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doublerefi

A CPA recommended to our clients to buy another property to lower their taxes. They wanted to use an existing line of credit (L/C) for the down payment. The problem was that due to their currently high monthly payments, their qualifying ratio was very high.

As a solution, we suggested to refinance the existing two properties to lower their monthly payments, to use the cash out from one of them to double the intended down payment, and to lower the new mortgage to be able to buy a new property.


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


Cheers,


Manny
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Life Is A Journey

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Life Is A Journey

“Travel your life’s journey with a friend and share stories.”

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During a recent dinner at Hayes Bar and Grill, our favorite restaurant to go to before concerts across the street at Davies Symphony Hall, I overheard one of the waiters nearby commenting to his colleague, “It is the journey, not the destination”. I think he was paraphrasing Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous quote, “Life is a journey, not a destination”, also famous for many other aphorisms.

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This little encounter reminded me about some thoughts I had while driving from Santa Fe to Phoenix via Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon National Park a few weeks ago. I remembered the quote, “The road is always better than the inn”, coined by Miguel de Cervantes in about 1605 in his novel “Don Quixote de la Mancha”.

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The book describes the stories of a retired gentleman Alonso Quixano, who changed his name into Don Quixote, and together with his friend Sancho Panza, traveled in Spain and got himself into trouble. I read the book many years ago and the only things I remembered were Don Quixote fighting with the windmills, but the image stuck in my mind.

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Upon returning from our trip, I thought I’d borrow the book from the public library, but when I saw 550 pages of the small print, I realized that I will never have time to finish it. Luckily, there was also an audio book version. It will take me awhile to listen to the whole book, but what can be better than a good story? Cervantes started writing this book in 1560, while in prison. One of his occupations was a tax collector. He got into trouble when the banker, whom he gave money for safe-keeping, went bankrupt. This landed Cervantes in jail for 3 months, and gave him the opportunity to start his masterpiece, which is still in circulation over 400 years later. If you are interested in the short plot of the story, you can read it here. It is courtesy of my friend, Melissa Riley, a librarian at the West Portal branch.

 

 

 

 

 

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The beauty we encountered while traveling to and from the Grand Canyon was what reminded me of the quote about the road and the inn. It brought me to a new realization. In my life, the road and “the Inn” are a continuation of the same journey. Like nature, one beautiful scene is followed by another—it just keeps going.

P.S.

Though the Grand Canyon is a must-see visit at least once in a lifetime, we very much enjoyed staying at a small bed and breakfast in Flagstaff. We had plenty of opportunities to record the beauty on the road. Enjoy.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

  Cheers,
Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
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Mortgage Solutions For You!

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superjumbo

clients were trying to buy a house in San Francisco. They had good high-paying jobs, stocks, but only $200,000 cash for their down payment. Finally after their offer was accepted for $1,875,000 (and with a little bit of our help), they only put 10% as down payment.  Besides a new home, they received a $1,500,000 loan with a 30 year fixed mortgage!


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

 

Cheers,


Manny<br /><br />
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The Life Lesson I Learned From A Bug

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The Life Lesson I Learned From A Bug

“Stay alive by enjoying life.”

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On a recent Sunday morning, I was off on my regular journeys to the top of Mount Davidson, but instead of going straight up the steep street, I decided to take a detour. When our dog Angus was alive, we often went up through a forest, which is one way to enter Mount Davidson’s 40-acre park just down the street from our home. Angus loved our excursions—just like other dogs and their owners whom we encountered.

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Like the previous Easter Sunday, I was expecting to find a lot of people at the top. After all, it was an orthodox church Easter and the Armenian community, which belongs to this religious group, actually owns the land surrounding the cross. When the public land (Mount Davidson) was sold to a private organization, the cross was saved. However, apparently the celebration of Easter at sunrise happens only once a year.

