One of my favorite baseball instructors is Steve Springer, of Quality At-Bats fame. If you haven’t read much or followed Spring, you really should. He’s one of the best in the business when it comes to baseball instruction.
His specialty is the mental game, although his mechanical teaching is fantastic, as well.
The topic of the video that I’m sharing has to do with players that don’t find themselves in the starting lineup regularly. This is a must-see video on how to handle being a bench player and the right mind set that must accompany this position.
Some key quotes:
“Don’t be that guy where it’s all about me”
“Take batting practice like it’s your game…take ground balls like it’s your game…take fly balls like it’s your game and be ready when the coach calls you.”
Take Steve’s advice to heart – there can only be 9 guys in the lineup – and teams carry 25+ players, so do the math. There’s not a starting spot for everyone.
Steve Springer’s baseball hitting lessons incorporate the mental side of hitting along with increasing bat speed drills and coaching improved hitting mechanics. Players and coaches of all levels – youth little league, high school, college and pros agree – Quality At Bats™ is one of baseball’s best hitting programs.
Most experts expect that the summer homebuying season will be quite strong. But a question remains about this real estate market: will it favor buyers, sellers, or both? Let’s take a closer look at who might benefit the most from the upcoming real estate buying season.
Remarkably, based just on consumer confidence, it appears that the summer homebuying season may be beneficial for both buyers and sellers.
According to Fannie Mae, one of the nation’s top mortgage investors, Americans are extremely optimistic about the housing market’s direction.
Growth typically means that it’s a good time to both buy and sell a home, and indicators are that Americans believe interests rates will stay relatively in check while their incomes will increase.
While consumer confidence may be high, some economists are ambivalent about the strength of the housing market.
There are some signs that the market is flattening, instead of continuing to race upward. Experts are actually divided on this issue, as home prices are still appreciating.
For instance, home sales at the national level are slowing slightly, although the rate of home appreciation is still increasing, albeit at a slightly slower rate. In addition, it’s taking a bit longer for homes to sell in some areas of the US, which means the days of homeowners benefiting from bidding wars might be on the wane.
This isn’t necessarily the case out west, as inventories are still low and there are more buyers that sellers. At the same time, with interest rates stabilizing, homes are still extraordinarily affordable, compared to historical norms.
So, who actually is going to benefit from the strong summer market?
Taking into account these facts, it looks like home buyers will have a slight advantage this summer. For starters, home prices are still on the rise but not as sharply as they once were.
Some sellers are also reducing their original listing price, which indicates they’re having trouble attracting buyers. Finally, the Federal Reserve has signaled that interest rates should stay relatively stable through the summer, which is the reason for the strong market, and as almost everyone knows, low interest rates are better for buyers. Rates have been steadily ticking downward over the last 2 months or so.
The summer homebuying season is going to be very strong, and tilted in favor of home buyers. If you’ve been thinking about buying a new home, now might be the perfect time – feel free to contact me for more information!
I’ve consistently pointed out that the mental part of baseball is an undervalued and lesser taught piece of this great game. Sure, mental toughness and “having a good approach” are buzzwords used by coaches every day…but what can you do to teach it?
Well, I’m linking an article by Alan Jaeger regarding some specific advice on “mental practice” every day.
Addressing The Mental Game: Prioritizing Your Practice Plan
Practice plans have been passed down for generations, and they
of course have plenty of merit. But at what point (and what cost) are we going
to continue to center our practice plans around physical preparation when we
know that between the lines, the game is at least 90 percent mental? Hitting,
throwing and running bases are all indispensable, as is bunt defense, pitchers
fielding practice and first and third run downs.
But this is the 21st century – times have changed.
The good news is that society is changing for the better.
More than any other generation in the past 50 years, this generation is privy
to the reality that Mental Training is not only a credible field, but it’s
application to sports and life is a essential. Which begs the question — what
are you doing to act on this reality?
Done as a precursor to practice each day, each coach will be
given enough information to lead his players through a 10 minute, mental
training exercise or session that revolves around breath work.
Ultimately, whether we call “mental practice” relaxation, meditation
or mental focusing time, the application of these exercises on a daily basis
will have the greatest and most profound effect on your players minds. For
without practice how can you expect any skill to be developed and maximized.
