Bob Mitchell - Realtor St. Louis

I've got a question for you...how many of you are familiar with The Lake Of The Ozarks? While it's pretty well known here in the Midwest, I've got a sneaky suspicion that a good number of you folks outside of the region aren't aware of this gem!

Lake of the Ozarks is a 93 mile long, 55,000 acre, man made lake located in south central Missouri, about 3 hours or so from St. Louis and slightly less from Kansas City. At one point it was the largest man made lake in the United States and one of the largest in the world.

It was formed by damming the Osage river. Three other tributaries of the Osage are also inundated in the process. The result of the flooding was a very large lake that has a stable lake level. The lay of the land that was flooded made for a lake that has thousands of coves and a shoreline of around 1,150 miles.

The reason that I'm writing about the Lake of the Ozarks today is because this past weekend, my girlfriend Kathy took me to "The Lake" for my birthday. We were joined by our buddies Margaret and Chris, as well as our friends Bill and Teri Beasley, who live at the lake and own Clayton Mortgage Associates there.

We stayed at a little resort called Shawnee Bluff Inn, which is located on Bagnell Dam Blvd. The main reason that we stayed there is because it was cheap. Only $49.00 a night!

Our room was set up as part of a cabin like setting. The decor has kind of a flash back to the 1960's feel to it, but the bed was good, the sheets were new and the view from the back balcony was to die for! The fact that it was off season and we were pretty much the only people at the place gave the entire experience a special feel!

After settling in and enjoying a couple of cocktails we headed down to "The Rock" which is usually kind of a biker bar, but on this off season Saturday night more resembled a South St. Louis tavern. The bar tender and the other patrons were extremely friendly and a good time was had by all.

My only complaint about the experience was when we drove away from the bar we were immediately followed by a Lake Ozark township police car. I had limited my consumption to a point where I was definately safe to drive (3 beers in as many hours) and while they didn't pull me over, I had the feeling that the cop was looking for any excuse that he could come up with to do so. I'm all for getting drunk drivers off of the road, but the fact that I was in a bar shouldn't subject me to being followed for 3 miles. It smelled of a money making scam to me and I'll admit, the next time I go to the lake, I'm going to avoid the town of Lake Ozark!

Anyway, we drove down the road to a bar called "Peckers" that featured dueling pianos and had a good crowd. One of the things that I liked about this bar was that it had a varied crowd. It wasn't just a bunch of 22 year olds looking to hook up. It had plenty of 30, 40, as well as 50+ folks looking to hook up!

Actually, the audience consisted of a mixture of locals and tourists that did vary in age. The guys playing piano did a good job of getting everyone to participate including Chris and I, the birthday boys who had to get up to be poked fun at. After enjoying some excellent chicken nachos, Bill and Teri went home while Margaret, Chris, Liquid Kathy and I went back to Shawnee Bluff.

Kathy pretty much passed out, but Margaret, Chris and I stayed up, drank and bullshxtted for a couple of more hours. Needless to say, a good time was had by all! Well, maybe not the cop, but everyone else seemed to have enjoyed themselves!

Oh, one more thing, on the way down we took Hwy. 94 West which has to be one of the most scenic highways in Missouri! A shout out to the St. Louis Sled Dog Club whom we ran into along the Katy Trail!

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

P.S. As I mentioned, Bill and Teri Beasley own Clayton Mortgage Associates and if you would like to find out more about "The Lake" and/or buying/financing real estate at the lake, give them a call at 573-365-5005. Tell em Bob sent you! ;-)

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com

I'm a capitalist and I sincerely feel that capitalism is by far the best economic system that humans have been able to come up with in.

The socialistic idea of "everybody taking what they need and providing what they can" would be great if people weren't the way that they are. That is, greedy.

Capitalism accepts this fact and uses it to motivate people. The end result is that people are rewarded for doing things better and/or smarter than other people and this leads to resources being utilized in efficient ways. Also in capitalism, at least in theory, is the concept that everyone has a chance to succeed. Think of Steve Martin's character in the movie, "The Jerk". He was raised a "poor black child" then went on to make a fortune. He lost it again, but that's beside the point. In America, even somebody raised as a poor black child has a chance to make it big!

Being that I was a white boy that was raised in a predominately black area of St. Louis called Laclede Town and that a good portion of that movie was filmed here in St. Louis, I've always gotten a kick out of that character. The fact that I got into real estate at the age of 22 when the only vehicle that I owned was a 750 Suzuki also helps me to identify with that character's desire to work hard in order to get ahead.

