Yo! In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock and not at a home of your very own, interest rates are hovering at all time lows. This means if you’re looking to buy or sell a home, or refinance your existing loan, there’s no time like the present.
Except the part where as soon as you go to a website and make the mistake of inputting your contact information into a random loan portal you get deluged with solicitations from the most unsavory of folks. I made this mistake and was sent ‘official’ looking paperwork from rando companies attempting to compel me to contact them.
When it comes to these types of decisions, I’ve found it best to work with someone I know and/or someone who is referred to me by someone I trust. In this case, Eric Vaca from Finest City Home and Loans, serviced our initial home loan and works closely with my cousin, real estate agent Vincent Ramos, to help his buyers get into their homes. Eric helped us get into an incredible re-fi that puts us on course to pay off our home sooner and more cheaply.
I recently sat down with Eric to learn more about how his business operates and why someone would consider working with Finest City when there are so many damned options.
1. Explain your job like you were talking to your daughter’s 5th grade class.
Finest City Homes and Loans services our clients with buying, selling and financing residential real estate.
We help first time home buyers purchase their first home, families purchase their move-up homes & investors alike purchase multiple properties to build their real estate portfolio. We sell entry level condos to multi million dollar estates.
FCHL is truly a one stop shop so home buyers can handle the financing in house which streamlines and simplifies the process for our clients.
2. What role does your company play in the home buying process?
Finest City Homes and Loans is one of the very few brokerages that offer both home and loan services to our clients. Having knowledge of both of the major moving parts of a transaction gives our clients the edge they need to successfully close transactions with ease and simplicity.
3. Tell us about your company. How many years has it been around? How many employees? What makes you most proud?
Established in 2005.
Boutique RE company with personalized service.
Seasoned Real Estate and Loan Officers all 10+ years of experience
We have about 15 RE agents , 10 loans officers and 6 employees as a support staff
I’m most proud that we have built a business off integrity. All my agents/Lo’s are relationship based. Meaning we put the clients best interest first and the rest is easy. We ALL do not do any marketing other than “by referral only method” Most of my agents ( including myself) have grown with our clients. Being in the biz 20 years I have sold first homes to some of my first clients, we are now on their 3-5th+ property. Have treated our clients like family over the years.
Additionally most of my staff/collegues have all worked together for 10+ years.
4. Define a few terms. What’s a lender? What’s a broker? A loan officer? How do they all work together?
Lender funds/finances the loan on the property
Loan Officer consults with clients to help them determine which loan product best suits their needs.
Loan Officer works on behalf of the client to package their file up and put the client in the best position to get the client the best loan product.
5. If I’m buying a home, what are 2 things I should look for in a lender?
Best service and ability to close as promised.
6. If I’m refinancing, what are 2 things I should look for in a lender?
Product knowledge and confidence the company / LO has my best interest.
7. What’s one sign that you might want to consider another broker/loan officer?
Inconsistency , not delivering as promised whether it be interest rate, costs and/or meeting time frames.
8. What’s one common mistake you’ve seen people make when borrowing money for a home?
Not consulting with a wholesale mortgage broker. Wholesale mortgage brokers do the shopping for the consumer. Big Banks (Chase, Wells Fargo , Us Bank ETC) put their interest first. We are Brokers , We are Better.
9. When there is so much competition in your industry, how do you continue to grow?
FCHL grows organically. Growth is not our concern. Servicing our long history of trusted clientele is our number one priority. The growth happens organically.
10. What’s the market like in the final quarter of 2021? Who should consider borrowing or refinancing?
Market is HOT. Inventory is at an all time low while rates are historically low. Despite the pandemic RE is booming. Its important to be teamed up with an excellent Real Estate and Loan Agent in order to successfully navigate a closing in this market. Product knowledge in the loan world is crucial. This is the time to set up the best loan rate in our lifetime.
In 2021, Big Brown Dad is commencing Operation Level Up (OLU). With OLU, I’ll introduce the Big Brown Army (er, ROTC) to people and ideas who can help us take our flow to the next level.
Today, I want you to meetRaul T Pereyra. Raul co-hosts Los Compas Lounge, a podcast for brown men, with a couple of his longtime buddies (and similarly upwardly mobile vatos). When he’s not producing his show, he runs an HR firm where he consults small businesses and non-profits.
And if you read till the end, you’ll see that he’s offered ONE LUCKY READER from the Big Brown Navy (er, militia) a FREE career audit that includes a 30 minute consultation and resume review, valued at over, I don’t know, what’s taking your career to the next level worth to you?
