A Tucson pawn shop has become a new way of banking for many low income families, those recently jobless or people new to the ways of frugal living. A pawn broker will make a loan using personal property, often gold jewelry, as collateral.  The pawn shop issues a contract between the pawn shop and the customer stating the amount of the loan, the length of the loan – how long the pawn broker will hold the merchandise – and the amount of the interest.  If the customer fails to return with the cash, plus interest, to reclaim their items, then the pawn shop...

Mortgage servicers and mortgage lenders are already regulated in most states, mortgage loan officers have no such regulations which could allow for entry of unscrupulous loan operators who act illegally or may have criminal backgrounds. Mortgage education would include background checks and continuing education as part of any new laws passed concerning mortgage brokers and mortgage loan officers in those states that do not have laws already in place concerning their mortgage loan officers.  There is a national loan officers licensing law which debuted July...

Many young families are taking advantage of the government’s $8,000 first time homebuyer’s tax credit and purchasing new houses Tampa in the Florida area.   There are many signs that point to the American housing market being on the threshold of rising up from the most horrible real estate market this nation has seen in three years.   Some of the encouraging signs are a surge in reported activity in numerous areas during the past three to six months; first-time homebuyers are continuing to bring vitality to the market place not just in Asbel Creek,...

A Tampa hair styling salon remained busy on a Saturday morning even though the economy is tanking.  Loyalty is one way to explain why a beauty salon would remain busy in this downward economy, another reason may be that women want to look good even if they don’t feel good about what’s going on.   Many studies have shown that people feel better when they look better and looking better is what a beauty salon is all about.  People may be cutting back on purchasing some of the salon products and buying their shampoo and styling gel from the local...

We communicate daily by speaking to people in person, by talking on the phone, and in writing. Does your communication style meet the right criteria for business and administrative communication? Is your message clear? A clear message ensures that your audience won’t be left with questions or assume the intent of the communication. This saves time for your audience, as well as the sender of the message. Is your message complete? Don’t leave our pertinent information. Try to anticipate the questions your audience may have, and answer them in...

Promotional items are always a fun way to promote your business. My sister recently gave us some Devil Rays (St. Petersburg baseball team) SWAG she scored from a business contact, and we’ve been enjoying our loot. Last night I grabbed a plastic beer mug out of the freezer (the kind with water inside) and noticed that it had the Devil Rays logo on one side, and the logo of a local tire company on the other. My son has been using his Devil Rays baseball mitt at his baseball team practices. My husband wears his free Devil Rays hat when he mows the...

I absolutely hate it when I’m filling out new patient forms at a doctor’s office, or some other type of official forms, and my social security number is requested. A social security card and the number accompanying it is NEVER to be used for identification, and all too often, doctor’s offices ask for this information just because they can – they don’t need it! Why am I so touchy about giving out my social security number? I’ve already been the victim of credit fraud once. I was turned down for the very first credit card...

I can only hope! If Microsoft buys Yahoo, maybe Yahoo can in turn grow to rival Google, which would mean the end of the Google monopoly. I’m a long time Yahoo user, from my email to Yahoo groups (remember when it was eGroups?) and I love Yahoo news. I even use my Yahoo email to download my pop3 email from other accounts. If the sale goes through, this could mean big changes for the internet – more search engine competition, maybe new ways to rank websites, and new models of online advertising. Take that, Google!

I watch quite a bit of TV during the day while I’m sitting at my desk working (I like the background noise!) and sandwiched in between the ads for lawyer referral services and vocational schools are ads to get a “free credit score” or a “free credit report”…or even “free credit monitoring”. You’ve seen them…”I’m thinking of a number between….” Notice how I put those terms in quotes? Those services are NEVER free, and most are scams designed to separate you from your hard...

We’ve bought 3 homes now (and sold two of the three) and have been through the process from start to finish – listing the home, negotiating an offer, and showing up at closing to sign your name eleven hundred times to various papers. We’ve never had an issue, and I think that was in part due to the excellent agents we had representing us, and the title insurance company doing a thorough job. I’ve heard the horror stories though, of people showing up at the closing table only to find out that there’s a lien on the dream home...