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People don't call us because they need a mortgage. They call us because they need help making a housing decision.
Mortgage Matters is a Las Vegas, Nevada-based radio show and podcast hosted by mortgage advisors Roland Daniels (NMLS 355859) and Heidi Griffith (NMLS 2247754) with Geneva Financial. Airing every Sunday at 7:30 AM on KUNV 91.5 and available wherever you listen to podcasts, the show explores the real-life decisions, opportunities, challenges, and financial realities that shape where and how we live.
Every week, Roland and Heidi tackle the housing conversations people are already having around kitchen tables, at family gatherings, and on social media. Should I buy or wait? Is my first home supposed to be my dream home? Should I move up, downsize, invest, or stay put? How do I build wealth through real estate? What's the smartest use of my money? Through honest conversations and practical guidance, they help listeners make sense of the choices involved in renting, buying, selling, investing, and planning for the future.
Drawing on decades of mortgage and housing experience, Roland and Heidi break down real mortgage questions, homeownership strategies, down payment assistance programs, FHA loans, VA loans, conventional financing, housing affordability, wealth-building opportunities, and the financial realities that influence housing decisions.
Mortgage Matters also shines a spotlight on the people and organizations working to strengthen communities across Las Vegas and Nevada. Through conversations with housing advocates, nonprofit leaders, educators, elected officials, and local changemakers, the show explores the issues that affect housing, opportunity, economic mobility, fair housing, and homeownership throughout Southern Nevada.
Roland and Heidi are active community educators who lead free homebuyer workshops across Nevada in partnership with organizations including the Nevada Housing Division, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), and Nevada Rural Housing Authority. Roland serves as a director with the local chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), and Heidi serves as President of the Silver State Fair Housing Council, where Roland is also a board member. Together, they bring mortgage expertise, housing advocacy, community involvement, and a passion for helping people make informed housing decisions to every episode.
Announcer 0:00
This is a KU NV Studios original program.
Wesley Knight 0:04
The 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.
Roland Daniels 0:43
Good morning, Las Vegas. Welcome to Mortgage Matters. I'm Roland Daniels, a certified mortgage advisor with Geneva Financial. My NMLS number is 355859 Our company NMLS number is 42056 and I'm here this morning, as always, with my fantastic co-host Heidi Griffith. Good morning.
Heidi Griffith 1:08
Well, good morning, Roland.
Roland Daniels 1:10
Good morning to you.
Heidi Griffith 1:11
How are you this Sunday?
Roland Daniels 1:12
Absolutely fantastic.
Heidi Griffith 1:14
You're always fantastic. How about that weather?
Roland Daniels 1:16
Yeah, it's getting a little warm.
Heidi Griffith 1:18
It's a little warm out, a
Roland Daniels 1:19
little warm. The heat is definitely coming.
Heidi Griffith 1:24
It is, it is. Thank goodness for air conditioning, right? It
Roland Daniels 1:27
is.
Heidi Griffith 1:28
Good morning, Las Vegas. I'm Heidi Griffith. I am also a mortgage advisor and your director of client services. My NMLS number is 2247754 I am super excited today. How about you?
Roland Daniels 1:42
I am.
Heidi Griffith 1:43
I'm super excited this morning. We are joined in studio by the one and only Josie Hatham. She is the Homebuyer Program Specialist for Nevada Housing Division. Good morning,
Roland Daniels 1:54
good morning,
Josie Hatem 1:55
good morning. How are you today?
Heidi Griffith 1:56
Fantastic. Thank you so much for coming back.
Josie Hatem 1:58
Thank you, and thank you for that wonderful intro makes me feel wonderful.
Heidi Griffith 2:02
You are wonderful. We are so excited. You're always welcome in our studio. It's not your first time.
Josie Hatem 2:07
It is not. Yes,
Heidi Griffith 2:08
we've got some great stuff to talk about today, don't we?
