My husband, PJ, for some ungodly reason, decided to spend six months training for the PF Chang marathon.  To a "non-runner" such as me, this seemed like personal torture.  I watched him wake at the break of dawn, and exhaust himself with grueling self-inflicted pain.  I spent the remainder of the day observing him limp and complain of the physical discomforts that followed.  But he is an athlete.  For as long as I have known him, he has pushed himself through many endurance exercises to accomplish his personal goals.  Of course I teased him as he suffered though physical therapy, as well as through his visits to his chiropractor, and there was even that time I teased him after the unfortunate hospital run (lest we not forget the "butt surgery"- see my Facebook posts.)   I did not understand why he chose to continue to do these things when the results produced such misery.  He reminded me that in order to achieve his physical accomplishments, his pain and sore muscles were just part of his body's "recovery". I guess when I look back; my experience with physical recovery was very similar. This past month marked two years that my family has lived with my cancer diagnosis.  There is no question that the physical difficulties I endured were not fun.  To "cure" the destruction going on in my body, I had to be made sick and for reference, chemotherapy is just as terrible as you imagine.  I hated to watch the nurse prepare the dreaded "red devil" syringe that was injected into my IV line.  I knew what was in store for me in the days ahead.  I hated that I had to wait to open my eyes in the morning before I could determine if my headache had passed, or if my food would stay down that day.  I hoped each day that I would have the strength to lift my head to say "good morning" to my kids before they left for school.  I felt weak, like I could not will myself out of the physical discomfort and those days felt like I would never recover.  The demons that would crowd my mind during those days were tough to fight.  They wanted me to give up.  I hated that I felt like cancer would not kill me but chemotherapy would.  I hated that there were days that the "cure" was so much harder than I ever expected.        All of that is behind me now.  I have no doubt that, although I do not wish to revisit my days of the physical battles with cancer, I will forever be so much stronger because of it.  As I am out and about, I repeatedly am asked about my recovery, and it is often with the unspoken assumption that I just woke up one day and I was cured.  I have to admit that there was a part of me that somewhat expected that as well, but recovery as I found out, happens one day at a time.  Recovery can be just as hard as the actual battle.  The only difference is eventually you may see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But, recovery is a process, there are ups and there are downs, good days and bad days.  Sometimes recovery can be so difficult, it may require you to look at things from an entirely new perspective. After my last surgery, I felt like I had mastered recovery.  In fact, I didn't even make the effort to change my schedule that required me to be at a conference in Dallas just days after my return from the hospital.  Everything had been going great, no complications and I felt better than I had in months.  But that is the funny thing about recovery; you think that you are in the clear and expect everything to be "back to normal."  What I found was that my mind had had enough of cancer and its constant presence in my life but my body was not yet in agreement.  In my still weakened state, I had to give myself a little time to heal and I have to remind myself that every day. I have had several conversations with many people over the past several weeks and have started to recognize yet another recovery...the recovery of our market.  The past 6-7 years, our country has faced a terrible destruction of wealth, financial insecurity and a morass in our economy; it has been tough, it has been scary, it has been humbling and for many, life altering.  Yet, as difficult as it has seemed at times, we have begun to see that there are many signs of recovery.  After we recognized the financial disease our country was in, we endured years of difficult and sometimes painful changes to breathe life back into our global economy.  There are few among us who could say that they were not impacted in one way or another, often at no fault of their own.  Friends and family, customers and acquaintances, many lost their homes and/or their jobs and had to make some of the most difficult, emotional decisions they have ever faced.  The "American Dream" for many became the American nightmare.  We are, as a nation, starting to feel the recovery.  Unemployment numbers have stopped their free fall; home prices, even in some of the hardest hit areas, have started to see a slight increase and consumers are slowly gaining back some confidence.  Looking forward to the economic healing process, there are still many difficulties ahead.  Changes will be implemented that may be uncomfortable for many.  Current and common business models will no longer garner the same results.  Nonetheless healing will come to those who are willing to pay the price, those who are ready to recognize the opportunities and those who are ready to take action so the recovery can begin. It is so hard to believe that it has almost been two years since I began my cancer recovery.  It is even more difficult to believe that it has been almost seven years since the housing "bubble" burst.  We have all been through great deal.  We each have our own scars in this life, but I like to think that "scars are just tattoos with better stories." Have a great week! Amy

Educate Your Clients and Help Them Recover

The past 7 years have been difficult.  You, your clients, our market have all suffered through some of the most economically difficult times in our history.  Many of us had to pay the price and suffered tremendous financial damage.  But the time is now to start the recovery.  Our team wants to be there to help.    Beginning May 1, 2013, Citywide Home Loans will offerconventional financing at market rates for customers who have had a FORECLOSURE more than 3 years ago with the following criteria... Primary Residence ONLY Requires 10% down Must receive an Automated Underwriting Approval Date of Foreclosure on credit report must have occurred at least 36 months ago Purchase OR Rate/Term Refinance Beginning May 1, 2013, Citywide Home Loans will offerconventional financing at market rates for customers who have had a DEED-IN-LIEU of FORECLOSURE more than 2 years ago with the following criteria... Primary Residence ONLY Requires 10% down Must receive an Automated Underwriting Approval Date of Deed in Lieu on credit report must have occurred at least 24 months ago Purchase OR Rate/Term Refinance Beginning May 1, 2013, Citywide Home Loans will offerconventional financing at market rates for customers who have had a SHORT SALE more than 2 years agowith the following criteria... Requires 20% down Must receive an Automated Underwriting Approval Date of Short Sale must have occurred at least 24 months ago Purchase OR Rate/Term Refinance For 10% Down the Short Sale must have occurred 4 years ago

Will QM Impact You and Your Clients?

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the official regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced that it is directing the two agencies to limit their future loans that meet the requirements for a qualified mortgage or QM.  Beginning January 10, 2014, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer purchase a loan that is subject to the "ability to repay" rule if the loan: is not fully amortizing, has a term of longer than 30 years, or includes points and fees in excess of three percent of the total loan amount, or other limits for low balance loans This means Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not purchase interest-only loans, loans with 40-year terms, or loans with points and fees exceeding the thresholds established

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Why does a rapper carry an umbrella? Fo' drizzle