Thursday, February 28, 2013

Best bargains in March


calenadar

Best Bargains In March

It’s hard to believe that today is the last day of February, isn’t it? We hope you found some good buys these past few months. Today, we have recommendations for the best deals in March.

Frozen Food

The National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association has declared March to be Frozen Food Month, and you should be able to find some great deals on fruits, vegetables, and meats. Stock up if you have the room for it.

Perfume and Jewelry

All the perfumes and baubles that didn’t get sold over Christmas and Valentine’s Day will start to show up in the clearance and overstock stores like Burlington Coat Factory, T. J. Maxx, or Sam’s Club. Jewelry tends to have the best discounts in months without holidays. And while we love St. Patty’s Day, it’s not well known for giving jewelry.

Houses

The winter months are some of the most difficult for selling homes. People don’t want to go out in the rain and cold. Landscaping isn’t at it’s prime since many plants are dormant. So now could be a good time since you will have less competition.

Gardening Tools

Gardening season may not be in swing yet for some areas if you still have snow on the ground. But it shouldn’t stop you if you don’t. Now is a good time to buy some pruning shears and all the other equipment you need to get your yard ready for spring planting.

Winter Coats & Apparel

The bargains may be even better then last month because retailers want to clear the way for the Spring clothing lines that are being released in March.

China & Flatware

Wedding season is approaching. And that means that stores will need space for the new designs, and you can get great deals on last year’s looks.

Air Conditioners and Boats

Yes, still on sale. Once temperatures start to rise, the deals will get smaller and smaller.

Luggage

Manufacturers release their new models in the early spring before the busy summer travel season, so now is the time to pick up any new pieces that you have been wanting.

Bicycles

Bicycle manufacturers release their new models in February and March. So to get a great deal on last year’s model, go buy that bicycle in March. The retail stores need to clear out the inventory.

Fresh Food

Fruit and vegetables are always cheapest when they’re in season. So what’s in season right now? From DailyGreen:
Here is a list of fruits and veggies that are in season for March:
  • Artichokes
  • Asparagus
  • Chicory
  • Chives
  • Dandelion Greens
  • Grapefruit
  • Greens
  • Horseradish
  • Leeks
  • Lettuce (leaf and head)
  • Oranges
  • Parsnips
  • Peas
  • Rhubarb
  • Shallots
The flowers in season are tulips, peonies and day-lilies.

Humidifiers

The heater is still on and the outside isn’t humid yet. So help keep static cling at bay.

Weddings

Since most weddings are not in the cold and rainy season, you can get some great deals on your wedding location. Of course, you will probably want to plan it for next March as last-minute weddings could be expensive.

What will you buy this month?

Hey loan agents 13 tips for a fabulous 2013

13 Ways to Make 2013 Your Best Year

Jan.14


By Todd Duncan Since 1992, I have studied the strategies and behaviors of top producing Loan Officers throughout America. I have personally interviewed over 800 loan officers that make at least $250,000 a year in sales commissions, work less than 50 hours a week, and have an approach to achieving balance in their life. RJ Crosby comes to mind, and just last year he called to thank me because he had “closed 45 loans in one month and had taken two weeks off.” Mike Metz texted me that he had “closed 125 loans in the last two months and grossed over $550,000 in revenue. That’s the kind of success I’m talking about.

What do Loan Officers like RJ and Mike do to get to that level? And if you knew their secrets, you could model those and get the same results. At our Sales Mastery Event last, year, RJ and 15 other Loan Officers did exactly that – showcased their “secrets”, which are not really secretes, but truths, laws, principles, that when followed make the biggest difference in your life and your business. Here are the top 13 that are guaranteed to make your 2013, and every year hereafter your best year ever.

1. Operate from a plan

I have been teaching this for years, and in fact the plan that I think set’s you apart from your competition and would allow for you to build great wealth is the same plan I used to do exactly that over 25 years ago. I call it the Magic Formula. It’s straightforward and looks like this. Get 10 Referral Partners, like a Realtor, to refer you 8 borrowers a month each that will buy a home in the next 12-months.

If you master the borrower conversation and have strategic referral synergy with your partners, you will convert 25% to applications that month. So, if you talk to 80, you get 20 loans apps. If 90% of those close, you close over 200 loans a year and you are in the top 1% of Loan Officers in America. And by the way, if your conversion rate goes to 75%, which is where the pros are, that is over 600 loans a year. Think of that business plan at a couple thousand a loan and you could get really excited I’m sure.

