Podcasts about desert hills

Started as a Kingdom Culture Conversation tradition during the Christmas of 2021, the 12 Days of Christmas 2022 will virtually drop KCC listeners into the midst of Christmas-themed church services and sermons, allowing for a special sampling of the various Phoenix-area (mostly) churches that serve the families of Northwest Christian School and Frameworks.Consider it a KCC gift to you and your family!"Kingdom Culture Conversations" is a podcast created through Frameworks, a Biblical worldview initiative of Northwest Christian School.For more information on Frameworks, please visit:  https://frameworks.ncsaz.org/For more information on Northwest Christian School, visit:  https://www.ncsaz.org/To reach out to Geoff Brown, please email gbrown@ncsaz.org or you can reach him by cell phone:  (623)225-5573.

Desert Hills Thunder, the reigning 4A State Champions, join the show to talk about their championship season.

Devin Dixon joins the show to preview the 4A football semifinal matchups between Ridgeline and Crimson Cliffs, and Mountain Crest and Desert Hills. Jason details the current controversies surrounding Josh Primo and Kyrie Irving and bemoans the fact the NBA can't even start a season without losing its mind.

Jason Walker gives his prediction for who will win between Ridgeline and Crimson Cliffs, and the game between Desert Hills and Mountain Crest. Also a preview into the weekend for the Utah Jazz who play the LA Lakers on Friday and the LA Clippers on Sunday.

This is our very first "Senior Moments" segment where we interview some High School Seniors about what they think it takes to "adult" and how to be truly successful in life. In this episode, we interview 3 students from Desert Hills High School. You can also follow us on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/stginstitute/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stginstitute (DISCLAIMER: This podcast is not affiliated with nor endorsed as an official production of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. All words and opinions expressed by participants are solely their own and do not reflect official doctrine of the church.) Email! {thedippodcast0@gmail.com}

Green Canyon faces Desert Hills in the 4A baseball playoffs at Dixie State University on May 17, 2022

The Desert Hills Lady Thunder join the show to talk about their amazing season and their 4A Championship run.

Like the beaver, we can change parts of our environment. Like the birds, we can move to other lands or at least try. And sometimes those Other Lands are the arid lands, the American Desert. PLUS: Kendra Atleework, author of the wonderful book about the Owens Valley/Eastern Sierra called Miracle Country, joins us for the second half of the program. AND: New eerie soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Tickets now on sale for our Desert Oracle Radio Live tour: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, (Memphis) Tennessee & (New Orleans) Louisiana. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us for this conversation on clients relationships, boundaries, real estate hot topics and more! Dianne Keck is among the top 2% of high producing REALTORs in Maricopa County, Arizona. She operates a small, boutique brokerage with her Partner, and serves families across Maricopa County, as well as in certain Northern Arizona vacation destinations. She is fond of saying that she "lives on vacation" in her Desert Hills, AZ home. Desert Hills is an unincorporated part of Phoenix, near Cave Creek. Her dream for others is that they would be able to live a life that is in alignment with their calling, starting in their home. Connect with Dianne! D I A N N E K E C K (@diannekeckrealestate) • Instagram photos and videos Thanks for listening and supporting small business and our community! I would love to connect with you at https://www.instagram.com/eventivebrush, in our private Facebook group where we continue the conversation and in our newsletter where we share event planning tips and advice to grow your business and build community. You will receive an email with the "Steps for Planning a Business Event" as soon as you join the party! Sarah Brush EVENTive Brush https://www.instagram.com/eventivebrush www.eventivebrush.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahbrush/ https://twitter.com/Sbrush22

Will Sanderson's first sermon with the main congregation at Desert Hills.

As we gather for worship, we are all aware of how momentous this week is in American politics. But as momentous as the 2020 election is, something even greater happens every week when we meet for worship because the King of kings speaks to us through His Word and accomplishes His will that will stamp eternity. I pray our time of worship will encourage your heart and equip you to navigate the week with grace, joy, and peace, so that Desert Hills might continue to shine brightly with the glory of the gospel of Christ, whatever God's providence may hold.

We hike up to peaceful desert hills and take in the stillness. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/happychillfuntime/support

Sky View Bobcats play-by-play announcer John Newbold talks about the Bobcats win against Desert Hills, 65-44

Ryne and Mark recap the Region 9 basketball matchups. They are joined by Coach Ryan Eves from Pine View to discuss their thrilling win over Desert Hills.

