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Monique Buchanan, your real estate specialist, talks all things real estate. On this show she covers the processes of buying and selling a home. The Monique Buchanan informs you on best practices to navigate the housing market so that you can start building your wealth through home equity.
Announcer 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. The
Wesley Knight 0:04
content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. You
Becky Coins 0:40
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Monique Buchanan show. I know I'm not Monique Buchanan. This is Becky coins. Monique's partner in all things real estate. So sit back. We're going to have a special show today. I have a special guest as usual, who pops on from time to time. Mr. Valentino
Anthony Valentino 1:01
Becky, thank you so much for having me, and I appreciate with this special episode while Monique is abroad, we're we're gonna kick it in high gear and and educate her viewers and listeners on all things home ownership.
Becky Coins 1:15
Yeah, thanks for joining me. Of course, this is my first solo act, so y'all are going to have to bear with me. Monique's out of town handling some business, so we're going to take over. So Anthony, I wanted to talk a little bit today to educate all of our buyers and sellers out there, everybody that's interested in real estate about what to do and what not to do when purchasing a home.
Anthony Valentino 1:41
Those two questions are, are can make or break a deal for sure, the things of what to do and things of what not to do, or the like you said, do's and don'ts, what wins deals and what kills deals. So yeah, I'm looking, looking forward to these, to these bullet points that you're about to show us and give us some facts.
Becky Coins 2:02
Yeah, as always, we talk about on here, Mo and I kind of go back and forth. We've talked to you about having the right team in place, because having the team that understands what makes and breaks a deal all the time, to me, is one of the most important things. That's why I like working with you. That's why I like working with Mo. That's why the team that we have in place, I feel, is really, really solid, because we try to educate all of our clients as well as possible, to set them up for success always,
Anthony Valentino 2:30
yeah, and I think it's more important, too. In this day and age, there's so much misinformation out there with technology and social media and and, you know, Aunt Nancy that it's really hard to dispel, like, what's real and what's what's not real, what's factual and what's not actual. So hopefully these do's and don'ts help people kind of understand what they need to do to prepare and what will kill their deal if they don't.
Becky Coins 2:59
Yeah. So you know, anytime we get a client that kind of reaches out to us and they say, Hey, Beck, hey, Mo how do we get started? And the first thing that we always do is we send them to our lender, Mr. Valentino. We say, hey, we want to get you guys approved, and not just pre approved. So many lenders out there just do the pre approval thing, and I've seen deal after deal fall apart later down the line because they're not vetting all the information. So that's one of the reasons why I'm so happy that you're here, Anthony, because you get to explain how we go through the process of getting them not just pre approved, but underwritten approved. What does that mean to be underwritten approved?
Anthony Valentino 3:40
Yeah, so most people kind of start this process backwards, right? They, they they're, they're, they're, they're Doom scrolling at night, or they're, they're, they're looking at Zillow, and then they fall in love with the house before they ever know their numbers, before they ever know what it looks like on paper, what their payment is, what their out of pocket is how their quality of life is going to change if they need to go into a bigger payment. And so just like you said, the biggest do is you don't want to just get pre approved, where some people just do an application and and they don't send any paperwork, they don't vet it out. They don't have anyone certify it, and that could lead to problems when you go into contract, because if you're not getting an underwritten approval with the income, with the employment, with the assets, you could be looking at a time bomb that could blow up the deal. And it's really important just to take the day or two make sure you're working with a lender that doesn't just pre approve you, but fully underwrites you, so that way there's no surprises, and it's smooth sailing, and you can focus on finding that right house.
Becky Coins 4:50
Yeah, absolutely. And I also want to say the caveat with that too is too many people do that little, quick application. Sometimes they get shut down, and then they get discouraged. We. Had, you know, we talked about that on the show many times too, where we've had a lot of clients who didn't think they could be approved. And then we send them over to you sir, as usual. And then you come out and go, Oh no, no, no, no. If we do X, Y and Z, it really is possible. The number is 7029, 84, 3700, so once we've gotten the approval. Now, Anthony, I try to make sure you tell me how you feel about this. But my biggest thing with talking to clients is, don't just shop your price, but shop your payment.
