Tucson By Choice!

Little Walnuts Walking on Sticks. A Gambel's Quail in my Geranium Pot.

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:54:39 -0700

We've never seen the mother sit on the nest, and it wasn't until there were four or five eggs that we noticed them at all.

Gambel's Quail are among my favorite visitors to our backyard in the Arizona Sonoran Desert. The male and the female are about the same size--about ten inches from beak to tail.

When they fly (which isn't often unless they're threatened) they display a wingspan of sixteen inches or so.

The clutch has grown by one egg per day, and when I took this photo, there were ten.

No doubt the clutch is larger now, and any day now, we'll see the family walking single file across our yard toward the arroyo between us and the mountain.

Dad will be first, then the little ones all in a line, and finally, Mom, bringing up the rear. The babies are little balls of fluff; they look like walnuts on sticks!

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.

Think of me as your local expert.

Attraction is Nature's Marketing Program. Take Notes!

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:43:33 -0700

Look at these two photos. How can you fail to respond by taking a closer look?

Bees and other pollinators feel the same way. The end result is success for the plant in the form of fruit.

"By their fruit, you will know them."
Jesus of Nazareth

(If Jesus of Nazareth isn't on your business reading list, revise your list!)

It's interesting that He didn't say "By their flowers..." After all, the flowers are usually the showy part of the plant's advertising campaign. (Think cherry blossoms in Washington in the springtime.)

Here's the reason: Another element is essential before fruit can "set." Something has to pollinate the fruit!

You have 100,000 potential pollinators for your business right here on the Active Rain Real Estate Network. Your blog is the flower, and here's the point:

The primary purpose of a Real Estate blog is to attract fruitful relationships.

Not to lecture.
Not to complain about other bloggers or current market conditions.
Not to vent negative emotions to make you feel better. "So there!!"

Blogging is an extremely effective form of viral marketing. Check to see if your message is attractive. Does it make your reader want to get to know you better? Does it allow your reader to come closer in spite of the thorns we all have in our personalities? Does the message overshadow the thorns because the message is so very attractive?

NOTE: Pollinators can't be goaded or driven into doing their job. They can only be attracted.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.

Think of me as your local expert.

Location, Location, Location! Gate's Pass at Sunset, Tucson, Arizona

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:29:37 -0700

There's something about a spectacular sunset that draws us. Each evening, just before sunset, people from all over the world gather less than a mile from my home in the Tucson Mountains to witness some of the most glorious sunsets on the planet. The spot is called Gate's Pass.

Here's a closeup of the setting sun between the saguaro cacti on a September evening.

And another of the gathering storm from the perspective of the ramada at Gate's Pass, overlooking the valley floor below.

If you like what you see, there are a few lovely homes in our community of Tucson Estates II. I can recommend some great agents if you don't already have one. Call me, and let's talk.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.

Think of me as your local expert.

Photos and content copyright Mike in Tucson

...but please feel free to "right click" on a photo and save it for your desktop wallpaper if you like!

Saturday Night in the Desert: It's Raining!

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:05:09 -0700

It's raining! We love the rain here in the desert southwest.

The monsoons are not over yet! We may have another week or two before the weather pattern changes again.

I camped out during the storm and took photo after photo with my little digital camera.

I must have taken 70 frames.

This one caught the lightning streaking from cloud to cloud as the storm receded towards the southern horizon.

Didn't God create a beautiful world?! I'm glad to be able to share it with you.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.

Think of me as your local expert.

Bookmark This Post For The Next Time You Think You Can't

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:07:01 -0700

My friend Kevin Wood lives and breathes golf. He shared this video with me. It's my pleasure to share it with you. It's the most encouraging story I've encountered this year.

Block out ten minutes. Take the phone off the hook. When it's over, bookmark it.

Come back the next time your client bolts, and you feel like quitting the industry.

Come back to it when that loan you were counting on is denied by the lender.

Come back to it when your personal life takes an unexpected turn south.

Come back to it when your broker announces that the doors are closing on a business into which you've poured your heart and soul.

Come back when you think you can't anymore. Because really...you can.

EDIT: The YouTube video of DJ Gregory's tremendous courage
has had the embed function disabled by request.

So click HERE to be inspired by DJ Gregory's heartwarming story.

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Mortgage Lender.

NMLS #223495

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE llc ~ Mortgage Bankers, Not Brokers!
Offices in Scottsdale, Tucson, and Nogales, AZ, and Albuquerque, NM.

Call me on my Blackberry (520) 349-9090

Video Biz: Maximizing the Use of Videos in Your Business, by Course Creators, Tucson, AZ

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:55 -0700

Video Biz, a class on "how to maximize the use of videos in your business," is taught by Len Elder and Theresa Barnebei, national speakers and owners of a Tucson-based business called Course Creators.

Len Elder and Theresa Barnebei will be speakers at the upcoming NAR convention in San Diego. If you're going to be there, don't miss these two.

