Subject Line Ideas: It ain’t over til it’s over
What new closing rules mean for you

Fittingly closed(Funny)

VERY IMPORTANT: If you don't see any images in this message, be sure to click the "Display Images" link in your email reader. That will make life easier for everyone, trust me.


Feature Article:It ain’t over ‘til it’s over

Critical Reads:What new closing rules mean for consumers

The Funnies: Fittingly closed

As a society, we have a way of turning on those who same dumb-sounding things. Especially in this age of the internet, when someone says something outrageous, ridiculous or flat-out foolish, the whole world seemingly points and laughs. Well, not always.

If you’re ready, let's dig in...

It Ain’t over ‘til It’s over

In case you didn’t hear, baseball hall-of-famer and New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra died Sept. 22. He was 90 years old.

You don’t have to be a baseball fan to know who Yogi Berra was. Yes, he played in more World Series games and had more World Series hits than any other player in Major League history. He was selected to 15 All-Star teams. He was the catcher for the only perfect game in World Series history.

But he’s also known as the guy after whom the cartoon character Yogi Bear was named. And he’s even more well-known for his malapropisms. Maybe the most famous among these is something you now hear somewhat frequently.

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

This has become such a well-known saying that we don’t stop to think that it sounds kind of kooky. But Berra said a lot of similar things. Such as:

“You can observe a lot just by watching.”

“The game of baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.”

“You’d better cut that pizza into four slices; I don’t think I could eat six.”

“When you get to a fork in the road, take it.”

“Nobody goes there anymore,” he once said of a popular restaurant, “It’s too crowded.”

The New York Times article on Berra’s death carried the headline “Yogi Berra, Yankee Who Built His Stardom 90 Percent on Skill and Half on Wit, Dies at 90.” Everybody, it seemed, loved this guy. He might not have been the sharpest knife in the shed, but his goofy observations – the ones verbalized, not simply watched – made him endearing.

Some of that might be a product of the time period during which he rose to fame. Before the internet, there was a certain folksy charm that came along with quotes attributed to people, passed along second-hand, third-hand and so forth. Nowadays, when a political candidate, athlete or entertainer opens his or her mouth and sticks his or her foot in, we all hear it almost instantaneously. Legend, it seems, is difficult to establish without the dilution of oral tradition.

But it would seem there’s more to it than that. Maybe Yogi would get skewered by today’s internet intellectuals and keyboard critics for uttering some of the things he did. Maybe these days, he’d be just another public figure whom we’d all mock and laugh at because the modern media would instantly splay his quotes for all the world to see.

But maybe not. All the world loves a clown, they say, and even though Berra wasn’t that, he was likable enough to not be ridiculed for the things he said. I’d like to believe that phenomenon is timeless, that someone who’s that friendly a guy and that nice a person is well thought-of, no matter how silly some of the things he says are.

It teaches us something about how people perceive one another. If you’re not-so-nice a person, for example, the silly things you say are not taken well. Someone who’s not as well-regarded isn’t as quickly forgiven for his missteps, even if they’re harmless words. A quote such as “Poverty is shameful,” for instance, is taken different ways if the Pope says it or Kim Jung un says it.

Which goes to show you that your legacy isn’t dependent on what you say to people. It’s dependent on how you treat people. Yogi is kind of looked at as the lovable goofball because of some of the funny things he said, and maybe he wasn’t the smartest guy in the world. But looking back at other well-regarded historical figures of the same era – Einstein, Sinatra, maybe JFK – are most of us more like them or more like Yogi?

He was more of a regular guy, I think. Some of the things he said, while contradictory or quirky, are things we’d possibly catch someone we know saying at some time or another. Maybe, from time to time, we all say things that don’t exactly make perfect sense. And that’s great.

It’s great that you don’t have to be a genius, or a perfect speaker to be well-regarded when you pass. Our blemishes are forgiven, our missteps excused, when we treat other people well and live an honest, well-meaning life.

So maybe we should stop from time to time and think about not just laughing at others when they misspeak, but also look at ourselves and ask “Am I being the type of person whose miscues are overlooked because I’m that good a person?”

If the answer is no, it’s time to start thinking about changing. And there is time to change.

It ain’t over, after all, ‘til it’s over.

What New Closing Rules Mean for Consumers

On Oct. 3, new rules for the mortgage closing process go into effect. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau mandated new forms that should eliminate some of the redundancy in paperwork, but there’s also a new three-day waiting rule that could affect transactions somewhat significantly. This Washington Post article explains and offers some pros’ opinions on the new rules.

Can You Still Get a Seller to Pay for Closing Costs?

Home sales volume has been up this year, along with prices – dramatically in some markets. That has gotten people thinking it’s a sellers market in many neighborhoods, which sometimes gets buyers’ leery. One of the questions they ask the most about sellers’ markets is whether or not sellers will help out with closing costs. Check out this Credit.com article to learn the answer.

Who Gets Hurt in a Government Shutdown?

Not long ago, the threat of a federal government shutdown seemed distant. Not it seems all too real. It’s happened before, of course, but perhaps some people’s memories need jogging about the ramifications of such a move. In case you’re one of those who’s wondering, here’s a good summary from CNN Money about who gets hurt in a government shutdown.

Fittingly Closed

Well, this just makes sense:

Your Name
Your Company
Your Contact Info

Note: The sender of this message may receive compensations for products or services featured.