Anthony Valentino 5:31
Yeah, 100% that statement, right there a lot of people, you know, they think that the price is what it needs to be. So I see clients all the time, they're like, Well, I just want to wait till maybe this price goes down. And especially in this market, it's not it's not the typical market. Whereas, when we're looking at these houses sit for longer, especially in Vegas, it's not an opportunity, so to speak, for the buyers to low ball or to get a different price, because, you know, those sellers have interest rates that are probably in the twos or threes. In fact, 61% of Americans own their houses outright, and so there's very few that are going to panic sell or fire sell. So if you know, I've seen many deals lost over five or 10 or 15 or 20 grand because they were stuck on the price and not the payment. And then when I show that payment, you know, would only go up, like seven bucks a month, it's like, oh, wow, I just lost that house in that zip code with that pool over $7
Becky Coins 6:36
yeah, sometimes it's just the psychology of it. They just get wrapped up in in just what that looks like psychologically.
Anthony Valentino 6:43
That's right, I agree.
Becky Coins 6:45
So, yeah, so definitely, you know, when we're walking through everybody, we make sure that, you know, make sure we're looking at the payment there. People aren't fire selling their houses. Guys like, we try to tell, you know, just because a house has been sitting on a market for a minute, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're desperate and they're fire sailing, and that low ball is the way to go. By all means, we're kind of in a bit more of a balanced market. Would you say, Anthony,
Anthony Valentino 7:07
yeah, you know, I would say that, especially post covid, people were so used to just not having inventory. So when they say a flood of inventory, we're still over, you know, maybe, you know, 10% which is not a big swing in inventory from what we've seen last year. So yes, there are houses more for sale, but it's a balanced market. And you know, as soon as we see these rates go down, you know, that's that's when we're going to see the market flood in. You just have to understand like, do you want to walk away from this, or do you want to look at the numbers to make sure that the payment makes sense and you still make it a win? Yeah. Always everybody asks, what's you know? You're busy trying to time the market, or when is the best time to buy a house? And we always say, you know, yesterday, always yesterday. Hindsight is 2020, that's right. And I always tell people, I always tell people, Becky, it's always you never want to try to time the market. You always want to try to time the amount of time you're in the market. You know, timing the market. You're on the sidelines being in the market. You're building equity, you have tax incentives, pay down principle future, you know, appreciation, with cash flow, with turning it into a rental in a couple years, you can't get any of that when you're on the sidelines, timing the market. So never let the market dictate when you're going to jump
Becky Coins 8:32
in. Yeah, absolutely. And, I mean, I always kind of stress too. One of the things I say over and over and over again is, you know, everybody's worried right now, there's so much chaos going on, and we don't know, and there's so much uncertainty. And, you know, I always try to press upon anybody. You know, the safest thing you can do is own the roof over your head. I just have always felt that that calms the chaos, like, if you find a way you don't have a landlord coming at you, saying, Hey, I'm going to sell my house. Hey, I've had to let my house go. Hey, you know, whatever the situation may be, you know, if you own the home that you live in, it gives you much more of a sense of peace, and it also gives you something to build on.
Anthony Valentino 9:10
Yeah, it's, if anything, it's the, it's the single most wealth building vessel for the American, you know, family and and and that's the big thing right now is, you know, we have a tug of war between lifestyle and our future self, and this is the first time that a generation is going to actually be poorer than their current self in the future. And what I mean by that is because of the lifestyle that we're having now with the apps and subscriptions and couple vacations per year and eating out that is now eroding our financial future, and it's because of instant gratification, whereas when you're saving money, it doesn't feel the same. It doesn't, doesn't hit the same not knowing that they are eroding their financial future because of of what they're doing today.
Becky Coins 10:10
Absolutely so if you guys are just tuning in, this is Becky coins. I am standing in for Monique Buchanan today, who's out handling business. And I've got another none other than our lender, Mr. Valentino, on the line if you want to give us a call, 7029 84, 3700 to get back in. We're talking about our dues. So you know the what we want to do, as far as getting everything going, we want to get fully underwritten approved. We want to make sure that you're shopping for your payment, not just your price. Don't get hung up on that number. Let's that leads kind of into, you know, one of my other do's, which is build a relationship with your lender. So if you build that relationship with your lender early, he can discuss all of that with you, and he's helped guiding you all the way.
Anthony Valentino 10:57
That's right. And it's really about not just looking at the now, but looking at and preparing for the future, right, three to five years ahead, not just for today. So it's important to when you're getting approved, you want to see your overall debt to income ratio. Where's your money going? You know you're exchanging your time for money. Where is it going? And you know, for lenders who are worth their weight in salt, they should be able to look at that and do an analysis and go, Hey, here's the big pie of your financial life, and here's the slices that you're serving. And a lot of people will be surprised when they see 50, 60% could easily go from eating out and a lot of extracurricular activities to simply saving to where in 12 months they are now financially sound because they're homeowners.