Roland Daniels 2:11
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 2:11
before we get started and kind of get to the meat of it, because we're going to talk about the worker advantage in detail today. But before we get started with that, we've got a couple classes coming up, don't we?
Josie Hatem 2:21
Yes, we do. We
Heidi Griffith 2:22
have two this upcoming week.
Josie Hatem 2:24
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 2:24
I'm gonna see you again tomorrow, and then on Tuesday.
Josie Hatem 2:26
That's right, we're gonna.. we're one after another here. We
Heidi Griffith 2:30
are, we are. So, we've got the home buyer education that is going to be on Monday. That's the home is possible for home buyers.
Josie Hatem 2:36
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 2:37
that's an online class. I love online, it makes it so accessible, doesn't it?
Roland Daniels 2:41
It is. And what's the time? What time will we be on?
Heidi Griffith 2:44
We're gonna be on at 330 It's about an hour and a half. We go through all of the Nevada Housing Division programs. Josie is so great at explaining everything.
Josie Hatem 2:54
I love it.
Heidi Griffith 2:55
You know these in your sleep, don't
Josie Hatem 2:56
you? You know, I do, because I've experienced it, you know, and I was able to take advantage, and so to me, I just want to make sure people know, you know, what's out there for them, because without knowing, you'd probably be still sitting there like I did for about 10
Heidi Griffith 3:12
years. Well, we're going to touch on that in a minute, because that's a great, I love that, you know, I tell everyone I know that story.
Josie Hatem 3:17
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 3:18
it's such a good story.
Roland Daniels 3:19
She really does,
Heidi Griffith 3:20
I really do, but, but, so that class is only an hour and a half. It's 330 to 5o'clock We talk about all the programs, don't we?
Josie Hatem 3:28
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 3:28
and then we talk about the lending process, what that looks like to get pre-approved, and there's actually a realtor there who goes over that process. So it really is kind of a really well-rounded class.
Josie Hatem 3:40
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 3:41
yes, easy to hop on credit
Josie Hatem 3:42
in a certificate that is required if you're going to use the Home as Possible program, and if you'd be having access not only to to the Worker Advantage program, but the other programs that are also available through Home as Possible,
Heidi Griffith 3:54
because there's several programs,
Roland Daniels 3:57
and then
Heidi Griffith 3:57
on Tuesday we have another class,
Josie Hatem 4:00
right,
Heidi Griffith 4:01
and that's our real estate CE class, right?
Josie Hatem 4:04
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 4:04
so what does that kind of look like? I know that we, the class is from 10 to one,
Josie Hatem 4:08
yes,
Heidi Griffith 4:09
and it's available to all real estate professionals. You get three CEs for attending,
Josie Hatem 4:14
right?
Heidi Griffith 4:15
Why don't you tell me about that class?
Josie Hatem 4:16
So, for that class, of course, it's for our real estate professionals, it's you get three hours, three CE general credits on that, and basically to that class we're going to touch on everything that you'd want to know for your home buyer. You want to be able to protect your home buyer with the process. You want to know what you're explaining to them, and the best thing we kind of talk about how we can help you market the program. And after you do attend the class, you are then able to go out and we can do classes together, so that is, that's the best thing about it all. And, of course, you're going to find out all the details and things to, you know, to look out for. We can make sure that your home buyers took, you know, did a great start, and you're going to put them, you know, set them up for success.
Heidi Griffith 4:57
Yeah, and I mean, here, here's the fact, so it. You're a real estate professional. If you're a realtor, you're in real estate. Number one, it allows you to help more people that may not have purchased prior to
Josie Hatem 5:09
this
Heidi Griffith 5:09
become homeowners. Right? I know we, Roland and I, have personally, over the past several CE classes that we've done, we've connected with realtors who didn't know that these programs existed, maybe their lenders don't do the programs. We just closed one on last Friday.
