January Issue

Tax MistakesTo Avoid

Sexy EasySeafood

NuevoLatinos

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V IVAmazingTu Lifestyle

MARIA ALVAREZCompliments of

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@ VIVAmazing #VIVAmazing

V IVAmazingTu Lifestyle

Monthly MensajeJanuary – Happy New Years! I thought that we would begin the year with getting us in the right mindset. You will enjoy the lineup of stories that we have in this month’s issue. On the cover have Nely Galan who is a media mogul and creator of the Swan reality show. Senator Marc Rubio, Creator of Nuevo Latino cuisine Chef Douglas Rodriguez. Artist and activist Eva Longoria, Internet Fitness star Michelle Lewin and up and coming artist Charlotte Delamor and we couldn’t leave out Mr. Worldwide…we call it “Latino of today” Inside we feature a blog by one of my mentors Gary Acosta titled the Nuevo Latinos. And while we start off2015, it’s never too early to begin working on your taxes so we know you will enjoy the story.

News Flash – You will notice on the 2nd to last page of this issue that we will be putting together a local business directory. If you are interested in advertising your business, make sure that you contact the info provided. Marketing is a key component to any successful business and why not leverage the distribution of VivaMazing locally. Here is the best part, its free to you! So what are you waiting for? If you do not own your own business yet but know someone that does, forward them this information.

Let’s support local businesses!

VivaMazing is a Lifestyle distribution that focuses on the topics such as Fitness, Comida, Profiles, Real Estate, Sociedad (trends) and Musica…Tu Lifestyle! If you are interested in starting your own local VivaMazing magazine business, please contact us. There is a great opportunity for you when you sign up with us to start your own career with VivaMazing digitally locally. Please contact us at [email protected]


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Maria Alvarez

I am thrilled to share with you this month’s issue of our monthly magazine where we bring you relevant and exciting stories. VivaMazing will cover topics such as Fitness, Success Profiles, Sociedad ( topics and trends ), Comida and Real Estate...simply put “Tu Lifestyle”

I will be putting together a list of local businesses to create a local business directory in the near future. These are small businesses that you should meet, if you would like to be a part of the network business directory, please contact me. This is a great way to connect our local community.

323.915.3996

I encourage you to read the magazine but also stay connectedwith me with any questions you may have. I am here to serve you, your friends and family with any real estate needs whether you are buying, sellinga home or simply want to know thevalue of your home today. I look forward to hear from you and enjoy this month’s issue.

FITNESS


Exercise someone can do at home that takes 30 minutes and how often they should do it. This is a simple P2P Transformation Center at home workout for those of you that travel or can’t make it to the gym:

10 Burpees

10 Push Ups(modified or full)

10 Squats

20 Jumping Jacks

Repeat for 30 mins.

Burpees are a great full body workout that engages the whole body and gets your heart rate up.

Push Ups are great for upper body and core

Squats are great for lower body (quads, glutes and hamstrings)Jumping Jacks is good old fashion heart raising movement.

30 MINUTE EXCERCISE AT HOME, NO EXCUSES!BY LATASHA RENEE

“The other day I heard something funny yet real. People take care of their smart phones better than they take care of their bodies. I had to ask Tosh to

give me a simple 30 minute routine at home.”

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COMIDA


PAN ROASTEDCOD WITHKIWI SALSAImpress everyone with this less than 15 minute dish.

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Cod Ingredients 6 oz cod Olive oil salt and pepper to taste for seasoning

CodTurn the stove on medium high and in a saute pan add the olive oil. Once you season the cod with salt and pepper, lay the cod on one side away from you in the pan and let sear for about 4 minutes. The key is to not move the cod until the 4 minute mark or until you see the edges getting crispy.

Once you turn the cod over, let cook on the oth-er side for 3 minutes or until the cod is cooked through.

Then you are ready to plate the dish. Try and use a white plate to bring out the colors of the dish. Lay the cod in the center and then top off with the kiwi salsa.

You can pair this dish with a Ceja Chardonnay AND do not forget the music! I would go with Jose Feliciano on your Pandora or you can’t go wrong with Maxwell either.

