Hey Folks! Well another day, another video. Here we go. Your getting your home ready for a showing and discover that the candle you lit last night dripped over your carpet. You only have a few minutes before the showing, what do you do? After watching this short clip you will learn how to remove wax off your carpets in just 5 minutes. Have fun, let’s have a great day and happy selling, buying and lending to all. Kind regards, Tony Grego, Your Place for Great Rates

Hey Folks! Well another day, another video. Here we go. Your getting your home ready for a showing and discover that the candle you lit last night dripped over your carpet. You only have a few minutes before the showing, what do you do? After watching this short clip you will learn how to remove wax off your carpets in just 5 minutes. Have fun, let’s have a great day and happy selling, buying and lending to all. Kind regards, Tony Grego, Your Place for Great Rates

Hey Folks!

With $4.00 a gallon gas and $3.00 a gallon for milk we all must find ways to save some money. Here is a great one. 

Folks with a high-speed Internet connection and the desire/need to make long distance calls you need to check out Skype.

Now many have heard and have taken advantage of this service for years many (including myself) have had a “wait and see” or have used the service on a limited basis. Why? NO CALLER ID.

I (and many others like me) spend a great amount of time with long distance calls for prospecting, selling, and closing. Unlike myself (I like talking to telemarketers) many folks spend a considerable amount of time and money to avoid calls and as a rule of thumb will never answer a “BLOCKED SENDER”  or UNKNOWN CALLER. Most will not answer a call if they don’t recognize the area code.

Now with SKYPE you can get caller ID. Along with this great service you can add an unlimited US and Canada calling package for only $2.95 a month and you can have up to 10 lines. Good news for sales folks like myself that serve multi-states. Another benefit for my clients is that they now can dial a local number to reach me.

Cell phone users with a unlimited Data Plan? Download a program and now free cell calls.

If it has been a while since you looked at Skype or have never looked. Now is the time. It will save you time and money. I do not work or represent Skype in any way. I just know how to find a deal.

Kind regards,
Tony Grego, Your Great Place for Great Rates

Well I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend?

Now if you’re like me it has been a busy day. I am just getting around to posting my video of the day that I like to put up in the morning.

While I know that this video does not apply to Real Estate Agents and Mortgage Brokers we have all seen this co-worker in the past. You know the guy, he is just like George on Seinfeld.

So why we all maybe to busy to watch. If you get a few minutes you may get the same chuckle I did.

Have fun and hope everyone has a great July!

Kind regards,
Tony

Hey Folks!

Been way to long. After recovering from an injury, a job change and a whole heck of a lot of other things I have not posted since the end of April and I have missed it.

So today is my Independence Day to announce (to myself and I guess my kind friends that are reading this) that I am back to my routine that I have enjoyed and has helped me do what I do.

Help folks with their mortgage needs. Right or wrong, I feel the best way that I can help is to let my readers learn about me and with the power of blogging I can do this on a daily basis.

I like to get my mornings off on a positive note. To do this I will post what I call my Video of the Day.

Nothing crazy, just a little fun and as I go throughout my day I will post something that can be a little helpful with work, life, family, finance, or just something out of the blue. So thanks for reading. Please post you comments so I can make this blog helpful for all, check back soon and have a great Independence Day!

Thanks
Tony Grego @ www.ratequote.tv
A Great Place for Great Rates

Hey Folks!

Tony Grego here from Sagamore Home Mortgage in Lebanon, Indiana. Your Indiana Mortgage Company for all your home lending needs.

What a week us Hoosiers are going to have! Now only are we going to be a major player in this years presidential primary  the candidates  now have something of relevance to talk/debate about.

In a 6 - 3 ruling the Supreme Court rejected arguments with our law requiring voters to present a driver’s license or another acceptable form of ID. Our Indiana law is the strictest in the country. The intent and design is to help prevent voter fraud.

Well now I guess we can all sit back grab the remote and watch the reactions. It is going to be a fun week. You can read all about the details here.

Supreme Court Upholds Voter Identification Law in Indiana - New York Times

Tony Grego - Indiana Mortgage Company
“Your’ re Indiana Mortgage Partner for all your Home Lending Needs”

Hey Folks!

