Mike Mueller, Social Media.ist

I like shoes.  Yes, I'm a man and no, I'm not what you might call "metro".  Never had a manicure.  But I do like shoes.  I have all sorts of shoes for all sorts of activities.  I'll bet you do as well.

Just looking in the Black Leather section of my closet, I have:

• My very nice hand stitched Italian leather lace ups,
• My "Basic Banker Wingtip Blacks",
• That old pair of scruffed yet comfortable Oxfords, I might wear these everyday if I could
• My Loafers (penny included of course),
• My "Broker Tour" loafers for those houses that make you take your shoes off,
• My black Mandals, perfect for semi formal bbq's,
• I can't forget about my Ghillie Brogues, a Kilt isn't complete without them!

Remember this is just the Black Leather Department!
I have hiking boots for summer, hiking boots for winter, I have boots specifically made for climbing to the summit of very tall mountains.

In motorcycling boots, I have boots for dirt riding, for street riding, and for racing on the track.  I also have running shoes, I have "work out at the gym" shoes, I have running shoes I specifically use just for driving.

I have a lot of shoes.  Maybe more than most but the point is, I cherish each pair because each pair serves a very specific purpose. 

Yes, I could wear my Sweet Italian's out on Broker Tour.  I could also wear my winter hikers to Yosemite in the summer.  Each one would work fine, not great, but they would be good enough to get me through the day.  So why own so many different pairs? 

While the Winter Hikers would support my ankles and provide the grip and traction needed, they are also so incredibly heavy and oh so hot!  You can understand that can't you?  Good.  It's the same thing with my wife and her three pairs of red dress shoes.  I know better than to ask why there's three different shades of red, three different heights of heel, and I know all about how that lace bow matches that lace of that particular dress.  I don't even need to go there!

What is so basic and extraordinarily simple of a platform - The Shoe, has evolved from just a simple covering of the sole into something high tech, something of high fashion, something closely resembling art in of itself.  Why?  Because we can see the value a specific style, or model, or feature brings to the experience.  Back in Cave Man days, shoes came in one color, one style. Handmade animal hide.  That matched the one lifestyle - survival.  Today is a very different story.

Shoes are sexy.  Mortgages are not.  Yet there are so very many different styled mortgages available.  Each with their own distinct features. Mortgages are very much like shoes.  We have sleek fast ones, comfortable livable ones, big and bulky ones, and plenty in between.  Like my Mountaineering Boots there are mortgages that exist for very specific applications.  Like my black scruffed up Oxfords, some mortgages offer a level of comfort not found in other programs.

I mentioned, I would wear that pair of old shoes everyday if I could.  But that would be highly impractical.  The same could be said for any pair of my shoes.  Each pair works best under certain conditions.  Those conditions change for me sometimes three times a day.

Let's now change the metaphor from shoes to mortgages.  Unlike my personal life, the conditions that may require me to change my mortgage don't happen three times a day.  In fact, they may never change at all.  Then why are there all those different mortgages out there?  The mortgages are just different pairs of shoes.  And just like a pair of shoes, there is one pair out that is absolutely perfect for you.  Maybe not perfect for you forever, but perfect for you over a period of time.  Your mortgage needs don't change nearly as fast as your shoe needs.

We have a problem.  People don't think of mortgages like they do shoes.  They don't look at them as fitting a specific need.  Mortgages to them are simple commodities, like a gallon of milk or a cup of sugar.  They just aren't sexy!

Here's the truth.  Every mortgage product in existence, Fixed Rate or Adjustable, has a specific need that it fulfills better than any other program. Every one of them!  From the Best A-Paper Conventional Conforming 30 yr Fixed Rate Loan, to the Payment Option Arm, to the 2/28 Stated Income Interest Only Loan to the Hard Money 6 Month Bridge Loan. 

There's a catch.  It takes a mortgage professional who fully understands what you need to match you up for the best possible fit.  You can't try on mortgages like you can shoes.  You wouldn't order shoes over the internet.  You wouldn't call in to the home shopping channel either  That's why you need to meet one on one with a true mortgage professional.  They will "size you up", they'll measure this and that, they'll ask you about your needs, your wants, your goals.  What you like, what you don't like.  Unlike the shoe store, you get only one chance to get it right.  They are the experts and they will find the right mortgage to fit you.

Adjustable or Fixed.  Sexy or Boring. 

Your mortgage, just like your shoes, has to be a perfect fit for you!