Sermon: A Biblical Vision for the Next 50 Years (and Beyond) (Selected Scriptures). God has faithfully used Desert Hills to fulfill His mission to spread the good news of Jesus Christ for the last 50 years.  Members have come and gone; pastors have taught and retired; leaders have led and left.  But, what about the next 50, 60, 70 or 100 years?  How can Desert Hills survive the changes in society; the challenges in the world; and continue to fulfill God's mission? Today's sermon by Pastor Robb's celebrates the blessing of the last 50 years and looks to the future of Desert Hills.  Please enjoy the vision and hopeful exposition of the future ministry of Desert Hills.  

This episodes features three short interviews, and a recap of the BC Pinot Celebration from Kelowna. I was fortunate enough to stay with my friends on the Kitsch Wines property, and sample 25-30 different wineries at this celebration.   Also, I was invited to the Garagiste North Wine Festival, which focuses on small wineries in BC, that make 2000 cases or less. Some of them truly are garagiste level, while others are verging on big name success. I was lucky enough to taste quite a few, with some of course being a very low intervention style, so a definite contrast to the bigger wineries. All in all, a great weekend.    I also managed to record a few minutes with three of my favourites from the Garagiste North Wine Festival, which was at Sperling Vineyards in East Kelowna. Mike Mosny of Winemaker's Cut, Anthony Buchanan, who is the head winemaker of Desert Hills, now has his own side label called Anthony Buchanan Wines, and finally Tyler Knight from Lightning Rock, who shares the wine growing and wine making duties with his wife, Jordan Kubek.         Get ready for a fun conversation. Pull up a chair, grab a glass and enjoy!   The Garagiste North Festival website can be found here- http://www.garagistenorth.com/   Audio recorded in person from Sperling Vineyards in East Kelowna, BC.    Mike Mosny- https://winemakerscut.ca/  Anthony Buchanan- https://anthonybuchananwines.ca/ Tyler Knight- https://www.lightningrockwinery.com/     Photos from the wine festival courtesy of Jennifer Schell, who operates the festival, writes books, makes wine... all of her talents can be seen here-   http://www.jenniferschell.com/     Great photos of all our guests can be found on our website here    http://friendsofthevine.podbean.com/   -     For all podcast updates and to follow the show look us up on Instagram here-   http://instagram.com/ianswinetruths     Music courtesy of Shakamoraine-   Follow them here: https://facebook.com/Shakamoraine/

