Welcome to another episode of “Real Talk,” where we dive deep into the minds of top real estate professionals to uncover how their past experiences shape their approach to serving clients. In this episode, we sit down with Lee Davies, a top-performing Realtor with 37 years of experience and the founder and president of Eleete Real Estate Company.
Lee is known for his unparalleled drive and dedication, which often goes misunderstood by those outside his company. His intense passion for serving his clients and supporting his Realtors is the cornerstone of his success. Join us as we explore Lee’s upbringing and professional influences, and discover how they have molded him into the exceptional leader he is today. Learn about the unique culture of Eleete Real Estate and gain insights that can inspire your own journey in the real estate industry.
Don’t miss this inspiring conversation with one of the industry’s most dedicated and talented professionals!
Our team was recently discussing books that we read in 2022 and we thought we’d share our top picks!
Also, huge shout out to our Processor, Amanda, who read 86 books in 2022!! That is not a typo 8-6! 🤯
Anyone else read 86 books this year?!
Here are our picks:
Evan:
“The Psychology of Money” By: Morgan Housel
“Mindsight” By: Daniel Siegel
Lirra:
“Mixed Plate” By: Jo Koy
“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Lindsey:
“People We Meet On Vacation” By: Emily Henry
“V for Vendetta” By: Alan Moore
Amanda:
“Things We Never Get Over” By: Lucy Score
“The Rose Code” By: Kate Quinn
“Lessons in Chemistry” By: Bonnie Garmus
“American Dirt” By: Jeanine Cummins
And if you need more suggestions, just give us a call. I’m sure Amanda can recommend something from her long list! 😁
Cherry Creek Mortgage, LLC / Swanson Home Loans: 503.488.1808
I just published my monthly newsletter with a few ideas worth sharing. In this edition I included an article which explains how two major economic forces could collide and cause mortgage rates to increase later on in 2017, how technology is reshaping the way we live in our homes, and how to reduce stress and live life with greater purpose with a two minute daily habit.
You can check it out and subscribe to my newsletter HERE.
OK, OK…I realize the headline might be a little far-fetched, but I ran across this article in 1843 Magazine, The Economist’s lifestyle magazine, and was fascinated. The entire article is definitely worth a read.
Of significance to this blog is the thesis @ryanavent contributes to the great mystery as to why the unemployment rate is at a historically low level yet inflationary pressure remains weak.
Effectively, the article argues that one of the reasons why the Labor Force Participation Rate is so low is because there is a large pool of eligible workers who are posted up in their parents basements addicted to video games.
Since the unemployment rate only accounts for those who are looking for work and excludes those who are out of the Labor Force (i.e. addicted gamers), the rate of those out of work who want work is artificially low.
We can thank this chap for historically low mortgage rates.
Since inflation is one of the primary drivers of mortgage rates and because wages have remained relatively stagnant given the low labor force participation rate, one can argue that low mortgage rates have effectively become a beneficiary to the addictive nature of video-gaming. Thanks Nintendo!
Thank you to my hardworking team (Amanda Harvey, Camy Platt, and Michael Nardoni, and the entire support staff at Mortgage Trust)! Furthermore, thank you to my customers and professional partners who place trust in our work!
I am happy and honored to announce that we ranked #184 in the entire United States for 2015 residential loan origination volume according to National Mortgage News.
Thanks to everyone for their hard work and support. In 2015 we were ranked #184 in the nation for residential loan origination volume.
We look forward to continuing our service to customers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho with professionalism and integrity. Hopefully in 2016 we can march down that list!
The latest “My Mind on Mortgages” newsletter should be hitting mail slots early next week. HERE IS A LINK if you want to download a copy now. In this issue……
I’ve blogged a few times in the previous months about my recent fascination with the subject of “neuroeconomics”. This is a field of study that looks at the role a person’s pschye, emotions, and/or subjective-self plays in making economic decisions. I’m fascinated by this subject because of the gap between the body of fiscal knowledge that is readily available to households and the widespread lack of financial health. I used to believe that the primary reason for this gap was a lack of significant fiscal curriculum in our schools. The idea being that people were never taught how to properly manage their finances and therefore didn’t practice healthy habits. I still believe that our society could benefit from better education but I now recognize that the issue isn’t necessarily knowledge-based.
The reality is that most households know they should spend less than they make so that they can save for future needs (i.e. retirement, rainy day fund, etc.). Furthermore, most households have a desire to put their financial lives in order. The problem is not knowledge it is pschological. As Jason Zweig points out in his book “Your Money & Your Brain” the human brain has evolved over millions of years and only in very recent history has it been exposed to rational, analytical reasoning. It’s no wonder that despite our understanding of concepts it is still very difficult for us to put theory into practice. Here is an excerpt:
“…our investing brains often drive us to do things that make no logical sense-but make perfect emotional sense….Our brains were originally designed to get more of whatever would improve our odds of survival and to avoid whatever would worsen the odds. Emotional circuits deep in our brains make us instinctively crave whatever feels likely to be rewarding- and shun whatever seems liable to be risky….That’s why knowing the right answer, and doing the right thing, are very different.“
I look forward to completing this book and gaining a greater understanding of the biology of how decisions are made. I plan to share other thoughts and excerpts over the course of the next few weeks so please stay tuned. If you have any interesting thoughts or resources to share on this subject please do so below in the comment section.
My sister & brother-in-law gave me a subscription to Lapham’s Quarterly for my birthday last year. If you’re not familiar with this quarterly periodical it is literary magazine founded by former Harper’s editor Lewis Lapham. Each issue he picks a theme and then searches historical & contemporary literature for inclusion in the issue. It’s a great magazine but that’s not why I chose to write this post.
Lewis Lapham
His latest issue is entitled “Lines of Work” and deals with employment. In Lewis’s opening essay he survey’s the US’s historical connection to employment and raises a very interesting point about employment and debt that I had never thought about before. I thought I would blog about it today in case you wanted something to ponder over the weekend.
Here’s the excerpt:
“…somewhere in the middle of the 1980s on the yellow brick road with Toto and the Gipper… was easy access to conspicuous credit. For how else could the American Leaves of grass join their top-dressed companions on a golf course unless they borrowed money? The country’s working and middle classes discovered that it wasn’t the value of the work itself, or its manufacture of a decent living…that made up the sum of a country’s wealth and well-being. Their great collective enterprise was the labor of consumption, and with it the derivative of debt…”
Leading up to this point in the essay Lewis had painted the US’s connection to work & employment much like the “protestant work ethic” you might imagine. When American’s wanted something they worked long & hard, saved their money, and eventually purchased that house (if they didn’t build it with their own 2 hands) or car or ________. In this instance the workers labor & unemployment was a direct means to an end.
But in the 1980s US workers now had the option to work for years and years and years OR purchase that item today using credit and then pay for it over time.. My question is, did the onslaught of widely available credit in our culture create a disconnect between our labor & consumption?
