Author: Manny Kagan

I showed a friend my photo of fading roses. Her response was that she does not want to see it, as it is a reminder of her age. I understand her feelings and would not try to change her outlook on life. Nevertheless, a lot of us wear shaded glasses, which limit our ability to see beauty and opportunities in what may be perceived as adverse situations.
I received a call from a client recently, who owns her house with a partner. He wanted out and demanded his share of the equity. She wanted to keep the house and needed a new mortgage to pay him off. The first question she asked was “What loan amount am I qualified for?” Meanwhile, she also needed to know what the amount of the pay-off was going to be. It obviously depended on the value of the property—and here was the problem. She thought it was valued at around $600,000. His real estate agent claimed that if the property were sold, the listing price would be $650,000, and would probably sell for $750,000. As a result, he was demanding much more than what she thought was a fair amount, which, when she called me–mildly speaking, she was upset.

My recommendation was that instead of fighting him—to accept his position. After all, this could give her more money as well and therefore, he had a valid point.

By changing her anger toward her partner into understanding, things might turn around from approaching the transaction from a different angle.

Selling would involve a 5% real estate commission or $37,000 plus transfer tax, plus attorney and legal fees, if he wanted to force her to accept his demands. This approach would cost him about $50,000 plus a lot of aggravation. Instead, if he would agree to sell his share (without a real estate agent) for the price of $650,000, he would net the same amount. 

I also taught her Ho’oponopono, the method that I wrote about in last week’s newsletter. She was leaving my office with the words, “I wish you were my attorney.” Luckily, I am not. Being a mortgage broker is enough.
Besides, coming up with solutions for her and my other clients who go through splits in their relationships, are based on many years of experience dealing with people and their life issues—and of course some knowledge of the mortgage business.

P.S.

I had a number of beautiful flower images from which I made large prints (including the ones in this email). Some of them are displayed on the walls of my office. They look even more beautiful when enlarged. You are welcome to visit me to see them!

Do not keep me as a secret.

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Best Wishes,

 

While my Yoga practice has been on and off for many years, lately my wife Elfa and I have been going to a beautiful studio, called Yogasita, on Mariposa in San Francisco every Sunday morning, when we’re in town. The classes are led by a remarkable teacher and beautiful human being—Susannah Bruder, who is also the owner of Yogasita.
We received an email from Susannah recently, informing us that her landlord has raised her rent by 125% and she has no choice but to close the doors. Later on, the increase was dropped to only 75% and a second plan of action was considered to add more teachers.

Please read her email and see if you can help.

But now let’s take a look at a very strange question. What do yoga studios and banks have in common?

Apparently, at least two things—serving people and a dependence on outside forces, either economic or political.
And here is a major difference: as much as banks need customers and employees, they quickly abandon both groups under the regulatory pressure from the Federal Government.

Susannah is looking for a solution to keep serving her customers in spite of her economic challenges. Meanwhile, banks have laid off thousands of mortgage related employees when interest rates went up. Recently another mortgage bank, EverBank Financial Group, decided to leave the wholesale relationship with customers following the footsteps of Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and MetLife, who did the same.
A recent article in Origination News stated that the decision was based on “the new regulatory scheme under Dodd Frank, despite the production measured in billions of dollars”. The same publication also reported that Wells Fargo ended eight mortgage joint ventures. The company’s press releases stated that it made the decision based on the current regulatory and market environment.

I am sure that with the help of her loyal students, and clients, Susannah will find a solution and we will be able to continue to stretch and strengthen our bodies in her studio.
Banks will also survive since mortgages are a very small part of their business. As far as the mortgage business is concerned, we will survive as well in spite of more new rules that will take place on January 10th, 2014, which will create even more limiting conditions for borrowers as part of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

I went through two emigrations as I described in the “The Mortgage Game: The 5 C’s and How to Connect Them”, been married for 46 years, and been in the mortgage business for 30 years. Despite all the outside challenges, the American dream cannot die.

Yours truly 

P.S.

