Author of "The Mortgage Game"
“There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiates 1:4-11).
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Don’t Forget to Attend Our November MeetUP Event
 Date: Thursday: November 13, 2014 RSVP on Facebook OR email Ausra@Pacbay.net |
“When in a rush, drive slowly.”
45 years ago, I received my first driver’s license. At that time, we lived in Riga, Latvia and only a few people actually owned their cars. I was working as a car mechanic (one of the ten occupations I had before becoming a mortgage broker) in a garage where we repaired trucks. I needed a driver’s license to move them in and out. I enrolled in the driving school for a yearlong course. It was offered through a military organization, which inadvertently saved me from going to the Army later on—but this is a separate story.
My actual driving experience came some years later, when we moved to Israel and I was able to afford my own car. Israelis are aggressive drivers and I became quite a pushy driver myself. Later on when we moved to the United States, I had the opportunity to drive in New York where I was at par with the local taxi drivers. But I also acquired some bad driving habits. One of them resulted in being stopped by a police officer for driving at 93 mph. With age, I mellowed down, but sometimes it is difficult to get rid of years of questionable driving practices.
But I was lucky—I’ve had no major accidents and not too many encounters with the police. As the world progresses and technology improves, it is becoming easier to get caught. Last week, I described my experience dealing with being “photographed” for a moving violation, which led to 8 hours of driving school. The court gave me a list of authorized traffic schools. After checking convenient hours, I ended up at the New Chinatown Traffic School, (which is actually located in the Sunset District at 2710 Vicente Street at 38th Ave). Samson Chung, who for many years has also worked as a driving instructor, taught the class. Despite the cost of the class ($45), plus the cost of the citation ($337), and the time I spent dealing with the whole process, at the end of the class I felt that it was a good investment of my time and money.
Driving a car is serious business and one needs to know the rules. After all, we have the responsibility for the safety, not only for our own lives, but also of those who get in our cars and those drivers and pedestrians who share the road with us. Unfortunately, there are a staggering number of fatalities on the road. The recent story which appeared in The New Yorker titled “Auto Correct”, describes the development of the self-driving cars by Google and some Automakers. It also pointed out that:
“Americans drive nearly three trillion miles a year, [the author] was told by Ron Medford, a former deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who now works for Google. It’s no wonder that we have thirty-two thousand fatalities along the way, he said. It’s a wonder the number is so low.”
Do we all have to learn how to drive and become more responsible, or just rely on the technological developments? I think that the first option is cheaper and easier to accomplish. After the class, I started stopping at yellow lights, stopped making U-turns in the middle of commercial streets, used my blinkers to signal turns, and paid attention to the pedestrians (all of those and other “small” violations lead to encounters with cops and cost a lot of money and time).
I drive a 10 year old Lexus SUV, but my wife Elfa likes smaller cars. She had a Mini Cooper, which she drove for 4 years with only 10,000 miles. When a light appeared on the dashboard, she drove her car to the dealership where she was told about a carbon buildup on the engine, which would cost about $1,700 to remove. I suggested that instead of using this money for the repair, to look for a new car. After some searching, we ended up with an electric Smart car. After all of the rebates, the dealership and government offered, it did not cost anything to get it out of the showroom with a three-year lease of $230/month (half of what she was paying for her Mini Cooper). We also became responsible citizens and saved some money! We were told that the electrical bill would only cost about $3.50/month for every 100 miles. Wow! The car industry has come a long way from the old ones (that I photographed in Havana), the sport ones we saw in Carmel—to the small electrical box on wheels. If you want to buy one in San Francisco, ask for Aleksey Keytiyev. He offered great help and good advice.
Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!
After Ben Bernanke was turned down for his mortgage application, many lenders started showing how they could help him get his loan approval.
I do not think the options above would help him (as his loan scenario was different), but it might help someone you know.
Don’t forget to share this with a friend!
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Don’t Forget to Attend Our November MeetUP Event
Date: Thursday: November 13, 2014 RSVP on Facebook OR email Ausra@Pacbay.net |
“A car can be a privilege or a liability–depending on the driver.”
As a photographer, I like to photograph others—often without asking their permission. This time, I was on the other side of the lens. As you know, I love photography. That is partially why I wanted to share this photograph of my car taken by the $300,000 photo equipment taken by the city of San Francisco. This is how much I was told the City paid for two cameras located on the diagonal corners of some city streets with a warning sign on the pole in-front of them. I was making a right turn from Van Ness onto Bush Street, apparently on a red light. I did not remember this and only found out when a citation with four images of my car was mailed to me. To deal with this matter, I had to go to the Superior court.