Understanding Where We Want To Be: The Zone, Locked In, Unconscious
Having a great mental game is as much about understanding where
we want to be, as where we don’t want to be.
When things are going well it seems
like the mental game is simple. And when things aren’t going so well the game
can be very frustrating and complex. Understanding “how” we go in and out of
these states of mind is extremely valuable.
In sports, we actually have many
terms for this “optimal” state of mind. It’s been referred to by many names,
including “The Zone”, being “Unconscious” and being “Locked In.” The technical
term for this state of mind is called a Peak State, and has very specific
attributes, including:
The absence of thought
A complete immersion with
the action
A sense of being process
oriented
A sense of calm or peace
A detachment from the
outcome.
By understanding the components of
a peak state of mind, we can better understand ways to train the mind in order
to put it in alignment with this ideal state.
Breath Work: The Core Ingredient Of Your Mental Practice
Mental Practice is a very broad field that includes breathing
exercises, imagery, visualization, affirmations, and so on. You can also
get forms of mental practice from among other things, Yoga, Martial Arts and
being in Nature. Anything that brings the mind into a state of “presence”, a
state of peace and quiet can be categorized as mental practice.
But the most common element that
I’ve found in mental practice revolves around the breath.
There are many reasons why the breath is at the center of mental training exercises universally, including several physiological benefits (relaxation, lower blood pressure, oxygenation), but some of the other profound benefits may be more subtle. For example, the breath is always happening now, which symbolically, can be extremely helpful in teaching the mind how to be present.
The breath is not a thought, thus, the more time you spend with your breath, the more time you are training your mind how to be in a “no-thought” state. Again, the absence of thought and being present are two major characteristics of a Peak State of mind. Thus, the breath alone can be a catalyst in changing the mind from a result oriented default, to a process oriented default.
Other benefits that can often be
associated with breath work include calmness of mind, improved concentration,
focus, patience, discipline and inner trust. Inner trust, which is similar to
the term confidence, is a by product of spending time in a relaxing and comfortable
space each day, and getting to know your self and your inner workings.
Considering that your breath keeps you alive 24 hours a day, it’s safe to say
that a lot can be gained simply by spending time, appreciating and
understanding our breath.
Looking where to begin?
Control your breath. Learn how to take deep breaths, in your your nose, out through your mouth. Let your belly expand, not your neck. Try this during your practice sessions and see how you feel.
Want to Learn More About the Mental Game of Baseball?
Here’s the link to Alan’s book that talks about his approach. It’s called “Getting Focused, Staying Focused: A Far Eastern Approach to Sports and Life.”
I work with a fair amount of second home buyers and investors – and am asked how to best go about financing these properties (and second homes), as well as their required down payments.
I recently ran across this article from Peter Miller at The Mortgage Reports – and it’s a great read for those looking to tap into home equity to purchase another home.
At first, it may seem that the equity issue is simple. You
bought a house for $150,000 and it’s now worth $275,000.
You’ve paid down principal, too, so your current equity is
$190,000.
Can you really get a check for almost $190,000 from lenders?
Lenders generally will allow cash-out refinancing equal to 80
percent of your equity. They will see a property value of $275,000 and subtract
20 percent ($55,000). That will leave around $220,000. This money will be used
to first repay the existing loan of $85,000. The balance – $135,000 – represents the cash available to the
borrower.
With some program, you might do better. The VA cash out mortgage allows qualified borrowers to refinance up to 100 percent of their equity while the FHA cash out loan will go to 85 percent. However, these programs come with various charges and insurance costs that many borrowers with equity will want to avoid.
Cash-out refinance to buy another home
With cash-out refinancing, you can use the equity in your home for many things — but not for all things. For instance, you can use the money to pay for college tuition, to purchase a business, or buy another property.
Buying a second home or investment property
In terms of real estate, you can use real estate equity to
immediately buy a second home or to purchase an investment property.
As soon as you close the cash-out refi, you can use those funds
as a down payment on another home — or to buy the house outright — if you plan
to keep the current home as your primary residence.
How to Go About a Refinance
Reach out to your lender to begin the application process. He or she should be able to coach you through the process – and identify the key pieces that will help you make an informed decision.