Tony Grego here from Sagamore Home Mortgage in Lebanon, Indiana. Your Indiana Mortgage Partner for all your home lending needs.

Today I discovered a big money saving tip and wanted to share the savings with my AR family (along with anyone one else looking).

Looking at the recent profit announcements of the gas companies I figure they must make all that money because of the amount of labor they save. It seems that no one really does research on pricing, they just put out a price and it seems that everyone else just follows the leader. Now this is nothing new, I am been buying gas for 30-years and it has always been the same thing until this morning.

After I dropped off the munchkin’s the display came on my dash to “get gas now, dummy!” (or something like that). I do live near a Sam’s Club and a Costco and the tiny voice went off in my head “get gas at Sam’s, its cheaper” (it was my wife’s voice). Now we have had this membership for years but today is the first day I think it was worth the money.

Here is what I learned:

• - Along with Discover cards, They take all 
    the  majors and debit cards.
• - They have clean, well spaced pumps.
• - You do not have to be a member to
     purchase fuel.
• - Different price for “debit” vs. “credit” card.
• - Priced way under the corner stations.

YES, priced way under. Today most stations were priced at $364.9 (btw, whoever came up with the .9 thing?) Sam’s member price $345.9, non-member price $350.9. Add two cents a gallon for credit card.

Quite impressive. I put 20-gallons in and saved almost $4.00. Remember the way to be profitable this year is not by raising prices but by controlling expenses. According to that voice (my wife), Sam’s has always had a big price difference. Reading up on some articles today I also found that most gas is the same.We have high standards that must be maintained.

Now go save some money!

Tony Grego - Indiana Mortgage Company
“your Indiana Mortgage Partner for all your Home Lending Needs”

Hey Folks!

Tony Grego here from Sagamore Home Mortgage in Lebanon, Indiana. Your Indiana Mortgage Partner for all your home lending needs.

I share this story so you will not endure the same fate. Saturday morning around 7:00 am I am doing chores around the house and notice that I have a voice mail. (I have At&T service (formerly Cingular) and a Treo 750). I press the magic button on my “Handy Dandy Notebook,” this is what my little guys call my phone. (Hint, if you have never watch Blue’s Clues you have no idea what I am talking about). Just to find out that my service has been temporally disconnected.

To say the least, this is the part were I flipped out. I work for a Indiana Mortgage Company and pride myself to be available for my clients on nights and weekends. Since I pay my cell bill (along with other utilities) with one credit card for points and convince. You see instead of getting 8 different bills due at 8 different times of the month I handle them all with one account all while getting points for some really cool stuff.

So I calm down, call 800-331-0500 (At&T customer service number if you need it). Just to go to Voice Mail Hell. Every prompt leads to another only to be  disconnected with the words that “our business office is now closed. Please call back after 9:00 am) OK, only two hours. I can handle that.

Well the clock strikes 9:00, I dial, go through the prompts just to get the words “our business office is now closed. Please call back on the next business day.”

Now I am going nuts. BTW, I did not mention that I used my phone at 11:00 the night before making arraignments to meet a client flying in from the West Coast to look at Investor Properties. (I have obtained mortgages for 8 duplexes and he wanted to see the area. Since I am the Indiana Mortgage Professional the client has more trust in me than the owner of the properties). So now I have to meet my client and he can not even call.

I then get ready to hit the door and get to a AT&T retail location and see what I can get done. (I was in touch with my clients assistant, told him the story and let him know that I would by a disposable if needed). I try the number again. Guess what? Y E S a real person answered. I was as happy as a child on Christmas morning.

Learn to find out that my credit card had expired and the computers are programmed to disconnect regardless of time or date (great customer service, yea right). Ashley (the rep from AT&T) gets the service up within minutes, updates my information then tells me that due to the disconnect I was going to be charged $36 reconnect fee. Now I have been a client since 1998 with an excellent payment history. I object and Ashley immediately takes care of the charges.

Lesson of the story. While it is a great idea to have all bills on one, easy to see, statement be sure to check your expiration dates.

