Fridays with Manny

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LESSONS FROM THE EXODUS
IN TODAY’S WORLD 

On April 22nd and 23rd, Jews around the world are going to celebrate Passover. The events which took place sometime in the thirteenth century BCE (there are many theories among modern scholars about what happened and when). In the Torah the story of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt with their leader Moses was described in great detail. It is also stated that the great multitude of other people left along with millions of animals. Now try to imagine how the entire population of Los Angeles of about 3.822 million (in 2022) managed to leave Egypt and cross the Red Sea on foot and arrive at the desert and stay there for the next forty years.

So, the question is, why will Jews celebrate the events which took place so long ago and in a foreign land, on Monday and Tuesday? Followed by the next question, why is this an important today, besides just keeping the tradition? One of the most important parts of the celebration, is called the Seder (order), which is retelling the Story of the Exodus for the ears of young children. The story is about ten tribes whose father was Jacob, also known as Israel, who lived in Egypt for at least 215 years. They were cousins and, like all cousins, they differed from one another. Only after spending forty years in the desert together, away from their Egyptian oppressors, they became a nation. United to cross the Jordan River and to capture land which was promised to their forefathers as their homeland.

Getting together at the festive table to share food and drinks is a very good reminder that there are more things which unite us than separate. And this message is not only for Jews. In challenging times, only unity can help us to accomplish a better future for our children and this will depend on which story we are telling them.

Flower bouquets are the best way to bring beauty to the festive table, as the above three images can attest.

Enjoy and Share!

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The Good News with Manny

New Learning Opportunities
Have Arrived!

About 18 months ago, I started a project called Money Solutions Academy (MSA) as an educational video series on YouTube. Until today, those videos were primarily targeting the real estate agents community, for whom I wanted to open more opportunities to reach out to more clients – with creative mortgage solutions.

As I was progressing through, the idea to expand this information to the mortgage brokers community was growing in my mind. Though I’ve been a mortgage broker for over forty years, there are not many young people who have joined our industry. Therefore, I was very pleased when Iryna Haras called me and asked me to teach her how to become a mortgage broker.

In the past I had a course where I taught many students some of whom still make a good living in the mortgage business. This time I decided to simplify the process and to use my time more productively. We are going to work on the real cases of my clients and teach through the experience, which we will be recording and showing through MSA (aka Mortgage Solutions Academy) on YouTube.  I also decided to write a new book as a companion to the course – “Mortgage Solutions for Smart People™. How to Connect 5 P’s.”  

5 P’s = People + Property + Product + Players + Process


The first post in the new series of my videos is about mortgages for the condominiums and about the differences between Warrantable and Non-Warrantable condos, and how this affects the final result in getting and qualifying for the mortgage.

So, please click on this link to watch, enjoy and share this video.

Manny Kagan,
President,
Pacific Bay Financial Corporation

NMLS #205637
DRE #00824602

 

 

 

Fridays with Manny

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WHAT IS TIME?

On a Saturday evening a few weeks ago, my wife Elfa reminded me that we would lose one hour of sleep that night because of the daylight-saving time switch. I went to sleep as usual at 10:30 PM and got up at 8 AM (which the day before was 7 AM. The only reason I noticed the time difference was because I had to change the time on some of the clocks.

But what is time? When I asked this question on-line, my iPhone not only gave me the answer, but also showed the correct time. Most of us know that “Time is relative”, which as Albert Einstein explained is, “The rate at which time passes depends on your (or mine) frame of reference”. And if you are looking for more information, check out theoretical physicist Brian Greene explaining “Time in 5 Levels of Difficulty” in this YouTube video. I stopped wearing a wristwatch a long time ago, since I have a clock on my iPhone, which is always in my pocket. There are also many sayings which answer the question what time is, like “Time is money” and “Lost time is never found again” and there are so many more.

If you would like to have a good time, you can find many of my timeless books on Amazon. Flower blooms can be a very good way to observe the results of the time change, like in these three magnolia flowers.

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The Good News with Manny

Every Borrower is Unique

Lately, we have been reading and hearing a lot about Artificial Intelligence. Some claim that it will replace many occupations, like attorneys. How about real estate agents and mortgage brokers? Everything is possible, but not so soon. Of course, if it involves identical properties (like in the subdivisions) and identical borrowers. However, in my over forty years as a mortgage broker I did not meet one yet. Everyone is unique.

