May 2019

Dear Friend,

April showers bring May flowers, and this month’s newsletter is positively blooming with fun items for you to thumb through, learn from and pass along!  Read on and enjoy:

• Professional tips on how to arrange flowers into cheerful displays.
• Wise advice on how to keep your space neat and clean on a daily basis.
• Cute ideas for using those mismatched socks, and clever hacks that would make mom proud.
• Interesting research on why eating your fruits and vegetables can make you a happier person.

With everything coming to life in May, you might suddenly find yourself picturing a different backyard, a garden, or a space for a greenhouse. If you think the time is right to grow a few extra tomatoes or stop to smell the roses in your very own garden, please give me a call so I can help you get qualified for a find the right home/sell your home.

Your friend in the real estate business,

Cliff

Cliff Keith

650-346-7366 Cell/Text

Cliff@SFBayHomes.com

Lowest Interest Rate Home Loans

For High-Income Professionals At

http://Micheal-Ryan.com

Inside This Issue

• The Seasons of Life

• Beauty in Nature

•* Hack It!

• Mom Was Right

•* Clean Sweep

• Be Switzerland

• The Single Life

•* 35 Reasons to Take a Break

• Layer Up

• Clever Jokes to Share

The Seasons of Life

There once was a woman who had four sons. Above all else, the woman wanted to teach her sons tolerance; she wanted them to learn not to judge things too quickly. So, she sent them each on a quest, one by one, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone on their individual journeys and returned, she called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son disagreed and said that it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son described it differently and insisted that it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and that the fruit was practically falling off the branches.

The mother then explained to her sons that they were all correct, because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life.

She told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season; she explained that the essence of who they are – the pleasure, joy, and love that come from a full life – can only be measured at the end of all the seasons.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, and the fulfillment of your fall. ~Cliff

Please don’t keep me a secret…

The next time you’re in a conversation with a friend from work, your neighborhood, church, your gym or country club and they mention that they are interested in selling their house or rental property please, don’t keep me a secret. Pick up your cell phone, look up my number, (hint: 650-346-7366) and call me immediately. When you call we can talk about what would be the best way for you to introduce them to me.

Beauty in Nature

So many beautiful May blooms pop up in gardens! Creating a classic mixed-flower arrangement doesn’t have to be difficult. Use your intuition (and incorporate a few basic guidelines) to arrange gorgeous bouquets.

• 
  Start by arranging the flowers in your hand and placing the larger flowers near the base of the group. Incorporate dark blooms for drama or use flowers in lighter tones for a softer effect.Begin with the flowers:

• Consider the size.

Pay attention to the height and shape of the flowers that you’re using and arrange taller stems near the top and back.

• Work with the stems.

Strip stems of any leaves that would otherwise be standing in water. Choose a vase or container that is appropriate for the height and proportion of your flowers.

• Give it shape.

Lightly bind the stems with twine or floral wire and place in a vase or use moist floral foam in shallow containers to give short stems more stability.

• Add some depth and interest.

Fill in the gaps with smaller blooms. Blue or violet flowers often act as a neutral and can fill out an arrangement without overwhelming your colors scheme.

• Add greenery.

Insert a few leaves of greenery near the bottom to form a casual “rim” for the arrangement.

Once you have your arrangement looking pretty, be sure to put it in a location where you can change the water every day and stop and smell the roses (or peonies or lilacs) along the way.

ee them — which reminds you to eat them — but you’ll also keep moisture out.

Remove rotting produce immediately, as that will cause the other produce to spoil faster.

Cost to Buy a Home…

Do you know what the your costs when you buy a one-million-dollar home with 20% Down? Including what your mortgage payments…

Escrow Fees:

Down Payment    (200,000.00)

Origination Fee       (8,000.00)

Title Insurance        (2,000.00)

Settlement Fee       (250.00)

Escrow Fees          (2,200.00)

Sub Escrow Fees   (125.00)

Loan Tie-In Fee      (100.00)

Recording Fee          (60.00)

Tax Service               (75.00)

Appraisal Report     (350.00)

Credit Report          (250.00)

Monthly Payments:

Mortgage Payment 3,819.32

Hazard Insurance $291.67

Property Taxes     $1,000

TOTAL           $5,110.99

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Hack It!

