Manny Kagan

 

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“In life, the ups and downs are part of the same journey.” 

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In the new Malcom Gladwell book, “David and Goliath”, (which I strongly recommend together with many other of his books), he refers to a story about Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. The story supports the message that Malcolm conveys—that in life, many of those who seem disadvantaged, find ways to overcome their “limitations” to get ahead or to just survive.

In the story, Brer Rabbit falls into a well and he entices Brer Fox to come down and to catch him. While Brer Fox jumps into a bucket which was going down, the Rabbit holds onto a rope, which was going up and is able to climb out of the well.

 

Reading this brought to mind a story in the Torah about Jacob leaving home on his life journey to find a wife among his mother’s relatives. On the way, he went to sleep:

“and he dreamt, and behold! A ladder was set earthward and its top reached heavenward, and behold! Angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold! Hashem (God) was standing over him.” (Genesis 28: 12-13)

The commentators of the Torah were puzzled: why did the angels, who were heavenly beings coming down from heaven, not come up in the opposite direction?

 

I do not pretend to understand or know the Torah, but for me the dream about “Jacob’s ladder” is an allegory for life’s (or business’) journey. In the beginning, we start our journey with high expectations and our message is going up heavenward. And then, we get a “response”, which often brings us “down to earth”. Since life or business continues, this process is repeated again and again.

 

P.S. 

Sometimes on the weekends, I travel downtown to visit photo galleries (there are quite a few at 47 Geary Street), and just hang out with my camera.

We live in Monterey Heights, a hilly area of San Francisco. Our house is on the crest of our street, thus I can go down the hill to the Muni station and get down town in about 30 minutes.

Recently, I decided to walk downtown.

To do this, I have to go up the hill first before the road starts going down again. This choice took me 3 hours to get to my destination. On the way, I visited places and talked to people I met. One man I met told me that he takes Muni to different destinations on the weekends and walks back home.

What a great idea.

 

During this walk, I discovered Mono Street, a short street that is actually an alley with stairs, where the mailman goes up and down to deliver mail. And of course, I photographed. You can see some of my photo images.

P.P.S. 

Due to the new regulations starting on January 10th, the mortgage industry is going through ups and down again. Since it is our responsibility to find a mortgage solution for you, your families, and your friends, please do not keep me as a secret.

Have a Happy and Joyful New Year!

SMILE AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND

From the moment we wake up, we have to make a choice. We make many choices in life; what to wear, what to eat, when and where to go on vacation, whom to marry, etc. As life progresses, the choices we make change and we choose again.

Some believe that we have a free will, while others believe everything is predestined. In the movie, “The Adjustment Bureau”, Matt Damon plays a guy who is running for congress, but what turns out is that his life is actually run by outside sources (The Adjustment Bureau), who in turn follow a pre-designed plan that is set up by the boss—the Chairman, who is the only one who can change it.

The problem comes when the hero falls in love.

At this moment, he has to make a personal choice, but his choice will affect not only his life but also the life of the other person. (You will have to see the movie to find out the outcome.)

Meanwhile, how do we know what to choose?

Rely on our gut feelings, ask others, or Google the question? That is a choice as well! The more choices we have, the harder it is to pick something.  And besides, how do we know that our choice will give us the desired outcome in the future?

During the presidential elections, we chose who to vote for. It is not only a political preference; it is an economic consequence, which affects all of us. On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed the Dodd Frank Act. I am sure he had in mind what he said:

“And finally, because of this law, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes. There will be no more tax-funded bailouts — period. If a large financial institution should ever fail, this reform gives us the ability to wind it down without endangering the broader economy.  And there will be new rules to make clear that no firm is somehow protected because it is “too big to fail,” so we don’t have another AIG.

That’s what this reform will mean.  Now, it doesn’t mean our work is over.  For these new rules to be effective, regulators will have to be vigilant.  We may need to make adjustments along the way as our financial system adapts to these new changes and changes around the globe.  No law can force anybody to be responsible; it’s still incumbent on those on Wall Street to heed the lessons of this crisis in terms of how they conduct their businesses.” (President Obama, July 21, 2010)

A year ago on our trip to Paris, I bought a fancy looking pair of flat leather shoes. After a lot of walking, I came home with a pain in my heels, which did not go away. It turned out to be a common problem. After consulting with my yoga teacher, chiropractor, and our family doctor, they recommended different exercises and to wear special shoes at night or plastic boots, which would pull my toes back to release pressure. All of this helped a little, but the pain was still there.

Since we were planning our trip to Italy, I needed a quick solution—new shoes? I visited The Foot Locker, but that did not help. I do not like to wear colorful, striped sneakers with black dress pants. The insoles I bought there did not fit well in my old shoes. We were set to leave on Monday morning. On Sunday at 5:55pm (5 minutes before closing), I walked into the shoe store

“On the Run” located at 1310 9^th Ave in San Francisco. An hour later, I walked out with four pairs of shoes (including clogs to be worn at home). Two of the pairs were manufactured in Israel by the company NAOT, which in English means “nice looking and practical”—which they are.