One of the advantages of practicing yoga, after one learns with a good teacher, is that you can practice it anywhere. But one needs to start in a studio. Please join me and my wife in the Yogasita studio.

Do not keep me as a secret.

 SMILE AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND

 

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Best Wishes,

 

Hello Friends!

I recently received the email down below from my good friend and Yoga instructor, Susannah Bruder. She would really appreciate any help that you may be able to lend:

Hi dear Yogis:

Thanks for all the ideas and energy and referrals you have sent in such a short time.

Hope I can lift the by clarifying what I need is just 9, 90 minute  classes, sub leased by other teachers of Yoga, martial arts, healing arts,at Yogasita besides my own.  So that could be 9 individual teachers, or one, two or three.

I have many friends who teach Yoga & healing and movement arts, all around the entire Bay, and am asking all.

Because, inevitably a teacher is  moving or looking for a new space –  my thought is to get the ripple out that the lovely serene Yogasita has space.

Upset at my landlord or any worry not good use of energy, just saying.

So who do you know who takes any of these types of classes, or is perhaps a neighbor to, or married to, or knows a teacher of one of these disciplines?

Or  send to your Chiropractor, massage therapist, acupuncturist, health care provider – they may know a teacher looking for space. Someone has put it up on Facebook, great idea

Please send your own note about the studio being available, with the CL link and  not my email to you.

If 50% of you who read this email, sends one to someone you know, the 9 slots will be filled quickly. If you all send to one other person, that would be something

Love and Thanks,

Susannah

To contact Susannah, please email her at [email protected]

Address:
1501 Mariposa at Arkansas No. 308
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.864.7482 (SITA)

Website:
Yogasita SF 

Tonight at sundown is the beginning of Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. Jews who follow the tradition will spend the whole day tomorrow in the Synagogues around the world praying and asking God for forgiveness while fasting for 25 hours. Webster Dictionary’s definition of Atonement is:Satisfaction given for wrong doing, injury.

On Yom Kippur during the prayer in the synagogues, believers hit their chest repeating the phrase–“I have sinned before you living and existing God.”

Apparently sin (according to the same dictionary) is: an offense against God, religion, or good morals. And what if the person claims that he/she does not believe in God, or does not belong to any organized religion?

Or what good morals are for one (suicide bombers, for instance) are not so good for others?

And is the Atonement day only for Jews, who live among so many other people, who have their own beliefs, and who do not necessarily follow the 10 commandments?

And then there is a question—Am I really a sinner? 

During prayer on Yom Kippur, one asks for forgiveness for both the known and unknown sins one committed. There is a joke about the Jewish husband who did nothing wrong. Is he still guilty? And what happens after the Yom Kippur is over? Can we continue to live our habitual (sinful?) lives again until the next Yom Kippur? How do I feel about it?

As you can see, I ask a lot of questions to which I have no answers.

According to Jewish tradition, Man, at his core, is not a sinner. Sin actually means missing the mark, which can be corrected, or amended.

The images you see in this email are a few from hundreds that I took of the race. It is simultaneously a boring and exciting. Most of the time nothing was happening and then in a few minutes, two beautiful $10 million dollar 72 foot catamarans—creations of human ingenuity passed in front of us. Hitting speeds in excess of 20 knots (mi/hr), they glided without touching the water. Sometimes, it looked like they were going to collide into each other. At the end, the New Zealand team won both races. The first time, they beat an American Oracle team by 36 seconds, and the second round by 52-seconds. (Each team will have more races.)

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah literally translates to the “Head of the Year”. This day also signifies the birth date of Adam—the first person God created (according to the Torah). Thus, if Adam would listen to his father—God, and not to his wife Eve, and not eat the fruit from the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”, he would have lived forever and celebrated his 5,774th birthday by staying in the Garden of Eden, living the quiet life of a gardener without any excitement or turbulence. As a result, you and I would probably not exist and you would not be reading this story.

