2011 Yuletide Tips For Holiday Safety

This holiday season “Don’t Let The Grinch Take An Inch”. The Durham Police Department Crime Prevention Unitoffers simple safety strategies that could lessen, or even eliminate, the opportunity for a crime to occur.

Whether in town or travelling, in general be aware of your surroundings at all times,be alert to suspicious people and vehicles, and avoid dangerous situations.

If You Are Travelling…

• • Before your trip copy all credit cards, airline tickets, passports and important documents ‐ front and back.
• • Jewelry, luggage and all valuables should be photographed prior to trip.
• • Inform your Neighborhood Watch block captain and/or a reliable neighbor of your travel schedule.
• • Remember to stop delivery of your newspaper and mail.

Home Security

• • Utilizing good dead bolt locks can deter a forced entry into a residence. Be extra cautious about locking doors and windows when you leave home, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
• • Don’t display gifts where they can be seen from the outside. Consider breaking boxes down and transporting to the recycle station instead of setting them at the curb.
• • Conduct a holiday inventory. Take photographs or make videos of items and list descriptions and serial numbers. Keep photos/video in a secure place for future reference. If your home is burglarized, having a detailed inventory can help identify stolen items and make insurance claims easier to file. Make sure items like TVs, DVDs, DVD players, stereo equipment, cameras, camcorders, sports equipment, jewelry, silver, computers, home office equipment and power tools are on the list.
• • If you are at home and you hear someone breaking into your residence, leave the residence as quickly as possible. If you cannot leave, lock yourself in a room with a phone and call the police.
• • When you leave home, use at least two timers for turning on lights within the residence. Also turn on a radio or a television. This will give the appearance that the home is occupied.
• • Upon your return, if something looks questionable such as a slit screen, a broken window or an open door, do not go in. Call the police from a neighbor’s house or cell phone.

• • Report any suspicious activity to 9‐1‐1 immediately. When in doubt, call 9‐1‐1 !

• • Neighbors watching out for each other can deter criminal activity in a neighborhood. Consider starting a neighborhood tradition by looking in on neighbors and reaching out in the spirit of the season by helping someone less fortunate or lonely.

Motor Vehicle Safety

• • Never leave your vehicle running and unattended. Also, do not leave a spare key inside the vehicle.
• • Do not leave valuables such as laptop computers, cellular phones and chargers, cash, loose change, radar detectors, detachable stereo covers, GPS, Palm Pilots, CDs, and sports equipment in view.
• • Keep a record of all your serial numbers for stereo equipment, amplifiers, and other personal items.
• • If you choose to drink alcohol at a party, DO NOT drink and drive.
• • Do not create or send text messages while driving.

When Shopping…

• • Park in well‐lit areas. Be sure to lock the car and to close all windows.
• • Carry wallets in front pockets and purses close to your body. Consider carrying your wallet inside of a coat or pants pocket to deter purse‐snatchers.
• • Avoid carrying large amounts of cash; pay with a check or a credit card. Make sure that only one receipt is printed and that only the last four digits of your card are visible on the receipt.
• • When returning to your vehicle (or home), have your keys in your hand ready to open the door.
• • Do not store packages in plain view in your car.
• • If you take packages to the car, but plan to return to the store/mall, drive to a new location. Criminals can be on the lookout for unsuspecting shoppers who simply drop their purchases into the trunk and then return to shopping.
• • Most vehicles are equipped with factory car alarms. If you become startled or are approached in a suspicious manner, push your vehicle’s panic alarm or the horn button on your key fob.
• • When shopping with children, teach them to go to the store clerk, information center or security guard if you get separated.
• • It’s always best to have a second adult when shopping with small children. They can watch your surroundings when loading children into safety seats.
• • Be careful of people who rush you into signing anything – a contract or sales agreement. Read it carefully and consult someone you trust for a second opinion.
• • Be cautious of persons claiming to represent companies, consumer organizations, or government agencies that offer to recover lost money from fraudulent telemarketers for a fee.

Protect Yourself on the Internet

• • Shop with reputable companies. When ordering from a new company, request a catalog and have it sent to your residence.
• • Protect your personal financial information by using a secure browser — one that can encrypt or scramble credit numbers or other personal data. Consider using the company’s 800 number or using a check or money order to pay for your purchase. Always print out a copy of your order and confirmation number for your records.
• • Think security! Be leery of persons asking for your password or social security information.
• • A con artist’s website can look just as professional as a legitimate company’s. Always know who you are dealing with.

 Mitzi Anthony is the Marketing Rep for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact her directly mitzi@choicetitle.com    

 http://twitter.com/choicetitle  

 Her weekly Blog can be found here.

