"Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it." -- Mark Twain, author ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ People who want to move mountains must start by carrying away small stones. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand." -- Bruce Barton ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." -- Abigail Adams __________________... 05/22/2008

"Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." -- Abigail Adams _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ "There is no excellence uncoupled with difficulty". Ovid _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Set S.M.A.R.T. goals: Ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Tangible. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Stand firm for what you know is right, it's wise, as I have found. The mighty oak was once a nut that simply held is ground. Agnes W. Thomas ______________________________________________________________________________... 05/18/2008

Bankruptcy: A legal alternative that allows the borrower to clear any debt obligations by restructuring the payment terms. A bankruptcy stops the foreclosure process until the bankruptcy process is completed or the court allows the lender to resume the foreclosure.  Deed in Lieu: Voluntary conveyance of title in exchange for a discharge of debt.  The house must be free of other liens and must have clear title.  In simple terms, the borrower agrees to transfer title of the property to the lender, who accepts the property in exchange for the total debt.  Deed of Trust: A legal document that dictates the terms of a loan used to buy a property and transfers the ownership of the property to a third party called a trustee until the loan has been paid in full.  Default: Occurs when the borrow... 05/16/2008

Number One: Absolutely DO NOT ever deed your property to a third party without absolute confirmation your loan has been paid off! Note: if you believe this option is best for you, please consult with an attorney - not the buyer's attorney - before completing the transaction. If you deed your property to a third party, that party then controls the property. The new owner can rent the property (and keep the rent), attempt to sell the property to make a profit, move into the property or use the property in other ways. What the new owner might not do is make mortgage payments, and that could become a big problem for you. Just because you no longer own the property does not mean you are no longer responsible for the mortgage loan obligations. The lender made the loan to you. And until it is... 05/15/2008

" Winning starts with beginning." -- Robert H. Schuller _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Hope, purpose and determination are not merely mental states. They have electrochemical connections that affect the immune system. --Norman Cousin _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Nothing ever built arose to touch the skies unless some man dreamed that it should, some man believed that it could, and some man willed that it must." -- Charles Kettering, inventor _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Sometimes you must fight and win, just because all the pain and suffering you experienced up to ... 05/15/2008

Consider the effect on your credit report:   You will suffer much more damage to your credit report with a foreclosure than you will with a short sale. It will also take considerably longer to restore your credit rating once your financial difficulties are resolved.In general, here's what happens: One of Your Option's is: Full Foreclosure or a Deed-In-Lieu of Foreclosure:   Expect about the same things to take place. Quite often this means a loss of between 200-280 points on your FICO score. A pre-foreclosure FICO of 675 could drop to as low as 395, essentially eliminating you from many years of future credit approvals. It may be as long as three years before you can qualify for another home loan. Best Option = Short Sale:   Expect to suffer some credit score damage, but nowhere near a... 05/13/2008

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared with what lies within us." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Supreme Court Chief Justice ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Don't lose faith in humanity; think of all the people in the United States who have never played you a single nasty trick." -- Elbert Hubbard ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Don't let your pride become inflated -- you may have to swallow it someday. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "A man's mind, stretched by a new idea, can never go back to its original dimension." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes __... 05/13/2008