Recently, I have received a call from the real estate agent whose father wanted to help her and her brother to buy two-unit building. After running her father’s credit report, I saw that he was not big help, since, as a result of high debts, his credit score was low. Since she was a self-employed, we had to wait two years to be able to use her income. She had sales and earned commission in 2023, however, her last two years income averagely was not significant. Her husband’s salary was $80,000 a year. Her father-in-law was considering to get in the game as well and had money for the down payment, but changed his mind. Brother and his wife had good income, but no money for the down payment.

Possible solution was to refinance condominium owned by mother and to pull out cash, which is going to be a gift. Only after I receive information from everyone and order credit reports, I will be able to calculate how much of the property (preferably two units with an in-law) they can buy. After that I will issue pre-approval letter, and my client will be able to make offers and pray for the acceptance. As you can see, there are no simple cases.

Click on this link to listen to my thoughts about artificial intelligence in a video that I recorded and uploaded for you onto my YouTube channel.

In the meantime, feel free to call me whenever you come across a potential client. And I promise to help.

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Fridays with Manny

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HAPPY SPRING

Last Sunday, I received Happy Easter wishes from a friend (a client whom I recently helped to get a reverse mortgage). She is Catholic and I am Jewish and do not celebrate Easter. Nevertheless, my granddaughter was happy to find Easter eggs in her backyard.

The holiday commemorates the story of death and resurrection of a little-known Jewish preacher from the North of Israel, over two thousand years ago. Online I learned that Easter was first recorded in the year 384, and by the 10th century, it had gained general usage.

It took many years, different interpretations, and the infusion of Pagan traditions of bunnies and eggs, as well as Hallmark promotions, for this holiday to become popular. Regardless of what your religious beliefs are, one thing is for sure – every spring, a resurrection of nature occurs. It is manifested by the beautiful flower blooms, and young leaves on the trees.

As I am writing this story, I look into our garden where beautiful Calla lilies show their glory. You can see many of them in Golden Gate Park, by the Chinese Pavilion at Blue Heron Lake (formerly Stow Lake). Meanwhile, please enjoy these three images from our garden.

If you like flowers and would like to enjoy new ones every week, you can still order “53 Reminders:2024 Weekly Calendar” on Amazon. 

Enjoy and Share!

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The Good News with Manny

There Is a Way to Become Better

Forty years ago, when I became a mortgage broker and together with my wife Elfa founded Pacific Bay Financial Corporation in 1985, I had to learn a lot. I never sold anything before and, therefore, in addition to learning mortgage business, I had to become the company owner, sales manager and, to a certain extent, a psychologist – to be able to deal with my clients most efficiently.

To assist me in all those endeavors, I had many teachers and coaches. On top of attending various seminars and reading uncountable books on different subjects, I got used to regularly listen to audio tapes while driving my car. As new digital sources developed, I began watching and listening to videos and audios online.

One of my teachers was Dr. Wayne Dyer, who passed away almost nine years ago. I was very glad to hear his voice again on a captivating YouTube podcast titled “One Day of This… Is More Powerful than 10 Years of Action”.

I am a firm believer that to become better, regardless what our goals are, we need first to deal with our brain and to connect with our heart. That is why I decided to share this particular video with you, which is available at the link highlighted above.

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Fridays with Manny

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The Sky’s the Limit

It was Miguel de Cervantes who wrote in Don Quixote in 1605, “No limit but the sky”. There are a number of variations of this phrase. I thought about it during our recent walk in Golden Gate Park. The sky was covered with clouds that looked like a herd of sheep. But it was an illusion, which can be seen when an airplane enters into the cloud only to emerge in the open space a few moments later.

Browsing the web, I found a number of various meanings for the phrase. Which led me to remember a quote from Earl Nightingale. “People are where they are because that is exactly where they really want to be whether they will admit that or not.” In my early years in the mortgage business, I listened to Earl’s wisdom every week on audio tapes. (You can find his words of wisdom on YouTube podcasts). I must remind myself about the limitless sky every time when due to the high interest rates last year, we did not have enough business to pay salaries to our employees (we used our savings).

