Why I write on the Bloodhound Blog….

by Tom Vanderwell

Mortgage Officer

Author website

and on Zillow’s Mortgages Unzipped Blog and on the Straight Talk About Mortgages. I was asked that question the other day and the answer I gave surprised the person who asked it.   I found that intriguing, so I thought I’d share both the question and the answer.

Why do I write on these blogs?   The person who asked it reads a lot of what I write on these blogs and other places, so they know that even though writing comes rather easy for me, I do spend a lot of time on it.

Here’s my answer:

• I write on these blogs because the mortgage world can be terribly confusing and I want to try to help educate people, and that’s true even in the best of times.
• I write on these blogs because sharing my understanding and knowledge of what’s happening and what it means helps to elevate the professionalism and expertise of the mortgage and real estate professions.
• I write on these blogs because we are in horrendously confusing times and the full ramifications of what’s happening won’t be truly felt for decades.
• I write on these blogs because there are a lot of people who have experienced and are going through severe financial disruptions and need someone to help them understand what’s going on.
• I write on these blogs because the economy is going through what I believe we’ll see to be “seismic shifts” in consumers attitudes toward credit, saving, investments, banking, and real estate.  I’ve based my entire mortgage career on helping people manage their money wisely and making solid decisions and this is a logical extension of that.

The person who asked the question was surprised at my response.   He said, “I would have guessed that the reason you write on these is to write more loans!”

Have I written more mortgages that I wouldn’t have otherwise?   Yes.   Is that why I’m doing it?   Nope.

And that brings me to the main point of this post.   I’m working on something new.   Let me explain:

• There are a lot more facets to people’s financial condition than just mortgages.
• There’s a lot of people who are struggling to understand what’s happening with real estate, with the financial markets, with the stock markets and trying to answer the question, “Will I ever be able to retire?”

So what’s the new thing I’m working on?   I’m joining forces with two of the experts in these other areas of the financial perspective (BHB’s own BawldGuy for one) and we’re setting up a new website that will offer in-depth writing and analysis of the issues that are facing investors, homeowners, stock market participants and anyone who is concerned with handling their money well.

There are many stories and news items that, as they unfold, make me say, “There’s a lot more to the story than what you read in the mainstream media.”   Our goal behind the new site is to provide an opportunity and a location for people go to get solid, rational, well thought out interpretations and discussions of the issues that are facing us all.

I’ll have more information for you about it soon.   Stay tuned at Straight Talk or at BawldGuy Talking to keep up on the details as they unfold.

Tom Vanderwell

P.S. The other reasons that I write on Bloodhound are because Chris Johnson called Greg Swan and urged Greg to bring me onboard and because it’s just a really great bunch of people to “hang out with.”