You are receiving this letter because you are a client of either Blackburne & Sons or C-Loans, Inc. Removal instructions are below. Today we'll talk about the improving residential housing market. There are some pretty encouraging signs out there. And, as always from Blackburne & Sons, we have lots of clean jokes, gags, and funny videos for you.

Joke Du Jour

Dr. Cutter is the local veterinarian, known for his wry humor. He surpassed himself one summer day when a city dog was brought to him after an encounter with a porcupine. After almost an hour of prying, pulling, cutting and stitching, he returned the dog to its owner, who asked what she owed. "Forty dollars, Ma'am," he answered. "Why that's simply outrageous!" she stormed. "That's what's wrong with you Maine people. You're always trying to over-charge summer visitors. What do you do in the winter when you can't take advantage of helpless summer visitors?" The vet replied, "Raise porcupines, Ma'am."

Earn Huge Referral Fees for Commercial Loans

Referral fees on commercial real estate loans are perfectly legal, and you do not have to be licensed. Blackburne & Sons will pay you a referral fee of 20% of our net loan fee, just for providing us with the name and number of a potential commercial mortgage borrower. We once paid a referral fee of $21,250 on a single deal!

Please click here to refer us a commercial loan.

That good news on housing is coming up shortly.

Silly Joke

What's clear on the outside and gray on the inside? An elephant in a sandwhich bag. haha

Blackburne & Sons is Looking For Non-Owner-Occupied Home Loans in California.

We love investors and flippers. Got a non-owner residential loan request in California? Please call me, Tim Brannan, at 916-338-3232, email me at timb@blackburne.com, or simply complete this easy mini-app. Blackburne & Sons has been in business for over 31 years now.

Insurance Form Joke

John was in a bit of a fix. He was filling out an insurance form, and the form asked him to state how his parents had died. His mother was not a problem. She had died of a coronary at the age of 71. His father, however, had been hanged for murder at the age of 46, and John was too embarrassed to admit it. After a bit of thought, he came up with a solution. "My father died at the age of 46 when a platform collapsed at a public occasion."

Encouraging News on Housing

I read the following in an article in the Weekly Standard today.

"... Because apartment vacancies are at a decades-low level, rental rates are rising, making the relative cost of buying a home more attractive than in a very long while. Nishu Sood, housing analyst with Deutsche Bank, reports that historically it cost about 10 percent less to rent an apartment than to own a home; now it costs 15 percent more to rent than to buy."

"That, along with rates on 30-year fixed mortgages that remain below 4 percent, has previously reluctant buyers ringing their estate agents. One major builder tells me that this year “has no relation” to the dreary years of the past as Americans and foreigners are back in the market, the latter buying condos and houses in the U.S. as vacation homes or to store their excess capital in a safe country. Nearly half of the purchases by foreigners were all-cash deals, and many of the buy-to-let deals were made by investment groups snapping up as many as 1,000 homes for rental now, and sale when prices recover."

Smoke Signals Joke

A salesman traveling through the prairies of the U.S. stopped at a small town and went to the local cafe. He sat at the end of the counter, ordered a Coke, and lit up a cigar. As he sipped his drink, he was quietly blowing smoke rings. After he blew nine or ten smoke rings into the air, an angry Native American (Indian) stomped up to him and said, "One more remark like that, and I'll bust you right in the mouth!"

Hungry for Commercial Loans Too

Blackburne & Sons is also looking for hard money first mortgage loans - up to $1.5 million - secured by commercial properties nationwide (not just California). Our private money loans almost never have a prepayment penalty.

Got a residential loan request in California or a commercial loan request anywhere in the country? Please call me, Tim Brannan, at 916-338-3232 or email timb@blackburne.com

Hospital Bracelet Joke

This attractive woman tells the story: As I was admitted into the hospital for a procedure, the clerk asked for my wrist, saying "I'm going to give you a bracelet." "Does it have rubies and diamonds?" I asked coyly. "No," he joked, "but it costs just as much."

On a Personal Note...

Each loan officer should insert his personal paragraph here.

Titanic Joke

"The movie, Titanic, is being re-released in 3-D, and they tried to update it a little bit to play to the younger crowd. In the new version, the captain hits the iceberg because he's texting." -- Jay Leno

Residential Rates and LTV's

Blackburne & Sons will lend up to 70% LTV on purchases, provided the buyer puts down at least 20% of the purchase price in cash, his middle credit score is at least 680, and he has the capacity to repay. The seller can carry back a second mortgage for 10% of the sales price.

We will often lend up to 60% LTV on refinances, provided the borrower's credit score is at least 680, and he has the ability to repay. The term of most of our home loans is three years.

Our interest rate will vary from 8.9% to 12.9%, depending on the safety of the deal and the desirability of the property and neighborhood. Most of our home loans will be either 9.9% or 10.9%. We charge only 2 points on home loans, and we will go down to par, if necessary, to land a very safe and desirable loan.

Hilarious Video