Money Merge Account

I was having a conversation with an old friend who related a misadventure he had experienced a number of years ago. Because of his reaction in a moment of anguish and duress, he found himself unfairly shackled, in an orange jumpsuit, about to spend the night in a cell with a complete stranger.

Fortunately for my friend, he had the resources to raise bail and hire a competent attorney. For him, justice prevailed and all was well. Not so for his one night cellmate. He had three children but no money. He had languished in the system for days and had no idea how he was getting out.

Now you may be asking, what on earth is the relevance of this story? Well, I suppose there is a social commentary about justice and fairness that could be offered, but this is not about politics or social justice. This is about money. The Bible tells us it is evil to love it; however, to use it well is wisdom.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon comes into his old age and is bewailing the emptiness of wealth for its own sake. However, to paraphrase, he says the following: for wisdom is protection just as money is protection, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors. My friend found that because he had been wise with his money, it was there when he really needed it. That night it went beyond something that was nice to have and became necessary beyond his expectations.

So I ask you, is it wise to treat our financial resources nonchalantly? I am suggesting that while each of us must make decisions for ourselves, it is unwise and foolish to fail to acquire the truth about any effective strategy that can revolutionize how we use our money. Good grief, unless you are the beneficiary of some enormous trust fund, you’re probably working your tail off (like me) for what you have.

If you have not investigated the possible advantages to your financial well being that the Money Merge Account System™ can provide, you may be cheating yourself out of the fruits of your labor.

Click on the link: Money Merge Account System™ and you can look to the left and request a free analysis. Or you can email me: (Paul Phaneuf) if you have specific questions about the Money Merge Account System™. I’ll be happy to answer them. You can decide for yourself if it works for you once you see the numbers.

Paul Phaneuf
Paul@PaidAndFree.com
www.PaidAndFree.com

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” – Woodrow T. Wilson

Not too long after I started appraising, I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I didn’t feel any sense of purpose to what I was doing. I certainly don’t want to minimize the work that appraisers, or even other mortgage professionals, do - we need them. But for me there was no fulfillment. I was just making a living. I had forgotten the errand.

Bringing the Money Merge Account™ System to people really does fulfill what President Wilson said: We are able to bring hope to people who may have never imagined home ownership without the bondage of debt. The debt on a home is considered “normal” in our society. We have become complacent in letting the “standard” banking instruments work so well for the lenders and not for the homeowner. Offering this system really is “a finer spirit of hope and achievement.”

If you would like to talk about how the Money Merge Account™ System can bring new hope and a vision for a bright future to you, send me an email or give me a call. I’ll be glad to help.

John Janecek
United First Financial
Independent Agent #895492
JohnJanecek@gmail.com
(805) 757-1404

Here are five quick and easy tips to prepare for your home appraisal that are frequently overlooked:

1. Turn off your sprinklers

The appraiser is going to have to walk all around the outside of your house to measure, take pictures and look at the overall condition of your property. If your automatic sprinklers are on - or worse, they turn on while he/she is standing in your yard - the appraiser isn’t going to be too happy. Yes, appraisers are supposed to be impartial, but don’t forget that they are human - with human emotions - and can get real annoyed if they have to go to their next appointment soaking wet. They’ll be even more annoyed if their electronic equipment, like their digital camera, pda or laser measuring device, gets completely ruined. Also, if your sprinklers turn on overnight and you have a morning appointment, the appraiser will have to walk through your wet lawn and muddy flower beds. Keep the appraiser happy by providing a dry yard to walk through. Obviously, you can’t control the weather, so if it’s just rained or is raining when the appraiser shows up, don’t worry about it. The appraiser has to handle weather. But if you have sprinklers on, the appraiser might think that you are rather inconsiderate.