Becky Coins 11:45
Yeah, that's what that's another reason why I love working with you. You give everybody a plan. You don't just do the quick, let's get this done and over with. You don't treat anybody as just a deal to be done and over with and discarded afterwards. You map out everything. You go through everything very thorough, and you kind of give everybody a plan, and that's whether you give them, hey, yes, it's an easy, underwritten, approved or, Hey, we might need to do a little bit of work here. And, you know, it might take us a couple more months. You think you're ready right now, but we can do this in three months from now. And you give everybody a plan,
Anthony Valentino 12:16
yeah, and I'll say the last do. That's the main driver, is you need to have confidence when you're buying a house. If you don't have confidence in yourself, confidence in the market, then you're going to be on those sidelines, and you're going to let fear dictate what you do, and you do not want outside sources dictating what you do for your family. So chase those nose. Don't be afraid to fail. Don't be afraid for locked doors. Whatever option we need to have, the only way to get to a destination is if you know the journey, you know the roadmap, so that's where it starts. And then understanding, okay, the next step. Let's get approved. How do we do that? We we understand our numbers. And so it's really important to not just think about today, but what's going to happen the next three to five years,
Becky Coins 13:04
absolutely. So we've gone through, you know, a lot of our dues. What I want to start touching on is a little bit of what our absolute don'ts are. What would kill a deal if we are mid transaction, we're we got you guys going, we've got an offer in, it's accepted, and now we're working. So one of the things I want to talk about is absolutely don't make any financial moves mid transaction, particularly without speaking to your lender. Nothing. Absolutely no transactions.
Anthony Valentino 13:34
Yeah, that's so important, because a lot of people, when they're making their first home purchase, they, you know, probably have the credit that they need, or they probably, you know, need to, want to get some other upgrades, whether it's automobiles or furniture. And just like you said, you do not want to make any financial moves mid transaction or before transaction, I've had people, you know, I tell them, they're, they're approved and clear to close, and then they go out and buy a sports car, not understanding that, hey, wouldn't when I want to advise you not to get any debts, that's what I meant, you know, and it will affect your approvability and whether it's your credit or whether it's your debt to income ratio, or your quality of life. So it's definitely important make sure you're communicating with your lender and your agent, and you're not making any big financial moves,
Becky Coins 14:21
and that includes paying off things too, doesn't it?
Anthony Valentino 14:24
It does, yeah, because a lot of people will think they're doing the right thing of paying stuff off when they may not necessarily be paying it off. The right way for the algorithm to have the best recourse on their credit. And we have tools as lenders to go, Hey, pay this off here. Do this off here, and your score is going to go here. We can do rapid rescore. We can do what if scenarios. It's just, I encourage people to unless you know for a fact what you're doing. Wait for someone to advise you, to give you solid facts so you're doing it correctly.
Becky Coins 14:56
Absolutely. I tell all of our clients I don't care you think you're doing the right. Thing. Oh, I'm gonna go pay off this credit card. I'm gonna go pay off my car. Absolutely. You call. You call. Do not do anything without running it by your lender. So also, like we said, Don't confuse approved with you. Just mentioned that clear to close. So we get a clear to close a few days before we're actually closing the transaction. And a lot of people think, okay, good to go,
Anthony Valentino 15:24
yeah, and that's the biggest misconception. Is people don't understand that the day that we fund on their home, we do a soft credit poll. It's not a hard but it checks for any inquiries, any added debt, any, you know, unforeseen circumstances, like collections. So just because we're approved, even if we're clear to close until you fund and record on that home and it's officially yours, you do not want to make any other decisions that could jeopardize that. So in our world, we have initial approval or conditional approval, which means the underwriter approved you, but we need these conditions. And then we have clear to close full approval, meaning there's no more conditions, and we're sending you to the document department to sign. And then you have the funding date, which is when we actually fund and disperse the money. And then we have the recordation date, where they record and it's actually in your name, and that's when you can pop the champagne and and bring out the balloons and and rejoice on the accomplishment that you've done
Becky Coins 16:26
absolutely. I tell everybody, nothing is yours until I have handed you keys, until the keys are in your hand. Do nothing, nothing different. So the other thing I want to talk about, too is not skipping once we go into our contract, you've got an accepted offer. We're now moving into our contingency phases. We're going along with our deal. So I always recommend and tell all of my clients that during that contingency period, you have an inspection time frame in which you can get all inspections done with the house. Some people get caught up and they think, no big deal. I don't need an inspection. I advise everybody always. I don't care how great everything looks on the outside. I don't care how new the house is. None of that matters. But never skip on an inspection or a contingency just to get your deal approved. Do you agree with that statement?