2. Prospect and set appointments with referral partner targets

The number one avoided success discipline is prospecting – no question. Loan officers are locked in the grip of fear when if comes to prospecting. Why? Because they have not achieved greatness in the area of making sales calls. This was the first thing I got good at and I had a 90% close rate of calls to appointments to relationships. Every business needs customers, and while you can find buyers today through lead machines like Zillow, or radio shows, those consumer direct approaches have high volume, which is a time consumer, and low conversion, which is poor ROI.

Nothing wrong with either or any approach as long as your time is leveraged and your conversion rates are high? I have found the best way to do this is through one to one relationships, where the referral is strong to you, the conversion is high and the ROI is maximized. So, you have to get good at partnering, especially if you know your financial dreams can come true with only 10 solid partners. The best way to find, for example, new real estate agents is on every deal you have. Simply work all sides to the transaction and you can set appointments with any agent or affinity partner involved. As you continue reading, you will see how to do this.

3. Ask strategic questions to foster trust and learn opportunities to add value

When you have an appointment set, it’s important to ask meaningful, well thought out questions. You cannot have strategic partnerships unless you guys are talking about strategy. And you can’t talk about strategy without uncovering needs. And you can’t uncover needs unless you ask questions. These are my favorite questions to ask Realtors in a 30-45 minute meeting.

When you ask the right questions you get the insight to what the prospect needs from you for their business to operate at a higher level. To be a “strategic” partner, you must help develop strategy around these needs and you will secure the relationship forever.

4. Systematic Follow-Up: Weekly with Partners

Here’s a rule I live by - if you are not in touch you are out of touch. If you don’t connect with your partners on a weekly systematic basis, you will not optimize the growth the partnership has to offer. And, you will not develop the habit of securing the leads that can come out of the relationship through a more consistent approach. Remember your plan. If you need two borrowers a week to speak with, you must ask for them. For example, if you are working with Realtors, here are the 5 weekly questions you must ask them to stimulate the referrals of borrowers for you to have conversations about. There is not a loan officer on the planet that would not get more loans if he were consistent about asking these questions.

5. Systematic Follow-up: Weekly with Borrowers

Another critical rule I call The Nine Magic Words – If you don’t follow-up, they won’t follow-through. Personally, I love the idea of “Catch and Release” as a fishing protocol. I love throwing trout back into the stream and I love tagging a large Marlin and letting it go. But, catch and release is a horrible business strategy. The most successful loan officers break borrowers into four categories and stay in touch with them until they apply – which some will do immediately, so might do after talking to other lenders, some might do after thinking it over, and some might do after months of contemplation. The key is you want to be right there, having already established trust, when they decide to pull the trigger. SIT stands for Stay In Touch and you cannot go wrong using the below diagram and your CRM to continue to add value to your borrower prospects and increase your conversion over time.

Also, the single most effective tool you can use to create a brilliant High Trust Presentation with borrowers that increases your conversion rate is EDGE from my friends at Mortgage Coach. Every top producer swears by it.





6. Systematic Follow-up: Regularly with Closed Customers

Here’s another important rule – If you want your clients for life, you must talk to them during their life. Far, far too often loan officers do not have a dialed in retention strategy for their closed loan borrowers. This is the most valuable part of your database in that it represents your annuity income. It is the true economic value of your labor to this point in your career. To leverage that, you must be in touch. If one buyer can do another loan with you and refer you to three others over the next 5 years, that’s 4 loans, or about $8,000 in commissions. What if you have 400 of those buyers? That’s $3,200,000 over five years. That’s $640,000 a year!!! This is a whopping $53,300 a month! Do I have your attention? All you have to do every year is:

a. One annual review

b. Four quarterly calls

c. 6-10 meaningful marketing touches

I recommend that if you don’t have this system in place that you talk to my friend Mike Gulitz, President of Mortgage Planner CRM. It’s the best turn-key system in the market.