2. Put away or control your dogs.

Appraisers are people. Some of them like dogs, others don’t. But dogs are dogs. I’ve always had dogs, but it seemed that whenever I showed up at someone’s home, their dog treated me like the mailman. Maybe the dog senses the homeowner’s apprehension. Even if your dog is super friendly - I’ve never met a lab that wasn’t super friendly - don’t make the appraiser get distracted by your dog. The appraiser might miss some very important features of your home because he/she was looking at the dog or trying to make sure the dog wasn’t sneaking up to bite. Put your dog in the garage. Make sure all doggie doors are closed off. Then, when the appraiser is ready to look in the garage, put the dog outside or in one of the bedrooms. Oh, and let the appraiser know what you are doing. He/she will recognize that you are being very considerate.

3. Make a list of features and all completed improvements.

In order to be sure that you told the appraiser everything, print up a list of all the features of your home and any improvements you have completed and give this list to the appraiser. Also, try to include the completion date and an estimate of the improvement cost. If you’ve owned your home since the 1960’s and you remodeled your kitchen in 1983, don’t expect the appraiser to be terribly impressed. But if you spent $50,000 on a kitchen remodel with maple cabinets, granite counters and bamboo flooring in the last few years, make sure you list all that out for the appraiser. It’s likely they’ll comment on these improvements in their report, even if they don’t add much value to your home. They’ll include it just so they don’t get a call from the lender saying, “Hey, the homeowner said they gave you a list of improvements and you didn’t mention any of them in your report. I think you missed a lot of improvements and upgrades and you probably undervalued the property.” The appraiser will appreciate the list and you’ll know you didn’t forget to tell them about something.

4. Make a copy of the last appraiser’s sketch.

If you have a copy of a previous appraisal, you’ll find a drawing of your home with all the measurements. Make a copy of that for the current appraiser. He/she will still have to verify measurements, but it will make things go much quicker. Also, if there is any discrepancy, the appraiser can double check the measurements and explain why his/her square footage calculations are different than the prior appraisal report.

5. Tidy up.

The appraiser is not coming to check out your housekeeping abilities and doesn’t expect that teenager’s room to be spotless. The appraiser is there to look at the overall condition of the property. He/she is going to look at the condition of the wall coverings, floor coverings, counters, bathrooms, kitchen appliances, etc. However, if the appraiser has a hard time seeing surfaces because of clutter, or if the home has a strong odor, chances are the appraiser’s opinion is going to be swayed to a lower condition rating. You aren’t trying to sell the appraiser your house, so it doesn’t have to be perfect, but you do want to present the best possible image to the appraiser. Also, many appraisers include interior photos of the house - sometimes due to appraiser liability issues and sometimes at the request of the lender. If the appraiser says the condition of the home is “good” or “very good” but the photos show a really cluttered home, the review appraiser or the lender might have to call the appraiser and question the report. Once someone starts questioning the appraiser’s report, things don’t usually turn out good. So, take a few minutes the night before the appraisal and tidy up.

Bonus tip #1 - Make sure the appraiser can walk around your house.

The appraiser will have to measure the exterior of your house and take exterior photos. If you have that one side of your house that has all your junk piled up - you know, the left over lumber from that playhouse that was almost finished five years ago, the lawnmower that doesn’t work any more and your old motorcycle from college that you haven’t started for 25 years, but YES! you will someday - the appraiser will have a hard time taking that wall’s measurement. If it’s a straight wall, the appraiser knows how to handle this, but if that side of the house has any bump outs or angles, the appraiser is going to have to get in there. Remember what I said about the appraiser being human. He/she doesn’t want to climb over all that junk any more than you do, so clean it out. It’s good for the appraisal and it will make you happy because you finally got that job done that you’ve been meaning to do for the past few years.

Super bonus tip #2 - Clean up after your pets.