Anthony Valentino 17:23
I do? You know you're mitigating risk. And the three to five to $600 on a hundreds of 1000s of dollars of a house, you want to make sure you get that microscope out. You want to see the foundation, the roof, the electrical, the plumbing, these are big ticket items that you know, a lot of people may not you know, tell you or show you, and you want to be protected. So you definitely want to get that, that inspection, which is different than an appraisal, you know, because an appraisal, that's the value of the house, the inspection is everything that you can't see, and it is so important, you definitely want to do that to make sure you're setting yourself up to where you're not, you know, again, buying a house that's going to be a money pit down the line.
Becky Coins 18:06
Yeah, everybody, well, I don't know about everybody, this younger generation probably hasn't seen that movie, The Money Pit, but I remember
Anthony Valentino 18:14
that movie,
Becky Coins 18:15
right? So, yeah, absolutely. And owning a home comes with a lot of responsibilities. So, you know, getting a house, whether even it's brand new or it's a resale home, you know, there is upkeep and maintenance and things that do go on with the house, I mean, and that becomes your responsibility. So going in with as much knowledge about that property as possible, to me, is, you know, a win, win.
Anthony Valentino 18:38
Yeah, that's facts. You're spitting facts, and even though you have that liability, that's why you have homeowners insurance, that's why you have warranty insurance, you know, so you're not hitting big ticket items, just like, you know, health insurance. You know, we spread it out over a long period of time, but the economics of home ownership versus renting and making a landlord rich and putting their kids through college and sending them off on lavish vacations, all because of the insecurities and fear of Americans that needs to stop. We need to get them into home ownership, and it starts with understanding and confidence.
Wesley Knight 19:16
Monique Buchanan has served the community for over 10 years, helping homeowners, probate, families, first time buyers with zero down grants and investors nationwide, serving all 50 states and 24 countries worldwide, 702-984-3700, at realtor Monique Buchanan on Instagram, the Monique Buchanan team experience you can trust. And now back to the Welcome Home Show.
Becky Coins 19:40
I don't think. I don't know if I told you this or not, with what I'm going through right now, but about two weeks ago, I came home and I went to go open my front door, and there was water coming out my front door, and I stepped into my front entryway, there's water. And I'm like, my whole downstairs, like half of it is got water everywhere. And I'm like, What in the world is going on? And I physically couldn't do a whole lot, because I had just had, you know, some issues in the hospital with my back. So I'm sitting there panicking, and it was the toilet tank had cracked, which I didn't know was a thing.
Anthony Valentino 20:14
Wow, did
Becky Coins 20:14
you know that was a thing?
Anthony Valentino 20:15
Wow. No, I didn't know. I mean, porcelain, the crack, that's, that's, that's crazy, yeah,
Becky Coins 20:22
and my daughter had just left for work, so, and it was, as a matter of fact, it was like, I think it was two weeks ago when we taped the show. And so I had just come home, and there was like a two hour window between my daughter leaving and me coming home, and the water was just running and running and running. And, yeah, so I had quite the little chaos happened in there. We cleaned up. And, you know, it after the panic set in at first, you know, then I had to call up, like you said, the homeowner's insurance. And I was like, Hey, I got all this water going everywhere, and I want to make sure that I'm protected, you know, because at first you're thinking, okay, just pull the fans out and dry everything out. And then I started thinking, well, we need to get the right people out here. So I am actually living in a construction zone as we speak, as the water mitigation people are done, and I'm waiting on the contractor to come over, because they had to tear apart half of my downstairs.
Anthony Valentino 21:13
Joys of homeowner,
Becky Coins 21:14
right? The joys of home ownership. But I'll tell you what I've been I even told Mo. I said, I'm looking at the silver lining in this I was I've been in my house for coming up on 14 years, I believe 1314, years, and it's been a while we've been super busy doing everybody else's stuff. So I was like, Yeah, you know, we've been talking about redoing and updating things. I said, Well, this is getting it jump started. So the insurance company is going to pay for part of it, and then we're going to pay for the other part of it, and we're redoing the whole downstairs now. So
Anthony Valentino 21:43
amazing, amazing.
Becky Coins 21:45
So when we do that, that's going to add value to my property, not my landlord,
Anthony Valentino 21:51
that's right.