Video version (recommended for this episode): https://youtu.be/4V7fWWT4nyQ  Tool-Assisted Podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/XEcJ4sg Tool-Assisted Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToolAssistedPod -Malleo’s Info- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ShwaMall... Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tasmalleo Twitter: https://twitter.com/tasmalleo   -TASPlasma’s Info- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TasPlasma Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tasplasma Twitter: https://twitter.com/DerekMather95    For more info about Tool-Assisted Speedruns see: http://tasvideos.org/ Mario Kart Wii TASing Discord: https://discord.gg/NCZghgy Mario Kart Wii BKT's spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...   -Corrections & Elaborations- These are some corrections and elaborations made by CobaltYoshi27 https://www.youtube.com/user/CobaltYoshi27 Thanks CobaltYoshi27! 1. The Mario Circuit glitch TAS was made by Michi, not by Zak. 2. Blaze had faster times on both Sherbet Land glitch (1:40.462, watch?v=qoGF2Z3-2ks) and DK Jungle Parkway glitch (34.515, watch?v=AwNOlzWyVXw) but they're unlisted. 3. Moo Moo Meadows also has the possibility of the Sneakster being faster than the Spear, but there was no way to get a good setup for the blue ramp, so Spear ultimately won the battle as a result. 4. Mushroom Gorge was actually pushed down to 17.451 after this video was released, and had an improved lap 2 and 3. 5. It is possible to do Mushroom Gorge glitch shroomless, but you won't stick to the wall for very long. You'll barely be able to make it to the end. 6. DK Summit has gone through a ton of improvements. The TAS dropped from 1:46.184 to 1:36.754, and even still has room for improvement of .2 or more. 7. Not mentioned is the fact that Wario's Gold Mine glitch is going to be pushed down by at least another .6 by using the right wall instead of the left wall. It's a lot harder but it's significantly less distance. 8. Plasma and Thomas were working on improving Maple Treeway no-glitch, using Flame Runner, considering the previous TAS record was a 2:09. They were on lap 2, on pace for a 2:06, and Lamejoin came out of nowhere and released the 2:05. Spear is ultimately faster here. 9. Baby Mario has a weight boost and a handling boost. Toad has an acceleration boost and drift boost. 10. Estaloy did get a 1:41 before Luke's run on Moonview Highway, using similar strats to the previous records. Luke's improvements in strats ended up saving .4. 11. Spear and Sneakster could end up being faster on Bowser's Castle shortcut due to the fact that they can do a trick on the shortcut and get the boost afterward. The problem comes with them losing time elsewhere. Funnily enough, this TAS was an improvement of exactly 3 seconds to the millisecond. 12. Rainbow Road glitch is humanly possible, but no one has pulled it off yet. 13. A TASer by the name of Atek started a 32 track TAS on Wario's Gold Mine to get a good item for the glitch. He stopped after 5 races because there was too much RNG involved. 14. Not mentioned is the Ghost Valley 2 TAS (47.633 by Monster and Cyan, watch?v=wxFRotY5Xvg). The shortcut here is to clip off the pole right at the beginning and skip the first turn. This doesn't fall in the ultra category, but the method used in this TAS is, since they're clipping back to the start. Previous TASes just did the first wallclip on all 3 laps. The new method saves well over a second. I think this TAS is pretty interesting and definitely should be mentioned somewhere. 15. Funky is confirmed faster on Sherbet Land glitch. Funky has the big speed boost he's used for, and a slight off-road boost, unlike Dry Bowser who has a big boost in both off-road and mini-turbo. Funky's top speed on ice is slightly faster than Dry Bowser's. 16. The dock shortcut is more viable with Baby Daisy than Funky because she can get more air. Lamejoin did a TAS here with Baby Daisy (she was the character used when the shortcut was first discovered), but Luke beat it by about .9. 17. Waluigi Stadium's glitch is the only ultra shortcut not humanly possible due to the rapid fire hop needed for the second part of the glitch. The first part is humanly possible. 18. Fun fact: Mario Kart 7's Maka Wuhu had an ultra shortcut discovered on it... 12 hours after release. The Japanese already glitched the track by the time Americans got the game. 19. Another thing to note is that the runners will cancel their wheelies in midair and then wheelie the frame they land on the ground again. This allows for them to maintain a full wheelie speed without having to deal with chain wheelies, which actually drops wheelie speed by 3 at first. This was utilized on Dry Dry Ruins, but more on DK Mountain. 