In the courtroom, we were given an option to pay the $490 fee with a discount, and for those who are eligible (no traffic school for at least 18 months) to spend 8 hours in a classroom or in front of a computer, or to protest in front of a judge—losing the opportunity to get a discount and enrollment into traffic school. Being stubborn and stupid, I decided to meet the judge. (I have done this in the past when policemen had mistakenly cited me and I successfully got the citation dismissed.) But this also meant another trip to court.
The judge simply explained to me what I did wrong. She also told me that if I will insist on the court hearing, there would be a technician present, who would testify that all of the photography equipment was functioning and tested. There was also a sensor under the surface of the road. I was told that I did not stop completely and turned right at the speed of about 16.4 mph, 4.2 secs after the light changed to red. The judge also pointed out, a complete stop is defined as when the wheels stop rolling at the intersection and the body leans back after the stop vs. a “California” roll when the wheels continue rolling.
Perhaps because I was not arrogant and was smiling as I spoke to the judge, she gave me a discount anyway and sent me to traffic school. After the administrative fee of $52, my total bill came out to $337. I did not want to stand in the long line to pay the fee and decided to come back at the end of the next day. I arrived at 4:30pm, only to find out that they close at this time. Thus, I had to take yet another (fifth) trip to settle this matter—every time struggling to find parking. And there was still traffic school about which I will write about next week.
Instead of my regular photos, I decided to show you the work of the city. The technology is amazing, but the qualities of my images are much better, which you will be able to see next week.
Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!
When SF Gate reported that the former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke‘s request for a mortgage was turned down, it showed the conditions of today’s loan underwriting.
But the point of the matter is relatively simple. He applied for a mortgage with the WRONG BANK.
His issues probably arose from no longer having W-2’s and becoming 1099 self-employed. The underwriting rule is that a 2 years average of 1099 income is needed. Until then, forget about a new mortgage or find another W-2 job.
Each bank has their niches and it is our job to find the right tailored solutions. One thing is for sure–with us, he would receive an answer about his qualification right away.
Above is the information we received from one of our bankers.
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Date: Thursday: October 9, 2014 RSVP on Facebook OR email Ausra@Pacbay.net |
Did the housing recovery end foreclosures?
Where can homeowners learn about Real Estate Asset Protection?
See you there!
“Being a charitable person is easy. Be charitable.”
Yesterday, on October 2nd at sundown, began the celebration of Hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and one of pillars of Islam. Today at sundown is the start of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. To mark Hajj, Muslims gather in one location. Since the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 69 A.D., Jews were dispersed all over the world. They now congregate in synagogues close to home. Regardless of where we live, we all have neighbors who look and dress differently, have different beliefs, and pray in different places of worship. Nevertheless, we are all human beings; most of us have similar desires, inspirations, and want to have peace in our lives.
In the Torah in Leviticus, there is a whole chapter (19) that describes how to behave with others.
“You shall not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him” (Leviticus 19:13).
Jesus admonished us,
“The second is this “Love your neighbor as yourself”. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31).
And he was also quoted as saying,
“But to you who is listening, I say love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28).
This writing is not the bible lesson, but rather my thoughts before I spend tomorrow in the synagogue praying and asking for forgiveness for my actions, deeds, and even desires which are known and not known to me, and which are not always charitable to others.
The Webster dictionary defines charitable as “kind and generous in giving money or other help to those in need; or for charity; kind and forgiving in judging others, lenient.”
During the Yom Kippur holiday, in the prayers, we ask for God’s forgiveness but before we can do that, we have to ask for forgiveness from others. And before that, we have to forgive ourselves.
In the remarkable book “Nonviolent Communication”, Marshall Rosenberg writes about how to satisfy other people’s needs as well as our own. This is the basis of any communication and conflict resolution. According to the book, we are often not kind, forgiving, lenient, judgmental, or not charitable to others or to ourselves. One of the reasons, in my view for this, is that people are afraid, and use uncharitable behavior as a defense mechanism.
Whatever the reasons are, I want to use this opportunity to ask for your forgiveness, and to forgive you as well (just in case). Yom Kippur is the best opportunity to clean up the left overs from the previous year and to start the new year 5775 with new energy, and to be charitable.
Of course, being charitable also means to give money and offer help to those in need. Walking through any big city, we encounter people who look different from us, disheveled, perhaps on drugs, or who choose alternative ways of living. Regardless of their choices, we still can choose to be charitable. After all, they are our neighbors. Enjoy the images.
Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!
If you want to feel happy, smile.
To sell fast and get more, paint the front door a bright color.
The Fresh Start Program provides mortgage financing to Borrowers that have experienced Short-Sale, Foreclosure, or Bankruptcy ONE YEAR AGO. The program has four tiers: A, B, C, D. The cost (interest rate) of the loans will depend on the type of program, FICO scores, Loan to Value (LTV), and credit.
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Date: Thursday: October 9, 2014 RSVP on Facebook OR email Ausra@Pacbay.net |