• Our families and those that seem like family
• Our military families and the sacrefices they make
• Our first responders who give up time with their families to watch over ours
• Those less fortunate that next year will be a better year for them.

Stay safe on the highway and God Bless.

Mitzi Anthony is the Marketing Rep for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact her directly mitzi@choicetitle.com  

 http://twitter.com/choicetitle

 Her weekly Blog can be found here.

Thank you to my uncles, cousins and son; for all you’ve done and continue to do everyday.

Mitzi Anthony is the Marketing Rep for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact her directly mitzi@choicetitle.com  

 http://twitter.com/choicetitle

 Her weekly Blog can be found here.

So at this point in the game you have realized the need to clean the garage, now it is time to plan (I wanted to say plan ahead, but that is redundant as there is no other way to plan). You should set aside 12 – 18 hours depending on the severity of the garage. If you’re like me, you wait until it is impossible to actually do work or even start a new project. For those of you that actually park a car in the garage you can skip down a few paragraphs. I generally send my wife away on a “girl’s trip” so that I can actually get this task done. The gulf coast works well, because you get a 2 hour warning call when she is own her way home, so that you know you need to stop admiring the technology of an old carburetor you found and get back to cleaning.

I have seen medically spotless shops that look more like surgical centers than garages. These places are mysteries to me, I am not sure I would be able to find my tools in a place like that, Plus you would miss the surprise when you find something. These people have never used a rusty spring to fix the return on a riding lawn mower, or asked their wife to standby with a fire extinguisher while testing the make shift gravity fed fuel tank on an old motorcycle (I wonder what on earth she is thinking while standing there waiting to see if her husband goes up in a brilliant blue flame as the house gets filled with the smell of un-burnt fuel and screams),  But back to the task at hand.

1. I have found it is best to work from the top down, first hang the various flags and posters back up. They tend to fly off the walls when the garage door opens.
2. Next use a shop vac to suck the cobwebs, and bug bodies out of the corners. Clean the nozzle first or you will leave oil stains on your walls. Be careful around those flags, or you’ll be pulling them out of the shop vac.
3. Take down the bicycles hanging off the ceiling hooks and blow them off with compressed air, fill up the tires while the air compressor is out. (No one expects you to ride anytime soon, but flat tires on a hanging bike means you have completely given up on being healthy.)  
4. Now it is time to focus on the work bench, this becomes time consuming but essential. Don’t get side tracked by anything shiny. This is usually where I lose focus and start cleaning brake calipers, or rewiring an electric winch.
5. Be honest about spare car parts, are you really going to need that radio out of a mid 90’s mustang. Go ahead and toss it, and get rid of that VW hubcap you found on the side of the road (unless you actually own/ed a VW, then there is sentimental value there)
6. Stack various race tires, and wheels in a corner. These are great conversation starters when the neighbors visit.
7. Next I like to rearrange the various vehicles, this does two things, allows access to the piles of dirt and rust that have accumulated under the vehicles, and gives a feeling of accomplishment. Be creative, I tend to sort by fun factor. Atv’s and Motorcycles to the front, lawn mowers and cars to the back.
8. This is also a good time to wipe down the motorcycles, unless there is a lot of chrome involved. (polishing can eat up time)
9. At this point a neighbor will show up (because the heavy work has been done) use this time to catch your breath, enjoy a beer, and catch up on current events.
10. Pick up the fishing tackle and various rods and reels that get stuck in a corner, you can hang up a small amount of fishing equipment (in my opinion this adds a touch of class, especially fly rods) The rest can be stored in the trunk of an unused car.
11. Collect all the old motorcycle, and car batteries and place in a cardboard box for recycling (5$ each) keep the dogs away, don’t rub your eyes and try to keep acid burn holes symmetrical on your shirt.
12.  Sweep up all the dirt, rust, dead bugs etc, if you feel the need you can mop at this point, but that seems snooty to me. I prefer to hose out the garage, with scrub brush and all green detergent.
13.  Sit back, admire your work and wait for comments from visitors.

Gareth Beale is the Marketing Director for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact him directly Gareth@choicetitle.com

 http://twitter.com/gareth_beale

It’s been ten years now and some of those memories and emotions have faded. There are some that I think we should hold on to, forever.

I used to call my sisters and brothers every once in a while, when I thought of it (my parents have been gone a long time). Since 9-11 I’ve made it a point to call them every two weeks. It has made a huge difference in our relationship. Same thing with my children and grandchildren, I make the effort to speak/email/text at least weekly. I always tell them I love them and if I can get my hands on them they’ll either be hugged or kissed! (The boys HATE kisses right now, LOL!). Thank goodness for FaceBook, it’s allowed my whole family to reconnect.

