Deuce

Um. There's really no such thing as true "Pre-approval" until the property has been appraised. So, if the market was really slow you could have a property appraised and then bring the appraisal to a loan broker who would bring your application package and the appraisal to a lender who would then "approve" you for the loan amount. Then you could take that to a seller and negotiate a deal. Pre-"approval" letters are generally written by loan brokerages. When I do mine, I will include the credit score of my buyer and a thumbnail sketch of their financial position. With so much 100% financing around, a big selling point is someone with the werewithal to put together a 20% down payment. Another good way to negotiate a deal is by putting up a significant deposit. Only do this if you are really serious, but putting up $10,000 instead of $1000 of "earnest money" (meaning the seller gets to keep it if you flake). One of the worst things that can happen to a seller is to have their property off the market for a month and then the buyer can't get financing or flakes. Anyhow, that's why there are contingencies in the contract. The buyer is making the offer on the presumption, to be verified by inspectors, that the property is pest free and needs no significant repairs. If damage is found, we renegotiate. Again, the best loans are the biggest pains in the butt for all concerned, and "A-paper" lenders will not finance properties that don't have any discovered damage repaired prior to the close of escrow. For anybody not from around here, this is what about $550,000. gets you in the Oakland Hills. ( I really like this house)

Tony Hathaway's site has some really good info.

PM sent. I do both real estate and mortgage lending. It's a great time to buy because there is a lot of "inventory" of housing in most markets and interest rates are still really low. We bought our first house in 1989 and interest rates were above 10% and 100% financing was unheard of. Now, a conventional mortgage (below $417,000) with 20% down on the property, three months reserve cash in the bank and at least two years working in the same profession, and a good credit score (720+) 30 year fixed mortgages are going for about 6.25%. I got into lending because I saw so many people getting screwed by unethical lenders. Folks who offer "no cost" loans would be doing them at a loss, right? So how do they get paid? Lenders offer brokers interest rate and rebate (looks a lot like "kick-back" but that would be unethical) options. With the above conditions I could get you a "par" loan where the lender offers me no rebate but the lowest interest rate. In that case, you would pay me 1% of the loan amount plus the fees from my processor and the lender's fee. Some loan people call that a "buy down" of the interest rate. The best deal is to pay the loan costs "out of pocket" and have your Realtor negotiate a credit for closing costs into the purchase price of the home. That way you get the best interest rate and aren't out any cash. (That's why I like to do both ) As the interest rate goes up, the rebate gets bigger. At the interest rate that is easily a half point (percent) over "par" the rebate can be as much as 3% of the loan value. Hell yes I'll pay all the fees etc if you insist a crappy loan that really costs you three times what is available. The kicker is that the "rebate" does not show up as a cost on the title documents at signing. It is documented as a transfer of funds between the lender and the loan broker. Because people are so freaked out by the huge sums in the transfer of California property, if it's not in the cost or credit columns they don't pay attention to it. Anyhow, all, be careful who you do business with. As to foreclosures, they are typically "as-is" and sight unseen. Lenders generally won't lend on them because you are in effect asking the bank to give you a half-million dollar credit card to go to an auction on the courthouse steps. If you overbid, the bank is in the hole because if you default, they can't get their money out of a crappy property that got bid up and suckered you in.

I went through this when I had my injury that retired me from being the PO-lease. I was having cortizone injections in my heels (you have no idea) but then the pain would come back and I needed vicoden (they didn't have oxy back then). I went in to see my Dr. to increase my vitamin V dosage and he said he was cutting me off. I had to stifle the urge to grab him. He said he was putting me on a drug called Tramadol/Ultram and I was pissed. I took the dosage on the drive home and halfway back I had this amazing feeling. I wasn't codeine buzzed but I was NOT IN PAIN! Tramadol is much better for pain management than vicoden, and it does not give the morphine buzz. It lifts mood some, but I think that is just because it blocks pain so well. Tramadol/ultram really is the best way to get off opiates. Ask about it. It does interfere with sleep some, but it really does cancel out the pain only without the morphine buzz. It was responsible for me kicking the vicoden habit.

QuoteAlright then, how about a little strut on the inside of the cover - like a car hood?[/reply What is wrong with you? It's a bonnet. Good lord. Have we won the language war too?

Ah, phooey. I was all ready to get into the mixed-race American superior athletes and why if they had the athleticism to place soccer, a child's game, why wouldn't they play a real sport like baseball, football, or professional wrestling?

Soccer is for countries that don't play hegemony.

Basketweave black belt?