One of your favorite friends has the flu, and you’ve agreed to watch their 10-month-old and 2-year-old for the next week to let them recover. Then it dawns on you: your house is not baby compatible. Don’t panic. You’ve got this! Here’s what you can do with everyday items:

• An inflatable kiddie pool can double as an impromptu
• Use a laundry basket in the tub when it’s time to bathe toddlers.
• Cover outlets with Band-Aids or masking tape.
• Twist a rubber band around the knobs of cabinets to prevent little hands from accessing them.
• Put a little bit of water on a piece of bread to pick up broken glass; the little shards will embed in the bread without the danger of cutting little fingers or feet in the process.

Be Switzerland

On the first day of school, 5-year old Bobby stood by the front door with butterflies in his stomach. He shared his biggest concern with his mother: “How will I make friends?” Crouching in front of him, she handed him advice he would carry with him for many years: “Be Switzerland.” In other words, be friends with everyone; treat everyone equally and fairly.

For the next 18 years, he lived by these words. He ended first grade with a classroom full of friends and made it through middle school by making friends across different groups of kids. In high school, he met kids who had come from different middle schools and they became some of his best friends.

When it came time for his college graduation, Bobby was looking to become part of the real world and he knew he would have to make a whole new set of friends at work. He revisited what he learned as a young child and reassured himself that on that first day of work he would whisper two words to himself, thanks to his mom: “Be Switzerland.”

Sweet…

The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also. ~Harriet Ann Jacobs

Free Reports!

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The 5 Biggest Mistakes Home       Buyers make

How to Sell Your Home For the Most Money

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See page 7

Mom Was Right

Researchers at the University of Leeds and the University of York in the U.K. have uncovered a positive association between the quantity of fruit and vegetables consumed and people’s self-reported feelings of well-being.

Specifically, the findings indicate that eating just one extra portion of fruits and vegetables a day could have the same effect on mental well-being as roughly 8 extra days of walking, for at least 10 minutes at a time, for an entire month.

This particular study was designed to follow the same individuals over time, and also accounted for other factors that might affect the outcome of the study, such as age, education, income, marital status, employment status, lifestyle and health, as well as consumption of other foods such as bread or dairy products.

The bottom line? Mom was right: eating your fruits and veggies may make you happier as well as healthier.

Clean Sweep

Having a morning and evening routine can make a big difference in how your day comes together. Sure, you might get away with rinsing your cup on the way out the door and leaving it out to dry every now and again, but those little shortcuts all add up. Follow this basic guide to keep things running smoothly:

• Morning: Make your bed, throw the dirty laundry in the washing machine, empty the dishwasher, and put away any slippers, socks, or robes that are left out after getting dressed for the day.
• Afternoon: When you walk in the door from your day out at work or running errands, take ten minutes to go through each room and gather loose items, return things to their proper place and restore each room to basic functionality. This is as simple as making sure that towels are straightened out in the bathroom, your keys are in the correct place, pets have fresh water, and the mail is all opened and dealt with for the day.
• Evening: Don’t go to bed with dishes in the sink! Take a couple of minutes to start the dishwasher, including any containers that came home in lunchboxes or have been in the refrigerator for more than a few days, wipe the counters clean, and make sure that the trash cans are all emptied. Before you head off to bed, turn off any extra lights and plug in electronics that need to be charged for the next day

Is your money giving you a 8-12% return?
==========
Information on earning 8-12%!
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How to make 8% -12% secured with local real estate.

———-
How to buy your home Before it hits the open market.
———-
Don’t stand in line be one of the first to know about a home you can afford to purchase

———-

How sellers price their homes and why.

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Clever Jokes to Share

What is the difference between a guitar and a fish?

You can tune a guitar, but you can’t tuna fish.

What is the tallest building in the entire world?

The library, because it has so many stories.

Why did the fish blush?

Because it saw the ocean’s bottom.

Quotes

There is safety in the very heart of danger. —Vincent Van Gogh

We have to choose life. Choose risk. Choose love. The only safe place for our hearts is to dive deeply into the magnificent, eternal, ridiculous, overwhelming love that God has for us. —Stasi Eldredge

Pray like it all depends on God, but work like it all depends on you. —Dave Ramsey

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. —George Bernard Shaw

Mistaken Identity…

Even Queen Elizabeth II sometimes goes unrecognized. A story from the Hello magazine website tells of a time when the queen’s car drove up to the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1991. A guard walked up and told her, “Sorry, love, you can’t come in without a sticker.”

Unfazed, her majesty answered, “I think if you check, I will be allowed to come in.”

He did, and she was.

