Mike's Minute...: The Mortgage Haiku Collage

Now that I've set out all 17 entries individually,
I'd thought I'd put them all in one easy to access place.

What is a Haiku you ask?

The traditional Japanese Haiku format follows the syllable pattern of 5 - 7 - 5. The writer might bring in a word or concept (kiga) that evokes memories of a particular season.
The last line is usually in sharp contrast (caesura) to the body of the poem.

I chose to backdrop each poem with a traditional Japanese watercolor or photograph. Some in contrast, others not.

To the Haiku purist the following might not be proper in the strict sense. Your latitude is appreciated.

Why 17? It is the total number of syllables in a Haiku, no other reason.
Why separate them? Each one should be read and engaged individually.

Outside Links:

"Succinct and serene, it's home loan haiku", San Jose Mercury News
"Mortgage Haiku?", Redfin Blog
Inman News - Left Brain / Right Brain
Hotpads Carnival of Real Estate - Mortgage Haiku
Inman News Carnival of Real Estate - Mortgage Haiku
The Boston Globe - Mortgage Haiku

Lisa asked for a little help in understanding my Haiku. I realized if one person asks, how many others don't ask?

They say a Poet should never have to explain his verse - it's a good thing I'm not a Poet!

So, Lisa...

Not just for you, but for all the others who are maybe a little too intimidated to ask, here is a cheat sheet for each one.

Haiku 1: It's estimated that somewhere close to 80% of the homeowners who let their home go to Trustee Sale, NEVER contact their lender. Wow!
Haiku 2: I see time and time again the Payment Option Arm showing up in Short Sale transactions. Generally these people bought into the minimum payment and then bought Cars and took fancy vacations. Now, that life style is coming back to haunt them.
Haiku 3: As a Mortgage Broker many of us have seen the regulations and pending tightening against being aimed at us. For good reason I might add. We all know there are crooks and thieves out there - and many of them are Mortgage Brokers. However there are also honest ethical people out there who do the right thing and always have.
Haiku 4: When a Payment Option Arm recasts, it doesn't just adjust, it can easily double or triple their payments. How many jobs can a family work just too keep up?
Haiku 5: NINA. It's a type of loan we used to have. It stood for No Income, No Assets. The borrower simply signed the loan application and the Income and Asset sections were blank. That loan is long gone. NINA was also one of Columbus' three ships.
Haiku 6: I start paying attention to the news at 5 AM. I stream financial tv into the office as well as subscribing o over 160 blogs. Chang is happening so quickly these days, the only thing that is constant seems to be change.
Haiku 7: The 1003 (pronounced Ten - O - Three) is the standard mortgage application form. As guidelines change, what was fundable yesterday, might not be today, and what tomorrow holds - well we just don't know.
Haiku 8: Of the aforementioned 160 + blogs in my daily reader these are some of the best bloggers in the business.
Haiku 9: This is one of my favorites. A mortgage can mean drastically different things to different people.
Haiku 10: In this day, the old tried and true methods of generating business probably aren't working. To survive, you must adapt!
Haiku 11: It seems everyone is looking for someone or something to blame.
Haiku 12: Financial Crunch, Liquidity Crunch. Sometimes I get a little tired of hearing the same thing over and over. When it comes to Crunch's make mine Chocolate!
Haiku 13: The Slam Dunk. It's a Loan Officer term for a loan that doesn't require a lot of work and flies through underwriting. Or at least it used to.
Haiku 14: So many people look at blogging, SEO, Metatags as the way to build business. If that's all your doing - your missing the boat!
Haiku 15: Once again, for the real estate professional what used to be isn't what needs to be today. This came from a conversation I had with a real estate agent who just didn't understand why a loan couldn't be done.
Haiku 16: With all the good changes that are happening we still see Buyers not willing to make the commitment to enter the market.
Haiku 17: This was one of my favorite pictures. I must have tried 20 different ways to fit the words in without taking away from the picture. This was the best i could come up with.
Like the coming and going tide, the real estate market is cyclical. To me this picture reminded me both of that and the idea to stay on the path. The current troubles we are seeing are only temporary.