“The manifestation of love is happiness.”
My friend and a client for many years, Ken Mitchell, called with excitement in his voice: “I have a new girlfriend!” After my congratulations, he continued, “And we want to buy a house together in Sonoma. Can we have dinner to discuss the details?” I’ve been working with Ken for about 20 years. His printing company, H&H Imaging takes care of all of our printing needs. When I needed quick service, he printed my book, “Soy Cubano—I Am Cuban”, in three days and he did a great job.
Throughout the years, I helped him buy his house and refinance it numerous times. This time seemed different. He planned to buy a second home together with a partner. Over dinner at our favorite restaurant, Zuni Café, I had the opportunity to meet his girlfriend, Heather. They found each other through the dating service “Our Time”. She is smart, beautiful, and an accomplished woman. It was a pleasure to see them together hugging and kissing. She asked me to take their photos with an iPhone and said that they looked artistic. Heather shared with us that the man she was previously involved with was moody and grouchy. “Ken is always upbeat. I am happy when I am with him,” she added.
The word love was not mentioned, but if it was not an expression of love, then what is?
Then the question of what to get for Valentine’s Day was brought up. This immediately led to my curiosity to find out what this holiday really means. It began as a liturgical celebration of early Christian saints. The name Valentine in Latin means strong, healthy, and there were at least 50 saints with the variant name, Valentinus. Apparently, it had very little to do with romantic love until the Middle Ages. In the 19th Century, handwritten cards led to the holiday popularity and were very well exploited by the marketing geniuses of Hallmark and similar companies. And of course, growers of red flowers (especially roses) jumped on the bandwagon.
Using this opportunity, I wanted to share with you my roses. Since they can be shared any time of the year, they do not have to be red.
As the writer, Gertrude Stein wrote, “Rose is a rose, is a rose.”
P.S.
For the house purchase in Sonoma, we found a solution tailored for their needs. Instead of securing one mortgage of $800,000, which is a jumbo loan and has certain limitations, I came up with a creative solution: Divide the mortgages into two—one fixed up to $417,000 for 15 years against Heather’s condo (which does not have a mortgage). They will use this money for the additional down payment. The balance of about $417,000 is going to be Ken’s loan, amortized for 30 years, since otherwise he cannot qualify. The ownership title is going to be on both names. This way, both can use interest deduction and enjoy the ownership even before marriage. (I hope that I am going to be invited to the wedding.)
Whom do you know who might benefit from creative mortgage solutions tailored to their needs and circumstances?
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