Video for business

While many of you jumped right in with Flip Video last year, I was not an "early adopter" of the technology. I was intimidated by it.

That changed on Thursday of this past week. I signed up for Course Creator's Video Biz seminar, knowing full well that the curve for learning about using video in my business had passed me by. I knew I'd have to huff and puff a little to catch up with the rest of you.

In a room filled with REALTORs, I was the only lender. I was encouraged, however, to see that I was not the old man of the group! If my count is right, there were 15 attendees. The seminar accomplished much more than I expected.

I've always believed that my fingers have to do the walking if my brain is going to remember what I just heard. Course Creators subscribes to that belief. Elder & Barnabei produced a "hands on" class, and by the end of the day, all 15 or so students, ranging in age from twenty-something to seventy, had...

chosen a topic
written a storyboard,
shot and edited video,
inserted video clips,
created transitions,
inserted still photographs to fill out the story,
created and inserted charts and graphs,
dubbed voice-over commentary,
added music in the background, and
produced a finished product.

We even learned how to upload the movie to YouTube! All for $99.

Theresa Barnebei has a passion for three things in her classes. She tells her seminar students:

I want you to get it.

I want you to use it.

I want you to become more successful because of it.

I collected all three brass rings! The Video Biz seminar was a huge success for me. Len Elder and Theresa Barnabei have given me an effective new business tool.

As a result, I'm looking forward to my next seminar with Course Creators.

You'll be seeing the results in future posts to my Active Rain blog and my two outside blogs. Stay tuned!

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE
Call me if I can help you or someone you know with a purchase or refi mortgage;
(520) 349-9090

photo copyright Mike in Tucson

Tucson Artist Tom Murray Captures the Essence of the Southwestern Sky

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:19:30 -0700

Arizona skies are awesome. So is painter Tom Murray. I've never seen clouds captured on canvas with such realism and painterly beauty.

I first met Tom at Jane Hamilton Fine Art in Tucson on River Road near Campbell.

That's where you'll find original paintings like the one you see featured here.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.

Think of me as your local expert.

Nightfall in the Tucson Mountains: Blue Saguaro

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:04:04 -0700

Sunset tonight (June 9, 2009) was spectacular, first with yellows, then shades of orange and pink. As the sun sank below the horizon, pinks deepened to impossible reds, and then it was over for another twenty four hours.

Couples who had come to Gates Pass to watch the spectacle sat a little while longer, enjoying the moment with each other. Two by two, they found their way off the mountain and back to the parking lot at the foot of the pass. Lights came on, engines started up, and they left.

But the sky wasn't through showing off. Tonight, my favorite photo came nearly half an hour after the reds had faded back to grey. The greys deepened into dark blue, while off to the west clear sky was still visible in patches. That faded away as night fell, and one by one the stars appeared.

Tucson is such a beautiful place to live. I'm blessed.

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

Call me if I can help you with a purchase or refi mortgage;
(520) 349-9090

Photos copyright Mike in Tucson

Monsoon Sunset (Tucson, AZ)

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:47:07 -0700

There's a magical combination of light and texture in the clouds at sunset during Tucson's monsoon season.

The rains have been spotty this summer, leading some to call this our Nonsoon Season. But all good things come to he who waits, and last night as I drove over Gates Pass on my way home, I could see that I needed to find a place to pull over and pick up the camera.

I took this photo at about 7:20 p.m. on Kinney Road, just north of the intersection with Gates Pass Road. That's the location of Old Tucson Studios, for you movie buffs. I pass it most nights on my way home.

The westerly sky was already fading as I parked the old Ford Explorer at one of the pull-outs on this scenic road. (No cash-for-clunkers for me. Mine's paid for.) Looking south, though, this was my view.

That flat horizon could almost be an ocean, couldn't it? It's deceiving. There are rolling hills and mountains to the right and to the left of my vantage point.

Okay. It's almost 4:45 a.m., and I want to get this on the blog before I go walk. I promised Bill Archambault in Houston that I would. Morning, Bill!

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE
Call me if I can help you or someone you know with a purchase or refi mortgage.
(520) 349-9090

photo copyright Mike in Tucson

Rainers - I Need Your Help - 3 Office Suite In Central Tucson, AZ Needs A Tenant

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:27:57 -0700

For two years now, I've turned to my friends on The Active Rain Real Estate Network for help, and I've never been disappointed.

You read my post on 7/11, Unemployed At 60 (But Not In The Least Discouraged). You rallied around me with the most encouraging comments, phone calls and emails, and I'm so very grateful for all of you.

If that had to happen, the timing couldn't have been better. I had just renegotiated my lease (on this beautiful office suite to your right) downward by 23%, and the landlord and leasing company couldn't have been more helpful.

Now that I'm miles away at SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, I need a creditworthy tenant to sublease this 3 office suite.

The unit is available for $950. per month.

3 private offices
comfortable reception area
work area
kitchenette
covered parking space available for under $30. per month extra

Please email a link to this post to anyone you know who's looking for beautiful, professional office space in greater Tucson.