We do not know what kind of fruit was on the tree which for Eve “was good for eating and was a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3/16). Nevertheless, according to the Kabbalah (Jewish Esoteric knowledge), the Garden of Eden is called “The Holy Apple Orchard: In addition, King Solomon wrote ‘Beneath the apple I aroused you[r] love” (Song of Songs 8:5). There are other stories connecting apples to Rosh Hashanah. 

Apples have another remarkable quality. From the ancient times, they were known to have healing properties. Apparently, when King Herod (73-4 B.C.E) felt faint, he would eat an apple. There is a reason for saying “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away”.

To attest to this, there is an article in the recent “The Intelligent Optimist”magazine. Researchers at California State University and other scientists, the article reported, discovered that there are many relationships between apples and our well-being (including helping us lose weight).

For the Rosh Hashanah celebration, the Challah—which is a braided bread traditionally eaten on the Sabbath, is baked round on Rosh Hashanah, and the first piece of it is dipped into honey followed by eating a slice of apple, and reciting the blessing “Shana tova ve matoka” (Bless us with a good and sweet year).

In 1882, the idea for a Labor Day holiday was first introduced to the United States, and it became a Federal holiday in 1887. In those years, hands in the fields or the factories did the majority of labor in the country. According to Webster’s Dictionary, “labor” is defined as:

Physical or mental exertion; work, toil, or the process of childbirth.

What is interesting is that both labor related activities were first mentioned in the Torah.

“To the women He said, ‘I will greatly increase your suffering and your child bearing; in pain shall you bear children.’”—Genesis 3/16

“To Adam He said, ‘By the sweat of your brow, shall you eat bread.”—Genesis 4/2

According to Wikipedia, the highest number of employed people in our country are in the retail sales (24%). Since Labor Day is the second busiest event (after Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving), these hard working women and men work long and exhausting hours for the rest of us to enjoy our days off. 

When I started working at the age of 15, I was a laborer—first a toolmaker, then an auto mechanic. (And later, I became an engineer.) You can read more about my humble start in the workforce in my first book, “The Mortgage Game: The 5 C’s and How to Connect Them”.

After we moved to Israel, on my first day of work, I held a welding torch in my hands, and I managed the construction of large steel industrial projects later on. In the United States, my first job was working as a handyman for a general contractor.

All of this was a while ago. Today, many Americans’ jobs are spent at desks in front of computers. Even work done by robots is overseen by people.
I work long hours and it does not feel laborious, while what my colleagues and I do is stressful. The only pain I suffer from is emotional, when I sometimes cannot help my clients get a mortgage.
To whom then does Labor Day apply to?

The holiday belongs to the hardworking women and men who work in the fields to bring food to our table. To the cleaning ladies and men who help us enjoy our lives, or those who work in restaurant kitchens, to feed us after our hard day at work in our offices.

It also belongs to Mothers, who (thanks to the miracles of modern medicine) have less pain, but who really labor to bring beautiful children into our world full with beauty.

As far as the rest of us are concerned, we are just getting a free ride. Enjoy it (and spend money to help improve the economy).

P.S.

The photo portraits are my humble contribution to the hard working laborers.

1. To the woman who controlled traffic in front of our house during the road repair.
2. To a gardener I met in Palm Springs.
3. To a seller of the San Francisco Chronicle who works on West Portal.
4. To a young executive chef in Santa Fe (unfortunately the restaurant closed).
5. To a contractor I met on Fillmore Street.

Do not keep me as a secret.

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Best Wishes,

 

On our recent trip to The Sea Ranch, I was reading, “Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing” by Philippe L. Gross and S.I. Shapiro. It was a gift from my daughter Tamar, and was perfect for the tranquil environment of the location.  The Taoist philosophy of Chuang-Tzu is a Chinese concept signifying the way, path, route, or doctrine. It can help one look deeper into one’s own heart—

“Leap into the boundless and make it your home!
Great understanding is broad and unburied; little understanding is cramped and busy.”—Chuang-Tzu

The book is a description of the photographic experience from the Taoist point of view and contains quotes from many famous photographers. 

