Congratulations to Rajiv Sanghvi on the 22nd Anniversary of "Swar Bahar" Radio Program in Michigan

On January 19, 1986, Swar Bahar Radio Program aired its first program on WNZK. The hosts at the time were community leaders, Dr. Bharat and Jaydevi Sanghvi of Livonia, Michigan. Their son Rajiv was not hosting the show at that time. He just announced all commercial advertisements and the hourly station identification. Little did listeners know that Rajiv was running the mixing board every week. Later that year, when Dr. Sanghvi was significantly traveling for Ford Motor Company, Rajiv took to the microphone on his behalf. The rest as they say is history and now Swar Bahar Radio Program is hosted by the second generation, American Born, Rajiv Sanghvi.

Over the years along with local community leaders and political dignitaries, the show has interviewed many Bollywood personalities, which include: Shahrukh Khan, Rekha, Aishwariya Rai, Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Asha Bhosle, Sunil Dutt, Amir Khan, and the list just continues.

The Sanghvi’s chose WNZK as a radio station due to its tremendous listening radius and clarity on the radio. It was the only Ethnic Station in Detroit that did not fade under overpasses on the expressway and could be heard in a near 70-mile radius of the Greater Metro Detroit Area. Windsor Ontario and Toledo Ohio listeners also enjoy the weekly program since 1986.

Quoting Rajiv

The hardest thing about the show is that no matter what happens in your life the show must be on the air every Sunday Morning

Rajiv has experienced this first hand when his 2 1/2 year-old son was diagnosed with Cancer over 5 years ago. Throughout the treatment process locally and in New York, the show did air each and every week.

As for future of the Swar Bahar Radio Program, Rajiv has this to say

We are fortunate to have been on the air for so many years. When we started the program there were only two other shows and none on Sunday Morning. Now we have eight programs in our community. We all cater to the same demographic and same advertisers for the most part. I am pleased to say that we have some sponsors that have not missed a week since we started in 1986. That’s about 1,144 shows and the cost to produce over the past 22 years has been over $340,000 in making the show happen every week. The other shows cost less than half as they transmit at 20%-25% of the power we do. So trying to convey to the sponsors that we reach more people is always a challenge as our cost to produce is double due to our air time, listening audience, and range. Financially the commitment is large for an hour long program. Which in reality is a community service and not a business proposition.

Rajiv's Swar Bahar Radio Program can be heard every Sunday Morning from 11:00 a.m. to Noon (EST/EDT) on WNZK 690 AM and on the web at www.wnzk.com. For Comments, Requests, and Community announcements, email Rajiv Sanghvi at: mydesimusic@gmail.com

Why Is The Time To Refinance now?

This post contributed by Rajiv Sanghvi.

Even if your loan isn't going to reset in the near future, there are good reasons not to wait. Declining home values eat into your equity, making it harder to get a new loan.

Rates on 2 million mortgages are scheduled to rise by the end of 2008. If yours is one of them, consider refinancing now -- if you still can.

Falling home values are eroding people's equity rapidly enough to the point that a favorable refinance may not be possible soon. Even some who have plenty of equity now will face limited options and higher costs in the coming months.

The reason is the 'refinance math' lenders do depends on how much equity you have in your home. More than 212 lenders have stopped lending altogether (www.mortgageimplode.com) and have ceased to exist since the last quarter in 2006. A recent casualty was National City Mortgage (12/31/07) on the wholesale lending side. Think these simple facts through:

• If your mortgage and other home loans equal 80% or less of your home's worth, you'll typically have the most choices and be offered the best rates, contingent on your credit scores and the loan amount being under $417,000.
• As your equity shrinks, though, rates tend to get higher and terms get stricter. Every time you slip over an equity benchmark -- 85%, 90% and 95% -- rates tick up and your options decrease.
• Once you owe more on your house than it's worth, your alternatives pretty much none, at least in today's mortgage market. Lenders who were once eager to make 100% or more loan-to-value mortgages have either exited the business or turned away from these high-risk loans.

