Stallion Habit 105 - Can you get out of debt faster

I had Country Wide call me telling me that they could save me lots of money by refinancing. At first, they were going to hardly charge me anything and give me a really good deal.

As we get into the deal, they started adding all kind of junk fees onto my loan.

I sent the good faith estimate over to my banker KC Kuttler at Patriot Lending 208 406 3834 http://www.patriotlending.org/ to see if he could do better. Not only did the interest rate drop from 4.67 to 4.375 but all of the junk fees were gone.

I raised my payment $300 per month, but I knocked 13 years off of my mortgage. Now if I was smarter when I first got married, I would have got a 15 year mortgage right from the get go and I would be out of debt. But over the last 15 years, I have refinanced 6 times.

Can you believe that? I would always do a 30 year loan. I really do believe that being out of debt is the 4th leg of retirement that people never talk about.

I am also going to be so bold as to say, if you can't afford the payment on a 15 year loan, you probably should buy the home. Why would you pay for the home 3 times?

I am only going to save $250,000 in interest by refinancing, and I am getting rid of 13 years of financial bondage. Whose the man now?

Thanks Burke Bennett Licensed Broker/Realtor of SE Idaho Homes
http://www.seidahohomes.com/
208 589 5599
burkebennett@hotmail.com

Stallion Habit 104 - Be a Yes Man

My family and I watched the clean version of Yes Man with Jim Carey.

One of the things I thought that was good was that he opens up his opportunities just by saying yes to every opportunity that presents itself.

In the movie, he starts to have success and later he has problems because he has to say yes to everything.

In real estate, although there are tons of good deals right now here in SE Idaho, not everything is a good deal. One of the best ways to find a good deal fast is to take the list price and divide it by the square footage to get a cost per square foot.

I once paid $50 for a CD that stated this one simple truth.

So let me help you find a "Yes deal." Some homes scream buy me because the price is right, but chances are if you like it so do 5 other people and so we need to jump on it fast.

Thanks Burke Bennett
http://www.seidahohomes.com
208 589 5599
burkebennett@hotmail.com

Stallion Habit 103 - Use your church members to network

Times are getting tougher and more and more people seem to be out of work.

The good news is that people realize that they need a social network group more than ever to provide for their family

I advised a close friend recently who didn't have a belief in God to go to church even if they don't believe in God just so they could meet people that could help them find a job.

If he would, church goers would ask him what he is doing with his life. He is bound to respond, I am currently unemployed and looking for work.

The church has a network of people who are willing to help people accomplish whatever it is they are in need of.

The scripture, knock and it shall be opened unto you will certainly come true if he would follow this advice.

As a realtor, I have a network of people that I have developed over the 10 years I have practiced real estate.

I look forward to helping you network quicker using some of my connections to help you with your housing needs.

Thanks Burke Bennett
http://www.seidahohomes.com
burkebennett@hotmail.com
208 589 5599

Stallion Habit 102 - Break it down in to doable goals.

One thing I have learned over the years that I am trying to teach my children is to break down a project into smaller parts so that you feel that you accomplish something.

One of my kids is working on his eagle project, and I am trying to get him to do one thing per day. He gets frustrated because he thinks he has to do all of it right now and it has to be perfect, but he sits there and does nothing.

This has been going on for several months. I refuse to do this for him because the whole point of the eagle project is that he does all of the work himself.

Just like the old saying. "You eat an elephant, one bite at a time."

What can we accomplish in this life, if we would break large goals into smaller achievable goals.

The same goes into finding a home. I think people think they are going to find the home they are looking for with one house hunting party, but it usually takes several trips.

Once you decide what you are looking for, I can use the computer to narrow down the choices very quickly my typing in what it is you want.

I can search by almost any criteria you can think of.

I look forward to working with you in helping you find the perfect home.

Thanks Burke Bennett

http://www.seidahohomes.com/

208 589 5599

burkebennett@hotmail.com

Stallion Habit 101 - Get a filter on your internet

Holy cow there is a lot of crap on the internet! We found out through a family meeting that some of our kids had pulled up some inappropriate websites.

We are working to get a filter and limit internet usage.

I believe the images that some of these websites have can distort healthy relationships and expectations of marriage.

We really need to be careful what we put into our minds. Filthy images can destroy marriages, and cause depression and other addictions.

I have had some really messy real estate deals that have taught me many lessons on how to prevent them from happening again.

Just like you need a filter for your family, you need a realtor who has had numerous real estate deals to guide you through the pit falls of a deal going south.

I look forward to advising you of the pit falls of any real estate deal here in SE Idaho.

Thanks Burke Bennett
http://www.seidahohomes.com/
208 589 5599
burkebennett@hotmail.com

Stallion Habit 100 - Keep your laptop away from your 2 year old

I love my two year old Kache. Twice in the last few weeks, I have come home to find out that all my keys have been pulled off my laptop that I use to to my real estate work here in SE Idaho.

I have also found that my key have been lost or broken, and all because I haven't prevented this.

Anticipating problems before they happen are the key to happiness.

When buying a home in SE Idaho, I always recommend you get a home inspection.

Having an expert look at what you are buying before you buy it is always a good idea.

I have even had a home inspection cause the sellers to come down an additional $2000 in price because of problems that needed to be fixed.

I look forward to helping you find the perfect home here in SE Idaho.

Thanks Burke Bennett
burkebennett@hotmail.com
208 589 5599
http://www.seidahohomes.com