This is the most published one. SkyAngel2 over Perris. Wings ads and the JFTC calendar. Sorry about the Shutterfly site. My life kinda fell apart the first part of the year and is now getting reassembled, better, stronger, and faster.

What the hell am I, chopped liver? Yes. What are you, retarded? The Games were last week. Amazon has a rental car and would probably never live in CA, so I'm thinking she's my designated driver. Plus, she could drink a gallon of scotch and still be legal to drive. I'm thinking of sharing the day with her at Six Flags Marine world with one of my girls if she wants to. Jean?

Oh, dude. I emptied a half a big cannister of OC on a 60 year old guy who HAD JUST HAD A LASER FACE PEEL and he looked at me and said "I own you now" and the fight was on. Epic. Once the stuff got to him the snot locker was open big-time, but it had no immediate affect upon initial application. I remember thinking "Crap, this trendy pepper crap has nothing on mace". It was great, the guy kept fighting (drunk driver) and I really put a whooping on him. As always I kept repeating "Sir, please submit!" but he was obtuse. Got a citizen's commendation for that one. "Officer Kelly was so polite even though the man kept calling him a motherfucker and kept trying to hit him" Ah, I miss it.

Yeah,, that's the preferred lens at Byron. I have the Sigma 14 aspherical, but it's pricey. I normally jump a Canon 20.

The Canon 70-210? The barrel extends when you zoom it. I never used it much outside of skydiving and yeah, it happened on a jump. With the barrel extended to do some canopy portrait work and a hard opening it sproinged. I use a fixed 100 now for canopy portraits.

We're talking citizen self-defense here. Not detaining a suspect. "Spray and run away": citizens. "Season and tenderize": cops. Alternatively, "Blind them and beat them", "Scuffle and cuffle", "Application of the habeus grabbus", and "Hook'm & book'm" Citizens can arrest somebody for an offense that warranted a self defense spray, but that's stupid. Just get out of there uninjured and call the cops.

Scott, the opening shock can screw up the mechanicals in a zoom. I see lots of people jumping them, but I wrecked my Canon zoom jumping it and will only jump fixed from now on. JP

The problem with pepper spray is the delay of onset. It can be several seconds. The advantage to it is it also works on animals. Mace is much faster. (CS) Mace does not stop dogs. It bugs them, but pepper spray will deter them. Look, the best defense is to not be where the crime occurs. I'm licensed to carry in Ca. (there's about 9 of us). If friends invite me to go to an event, and then ask me to make sure I bring a pistol, I'm not going. It's one thing to be prepared for the unexpected, it's a whole nother thing to put yourself at risk on purpose because you have a "weapon". Mace and pepper spray are both available over the counter in CA and don't require training or any other certification. There is a product out there that is a combination of both and is very effective. The advantage to pepper spray is that it is easier to wash off. Mace is a gift that keeps on giving.

Hi Sartre! And Remi? Feche le vache. Maggot.

Dude, you are a quality guy. You pick up Thai food, drink massive quantities of champagne and tequila, and don't taunt the hungover. Quality man, right there. But your not a poofta. You are a pillow-biter.

Hey, Val I've been missing the old-timer's posts! Glad to see your name. Lany has a picture of me hugging a guy where I think I have FME, but that's wierd, no? Lany, you got a copy of that picture of me and CDB thats on Roy's locker?

Your post was specific to 4 way, so check out the gallery of my team at http://www.onyx4.org/index.html 10D with Sigma 14 aspherical, autofocus, focus set to center sensor only. Photos not cropped. 200ASA, shutter priority at 750. Good luck.

6 patches and a dozen stickers. I like the penguin.

Hey, y'all, I got a call from the managers of Bay Area Skydiving and they are ready to commit a second plane if we have enough committed jumpers for Sunday the 18th, the day after Shannon's memorial. I figured we'd have a ton of out of town jumpers, so please let us know if you plan to stay over to jump. Please help with a list if you are going to be there jumping on Sunday for the GFD boogie. Deuce Amazon (she's staying with me, I can't wait for my girls to meet her) Gravity Girl Gareth Sandy Matthias (please add on if you plan to attend) JP

JP, everybody? Do you have video of Shannon I could compile? I understand there are lots of folks who are disappointed with how long it's taking me and Iwan to get the Holiday Boogie video out, but both of us have been blessed/cursed with "interesting times". More about that later. If you have video of Shannon, and me and Iwan have tons, please send me a PM for my home address. I'm putting something together for her memorial. JP (NorCal)

I like this one of her, Vanillaskygirl and dagimp

Holy cow, Bob, that was amazing. What a perfect representation.