I know what you’re thinking….this is all a one way street. Shouldn’t they be calling or hugging? Well, yes, I suppose so, but the most important thing I learned ten years ago is they can disappear in a heartbeat. Not that I didn’t understand that in some rather abstract way prior to then, but that day brought it home in a most profound manner. I don’t want to wake up some day, having lost someone I neglected or took for granted, when I could have taken a MOMENT to reach out to them. I’m not talking about long diatribes or being paranoid, just reaching out. Tell your kids you love them as they jump out of the car at school, or as you send them out the door to the bus. Maybe a note in their lunch bag or in your husband’s coat pocket. Call your friend just to touch base or say you’re sorry, especially if you’re sorry.

So here’s the point of all this, don’t let daily life get in the way of letting those closest to you know you care. Family or friends, just a note or a call, maybe a quick text, it doesn’t take much and can make a profound difference is someone’s life.

Mitzi Anthony is the Marketing Rep for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact her directly mitzi@choicetitle.com  

 http://twitter.com/choicetitle

 Her weekly Blog can be found here.

NAMB feels lifting of LO compensation rule will boost mortgage related jobs and stimulate the economy through less overreaching lending regulations

AUGUST 30, 2011—As the federal government continues to seek new ways to create jobs and reduce burdensome regulation, the Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB) recommends that the Administration and Congress encourage the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to rescind its loan originator (LO) compensation rule. Ever since the early April implementation of the Federal Reserve Board’s (FRB) Regulation Z; Docket No. R-1366, Truth-in-Lending on steering and LO compensation, consumers have experienced a dramatic increase in costs on their mortgages, in addition, the expenses have increased for all mortgage companies and a great impediment has been placed on the vital service of mortgage lending throughout local communities.

“Over the past three years, more than six different federal agencies have implemented new regulations and rules to try to help regulate and protect the consumer against unethical lending practices,” said Michael J. D’Alonzo, president of NAMB. “This has resulted in a further drain on our economy through overlapping and overreaching regulations.”

According to NAMB, regulations placed on the mortgage industry by the Federal Reserve and other regulatory bodies has resulted in good people being denied loans, in addition to the burden of increased consumer costs and a drastic reduction in the base of local mortgage professionals nationwide who provide homeownership opportunities in their local markets.

“When you take away consumer choice, you take away what has made this country great which is healthy competition,” said D’Alonzo. “This regulation, in essence, has established fixed pricing in the mortgage industry causing pricing to go up.”

As with many new regulations coming out of Washington, the new rules and regulations out of Dodd-Frank are overreaching and have slowed down the housing recovery and job creation, as housing remains the backbone of the national economy.

“Instead of really determining the root cause of the mortgage crisis, like loan type, Washington instead has issued new rules and regulations at individuals, rather than tackle the loan type scenario,” said Mike Anderson, vice president and Government Affairs Committee chair of NAMB. “Like the example NAMB used in its testimony before Congress on July 13, 2011, ‘Did the lawmakers legislate, regulate and impose stricter guidelines on pharmacists, doctors or drug stores after the discovery of harmful prescription drugs like Vioxx?’ No, they did not … they simply pulled the product from the shelf. It was loan type that caused the mortgage crisis. By no means is NAMB advocating going back to the days of reckless and irresponsible lending practices; however, with credit overlays, laws and new regulations, the housing recovery is extremely slow to any substantial recovery. LO compensation has caused hundreds and hundreds of small business to shut their doors and countless layoffs of support personnel in the mortgage industry.”

###

 
The National Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB)—The Association of Mortgage Professionals, is a trade association of mortgage professionals with membership in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. NAMB provides education, certification and government affairs representation for the mortgage industry. For more information, visit NAMB.org.

Once again the government seems to have thrown the “baby out with the bath water” in trying to correct the flaws in the housing sector. Let’s hope they “get it” and back off some of these overreaching regulations so business can grow instead of stagnate.

Mitzi Anthony is the Marketing Rep for Choice Title, Inc., you can respond here or contact her directly mitzi@choicetitle.com.

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Her weekly blog can be found here.

According to Louisiana Realtors Association, those homes that are in some stage of foreclosure sold in the second quarter of this year for approximately 30% less than other homes’ price in the same market. – Mitzi

This article was sourced from www.housingwire.com

Mitzi Anthony is the Marketing Rep for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact her directly mitzi@choicetitle.com  

 http://twitter.com/choicetitle

 Her weekly Blog can be found here.

