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Michael Laird
- Male
- Logansport, IN
- United States
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Michael Laird's Groups
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First Time Home Buyers...
7 members
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Business Owners
640 members
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Real Estate Foreclosure
18 members
Michael Laird's Discussions
Michael Laird's Page
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Latest Activity
Yes, I was awake. While I did watch the game, it doesn't really matter if I was awake or not.
Personally, I feel that a recovery in housing in Indiana will be slow, Three to five years of slower activity is my prediction. Our Sunday paper had 3 sheriff sale notices in it and I don't remember them ever being in a Sunday paper before. Locall...
Foreclosure. My opinion is the ranking is not the issue, a measuring stick it is but we should be concerned about why foreclosurers are happening. Back in 1976, my family was in the title business. A well run business that had been in business sin...
1. Get your financing locally, the first place to speak with is where you bank. When you sign a note & mortgage it's a relationship that lasts a long time. Ask yourself if you want to be involved with lender that you (a) don't know (b) haven't bee...
Terrified about entering the real estate market for the first time? Get the answers to your 1001 questions here.
Entrepeneurs networking together
Profile Information
- How did you hear about Smaller Indiana?
- Other
- What is your greatest strength?
- Integrity.
- What are you working on?
- Assisting persons needing the services of a Realtor.
Appraisal of Real Property in estates.
Teaching pre-license sales and broker classes for RECP.org since 2000.
- How big is your business?
- small company
- What is your Job Title
- Owner
- What is your alma mater?
- Other / out of state
- Why join Smaller Indiana? What are you hoping to experience here ?
- My business is located in INDIANA!!!!
Indiana is a GREAT place, we have 4 Seasons.
Hoping to interact with others with similar interests.
Comment Wall (2 comments)
- At 3:04pm on March 12, 2009,
Eric Kallin said…
- Michael, my name is Eric Kallin and I( am the founder of the Indiana Business Network. We are in an aggressive expansion mode at IBN and very interested in colonizing a chapter in Logansport. I would like to speak with you directly. Would you please give me the means to speak to you on the phone?
Eric Kallin
- At 8:59pm on January 27, 2009,
Michael Laird said…
- Hello to all members of this group. First of all when making a comment I will try to be constructive. I have no axes to grind and my comments are not intended to be offensive to any member.
My location is north central Indiana. Cass County has a population of about 40K.
For many years my family was involved in the title business. Back in 1976, I picked up an order that was my first search for a bank to begin the foreclosure process. I was curious and asked my father how many of these do we get a year. Answer, one or two. Hard to believe 1 or 2 per year. To help those of you who read this to believe those numbers are reasonably accurate I must also tell you that the only job my mother ever had was in the abstract & title business. Between my parents they had over 100 years experience.
Things have changed in many was since 1976. Loans became easier to get. The government wanted more and more homeowners. Out of state lenders began to make loans. Things progressed to having multiple mtg's, equity loans, arm's. The attitude of the mortgagor changed, they want instantly what it took mom & dad 20 or more years to acquire. It had to be bigger and nicer. Mom & dad had a mtg. burning party when the last payment was made.
For many years now it's been refi rather than pay off. Justify it by saying so what I'm always going to have a car payment and house payment.
I still visit the Court House and get my own taxes. Often I look at mortgages of homes that are being foreclosed on. Many are ARM's with intitial rates of 10.27% and a max over 16%. The mortgagor has no idea what he/she is in for. In my opinion, many of these are doomed to foreclosure before the ink on the signature is dry.
How does it get turned around? Start with a good dose of COMMON SENSE. Everyone involved in the housing industry must start using some common sense or horse sense. Don't just sell a home, provide some guidance to the buyer. Suggest the local lender who will have to face that buyer after the loan is made. Buyers/borrowers need to understand that they don't have to borrow the entire amount they are approved for. They need a cushion for those times the car needs repaired or any unexpected expense is incurred. The finance guy/gal who is 5 states away will work their tail off to get the loan. Then it's sold in the secondary and becomes a loan #. The person who arranged it washes their hands to it never having to face the buyer. . Everyone got paid the loan, is sold as a security, it's foreclosed and now the taxpayer gets to do the bailout. On the other hand a local lender from a private bank will have to face that borrower and will be more realistic with them when working with the borrower.
Buyers/borrowers need to use common sense also. Actually more than anyone else involved in the deal. If you have ever been inside of a few REO's you quickly understand that a lot of things could be given up that weren't given up. Beer, vcr, dvd, computer, dsl, weight bench, excercise equipment, more often than not these were unnessary items that could have been done without freeing up $ to make the mtg payment. Out grown childrens clothes piled in the corner rather than sold at a garage sale for 10 cents on the dollar. Many times I have seen several dollars worth of change lying on the floor of REO's. Someone could/should get some use out of them rather than just being taken to the dump after trashout. Stained carpet, destroyed walls, doors, floors. Some persons simply shouldn't be freeholders and therefore not contribute to the foreclosure mess.
Nobody in a shakey marriage should by a home thinking that it will change things. I've seen that one more than once.
As for the HOUSING MARKET. Should we still encourage the purchase of homes? YES. Does it get cold in Indiana and other states? YES. Do we need a safe place to rest and keep out belongings? YES. The dream of home ownership is an investment, BUT should not be looked at as investment to make money. It's an investment that if taken care of should appreciate and when the owner can no longer live in it the home can be sold and the owner use the proceeds/gain to downsize. When we pass we have an asset that can be given to our children/heirs. An out and out investment is for those who can afford the risk of loosing the investment when trying to make money.
The majority of home buyers do NOT fall into that catagory.
Enough for now. Your comments would be welcomed.
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1. Please use your real name (first and last) when you sign up, or we cannot open your account
2. Please do not use logos or commercial images for your profile photo
3. Events should be posted in the events calendar
4. You can post pretty much anything you want on your own personal page (self promotion, etc), and you can change the style of your personal profile page to reflect your corporate identification if you so choose.
5. Please keep all comments civil and polite. It's OK to feel strongly about a subject, and it's OK to be critical of ideas, but please refrain from personal attacks of any kind.
If you witness or experience any issues, please contact admin@smallerindiana.com and we will look into the matter.
6. Smaller Indiana is supported by its members, and by corporate sponsors. If you're interested in learning more about sponsorship, please call Pat Coyle at 317 332 7878.
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