If you have dogs or cats (or even neighborhood cats that visit your yard), make sure you clean up any pet droppings before the appraiser gets to your home. If the appraiser has to dodge dog bombs, then he/she isn’t able to fully concentrate on what they are doing. Also, it may lower their perception of the condition of your home. Yes, every appraiser has stepped in it occasionally. Even though I’m not appraising anymore, I still keep packages of baby wipes in my car because I learned how useful they are for just such emergencies. I’ve also dropped the end of my tape measure in a pile of dog doo - more than once. I’ve even had to throw shoes away because I accidentally stepped in cat feces and the smell just wouldn’t go away no matter how much I cleaned them. Trust me on this one, be considerate of the person coming to your home and clean up the doo.

If you would like to talk about how United First Financial’s Money Merge Account™ System can work for you, send me an email or give me a call. I’ll be glad to help.

John Janecek
United First Financial
Independent Agent #895492
JohnJanecek@gmail.com
(805) 757-1404

“I paid for it, give it to me!”

This was one of the most common comments I received from borrowers when I was appraising. The law seems confusing to a borrower, but it is actually very specific for the appraiser. If the Appraiser is performing an appraisal for a lender, the homeowner is not the Appraiser’s client, and therefore, the Appraiser legally cannot give a copy of the report, or even discuss the appraisal, with the borrower. Here is a portion of the text from the receipts I would give a borrower when they paid me directly for an appraisal that was being performed for a home loan:

“When an appraisal is performed for a lender, the borrower/homeowner is NOT entitled to a copy of the appraisal report from the appraiser. This is because the appraiser’s client is the lender, not the borrower, even though the borrower pays the appraisal fee. A client is defined as the party who directly engages the appraiser to perform the assignment. The client is most commonly a mortgage broker, mortgage banker, or direct lender if the purpose of the appraisal assignment is for a loan transaction secured by 1-4 unit residential real property (for purchase or refinancing purposes).

Appraisers receive and accept many appraisal assignments from clients specifically instructing them to collect the appraisal fee at the door (or “C.O.D.”) from the borrower. It is considered a common and generally accepted practice for the appraiser to collect this payment directly from the borrower on behalf of the client to compensate for the appraisal service. However, this does not render the borrower as the client or entitle them to a copy of the appraisal from the appraiser.

The appraiser is required to protect the confidential nature of the appraiser-client relationship, and thus is prohibited by law to provide a copy, or disclose the contents of his or her appraisal report to anyone other than the client. Any licensed appraiser violating this portion of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice may be subject to disciplinary action by the Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA).

Although the appraiser cannot provide the borrower with a copy of the appraisal without the client’s permission, the borrower has every right to receive a copy of the appraisal from the lender, provided he or she has paid for the appraisal and the loan involves 1-4 unit residential property. According to California Business and Professions Code Section 11423, a borrower has up to 90 days after the lender has provided notice of their lending decision to submit a written request for a copy of the appraisal.”

Now, that language was specific for me, an appraiser in California, but that was the simplest language I could find to help the borrower understand that the law prohibited me from giving them a copy of the report. The topic of the “Appraiser/Client Relationship” is deep enough for several future articles, but understand that the appraiser can only give the report to his/her client due to privacy laws. The client is the party that engages (not schedules, not who may benefit, etc.) the appraiser.

For me, one of the best things about offering the Money Merge Account ™ System is being able to talk to and get to know the people I am helping. If you would like to talk about how the Money Merge Account™ System may help you, send me an email or give me a call.

John Janecek
United First Financial
Independent Agent #895492
JohnJanecek@gmail.com
(805) 757-1404

I began appraising in 1990. I never intended to be an appraiser forever, but it was a “good enough” job at the time. I soon discovered I had a natural talent for it and my employer agreed. By 1993, I was managing the high-profile Beverly Hills office of a nationally known Thrift. Do you remember what home values were doing in 1993? There were some months that we were making 3% per month negative time adjustments. That means values at the time were declining at 3% per month, or 36% annualized. This was devastating to homeowners and lenders alike. The personal implications were simply that the appraisers were not very popular.

