Today’s Chicago Tribune points to a new web site, cardit.com, which allows consumers to pay their mortgage payment with a credit card. Cardit is set up with 100 lenders including the nations largest loan servicers. It charges a fee of $19.95 plus 2.49% of the mortgage payment every time someone uses the service.

Paying your 7% mortgage with an 18% credit card doesn’t seem like the best way to get ahead. In fact, if the only way to make your mortgage payment is by adding it on to your credit card, you are probably already in a world of trouble. Delaying a problem isn’t the same as solving it. When the time comes that you need to pay your credit card and you don’t have the cash for that, the local loan shark is not a good option either.

My take here at Illinois Mortgage Rates and News is that the timing for this service couldn’t be worse. At a time when property values are soft and foreclosures are spiking this is like throwing more gas on the fire.

The web is currently home to about 110 million blogs. About 120,000 new weblogs are created every day, and each day there are about 1,500,000 new blog posts. That is  a lot of information flowing out in cyber-space. With so many blogs, and so much competition, how can anyone stand out?

Starting a new blog has to be a sign of vanity. What can I possibly say that hasn’t been said before, and better? Even in my niche, mortgages and real estate, there are thousands of blogs and many excellent bloggers who write with authority and insight. What can I bring to the party that will add value and further the conversation?

It may be vanity, but with someone as good looking and smart as me, vanity comes with the territory. That’s a joke. Mostly. Just as every one of the 6 billion humans on our planet are unique in some way, each blogger brings their own life experience and perspective.

I’ve been in the mortgage business since 1992, so I’ve seen a lot of changes and formed a lot of opinions. I’ve also had the opportunity to help a whole lot of people buy their homes and improve their finances.

I focus on education and communication, letting potential borrowers know exactly what their options are, how the mortgage process works and helping them find the best solution for their needs. It seem to me that a blog is just a bigger platform (I hope) for education and communication. 

I live in the Chicago area, so I concentrate on helping people with their mortgages in Chicago, the Chicago suburbs and throughout Illinois. As time goes on I plan to talk about the issues that are important to people in my area, but I hope to add value to anyone who is interested in mortgages or real estate.

So whether you are a first time home buyer searching for information on first time home buyer programs, or someone who wants to know the best way to shop for a loan, I hope you come back and join the conversation. Illinois Mortgage Rates and News is on the air!