OddFishBlog | The Weblog of Chad Smith in Phoenix, Arizona

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seechadfund — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:58:01 +0000

If You Got ta Got ta Cut Loose…

seechadfund — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:31:50 +0000

Be careful in Pinal County.

An article today in the East Valley Tribune straight out of the movie “FootLoose” reports that Dale Bell, the owner of San Tan Flats was ordered to pay a $5000 fine for customers dancing in the open air. Bell has tried to curb dancing at his establishment. His response, “It’s impossible to … ensure no one breaks out in the waltz or two step,” I may have to file for a special permit myself as my son has been known to dance for no apparent reason. We’ve just moved to a new home near that area, but luckily Maricopa county is dance friendly.

The Pursuit of (Rubik’s) Happiness

seechadfund — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:55:08 +0000

There’s a new movie out ‘The Pursuit Happyness‘ starring Will Smith, as Chris Gardner. There’s a scene in the trailer showing Chris solving a Rubik’s cube and subsequently landing the internship. My first thought was, “I remember that, those were fun.” Today I was reading Jim Cronin at The Real Estate Tomato and ran across his post “What is a Meme…” He mentions being able to solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than a minute from time to time. My uncle could always solve the Rubik’s Cube and I was always amazed. I never gave it enough time to really try and solve it, yet I was always intrigued. I was always trying to tackle it one side at a time, instead of trying to think ahead to the end result. He would always tell me that it’s easy once you find the “Golden Key.” Eventually I gave up trying it my way, and let him teach me the method. After finding the golden key, I could solve it relatively fast.

I face the same type of resistance from time to time, customers who want to attack their real estate purchase or refinance like I used to attack a Rubik’s cube. The side they knew, would be nice and pretty, but fail to come together as an entire piece. There are many lender’s who will fulfill the side that works and leave the rest in shambles. By not taking the time to teach about the full effects of a certain program, the drive-thru loan officer just left their customer spinning the colored cube. With the right planning and information the end result is much more rewarding for both the mortgage consultant and the customer. If you’re dealing with a competent loan officer, ask plenty of questions about the pros and cons of the loan you’re applying for. Your mortgage consultant should be your resource in the transaction, not necessarily just the lowest bidder. If your loan officer can’t help you find the golden key, find someone else. Your success and future wealth will depend on it.

I married my beautiful wife last weekend, and I’m living my American Dream. I’m buying a shiny new cube on the way home tonight to brush up on the reemerging puzzle fad. My pursuit of happiness is well within my grasp, as long as I can keep the golden key on top, and work the plan, everything will come together.

Tryptophan Coma, Be Gone!

seechadfund — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:00:01 +0000

After loading up on turkey and powering down for a few days, I’m back in the swing of things and will be hitting my stride tomorrow on Arizona Midday. If you’re local, tune in after Regis and Kelly in the morning. If tuning in here is your only recourse, here’s a quick outline for you.

I’ll be talking about getting your house in order for the Holidays to start off the New Year ahead of schedule. It’s still not to late to refinance in time for holiday gift giving. If you aren’t paying cash, you could be burdening your credit by running up those balances. Rates were taking a breather last week. I thought there would be possible worsening rates with this week chock full of financial reports, an auction of a few Billion 5 year T Notes, and even a few words from Chairman Bernake. But so far things have remained pretty neutral. We have a very important report in the PCE (Personal Consumption Expentitures) due out tomorrow. I’m being a little cautious here and locked in everything today ahead of this one. Bonds are overbought and trading at their resistance level. I could be left with egg on my face, and bonds could push through their resistance. We’ll take some left overs, whip up an omlette and go on about business as usual.

For now, it’s time to catch up on some beauty Zs before some face time on the small screen tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

seechadfund — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 21:58:06 +0000

Getting ready to wrap things up a little early today to get ready for tomorrow’s feast. To celebrate, I got the new header up today. I hope everyone has a safe and happy turkey day.

Tip of the Week | Opting out of Credit Offers

seechadfund — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 01:19:50 +0000

Here is a helpful tip to cut down on your junk mail. You can opt out of receiving credit card offers with this 800 number:

888-567-8688 option 3

The article was originally in Money Magazine, November 2006 pg 100.

This will give you the choice to opt out for either 3 or 5 years. It takes about 48 hours to go into effect, and you can opt back in if you would like at any time. The benefit is 3 fold, it will reduce junk mail and phone solicitations, help combat identity theft, and also may increase your credit scores.

I also have a great article with other tips to help protect yourself from identity theft. Contact me and I will send a copy.

Have a Great Week!

Hello world!

seechadfund — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:08:32 +0000

Today’s been an exciting one. The canned wordpress title is apropos for the first post. I was able to appear on a local talk show for some airtime in mainstream media. There’ll be a link up soon with the interview that I’ll get posted asap.