35 Reasons to Take a Break

Food for Thought!

• Science literacy is the artery through which the solutions of tomorrow’s problems flow. — Neil deGrasse Tyson
• There are some people who live in a dream world, and some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other. — Douglas Everett
• There is safety in the very heart of danger. —Vincent Van Gogh

Free Reports!

How sellers price their homes and why.
Information on earning 8-12% with your money!
How to make 8% -12% secured with local real estate.
How to buy your home Before it hits the open market.
Don’t stand in line be one of the first to know about a home you can afford to purchase

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Imagine me as your real estate consultant. What I do for you is invest my time consulting, negotiating, and organizing the details of your transaction because I want you to have a superb experience that will cause you to want to introduce me to the people you care about most.
The purpose of my business is referrals, which means I must bring the type of value that makes you feel comfortable introducing me to the people you know that need my help.
After all, a referral is sending someone you care about to someone you trust.
Cliff Keith

Best Deal for a Home in San Carlos Today!

Layer Up

University of Maryland scientists YuHuang Wang and Ouyang Min have engineered the first fabric to automatically react to outside temperatures and automatically trap or release heat.

Although the concept of thermal fabrics is not new, this is the first time that scientists have created a fabric that responds to the environment itself.

The base yarn for this new textile is created with fibers made of two different synthetic materials: a base yarn that absorbs water and a coating of conductive, carbon nanotubes that repels it. The two materials work together, releasing heat in warm humid conditions and trapping heat when conditions are cool and dry.

When conditions are warm and moist, such as those near a sweating body, the fabric allows infrared rays to pass through in the form of heat. When conditions

become cooler and drier, the fabric reduces the amount of heat that can escape. The development was reported in the February 8, 2019 issue of the journal Science.

More work is needed before the fabric can be used in clothing and sold on the market but according to the researchers, the two components are not that hard to obtain. The materials used for the base fiber are readily available and the carbon coating can be easily added during standard dyeing process.

The Single Life

It’s an age-old story. Two socks went into the washing machine, but only one came out of the dryer.

An answer may never be found to this mystery, but if you can’t change the situation then celebrate it… May 9th is Lost Sock Memorial Day in the United States!Turn it into a sock puppet.What to do with that one red sock?

• Fill it with potpourri and tuck it in your dresser.
• Use it as a dust rag.
• Fill a mismatched pair with newspaper and utilize them inside of boots for upright storage.
• Roll it in catnip then give it to your furry friend for hours of entertainment.

“We’ve all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.” ~Robert Wilensky

Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for You Or Someone You Know?

I wrote a great article on “Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for You Or Someone You Know?” Here’s the answer you have been asking yourself or in a conversation with a friend, For the answer to most questions people may have. Please let me know and I’ll pass it on to you so you can read it or  give it to them.

The 10 Do’s and Don’ts on Credit…

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The Link Between Stress And Stroke

Stroke is a devastating experience in which blood is cut off from a part of the brain. It can have many contributing factors. One of them, physicians now say, is stress.

According to the journal Stroke, researchers looked at medical records of more than 6,000 men and women who participated in a 16-year study. As part of the study, participants’ anxiety levels were measured. Over the course of time, 416 people suffered at least one stroke. The researchers determined that the risk of stroke rose 14% among individuals with higher anxiety levels, as measured in terms of such symptoms as extreme nervousness, tension, and general stress. Participants with especially high rates of these symptoms were identified as having an increased risk of 33%.

One possible connection: Stress often leads to unhealthy habits like poor nutrition, smoking and drinking, and lack of exercise. Stress also contributes to higher blood pressure, one of the main culprits behind stroke.

Old Age Is Great For Creativity

We sometimes think creativity is for young people. Children are endlessly imaginative, but the elderly are set in their ways. After all, we think, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” right? Consider this list of creative accomplishments by people who may have seemed to be past their prime:

• The famous German poet finished part two of his masterpiece Faust shortly before his death in 1832, when he was 83.
• Arthur Rubenstein. This concert pianist performed at Carnegie Hall at age 90.
• Grandma Moses. Artist Anna Mary Robertson, better known as “Grandma Moses,” had her first solo exhibition of paintings in 1940, when she was 80 years old.
• George Bernard Shaw. The Irish-born playwright remained active until his death in 1950 at age 94, when he published his final play. He was working on another unfinished play when he died.
• Pablo Casals. The cellist and conductor, born in 1876, continued to perform on concert tours into his eighties.

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