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November 14, 2005
Peachtree Corners is home to a brand new online lender, Lowe’s Mortgage. With offices located in Technology Park on the shore of a beautiful lake that is frequented by Canadian geese,
James C. Lowe, III,
35, and his two partners, twin brothers Ryan McGarty
and Christopher McGarty
, 24, are on to something really good for consumers. Lowe has a background in the mortgage business and the endless ideas of an entrepreneur. The McGartys are charming computer whizzes from Georgia Tech who have developed software that has allowed Lowe’s Mortgage to revolutionize the way mortgage borrowers search for rates and closing costs. Now borrowers can compare every mortgage company’s rates and closing costs to Lowe’s Mortgage. The Web site,
http://www.lowesmortgage.com
, is rapidly becoming the bellwether for borrowers in search of real-time rates and closing costs.
Lowe met the McGarty twins several years ago when he was president of First Discount Mortgage, an Atlanta firm he sold to partners in the beginning of the year so that he could start this new company. The McGartys had developed the technology for a title search firm that was soliciting business from First Discount Mortgage. Lowe wanted to start a company that would change the way that folks searched for mortgage rates. He wanted to make the process better and faster than the aggregates currently in the online marketplace could offer. The McGartys developed the software called Rate Advisor, a proprietary state-of-the-art mortgage pricing technology that enabled that to happen. Lowe’s Mortgage has totally changed the way people shop for mortgage rates. Real-time best rate quotes are now available immediately, with real-time true closing costs, and the ability to apply online right away. The technology allows Lowe’s Mortgage to streamline every aspect of the business. They do all the work and there is no application fee or deposit. They order the title, they order the appraisal, process the loan, and close the loan wherever the lender wants it closed. Since closings must be done by an attorney in Georgia, Lowe’s Mortgage will send an attorney to close at the borrower’s kitchen table if that’s what is wanted.
Ryan McGarty said because of their technology, they are able to offer the lowest rates and closing costs in the nation. Because of their low overhead, they are able to pass along much better rates to the consumer. Chris McGarty said, “A lot of customers think that our rates are too low so they must be fake. They think there must be a problem with our Web site. We actually get that.” They get feedback from their customers through customer surveys; the most popular response is how easy the Web site is to use.
The company is licensed or pending license to operate in 32 states so far. It is expected that Lowe’s Mortgage will be licensed to operate in all 50 states, hopefully by the end of 2006. Some states, such as New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania are difficult to get into, but the applications are all being generated in-house. A lot of companies out-source this very complicated application procedure. The company also has a compliance attorney on staff. Lowe said the officers of the company went to the Chamblee Police Department to do fingerprint cards to go along with applications to states that required them. They set a record there by needing about 100 fingerprint cards, which took about two hours to prepare.
Keep an eye on this company, folks. If you need a mortgage, be sure to check rates at Lowe’s Mortgage online. I plan to write another brief on this company in the future.
****
Gwinnett County is hoping to hire 100 new police officers. Follow this link for some more information and be sure to turn up the volume!
http://www.co.gwinnett.ga.us/cgi-bin/gwincty/egov/ep/gcbrowse.do?channelId=
-15663&channelPage=%2Fep%2Fchannel%2Fdefault.jsp&pageTypeId=536880236
“Hit the Ground Running” is a great police-recruiting tool, don’t you think?
I remember that one of Commission Chairman
Charles Bannister’s
goals was to increase law enforcement countywide in Gwinnett. Former Commission
Chairman
Wayne Hill
saw to it that the department had state-of-the art equipment. Looks like we’re getting there, folks. I’ve noticed that we have more police cars cruising around in Peachtree Corners, which the neighbors love.
****
Here’s a wonderful human interest story that happened to me recently. Gwinnett County has spent all summer laying new water lines in my neighborhood in Peachtree Corners. For years we had suffered from pressure problems and periodically, the water mains would explode in somebody’s yard. Some yards in problematic locations had had to be dug up multiple times, and the water cut off on the block was always at highly inconvenient moments for somebody. Finally, the neighbors and the county decided to bite the bullet and fix the whole thing correctly instead of the spot repairs whenever there was a gushing Niagara. So all summer county crews have been digging up the streets, not people’s yards, and laying the new water mains in the street. When the workmen came to my yard to put in the new connector pipes, I mentioned that the spigot for my hose connection at the meter was leaking badly and wasn’t worth a toot. The young man told me that if I would buy a new faucet, he would install it when they came along a month or so later to transfer my house from the old water mains to the new ones. That was quite nice, I thought. About a month later, Bobby Russell rang my doorbell and said they’d be switching my house to the new water mains the next day and reminded me about the new faucet. We were very impressed! Very thankful, too!
My husband went by Home Depot and got a new faucet and the next day, as the workman reached our yard,
Bobby Russell
duly installed our new faucet as he was switching my house over to the new water mains. It took him about 45 seconds. I can’t tell you how much we appreciated that kindness, most especially his remembering to do it! Thank you so much, Bobby.
***
Merchants have certainly gotten a ravenous jump-start on Christmas this year. Holiday decorations began to appear in August around Atlanta! I cannot remember a year where we got reminded about Christmas shopping as early as this! Really, it was a little off-putting, but by now holiday decorations and extra merchandise are in all the stores in earnest, yet they do not seem very crowded with shoppers. I’ve just about finished what holiday shopping I plan to do, which is not very much, and all was accomplished in relative comfort with no standing in lines. Since my herd instinct never developed very well, I refuse to shop in crowded stores or cope with difficult parking situations.
All I have left to buy is a stack of the same book. Everybody is getting
“Younger Next Year* turn back your biological clock,” by
Chris Crowley
& Henry S. Lodge, M.D.
My sweet husband absolutely insisted I read this book and I’m SO glad I did! It is the best argument for exercise that I have come across, EVER. Intellectually I accepted the fact years ago that everybody ought to do some form of exercise for good health’s sake, but I was still an iffy exerciser, falling victim to the “opportunity cost” of exercise far more than I should. This book gave me a sterling reason never to let that happen again. The body needs to experience the recoding of its decay mode on a daily basis, since the rushing tide of time passing occurs on a daily basis. But, this book covers far, far more than just that and is a delight to read. Do a life-giving favor for someone you love and see they get this book!
Hope all is well. The deer friends who visit us regularly send their best. Thanks for reading.
111505
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