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The plaque at the bottom of the cross commemorates the site of the Armenian Genocide or Holocaust perpetuated by the Ottoman Turks, which started on April 24th, 1915, with an estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed. Pope Francis described the mass killings of Armenians by Turkey as “the first Genocide of the 20th century

It was not the first mass killing in history, and not the last one. An estimated 6 million Jews were killed by Germans, Latvians, and Polish during World War II. It was commemorated yesterday, April 16th, as Yom Hashoah—Remembrance Day. Recently, there were genocides in Rwanda, Tanzania, and the former Yugoslavia. Photo images of the survivors were recorded by the great photographer Sebastião Salgado. There is a must-see documentary showing his life and work called “The Salt of the Earth”. His other monumental project, called “Genesis: Photographs by Sebastião Salgado”, is his collection of photographs of nature. This project restored his belief that despite human atrocities, life goes on.

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While on the mountain, I was thinking how could those who survived those atrocities, go on and keep living? How is it possible to find strength, knowledge, and the ability to survive? I think it is part of our composition, our DNA—so to speak, and I found proof of it at the top of the Mountain. There is a bench underneath a dead tree facing a view of Downtown. I was sitting down and noticed a little bug that had fallen down from the rock he had climbed and was lying on his back. At the beginning, he wiggled his tiny legs—nothing happened. He tried again and then stopped. I thought he was dead. Of course, I could help him (or her), but I remembered that we have to leave nature to run its course.

 

 

 

 

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After resting a while, the bug became active again. But this time, he only wiggled his legs on one side and suddenly he was lying on his side. After wiggling a little more, he was back on his feet moving on his bug journey. I realized that we humans are not different. When something or someone throws us on our backs, we can just take it easy, wait, and as long as we are alive, there is going to be a way to get back on our feet.

P.S.

I hope that the images from the top will serve you as a reminder. Life is happening. Let’s enjoy it together.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

  Cheers,
Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
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Mortgage Solutions For You!

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lowrate

A client had a mortgage with a balance of $432,000 and an interest rate of 3.99%. She needed $20,000 for improvements on the property. Instead of increasing her loan, which would create a cash-out and higher rate, we decided to lower the loan amount to $417,000 (conforming loan limit) plus a line of credit for $35,000.

As a result, she can have a new bathroom and her monthly payments are about $200 LOWER!


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

 

Cheers,


Manny<br />
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How To Celebrate Easter

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How To Celebrate Easter

“Our beliefs form our actions, our actions form our traditions, our traditions form our belongings. Only when we know where we belong, do we know who we are.”

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On Sunday morning, I got up early and was out of the house at 7:30. The sky was grey, but I saw a beautiful light on the horizon. Though it was expected to rain this day, I reasoned I might still have the time to go up to Mount Davidson to catch some light. On the way there, I started to encounter some surprises. The first one occurred when, while I was climbing the street leading up to the hill, a police car drove by (It is not typical at this hour in our area.) When I reached the foot of the hill, I noticed an unusual number of cars parked on the street. Then I saw parents with little children coming down the hill and some were going in the opposite direction. I also met some people who were coming down holding paper cups with Starbucks logos. I do not drink coffee, but the thought crossed my mind – where in the heck did they get it? And only when I finally reached the top and saw a big crowd, it dawned on me. Today was Easter and all those people came to the Cross.

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The surprises kept on coming. There were cars and a TV KRON 4 News station van at the top of the hill. How did they get there? There was a table with some food, water, and of course—Starbucks coffee.

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It turned out that it has been a long standing tradition to greet Easter by the tallest Cross (103 ft) in California, at the site which belongs to the Armenian Church. People gather there to express their adherence to a tradition, followed by their faith that Jesus Christ came resurrected on the third day after his crucifixion, almost 2000 years ago. What has changed from that time long ago, on Sunday, the crowd used their cell phones to photograph the Cross, or to take selfies with the incredible city view behind them. Additionally, the correspondent from the TV station used his cell phone to read his script.

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Members of the Armenian community, on whose land the crowd had gathered on, were offering refreshments, water, and freshly baked Armenian bread. Another sign of faith, I saw only a few umbrellas.

