pros, giveaways and a Business After Hours at the Bayside Grill for drinks and food.

Click here to sign-up: Golf n' Gab

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One of the biggest spring events comes to town this Saturday - the 21st Annual Ocean to Bay Bike Tour. Organized by the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce, the bike tour is open to cyclists of all ages and skill levels. Participant will choose between a 25, 35 or 50 mile course map and completion is optional.

The courses wind through the inland bays, back roads, and beaches in beautiful lower Sussex County and the weather forecast is looking good.

You need to be pre-registered and the tour starts are 8:30 Saturday morning in downtown Bethany Beach.

Click here for information: Ocean to Bay Bike Tour

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Condos, especially condos purchased as second homes or investment properties in a resort area, continue to drive buyers, sellers, mortgage lenders, and Realtor's crazy.

One of my referral agents had a client call me about 4 weeks ago to finance a condo in Bear Trap Duneshere at the beach in Delaware. Now, I do loans in Bear Trap all the time and have already fought the battle with my lender and Fannie/Freddie that this is NOT a Resort Condo or a Condotel. And, I understand that if you put less than 25% down on a condo, there is a 3/4 point add-on to the price of the mortgage (assuming it's sold to Fannie or Freddie).

So what happened you ask. The borrower consulted an out of state mortgage broker (referred by a relative) who told her, no problem, I can give you the same rate with 20% down AND "no issue getting a condo approved."

Fast forward, with a "locked" rate in hand, the borrower moved ahead with the out of state broker thinking she'd gotten a GREAT deal. Problem is, I got a phone call late yesterday that the broker's lender can't get the condo approved "by Fannie Mae" and therefore they can't close the purchase loan on Tuesday - can I just take her broker's loan file and close the loan myself keeping the great rate? Unfortunately, I can't. We have to order a new appraisal, submit a new mortgage application, and lock today's rate. I can probably close in 2 weeks if all goes well, but you know, the pipeline is pretty full in our processing shop right now with first time buyers trying to close by November 30th.

Lesson learned? If you are buying, selling, listing or showing a condo in a resort area - know the issues. Use an experienced lender that does condo financing regularly. Then you won't need to worry about a delayed settlement, lost rate locks, and other financial penalties and wasted money.