Over the years, the mortgage industry changed dramatically. When I started appraising, the lender’s job was to make good decisions for both the bank and the borrower. The borrower’s loan ratios had to make sense and the value of the property had to support the loan amount requested. Occasionally, there was a request to the appraisal department to see if there was “any room” in the appraisal for a slight value change, but usually only if the Loan Manager could see it in the appraisal. If the Appraisal Manager said “no,” then that was the final answer and the loan amount was adjusted downward. The loan industry then started changing into a competitive sales industry. Individual loan agent’s and their manager’s paychecks and bonuses were determined by the dollar volume of loans funded every month. Each year the aggressiveness increased and so did the pressure on the appraiser to “make the value.” This didn’t work for me. I constantly gave honest appraisals.

By 2006, I had been an independent fee appraiser, working for many lenders – and rejecting work from many others – for several years and making a decent living. In that year, I was the primary appraiser for a lender in a new development. The project had about 75 homes that were built in three phases. The first phase sold for $450,000 - $550,000. Phase two sold for $550,000 - $700,000, and Phase three sold for $625,000 to $850,000. The homes in all the phases were the same models with the same amenities and upgrades. The difference in pricing between the three phases was due only to the increasing market value of homes in the area. Because there were several other similar new projects in town with similar pricing, I asked the lender if there were really that many people in our town that could afford homes in this price range. We live in a rather small town of about 45,000 people and the average annual household income is under $50,000, according to the US Census Bureau. The lender told me that they were qualifying people into 0% interest loans so they could get in to the property and then would rewrite the loans when the 0% time period was up. I asked what would happen if rates were significantly higher and people couldn’t qualify when that time came. The lender said she didn’t think that would ever happen.

I was disturbed and became very disillusioned. I remembered all the foreclosures in the early to mid ‘90’s that I saw. I didn’t want to see them again. One of the saddest things I ever saw as an appraiser were homes that had been vacated by hard working FAMILIES – homes where, as I walked through, I could tell that the kids had been playing when the parents said, “Let’s go” for the last time. The kid’s toys were often left right where they were. It was heartbreaking. I still vividly remember those scenes.

As I drove away from my last “final inspection” in that new neighborhood, I knew that I was done. I closed my appraisal business with that final report. I spent the next several months trying to figure out what to do with my life. I dealt with depression and personal development issues. I knew I wanted to do something positive for people – but what? After a lot of searching and coaching, I finally knew that I wanted to live a life of freedom and show others that they could live free, too. Freedom, to me, means freedom from wage jobs, which I call “slavery” because someone else controls your time, AND freedom from debt, which I call “bondage” because someone else controls your finances. But I didn’t know how to accomplish this. I began searching for a vehicle that would allow me to live and teach this lifestyle.

Then I came across United First Financial’s Money Merge Account™ System and the Jubilee Project group within UFirst. I was blown away with excitement over the concept, but my own self-doubts kept me from making any decisions. As my life began to gain focus, I knew that the UFirst opportunity offering the Money Merge Account™ System was absolutely the right thing for me to do. We offer families hope in good times and in bad. It’s an awesome feeling to bring hope to someone who hasn’t believed in it in a long time. I know because I’ve been there.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be talking about appraisal issues and concepts. I want you get something out of it, so, if you have any specific appraisal type questions, put them in the comments here and I’ll try to work them into future articles. And if you want to talk about freedom and how the Money Merge Account™ System can work for you, send me an email or give me a call and we’ll see how hope can be restored to you, too.

John Janecek
United First Financial
Independent Agent #895492
JohnJanecek(at)gmail(dot)com  (Just click it)
(805) 757-1404

I’ve had a toothache since last Thursday. It started off as more of an annoyance. Like, “Gee, my wisdom tooth is hurting.” It’s an impacted wisdom tooth that has broken through the gums over the years. And, over the years, my dentists have said, “Someday, you’ll need to have that removed.” Right. Someday. In the past, this particular tooth has had some occasional pain. A pain that usually lasts for a few hours at the most. Then it goes away and I’m comfortable again. This time, however, the pain hasn’t gone away and I’m very uncomfortable. I haven’t eaten properly, because it hurts. It even hurts to laugh. I haven’t done the work I should have been doing. It’s become a pain that is all I think about.