20. The comparison between Daisy and Funky on N64 Bowser's Castle actually mixed up the lap 2 times, as noted in the video's description. 21. The game actually has 12 digits to represent exact time, however the game automatically rounds up the fourth decimal. Daisy was slower by about 0.0002 seconds, but the game rounded both up the same. I remember when Zak did a poll on Twitter on who was faster and I actually voted a tie. This tie was released on Mario Kart Wii's 10th anniversary. -Links to footage used in video version- 001 Luigi Circut Supergrinding 1:06.059 - Malleo, Monster, Rocky and Thomas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0p8y... 002 Moo Moo Meadows 1:13.739 - TASPlasma and Zak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRZvq... 003 Mushroom Gorge (glitch) 18.613 - Jellopuff, Estaloy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0lbG... 004 Mushroom Gorge 1:36.985 - SwareJonge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzy7N... 005 Toad's Factory 1:45.908 - Rocky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RDpI... 006 Mario Circut (glitch) 42.945 - Michi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbRCk... 007 Coconut Mall (glitch) 30.110 - Estaloy, SwareJonge and Delta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqKQk... 008 Coconut Mall (no glitch) 1:50.608 - Luke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3-3q... 009 DK's Snowboard Cross 1:36.754 - Zak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yWRM... 010 Wario's Gold Mine 30.987 - TASPlasma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-5CH... 011 "305" (Wario's Gold Mine WIP) - Gisbert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8SZO... 012 Daisy Circut 1:26.988 - Monster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSslg... 013 Koopa Cape 2:10.624 - Zak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK1ZF... 014 Maple Treeway (glitch) 1:15.170 - Malleo, Luke, SwareJonge, RS, Rocky, Thomas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0O-i... 015 Maple Treeway (no glitch) 2:05.739 - Lamejoin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QirYY... 016 Grumble Volcano (glitch) 14.945 - SwareJonge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBEu-... 017 Dry Dry Ruins 1:39.711 - Michi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HDCd... Dry Dry Ruins Music: PeriTune - Desert [Desert Music] is under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY) Music provided by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VvIRa4ebWzU 018 Moonview Highway 1:41.570 - Luke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXUG3... 019 Bowser's Castle 1:59.483 - Zak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmZiV... 020 Rainbow Road 1:45.164 - RS Extreme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zt1X... 021 Peach Beach 0:56.523 - Blaze https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUzbQ... 022 DS Yoshi Falls 57.867 - DwainiumB and Rocky We forgot show this in the podcast sorry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K92Yq... 023 N64 Mario Raceway 1:39.975 - Grim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipuQL... 024 N64 Mario Raceway Flap (Supergrinding) 29.998 - Rocky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMrBI... 025 N64 Sherbet Land (glitch) 1:41.494 - Kasey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M5kQ... 026 GBA Shy Guy Beach 1:20.175 - Luke and DwainiumB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdhT0... 027 DS Delfino Square 1:58.764 - Luke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_RX0... 028 GCN Waluigi Stadium (glitch) 50.534 - Rocky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ3Ci... 029 GCN Waluigi Stadium (no glitch) 1:37.536 - Zak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgrhU... 030 Desert Hills 1:26.456 - TASPlasma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKj_e... 031 GBA Bowser Castle 3 1:52.715 - Monster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rS9T... 032 N64 DK's Jungle Parkway 35.287 - Kasey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFTGy... 033 GCN Mario Circut 1:27.730 - Zak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgSmh... 034 SNES Mario Circut 3 1:17.475 - DwainiumB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjukT... 035 DS Peach Gardens 1:57.571 - TASPlasma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ZkL... 036 GCN DK Mountain (glitch) 1:53.815 - SwareJonge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZYg... 037 N64 Bowser's Castle Comparison (Daisy vs Funky Kong) - Zak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35KaB...

