Beginning Monday, September 19th Prism Mortgage will be moving into our new corporate  offices  and will have new phone numbers

770 Lake Cook Road

Suite #260

Deerfield , Il. 60015

Main #  855-774-7600  (855-prism-00)

Our current phone number as well as our mail will be forwarded through the end of the year

Thanks to all for your support!

Having been in the mortgage industry for many years (and owning a Jack Russell), the following story made me laugh…

A wealthy old Gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa , taking his faithful, elderly Jack Russell named Killer, along for the company.

One day the old Jack Russell starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he’s lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old Jack Russell thinks, “Oh, oh! I’m in deep doo-doo now!” Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old Jack Russell exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?”

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. “Whew!”, says the leopard, “That was close! That old Jack Russell nearly had me!”

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old Jack Russell sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, “Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old Jack Russell sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?”, but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old Jack Russell says…

“Where’s that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!

Moral of this story (especially when choosing a mortgage lender)…..

Don’t mess with the old dogs…age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery!  Creativity and brilliance only come with age and experience.

Those of us in the mortgage world are always focusing on reducing debt, but with Christmas now behind us and a new year soon to come, we should all be focusing on reducing debt.  I ran across this segment on the Today show and thought I’d share.  I’ve successfully been able to trim thousands of dollars from client’s monthly cash flow.  If the below video piques your curiosity, don’t hesitate to contact me.  I’m more than happy to give you the time.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Computer viruses have become far more insidious in recent months! My family and I have been personally affected 3 times in the last 6 months! Many of these, while they are new, seem to be able to sneak by many anti-virus software mechanisms and appear to be specifically targeting the mortgage and real estate industries.

THREAT #1: This seems to be a particularly nasty one recently that has targeted participants in the mortgage and real estate industry. Beware ANY email that comes to you from “Postal Support”, “Postal Manager”, “UPS Support”, “UPS Manager” or anything similar. The subject line will be something along the lines of “UPS Delivery Problem NR 123456 (any number)”.

This virus is purported, once infected, to capture the names in your contact list and will then broadcast the same email to the members of that list, thus potentially infecting all of those individuals, if they attempt to open the attachment.

Another recognition factor in these viruses is that they all seem to have an attachment and that attachment is a “Zip file” (recognizable by what looks like a small file cabinet being held by a screw clamp… see left).

Threat #2:  Another suspect (which is the one that got me) targets those in the mortgage industry who might be job searching (that would be a sizable chunk of our collective industries over the last 3 years!). This one appears to come from an individual such as “Sean McDonald (any name, really)” and the subject line is “Arlington Heights (Your city) Job Message”. The email itself appears safe, but there are a number of links within the body of the message that will take you to a “Job Board” website. Two of the infections that occurred in my house are a direct result of visiting one of these sites through the email. The resulting infection will open multitudes of reoccurring “Anti-Virus” search/software requests that seem to multiply over time, freezing you out of using your computer!

Suffice to say… if you receive ANY email from even a marginally trusted source, do not open it… ESPECIALLY if it has an attachment… and ESPECIALLY if that attachment is a zip file!!!

Please feel free to contact me through the channel you read this in, if you’d like more information based on my personal experiences.

Its when the people come to you for a mortgage and say, “I would like to do (insert home wish here). Can you help me?” That’s the puzzle that they need help figuring out, and I love that part of the game. What’s your spot? Click “play” below.

While it has nothing to do with mortgages, I had to share this video. Definitely worthy of being a Super Bowl commercial!

A very good and talented friend of mine plays in a band (BBC) that will be
perfoming with other performers at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine, IL, on
Sunday January 31, 2010 from 2:00pm until 8:00pm. This is an organized
relief drive for the survivors in Haiti. Please come and join us and offer your support!

Details in flyer below

While it doesn’t necessarily apply to mortgages, I had to share this video. This is a great organization that needs as much exposure as they can get.

Those of you who know me, know that my son was called to audition for a spot in a Wal-Mart commercial about 4 weeks ago. This was all a very last minute thing. The auditions went well. He got the spot, and then we had to wonder if he’d actually be in the commercial, or land on the cutting room floor.

Well… here is his commercial… 3 seconds out of a 30 second spot… I guess that’s 10% exposure!!! Oh… he’s the kid w/ the shopping cart! (Can you tell I’m proud?)