JVM’s Blog

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Barbie Dolls, Bratz Dolls, and Making Better Tacos! Innovating Instead of Protecting Status Quo

BARBIE WENT TO WAR The WSJ published an excellent book review called “When Barbie Went to War.” It provides a comical overview of Mattell’s battle with MGA over copyright...

December 28, 2017 2 min read
You don't own me

Kindness As A Business Model! Simple, and It Works!

TURNING AROUND JVM We did a lot of things in 2014 to turn around JVM that we discuss often in this blog. But there is one thing we don’t often […]

December 27, 2017 2 min read
Man giving out coffee

Why I’m the Least Attractive Person at JVM; Key to Happiness: Other People

GREAT COLUMN ABOUT HAPPINESS Scott Galloway (CEO of L2 Inc) recently tweeted this excellent column from the NY Times about the key to happiness, and I thought it was well […]

December 22, 2017 2 min read
Laughing girls

Tax Bill Passes; Advice: Defer Income; Prepay Property Taxes NOW; Move to Texas :)

A few points about the GOP’s Tax Bill Deductions: Mortgage Interest Deduction: Current homeowners will be grandfathered in and still allowed to deduct interest against $1mm of mortgage debt....

December 21, 2017 3 min read
Stacked coins

Condition Issues Again; Inspect The House Prior to Appraisal; Fast Appraisals

ORDERING RUSH APPRAISALS TO SPOT CONDITION ISSUES UP FRONT One of the reasons we order ALL appraisals as a “rush” (and eat the rush fee :)) is b/c it allows […]

December 20, 2017 2 min read
inspect houses prior to appraisal

Bitcoins, Bubbles, Burning Bankers; Beanie Babies

In 1307, King Philip IV of France couldn’t pay his massive debts to the Knights Templar. So naturally he accused them of false crimes and burned them at the stake. […]

December 15, 2017 3 min read
Bitcoins, Bubbles, Burning Bankers; Beanie Babies

Rates Down Despite Fed’s 4th Increase in One Year; Why?

On December 14th, 2016, I quoted a rate of 4.0%* in this blog. Today I will quote 3.75%. It is interesting that 30 year fixed rates have fallen 1/4 percent […]

December 14, 2017 2 min read
Rates Down Despite Fed’s 4th Increase in One Year; Why?

Technology, Hand-Holding, & Big Bank Horror Story

Team Member’s Mom Goes to the Competition One of our team member’s Moms went to the “competition” for a refi, and we were mortified… OK – actually, we...

December 13, 2017 2 min read
technology hand holding big bank horror story

FHA Loan Limits Up Too; Why & When To Use FHA?

HUD recently released FHA Loan Limits for 2018, and in high cost counties they largely (but not always) match the new loan limits for conforming loans. In high cost counties […]

December 11, 2017 2 min read
Home in california

What You Can Learn from Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream; Taking Risks

How I Built This Heejin’s and my favorite podcast is NPR’s “How I Built This” because we love hearing the horror stories that founders endured before they hit it big....

December 8, 2017 3 min read
ben and jerry's taking risks

Beware of Flood Insurance! Full Payment Up Front

Flood insurance can be brutal. We recently had a transaction in Oakland that required our buyer to pay almost $8,000 up front (prior to close) so we could obtain our […]

December 7, 2017 2 min read
Beware of Flood Insurance! Full Payment Up Front

Inspirational Quote Contest at JVM; More Fun & Inspiring Than Expected

We frequently have internal contests at JVM for all kinds of things – favorite songs, cookie decorating, baking contests, flip cup, dart gun wars, trivia, Jenga, etc. They always turn […]

December 6, 2017 5 min read
Larisa Del Carlo Estrada

Blindsided by Supplemental Tax Bills; Property Tax Season

It is property tax season again in CA, with the first installment due on Nov 1st and late on Dec 10th. We explain property taxes well during our buyer-education process, […]

December 4, 2017 2 min read
blindsided by supplemental tax bills

Life Way Back… in the 1990s Was So Hard! Can’t Believe I Endured It

There has been a slew of articles and podcasts lately about America’s complacency and lack of innovation. And, it all might be true at some level. But – from my […]

December 1, 2017 3 min read
life way back in 1990 hard cant believe endured
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