My client is happy. I will get him some great mortgages for his investment properties and plenty of Hoosier Households will have good places to live    

 Tony Grego - Indiana Mortgage Company
“your Indiana Mortgage Partner for all your Home Lending Needs”

Hey Folks!

Tony Grego here from Sagamore Home Mortgage in Lebanon, Indiana. Your Indiana Mortgage Partner for all your home lending needs.

WOW! January 23, 2008 at 11:34 am Post #1 until today, April 18, 2008, number 100. I have tried many different forms and styles, Some good and most bad (kidding I hope). Anyway I do want to thank all of my friends and associates I have met. I am involved in this great community and just hope to give back one day as much information and knowledge that I have learned. I guess now it is time to list 100 things. I chose to list 100 things that I am thankful for since January 23rd.

1. First and foremost, my wife Yovonne,  my son’s Anthony Jr. and William Alexander, and my dogs win.ini and beta.
2. My Father’s successful quad by-pass about six weeks ago.
3. My Mother-in-Law’s successful knee operation.
4. I am thankful that my recent injuries were not more serious (enough medical crap. Don’t know about you but it is getting depressing for me).
5. My friend Daniel “forcing” me to join Active Rain and start blogging.
6. My retail referrals from Active Rain.
7. My associates that seem to grow everyday.
8. The dozens of questions I get from the community about changes in the mortgage industry.
9. Aaron Byers, President and owner of Sagamore Home Mortgage for putting up with me.
10. My co-workers for the same reason.
11. My friend Mike for saving my hard drive after I did not back up in a year and had a system crash.
12. The New York Giants for beating the Patriots in the Superbowl.
13. Watching the Superbowl with my neighbor who is a Patriots fan.
14. My friend Mike (again) for putting back together my laptop when I dropped it going into the office after he recovered my hard drive.
15. The Indiana Pacers for not having a MAJOR arrest in the last month.
16. Mitch Daniels stepping up the Indiana Property tax issue.
17. The Spring market and a pick up of Indiana Home Sales.
18. Being able to do FHA loans to help Hoosier Households.
19. Understanding how to structure a conforming deal rather than throwing them up on the subprime wall and seeing what sticks.
20. Pay Option Arms finally addressed for the mortgage they are (I love them for the right person in the right situation)
21. Being able to share the lowest fixed rates in 45-years.
22. Setting up my website.
23. Setting up my blog.
24. Setting up a website and blog for my wife.
25. The ground hog giving us six more weeks of winter which seems like it may continue until about June.
26. The boys making Mommy a real special Valentine for February 14th.
27. Still having mortgage programs for folks with credit problems.
28. Learning about Frank and the gang at TBWS.
29. Slingbox for my Treo
30. Ania’s (our AA) successful birth of her daughter, Lidia.
31. Aaron dumping purchase leads and hiring on site telemarketers.
32. Did I say the New York Giants beating the Patriots in the Superbowl?
33. Television writers ending the strike and bringing back fresh Letterman shows.
34. Family Guy (yea it is sick but I love it).
35. Reading to my sons bedtime stories in bed.
36. My referral market growing and growing.
37. In a weird kind of way the 250+ lenders that have gone out of business and have made us mortgage brokers more accountable.
38. Giving up beer for Lent (yep, that was a tuff one).
39. Mobile DVD players with headphones. One more Barney or Doddleboops and I am going to lose it.
40. Disney releasing all 200 models from the CARS movie (yea right, at $2.97 a pop it is getting expensive).
41. CART is no more and IRL is the king of US open wheel racing.
42. Indy Blue Crew. The official fan club of the Colts and were you will find us at home games. www.indybluecrew.com.
43. Bret Fare finally retires. Or does he?
44. Great new seats with the same old friends at the new Lucas Stadium.
45. The New York Yankees.
46. With my arm injury and such I now have a great excuse for a lousy golf game.
47. Bluetooth and wireless technology.
48. The boys finally behaving for Easter pictures.
49. The boys not making to much of a mess with Easter Chocolate.
50. Hendrick Racing not winning any races yet this year.
51. My Friend Aaron Gregory purchasing his first home (O yea, his girlfriend used a different broker. No, I’m not bitter).