I needed to find an alternative way to help our clients. My solution was to find clients for whom reverse mortgages can help them enjoy financial comfort during their retirement. This is why I wrote my book, “Retirement Solutions for Smart People™. How to Accomplish Financial Comfort”. Since many homeowners during their retirement lack sources of income, for me “there is no limit, but the sky” means I can help them with the reverse mortgages. Now the book is also available in audio. You are invited to order it on Amazon.

These three images above are of the clouds.

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The Good News with Manny

You Can Buy Real Estate
with No Down Payment

One of my recent new clients asked me about how he could buy a two-unit building with no down payment. Frankly, at that moment I had no idea if that was possible. However, as it often happens, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

DPA PRO PLUS (Down Payment Assistance Program, 100% combined loan to value FHA loan) appears to be a solution. Compared to the regular DPA PRO program which has a 10% second mortgage and is forgivable after ten years, the PRO PLUS program has many advantages. For instance, it has no income restrictions, and the borrowers are not required to be first time home buyers. And YES, it is available for buying a two-unit building. A loan for two units can up to $1,442,250.

Though those programs sound very attractive, borrowers need to be able to qualify. In some cases, a 3.5% down payment (which can be a gift) will lower monthly payments and therefore makes it easier to qualify.

You can learn more about the subject by watching the attached video which is a fragment of a recording featuring our company’s weekly staff meeting*

Please feel free to contact me with any questions at:

(415) 225-7920 or mannykagan@comcast.net

Enjoy and Share!

Manny Kagan,
President,
Pacific Bay Financial Corporation

NMLS #205637
DRE #00824602

* Scrabble tiles spelling out “No down payment” (Photo: Flickr/Jake Rustenhoven, GotCredit)

Fridays with Manny

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BENEFITS OF LOVE

If you would ask our Labradoodle Max “Why do you love?”, and if he could respond in words, his answer might be, “I do not understand your question”, because Max’s purpose in life is to love. Meanwhile, humans are different creatures. And sometimes we forget that love can cure many problems.

Years ago, I had a business coach, who instructed me to stand in front of the mirror every day after waking up, and to repeat “I love myself” many times. It is a very important and powerful lesson, especially in our time when many young (and not so young) people express their feelings, which are opposite to love (I purposely do not mention these words), dividing the world into “us and them”, where “them” is a reflection of our own self. There was a reason why in the Bible it is written, “You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy”. But I tell you, love your enemy and pray for those” (Matthew 5:43-48). But I question if those who express their feelings through social media and demonstrations blame others regardless of political affiliation, color of the skin, religion, gender or even the country they live in, read the Bible. Therefore, I would like to recommend reading “The Surprising Health Benefits of Love”, which I came across while browsing the web.

If you need love or would like to give love to someone, it is a good reason to get hold of my book “42 Encounters with Love”. It is available for purchase at this link. Read it yourself and share it with those you really care about. In the meantime, please spare a moment to read this poem from my forthcoming book “42 Encounters with Illumination”:

Myself

I cannot be myself
Unless I share myself with others.
That is an eternal message
Which I received some time ago.
This message became my life’s mission.
It helps me to understand
What life is all about,
Who am I, and why I am here,
In this place and time.
What it takes to be
The son, the brother and the husband,
Father, friend, co-worker,
Man or woman, child and the older person.
Only when I realized that I am part of all these people
Who fill my life, and whom I love,
I was able to find myself.

Expression of Love can be found everywhere, as you can see from the three images I’ve chosen to illustrate this post.

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The Good News with Manny

Learn How to Help
Single Women to Retire in Comfort

Last week a friend of mine, Ms. Ildiko Pali, who is a real estate broker and who read my book “Retirement Solutions for Smart People™. How to accomplish Financial Comfort”, asked me to share with her some stories about single women who would benefit from the reverse mortgage. “Why do you need it?” I asked. “I want to help single women to retire,” she answered.

As it happened last Thursday, one of my clients, who fit the description, was signing her loan documents in my office for the reverse mortgage. Gayle Montalbano, who is 85, came to me first time a year ago. We discussed reverse mortgage, but she was not mentally ready. Her income was social security plus line of credit, which she used to supplement her financial needs. Unfortunately, Gayle used the same source to make minimum monthly payment. Realizing that this arrangement cannot last, she came back and a few weeks ago I interviewed her when we started the loan process.

It took about thirty days to get to the finish line. I used this opportunity to ask more questions during the short interview with Gayle and the notary public Kevin Ledbetter.

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