Manny Kagan

Mortgage Solutions For You!

I received an email from a client, whose loan we refinanced last time in 2011. It was a mortgage fixed for 7 years and the rate would become adjustable in 2018.

Since then, she accumulated credit card debts, which cost her about $600/month. Being on a fixed income, this situation was challenging. After checking the rates, I saw that we can get her the same rate, extend her fixed loan until 2022, add $30,000 of the credit cards to the mortgage, and her monthly payment would go up only $20/month.

Huge Savings!

Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

Cheers,

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Can We Be Or Not Be Meat Eaters?

“You do not have to be a vegetarian, just eat less meat.”

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My wife Elfa and I are pescatarians. This is not a rare disease or a religious cult. This word defines those whose diet includes fish and seafood, but not the meat of other animals.

We became vegetarians while living in Israel at the time when our youngest daughter Tamar (who remained a vegetarian throughout her life) was born.

Some people, who discover that I have not eaten meat for many years, ask me if I can feel the difference. My answer is always “No”, since I cannot compare myself today to who I was many years ago. But in general, at the age of 67, I feel good most of the time, and do not have any cravings or desire to eat meat.

When we lived in Riga, Latvia where I was born, my father managed a government meat store. Despite the scarcity of many products in the stores, we always had meat in our household.

There are many reasons why people decide not to eat meat. Shortly after moving to San Francisco in 1980, we met a nutritionist who advised us to start adding fish to our diet in order to get the protein that we might have been lacking as vegetarians.

We know some people who after trying to be vegetarians, went back to eating meat.

According to the Bible, when humans were vegetarians when they were created. Only after the flood did God allow generations after Noah to start eating meat. Since meat was always expensive, only in our generation and in richer countries, have people consumed more meat.

Certainly consuming too much fish and seafood products can have their own health concerns, such as the health effects of mercury ingestion. But, according to the article in the National Geographic, “How to Farm a Better Fish”, the “world produces more farmed fish than beef-and that’s just the beginning”. According to the article, to produce one pound of body mass of cattle requires 6.8 pounds of feed, while fish requires only 1.1 pounds!

But what about chickens and turkeys? After all, you are reading this article after Thanksgiving night. Well, apparently, there are new ideas on how to have the festive dinner (possibly any day of the year) without overstuffing yourself. According to theSan Francisco Chronicle Sunday article, “For Thanksgiving 2014, turkey takes a backseat”, “vegetables are the new meat”.

P.S.

In our affluent society we can choose what to eat. We can choose any kind of diet and develop a taste for different foods. In my view, we do not have to kill animals, like those creatures I met and photographed in the natural environment of The Sea Ranch, just to satisfy our cravings.

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A Client was a self-employed contractor. In 2013, he reported income significantly higher than a year before. If we would apply for a jumbo loan, the lender would have to average two years and his income would not be enough to qualify. By dividing his loan into two, we were able to eliminate this issue by applying for the lender whose program allows one year of tax returns to qualify for the agency Jumbo loan plus a line of credit.

Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

How To Appreciate Art

“Appreciation of art is like an appreciation of beauty–it is in the eye of the beholder.”

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There are many opportunities to appreciate art in the San Francisco and the Bay Area. We have great art museums, art galleries, and exhibitions. Those who have the means collect art; others buy copies or works of less known artists. Recently, we visited a new museum at Stanford University dedicated to the Anderson collection. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson started buying the works of up and coming American artists in the 1960’s. It is remarkable what an appreciation for art, education, and financial means can accomplish.

Next door in the Cantor Arts Center, there is an exhibition of a great photographer, Robert Frank’s “In America”. There is also a photo exhibition of the works of Arnold Newman, who created an amazing art gallery of portraits of famous people of the 20^th century that is being exhibited at the Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco. Last week, I wrote about an exhibition of Ai Weiwei’s work in Alcatraz. Additionally, Lucien LaBaudt’s Coit Tower mural “Powell Street” was recently released. Perhaps the highest point of the art scene was the opening of the collection of works by Keith Haring’s “The Political Line” at the De Young Museum in the Golden Gate Park. The exhibit will be open through February 16, 2015. It is a must-see.

Keith Haring’s images, which were created during his short-lived and very prolific artistic life (he died from AIDS in 1990), reflect the political climate of the 1980’s, which still affect our lives today. For years, his sexually explicit art-work was not welcomed in museums. Today, collectors are paying millions for his “running man” images. Through his graffiti-inspired drawings, paintings, sculptures, and murals, Keith Haring created an immediately recognizable iconography that speaks to a diverse population.

One of his sculptures, which for years was located on the corner of Mission and 3^rd street in San Francisco, has recently relocated to the front of the De Young Museum. Throughout his life, the artist wanted to bring his message of the political and social unbalance in life to the people. The irony is that while The Keith Haring Foundation leases his images and sells his works to raise money for AIDS research and other good causes, only very rich collectors can afford his artistic creations.

