Education, Preparation, Inspiration

If you don't have a dictionary, I highly recommend you purchase one. I want you to see for yourself that the word which I imagined, is not there. FOROPENER. I am a bit of a vain person and I actually just can not wait to bask in the glory of hearing people start using it in everyday conversation. "Hey my aunt Bertha just had a foropener!" I await the day when we no longer have to translate that foropener is obtaining home ownership in 2010 and beyond. A foropener, by it's very nature cancels out previous foreclosure associated with that home. It rights the wrong and allows the new owner to occupy in peace and harmony, knowing they have done something to take back our country from the banks and stake their claim to the American Dream. Someday, Fox News will report ( It may take CNN and Katie Couric a bit longer but that's another blog) that there were almost 10,000 foropeners which occurred this year....

Until then, there is much work to be done. The first element of creating for your very own foropener is education. I suggest that any person looking to purchase a home become educated crazy. You need to thirst for education on the topic as if you had been in the dessert for 1 year without water and now you have the chance to drink. I understand that little scenario isn't grounded in reality of course you can not live that long without water but you get the picture. I am a blogger, not a journalist after all. You can come to one of our workshops for education (http://rivercitymortgageloans.com) or you can simply start reading. Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying your First Home is great because it also comes with a CD. If you are a wanna be investor then you can't go wrong with Flipping Houses For Dummies by Ralph R. Roberts and Joe Kraynak

Education will help you to prepare. Preparing for home ownership is critical to your success. The lender will want a copy of: 2 years federal tax returns (include all w-2s); two months most recent bank statements; two months most recent pay stubs if you are self employed substitute a year to date profit and loss; name and address of your landlord; employment and residence history covering a two year period. If you have a decent loan officer, that person will let you know what your payment is going to be upfront. Personally, I always give my clients a range. I say look this is the lowest possible your payment will be and this is the highest. If they can live with that, then we move forward. Prepare for your payment, I advise working out a budget. If you don't know how to budget, here is what I think would certainly help The Budget Kit: The Common Sense Money Management Workbook by Judy Lawrence.

Many wonder how it is the element of Inspiration is necessary to create a foropener.

Inspiration: The act of inspiring or breathing in; breath; the opposite of expiration.

If you have ever walked thru a foreclosed home, you will understand that in a lot of cases, there is a residual element of sadness sitting in the air. The home was owned by a family and their time expired. Sometimes they leave to you bicycles or custom mini blinds or upgraded berber carpet throughout. In most cases, it is evident they left the home in desperation and humiliation. It is only right that the next owner counter-act all of that with plenty of inspiration. Inspiration is life and it is the antithesis to Foreclosure. It's the thing that truly redeems that home and makes it special and new for the new family. The new family has become educated, prepared and that will cause the inspiration which seals the deal.

I personally am inspired to see the real estate in America go back into the hands of the people. A bank owned nation of homes is by no means a free nation. I will do my part by helping people with their quest to secure home ownership, one foropener at a time.

Next: What's the fico score got to do with it?

Redefining our idea of Home Ownership

For openers, it's good for you to know that I have spent my entire career helping people obtain homeownership. There were times, especially in the past 3 years wherein I thought perhaps I should obtain some sort of "day job" or "real job" because the mortgage industry was mostly massacared over the "foreclosure" epidemic. Problem was, my heart was and remains IN helping people obtain their first home and quite frankly I don't make the best employee. Perhaps I will share more on that in a future blog..

In any event, it is the destiny of our nation for hardworking, responsible individuals who wish to take on the responsibility of homeownership be afforded that opportunity. Therefore, at some point, namely NOW lenders are beginning to open up again and have some reasonable standards of approval. The programs are out there and the clients are many. If you are a reader, you can read all about them with a book called Mortgage Encyclopedia by Jack Guttentag. The beauty of this book is that it will help you with some of the mortgage terms your loan officer may be using. Lending talk is another language so it would do you well to take a crash course!

The climate for purchasing a home has changed dramatically. I am speaking primarly about the homes which are on the market. Nationally, those homes consist of homes which are either foreclosure homes (also known as bank owned or r.e.o.'s) or short sale homes (i.e. eventually that is a home which will become a foreclosure). The word foreclosure is now heard daily by most and the media had innundated us with "foreclosure statistics", "foreclosure predictions" "foreclosure options".

It is not lost on me that although mass in number, each foreclosure likely represents a family that has unwillingly was forced out of their home. I am not here to argue blame or judge any party involved in this catastrophe. And we all would agree, it certainly has been a catastrophe. I am merely taking a moment to acknowledge the loss of those families and in a way pay some respect to what's dead. Most families, I assert did not go into their homes thinking ok this is fine for now but in two years I will be foreclosed upon so I better not get too comfortable. Most families did not anticipate losing their jobs. And for those who did not lose their jobs, I doubt they realized the full ramfications of the loan for which they obtained. No, I think most people had a dream of raising their kids in their homes and possibly selling years later. Most people were happy to pay their mortgage since it meant freedom to paint the rooms or change the carpet or install a central vac.

Currently, we are in a place where all of those foreclosed homes are back on the market. And homeownership for others has never looked better. If this applies to you, I invite you to help me battle this word "foreclosure". Let's stop the media overload of that word by combating it with what's called a FOROPENER. A foropener is word which is not yet in the dictionary. Yeah, I thought of it and I hope you will use it. I made it up, after I could not find a word which was good enough to wage war on the word "foreclosure".

Foropener: An EVENT such as homeownership, primarily on a home which was previously owned by the bank.

See, I didn't even have to use that other dreaded word to define mine.

I do not want to live in a country where the vast majority of homes are bank owned. The result on our freedom and morale will be devestating. I am committed to helping individuals who are able and willing to own a home, do just that. My team and I will educate, prepare and inspire. The result will be a homeownership, otherwise known as a FOROPENER! A foropener, by it's very nature sets out to right a wrong which has been done. Every time a bank owned home is purchased by a family who took the time to become educated on the process and prepared for the event moves in- in essence, it rights a wrong which was done to the previous owner. Wouldn't you agree, THAT'S INSPIRING!

If you can forgive me for making up a word that thus far did not exist and you feel that you would like to investigate the idea of homeownership, please contact me. I believe problems that were not previosuly imagined (massive, nationwide, foreclosures of epidemic proportions) will require solutions that have not previously been found in the dictionary: Foreopeners.

If you would like to apply now, http://rivercitymortgageloans.com/

Next time I will write on exactly what is needed to create a foropener.