“I never look for a photograph. The photograph finds me and says, “I’m here!” and I say, “Yes. I see you. I hear you.”—Ruth Bernard

In my classes about the mortgage business, I usually start with a Russian proverb, which loosely translates to:

“The prey runs to the hunter.”

One needs to become a hunter first in their heart and in all their being, before one can to be called a hunter.

We are currently seeking new loan originators. During their interviews, some candidates start by talking about their experience. I usually stop them and ask, “Tell me about who you are before talking about what you know or what you do.”

To put on a uniform, to have a diploma, or to own the best equipment, does not make one the best in their chosen occupation. Believe in your heart and many hours of practice and learning can make the difference.
It took me years of taking pictures before I could call myself a photographer. It is very different to define who is the best in the art of photography. How can one compare? I’ve seen works of many great photographers from whom I’m trying to learn. As far as the mortgage business is concerned, I strive to be one of the best by focusing on finding solutions.

In a very interesting book, “Outliers: The Story of Success”, Malcom Gladwellpoints out that those who achieved real success in life, like the Beatles, Bill Gates, and others “practiced” for at least 10,000 hours before their success was recognized by others. After 30 years in the mortgage business and close to 60,000 hours of practice, writing two books on the subject (the second one is currently with the Publisher), I finally might be getting there.

However, I still need your help to pay my mortgage.

P.S.

One of my photography teachers, Stephen Burns, told me “Less is more”. The images in this email, which I took at The Sea Ranch, follow this concept.

Do not keep me as a secret.

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Best Wishes,

 

I do not know about you, but when I am on vacation and have an opportunity to relax, I start seeing the world with open eyes and notice only the beauty. It is Sunday morning in The Sea Ranch, where I have been staying for 5 days in a beautiful house on the bluff with my wife and beautiful daughter, Alona.

Outside the window, I see a foggy sky and grey ocean with grey rocks. I just came back from photographing amazingly beautiful grey images. Flocks of beautiful grey pelicans are flying in front of our window.

Last night, a group of seven beautiful deer came to eat by our house and then joined us (outside) to watch a beautiful movie on the TV. Yesterday, we spent many hours strolling in a beautiful forest. Days before, we walked on a trail along the beautiful ocean, surrounded by the beautiful nature.

Here, we met our neighbors—a beautiful couple who divide their time between beautiful Paris and The Sea Ranch.

We had our anniversary dinner in the beautiful St. Orres Restaurant. It is located outside beautiful Gualala, a small town next to The Sea Ranch.

While here, I finished reading a beautiful book by Anita Moorjani—“Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing”. It is a life story about a young beautiful woman, who had “died” from cancer and came back. Her near death experience helped her to get rid of cancer and also changed her outlook on life. This book inspired me to write this letter. The book was given to me by my beautiful friend and Doctor of Oriental Medicine—Dr. Angela Wu, who helps beautiful women to conceive and bring to this beautiful world, beautiful children. She is the author of the book, “Fertility Wisdom: How Traditional Chinese Medicine Can Help Overcome Fertility”.

Tomorrow, we are driving back to our beautiful house in San Francisco, in the most beautiful city in the world. I am going back to work with our beautiful employees.

You might suspect that this beautiful vacation with too much oxygen in the air affected my brain. It might have. Did I forget about the regulators who I was complaining about in my previous newsletters? Or the banks, that create problems for borrowers—are they also beautiful?

I am sure that people, in spite of the circumstances they work in, are beautiful. At the same time, the adverse conditions help me to come up with beautiful mortgage solutions for my beautiful clients.

P.S.

The beautiful photos pale in comparison with the real beauty found in nature. We like to visit The Sea Ranch so much that on Labor Day, we are coming back with our other beautiful daughter, Tamar. She is helping me write my next beautiful book, “The Marriage Game”. Stay tuned.

Do not keep me as a secret.

 SMILE AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND

Best Wishes,