I was at a conference yesterday scouting some potential speakers for the CAAMP, 2012 Mortgage Forum.  Our co-partners, The Art of, hosted a conference yesterday and I wanted to get a firsthand look to see if there was a fit.  There were a number of speakers who would bring value to the upcoming CAAMP conference, and we’ll start announcing the speakers we start locking them up contractually.  I listened to one speaker today and all I could say was, “you got to be kidding, all that before you’re 30?”

I’m referring to Randi Zuckerberg.  Yes, that Zuckerberg.   (more…)

The story I’m about to share with you is true.  The events occurred on Monday, February 06, 2012.  The names have not been changed to protect the innocent or guilty.  Now that I have the disclaimer out of the way I can get on with the story.  The story revolves around a man who is kind, understanding and always has a sunny disposition.  That man would be me.  Hey!  What the hell are laughing for?  It’s my story and that’s how I see it.  Moving on, the story is about moi and the ATM machine where I bank.  I won’t mention the banks name but their initials are TD.  I’ve done my banking there for years but they don’t have my mortgage.  My mortgage is with this wonderful little company named Merix Financial.  This company is brilliantly led, with unbelievable staff and access to more mortgage products than most.  The blatant plug aside, the story goes like this… (more…)

So a new year is upon us.  It’s been my experience that our year begins in earnest around January 15th.  Many in our industry, which includes suppliers and referral sources, are still away on vacation and it usually takes until the 15th of January to get everyone back into work mode.  So the reality is that January is always sluggish as it relates to volumes.  Every year I say the same thing to myself at the end of January, “we got some ground to make up”. This year will be no different.

But  it’s interesting what a difference a year makes.  In November of 2010, it was clear to me that 2011 was going to be a challenging year for Merix.  I knew  then that there would be periods during 2011 when we would have to sit on the sidelines and watch volumes go to our competition. (more…)

Well men, it almost that time of year to start thinking about Christmas shopping.  There’s still plenty of time left so there’s no need to be concerned.  The calendar gods are working in our favour because Saturday is Christmas Eve Day.  That’s a few extra hours of shopping if you’re starting your Christmas shopping on the 24^th.  Trust me, the 24^th is a great day to shop.  The malls are not as busy and it’s only men in the stores, and they’re on a search and destroy mission.  The good news is that there’s fewer items left, thus your options are limited, which means your head won’t explode trying to decide what to buy.  (more…)

I challenged myself this month to be positive when writing my blog.  I must confess it took some effort to always look for the silver lining but with some creativity and effort it can be done.  We deal with the realities of the real world every day, and we all have our own black clouds to deal with.  So I decided to ignore the black clouds this month.  An attempt to suspend reality?  Yip!   But that’s what this time of year is all about, i.e. immaculate conception, Santa Clause etc.  What I also do this time of year is to reflect on the year which is quickly coming to an end.  I have to say that 2011 was a challenging year, but a lot of great things happened to good people. (more…)