7. Pipeline Efficiency: The Perfect Loan Application

There was a wonderful book written in the mid-nineties by Jeffrey Meyer entitled, “If You Can’t Find the Time To Do It Right, When Will You Find The Time To Do It Over?” I have been instructing loan officers for a very long time on the importance of having a huge commitment to quality in their loan applications. The mindset of the top producer is the loan application must be complete. It must have all documents needed to support qualifying for the loan. It must have a cover letter to let processing and underwriting see what the Loan Officer sees. And, it will be approved. The top producer never “Hopes” a loan will get approved.
On a side note, I recently applied for a loan on a second home we were buying. I was a very successful loan officer. I know how to package and submit loans. And I must tell you that loan was approved and cleared to close within 14-days with no additional items needed by me to clear it.

In Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, my favorite habit is Be Proactive. It solves 99% of your daily problems around loan file and pipeline management. This is by far the most important efficiency habit you can ever develop. I tell you this at this point in the article because the 7th and 8Th things you can do to make 2013 your best year ever center on this single habit. And to add a touch more value to this idea, always remember that bad loans will always get worse and good loans will rarely get better. You can be PROACTIVE on bad loans, but it is still a less effective approach.

8. Pipeline Efficiency: Proactive communication standards

Another great efficiency rule - If you don’t call them, they will call you. The perfect pipeline management system is the one that eliminates all inbound calls from all parties to a transaction for the duration of the processing and closing of the loan. What is your communication system for your pipeline? As of the end of last year, well over 50% of a loan officers time goes to reacting to loans in process – the opposite of proactive. In a nutshell, here’s RJ Crosby’s system. (you can listen to this interview if you are a Mortgage Mastery Club member) And by the way, their phone doesn’t ever ring accept for new buyers…. What a concept!

a. Weekly pipeline review meeting with team at 2:30. ALL status is emailed out by 5:30 to ALL parties to the transaction. Since they all expect it on Monday, they do not call the office.

b. Morning huddles for 15-minutes reviewing all pipeline movement for the day. What loans have action on them today?

c. Based on b above, RJ then calls the listing agent, the selling agent and the buyer and advises on loan movement. He measures 4 milestones – Submitted, Appraisal in, Docs Out and Funded. Since everyone knows, including the borrower, that this is the system, it is rare that he receives inbound calls.

d. As promised on Number 2 above, RJ then uses every opportunity to connect at funding with every agent he does not do business with regularly and sets an appointment to do Number 3 above to initiate a new relationship to expand his business.

The single most important thing I would do if were in business today would be this – everything success, rises and falls on your efficiency.

9. Customer Survey’s

This is huge and one that too many loan officers shy away from. We all want to serve the customer well. At least I hope that is an assumption I can make. However, we usually don’t have a system in place to make sure this is happening, except after closing, which is too late.

Besides #10 below, all loan officers should survey their borrowers:
24-hours post application – make sure everything is working so far! Answer any questions.

Mid-process – halfway through the transaction – are we on track?
72-hours post-closing – how did we do? Will you use me again? Who do you know?

It is impossible to exceed a customers expectations without knowing what those expectations are, so make sure you are asking the right questions, you know how they’d like to be communicated with and how, you know the best times to reach them, you know their service expectations, etc. And, ALWAYS survey your referral partners, and do it weekly – “do you have any needs I need to meet or meet better?”

RULE – Never run from a customer, always run to them.

10. Pre-closing Reviews

This is one of the best strategies ever invented in terms of loan file efficiency and eliminating problems at closing. First of all, most loan officers spend too much time at the end trying to make up for everything that did not go right at the start. Assuming you are implementing the rest of the tips shared with you so far, the pre-closing review is a natural extension of your commitment to quality and service. It can happen between 3 and 7 days from closing and essentially is the final checklist on the “runway” to closing the loan. On this call you are confirming the closing date, location, directions, loan terms, final needs, HUD and all the essentials that a borrower needs to know to make closing smooth. In the old-days going to closing was a great idea. But as your volume builds, that is harder to do plus if there was a problem, it was hard to fix it then. So, again, DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST time is what the Pre-Closing Review strategy is all about.

11. Closing Gifts

There are many ways to say thank you at closing so I will leave it to you to choose but pick something that is strategic and optimizes the chance you will get referrals. I will give you one recent example. Christina Longo is a 100 million dollar producer in Boston. She is in the top 10 LO’s in her company of over 700 Loan Officers. She sends a cookie bouquet and the icing is a reproduction of the borrowers house to the employee’s residence. She’s strategic too in that the bouquets have a dozen helium balloons with Congrats and You Did It. Obviously these rise above the cubes and people for the next 3-5 days the bouquet is there ask about congrats and you did it. PERFECT segue for the borrower to talk about their home and the loan and their LOAN OFFICER. Use a floral card-holder and put 10 of your business cards in the bouquet – viola!

