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Bruce McCoy
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I would like to take a moment to talk about professionals and the jobs we expect. So many times, especially as we experience more of the world, we encounter professionals in many areas of our lives. We hire contractors to work on our property, lawyers to navigate the Byzantine maze of our legal system, doctors to properly diagnose our ills, plumbers, electricians and even loan brokers who advertise that they are the best choice for us to hire. For the most part you don’t mind paying for professional services done correctly. Sometimes we discover that these are professionals in name only. We are lucky when the cost of finding out is only money and not anything more important. Which brings me to the fires currently burning across California.
I’m certain that the professionalism we witnessed with the Martin Road fire is typical of how firefighters handle themselves “on the job”. We just had more of a first hand experience than a newspaper account. Think of this for a moment; a fire starts in a sparsely populated area with tinder dry underbrush, high winds, limited access, rough terrain, high temperatures and low humidity, and it is contained to less than a square mile! They limited the loss of homes to only a few. For those who lost your homes I am truly sad, but think how many more it could have been. These firefighters, starting with our local volunteers, accomplished something that we don’t see as often as we would like. They did their jobs, and they did them extremely well, for which we are profoundly grateful.
If only the other professionals we hire would do as well.
Fixed rates for loans under $417,000 at 0 points as of 6/24/08 (a.m.) are:
(Add ½ point in fee for purchase or no cash out for loans to $729,000)
30 year fixed: 6.5% (APR 6.56%) payments are $2,635.72/mo.
15 year fixed: 6.125% (APR 6.231%) payments are $3,547.11/mo.