Not only could I walk on our trip for at least 8-9 hours a day, but when we came back the pain was almost gone. The miracle was a result of the knowledge and patience from the sales person Ahn, who took time to work with me despite the late hours. The store and another one around the corner are owned by Mark Wachter. I met his sister in the store who told me that she had considered getting knee surgery, until Mark convinced her to try different shoes. The result? No pain, no surgery.

In Florence one evening, we had dinner at the Cibreo restaurant. It was a special experience. Although pricey, the food was very good and the service was superb. The staff moved very fast, sometimes they even ran. I looked at their footwear: no sneakers, but comfortable shoes. The service reminded me of our dinners in Zuni Café and Hayes Bar and Grill here in San Francisco.

Sam owns a two-unit building together with a partner. After his partner moved to another city, Sam wanted to buy his share to own the entire building. The problem was that Sam’s credit score was 619, which was affected by late payments and a collection agency, that resulted from the divorce. 

The only solution was to get an FHA loan. Before the change, the loan limits for two-units was $934,200.

We started working on the loan a while ago, but because Sam procrastinated with providing his documents–he missed the opportunity.

The new solution? 

To clean his credit and improve the score to at least 700. 

I will keep you posted.

Whom do you know that might benefit from creative mortgage solutions?

 

In the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, there is a story that describes Jesus’ healing powers:

“Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.” (Matthew 15:30)

After they spent three days with him, (is this where three day weekend retreats came from?), he told his disciples that people should not leave him hungry. “But we have only seven loaves of bread and a few small fish,” they replied.

And here comes another story which was as miraculous as the healing.

“Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.” (Matthew 15:36)

“The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children.” (Matthew 15:38)

Jesus, his disciples, and the “great crowd” were Jewish, thus what Jesus probably did before breaking bread was to say benediction—a blessing on the bread.

“Blessed Are you God, our Lord, King of the World, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

But the scripture indicates something else “and when he had given thanks”.

The question comes to my mind—what did he actually give?

We usually associate giving something tangible. Perhaps giving thanks is an expression of gratitude to the people who came to him and gave Jesus an opportunity to heal them and give them nourishment through food—in addition to the spiritual healing. Therefore, “Giving Thanks” has a much deeper meaning than just saying these words of the Benediction.

Whom have you given thanks to lately?

One opportunity to do so, is to give food to the needy through the San Francisco and Marin Food Bank. The brown bag with instructions from this organization was delivered to my house. I am planning to fill it up and to deliver the food in person. Giving money to different charities that you believe in, is important, but giving thanks through the effort of buying the food, filling the bag, and bringing it to the distribution center on 900 Pennsylvania Avenue, for me has a different meaning.

During the process, the loan application package was presented to 8 banks–all of which said, “NO”. Peter and Dwight persisted, until they finally found a bank who issued a loan for $2,2000,000 plus an additional $1,000,000 to renovate the building.

Whom do you know that might benefit from creative mortgage solutions?

P.S.

Some of my readers of “Good News From Dr. Manny” indicated that they liked the images of sunsets that I previously posted. I will include more images of my sunrises and sunsets in future emails.

 

You may recall reading in my first book, “The Mortgage Game: The 5 C’s and How to Connect Them”, that my first official job in the United States was Vice President in charge of operations of Helga Howe, a high fashion company. How a new immigrant, trained and experienced as an industrial engineer, and after only two years living in the US became the Vice President of a fashion company, belongs in a separate book. Since I had no practical knowledge about the industry, I had to educate myself, fast.

I remember reading about the great fashion designer Pauline Trigère, who also immigrated to the United States, and built her reputation as a prominent fashion designer. 

The saying, “You are only as good as your new collection” was attributed to her.

Many people are familiar with the saying “You are only as good as your last deal”. In my mind, there is a huge difference.

In the fashion business, a designer needs to prepare new collections for every season. Connoisseurs and buyers are those who typically attend the fashion shows. Some may buy the complete new look, and some not. Many lose their shirt (literally), since there is a huge expense in the preparation and promotion of a new line.

Some people do not realize it, but most of us have to “create a new collection” all the time to stay in business. When I interview potential loan originators for our company, some come and tell me about their past accomplishments and they request compensation based on these past experiences. Unfortunately, this is meaningless.

Last year, the mortgage industry boomed, as so many jumped on the lower rate and refinanced their mortgages. This year, the volume has dropped.

Does the person have the skill, knowledge, and tools to generate a new source of business? The majority do not.

Other candidates refer to their education, which is also meaningless. It is not what you know, but how you use your knowledge that counts. In my life, I’ve learned many new skills, but the most important one is, when change comes, be ready.

When the residential refi business slowed down, I created “Today’s Market Special” to inform my clients about “bargains” and niches. We also decided to focus on helping veterans get VA loans. Veterans can buy property up to $1,500,000 without any down payments. Of course one needs an income to qualify, but the qualified ration can be as high as 60%.