When I came down and was only a few blocks from our house, the rain started. It was 8:30am and I hoped that by that time, the crowd was down the hill as well. I felt sorry for those who were planning an Easter egg hunt, but in the afternoon the sun came out again. At the end, we all were blessed by the rain and a beautiful day to enjoy family and friends.

 

 

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P.S.

It was a great opportunity for me to be at the top of Mount Davidson, and to take some images for your enjoyment. Share it with a friend.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

  Cheers,
Manny<br /><br />
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Mortgage Solutions For You!

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credit

A client was given a 45 day notice to vacate her rental property. Never the less, the management company charged her for another month. Our client refused to pay. The bill ended up in collection and her credit score dropped from 750 to 687. As a result, she cannot refinance her rental property and has difficulty in purchasing the new home she wants to occupy.

To get a mortgage, collections need to be paid off.

One of the solutions was to hire a credit cleaning company, but it will take at least 6 months to get results.

Be prepared and always monitor your credit!

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


 

 

Cheers,

Manny<br /><br />
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From Passover to Easter

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From Passover to Easter

“Our beliefs form who we are. But where do those beliefs come from?”
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On Friday night Jews are celebrating the first night of Passover, which commemorates their Exodus from Egypt at around 1300 BCE. For the last 33 hundred years, the story is retold every year. But 2000 years ago, the story received a new twist. A group of Jews were celebrating the holiday through a prescribed meal after which their leader, Yeshua, who according to the author Reza Aslan, was a Jewish religious Zealot whose name in Hebrew derives from “to rescue, to deliver”, was arrested. The charge: threat to the Roman rule in Palestine.

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According to Christian tradition, he was crucified and three days later resurrected. Some years later, his story was retold by different authors. His name was translated into a Greek name and be became known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ—and a new religion was born. The irony is that after the Romans crucified him, many years later, Rome became the center of the Catholic Church.

The name Easter, according to Wikipedia, is connected to the word “Pash” in Latin, which leads to the Hebrew “Pesah”. This brings us back to the original story. In the Torah description of the events, which led to the Exodus where God inflicted 10 plagues onto Egypt, to force the Pharaoh to let the Hebrew slaves go to the desert and to serve their mysterious and all-powerful God. The last (tenth) plague was the death of all of the first born children. To protect the homes of the Hebrews, God instructed them to mark the thresholds of all of the doors belonging to the Hebrew people with the blood of a slaughtered lamb (which became known as the Paschal lamb).

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Thus, the angel of death “pasah”, which means passed over the homes of the Hebrews and inflicted death only on the Egyptians.  As you might know, after spending 40 years in the desert, the study of the laws and rules of God (the oldest and longest educational system), former slaves became the Jewish Nation and after crossing the Jordan river, they captured and settled in the territory where many, many years later, was born a man who became known as Jesus Christ, and whose life and teachings are very much connected to what his ancestors learned in the desert and years after that.

Now two-thousand years later, we are back to where we started. We celebrate the belief that there is power beyond our comprehension, that which we call God. But also realize that despite the difference in the story, we all come from the same spiritual source and instead of focusing on our differences, we can choose to focus on what unites us. I call it love.

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P.S.

Mount Sinai, where God’s commandments were given, is in a desert. The territory is a place which does not belong to anybody, but is where the ideas of freedom were nurtured. Despite all the progress in the world, we still have many deserts that actually mean unlimited possibilities. The “desert” I photographed is along Highway 5 on the way to Los Angeles.


passeaster

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

  Cheers,

Manny
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asset


 

Clients interested in purchasing a home had good down payment, excellent credit scores, and great jobs. Unfortunately, this was not enough to qualify.

Why?

The unexpected solution was for a significant amount of money in their 401K retirement plan to be counted as well. We found a Lender that allowed use of up to 70% of their assets to be distributed over 30 years.

We got the loan approved after this amount was added to the total employment income!


 

Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?
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 To see another Asset Depletion Loan scenario we solved: click here.
Cheers, 

Manny<br />
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