About Peter

After graduating from the University of California in 1968, I worked as an engineer and a commissioned officer in Oklahoma and Montana for the U.S. Public Health Service. I oversaw the design and installation of water systems and waste water disposal systems for the individual homes and the small communities for the American Indian.

My family and I built our home on 40 acres in Montana. We milled all of the timbers for our home from the trees on our land with our own sawmill. Needless to say, it was quite an undertaking!

I have been arranging the financing for home buyers and the refinancing for homeowners in Santa Cruz County and throughout California since 1986. I have taught real estate finance mini-seminars through Cabrillo College and City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department. One of the highlights of my career is to have been selected to write the financing column every Sunday in the Business Section of the Santa Cruz Sentinel. I have been writing that column, “Lending a hand”, every week since 1995. Click here (or on "Peter's Column" at the top of any page) to review the current column and archived columns.

I married my sweetheart, Mary Ann Kirch, in 2000 after a 10 year courtship. We are avid scuba divers on a quest to see as many dive sites in the world as possible before they are either fished out or discovered by the masses. We have also (just recently) discovered the thrill of skiing in fresh powder and are planning on a heli-skiing trip to Canada.

We have just purchased two horses and are now learning how to get them to do what we want. We keep them on a ranch in Corralitos. We have enjoyed running them on the beach and plan on trailering them to sites to take advantage of horseback camping.

To stay in shape, I run, take strength and fitness training (which includes some yoga) and bike. Towards the goal of being able to at least entertain myself, I am taking piano lessons weekly.

My Family

My wife, Mary Ann Kirch, has been a mortgage consultant since 1989 and is the President of Santa Cruz Home Finance.

My oldest son, Dante is 39 and works for Toyota as a supervising engineer in southern California. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley in mechanical engineering, he was hired by Toyota and spent 5 years in Japan learning the ropes. He is fluent in Japanese and uses the language to communicate with fellow workers and company headquarters. Dante is married to Lisa, who is taking a leave from the law profession to be Mom for their son, Coen, born in March, 2006.

My son Tai is 37 and is a mortgage consultant at Santa Cruz Home Finance. He graduated from Chico and spent two years in law school followed by 7 years as a river raft guide in the summers and a manager of a cross country ski resort in the winters in the Sierras. He is married to Maria and they have two daughters, Tallulah, 4 and Chloe, 1.

My daughter Julianna, 30, graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara and after extensive worldwide travels worked for the Santa Barbara City College as a Program Advisor for the School of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management. Julianna is also a licensed massage therapist, specializing in pregnancy massage. She is married to Mike, who is a sales manager for SONOS, a popular and amazing music system management tool, in Santa Barbara. She is now a fulltime Mom to their son, Theo, born in December, 2006.

Employment

2001 – Present
Co-Owner and Mortgage Consultant
Santa Cruz Home Finance
1535 Seabright Avenue
Santa Cruz, California 95062

1995 – 2002
Co-Owner
Santa Cruz Mortgage Company
1734 Seabright Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

1995 – 2001
California Real Estate Broker of Record
Santa Cruz Mortgage Company

1986 – 2001
Mortgage Consultant
Santa Cruz Mortgage Company
Santa Cruz

1985 – 1986
Realtor
ERA Real Estate Center
Santa Cruz

1973 – 1984
Water Systems Contractor
Polson, Montana

1968 – 1973
Officer
U.S. Public Health Service

Education

1967
Bachelor’s Degree, Civil Engineering
UC @ Berkeley

1968
Masters Degree, Structural Engineering
UC @ Berkeley