Risk is in the waiting, not acting
Recently, only those who had to worry about not having adequate equity were those who purchased with zero or little money down. Even that was a temporary situation, as ever-rising home values continued to supply more equity.

Now that home prices are dropping in many areas, due to the foreclosures on the rise and excess inventory, the easy equity gains have turned into equity erosion. Someone with a $400,000 mortgage would have an 80% loan-to-value on a home worth $500,000, but if that home drops 10% in value, to $450,000, the same loan now represents about+/- 89% of the home's value. At this point the rates are usually higher or you may need to take out a second mortgage which is at a higher rate. This is usually done to avoid PMI or private mortgage insurance.

If you should be refinancing and are sitting on the sidelines, waiting for lower rates. That might be a gamble worth taking if real-estate values are still strong in your area and the supply of unsold homes isn't building. As prices in major markets continue to decline and there's more than a six-month supply of homes on the market, common sense says to refinance now as 30 year mortgage rates are at their lowest rates in recent years. Especially if you are currently have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage that will expire in the next year or two.

Also debt consolidation has its advantages as once you pay off your credit cards/loans with a home mortgage the effective rate drops and your interest paid is usually tax deductible. Taking equity out of your home in terms of, 'cash out' is beneficial if you will invest those funds at a higher rate of return than you are borrowing. Ideal scenarios are education or other investment opportunities that net you a higher return. Some purchased luxury or high ticket items and deducted the interest on their taxes.

Raj Sanghvi has been a licensed real estate professional since 1989 and has been in the mortgage lending industry for over 11 years. Contact: aofloans@gmail.com or call 800-950-6452. He is a mortgage banker and can lend in 23 states across the USA. Raj is also Host/Producer of Swar Bahar Radio Program which can be heard every Sunday from 11.00 AM to 12.00 noon on WNZK 690 AM and also at www.wnzk.com .

Mumtaz Haque of Troy, MI appointed to Governor's Advisory Council

This announcement from State of Michigan website:

Mumtaz P. Haque of Troy producer and host of Manoranjan Radio Show, is appointed for a term expiring April 30, 2011 to Advisory Council for Asian and Pacific American Affairs. She succeeds Amy K. Stillman whose term has expired.

The Advisory Council for Asian and Pacific American Affairs is charged with serving in an advisory capacity to the governor and alerting her to pertinent issues within the Asian and Pacific American community. It also makes recommendations about programs and policies for the betterment of Asian and Pacific Islanders in Michigan and helps to promote public awareness of Asian and Pacific American culture and accomplishments.

This appointment is not subject to disapproval by the Michigan Senate.

Congratulations Mumtaz!!

Congratulations to Subhash Kelkar on the 30th Anniversary of his Indian Radio Show in Michigan

Last week was the 30th Anniversay of Subhash Kelkar's Geetanjali Radio Show which is heard every Saturday from 9 AM to 10 AM on WPON 1460 AM. Last Week on his show Subhash Kelkar played the 10 best bollywood songs from the past 30 years.

I asked Mr. Kelkar to email me the list of the 10 best songs. He was kind enough to email me the list. Here is the list:

Years
77-78-79    Dafliwale, dafli baja - Sargam (Video)
80-81-82    Tere mere beech mein - Ek Duuje Ke Liye (Video)
83-84-85    Sun Sahiba sun   -   Ram, Teri Ganga Maili
86-87-88    Ek do teen        -   Tezaab
89-90-91    Dekha hai pehli baar  - Saajan (Video)
92-93-94    Ek ladki ko dekha   -  1942, a love story (Video)
95-96-97    Tujhe dekha to ye jaana  - 
            Dilwale dulhaniya le jaayenge
98-99-00    Chhaiyan chhaiyan  - Dil Se
01-02-03    Mitwa, sun mitwa    -  Lagaan
04-05-06    Kajrare kajrare - Bunty aur Babli

एक लडकी को देखा (Ek Ladki ko Dekha)

One of the many songs Subhash Kelkar played this morning on his Michigan Indian Radio Show at WPON 1460.