52. Sam’s Club, Costco, Walmart, Aldi, Krogger for having some great sales and deals.
53. Congratulations to my wife Yovonne and her major effort to better her health and get in shape. She has lost 40 pounds in the last 6 months and is looking great!
54. Google rankings. activerain.com/tgrego is ranked 8th. First page when searching Indiana Mortgage Company (most searched Indiana mortgage term).
55. Video blogging (still working on it but it is going to be great. What do you think of this domain - www.ratequote.tv?
56. Windows Live Writer
57. Gas at $3.50 a gallon is really helping families stick together.
58. Anthony Jr. and William dressed up as leprechauns for St. Patrick’s Day. Still did not find me lucky charms.
59. Craigslist.org to buy stuff.
60. The American Legion Post #500 across from IMS.
61. Tom-Tom GPS for my Treo.
62. The new Marion County Library. Should be great for a billion dollars.
63. Hilbert House finally sold. Offered at $20M. Still have not seen sales price.
64. Did I mention about the New York Giants beating the Patriots in the Superbowl?
65. Last game in the RCA Dome. Bring on the wider seats.
66. XM Radio
67. Raise in FHA Limits.
68. Cellular Connection Cards for laptops to provide instant quotes and approvals.
69. Consumers learning more and more that zero fees equals higher rates.
70. I am smarter than a 5th grader.
71. Never play air hockey at my friend Eric’s house until you learn the rules (if not you will need to call a cab to get home).
72. Attending Anthony Jr.’s first Soccer practice this week.
73. Still have stated options for NOO mortgages.
74. William is left handed, like to throw a baseball, looks great in Yankee pinstripes.
75. Torn between Explorer and Firefox. Which one should I use and why?
76. With Rural Housing you can finance up to 102% of the purchase price.
77. My gift to you. If you get a refer/eligible on a 30-yr FHA, if the deal looks good, try running on a 15-yr.
78. Blue Ray DVD players.
79. Skype VOIP service.
80. Yuengling Lager tastes much better after Lent
81. Youtube.com is a great site.
82. Sending a text message gets easier with time.
83. With a good camera you don’t have to be a good photographer.
84. I have stopped blogging and driving at the same time.
85. I am really thankful for Widgets.
86. Second mortgages are still alive and well along with some HELOC’s
87. While our lender list has shrank, the folks we have done business with has not.
88. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
89. Down Payment Assistance Programs.
90. IU may finally found a good replacement for the General.
91. Joe Pa really needs to pass the touch before his kid retires.
92. Notre Dame may get to a 500 season this year.
93. Have I mentioned how thankful I am that the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots?
94. Craftsman tools.
95. Wide Screen Television with HD and AT&T U-verse including DVR. I can finally watch grass grow.
96. Having a Mac and a PC in my same home office.
97. Cordless telephones.
98. Helping Hoosier Households save money and in many cases save homes.
99. 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of …….. never mind, how shared cellular minutes.
100. #100 and the most important to me. This one is easy. Family and friends.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and reading my 100th post. I am very proud to be a member of this great community. Happy Selling to all!

 Tony Grego - Indiana Mortgage Company
“your Indiana Mortgage Partner for all your Home Lending Needs”

Hey Folks!

Tony Grego here from Sagamore Home Mortgage in Lebanon, Indiana. Your partner with all your home lending needs.

Well I’m starting to feel much better and need to get back to my regular routine. One thing I have missed is the posting a video of the day.

Now I am not saying that I support or have tried what you are about to watch but this might be the trick when you can’t get the lock box open or the keys are missing. Who knows? Could be the difference to make a sale or going to jail.

The one thing that is great about living in America is that we all have a choice. Now sometimes that choice may have consequences. Only you can decide.

Hope you enjoyed and maybe picked up a point or two. Seems to work just like the movies or maybe your favorite video game.

Until next time have a great day and let me know how I can help with any of your lending needs.

Tony Grego - Indiana Mortgage Company
“your partner for all your Indiana Home Lending Needs”