Drew Smith, Manager of the Desert Hills Golf Course in Yuma, Arizona, discusses the award-winning 18-hole, par 72 championship course that features 6,800 yards of challenging topography and scenic views. He also shares some of the upcoming special events, golf and foot golf clinics and tournaments. More at www.CityofYumaGolf.com

When Officer Steve Linton became a School Resource Officer (SRO), he made it his job to get to know students, not just by name, but also by what they do, what their interests are, who they hang around with, and what issues they might have.   As Officer Linton became more and more knowledgeable of the students, he recognized an opportunity. He approached the leadership of Desert Hills High School with the idea of teaching an Introduction to Law Enforcement class. Students who have taken it have loved working with Officer Linton and getting to know a totally different side of what a police office does. At Desert Hills High School, Officer Linton also mentors at risk students.  He keeps in close contact with them, helping them navigate school, and advocating for them.  He has been influential in helping a lot of students graduate.

What’s better than a Self-Directed IRA?  The answer is, of course, a Self-Directed 401k!  It’s everything that the Self Directed IRA is… but safer and far more financially potent.  But do you qualify to have a Self Directed 401k?  I’m Bryan Ellis… I’ll tell you how to make it happen RIGHT NOW in Episode #89----------Greetings, my friends!  I’ve seen one question over and over in various forms, and it’s time I address it!  The question comes from Nathan, who says:“I am a self-employed auto dealer in Walnut Creek, California operating as a sole proprietor.  I currently have a SEP IRA with a small amount invested.  I am interested in investing in a Solo 401K or Self Directed IRA that would allow me to invest in real estate rental properties.    Any information you have would be appreciated.”Thanks for the question, Nathan!  I’ll be delighted to help you clarify that question in this episode.But first, a quick shout-out to my flipping team in Phoenix.  Another job well done, guys!  They completed a deal on Desert Hills in the Phoenix metro area.  It was another great profit… over $31,000 in net profit, and the total net cash-on-cash return on this project was over 40%!  What’s even better… the deal took only 4 months and 3 days… and that 40% cash-on-cash return… well… that’s NOT an annualized number!  So, needless to say, our client in the Passive Property Flipping program was THRILLED with that result.Related to that, I’d like to thank those of you who have, so kindly, expressed interest in getting involved in the Passive Property Flipping Program.  I’ll take a quick second to tell you about that, because there’s an opportunity coming up that may be of interest to you.Here’s the bottom line on it:  Real estate flipping can be both VERY profitable, and VERY dangerous.  When done well, there’s a lot of money to be made.  RealtyTrac recently published a study about real estate flipping in the first quarter of 2015, and the results are that there were more than 17,000 properties flipped in Q1 of this year, and that the AVERAGE gross profit on those deals was over $72,000.So clearly, there’s HUGE financial potential.  BUT… it’s not a simple thing to do, and it takes a lot of time.  Yet still, there’s interest in real estate flipping from many affluent investors who have the money and the willingness, but neither the time nor the skill.That’s where the Passive Property Flipping program comes into plays.  My team is EXTRAORDINARY.  We have so many case studies to prove it that you’ll go crazy LONG before you see them all.  But that’s a good thing.  We have a process… a system… and it works… and there’s OVERWHELMING PROOF that it works consistently.  We’ve had exactly ONE losing deal… it was a very small $3,000 loss.  The rest of the deals… over a hundred in recent months alone… well, all of the rest have been profitable.  And I’m not going to tell you the results of a “typical” deal here because… well, your financial advisor has probably told you that results like we produce aren’t possible.  But our process works, and works incredibly well… and you’ll see exactly why we can produce great results consistently when you learn more about what we do.So… if you’d like to know more, and how YOU can get involved in enjoying real estate flipping profits… but WITHOUT requiring your time or expertise, then I’d suggest you check out our special webinar training RIGHT NOW… you can watch it at SDIRadio.com/flip… and it will tell you all about the program, with a WHOLE LOT of case studies and VERY THOROUGH explanation of our process.We are not ALWAYS able to take on new clients, but we do have an opening right now.  And this opportunity is only suitable for you if you have at least $75,000 of liquid capital.  If that’s you, and you’re interested in strong results for your portfolio from flipping go ahead and check out SDIRadio.com/flip.Now, for our question of the day!So… Nathan is a business owner and wants to form a self directed IRA or 401k and invest in real estate rentals.  Nathan:  Welcome!  You’re getting into a really exciting area of personal finance.Let’s start with the IRA vs 401k question.  Nathan, a Self Directed 401k is better than a Self Directed IRA in every way.  As in, EVERY way.  Not even close.  The biggest difference, to me, is that if you accidentally commit a prohibited transaction – in other words, if you break any of the IRS rules concerning IRA’s – then you’ve got a disaster on your hands if you’re using an IRA.  With a 401k, it’s still a problem… but a pretty easy one to fix.  There are many more reasons a 401k is superior.  Check out Episode #3 of Self Directed Investor Radio for a complete discussion of the differences.Nathan, I’m recommending a 401k to you because you qualify for it as a business owner.  If you didn’t own a business, you’d have to use a self directed IRA, which is still far better than any other non-self-directed retirement account option.But… I’m guessing you have employees.  If that’s the case, then you can’t use a Solo 401k, which is what most people think of when they think of a self directed 401k.  A solo 401k is basically a 401k that’s intended only for businesses with no employees except the owner and the owner’s spouse.  