Take a look at my interview with Raul below:
1.Tell us about The Brown Compas podcast. What’s been your favorite episode to date?
Los Compas Lounge: a PSA for Brown Men is a podcast for Chicano/Latino men who are interested getting a weekly dose of laughs and encouragement for personal growth. We’re three Chicanos from East Los Angeles talking about issues that matter to you. Our mission is to serve our community by sharing experiences that inspire positive change.
This podcast is one way we are giving back and being of service to our community.
My favorite episode is Te Crees Muy Chingon with Your BA?! (because we talk about our experiences with “getting out” of East L.A. to better ourselves just to find ourselves struggling with issues of guilt and fighting off the “Mexican Crabs” who are ever present, pulling us down, and not allowing us to “escape” from the bucket that holds us all captive.
The “Mexican Crab” joke services as a metaphor that speaks to the mental road blocks we place on ourselves and the reality that many of us brown men face when we’re trying to better ourselves, getting an education, or succeeding in life only to be put down by our own people. “If I can’t get out… then you can’t either!” Take a listen! And I bet we’ll spark an engaging conversation in you or at least make you laugh!
What do you think is missing in conversations around brown fatherhood?
The need for us men to let our guard down and be vulnerable when it comes to admitting that we were wrong in an argument or disagreement. That it is better to move closer towards building and maintaining healthy, positive relationships than it is for us to be angry or harbor negative feelings against others because we can’t admit that we were wrong. When we let go, the healing begins and we actually grow. We become the person we were meant to be. And that is a good place to be because we’re serving as role models for our children and teaching them what it means to be a real man. A man who is human and not afraid to show love, affection, and admit that he was wrong. There’s no shame in that. When you do it, you are liberated from the mental hang-ups you have been taught at home or through friends or indirectly through our cultural practices. I’m not talking shit about our culture or family. Instead, I’m bringing light to those things that do not serve us well as brown fathers. Those things which we can do away with or adapt to fit our new worldview as brown dads. A worldview which places us at the center of our families – at the center of providing a nurturing and loving home for our children.
Tell us about your college experience.
I almost didn’t make it. Well I didn’t graduate from high school because I was too busy trying to be popular and partying it up. Then something clicked when I went to junior college. I met people who believed in me and this transformed my life forever. I was inspired. I had a hunger for knowledge and a deep desire to continue to grow intellectually.
Soon, I transferred to UC Berkeley with a razor-sharp focus on achieving my academics goals. And I did: I made the dean’s list and felt proud of my accomplishments. I met like-minded brown men and women in college and it was beautiful. We all shared a desire to be of service and support each other. I took these lessons with me to graduate school and beyond.
Today, I’m proud of who I am and my desire to be of service continues and is part of the lessons I teach my fellow brown brothers and sisters, and of course, my children.
Tell us about your career trajectory.
While I was working on my MA in US History at UT Austin, I was working part-time as a youth development specialist in East Austin, Texas. I got involved in community youth development and I had a blast working with under served youth and their families. I saw that my work was important and making a real difference in the lives of those we served. It was rewarding. This experience led me to explore more work in youth development with non-profits making an impact in the community. I was off and running!
My early career was working for non-profits directly with you and as a youth development trainer. I also worked as an Adjunct US History Instructor for a LA community college, a Volunteer Coordinator and then a Human Resources Manager. I spent the longest time working in Human Resources and really embraced the field, earning a certification as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and most recently completing a certificate program in Diversity and Inclusion.
My career trajectory has always involved working with people as a mentor, facilitator, or teacher – making a difference in the lives of others. Now, I’m a Human Resources Consultant and work with non-profits and small businesses. I help them get their HR processes in order. I work 100 percent remote and I love it! I have a lot of flexibility and it works well with creating a work-life balance. I get to take care of my kids while making a living providing professional consulting services. I am living my calling. I make a difference in the lives of those that I serve.
5.What do most people get wrong about the field of HR?
Everyone is scared of HR. When you get called in to see HR, you immediately think that you’re going to get fired. It’s like that feeling you got when they called you into the principal’s office.
Although I’ve done my share of firing, I’ve done a great deal more. I’ve hired good people whom I trained and developed into exceptional employees and coworkers. I’ve supported the human capital and business strategies of business with fancy HR programs and initiatives. This is all to say that I’ve got involved in shaping the business of an organization by figuring out the best way to partner with employees so that they succeed and do good work and help advance the mission of the organization.