So, while I'm fairly liberal in my political views, I'm also an ardent "free market capitalist". I feel that, within reason, that a person should be able to do whatever it is that they are bad enough to do! I don't have a problem with athletes earning millions of dollars a year for playing games. I don't have a problem with the Walmart people making billions of dollars. I don't even have a problem with some young hotshot wiz kid making millions as a hedge fund manager. I haven't accomplished this kind of success, but it's not been for lack of trying!

So I was amazed yesterday when I picked up a magazine that had an article in it about how the ultra rich spend their money and I was offended. It left me wondering, "When the revolution is going to take place!"

Did you know that you can spend $800,000.00 for a watch? The article also told the story of the wife of one of those wiz kids finding a pair of shoes in a Miami boutique that she liked. The problem was that they didn't have them in her size. It turned out that they did have a pair of them in her size in Los Angeles, so she arranged to have them flown to her in a private jet in time for her to wear them to a party that night!

Part of me thinks, "Well, it's her money" while another part of me thinks, "How wasteful!"

Is this truly what Adam Smith had in mind? Is it "efficient" for some people to have the kind of money where they can be so wasteful while other people are dying because they can't pay for medical care?

A Story

When I first got into real estate I needed some extra money and my then father in law hired me to sand and repaint the bottom of his sailboat. As I was sanding the boat, the guy who was sanding the bottom of the boat next to me struck up a conversation. It turned out that he was a well known attorney who had just settled a huge class action law suit that had been widely reported in the national news.

As we talked, both covered in smurf blue boat paint, I noticed that he was wearing a Rolex watch. I had heard of them before, but had never actually seen one in person. I asked him about the watch and he proudly told me that it was a "Presidential" and showed it to me.

To be honest, I wasn't impressed. When I found out later that a Rolex Presidential watch costs something like $10,000.00 I was agasp! I remember thinking how wasteful! (I also wondered why a guy who could afford a $10,000 watch would be sanding the bottom of his own boat, but that's a different story).

This wasn't too long after I had dropped out of college due to finances and I remember thinking that if I ever got to the point where I could afford to spend that kind of money on a watch, that I wouldn't do it. That I would go out and buy a $500.00 watch and then give the extra $9,500 to some starving college student!

So now, at 46 years old I find out that $10,000 aint nuthin for a watch! I'm left wondering how many kids could be put through school for $799,500.00 ($800,000 minus the $500.00 that a damn good watch still costs).

I also wonder if those expensive watches truly made those people happier?

I'm still a capitalist, but I am also thinking that they has to be a better way. What do you guys think?

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com

I recently got a comment on one of my posts, "Stop Blaming The Mortgage Broker" from a member of the general public, who was, shall we say, not convinced by the arguments that I made in that posting. Her specific comment was,

"Interest only loans, and some ARMs ought to have never been allowed. Whoever allowed these frauds to be perpetrated on the unsuspecting comsumer should be in jail. Is it the baby's fault he chewed on a poisonous toy from China? You Cowards."

And while I understand the frustration that her and many like her have with the whole mess, I think that her comment illustrates that many in the general public still want to place the blame for the current mortgage crises at the feet of the mortgage brokerage industry. To do this is simply and utterly wrong!

As I pointed in that post and in others, it wasn't the brokers who developed these products, underwrote them or funded them. We simply originated them.

Now, again as I pointed out in that post, I'm not excusing any bad behavior on the part of many brokers. If someone lied, cheated or stole, then they need to be tried and, if convicted, put in jail and/or fined.

But, if they were on the up and up. Properly disclosed to the borrower all the terms of the program and were simply doing their job, then leave them alone! It's no different than Sears selling someone a law mower. If they were properly disclosed to as to the dangers involved in that particular product and they chose to move forward, then the blame should lie with the borrower. Nobody put a gun to these people's head!

In this lady's comment she says;

"Interest only loans, and some ARMs ought to have never been allowed."

I disagree. In the right circumstances, with the right borrower, even the payment option arms had their place. I put a close relative of my girlfriend in one. She had a bunch of charge card debt that she was paying 18, 19 and as high as 24% on. We put her on the payment option arm, she made her house payment at the teaser rate, which freed up her income to pay down the charge card debt. Which she did in less than 18 months. At which time we refinanced her back onto a 30 year fixed rate.

The program worked like a charm for her. Should she had been denied the opportunity to utilize this program because some borrowers (many less than the press would lead you to believe, by the way). got in over their heads or made bad decisions?

The lady also says;

"Whoever allowed these frauds to be perpetrated on the unsuspecting comsumer (sic) should be in jail."

