VanDyk Mortgage - November 2017

VanDyk Mortgage - November 2017

Nov 2017

Letters From The Hart Give us a call! 239-437-4278 or visit www.TimHartJr.com Corporate NMLS #3035 www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org

HURRICANE IRMA,

Two Months Later

house basically turned into an oven. I made sure to stay grateful as I waited for the power to be fixed, reminding myself how much worse the storm could have been for us and how lucky we were.

Though we’ve mostly recovered by now, the community of Fort Myers is still reeling in some ways from the impact of Hurricane Irma. Look around and you can still see scars left behind by the storm: the lingering stumps of trees snapped from the wind, damaged homes still waiting for repair, and, of course, the memories of that crazy experience some of us are still processing. I hesitate to say we were exactly “lucky” after the Category 3 hurricane, but it could have been much worse. For me, the worst part was the anticipation — constantly checking all the sites for the latest updates, reading the overblown responses on social media, and watching many friends pack up and leave town. Even as Irma rolled in, the question remained, “Should I have left?” I wondered whether we had made the right decision. It wasn’t until the storm passed, and we realized how much smaller than expected the damage had been, that I breathed a sigh of relief.

After about a week of this, I noticed an electrical crew working a few blocks down the road and decided to flag them down. They were all incredibly friendly, nice guys. When I explained my situation, they sprang into action almost immediately. They drove down to the transformer outside the house and fixed the problem in less than five minutes — apparently it was just missing a single, tiny part. Without them, I’m pretty sure it would have been another week before we had the power up and running. Of course, that’s just one story among many of our community’s kind and generous spirit. The storm really brought out the best in people. Whether it was the four guys that helped put up shutters on my home, or the hundred volunteers that cleaned up both our church and my kids’ school, it was heartening to see everyone come together to help. As Thanksgiving approaches, it has me thinking about how fortunate my family and I truly are. I’m so grateful Fort Myers didn’t take a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. My business recovered pretty easily and is going strong once again. But, most of all, I’m glad that everyone I know is safe and sound, allowing us to put Hurricane Irma behind us.

After the rain stopped, I think most of us could breathe a little easier. Even so, it was tough to get back to business as usual. Within four or five days, the power was back on at VanDyk Mortgage and we tentatively returned for work. Still, few of us had power at our own homes. The lack of air conditioning in the sweltering heat, not to mention the post-storm stress, made for a slightly cranky work atmosphere. We had no power at my house for seven days. The grid for our neighborhood went back up after about three, so most of our neighbors were able to crank up their AC, lights, and internet. But the transformer right outside our house had been damaged, leaving our home and a couple others in the dark. In the sweltering heat, the

–Tim Hart NMLS #354676

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Following a heck of fig t, I brought him onboard. Soon after that, Travis was able to reel in a truly massive hog. In the end, we only ended up with those three reds, that first massive one I brought in after breaking the banana curse and the two others. We weren’t going to be taking home that $3,000 prize. Still, we had a blast, and it was all for a good cause. Speaking of a good cause, I interviewed Kati Miser, the principal of St. Michael’s Lutheran School, for my trademark “3 Questions,” a few days after the event. She told me that the tournament had resulted in a huge turnout. It was a ton of fun for adults and kids alike, and best of all, we raised over $50,000 for the school. For the first question, I gave her one that I hear a lot myself: “What makes St. Michael’s different from a public school?” The biggest thing, she told me, is that it’s a Christian school. “We have the ability to share God’s love and forgiveness and grace and all those wonderful things that you just can’t do in the public school sector.” Not only that, but it has an academic program that’s “second to none,” along with a robust arts program. This all results in well-rounded kids with a wide variety of skills and talents.

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with their tail, and retreat. You need to give them time before you can get them hooked. We kept switching spots, but the buggers just wouldn’t bite. Kyle and Captain Red, for whatever reason, decided to go wading, while Travis and I stayed up in the boat. We knew the fishing had been slow, but still, we didn’t expect our team to start abandoning ship so early! After they decided to pack it in and head back to the boat, Kyle noticed something: The cameraman was eating a banana! Now, any sport fisherman knows that a banana is the last thing you want to bring aboard, an omen of bad luck. Kyle demanded the cameraman scarf it down and throw it in the trash. For me, though, that wasn’t enough: the whole thing had to go fully off the boat. So the cameraman tossed it into the water. Within thirty seconds after abandoning the bad luck charm, I had a monster on the line. After some intense wrangling, I managed to pull the sucker into the net. It was a big, beautiful redfish, 26 1/2 inches and perfect for the tournament. The first catch of the day. As soon as he threw the banana peel into the water, we had another red on the line.

For my last question, I asked what she’s learned from being a principal. “Well I’ve learned a lot about grace,” she said, laughing. “There are a lot of challenges. You need to listen to those around you … and accept a lot of grace from them when you mess up. You can give [the kids] an example of how you’re learning from your mistake or that you’re still growing in a certain area, and the kids appreciate that.” All in all, our conversation made me even more confident that my kids are in good hands at St. Michael’s. As always, I was thrilled to be a part of the “Fishin’ With a Mission” tournament, and I’m looking forward to getting out there again next year. What unlucky object did the cameraman bring on the boat? The first person to email the correct answer to thart@vandykmortgage will win two free dinners at Zaxby’s Fort Myers location.

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Answer the question on Page 2 and win dinner for two at Zaxby’s!

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Inside This Issue 8280 College Parkway Suite #101 Fort Myers, FL 33919 Finding Gratitude in Hurricane Irma’s Aftermath PAGE 1 Testimonial Train Your Brain! PAGE 2 FHA 203 Housing PAGE 3 Rates & Reels: Teaming Up With Travis Smith and Kyle Curry PAGE 4

NOVEMBER’S RATES & REELS Teaming Up With Travis Smith and Kyle Curry

You might remember that last May, VanDyk Mortgage was a proud sponsor of the annual “Fishin’ With a Mission” tournament fundraiser for Saint Michael’s School, where my children attend. This month’s episode of Rates & Reels was all about the event. My good buddies, Coach Travis Smith from Mariner High football (who you might remember from our August issue) and Kyle Curry from Captain Steamer Carpet Cleaner, joined me out on the boat to see if we could win the $3,000 first prize (spoiler alert: we didn’t). We joined up with Captain Robby “Red” McCarthy of Bokeelia Concierge Services to lead us on the journey. As we were cruising out to the fishing spot, I gave the team the lowdown. According to the rules of the competition, we had to catch two redfish, one trout, and one mangrove snapper. Whichever team had the highest total weight would win. Unfortunately for us (but lucky for the fish) it was a “live release” environment, meaning we had to let go of

cut pinfish, poor little guys who “lost” their tail, we hoped the blood in the water would draw in some heavy hitters. Fishing for Redfish with cut bait takes patience. They’ll come over, nip on the bait, back off, slap it a little Continued on page 2 ...

everything we reeled in. “Can we release the fish into a net?” Travis asked, chuckling. For our first casts of the day, we started out fishing for redfish. With our hooks baited with

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