Aren’t many of us just like this, though? We will accept pain just because it’s easier to stay in our “comfort zone” than it is to address the cause of the pain and make changes to our lives. Some of us stay in jobs or debt or relationships that are painful to us. They rob us of joy. They suck the life out of us. We become catatonic and merely exist on a day to day level. Oh, sure, some people will talk about how miserable they are and how they really are going to make a change. But that negative talk becomes like a badge of honor to them. You know people like this. When you say, “Hey, how’s it going?” They respond with all of the troubles of their life and how busy they are. And they will tell you the same story, maybe with slight variations, every time you see them. You can be assured that they are in their comfort zone and probably aren’t going to make any real, lasting changes until the pain becomes literally unbearable.

Here’s another similar version of the story with the same point: A man is walking down the street when he passes by a hound dog sitting on a porch just howling a sad, pitiful howl. The man stops to look at the dog and asks his owner, who is sitting by in a rocking chair, “Why is your dog howling like that?” The dog’s owner says “He’s howlin’ cause he’s sitting on a nail.” “Well, why doesn’t he move?” asks the man. “Because he’s just too darn comfortable,” replies the owner.

As we bring the idea of the Money Merge Account™ System to our friends and neighbors, we are going to run into people who are in a great deal of pain because of the debt in their lives. Some of them will tell us of their pain, others will be too proud to admit it. Many are stuck in a comfort zone that they are just too afraid to leave, despite the pain. Sometimes we may want to relieve our friend’s pain more than they want the relief. We simply need to be their friend and show them what possibilities really exist. Begin showing them how much discomfort they have learned to accept. Show them that they can live outside of the “norm” of bondage (debt) and slavery (wage jobs) through this powerful program.

John Janecek

UFF Agent #895492

JohnJanecek(at)gmail(dot)com

PS. My wisdom tooth is being extracted Monday morning at 10 am.

Someone asked me today, what I felt the real difference was between other UFF agents and The Jubilee Alliance?

I mean, we all sell the same product, don’t we? We all make a living, or at least money from this, right? …and we all help people save on their mortgages…don’t we?

Yes.

However, I personally believe there are some core differences between Jubilee and other agents. There are other differences, such as how we train, what we train in and the actual support we give our team; but in a nutshell, I think there is one specific aspect that makes all the difference in the world.

The Jubilee Alliance is a National Cooperation of families. We don’t sell “software”. What we offer is a ‘complete program’ that will help other families get out of bondage, and build a future they never thought possible.

We don’t sell, we ‘share’.

When we sit across from a family, we ask them: “If we could teach you of a way to save tens of thousands of dollars in interest, and shave at least five years from your mortgage, would that be worth investing $3500 in yourself? If we show you how to do that…would you let us help you?”

Our focus is on service first, and the money will eventually find us.

It may not seem like much to the slick salesman, and that’s ok with us. We aren’t the best salesmen, nor the best marketers. We’re simply normal, everyday family folks and good hearted professionals, who love what this program has done for us, and we want to share it with other families and clients.

Yes, there are others in this wonderful company who have the same passion and intent. We certainly don’t have the corner on the market of kindness and love for others…we just wanted to do it as a National group.

So we are.

From coast to coast, boarder to boarder, we have a strong support network of good family people, and that simply sets us apart. This very website is the perfect example of this–and each writer is a qualified, trained, licensed professional in his or her field…with a sheer passion for helping others.

I don’t think you’ll find a better collection of hearts and minds in one place, offering you so much information, education and assistance on the internet with regards to the Money Merge Account. To those who love their families and care about others…that makes us special and sets us apart.

-Jaime D. Buckley
Co-Founder of The Jubilee Project