Greetings!

Have you ever had a misunderstanding between you and another person? How about a contentious misunderstanding? Maybe you had a written agreement, and now, for the life of you, you can't figure out how in the world the other person thinks you agreed to something entirely different than what you agreed to?

One way or the other, we all have been there. Somehow, someway, the words got in the way.

I am currently in the process of taking some Continuing Education courses as a requirement to renew my California Broker's License. In the Real Estate Contracts class, this very topic was addressed - say what you mean, and mean what you say. Here are 3 simple rules that hit home with me that you may find of interest:

1. Never change your language unless you wish to change your meaning, and always change your language if you wish to change your meaning.

Scott J. Burnham, Drafting Contracts, 1987.

2. Do not use different words to denote the same things; and don't use the same word to denote different things. Legal Drafting Style Manual, March 1978.

3. Do not use "and/or". The expression is ambiguous. It has caused many lawsuits. The words "and" and "or" have quite different meanings. You might think that "and/or" means A or B, or both. Not true. Some courts have even said "and/or" means the court can choose either "and" or "or", whichever the justice of the situation requires. Other courts have come to other conclusions. Don't use the expression.

Robert C. Dick, Q.C., Legal Drafting (2d).

Simply put - Say what you mean and mean what you say!

"Electrocution by battery". Rick Reilly, sportswriter, describing Greg Norman giving up a 6 stroke lead in the final round of the 1996 Masters Golf Tournament. He lost by 2 strokes to Nick Faldo.

                    Why Zillow Clicked

Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink co-founded Zillow a decade ago. Barton's 1st company was Expedia. He creates them but does not stick around to run them. Today, Zillow occupies 12 floors of office space in Seattle with nearly 1000 employees there and 2200 nationwide. Here is a brief summary of a recent interview with the two:

"Lloyd and I were shopping for houses and we couldn't believe how disempowered we felt. We had to hire a professional and get a little drip-drip of information. We kind of had an epiphany. We were like, "Oh my God, this is so hard. It's 2005 and the Web has been around for 10 years. Why isn't it easier for us to get basic marketplace information?"

The seed for Zillow was planted!

"How would it be to be able to strap on the Oculus virtual reality goggles and take a spin around some apartments or houses? That's a whole interesting technology vector that we're pushing on. Then there's the basic mechanics of home shopping and the way documents are transferred. That's going to change. We are going to be leading on all of it."

Rachel Lerman, Los Angeles Times, Business Section

"People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do."   Jerry Stewart, Author.

Self-Employed? Hints to Qualifying for a Mortgage Loan

One financial benefit of being self-employed - tax write offs - morphs into an ugly disadvantage when self-employed workers try to get a mortgage. It's not impossible to get a mortgage, but it's not easy.

Lending standards are tough, and lenders typically want to see two years worth of tax returns, which often don't accurately reflect take home pay. You have to prepare longer than most borrowers before buying a home.

1. Write off fewer expenses in the two years leading up to purchase of a home.

2. Don't comingle business and personal funds.

3. Use a business credit card for business purchases.

4. Show year over year increases.

5. Choose your years carefully. Lenders will ignore seasonal spikes and valleys by averaging out income over 24 months. But, they don't like to see a decline in income from one year to the next.

Chris Trafecanty, Mortgage Report, Lighthouse Home Loans, ctrout@fasterhomeloans.com.

"Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other."  Oscar Ameringer.

It's not too late to sign up for the Paper Source Note Symposium in Las Vegas, April 28-30. Go to PaperSourceSeminars.com for info and to register. Save $50 with the coupon code "denny."

            April 10 is National Sibling Day

You probably know some of these famous siblings:

1. The Olsen twins, Mary-kate and Ashley from the TV sitcom Full House.

2. Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty

3. Wyonna and Ashley Judd

4. Serena and Venus Williams

5. The Wright Brothers

6. The Everly Brothers

7. George W. and Jeb Bush

8. The Pointer Sisters

9. Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez

10. Beau and Jeff Bridges

"A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country."   Tex Guinan.

If you enjoyed this Newsletter, tell a friend.

If you know how I can make it better, tell me.

Thanks for reading.

Denny Stanz

CA Broker # 01915404

760-245-5366 

760-245-5367 fax 

dennystanz@verizon.net

www.CaliforniaNoteCompany.com