Make HR your friend. You are their internal client. Make a connection. Ask about training and development opportunities available to employees. Here are some questions you can ask when you meet with your HR rep/manager. What does it take to be successful in my role? What training opportunities do you have for employees? What can I do to make sure I’m doing the best work possible? Do we have a development program for employees seeking career development opportunities and support? Is there anything that HR can do to support my further development as a loyal employee? Does the company offer any tuition reimbursement or support of any kind for employees wishing to seek out formal educational programs? I’m interested in increasing my knowledge, skills and abilities to better serve the company – what can HR do to support this interest?
Employees are people. HR is about building and maintaining relationships with people. This is the part that I’m most passionate about. A lot of companies don’t get it. They treat their employees like trash – they see everyone as disposable and replaceable. This really sucks because we’re human and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. So, for me, I only work with companies who “get it.” They “get” that people are the most valuable asset in their organizations and they take care of them. They pay them well. They support their career development. They give them flexibility. And they treat them like a real person – asking for their input and saying “thank you” often.
So if you want to succeed as a business, you need to treat people right. You need treat your employees like people. And this is where my flavor of HR lives. I provide a people-centered approach to human resource practices. I thrive when I get a chance to work with like-minded people.
As Mexican-Americans, how can our choice in careers cause positive social change? Which fields are we needed most in?
A good friend once told me: “the more you know the more you owe.” So, if your goal is to create positive social change, then spend some time on working on you so you can get to a position of power, a position of influence. When you’re in that position, then you owe it to your people to give back. Bring others up. Pay it forward. Be the teacher, the mentor. Being a positive role model is powerful. This one thing alone makes a huge impact in the life of another person. And you begin to make a positive difference, one person at a time.
Think about it in terms of building relationships. Learn about networking and how you build professional relationships with your people. Don’t be afraid to take healthy risks and get out and meet new, like-minded people who will uplift you. Surround your self with positive people; people who are smarter than you or you aspire to be like.
Latinos are the fastest growing minority in the US and yet we are under represented in many professional fields especially in STEM. STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) careers are hot and in demand. We need more of you in STEM education and careers – like “pronto!” Demand in STEM careers will only continue to grow in the next 10 – 20 years.
What does this mean? It’s never to lake to increase your knowledge, skills and abilities in STEM. Why not? It may sound intimidating but it’s not. Begin the process of learning more about STEM and networking with STEM people and others interested in STEM – you’ll be surprised how many people are interested in this stuff! Get your kids interested in STEM – they’ll love it!
What’s one thing someone who’s looking to advance in their organization can do during COVID to increase their likelihood of success?
You need to increase your knowledge, skills and abilities in Emotional Intelligence. I cannot over state this if your goal is professional development for the purposes of advancing in your career.
Daniel Goleman, wrote a book, Emotional Intelligence (1995), that made a big splash on the self-improvement/leadership field and continues to be a must read for you if you want to advance your leadership and communication skills. Take a look at Danile Goleman explain the concept on YouTube
Tell us about the opportunity you have for one lucky bigbrowndad.com reader.
I’m offering a free 30-minute consult on career development and a professional review and feedback session on your resume/CV/cover letter. The 30-minute consult will allow you to tell me where you are in your career and what you want – are you looking for advancement, career change, coaching, etc.? And I’ll make an assessment and recommendations to get you on your way to get you closer to your career aspirations. The resume review involves my feedback and suggestions for improving your resume so that you are more marketable and stand out ahead of others.
TO ENTER THIS COMPETITION, GO TO BIG BROWN DAD’S IG PAGE, FOLLOW AND MESSAGE ME WITH THE PHRASE: LEVEL UP. I’LL SELECT A WINNER FROM THE BUNCH.
Where can our readers learn more about your work and podcast.
IF YOU BELIEVE IN THE WORK I DO WITH BIG BROWN DAD, PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING THE MISSION BY BUYING SOME OF MY COFFEE. WHEN YOU BUY MESTIZO, YOU HELP US KEEP THE COZY COLLECTION ALIVE.
We wanted to learn more, so we arranged for a sit-down interview. We can neither confirm nor deny where Big Brown Dad was sitting during this interview and whether or not the throne involved a flushing mechanism.
Q: Yo. You think this is cute? This whole ask yourself questions shtick?
A: Cute? Absolutely not. Handsome? Arguably.
Q: So what’s this coffee thing? Don’t you have enough going on, you know, with raising a secret family on the side?
A: Bruh. What the fuck?
Q: People don’t like reading lame Q&A’s so I thought I’d spice this up, nahmean?