I’ve helped numerous investors with this process, and I’d be glad to see if this option might work for you, as well! Give me a callfor more….
Tapping into home equity by
refinancing is more of a possibility today and becoming very popular for many
borrowers.
As interest rates have moved lower in the last 3 weeks and housing values across the country continue to steadily increase, homeowners now have access to a much larger source of equity and possibly better payment terms!
With current mortgage rates low
and home equity on the rise, many think it’s a perfect time to refinance your
mortgage to save not only on your overall monthly payments, but your overall
interest costs as well.
It’s really about managing the
overall assets that you have in order to maximize the returns. Make sure you
are working with the right mortgage
lender to help in figuring out which product is best.
What is a Cash-Out Refinance?
A mortgage refinance happens when
the homeowner gets a new loan to replace the current mortgage. A cash-out
refinance happens when the borrower refinances for more than the amount owed on their existing home
loan. The borrower takes the difference in cash.
Rates Are Down and Home Equity is
Up
Since rising home values are returning lost equity to many homeowners, refinancing can make a good deal of sense with even a small difference in your interest rate. Homeowners now have options to do many things with the difference.
More home equity also means you
won’t need to bring cash to the table to refinance. Furthermore, interest rates
can be slightly lower when your loan-to-value ratio drops below 80 percent.
Here’s what many of my customers
are doing with that equity:
Consolidate higher
interest debt
Eliminate mortgage
insurance
Purchase a 2nd Home or Investment
Property (or a combination of both)
Home Improvement –
upgrades to kitchen, roof, or pool
Benefits of Cash-out Refinances
Free Up Cash – A cash-out refinance is a way to access money you already have in your home to pay off big bills such as college tuition, medical expenses, new business funding or home improvements. It often comes at a more attractive interest rate than those on unsecured personal loans, student loans or credit cards.
Improve your debt profile – Using a refinance to reduce or consolidate credit card debt is
also a great reason for a cash-out refinance. We can look at the weighted
average interest rate on a borrower’s credit cards and other liabilities to
determine whether moving the debt to a mortgage will get them a lower
rate. Some borrowers are saving thousands per month by
consolidating their debt through their mortgage.
More stable rate – Many borrowers choose to do a cash-out refinance for home
improvement projects because they want a steady interest rate instead of an
adjustable rate that comes with home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs.
2nd Home or Investment
Property – many borrowers are utilizing the
value of the cash in their home to purchase rental properties that cash flow
better then the monthly payments of the new loan.
Tax deductions – Unlike credit card interest, mortgage interest payments are tax
deductible. That means a cash-out refinance could reduce your taxable
income and land you a bigger tax refund.
Reasons NOT to Refinance
Terms and costs – While you may get a lower interest rate than your current mortgage, your cash-out refinance rate will be higher than a regular rate-and-term refinance at market rate. Even if your credit score is 800, you will pay a little bit more, usually an eighth of a percentage point higher, than a purchase mortgage. Generally, closing costs are added to the balance of the new loan, as well.
Paperwork headache – Borrowers
need to gather many of the same documents they did when they first got their
home loan. Lenders will generally require the past 2 years of tax returns, past
2 years of W-2 forms, 30 days’ worth of pay stubs, and possibly more, depending
on your situation.
Enabling bad habits – If you’re doing a cash-out refinance to pay off credit card
debt, you’re freeing up your credit limit. Avoid falling back into bad habits
and running up your cards again.
The Bottom Line
A cash-out refinance can make
sense if you can get a good interest rate on the new loan and have a good
use for the money.
Using the money to purchase a
rental property, fund a home renovation or consolidate
debt can rebuild the equity you’re taking out or help you get in a better
financial position.
With that said, seeking a refinance to fund
vacations or a new car might not be that great of an idea, because you’ll have
little to no return on your money.
It would be my pleasure to see if this type of plan
might be a good one for you.
Thomas Eugene Bonetto
Mortgage Loan Originator
NMLS: 1431961
About The Coach
Tom Bonetto has been helping his customers and players achieve their best for nearly 30 years. His goal is to provide both a superior customer experience and tremendous value for both his business associates and his players alike.
The views expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Starlight Mortgage.