Kiwi Salsa Ingredients

1 peeled kiwi

½ thinly sliced red onion

1 bunch of chopped cilantro

1 chopped serrano chile

1 lime

Olive oil , salt and pepper to taste

“Eating healthy doesn’t mean you can’t eat sexy.” - Armando Tam

#sexyhomecooking

Nely Galan Eva Longoria DouglasRodriguez

PROFILES


THE NUEVO LATINOS…AND THEIR BLUEPRINT FOR CONQUERING POLITICS,

BUSINESS AND MEDIA IN AMERICA

If it seems like something big is happening with Lati-nos in America, – some-thing is. A handful of rev-olutionary trends driven by American Latinos are subtly setting the stage for the most powerful social and economic movements of the 21st century. Inter-estingly, a small but potent group of Latino influenc-ers that have big ideas and even bigger ambitions are, in part, guiding this shift.

My friend and colleague, Ernie Reyes, used to say, “If Hispanics ever got their act together (we) could rule this country.” What he meant was if Latinos could

ever get beyond the ar-tificial barriers that have kept us a fragmented and underachieving group, the sky would be the limit for what we could accomplish, especially when it comes to business and politics. With explosive popula-tion growth, a significantly younger median age and a passionate commitment to family and culture, Latinos are poised to become one of the most historically sig-nificant segments of our population since the baby boomer generation.

Until recently, however, it seemed Latinos might be destined to go down in his-

tory as a massive group of unrealized potential – a fac-tion of largely hardworking but apolitical individuals whose modest ambitions and fixation with internal rivalries created limitations to their collective progress. I believe things are chang-ing.

An Unlikely Latino LeaderOver the next several months I will share a se-ries of my personal per-spectives about the social shift now underway within the Latino community in America. I am not a writer or a sociologist. Instead, I am a small business pro-fessional who became an

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Charlotte Delamor

MichelleLewin

Page 9 @ VIVAmazing #VIVAmazing

ArmandoPerez

unlikely Latino business leader over a decade ago. My viewpoints are not based on surveys or aca-demic research but rather on first hand observations and experience.

In 1999, I co-founded (with Ernie Reyes) the Nation-al Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). NAHREP is a business trade association that supports Hispanics in real estate. We started NAHREP on a shoestring budget. Today our organi-zation has 40 local chap-ters and 20,000 members who all are active real es-tate industry professionals serving Hispanic home-buyers from across the country. My position with NAHREP has provided me

with an extraordinary van-tage point as Latino atti-tudes have evolved, par-ticularly in politics and business. Over the last 13 years, I have had contact and personal relationships with Latinos from every walk of life. At NAHREP, for example, our leader-ship team is a strong and cohesive mix of leaders of Cuban, Mexican, Colombi-an, and Nicaraguan origins. Three are U.S. born and two are immigrants; one came to the U.S. as an undocu-mented child and another doesn’t speak any Spanish. NAHREP is one example of how I believe Latino busi-nesspeople from starkly different backgrounds are beginning to interact with one another more effec-tively.

I refer to myself as an “un-likely” Latino leader be-cause although I was raised in a fairly traditional Latino household in the suburbs of Los Angeles, I do not speak Spanish (at least, not well) and prior to NAHREP had never been affiliated with an organization, club or association that had the words Hispanic or Lati-no anywhere in its name. I believe this is significant because 25 years ago my linguistic limitations would most likely have prevented me from being accepted as a legitimate Latino leader. This leads me to the con-cept of Nuevo Latinos and what I believe is the new blueprint for Latino ascen-dancy in America.

PICK ONE?

Owning


VRemodel the home and increase the value

You control how long you want to live there

Build long term equity

Tax Benefits

Be proud of owning your own home

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When you choose the side you want to be on, CALL

Maria Alvarez

323.915.3996


SNo #nothappening

Landlord can ask you to move or raise rent

Create wealth for someone (not you) wink wink

No vacation $ from tax benefits

Not so proud

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Renting

PICK ONE?

V

MOST FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS CONFUSED ABOUT MORTGAGE PROCESS

Quote style “I came across this interesting study but I didn’t just stop there. I reached out to my colleagues in the industry for their advice on how to overcome the confusion.”

While the number of first-time homebuyers continues to decline, many of the remaining neo-phyte property purchasers complain that they are having problems understanding how the mortgage origination process works.

According to the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study, more than half of first-time homebuyers (54 percent) indicated they did not fully understand the different loan options that were available to them. Only 41 percent of first-time home-buyers stated their mortgage representative completely explained the types of loans, terms, special programs, fees and options to reduce their down payment, compared to 56 percent of experienced mortgage customers. And 44 percent of first-time homebuyers stated their closing agent didn’t fully explain all of the closing documents; only 26 percent of experi-enced customers had a similar complaint.

REAL ESTATE


“When choosing a lender, make sure that your lender follows this basic protocol: 1st offers different options in a clear, easy to un-derstand manner, 2nd explains the options in great detail, explains the terms/fees thoroughly, 3rd ask if your loan officer will be avail-able at closing.”