Here's a link to the Craigslist post with all the details.

THANKS!

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE
Call me if I can help you or someone you know with a purchase or refi mortgage.
(520) 349-9090

Mike In Tucson's Former Digs For Lease, Beautiful, Affordable Office Space - Tucson, AZ - Private, Professional 3-Office Suite

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:44:26 -0700

For immediate lease: $950. per month ~ 710 sf +/- (curved wall)

See yourself in this beautiful, affordable office space in Tucson, AZ. A private, professional 3 office suite, this unit is centrally located at 3131 N Country Club, Tucson, AZ 85716.

This private, professional single story 3 office suite has been the business location for Mike in Tucson since May of 2007, shortly before I became a member of The Active Rain Real Estate Network.

When I leased the space from the previous owner of the complex, I had looked at more than 30 different spaces over a three month period.

None had combination of location, layout and ambiance provided by this professional office garden plaza setting, with its palm trees, eucaplyptus and olive trees.

Now that I've moved to SUNSTREET Mortgage, LLC, at Sunrise & Campbell, it's available for you.

For more information on this beautiful, affordable office space in Tucson, AZ, please see the ad on Craigslist Tucson.

Contact me at (520) 349-9090.

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE
Call me if I can help you or someone you know with a purchase or refi mortgage.
(520) 349-9090

File Guy Is Looking For It... What's That Word?

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:37 -0700

There's a word for numbers that look like this - they start out one way, reverse in the middle and end up the same way they started.

Words can do that too: the name "Otto" for instance.

I just can't remember what it's called. "File guy" has a lot more searching to do in the old brain at 60 than he did thirty years ago.

What's that word?

Photo of the Week: The Roadrunner & The Lizard

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:06:02 -0700

In the cartoons on Saturday morning, it's the Coyote who chases the Roadrunner, but ends up hungry. "Meep! Meep!" In the desert southwest that's my back yard, I often see both the coyote and the roadrunner within yards of each other, both intent on a meal, but neither hunting the other.

The roadrunner, in its hunt for prey, will often "put up" a rabbit in which it has no interest. The coyote has learned this, and uses that knowledge to his benefit.

Aren't you glad you don't subsist on snakes, lizards, scorpions and spiders? No matter what "lizard" you're hunting for this weekend, I wish you success!

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE
Call me if I can help you or someone you know with a purchase or refi mortgage.
(520) 349-9090

photo copyright Mike in Tucson

"Success Is Where Preparation Meets Opportunity" Zig Ziglar

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:02:40 -0700

This quote from Zig Ziglar is framed in my office.

I don't know if you're like me, but I'll admit to loving success, while struggling with the discipline required to prepare for that success.

Success

exciting
necessary
builds on itself
attracts others
results driven

Preparation

boring
tedious
necessary
builds on itself
habit forming

For the longest time (actually, since I moved to Tucson ten years ago,) I've wanted to photograph a lightning strike.

I've lived through the past nine monsoon seasons, admiring the fantastic lightning shows that the desert provides.

Each year I tell myself that I'm going to figure out how to photograph lightining.

Each year, I failed to follow through. I never took the time to figure out my camera or to plan a course of action.

The discipline of blogging for you on Active Rain changed that.

In order to make my posts visually appealing to you, I learned how to use my camera to best advantage. I learned to take action photos in series of three, with the camera doing the work.

Last night, one of the spectacular monsoon thunderstorms blew in from the southwest as I was closing up shop.

My Darlin' and I met for a mid-week dinner date, and by the time we were leaving, the storm was upon us. This year was different. I was prepared.

I drove to the top of Gates Pass, parked the car and began shooting pictures of the approaching storm.

Success! It wasn't hard. It just required a little preparation and follow- through.

Now if I can apply that same discipline to my business...

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.

Think of me as your local expert.

photos copyright Mike in Tucson

EDIT:

Digital Camera:
Panasonic DMC-TZ1 (Lumix)
Cost: $240.00 at Costco a year ago
Setup: Hand-held, no tripod

Conclusion: It doesn't take expensive equipment to do stuff like this!

Please Welcome National Bank of Arizona's Justin Martinez to Active Rain!

Mike Jones (SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:37:44 -0700

Commercial Real Estate Lender

Justin Martinez isn't your ordinary banker. Sure, he shows up in a suit and tie at the National Bank of Arizona, but that's his vocation. He's good at what he does for a living, but it's only one of Justin's passions in life.

Musician

The Justin Martinez you see on the left is a Rock & Roll musician performing here in Tucson, AZ. He's the Jimmy Page of his generation! (Okay, he doesn't have the hair... LOL)

You meet the most interesting people on the Active Rain Real Estate Network!

Please click the link to visit Justin's first post in the Rain. Make him WELCOME!

___________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE
Call me if I can help you or someone you know with a purchase or refi mortgage;
(520) 349-9090