12. Build a team and delegate everything

No question on this one. I will be bold and come out straight away and tell you that 80-90% of what you are doing every day does not produce income for you, including email. I will tell you with 100% certainty that if you don’t have an assistant you are one. And, I will go so far as to say that if you don’t build a team of 1-5 people around you and this is your career, you will take on average 4-6 times longer to produce your optimum results – let’s see – what does that look like – well, maybe you take 40 years to do what you could have done in 10!!!!!! Clear? Here’s what a team of 5, including you, might look like.

13. Say Thank You

And make your thank you huge and memorable! I recently interviewed Harvey McKay who without doubt is one of the best business writers of our time. The interview was on his most recent book, The McKay MBA of Selling. The next day, I got an overnight FedEx and inside was a 5-page thank you letter. Yes, five pages of this:

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

That’s right. Over 600 thank you’s for a 45-minute interview. And then a simple closing paragraph of his deep appreciation for our time together. How you say thank you is as important as saying thank you. Make your thank you as memorable as you can and business will always flow your way.

Discipline will lead you to your masterpiece

Discipline Will Lead You To Your Masterpiece

Feb.13


By Todd Duncan Jim Rohn once said, “For every disciplined effort, there is a multiple reward.” And when you think about it, discipline is one of your best allies when it comes to success. That’s because you will never change your life or your business without daily disciplines that keep you focused on success. Masterpieces are created when you make good decisions each day and then commit to managing those decisions that you have made. I like John Wooden’s advice when he says, “make each day your masterpiece.” As I look at the autographed basketball and Pyramid of Success he gave to me, I’m reminded that he constantly instructed his players to make each day their masterpiece:

"When I was teaching basketball, I urged my players to try their hardest to improve on that very day, to make that practice a masterpiece. Too often we get distracted by what is outside our control. You can’t do anything about yesterday. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come.

However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece…This rule is even more important in life than in basketball. You have to apply yourself everyday to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little bit better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better. Only then will you be able to approach being the best you can be."

And, you do have the power to be your best. Think of it this way: How would the person you see yourself becoming in the future be acting today, in the present? What would you be doing on a regular basis? What would you be embarrassed to find that you weren't doing? Is there room for a few fresh strokes on your canvas of success to paint a brighter future?

Do you have the Knowledge to succeed?

Do You Have The Knowledge To Succeed?

Feb.27


By Todd Duncan I have found that most loan originators don’t take action consistently in the areas that produce better results. Success in today’s market is about discipline and disciplines. Knowledge acquisition is the first discipline you should do on a regular basis that will help you succeed in any market.

J. Paul Getty gave some great advice when he said, "To succeed in business, to reach the top, an individual must know all it is possible to know about that business." That’s especially true of the origination business today, given the unprecedented economic times we’re living in.

It is vitally important that you spend at least one hour a day gaining knowledge about everything happening in the markets and in the mortgage industry. Find one or two economists you understand and read them regularly so you gain a consistent impression about what is happening.

In addition, study scripts so you are prepared for any objection that comes your way. If you don’t practice more than you play or, in our industry’s case, if you don’t prepare before you talk to clients, you will look unpracticed, unstudied, and unknowing. That’s not the way to build a successful business.

Willow glen yoga



 


 

Pamper Yourself

 

Spring into 2013: Yoga & Wellness Retreat with Kent Bond March 22nd - 24th 
Just fifteen minutes south of Santa Cruz! Join me in the serenity of the redwoods, Land Of Medicine Buddha is a world famous retreat center where you can surrender to nature.

You will unwind, de-stress, unplug and relax while deepening your practice.  Retreat offers 4 yoga classes with Kent, tasty vegetarian meals, massage and sauna to detox, along with a lecture on Ayurveda with guest Gabriel Benjamin. This retreat is suitable for all levels of practice.

Come and enjoy the fresh air and miles of hiking trails in this charming spiritual center.

