Abe Loper's (chicagoabe) Blog

How many times have you handed out flyers, programs, or informational brochures only to find them sitting on chairs, placed on tables, or falling out of waist baskets shortly thereafter?  The hazard is real.  I hosted an event last week with almost 100 attendees.  After making my rounds, speaking...

    By Bryan Gentry Published: December 14, 2008 Young Professionals of Central Virginia was trying to serve local businesses by helping to attract or keep young, skilled workers in the Lynchburg area. In its first several years of existence, however, the group has earned a reputation mainly as ...

If you've ever looked over my REI profile page thouroughly, you've noticed that I do a small bit of day trading. That trading is in the currency markets called FOREX (Foreign Exchange). I usually have two laptops in front of me all day long. One is of my forex market positions and the other is wh...

I'm not gonna go on and on here and I'm not going to take out a magnifying glass and wax eloquent on the intricacies of mortgage backed securities.  I just want to give you all a little corner of the information that mortgage people like myself use to help forecast the future of our markets.  I'm...

I'm gonna make this short.  It's not a rant against any agent.  I love the agents that I work with and they generally do their homework when they start working with a buyer.  Now, maybe you can help me out.  I don't know what sort of questions you usually ask your clients the first time that you ...

Welcome to Guaranteed Rate.  Since our founding in 2000, Guaranteed Rate Inc has grown to become the largest independent mortgage company in the Midwest. We’ve been able to achieve this growth by following the simple idea of providing a streamlined mortgage experience for our clients combined wit...

Hey guys! I wanted to shoot you all a quick blog about renting out rooms and condos (I don't know if this will work with single family homes). If you live near a college campus or in a larger city, you have an even better opportunity to take advantage of this advice. Sometimes, those of us who ow...

The following is a clipping from a much longer article that can be found at http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070504mole,1,5235800.story?track=rss.  As a loan officer, I think it's great the government is out there, watching us, and making sure that the "snakes" are caught.  They're watc...

For those of you looking to enrich your knowledge of history and current chicago markets, these events may prove helpful.  AbeThe Survival of Yerkes ObservatoryWhat: Part of the Eric R. Multhauf Lunchtime Lecture Series, you'll hear from Carol JH Yetken, CYLA Design Associates, Inc. and Walker C....

In the aftermath of the recent storm of foreclosures, I've heard and read a lot of people sharing their thoughts on who is responsible and what caused the problems, how to fix the problem, how not to fix the problem, etc.  More often than not, it's lenders and adjustable rate mortgages that take ...