Today marks the third anniversary of blogging as the Arizona Mortgage Guru. Ironically my inaugural post was on the Fed raising interest rates (it was a different market and economy back then) and mortgage interest rates have been a major topic lately. It’s interesting how things have changed and yet not changed in all these three years!

It’s always interesting to cross a marker. Then you realize how much time has gone by. Certainly these past three years have gone by quite quickly and its fun to look back.  Back in the day, there were not many real estate and mortgage blogs, but there were a few. I  remember searching for mortgage blogs and finding Todd Carpenters newly minted creation.  Later that year I also heard of Jay’s blog through my wife. At the time that was pretty much all the blogs I cared to know about.

Why no real interst you ask? Well to be be honest, I didn’t think blogging in real estate would be as prevalent and effective as it is today. My position has changed a bit but I remain  cautiously optimistic. My own efforts back then were quite feeble. Partly from choice but also becasue we were really busy back then. I mean really busy!

So I would make short random comments on financial news or certain aspects of the economy or occasionally write some consumer centered mortgage advice. I didn’t do the things that really makes blogging successful such as network with other bloggers, visit their blogs, leave comments, link to good posts etc..  In other words I didn’t participate in the community so to  me my blog was just a  “fun” thing to burn some steam after a very busy day at work!

Things have changed a lot since then. A lot!

Today, blogging is an essential part of my daily work and a vital part of our marketing mix. Blogging has changed our business for the better. More importantly I’ve developed relationships with folks whom I would have otherwise never ever met! And I’ve also been able to help hundreds of folks with mortgage advice and news. So, thanks to all my readers for subscribing, commenting and taking an interest in this blog and my business. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you.