Doug Jones's (dougj) Blog

I had to throw the "Mo' Bettah" in the post. I was in a remote area on the Big Island eating breakfast in a small restaurant and besides my wife and me there were only locals in the restaurant. We were eating pancakes and a gentleman stood up and walked over to a cooler and brought us a different...

Well, Rates increased slightly today. The Fed cut of .25 was already factoredinto the rates.  Yesterday’s market drop is easy to explain. Investors were too confident that the Fed would cut interest rates three times in 2025, and almost certain another cut would come in December. But the Fed isn’...

Many homeowners assume that once a property passes inspection at the time of purchase, it doesn’t need another one for decades. But just like cars need regular maintenance, homes benefit greatly from periodic professional inspections — ideally every five years. This proactive step protects your i...

If you're considering a reverse mortgage in California, it’s important to understand the “hidden income test” — the financial assessment lenders use to ensure you can sustain your home long-term. While reverse mortgages don’t require monthly payments, borrowers must still cover property taxes, ho...

I am the number one critic of me. In reply to a blog Kit Palmiotti made a simple comment that made to do a review. Remembering good things, happy things and visualizing beautiful things can change gloom into delight. Today I read some old testimonials and they feel pretty good.From Earl JosephI a...

This is an email I sent to our reps today. We are adjusting all of our online presence. On Google we have 21 reviews. It is easier to ask for a G review than Yelp because the person writing a Yelp review needs to open a Yelp account. Years ago we had a total of over 150 Yelp reviews but they kept...

I identify with these words from Bob Seger in his song Against the Wind.I'm still runnin' against the windI'm older now but still runnin' against the windMy entire life I have always had a feeling of 'less than', not good enough. But last night I read this testimonial below for the first time eve...

Over he years I have heard that people think 50,000 thoughts per day. That is a big number and Queens University in Canada says we may as much as 70,000 thoughts. I have also heard that 95% of todays thoughts are the same thoughts we thought yesterday. If we want to change anything in our life be...

When we first opened Mortgage Magic there were four of us; three loan offices and a processor. Every morning we would meet together and each of us would write five affirmations. We would read them aloud then rotate the papers the affirmations were written on an read them again. By the end of the ...

It is estimated that 80% of mortgage loans have an impound account. An impound account also known  as an escrow account  is a financial account managed by the mortgage lender to collect and pay  property-related expenses, such as property taxes and homeowners insurance premiums. A portion of the ...