If you wait until the storm is in the Caribbean or the Gulf the insurer will not be able to produce the documents needed to close until after the storm has made landfall. That can take up to a week or more depending on conditions. I know none of you wants that kind of delay on your business.

Are your clients from out of town and can’t get in due to a pending storm? Get them to leave a Power of Attorney with the closing company so the sale can move forward.

I know just about everyone knows this already, but it never hurts to have a reminder…..

Speaking of reminders my friends, have you thought about what you need if a storm is headed our way?

We all know we need flash lights, radios, water, medications…..what about a will before you head out into the insanity of contraflow? Did you send the kids with your brother or mother? Then they’ll need a Mandate of Custody in order to get medical assistance or request post storm assistance. Remember the nightmare after Hurricane Katrina? Did your elderly parents leave the area? Did they leave their Power of Attorney with a family member?

Being prepared for an emergency requires more than just packing up, every emergency kit should contain legal documents for your family’s protection.

Stay safe my friends.

Mitzi Anthony is the Marketing Rep for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact her directly mitzi@choicetitle.com  

 http://twitter.com/choicetitle

 Her weekly Blog can be found here.

Want to be Successful in 2011, DON’T SET GOALS

The dreaded Goal Setting Blog and assignment, My marketing reps hate it. They hate trying to be specific, they hate justifying time spent in the office, when they could be out drumming up business, they hate giving themselves rewards for meeting goals, they hate sitting still to be honest. Come to think of it, I’m not fond of it either. I always feel like setting a goal is like selling myself short, what if I can do more. If I write down, “go out and get 10 contracts by Friday”, I could get it done, but what if there were 15 out there and I just left 5 on the table, who’d I help there? I see articles where Goals should be attainable, “Who says?” is there a real negative to not reaching every goal? Don’t tell me to reach for the sky when there are foot steps on the moon, the sky isn’t enough for me (I totally stole that from someone else). The other problem is Goals seem to Fade, looking at last years goals January, and February were strong, in March we waned a little, by April Goals got replaced with mere suggestions and by May we were flying by the seat of our pants. Is it any wonder that by the end of the year we are all just reacting to what is happing around us? If Goals for an entire year are going to work we have to shorten the year to 6 months instead of 12, but I don’t even know who to talk to about that.

I think part of the problem is we have complicated Goal Setting, Heck there is an entire goal setting industry out there, if you google “Goal Setting 2011” the first 3 pages are companies who want to charge you to set your own goals. What if one of your goals was to save money, the first thing you would have to do is fire you newly hired official goal setter, and now you’re back to square one. I had an employee a few years back who had to set a goal AND reward for everything. He would write it down the day before for the next day, “January 3, 2011 Goal # 1 – Get out of bed; Reward – say nice things to yourself in the mirror “, Geesh, I can only imagine the look on my Grandfather’s face if you even suggested something like that.

A quick search through the World Wide Web shows that to reach your Goals you need to be S.M.A.R.T (Because goals should be Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Something that starts with R, and Trackable) also you need a M.A.P. to reach your goals (I couldn’t find what MAP stands for, It cost $299). It would seem to me that in today’s feel good, P.C. , need to be Fluffy and Happy Right Now society, goals are as individual as each of us, just like lovely little snow flakes, unique, special and wonderful. Blah Blah, gag me. Look, it takes work, it takes planning, and to be successful at anything you need be able to say, “Get up stupid, you picked the wrong Lotto numbers again, let’s make something happen… today”. Unless of course you picked the right lotto numbers, then stay in bed, and think about what color your Maserati is going to be. And remember I saved you $299, I am partial to Red.

So we figured out Goals don’t work, they’re too complicated and even if we write them down, in 4 months we will have covered them in bills, and Calvin and Hobbs Comic strips about setting goals. On the other hand, we can’t just do nothing, and wait for NBC to announce that everyone gets to be successful this year. So what DOES work? What if we break down Goals? What if we allow them to change throughout the year? What if we don’t focus on getting to an end result but focus on the stops it takes to get there?

Consider Objectives

                Don’t take this the wrong way I do know people who make goals, write them down, and reach them, but for the most part these people are already driven, already organized and have experienced success with Goal Setting in the past. So if it works, by all means continue, this Blog is for the rest of us. The ones who dream more than execute. The ones who think a pile of papers on the corner of the desk is organized as long as it is stacked in according to the color of the paper. You know, NORMAL PEOPLE.

