return of the return of the mack

So, it’s been too long. Way too long.

I have never been on such an emotional roller coaster.

Wanna ride with me?

Let’s start at the beginning.

When I first started out in the mortgage industry, it was a different time…to say the least. I had worked in my family machine shop for about 8 years. I decided one day that I wanted something different.

So, I quit.

We had just completed refinancing our home in Milwaukie, OR a couple months before that. My wife had mentioned that since I had a good grasp of all that paperwork, maybe I should seek out a career in Real Estate.

Within 2 weeks, I started my career at a small mortgage broker in Sandy, OR.

I had worked an isolated job for the better part of the last decade. I could count the number of friends and contacts I had on less than two hands.

That being the case, I was basically told that the phonebook was my “sphere of influence”.

Time to “dial for dollars”

I hate telemarketing. That’s probably because I hate to be telemarketed. But, I didn’t have much choice. I needed business.

I did get the occassional “walk-in”; mostly because we were located next to the Starbuck’s right on Highway 26 in Sandy.

After 6 months, it became obvious that the company was headed for a downfall. Bad management had doomed this startup, and I needed to get out.

So I found a mortgage broker in Vancouver, WA. Same deal though; telemarketing. Yuck.

One day, I found myself sharing an office with someone who was good on the phone. Coincidentally, he wasn’t much for parsing tax returns. I love calculating income. He and I decided that he would do the calling, and I would do the paperwork.

That was the arrangement for the last 3 years. I didn’t need a license. I didn’t need to hunt for business. I just needed to know how to get loans done. It worked well.

And then, a ninja was born

When the mortgage meltdown started, I frequently found myself yelling at the TV, radio, and computer. The media did an absolutely piss-poor job reporting what was happening. (This has not changed, by the way.)

I decided to start blogging. This is the most money you will spend on a single item in your entire life. You deserve to know everything possible about it. Unfortunately, most of the people doing the talking are trying to sell you something. Or scare the hell out of you.

That was the genesis of homeloanninjas.com; a guy working behind the scenes sharing information. In the shadows. Ninja-like.

Unintended Consequences

Some people found value in what I was doing here. They actually started asking me about loans. Not being a licensed originator, I would refer them to the Loan Officer I was working with.

This started happening with more frequency. This was a good feeling. Instead of bugging people during dinner, people were coming to me. I liked that.

I decided to become a licensed originator again. Right about that time, the Loan Officer I was working with decided to move to a different company. I wished him well, got my license, and thought everything was cool.

Except it wasn’t.

When you are just some guy blogging about mortgage information, it’s not a big deal. When you are a licensed originator, there are very specific limits on what you can legally say. This tends to be a problem for a guy with 149 blog posts.

Furthermore, I was informed that if I wanted to keep my site, the bank I worked for would have to make it a licensed entity. Thankfully, Pinnacle made it happen. Now, I just have to resurrect all of my content.

Acceptance speech

I have a lot of people to thank. Pinnacle for making me official and letting me keep doing things the ninja way. People like Cheryl Bledsoe, her husband Tim Bledsoe, Kellie Creasey, Debra Trappen, Scott Carden, Thesa Chambers, Carole O’Dell, Chris Smith, the guys at ZZoom Media, and too many others to name. Your support, love, and ears for my venting are appreciated so much more than I can express.

I am rising again with a full heart, new purpose, and more determination to make this site the absolute best place to get mortgage information. It is because of your support that I have more passion for this endeavor than ever before.

Thank you. I owe all of you a big, fat ham sandwich.

There is much work to do in the coming weeks, so please bear with me. I will work my ass off to make it worth your while. There will be a new feature that I am absolutely thrilled about, but I’ll talk more about that later.

As always, if you have any questions, comment below, email, Facebook, Twitter, call 503.799.4112, or let’s meet up.

UPDATE

Due to a faulty website backup and restore, I lost all my old posts. Another opportunity to make the site better!