I just passed a 35-year milestone and business anniversary for Greenback Capital Mortgage Corporation, the company I founded in 1989. After a stint in accounting for one of the Big 8 (I just dated myself), and never having worked for a mortgage company, I started my mortgage business and closed my first deal in three months. I had no relationships, and I had no connections, but I felt compelled to go out on my own for religious freedom, which was my main driving force.
I had enough of the comments when I left early on Friday, and having all my vacation days absorbed by the time I finished all the yomim tovim. Today, I don’t think management would say to their employees some of the things I had said to me, because they would get sued. With all that’s going on today, you may still feel a sense of latent antisemitism in the workplace among co-workers and have an occasional self-hating Jew to deal with. I thank God for giving me longevity, freedom and the opportunity to help consumers and businesspeople in their real estate financing decisions. To celebrate my 35 years, at the behest of some of my clients, I have expanded into business coaching and commercial real estate advisory as well.
I’m a big fan of Rav Avigdor Miller, z”tl, and although he left us many years ago, when I learn some of the things he’s written, I envision myself in his class and feel like I’ve missed an opportunity. I feel that he tells it like it is, and is a catalyst for introspection. As Rav Miller said, “When I have a membership drive in my shul, and I speak, I drive away the members.” I crack up thinking about that. For my last birthday, my kids bought me a set of his lectures on the parsha, which I read every Shabbos, and always walk away a bit changed yearning for more.
Why do I feel that I connect so much to what he says? I relate to him because he’s not an order taker. What do I mean by that? I used to tell my employees, “Don’t be order takers,” and I would give them an analogy of a waiter in a restaurant. When you go to a restaurant, there are two kinds of waiters. One is just an order taker. You look at the menu and you tell them what you want, they write it down, and they bring the food out to you. The other kind of waiter listens to your order, suggests that maybe what you ordered is not so popular, or not so fresh, and gives you other alternatives that they feel, based on what you ordered, may be more enjoyable. They show that they care, and they establish a relationship even though it’s for a short period of time. Even though most tips are automatically included in the bill today, which waiter do you think winds up with the addition to that tip? The answer is obvious.
Rav Avigdor Miller was not an order taker. He didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear. He told you what he felt you should and needed to hear. You may not have agreed with him, and you may have thought that he was extreme. That’s OK. What I appreciate though, is that Rav Miller really felt that it was important to know the truth. In the movie “A Few Good Men,” when Jack Nicholson was asked why he didn’t tell the court the truth about what happened under his watch, he replied, “Because you can’t handle the truth.” Not everyone can handle the truth. I’m not perfect and sometimes I can’t live up to the truth, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to strive in that direction.
From the beginning of my 35 years to the present, I have never been an order taker. If I had a client who wanted a mortgage product, and I thought I had a better one, I would say so. If I had a client who was taking too much risk, I would tell them so. If someone wanted to qualify for a mortgage for a bigger house, I would discuss with them what their purpose would be in taking on larger debt, and in doing so, I sometimes lost a potential mortgage, but I gained a long-term relationship. If somebody needed cash, after a thorough analysis, I would give them other financing alternatives that were better for them. I have talked many people out of refinancing their mortgage. In other words, I was never an order taker. I don’t think anyone should get a pat on the back for being direct and honest because that should go with the territory.
Many years ago, a client called me. He was in a bit of a pinch. He had a lot of credit card debt that he used as working capital to float during a couple of slow months in his firm. This goes way back to when we were allowed to order appraisals directly from the appraisal company and not through an appraisal management company. He needed the highest value possible, so he could cash out and consolidate his debt. I called some appraisers for a quote, and I came back with an appraisal quote that I thought was appropriate. I gave him the estimated value. He told me that he spoke to a mortgage company that was able to give him a much higher appraised value. I said to him, “That’s a ridiculous, way-overstated value, and you may get the cash you need now, but if the market changes, you’ll never be able to refinance out of your loan, and if values drop and you want to sell your property, you won’t be able to pay off what you’re looking to borrow.” He said, “I have to do what I have to do,” and I said, “I wish you well.” The real estate market tanked soon afterward, and he was up against the wall. He called me afterward for help, but he could not be helped. He wanted what he wanted, and I totally understood why, but he did not want to hear the truth. Short-term gains sometimes equal long-term losses. No different than how we make our moral and spiritual decisions.
Rav Miller was also very big on appreciating God’s creations, the health that we are given, the wealth that we are given, the family that we have and being an eved Hashem. FYI “cutting the line in a grocery store, especially with a kippah on, is not being an eved Hashem.” We all have our “stuff” that we deal with, but we should take time out to focus and appreciate the positive aspects of what we have. Modeh Ani lefanecha. I don’t know what the future has in store, but I am grateful for the unpredictable long ride that I have had. I could honestly say that I have experienced and seen the hand of God daily in many ways.
We are going into the Yamim Noraim, and I wish everybody a healthy, happy, prosperous, good year, and zecher nishmas Rav Avigdor Miller, may we have the consciousness to appreciate what Hashem has given us and conduct ourselves in a way where those who see us say, “I want to be like those Jews.” May you and your families all be zoche to receive all of God’s bounty and blessings. Remember: Who is wealthy? One who is happy with his/her lot. Thank you to my wife, Gila, and my very special, good-hearted, mitzvah-doing kids, Temima, Eitan, Ahuva, Aliza and Fully (Rephael). I love you all.
Carl Guzman, NMLS #65291, is a CPA, mortgage banker, licensed real estate broker in New York and New Jersey, business adviser, and the founder and president of Greenback Capital Mortgage Corporation, licensed in New York, New Jersey and Florida, with over 217 5-star Zillow reviews, and www.residentialmortgageadvisor.com. He excels at structuring complex residential and commercial mortgage and business financing solutions for the self-employed borrower, investor, and first-time homebuyer.