Call me at 408.202.7441 to learn more about the retreat or sign up now under Classes...Workshops at http://www.willowglenyoga.com 

 

 
 TWO FOR ONE!
Manage Your Mood with Yoga and Food workshop
Kent Bond will lead a yoga class designed to help you to manage anxiety and embrace life's challenges. 
Learn about how food affects our mood and behavior with Mary Ellen Hannon - Health Coach- this amazing workshop now at Willow Glen Yoga!
April 13th 12:30-2:30 PM 
Light lunch will be served after class before the lecture 
$50 early bird special one week prior and  $60 thereafter
For a Free e-Nutrition Book and a 45 minute Health Consultation with Mary Ellen Go To: Contact at go to http://shaktinutrition.com

 


 

Register for the Retreat Now

 

Fastest growing companies flock to Linkedin

28, 2013, 11:25am PST Updated: Feb 28, 2013, 1:47pm PST

Fastest growing companies flock to LinkedIn, abandon Facebook



Facebook is losing ground among the nation's fastest growing companies, while LinkedIn is becoming more common as an aspect of their social media strategy
Web Producer- Silicon Valley Business Journal
Email | Twitter | Google
Social media spending at the nation's fastest growing companies is increasing, but more and more of that cash is going toward LinkedIn, not Facebook.
That was the finding of a study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, which examined social media use by companies listed on the Inc. 500 list. The number of companies using Facebook declined to 67 percent, while the number that said they used LinkedIn shot up to 81 percent. Last year, Facebook and LinkedIn were neck in neck among respondents, with 74 and 73 percent of companies saying they use them, respectively.
Twitter use was essentially flat, with 64 percent of companies reporting they used it compared with 67 percent last year. Foursquare saw a bump, with 28 percent of companies using it compared with 13 the year before, and Youtube increased to 45 percent from 30 percent last year.
Newcomer Pinterest is also doing well — less than two years after its launch, the service is already being used by 18 percent of respondents.
The report comes as a validation for LinkedIn, which has been angling to become an essential tool for business with advanced products for recruiting, and which has reinvented itself as a content destination by beefing up its distribution tools with things like LinkedIn Today.
It's not good news for Facebook, however. The company has been trying to prove its value to brands as it tries to grow its revenue as a public company, but it's suffered a series of missteps, such as alienating the operators of Facebook pages by charging them to reach all of their followers, and then admitting that the metrics they use to gauge how many people see a post were flawed.
Jon Xavier is Web Producer at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1826.

12 debt myths that trip up consumers

  • JOURNAL REPORTS

  • Updated February 25, 2013, 8:57 a.m. ET

  • 12 Debt Myths That Trip Up Consumers


    Borrowers too often fall prey to the conventional wisdom. And it can cost them.


    Avoid debt if you can.
    If you can't, borrow carefully and conservatively.
    So the conventional wisdom goes. But if you follow it blindly, you may miss out on key nuances of dealing with debt.
    For instance, consider store-brand credit cards. They often offer no-interest financing, and rewards on store-bought products. Sounds great. But did you know those attractive financing terms can come back to bite if you carry a balance after a promotional period?
    Then there's mortgage debt. A big down payment may be a great way to steer clear of a huge home loan. But if you get the money for the down payment from relatives, lenders may scrutinize your financials closely.
    As many people look to rebuild credit or land loans, it's crucial to know when the conventional wisdom makes sense—and when it doesn't. With that in mind, here are some top myths that consumers fall victim to when borrowing today.

    1. Once you marry, you're responsible for your spouse's debt.
    Many couples think marrying each other means merging their debt loads, but that generally is not the case. While many couples opt to pay down debt together, neither spouse is usually legally obligated to pay off debt that the other incurred before marriage, says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at credit-monitoring service SmartCredit.com.
    However, be aware that a spouse could lose that protection. If you refinance a loan with your significant other and put your name on the loan's promissory note, or add yourself as a joint account holder of a credit card, you'll likely become responsible for those debts, even if your spouse took them on before marriage, he says.
    Brian Stauffer
    Know also that you may be responsible for debt your spouse takes on after you wed, even if your name isn't on the account.