A: That’s cute.
Q: Mestizo? What is it? And where were you on the night of December 24th, 2020?
A: That’s a great question. I sent my Mom and Aunt a link to the mestizo.coffee site the other day after launch. My mom asked if she can just “…buy the chocolate” and my aunt was surprised to learn that I was “…selling shakes.” So, you know, I understand that it’s not always clear to everybody what Mestizo is.
Q: Ay, bro. Don’t be talking about my Mom and my Aunt like that. I’ll fuck you up and make you drink milk.
A: Cute.
Q: So…Mestizo?
A: Ok, I guess it’s important to start with the word itself and, as is the case with any word with historical racial denotations and contemporary (sometimes conflicting) connotations, how any one person takes the word Mestizo will depend on their own experience.
Q: Cute.
A: One of my core principles is to work towards redefinition—to challenge assumptions, turn conventional thinking on its head and to find truth in unexpected places. So whatever your definition—or even—the prevailing definition of Mestizo turns it to be, its real world meaning is in constant state of negotiation. Essentially, tho, Mestizo represents the possibility of a new way coming from an old way.
Q: Wait, do you sell coffee or dime-store philosophy?
Q: Aye. People are low-key getting tired of reading this shit. Anything else you want to say?
A: Yes. I sell the best coffee coming out of Mexico. It’s roasted by the best Mexican-American roaster in the country. And it costs less than comparable coffees by hipster roasting operations. Consider subscribing and putting your support behind a cool Mexican-American experiment in creative entrepreneurship.
I cringe when people say, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.”
Ummmmmkay.
The difference between being ‘spiritual’ and being ‘religious’ is the difference between simply shooting around and playing in a basketball game.
There’s nothing at stake for the ‘spiritual’ person except self focus and self improvement—which is a curiously inward preoccupation in the face of a transcendent matter.
Organized religion makes more sense in the same way organized business or organized travel or organized sports makes more sense.
But you go ahead and keep shooting those half court sky hooks.
It won’t be long before that miserable orange thing is banished from the White House and consigned to the toilet bowl of history. But while Mr. Tan- in-a-Can will be gone soon, the heathens who supported him remain. So let’s continue to do what we do best, clown them!
Let’s laugh uncontrollably while holding up a mirror to their racism; let’s make fun of their teeth when they shit on hardworking immigrants; let’s point out their inability to read or write as way of buttressing our claims for more education funding.
All of it. Shame is good, even if they don’t exhibit it.
I put together a round up of some of my favorite disses. Use liberally, like the LEFTIST SOCIALIST COMMUNIST STALINIST MARXISTS ANABAPTISTS you are.
Trump supporters have strong “I stayed with him for the kids’ vibes.
Trump supporters know fraud when they see it.
Trump supporters bleed red, white and blue. Don’t be surprised. This is the result of back alley dental work.
Make no mistake. Trump supporters will give everything for Liberty, if you’d only remind them what time she starts dancing.
Warning! Trump supporters are not going anywhere! Mostly because they don’t have gas money.
Don’t expect Trump supporters to take this voting mischief while lying down. Mostly because they don’t have sheets on their beds.
Mexican environmentalists fret that they’ll be forced to deal with Trump’s cabron footprint for decades.
My walk across Occidental‘s commencement stage that sun soaked Sunday in early May 1998 was my Neil Armstrong moment.
One small step for man, one giant leap for motherfuckers like me who almost didn’t make it.
Indeed, I’d reached escaped velocity. I was in a new orbit. The rocket boosters at my feet damn near scorched my new dress kicks (shot-out Payless).
Now, the only thing that might temper that exuberance was an official document, uhum, DELINQUENT NOTICE, placed in the folio where my diploma ought have been.
THIS IS THAT NOTICE!
Rivaled only by Pac’s “Hit’em Up” in the catalogue of epic disses
Why do I still have this mother of all disrespect some 22 years later?
And if that’s enough to make you wince and wonder, I read, no, I WROTE Bristol’s diary entries.
What in the actual fuck am I talking about?
Some of the homies on Facebook know because they were there, too. My buddy Rick Kleinsmith got a postcard autographed for his aunt. My buddy Brad Thomas became the unofficial Mayor of Wasilla. My buddy JustinandAmy De Nino knew the highways, er, highway, like the back of his hand. And my buddy Neil Gallegos-Rodríguez put me in touch with his buddy XXXX who hooked us up with the vegetation when we landed. My buddy Matt Lutz piloted the plane.