            For the most part I feel Goals tend to 1: Limit, 2: Set people up for failure, 3: They tend to be what a person thinks they want, not what they want to be. Let’s take for an example the most obtuse goal possible. “GOAL: To be a good person” alright now how do you do that? Well good people do good things so in theory you would set yourself an attainable amount of goodness and a  measurable amount of time to do it. So this week I will do 7 good things (one per day on average, don’t want to reach too high) and will schedule a time each day (3 hours should be plenty) to find people in need of a good person. That seems like an awful lot of work to be good, why not “JUST BE” a good person. Someone needs help, help them (without expecting something in return).  Even worse, what if you don’t find 7 people who need a dose of your Goodness, you just failed your first goal of 2011, and you’re not even a good person. How depressing is that? Hang it up fella, how long before 2012?

            Let’s not use the term Goal, besides if we go back to the road map they wanted $299 for, isn’t a map just a series of stops and intersections that form a route and get you (in theory) from where you are to where you think you want to be. So let’s break each route down into stops or objectives.  Objectives are easily changed, If your Goal is head to Best Buy to get that 50” Samsumg LED HD TV for $1099 that you didn’t get on Christmas day, but on the way the radio says that same TV is at Cohn’s for $999, I would think you would make a U-turn and save the $100, but in turn would be failing your goal. (Just an example, I’m not sure how much the TV is at either store). Or another one, and more specific, “ I want to lose 22 pounds by February 2, 2011 so I can be skinny in Cozumel”, Is this a SMART Goal?(Ignore the health issues of attempting to shed the equivalent of a 18 month old in 37 days) It seems to be specific enough, it is measureable, some might think it is attainable, I am sure it is whatever the R stands for in SMART, and tracking comes to .5945945 pounds lost each day which is 4.1621215 pounds in a week. Well what if I only lose 3 pounds this week, and then only 3 pounds next week, well at that point I only have 2 weeks left and still far from my goal weight loss. Forget it, give me a Quarter Pound hamburger with ice cream on top, and a Budweiser. How about my Objective for January is to stop drinking soft drinks, or to walk the neighborhood 4 time a week, or to actually imitate Tony Horton on the P90X dvd’s and not just using them as coasters. I have no idea if I will lose 20 pounds, but I will be healthier, I won’t have failed my goal and I may even be third of the way to “That EXTREME body I always wanted” (according to Tony Horton anyway).

            It is important to remember that Objectives should turn into a way of life, if an objective is to always end the week by clearing off my desk on Fridays, after some time it will just be habit to clean off the desk, and no longer an Objective. Also I believe Objectives should be quarterly, that way you are forced to update them, by definition Objectives are short term anyway. And while a list of 15 Annual Goals will look daunting, 15 small objectives will be much easier to accomplish and you will be surprised at the positive effects of just changing a few small objectives. There is even an app for it (crazy right), for the droid and Iphone. Search Objective Tapper and put it into play.

Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize

            I am the biggest proponent of priorities (Now a lot of times, what is important to me is not important to anyone else). But because you can’t fail an Objective they don’t expire either. So if something important comes up. Move it to the top of the list. I have a day planner that I carry wherever I go. And it is completely empty, not a stitch of wording in the entire thing. Not even a doodle, what is in it is a sticky pad. And whenever I have something to do I write it on a sticky and stick it to the inside cover. Then at various times I re-evaluate the importance of the sticky. Some get tossed because they are done, some get moved to the top of the stack. I am looking at the bottom one now, apparently get references for daycare wasn’t that important because my kids have been in that daycare for over a year. The Top Sticky now says write Blog and clean out day planner.

Gareth Beale is the Marketing Director for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact him directly Gareth@choicetitle.com

 http://twitter.com/gareth_beale

 His weekly Blog can be found here.

The new guidelines set a standard for appraisal independence. Lenders can exchange information with appraisers, but they cannot “directly or indirectly coerce, influence, or otherwise encourage an appraiser or a person who performs an evaluation to misstate or misrepresent the value of the property.”

Among other rules:

· Banks cannot tell the appraiser of any expected or qualifying estimate of value.
· Banks cannot specify a minimum value requirement for the property that is needed to approve the loan or as a condition of ordering the valuation.
· Banks cannot tie an appraiser’s compensation to loan approval.
· Banks can’t blacklist an appraiser if his valuations fail to meet expected thresholds.

The agencies also clarified that broker price opinions (BPOs) don’t comply with the minimum appraisal standards.

Source: Housing Wire, Jon Prior (12/02/2010)

Gareth Beale is the Marketing Director for Choice Title LLC, you can respond here, or contact him directly Gareth@choicetitle.com

 http://twitter.com/gareth_beale

 His weekly Blog can be found here.