    2. Credit cards from your favorite retailers are a good deal.

    The pitches for store-branded credit cards can sound enticing, with lures like interest-free financing and rewards. But the deals may be much less appealing if you tend to carry a balance.
    Some of the cards operate like payment plans where borrowers make a purchase from the retailer on the card and then have a number of months to pay it back, interest-free. But if you don't pay off the whole balance in the allotted time, you'll typically have to pay interest on the entire amount you initially charged retroactively—often at a higher rate than a typical credit card, says Odysseas Papadimitriou, chief executive of credit-card comparison website CardHub.com.
    For instance, Apple offers customers up to 18 months interest-free on purchases on a card from Barclaycard US. But if you don't pay off that specific purchase in the interest-free period, you'll face a variable annual percentage rate that's currently about 23%, according to the Apple website.
    Other cards don't offer deferred interest, but come with fairly high rates, says Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at CreditCards.com. "Even somebody with excellent credit will be paying 20-plus percent," he says. For instance, the two cards offered through Banana Republic have variable rates recently at 24% and 25%, higher than the recent average rate of 15% on all variable-rate cards.

    3. You're too rich for federal student loans.
    Some well-off families figure they won't qualify for federal aid and don't apply. But that means they may have to turn to private loans instead. In recent years, as many as 41% of families earning $100,000 or more didn't file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is necessary to land federal loans, according to a Sallie Mae survey.
    But passing up on that chance can be a mistake.
    For one thing, well-off parents and students can get federal loans, as a number of them have no income limits. And private loans can come with higher rates than federal loans, or variable rates that could very well rise in coming years. Another key drawback: Private loans generally don't offer the flexible repayment plans, tied to a student's income, that federal ones may.
    If that's not convincing enough, consider that even private lenders recommend that you consider federal loans in the college-funding process, no matter what your income. "We encourage students to explore Stafford loans, which may have lower rates, and to compare options, such as PLUS loans and private loans, to fill any remaining unmet need," says Patricia Nash Christel, a spokeswoman for Sallie Mae, the largest private lender.
    4. Dutifully paying off your mortgage each month will do wonders for your credit score.
    The typical scoring model from FICO, standard bearer of the credit score, will cut your score for missing mortgage payments. But don't expect to get a lot of points added to your score for making those monthly payments on time.
    That's because, in FICO's models, missed payments say more about your riskiness than regular on-time payments do.
    "Negative information can be very influential, positive information helps your score more incrementally," says Frederic Huynh, senior principal scientist at FICO.

    5. Money from a family member makes an easy down payment on a home.
    Even if people don't buy a home entirely with cash, they're being more careful to put down big down payments. And often that means turning to family members for money.
    But those kinds of gifts may set off red flags for lenders. With much tighter lending standards than before the crash, banks are looking closely at where the money for your down payment came from, says Erin Lantz, director of real-estate firm Zillow's Z +5.17%Mortgage Marketplace.
    Some lenders want to see that any gift for a down payment has been in your bank account for a significant period of time, and most want to see that its origin is documented, says Ms. Lantz. "What the lender would ask for is the whole path of that money. Where did that money come from? How did it come into your account? What has it been doing in your account? Has it been sitting there?" says Ms. Lantz. You'll also want a letter from the person who gave you the money, stating it was a gift.
    And make sure you have documentation showing the money going from one account to the other, says John Prom, a mortgage banker at Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc. in New York.

    6. Today's tight lending criteria apply to auto loans too.
    Lending criteria for mortgages remain tight. But standards for car loans are comparatively looser. A January Federal Reserve survey of senior bank-lending officers found 16% reporting they had eased standards for making auto loans in the preceding three months—compared with 6% for prime residential mortgages.
    That's in part because auto loans come with lower delinquency rates and are therefore less risky, says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
    "For most people, the rates are the lowest they've ever been. Anyone with decent credit is going to get a loan at a lower rate than they've ever seen before," he says. But you'll want to shop around, as rates can vary widely, even for those with good credit, he says.

    7. If you agree to separate your debt in a divorce, it's separate.
    While a legally binding divorce decree is an important step in separating marital debts, it does not alter your agreements with lenders, says Rod Griffin, director of public education at Experian. "People think: I went through the divorce, I have the decree, why is [the joint debt] still there?" he says.
    What you'll need to do is call the lender and figure out how the joint debt—whether it's a credit card, student loan or mortgage—can be placed in the name of only one ex-spouse.
    Sometimes, a lender will require you to close the joint account and transfer the debt balance into a new account held by one individual. Other times, an ex-spouse may need to refinance the mortgage or other loan independently, obtaining the new loan based on his or her own financials, he says.

