Steve Hall's (affinity_mtg) Blog

Hi there Active Rain Community,   I am currently in the process of rebuilding the Affinity Mortgage website, actually I'm roughly 90% finished with the project.  Along with the main Affinity site, I've been contracted to produce and maintain 10-12 other websites/blogs in the real estate arena. Wh...

As difficult as it may be to stay cool and collected when debt collectors hound you, knowing what to expect when dealing with these agencies will help you formulate a plan and lessen the chance of being taken advantage of.   Ten Rules for Handling Collection Agencies 1. Realize that credit collec...

The big risk of identity theft comes with the benefits of high technology and faster       communication methods to provide information. As criminals have found new ways to steal and manipulate someone's information for their own use the number of white-collar crimes has greatly increased.Most pe...

Determining the truth about reverse mortgages is not easy. You need to be educated on the program so that you can make the best decision for your personal situation. Basically, if you get a reverse mortgage you will be getting a loan that will allow you to have a monthly income coming in, or a l...

I was called on by a company last week wanting to sell me Internet leads. During his presentation he told me about his exclusive leads, how great his company was at producing leads, how long they had been in marketing, what great minds they had working on their campaigns and that they could provi...

The day begins just like any other one normally would.  You're on your way to work in the morning and realize you need to make a quick pit stop at the gas station before you run out of fuel completely.  You fill up the tank and grab a coffee and newspaper once inside the store.  You offer the cas...

Myth No. 1 - It is easy to dispute a credit report. Consumer's can resolve their own issues. To be honest, it IS simple to challenge a credit report. However, as an everyday person, it's amazingly difficult and frustrating to get results from the credit bureaus. Here's why. This is a little-known...

Even through all of the doom and gloom predictions of the first and second quarters, interest rates continue to hover at all-time lows.  Take a look at the bond market over the past 30-days:    Not only have rates improved since May 24, they continue to break through ceilings of resistance; which...

I know it sounds like the title of this Halloween's next horror movie, or maybe even a documentary about sports medicine, but the ARM's I'm referring to are obviously Adjustable Rate Mortgages.  A big deal has been made over the past few months about how the next devastation to hit the real estat...

I get the question quite often, what is mortgage planning?  The simple answer is that mortgage planning is looking at a mortgage from a different perspective; a hybrid of a typical loan officer and a financial planner.  We use a clients mortgage as a tool to achieve the client's long and short te...