To this I say, if it was fraud, then I agree. They should be put in jail and/or fined. However, let's be careful exactly what fraud is. Simply putting somebody on one of these loans, isn't fraud! Again, if the broker properly disclosed to the borrower and the borrower decided that they wanted to move forward, then that is simply a business transaction. Nothing more!

She goes on to say;

"Is it the baby's fault he chewed on a poisonous toy from China?"

My reply; No, it's not the baby's fault of course, but is this the same thing as selling a legal product? In her example there was a law broken. It is illegal to import to the US any toy that contains over a certain amount of lead in or on it.

When I originated an interest only loan or a payment option arm, they were legal products to sell. I also had to disclose to them the terms of the mortgage, that is;

1) The amount they were borrowing.

2) Their interest rate.

3) Their "APR".

4) If it was an adjustable, the specifics about this particular adjustable including the index that the loan was based upon, the margin and the adjustment period.

5) How much their closing costs were going to be.

6) How much I, as the broker, was going to be making on this transaction.

7) The historic performance of the particular index that the loan was associated with.

I also had to point out several other things to the borrower such as that there is the possibility that if they shopped around that they could possibly get a better deal that what I was offering. Can you imagine a car dealer, a jeweler, or any other kind of merchant being required to tell their customer,

"Oh, by the way, just in case you didn't know it. There is a possibility that if you shopped around some more that you might be able to get a better deal elsewhere!"

Yeah, right! The wild thing is that these facts are disclosed to the borrower at least 3 times, sometimes as many as 5 times! Yep! The poor borrower! They "weren't told". Bxllshit!

Don't get me wrong. I do feel for people who got in over their heads and I've come out for the government stepping in to buy these mortgages (at a steep discount - I wouldn't want this to turn into a bunch of fat cats sucking at the government tit) and then working out as many of these loans as possible. You can read my plan in my post, "I'm From The Government".

All that said, people and politicians should cool their jets. If you're going to access blame, put the blame where it should be. On the Wall Street types who created, underwrote and funded these mortgages and the borrowers who took the chance. Not the mortgage broker!

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com

One bite at a time! I had to remind myself of this fact this morning when I came downstairs to my home office. Over the past several weeks I started a couple of different projects and picked up a few that I had already started...such as organizing my filing system!

The end result today when I came down and looked at the piles upon piles of files that were stacked on the floor in my office and in the reception area ready to be refiled or destroyed, my heart sank. "I'm never going to get done with these!" I mumbled to myself as I stepped over them to get into my office. I then sat down and opened up my web page, that I had started to rebuild last year and am only half way done with and my mood soured even further.

I looked up at my "things to do" list that I posted last week and saw that I hadn't gotten many of those things done from that list either.

As I was beating myself up over my gross inefficiency, I started to get upset that I had allowed myself to get so distracted over the holidays with friends and family and that's when it hit me.

With all of my projects and "to do" lists, I didn't include personal projects such as spending time with my 21 (tomorrow to be 22) year old son who was home visiting from college. Surely, spending time with him was equally as important as putting a few files away?

Actually, the files weren't going anywhere, whereas my son was leaving yesterday to go back to Auburn. So, now he's made it back to school safely and I'm already missing him. The house is WAY quiet and I'm almost done with my blogging. As I'm looking around my desk, I still see that damn "to do" list and I was right about the files, they haven't gone anywhere! So, as much as I would like to put these things off, I'm not going to.

I figure that I'll take the list down and re-prioritize it and then grab a box of files and get as least one of them done this afternoon before I get my workout in. If I do one box or stack a day, I should have then done by this time next week. Not having to step over them will go a long way towards making me feel better about getting something accomplished. I guess that it comes down to that old adage about how one goes about eating an elephant......you do it one bite at a time!

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com

Bob's Chrystal Ball predicts the following for 2008

1) AR will still be featuring Broker Bryant's postings at least 40% of the time.

2) Home prices in most markets will stabilize in spite of the government doing nothing practical to fix the credit and housing markets.

3) AR will surpass 200,000 members.

4) 80% of real estate agents over the age of 40 will continue to use their glamor shot from more than 5 years ago.

5) The stock market will take a tumble and finish the year at less than 10,000.

6) Jennifer Allan will still be hot!

7) Interest rates will have to be raised to quell inflation....leading to renewed interest in the term, "Stagflation"

8) I'll finally figure out where to put the comma's in my sentences.

9) First time home buyers will make up the majority of home sales.

10) My family will place a timer on my computer that will kick me off when I've blogged more than 2 hours on any particular day.

Hoping that some of my predictions don't come true, but wishing you a productive new year either way!

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com