    8. A high income and credit score means you'll be pitched the lowest interest rates on credit cards.

    Credit-card companies and issuers are currently sending bevies of offers to affluent people with good credit. The rewards on some of those cards—like cash back and airline points—can look appealing. But they often come with higher interest rates than the lowest-rate cards, with or without rewards, says Mr. Woolsey of CreditCards.com.
    The lowest-rate rewards cards go for around 11%, while the typical higher-end rewards card, like the Visa Black Card, carries a rate around 15%, says Mr. Woolsey. Plus, the higher-end cards usually have annual fees.
    Meanwhile, the lowest-rate cards without rewards go for between 7.25% and 8.00% APR, says Mr. Woolsey. Of course, affluent folks can qualify for those low-interest cards—but card companies and issuers won't usually pitch them as hard.

    9. If you've looked up your credit score, you know your credit score.
    You know one credit score. The problem is that lenders may be looking at a different credit score than you are—and there's no easy way for you to know if it's better or worse.
    Consider the widely used FICO score. There are actually 60 slightly different iterations of FICO, and lenders may pull a different score depending on what kind of credit you're applying for, says Mr. Huynh.
    If you're applying for a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, lenders typically pull three FICO scores available directly from each of the three major credit bureaus. But if you're applying for an auto loan or credit card, the company will likely pull a score tailor-made for that kind of credit product, says Mr. Ulzheimer.
    While the various FICO scores are usually in a similar range, that's not always the case. For instance, certain scores ignore collections below $100. In some cases, a person's FICO score that falls into this category could be 100 points above a score that doesn't ignore such collections, says Mr. Huynh.

    10. A late credit-card payment will damage your credit.
    Late payments can bring fees and interest charges—but unless you're really late, they may not put a dent in your credit.
    "There will be consequences, but they won't be on your credit report," says Mr. Griffin of Experian.
    It comes down to standard practice in the credit-reporting business: companies usually don't report a late payment to a credit agency until your payment is 30 days past due.
    It takes time for other kinds of late payments to hit your credit report, too. Medical debt, for instance, usually won't show up until the bill goes to collection, says Mr. Griffin.
    11. All mortgage and home-equity interest is deductible.
    Deducting interest is one of the big appeals of a home loan. But if your mortgage is too big, you won't be able to deduct all of the interest you paid.
    The federal government has set a cap on the mortgage-interest deduction: You can generally only deduct interest on mortgages up to $1 million. So, if your mortgage is $2 million, you can typically deduct only half of the interest paid.
    The typical threshold is even lower on home-equity debt: $100,000.
    But if you're using some of that home equity for significant home improvements, that portion usually falls under the $1 million cap for mortgage interest instead, says Jeremy Kisner, a certified financial planner and president of SureVest Capital Management in Phoenix.

    12. Buying a home with cash is the best option, if you have the money.
    Covering a home purchase with cash is in vogue. With the housing market heating up, the tactic may help a buyer win a bidding war—and the idea of not living under a mortgage can be appealing.
    But going with cash isn't always the best financial choice. Mortgage-interest payments can be deducted on your tax return, which can save you a bundle.
    Then there's the opportunity cost of handing over that much money. Some people prefer to invest the money they would have spent on the home purchase, betting it will earn a higher return than the interest rate on the mortgage when considering the tax deduction, says Jimmy Lee, a financial adviser in Las Vegas, Nev.
    Ms. Ensign is a staff reporter in The Wall Street Journal's New York bureau. She can be reached at rachel.ensign@wsj.com.

    Groupon CEO bids farwell best farewell note ever


    Groupon CEO bids farewell in the best goodbye note ever


    Managing Editor- Silicon Valley Business Journal
    Email | Twitter | Google
    Groupon’s embattled CEO Andrew Mason has stepped down today from a company that’s been struggling for months (years?) to stay relevant in the online social coupon world.
    He proves entertainingly witty with his bad news in this farewell letter (found on a blog site I couldn’t verify):
    People of Groupon,
    After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today. If you're wondering why... you haven't been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that's hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.
    You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I'm getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we've shared over the last few months, and I've never seen you working together more effectively as a global company - it's time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.
    For those who are concerned about me, please don't be - I love Groupon, and I'm terribly proud of what we've created. I'm OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I'll now take some time to decompress (FYI I'm looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I'll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.
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    Shana Lynch is Managing Editor at the Business Journal. Her phone number is 408.299.1831.