“An artist is a spokesman for a society at any given point in history. His language is determined by his perception of the world we all live in. He is a medium between ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’.”—Keith Haring

P.S.

As a photographer, when I visit museums I am not only interested in art, but also in the people who come to see it. Enjoy.

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A client, from Los Angeles, lived in a rent controlled apartment that was recently sold. As a result, he was offered $19,000 to move out. The client agreed and decided he wanted to buy a condo. Unfortunately with an income of $3,000/month, his qualifying ratio was too high.

The solution was to have someone (possibly his parents) act as cosigners, but not every cosigner can help improve the ration because of their own liabilities.

Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

When Was The Last Time You Visited The Rock?

“You can either create a prison or a garden. Both are necessary parts of our society. I prefer the latter.”

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I learned about the name, “The Rock” Alcatraz Island is often referred to, in the movie “The Rock” starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. We first visited the island over 30 years ago when we first came to San Francisco. Last week, we returned, to see the exhibition of the works of the well-known Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei. If you are not interested in Chinese art, his name might not be familiar to you. He became well-known worldwide not only as a great artist, but also as a vocal critic of the Chinese government. As a result, he was detained for 81 days in 2011 and is still not allowed to travel abroad.

The idea to create an exhibition in the former prison was the brainchild of the curator Cheryl Haines. Unfortunately, Ai could not visit Alcatraz during the planning of the exhibition. One of the installations shows portraits of 175 people from around the world who have been detained because of their beliefs or affiliations. Ai calls them “heroes of our time”. All the portraits are constructed from LEGO™ bricks. With this project, the artist aims to expand our understanding of the “purpose of art, which is the fight for freedom”.

The trip to Alcatraz not only gave us an opportunity to see the creation of the legendary artist, but for a brief time to see the island. (We only had time to visit the exhibition, and we are planning to come back.)

We live in a remarkable city. San Francisco is known for many attractions and thousands of tourists visit the city and “The Rock” everyday. There are those who take a 15 minute boat ride to visit an important part of our city’s history. Today, Alcatraz Island is part of the Golden Gate National Parks. It served the army as a fortress and military prison and as the Department of Justice’s maximum security federal penitentiary. There are many interesting stories that surround “The Rock”, which housed many famous inmates—like Al Capone and Robert “The Birdman” Stroud.

Now, it is a national parkland with historic gardens, tide-pools, bird colonies, and incredible bay views. We are planning to return and spend many hours here exploring the grounds and learn more about parts of our illustrious city’s history.

I hope that you will do the same and wear some comfortable shoes. Ai Weiwei’s exhibition is here until April 26, 2015.

P.S.

The day that we visited Alcatraz, the weather was gorgeous. I had a lot of photo opportunities. Hope you enjoy some of the images.

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A client was buying a home, which was previously foreclosed by the bank. The previous owners removed all the possible appliances–including the sinks. The house needed major remodeling, which would cost at least $100,000.In the past, the only way to buy such a property would be to pay cash or receive a private loan with an interest rate as high as 12.00%!This week’s new mortgage solutions allows borrowers, who have enough money for down payment and repairs, to buy the property at a discounted price–then fix it, sell it, or refinance it 12 months later.

Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

Don’t Forget to Attend Our November MeetUP Event

Date: Thursday: November 13, 2014
Address: 2345 24th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94116
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm

RSVP on Facebook OR email Ausra@Pacbay.net

What Nightmares Are Trying To Teach Us

What Nightmares Are Trying To Teach Us“Regardless of how bad the nightmare is, we always wake up.”

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Do you remember your dreams when you wake up in the morning? Do you write them down? Do you interpret them? Or do you ask someone else to interpret them for you?

In my dreams sometimes, I have to deal with cars. I either forget where I parked, or my car goes on the wrong road, or climbs up a steep hill. My personal interpretation of these dreams is that they have something to do with the condition of my business. Luckily, all of my dreams have happy endings.

Recently, I had a completely different dream.

I was inside a house and was afraid of something that was going on outside. I tried to get away from this feeling and moved from room to room—finally ending up in the bedroom. I lay down on the bed, when I noticed that the window coverings were opening up by themselves. Behind them, there was a 6-foot long window, which had an opening in the middle that opened up by itself. I stood up to look through the opening and saw a man and a woman outside. They told me that the window had to be removed because it was not installed properly. I begged them not to do that saying that it will be too cold, that the plywood covering the opening would cut off the light, and that I had no money to install the new window. While I pleaded with the couple who only seemed to ignore me, a third man was behind me, and lowered the window as I stood in the middle of the opening.