Roland Daniels 5:26
We did, and a lot of instances we're still getting phone calls telling us that there are no down payment assistance programs, and there's no money available.
Heidi Griffith 5:37
So, yeah, and so it just, it's a tool in your toolbox, it and gives you knowledge, knowledge is the path forward, right. And again, we're just helping more people achieve their dream of home ownership through these programs,
Josie Hatem 5:51
right? Right. For, you know, it's going to help your phone buyer actually qualify
Roland Daniels 5:55
now,
Josie Hatem 5:55
because you know, a lot of times it's the issue about trying to get the funds together, and that's what holds most of us at, but if you have a program, they have the home and they're ready to go, then there's the funds, right?
Roland Daniels 6:05
Yeah, because on average it takes about seven years for the average person to save up for that down payment.
Heidi Griffith 6:11
And what house prices look like in seven years?
Josie Hatem 6:14
Yes, something to think about. Scary
Heidi Griffith 6:17
thoughts, scary thought, right? So, if you'd like to register for either of our upcoming classes, please feel free. You can reach out, you can give us a call or text us. We're at 702-540-0420 Again, that number is 702540420 So, let's talk about worker advantage.
Josie Hatem 6:36
Perfect.
Heidi Griffith 6:36
How about that? So, this is Nevada Housing's newest program, right?
Josie Hatem 6:40
Yes, this is a program we have now, and it's actually going to just be available up until it's all we originally started for 900 families,
Heidi Griffith 6:48
right,
Josie Hatem 6:48
and now we're to 280 that are still available. So, there's still time for you to get in. It started december 1, so that just kind of gives you an idea of how it's kind of been moving just a little bit, you know, a little bit slow, slower than we thought. So, it's giving us a little bit of time, but when it gets towards the end, it's going to pick up. It's picking up, so keep that in mind. Well,
Roland Daniels 7:07
280 is not that many, so we only have less than a third when we originally started 702540420 Once again, that's 7025404 702540420
Heidi Griffith 7:24
This program already is more than halfway depleted, right? I mean, we're like Roland said, almost third, and a lot of Nevadan workers still don't even know this program exists, so that's why we're going to talk about it today.
Josie Hatem 7:37
Perfect.
Heidi Griffith 7:37
So, Josie, why don't you kind of explain what the worker advantage program is. Roland and I talk about it every single week, but I'd love to hear it coming from you, because you do know all
Josie Hatem 7:48
great. So, the worker advantage program, it is $20,000 in down payment assistance for first set of four categories of workers, so that $20,000 can be used towards down payment, and it can also be used to buy down the rate, and so you can use a full 20, you know, to where you do the down payment assistance, or if you buy down the rate, you'll still have funds available after that to, you know, to apply towards your loan, and in order to qualify for that, you do have to fall within the four categories, so this is not something Nevada Housing Division set up, this is through the AB 540 legis legislators, they set this up, and it was something to be able to help our Nevadans, and requirement is that you have lived in Nevada for at least six months in order to qualify for the program, and if it's not you, if you have your partner who's lived here for six months, or whoever's going to apply on the loan for you, as long as they lived here for six months, but the work categories are construction, health care, first responders, and education. So those are the four categories that were selected to be able to, you know, to qualify for the program. And, of course, you need the minimum of 640 credit score. The income is based off of county, so per county it does vary, and it is household income. And also, what am I leaving out? Do you think I'm missing something here? Is there anything that
Heidi Griffith 9:12
let's kind of go through it, because I want to kind of break down several of those pieces again. Roland, I talk about a lot. This is, this is a program we are 100% behind. You mentioned the, the opportunity to buy down the interest rate, that's the magic sauce. I mean, that's what sets this program apart from any of the programs that we've seen as of late, and with the categories, you know, it sounds like there's four jobs. They really are a lot of folks do fall under the worker advantage program. It just really depends on what you do. So, if you're listening today, and you maybe have a question, well, that sounds like something I might do. We'd be happy to reach. Out to Nevada Housing, we actually reach out to Nevada Housing, and they've got an algorithm that they put in the information and let us know whether or not that position qualifies. So, let's just go into just some of the positions really quickly, like you mentioned, education, right? So, what does that look like? Does that mean teachers?
