Larry Cragun, ever dedicated to promoting consumer oriented writings found on web- blogs has posted the first nominees of 2008 for the Magnificent 7 at Real Estate Undressed.

Check out January’s articles that are worthy of Larry’s nod of approval.

I’m truly honored that two of my posts have been declared magnificent by Larry Cragun  of Real Estate Undressed.    Over the past year, 7 consumer focused articles are nominated each month and at the end of the year the top seven are recognized.   Here are the 2007 Magnificent 7 Winners in alphabetical order:

The Flip Side of the Sub-Prime Story by ARDELL DellaLoggia

Seventeen Reasons to have New Construction Homes Inspected by Kelly Koehler

The Ten Commandments for Mortgage Applicants by Mark Flanders

Real Estate Myths Home Buyers Fall in Love With by Steve Leung

Putting the cart before the Horse:  Making a Contingent Offer by Rich Jacobsen

Picking Your Next Mortgage by Rate Shopping?  You Might as Well Be Playing Liars Poker by Rhonda Porter

Mortgage Interest Rate Locks 101 by Rhonda Porter

Larry, thanks again.  I’m absolutely honored to have my posts included.

We are just returning from a family vacation at Ocean Shores and I’m very tickled to learn that Mortgage Porter is receiving some nice nods from some fellow real estate bloggers whom I think a great deal of.

Tony Gallegos of the Mortgage Cicerone has declared Cicerone’s Top 20 Bloggers for 2007.  Yours truly is very honored to be included as one of Tony’s top 20.  I’m excited to be on this list as there are many fellow bloggers I’m familiar with and a few who are new to me.  I enjoy checking out blogs I’m not subscribed to yet.

Equally exciting, Larry Cragun’s Magnificent 7 on Real Estate Undressed is down to the final round.  I’m very lucky to have a couple of posts included in the running of the total of 14 consumer focused articles.   Please do check out the posts and let Larry know which one gets your vote. 

Is this a sign for how great 2008 will be?  I certainly hope so.

I don’t know if it’s because Mortgage Porter has a birthday coming up in a few days…or if it’s just overdue.   I did a little "house keeping" on my blog this morning.  Now that she’s a year old, it’s time to reorganize and unclutter.

My intent with Mortgage Porter is to have it very consumer focused.  And I hope it appeals to real estate professionals, too.   When I write for Mortgage Porter, I picture my clients, the questions they’ve asked and experiences they’ve had.   I want to help them understand the process.    I also like to throw in some personal stories and local events…just for fun!

Here are a few of the changes I’ve made…

A while back, I removed the monthly list of Achieves and created one link.   My goal was to list out every post however as far as I can tell with my Typepad platform, this has to be done manually and it’s been a chore!   You can still find Archives listed by month after you click the Archive link on the left right side of the blog.

I’ve also slimmed down my blog roll and separated the local blogs into their own list.  After I did that, I evaluated the remaining blog links and (this was hard) tried to really narrow it down to the (non-local) blogs I read the most and that are consumer focused.  I also created a link for all the other blogs that I enjoy that might be geared more real estate or mortgage professionals.

Plus, I’ve added a couple of badges that I’m proud of.   From top to bottom on the left:

• CMPS Certified
• Mortgage Market Guide
• Top 12 Women RE Bloggers
• Larry Cragun’s Magnificent 7 Consumer Articles.   

You can click on any of these badges for more information.

I’m learning that a blog is an evolving process full of tweaks and hopefully improvements.   Nothing is permanent or stagnant.   I’m sure I’ll be continuing to adjust and change Mortgage Porter…it’s kind of like moving around your furniture or cleaning out your closets at home!