Suddenly, I remembered the Charlie Chaplin silent movie, “The Kid”. There, the kid played by Jackie Coogan, throws a rock into someone’s window and when the irritated owner runs out, he sees the window repairman played by Charlie Chapman. Remembering that scene, I asked the couple if they work for the window replacement company. This idea was so ridiculous that in my dream I started laughing very hard. In that moment, the people were gone and my window was back in place.

In the Torah, we read the story about how Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams and how this changed world history. Today, there are specially trained people, most of whom are psychologists—disciples of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, who know how to help their patients with dream interpretation.

As far as my dream is concerned, I think I got the message—whenever there is a problem, just laugh and wake up.

In my book, “The Mortgage Game: The 5 C’s and How To Connect Them”, I share many stories, anecdotes, and possible nightmares that my clients and I had along with the possible solutions. One of the stories involves a man who had a nightmare that there was a monster under his bed. You can find solutions on how to get rid of monsters by reading the book or by giving me a call. One of my readers recently told me that after The Bible, he finds my book very inspirational. This can also be a very good Thanksgiving present.

P.S.

I like window shopping. Not because of what is displayed behind the glass, but rather the reflections in the glass, which most of us do not see at first. But with my camera, I am able to create an unexpected, dream-like, abstract image; any change of light will affect the image.

Enjoy and share it with a friend!

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A client was referred by his mother (who is also one of our clients) because he wanted to buy a second home. Between the years of 2012 and 2013, his income was over $1,000,000. It seemed that we would have no problem receiving a loan approval.

However, his company’s P&L (Profit & Loss) statements for 2014 showed declining income. This was the reason why his loan was turned down by one of the major banks that we regularly do business with.

Luckily, we had a back-up plan. His loan package was submitted to another bank that approved the loan.

Here is what another happy client wrote about out services:

I had a critical situation – my original lander denied me a loan the day when I had to remove my loan contingency. My former mortgage broker messed up my file making several mistakes and miscalculations. As a result, I was about to lose the property of my dreams that I was so excited to find after about one year of searching. I was referred to the Pacific Bay Financial as the “mission impossible” team! They immediately responded, deep dived into my file, and I was able to remove my loan contingency just in time not to loose my home. Against all odds I was able to close with Manny’s team and lender only 3 days later than my original mortgage broker planned. And Manny’s team started the entire process from scratch 12 days later than my former mortgage broker. What an amazing work! Pacific Bay Financial Corp. are true masters of the mortgage business! You can rely on this team in most challenging cases!

Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

Don’t Forget to Attend Our November MeetUP Event

Date: Thursday: November 13, 2014
Address: 2345 24th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94116
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm

RSVP on Facebook OR email Ausra@Pacbay.net

Can You Smell The Roses?

“Our natural given right is our sense of smell. Use it.”

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We went to The Sea Ranch recently, with friends who live in Southern California and who finally joined us on a trip there, after many invitations. Michael, who calls himself a city person and rarely goes out to nature, said that the strolls along the bluff that we took during the morning and afternoons were the best walks he had ever had in his life. I was not surprised.

The beautiful nature, the wild animals that we encountered along the way, and the bloom of flowers, which were abundant after the late rain, made those walks memorable. The air was filled with different smells and aromas. The very specific smell of the ocean, the smell of freshly cut grass, and flowers. The blend of those aromas would invigorate anyone’s senses. The art of mixing different flowers to create ointments are known from the ancient times—

“Ointments and perfumes delight the heart” (Proverbs 27:9).

During our walks while I photographed the beautiful surroundings, our friend brought up an idea. It could be great if smells could be extracted and stored in photographs, so people can see and smell the images simultaneously. I thought about this when we visited a spice store in Murphys, CA. My response was that it probably could happen. Like so many other inventions that started with an idea, the fact that these thoughts came up, means that this possibility exists and has just not manifested yet. On one of our recent flights in the Southwest Airlines’ magazine, Spirit, I found an article, “Scents and Sensibility”. Somehow I am not surprised when this kind of coincidence happens.

The article described what is going on in the study of smells called Osmology / Olfactology. Apparently, not everyone can smell roses, or anything else, because they lack or have lost their sense of smell—called anosmia. Smells can affect our behavior and change our moods. Scientists, who work at the Monell Chemical Sense Center in West Philadelphia, discovered that humans can actually detect more than 1 trillion smells. At the same time, “Monell scientists work tirelessly to crack the code of these scents. Trimmer and her colleagues are trying to figure out what odors light up which combinations of receptors and how genes influence that process. She says they know the receptor combos for at least 40 odors. Less than a trillion to go.”

While they are busy with that work, get out to nature, enjoy its’ beauty, and exercise your senses to the fullest.

P.S.

While I cannot share with you my olfactory sensory experiences, you can enjoy the beauty I was fortunate enough to capture on our trip to The Sea Ranch. You can see more of my images of flowers on Twitter, Facebook, and on my office walls. You are always welcome to visit.

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