But no problem… you can still have a fully self-directed 401k even though you have employees… you just have to use a “regular” 401k that isn’t a solo.  It will cost you slightly more, but it’s what the law requires.Now… as for investing in rental property through your 401k… think hard about that, ok?  The fact is this:  There are a LOT of tax advantages to be had by owning real estate OUTSIDE of a retirement account.  Assuming you’re planning to hold your rental property for a long time, then it’s pretty likely you’d benefit from performing the transaction OUTSIDE of your 401k and depreciating the property, then later taking advantage of a 1031 exchange to defer the taxes forever.  Talk with a tax advisor to get the full story.  It makes sense to hold just about any kind of allowable investment asset in your ira or 401k rather than outside of it, but for long-term real estate holds, the tax advantages that exist for real estate specifically may outweigh other benefits you’d receive through your 401k.And one more thing, Nathan… if you have your 401k set up CORRECTLY… and believe me when I tell you that they’re NOT all the same… then it’s possible for you to borrow a rather substantial amount of money from your own 401k, so that you can use that money to do your real estate deals outside of the 401k!  But again, that’s subject to your having a 401k that is set up correctly to begin with.So Nathan, if you’d like a referral to the very best source for getting your Self Directed 401k established correctly – whether you need the solo 401k variety or the variety that allows for employees – just drop me a note at feedback@sdiradio.com and I’ll be happy to hook you up.That goes for the rest of you, too, my friends.  A self directed 401k is an AMAZING tool… and if you’re saving for retirement and you qualify to have one, you’d be unwise to use anything else.That’s all for today, my friends!  For you affluent investors who are interested in profiting from real estate flipping be sure to check out our special webinar training on The Passive Property Flipping Program over at SDIRadio.com/flip.  You’re going to love it! My friends… Invest wisely today… and live well forever! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Live chat with Lori & "G-II"If the chat window does not open,hold down the control key thenclick the Chat Icon above.Ok... school is in... LOLThe first thing I want to say is that for some folks, using their VA benefits is a good thing and for some folks, using their VA benefits is not only NOT fiscally prudent; it could even be financially irresponsible. Over the past 15 months, Lori and I have closed well over 75 transactions of our own and mentored and have been involved in another 60 transactions with protégés. Of that number, perhaps as many as 2/5th were veterans, active duty or retired or simply discharged from their particular branch of service. Of that 2/5th, less than a dozen or so used their VA benefits. The cost of money today is so inexpensive that there is little reason and almost NO advantage to a vet to use his or her VA benefit. There are numerous optional loan platforms that emulate the benefits of a VA loan without causing the buyer to toss away thousands of dollars in a VA funding fee.Suffice for now to say that Lori & I have been in this industry nearly two decades. The VA loan platform is one that we are extremely proficient with and since I too am retired USAF, we tend to draw a huge number of vets to our web site who ultimately secure our services to procure their home, help with arranging home inspections, termite inspections and... oh yes... sorting out what type of loan makes the best sense for that particular eClient.So, Let's Chat...QUESTION: There are a million mortgage calculators online, and they all differ from one another. The simplest ones just ask for the amount of the loan, any down-payment, and number of years. However, there are some that have blanks that require specific information such as Tax Rate and Insurance. I have no idea what to plug in, for those items. Can you help me with this?Correct; there are literally millions of mortgage calculators on the internet today. Quite frankly, over the years, Lori & I have played with hundreds of them, searching for what we feel are some of the best and least confusing. We have found that nearly all of the mortgage calculators, found on lender sites, are very confusing. Some, quite honestly, are actually weighted so that eConsumers conclude that the Lender who provided a particular mortgage calculator, appears to offer the best mortgage deal on the Internet or even the planet. In our opinion, this is unfortunate and very confusing and can tend to be a bit misleading.As for how to divine what figures to use for Tax Rate and Insurance, let’s first discuss Tax Rate. Here’s a good rule of thumb we have arrived at after reading hundreds, perhaps thousands of Arizona Public Reports; if you use a figure of somewhere between $10.00 and $13.00 per $100 of property value (not purchase price), you will come really close to the actual tax rate. Property values, as we discuss in this article can be researched at http://www.maricopa.gov/Assessor/. Tax Rate calculations are extremely complex computations. If you would like to know more about how a municipality actually establishes the tax rate, call the county recorder in the county you wish to live and ask to speak to a clerk of the County Tax Assessor’s office. They are very happy to educate the consumers with the math… but… make sure that, if you have a full head of hair when you begin, you’re not going to be disappointed if some if it is missing after the tax rate calculation class concludes. Insurance is a bit trickier, only because there are several variables that play into the actual insurance rate a buyer will be charged. Two of the most important variables are derived from the C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriters Exchange). C.L.U.E. is a database that all insurance companies use to assess the risk factor for insuring a particular piece of real or personal property based on both the real or personal property and the individual wishing to be insured. The first assessment is conducted around the real or personal property. The next assessment is conducted around the