So, what in the actual fuck am I talking about?
Bruh, we produced Bristol Palin’s Lifetime reality series, Life’s A Tripp at the Pain compound in Alaska and then in LA, in a mansion with her sister, Willow.
The opening sequence of the show involved Bristol picking up a phone and talking to Tripp. We recreated the moment, and I played Tripp on the other line–in order to make it feel ‘real,’ of course. After faking a 15 second conversation, I decided to end the call by impersonating Tripp.
“I love you, Mommy.”
I watched her reaction on tape on repeat with a barrel of laughs.
So, at the end of every episode, America’s most despised teen mom opened her journal and reflected on the episode’s events. I wrote those because, you know, I can tap into single mom vibes like that. I couldn’t find a clip of an episode’s ending, so this will have to suffice.
The series lasted a solitary season. I learned enough about the Palin’s to write a widely ignored book, but I thought I’d drop this post instead.
Speaking of books, working on the show required me reading both Bristol and Levi’s books.
On Monday, my wife and I drove our kids to San Diego to pay respects to their Great-Grandmother, Leonor Baez, a pioneering woman who not only built a home, family and church in Rosarito but a lasting legacy of strength and bad-assery, forever evidenced in my bad-ass wife.
Leonor lived to nearly 90. She smoked several times a day, often waving to the priests across the street with her free hand as they walked in and out of the church she helped build.
On the two hour drive to San Diego, we listened to music, talked early childhood , listened to more music and entertained a range of questions from the kids.
“What’s a Mormon?” “What’s a Baptist?” “What’s peace and quiet?”
You can trust I did my best to over-explain.
“You see…Martin Luther King Jr. was named after Martin Luther, who was the person that nailed 95 theses…”
‘Actually, Dad, Martin Luther King Sr. was named after Martin Luther.’
That was Maya.
And on and on.
And this and that.
When we got to the mortuary, we were greeted with a temperature check at the door.
The viewing happened in rotating shifts by household. These things are always tough but the isolated grieving made it more difficult, less humane. Before wrapping up the viewing portion, we had one last opportunity to say farewell.
Joaquin wanted to go back in. I took him by myself. When we got to the casket, Joaquin lifted his hands, as if performing some sort of magic trick. I was dumbstruck.
“What are you doing, bruh,” I hushed.
“I’m really into this Jesus thing right now, so I’m trying to see if I can heal her. Or bring her back to life.”
It didn’t work.
But it didn’t stop him from trying, again. Down at the grave site, hands lifted, the boy tried. Again, in the mausoleum, trying.
When we were Seniors at Occidental College, me and the homie La Mont Terry concocted a plan, no…a scheme…nay…a heist.
We were determined to get paid for what we did best. No, not categorizing girls on campus based on their likely biblical counterparts. Eating. And writing. But mostly eating.
We wanted to eat for that heralded tribune, that paper of record, The Occidental. Had we eaten for the paper before? No. Was that gonna stop us? Potentially. Did it?
No.
I negotiated a $30 meal subsidy from the Editor in Chief, and coupled with a $30 article remuneration, we were gucci. No, we were the tasteBUDS.
We did our thing. Bucca. CPK. Cheescake Factory.
Won an award, too. But the biggest come up of them all…of all time, even…was when we convinced The Durfee Foundation to send the tasteBUDS to China for a summer for the sole purpose of categorizing women by their likely biblical counterpart.
And to eat. We got 6 racks each.
Our only responsibility was to eat Chinese food with Chinese people and journal about it (and later give a presentation on campus). There’s a lot of funny shit to write about but I especially like a story from our first full day in Beijing. You see, we wanted to make friends.
We were in Beijing, so we jumped in a taxi, pointed to an illustrated icon of a college building in a Lonely Planet and said, “Go. Here. Pliz.” Sure enough, we muscled our way through 99 minutes of traffic and finally onto Beijing University (colloquially referred to as Beida). Beida is China’s MIT. We didn’t know that. We didn’t know shit.
When we stepped on campus, we walked aimlessly for 15 minutes, searching for any friendly white face who might save, er, help us make sense of the campus. After a day and a half of miming, we needed a hit of English.
Instead, we came across a half dozen Chinese students dribbling a basketball.
“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit,” I thought to myself. “I talk basketball. I got game.”
Lamont? Not so much.
So I stepped to the crew and did my best caveman: “You. Ball. Me. Ball. Together. Shoot. Ball.”
And the Chinese graduate student in British Literature responded to me with most pleasant Anglican lilt I’d ever countenanced:
