Observations and opinions from a tech, gadget, mobile, cars, sports, California, traveling, food, and Panda lover. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-30387829-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://' : 'http://') + 'stats.g.doubleclick.net/dc.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();
On my most recent trip to Taiwan, I was absolutely floored to receive these 2 family heirlooms from my aunt. My grandparents had exchanged all of their savings for gold bracelets (these are the only two remaining) while fleeing China from the communists 70 years ago. Gold was the only universal currency they knew of that could be exchanged at their destination. Wearing them in the form of a bracelet must have been the safest method to thwart thieves.
I’ve spent several days reflecting on the significance of these bracelets and it’s impossible for me to imagine the circumstances that my grandparents had to face post-WWII. They were undoubtedly exhausted from fighting the Japanese and were immediately confronted by the realities of their country being taken over by communism. I’ve repeatedly asked myself the questions:
How do you make the overwhelming decision of leaving the only life you know in search of hope? Could I make the same decision to move my family towards the unknown without any assurances of a better life? Would I have had the courage to do the same?
My grandparents and parents are exceptional... as refugees and immigrants, they established our family in Taiwan and ultimately America. I do not take for granted the opportunities I’ve been given is the direct result of the courage my grandparents fleeing a war-torn country. Further down the line, my father had the courage to come to this country with barely enough to cover housing and food. This country welcomed my parents with opportunities and rewarded their hard work.
These two bracelets are what remain from a whole set that my grandparents had to sell to feed, clothe, and educate my father and his two sisters in Taiwan. To my grandparents, these bracelets represent hope of a better life. It’s not lost on me that these heirlooms exist with my family today because my grandparents limited their indulgences. My grandfather and grandmother were survivors... they went for broke and somehow it paid off.
Over a 7-year period I bought or sold a home 6 times in the San Francisco Bay Area and refinanced 4 times (I hope that it doesn’t happen again in a very long time). While cleaning up some documents this morning, I had the chance to reflect on each of those transactions. There were some valuable insights I took away from each transaction beyond the popular “Location, location, location” advice. I thought that maybe somebody reading this could benefit from some of these observations.
These are five lessons I've learned in the past several years:
Have multiple financing options lined up
When I bought my first home I was only pre-qualified with a single lender. It's not clear to me that I got the best interest rate possible and it's painful to look back at the fees I paid.
When I bought my home in San Francisco, I was pre-qualified with 2 different lenders and even completed bank appraisals with both of them. Even though I had to pay extra money to do appraisals with both banks, it was well worth it at the end. Â I was able to negotiate one of them to credit me back more fees and beat the other bank by 0.125% (which is a fairly large different for a large transaction).
This is especially important in market situations where you may have to wave your Finance Contingencies.
Every offer should tell a consistent “story”
I've been surprised to lean that your “Offer” is significantly more than just the paper offer that you submit; the entirety of your interactions is valuable. While buyers shouldn't give too much information to a seller, you should put together a compelling and consistent story. In fact, we ended up accepting a slightly lower offer because we had more confidence that the buyer was invested in getting the deal done instead of taking the higher offer that came in on the last day without a trail of solid interactions.
Starting with your first interaction with a seller's agent, give him/her something memorable to take back to the sellers. For example if you identify yourself as the “Single Mom who works at Oracle looking for a large enough home”, more likely than not they will track you as “Single Mom from Oracle” throughout the process.
Criteria in selecting Real Estate agents
Fortunately I've had very good experiences with all of the Real Estate agents I've worked with -  Burt Tsuei (Burlingame + Surrounding Areas), Bob Vernon (San Francisco), and Alex Wang (Palo Alto + Surrounding Areas). I would say the 2 most important aspects that I would look for are: “Will this agent interact with me the way I want him/her to” and “Can I trust this agent to be candid and honest with his/her advice”?
I'm a very chatty type of seller/buyer - I constantly text with my agents throughout the day. Bob was especially great in being responsive at all times. After our deals together, I really felt we've become friends and still keep in close contact today.
If you find an agent who will consistently give you honest opinions (assuming you find him credible), you've found yourself a great agent. With Burt, he unfailingly gave me negative feedback about properties I was considering. In most situations it was definitely not in his best interest to dissuade me... but he consistently did so anyways. He never took the easy way out, encouraging a lower offer when he felt that it made sense.
Importance of Deal and Market Momentum
I've been shocked by the importance of Deal momentum. As a buyer, it's easy to get swept up in the momentum of the counter-offer process and “improve” to a number that's actually uncomfortable. Conversely I see homes listed for outrageous numbers that don't attract enough initial interest. The downward momentum is so strong that the homes sell for $100,000's less than what they should have sold for if they had some upward momentum. Nobody wants to catch a falling knife.
Make sure you properly understand the momentum in the Market. As prices are rising, work with your agents to set your initial offer to something competitive so that you get a counter. In a down-market and the property is sitting, make sure your agent keeps the communication lines open when buyer's expectations become more reasonable.
For Sale by Owner (FSBO) is fairly easy but could be difficult to price without multiple offers
When I sold my Mountain View home, I chose to do a “For Sale by Owner”. I found it to be a fairly simple process and extremely cost-effective. I hired the Law Offices of Peter N. Brewer and they did the whole transaction for $5,000. They took care of all the paperwork and I recall them arranging most of the inspections and appraisals.
The most difficult part of the transaction was settling on a price. In a market that was moving quickly, I had a hard time pricing the property and so did the buyer. Especially if you're not going to list the home on the MLS, you do not receive enough traffic and offers to take advantage of the liquidity of the market. Believe me, it's very hard to do even with all of the comps in front of you. Strong market momentum makes the comps less useful week by week.
If you are in the market for new sheets, would definitely recommend you checking out Brooklinen. I just received a set myself. High quality sheets that feel similar to what you’d find from designer brands but for significantly less.Â
Details on how their sheets are made.
The only feedback I have is that I’d love to see more color and pattern variety, but overall I’m a satisfied customer. They also have comforters, pillows, blankets, and candles.
Similar to Parachute Home if you’re familiar with them. I ended up going with Brooklinen because I liked their selection better.
If it makes sense, use this referral link. Both of us get $15. But they also have a free shipping for your first time so that may make more sense for you depending on what you’re ordering.
“The song is about hurting someone’s feelings but it’s also about trying to stay in touch with myself, which sometimes can be a little bit hard to do. It’s about a yearning for the other side of me. When I’m away, I really, really miss my life at home. The way that I feel when I’m not in England, is desperation.” - Adele
Thank you to everybody for being here today. Our family is grateful for your support during this difficult time and my grandmother would be very happy to see everybody here today. Â I especially want to thank both of my aunts, my uncle Peter, my mother & father, Vanessa, and also Xiao-Fang Ah-Yi for taking care of my grandmother for 12 years since my grandfather passed away. I am grateful that my grandmother received amazing care for so long.
Over the past few years since my grandmother moved into my parents home, I have been lucky to see my grandmother every other week. What I will miss most is the look on my grandmother’s face when I walk into her room each Friday night. She always had this look of surprise, love, and concern on her face simultaneously. She would ask me about my work and if I was eating healthy. She would chuckle when I told her how busy I was at work. My entire life, I have always been sure of one thing: the love of my grandmother. The warmth of my grandmother’s hug and the sound of her voice - that was always true for me.
There was nothing my grandmother loved more than children, after all she was an Elementary School Teacher and Principal. Because of that, she touched so many people. When I was back in Taiwan earlier this year, an elderly relative sat next to me. The first thing she said to me was: “So many people miss your grandmother. Everybody still asks about her.” Everybody loved her, but she loved us the most. I felt so proud and so lucky.
What I admired most was my grandmother’s strength and courage. Everybody knew her to be loving and warm, but very few people knew how strong she was. After surviving WWII, my grandmother fled to Taiwan as a refugee. Our family was poor but she built loving home for my father and her daughters. Her sacrifices, made my father’s life possible. My grandmother made my life possible. Both my grandmother and grandfather were from a generation that “survived”, so that her children could have choices.
My grandmother faced the world without fear through her very last day. She lived on her own terms. She was determined to walk by herself 1 hour each day, insisted in washing her own clothes, and refused to live life from a wheelchair. When the hospital told us my grandmother would only survive a few hours, she proved them wrong. She held on for 2-and-a-half days until my cousin Peter and my aunt arrived from Taiwan to say goodbye. My grandmother’s strength and courage was absolutely incredible.
My grandmother lived a very full comfortable life to 86, and we are thankful for our time with her. But we feel heartbroken because she was the heart of our family. And more importantly, we feel profound sadness because my grandmother and my grandfather represented the best of our family. We hope to see their values in our own children and grandchildren. But I feel comfort that I still see so many of her qualities in our family today. My 1st Aunt is sharp and intelligent like my grandmother. My 2nd Aunt inherited my grandmother’s beauty and people skills. In my own father I see my grandmother’s thoughtfulness and compassion towards other people.
My grandmother and grandfather are finally together again. I’m happy for him. I’m happy for her. They will be happy, when they see that they’ve taught us well, when we show warmth and kindness to other people, and when we teach our children and grandchildren the way they taught us. We can never go wrong when we make my grandmother proud.
Just got done watching the series finale of Mad Men and I’m very sad to see the show end. I felt the finale was pretty mediocre, but I’ve always felt that finales never really satisfy. In my judgement, Mad Men in its entirety has been the best drama on television over the past decade.
Mad Men at it’s height was peerless.  Awarded the Emmy for Best Drama 4 consecutive years in 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011 (the only other show to win four consecutive years is The West Wing). To date, Mad Men has received 105 Emmy Nominations & 14 wins. I hope that it wins one final Best Drama Emmy for this final season.
A few observations about the show:
Beautifully written. Every season featured a well-planned story-arc, tremendous dialogue, and made you care deeply about the characters.
Stylistically, the show is beautiful; I’ve never watched a show with this level of production value. The attention to detail was unbelievable every single episode in every season.
The quality has been fairly consistent season after season. There were certainly some seasons better than others but I feel that it’s had less of a slump than other shows I’ve followed.
The character development in Mad Men was second to none. Every character from Don Draper to Sally Draper was complex, nuanced, and complimented the other members of the cast.
While Don was the main character, Peggy was the heart of the show to me. I feel like we grew up with Peggy and her struggle mirrored the struggle many women faced in seeking equality at work. Her character was unfailingly positive, earnest, thoughtful, and most of all tenacious. I admire who she aspired to be and how hard she worked to get there.
Hands down my favorite character was Roger Sterling in the show. I loved how deeply he cared for everybody on the show, his quick wit, and his ability not to take himself too seriously.
I seems to me that the period chosen (1960s) is a reason that Mad Men has found such a strong audience. Having recovered from World War II and the Cuban Missile Crisis, America was filled with optimism before struggling with the Vietnam War. Mad Men is a snapshot of time when the nation felt overwhelming optimism from sending a man to the moon and seeing computers on it’s way. The calm before the storm.
On a personal note, Mad Men resonated with me in my personal life. The show has spanned a period in my life when I’ve struggled to understand who I am and what I want out of life. There were many times when I thought to myself “I feel like I’m sabotaging my own life just like Don.” I have always rooted for Don because deep down I consistently associated his struggles with my own. I was relieved to see him find peace by the end of the show.
I idolize Stephen Colbert. It's somewhat embarrassing to admire somebody so deeply in my mid-to-late 30s; while age has afforded me the understanding that athletes' ability to jump higher and celebrities' acting abilities aren’t necessarily important, I’d like to think my admiration for Colbert is perfectly acceptable :).
Months ago, the Colbert Report ended it's 9-year run so that Stephen can take over as the host of the "Late Show" when David Letterman retires. I'm going to tremendously miss The Colbert Report and the fake conservative pundit that he played on the show. Â
I admire Stephen's confidence, fearlessness, charm, his satire & improv capabilities, his work ethic, his encyclopedic memory of the Bible and the Lord of the Ring. Most importantly, I will remember him for his passion in raising awareness for issues that matter. Along with Jon Stewart, they are the Murrow and Cronkite of our generation.
There were so many memorable moments from Stephen... these 4 stand out in my mind:
Roasting of George W. Bush at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner
His takedown of Jon Kyl by leveraging social media
Forming a Super PAC to raise awareness towards the absurdity of the Citizens United Ruling. First by creating the application for a Super PAC, submitting the Super PAC application, and finally celebrating the formation of his Super PAC.
Colbert runs for President in 2007 and 2011
I've been fortunate to go to 3 live tapings of the Colbert Report.  Seeing him in person, you immediately notice his professionalism, his passion, and his dedication to his craft. You notice how deeply he cares about his team. I’m going to miss his character very much. Excited to see what he does next.
Maybe she was very young, and followed her heart and got in trouble. And no one should have to make a mistake just like a man does and not be able to move on. She should be able to live the rest of her life just like a man does.