Becky Coins 21:52
So also, let's go back to some of our don'ts. We talked about, don't making any financial moves, whether you think you're paying something off or making any purchases mid transaction. You know, don't confuse your approval with clear to close until you are done, until the keys are in your hand. We are everything has to stay the same unless you've talked to your lender. Don't skip your inspections by all means. No contingencies just to win deals. But you know, don't let the monthly payment blind you to the total cost. How would you weigh that? Anthony,
Anthony Valentino 22:28
yeah, yeah. I mean the big the big takeaway here is you want to be unapologetically curious about home ownership. You want to ask as many questions as possible. You know, don't be afraid of being a bugaboo, of always asking your realtor and lender or insurance rep or title rep, you know, the questions, because this is, this is a massive purchase you're doing, and you don't want to go into it with full hands, you know, tied behind your back. You want to make sure okay, I know what I'm doing. I know why I'm doing it, I know how I'm doing it, and that confidence is going to get you so far in home ownership. It just surprises so many people. When I talk to my clients, they go, I never imagined I'd be in the situation I'm in, especially my clients were first time home buyers a couple years ago. Now they're buying their second home, or their investment home, or for their kids going into college, and they have so much information now and knowledge that they didn't have, you know, before, and it's just amazing to see, and it's just it starts with conversations like we're having right now. Yeah,
Becky Coins 23:38
absolutely, you know, Mo and I have talked extensively about why we got into real estate, and you know, some of that had to do with our own buying experiences. You know, the realtor that I had made me feel, you know, like I was in irritation for asking a question, and we had never bought a home before. We'd only rented, you know, I didn't really know the ins and outs. I didn't know how anything worked, and it just made me feel like I was a bother. And I tell my clients, I have clients all the time like I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, and I'm like, please do not be sorry. You can bother. You can ask. We don't we do not treat our clients like that at all, because we know what that was like. That's, you know, we have a passion for doing this, you know. Yes, we, you know, we pay our bills with this, but it's not about that. We really, truly enjoy what it is that we do and educating everybody and making them feel confident.
Anthony Valentino 24:30
That's right, everyone has a story, and I love having a front seat and hearing everyone's story. It's home ownership is a big deal. It's not only a big financial decision, but it's a lifestyle decision, knowing that no one's ever going to tell you to move anymore. You can paint the walls whatever you want. You can get the puppy you want. You can get the zip code you want the kids are going to have. You know, familiarity of you know, the neighborhood. This is textbook example of. Really making sure that life has an experience and not just a price tag. And so you know, definitely everything that you said on the do's and don'ts, it's, it's a non negotiable and it's must needed when you're looking to start this journey of home ownership.
Becky Coins 25:17
Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to ask you, as a lender, in your point of view, when we go out and we're structuring deals, what do you think is important in how we structure deals, to get our deals across the finish line?
Anthony Valentino 25:30
Well, obviously you and Mo, you know, get the clients fully underwritten approved, and so the clients know their payment, know their out of pocket, know their options, know the economy, but that's half the deal. The other half is getting the offer accepted, and so by having contingencies that are cut in half, hey, we can close in 21 days. We can make the appraisal back in five days. We can make the loan approval back in seven days. By cutting those contingencies and having the communication with the team, you know, with the lender, on the emails, with the correspondence of the sellers, that seller's agent is going to look at that and go, Wow, this team is on it. They have done their homework. This is a rock solid buyer who's ready to produce quickly. And if there's multiple offers, they're going to look at you and go, Well, I know exactly what's going on here. They're so transparent, you're going to get the offer. So I think our world is about answering questions before they're asked, especially in real estate, and the less contingencies there are for the seller, then the more opportunity we have for the buyer to get their offer accepted. Because in real estate, there's there's not one winner. There has to be two winners on both sides, and it takes communication from a good team in order to achieve that
Becky Coins 26:44
absolutely, I totally, totally agree. I am I can't believe that this half hour has gone by as fast as it already has. I am so appreciative to you tone for coming on with me as I stumble through having to handle this all on my own, I'm very grateful for you as always
Anthony Valentino 27:06
amazing, both you and the reason why I love working with you ladies is because you make everyone around you feel like the most important person in the room, whether their net worth is a single mom looking for a condo or a multi million dollar purchase, you understand them on a personal level, and you ask them, what's your story, and you talk with them, not to them. And we live in a world where we are talked to more than we're talked with. So I just want to applaud you for being an amazing human that puts her fiduciary obligation to her client.
Becky Coins 27:44
Oh, well, thank you. Right back at you so everybody, once again, the phone number is 7029. 84, 3700, and feel free to reach out and see what we can do for you guys. Thank you guys so much.
Monique Buchanan 27:58
Thank you for listening. Please remember all terms discussed are simply an estimate. My license number is S, 1788, 46, my phone number, if you'd like to contact me, is 702-984-3700, you can also find me on YouTube. You.
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