credit score of the individual and the individual’s history of filing insurance claims. The C.L.U.E. retains a five year history for the majority of all insured individuals and their widgets. Learn more about C.L.U.E. at http://www.choicetrust.com/. Many factors play a vital roll in providing the information insurance companies require to tender a firm-fixed quote for a homeowner's insurance policy. Even in the early quotes, the figures are truly speculative numbers and could vary a few hundred dollars up or down in the final analysis, and the final analysis can only be determined once you have settled on a particular home in a particular geographic area and on a particular price and on a particular amount to finance.Back to mortgage calculators; Lori & I actually favor mortgage calculators that have been put up on the web by college students. These are truly unbiased mortgage calculators that offer honest unbiased results. Some are very complex and some are very simple. In the following paragraphs we have provided links to three of our favorites, one of which we keep on our web site in a secure location, offered to eClients that have selected us as their Realtor Representatives. They were all developed by college students, one in Japan, the other in Pakistan.QUESTION: Some calculators have fields for loan components called “points”. What the heck are these things, and do I need to worry about them? POINTS – Perhaps lead the pack of some of the most confusing parts of the loan package. So what is this thing called “points”? Points are often confused with “origination fees”. The two serve completely different rolls in the loan process.An “origination fee” is an amount of money, charged by a mortgage company, to the buyer as part of the lender’s cost of doing business. However… what most consumers do not know is that the “origination fee” is a totally negotiable charge, assuming the buyer has relatively good credit. It has been our experience that buyers with FICO scores in the high 600s or higher can usually shop, with great success, for lenders who will charge minimal or NO origination fee in their loan process. Our suggestion would be to stand your ground. Assuming that all of the other terms of the proposed loan are acceptable, make it clear to the loan officer, that if he/she does not alter their costs of the “origination fee” you will simply take your business elsewhere. If you are currently searching for a couple of lenders, check out Coldwell Banker Mortgage, Rosemarie Cox (602) 565-6948 and/or Pacific Funding Group, Mark Schmidt (800) 245-6722.Points, often called Discount Points, are the amount of money a buyer will pay to control the interest rate on his mortgage. The “point” is calculated against the amount of money that will be financed, I.E. your mortgage amount. So, if you’re going to make a purchase of $350,000 with a 20% down payment, your mortgage amount will be $280,000. Therefore one point (1%) would be calculated to be $2,800. There are numerous formulas bandied about on the Internet about how these fees benefit or hinder a borrower’s loan. In short, if you spend one point of your loan amount, you can affect your interest rate by about 1/8th of a percent.This means, if the consumer is quoted an annual interest rate of say... 6.5% but wants to reduce that rate (I.E. buy it down) to 6.0% by paying money at the time of closing to do so, the consumer would have to part with about $11,000. For some buyers this is a good idea, particularly if they are going to stay in their home or not refinance the home for many years. But keep in mind too, that another barometer to making such a decision is how long it will take to recapture the $11,000. By reducing the annual interest rate by 1/2 a percent, the payment reduction on a $280,000 loan is about $90 per month. That means that it will take about 10.18 years to recapture the interest savings. Not a bad scenario, and often a $90 reduction in the monthly payment can mean adding a little more tile in the house, or the cost of some appliances or any number of additional accoutrements or creature features that the buyer may want to add to the loan.Here are a few thumbnail guidelines to help you decide if the return on this type of investment is warranted.It may not be wise to spend money on Discount Points if:you plan on selling your home in less than 3 to 4 yearsyou plan on refinancing your home in less than 5 yearsyou are applying for an ARM type mortgageyou are applying for an Interest Only loan productIt may be wise to spend money on Discount Points if:you do not plan on selling your home in the next 5 yearsyou do not plan on refinancing within the next 5 yearsyour purchase is for investment and/or rental purposesThese are suggestions and not items to be thought of as “Set in stone”, but they are a good sound foundation for developing your loan strategy.CLICK HERE for a very simple mortgage calculator, just plug in the numbers. Be sure to enter NO commas. The interest rate will accept a dot, for example 6.5 but do not include a % sign. This is by far one of the simplest mortgage calculators we have found and is GREAT for calculating VA loans because it does not automatically include MIP (Mortgage Insurance Premium). This calculator does not produce an amortization schedule but the next mortgage calculator does.CLICK HERE to use a more sophisticated mortgage calculator. Again, only use numbers and no commas and too, the interest rate can be calculated using a decimal point in the rate, but again... DO NOT use the % sign. This calculator can produce an amortization that can be produced in HTML or Plain Text. In the " Monthly Principal Prepayment Amount " window, DO NOT enter any values and the same is true for the " Annual Principal Prepayment Amount (Enter B here for Bi-weekly Loans) " and " One-Time Prepayment Amount, to be paid before payment (month #) ".CLICK HERE for an interesting mortgage calculator created by Hugh Chou. This is a mortgage calculator that compiles a maximum monthly payment that Hugh feels is appropriate for a home buyer. Keep in mind that Hugh built these calculators as a college project although now I believe he works in the financial industry.There are many factors to consider when searching for a home loan, not only the total monthly payment, but also total loan costs. You asked