Frank FuentesVP MulticulturalNew American Funding

I think it is highly recommended that first time home buyers meet in person with their loan officer. This allows the first time buyer to ask their loan officer all the questions they need answers to so they can have a full understanding of the loan and terms that they are about to obtain. As originators, we need to take pride in helping our buyers and we need to make sure they fully understand their loan so that they have peace of mind in the transaction.

Gerry FernandezRegional Manager Pacific Union

HELPFUL TIPS

“As an industry we are doing a better job in product and process education. I think, that is due to both higher licensing standards and the retention of better skilled loan originators through the mortgage crisis.”

“However, it’s not enough, we can do a better job, especially in the minority space. Hispanic practitioners and industry leaders are un-der-represented in the housing industry, which creates an educa-tional and awareness gap for Hispanic consumers. In many cases, for Latino’s the education and process regarding a mortgage re-quires more and it’s not just in language anymore, it’s in culture.”

Jason Madiedo PresidentVenta Financial Group

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SOCIEDAD


TAX SEASON Q & As

While we make our New Year’s resolutions, we are also reminded of the upcoming tax season. Many people don’t pay attention to their tax circumstances throughout the year except during the tax season. Tax professional think about taxes 365 days a year.

This article digs into the common mistakes people make that may open themselves up to an IRS audit, and also asks some questions when hiring a tax profes-sional becomes necessary.

Information for this arti-cle was provided by Allan Kremer, a Certified Public Accountant with a practice in Lafayette.

The Three Largest Mistakes Made When Filing Taxes

1. Not Filing An Extension When Needed:

There is a myth that when you file an extension, you are more exposed to an audit. The opposite is true. The IRS has gone on the record say-ing that it audits fewer re-turns when the return is on extension than if it were filed by April 15.

THREE MISTAKESTO AVOID

PART 1

“The assumption that paying minimal taxes is best could potentially open themselves up for audits. Filing incorrectilay can potentially open themselves up for audits can set them back a long time in this short life or ours.” - Unknown

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“The assumption that paying minimal taxes is best could potentially open themselves up for audits. Filing incorrectilay can potentially open themselves up for audits can set them back a long time in this short life or ours.” - Unknown

2. Submitting a Tax Return with Mathematical Errors:

If the math error is large, the error will cause a computer-generated response from the IRS.

3. Inappropriate Deductions for Charitable Contributions:

When deducting charitable contributions, deduct only the amounts you actual-ly paid or the fair market value of the objectyou donated. The IRS publishes average figures annually indicating what the average charitable contribution is for a taxpayer with income within a certain range. Many taxpayers understand this to mean that they are allowed to deduct that average amount as opposed to the amount they actually gave.

MUSICA


MUSIC TO BUSINESS

EMPIRE

When an individual is not only a sing-er-songwriter, but also a record produc-er, actor, fashion designer, and television producer, it becomes impossible to cate-gorize him.

New York-born and raised Marc Anthony is no exception; soon after changing his name from Marco Antonio Muñiz to Marc Anthony to avoid being confused with the Mexican singer his parents named him after; he began to pursue a career in mu-sic, performing with artists such as Menu-do and the Latin Rascals.

At twenty years old, Marc Anthony re-leased his first freestyle record, “Rebel,” and went on to work with artists like Sa-Fire, Little Louie Vega, and Todd Tery. Less than a decade after performing Un-derground New York acts, Marc Anthony’s talent led him to Madison Square Garden, where he performed for Latin artist Tito Puente. It was this event that led to Marc Anthony’s shift in style – from freestyle to Latin salsa.

Today, four times Latin Grammy winner Marc Anthony is the top selling tropical salsa artist to date. In 1995, he also won the Billboard award for “Hot Tropical Art-ist of the Year,” and managed to get his Spanish song to the Billboard 200, work-

ing under the “RMM Records” label. The year Anthony left this label, 1999, was also the year he met his soon-to-be-wife, Jennifer Lopez.

Marc Anthony then married Jennifer Lo-pez, whom he had sang duets such as “No Me Ames” and “Escapémos” within the past. Aside from having twins, they also worked together. Marc and J LO worked side-by-side on the TV series Q’Viva! The Chosen one and one of my favorites...El Cantante.

The list continues and the future seems bright for este tremendo business man.

“Not only is Marc one of the best singers in our time, it’s inspiring to see him as one of the power businessmen of today, Fuerte Abrazo” Armando Tam

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January Issue

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