about "Points". As we mentioned, this can be a confusing term. Often consumers believe that there MUST be points associated with ALL loans. As we explained above, that could not be further from the truth.When considering a new construction home, remember, that in almost 100% of loans that are configured by a builder's lender, the builder's lender will add... at a minimum 1% to the loan cost (sometimes, incorrectly, referred to as a POINT). This fee is really an "Origination Fee". In our opinion, consumers with GREAT credit scores, also referred to as the "FICO" (Fair, Isaac and Company Inc) score, should not be subjected to these fees. Unfortunately, when builders offer incentive packages to the consumer, those incentive packages are tied directly to the requirement that the consumer utilize the builder's lender to secure financing for the purchase.It would be sensible to consider not using the Builder’s Lender if the total incentive package hovers around the $5,000 mark. Some of our clients have had a GREAT deal of success using non-builder lenders, wherein our clients have given up as much as $5,000 in incentives from the builder and... even after doing so, have secured a much more favorable loan program and sometimes even lower monthly payments, with similar or lower closing costs, than they would have if they had used the builder's lender.Another typical lender explanation for an Origination Point is: "An origination fee is the amount charged for services performed for handling the initial application and processing of the loan". Hog wash! While it is true that some loans should be burdened with such a fee, such as loans granted to buyers with less than perfect credit. The amount of effort and research that goes into locating an investor who is willing to purchase the loan from the lender can be intense. In our opinion, level of effort and perhaps even ‘arm twisting’ should be compensated. But if the consumer/borrower has a good to great FICO score, again in our opinion, there should be NO Origination Point... NONE... NADA... ZIP... ZILCH... got the picture? Why should a lender, granting a loan to a buyer with good to great credit, make profits on two transactions? The first transaction is between you and the lender. The next/second transaction for the lender is between the lender and his investor, the entity who will purchase the loan from the lender. Remember, if you keep your credit in good condition, you have a boat load of strength and negotiating power as you shop for your loan.Another item to pay attention to are the ever swampy quagmire of Lender Fees... Ok... I know... so what does that all mean... ?... LOL Ok... Lender's fees are fees that offset the cost of producing the loan. Different companies may refer to them by different names, such as, processing fees, broker fees, tax service fees or underwriting fees; or you may have heard these fees referred to as Junk Fees. Most lenders are very sensible and fair about these fees. Obviously all businesses are in business to make a profit. Lender Fees are one of the vehicles that generate profits for lenders. Years ago I wrote an article for an On-Line Real Estate Forum, about Predatory Lending. CLICK HERE if you would like to read that article, but keep in mind that the figures in the article are very outdated, however the nefarious activities I write about are, unfortunately, still very much a part of the lending arena. I think that article will explain what you do not want to see in your lender.I could write hours about the loan and lending process because the entire process is so interesting and is very involved. Here are a couple of more nuggets for you to ponder.QUESTION: Is there a difference between APR and Interest rate?You bet! The APR (Annual Percentage Rate) reflects the cost of your mortgage loan as a yearly rate. It also incorporates the cost to obtain the loan, such as discount fees and loan origination fee. The interest rate is the actual note rate.When you finally get to the closing table, you will be presented with a TIL (Truth In Lending) statement. You will undoubtedly ask: "Why is the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on the Truth-in-Lending Disclosure higher than the rate shown on my mortgage note?" Here is a simple explanation:The rate reflected on the APR shows the cost of your mortgage loan as a yearly rate. This rate is generally higher than the rate stated on your mortgage note because, in addition to the interest rate, APR includes other costs such as origination fee, loan discount points, pre-paid interest, and mortgage insurance. The APR allows you to compare, in addition to the interest rate, the total cost of financing your loan, among various lenders.CLICK HERE for an example of several loan scenarios in a spread sheet provided by one of our most reliable lenders to one of our past eClients. As you can see, the buyer was purchasing a home for $189,000 (that’s not going to happen again any time soon! LOL) and was pondering a VA loan VS. a conventional loan. This purchase was for an "as yet to be built" new construction home. If the buyer chose to NOT use the builder's lender, he would have given up $4,500 in incentives from the builder. This particular buyer had his own closing cost money and was able to put up to 5% down on the principal. All scenarios in the spread sheet are fixed rate loans, there are no ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages), although to opt in for an ARM provided an even lower monthly payment for our buyer. The loan identified at the far right as an 80/20 is called a HELOC. This particular type of loan has been most attractive to our vets because it can be nearly 100% tax deductible and... as you can see... this type of loan produces a very low PITI (Principal Interest Tax and Insurance) payment. And... as you can see, if our buyer’s target ceiling were a $1,500 PITI monthly payment, he could actually increase his purchase well above $200,000 while still keeping his monthly payment well under $1,500. There is one catch to being able to take advantage of a HELOC, the buyer must have GREAT credit... the good news is... YOU DO!Well... now that I have totally confused you...Bye for now... and we'll be in touch in a couple of weeks. Lori and I trust that you are enjoying your FREE subscription to your CLUB membership.