Josie Hatem 10:18
Well, the best thing about it is that it means just about anybody with an education, so let's say anybody, let's say for the sake of here, Clark County area, pretty much anyone who works in the Clark for the Clark County School District, so you have your school bus drivers, right, you have the teachers, you have the teacher's aides, you have the counselors, you have the front office, if you are employed through the, you know, school district, you qualify for the program. You have our cooks and people, you know, doing maintenance at the school if you are qualified for it. So, this is this is something because, you know, we want to make sure that our schools continue to grow, and you know, they play a big part in our society. So, that is pretty much what education looks like.
Heidi Griffith 10:59
Absolutely. So, so Clark County School District, if you're a Clark County School District employee, if you know a Clark County School District employee, this program was designed for you. Now, let's talk about this. What about, because I know we've got a teacher program, and we may or may not get to that today, but what if I worked at a private school
Roland Daniels 11:18
or charter school?
Josie Hatem 11:19
Yes, private schools, charter schools, they all qualify. Just has to make sure that it's between kindergarten and 12th grade. So, any school, online school, so anybody who works for any of those school districts also qualify.
Heidi Griffith 11:32
So, not just Clark County School District, the entire state.
Josie Hatem 11:34
Yes. Wow, the entire state, Nevada. So, anywhere, anywhere within a school district. Now, unfortunately, if it's a child care center, you know that's not something that would qualify. You have to be, you know, teaching between kindergarten and 12th grade. Higher education is also allowed, but just that's only just the for the instructors, so that would be like for UNLV or CSN, and it, those, it's limited to that, not any of the trade schools, unfortunately, but we were lucky to get, you know, the higher education in there, because basically it was just, they was pretty much just met, you know, from kindergarten to 12th grade, so you know, you got to kind of get a little push there, and luckily we can put the, our, you know, instructors from higher education as well.
Heidi Griffith 12:18
It's like when we first started talking about the program back in December. We were talking about medical, and we got phone calls, and they're like, "So, you have to be a doctor or nurse? That's not the case, is
Heidi Griffith 12:29
it?
Josie Hatem 12:30
No. For medical, so it's kind of the same thing. So, for medical, it would be in a facility where patients are being treated. So, if you work in a hospital, for say any hospital, and if you're working, you're the transporter, the nurse, or you're even helping keep maintenance, or you're checking in patients, you qualify for the program.
Heidi Griffith 12:50
So, if I worked at a hospital in town in Billing, and I work at the hospital,
Josie Hatem 12:54
yes,
Heidi Griffith 12:55
I'm qualified.
Josie Hatem 12:56
Yes, so it have to be, it would have to be at the hospital, because we do have facilities where they don't treat patients
Heidi Griffith 13:01
right,
Josie Hatem 13:02
they're standing there, stand alone, and they're not treating patients. Unfortunately, those wouldn't fall within it. And you have to keep in mind that it's the hospital, in case of an emergency, that we need
Josie Hatem 13:14
for it to keep
Josie Hatem 13:14
functioning.
Heidi Griffith 13:15
So that's why this money was put into use, so that if there were an instance, if we, there was a rash of teachers that there was a great recruiter in another state, and we lost a bunch of
Josie Hatem 13:24
teachers. Okay, teachers are all the nurses or construction workers or first responders. So this is kind of what kind of keeps us going. So that is the way to kind of look at it, kind of helps out a little
Heidi Griffith 13:35
bit. And that was all the legislature, they're the ones who determined.
Josie Hatem 13:39
Yes,
Josie Hatem 13:39
I think they did a great job,
Heidi Griffith 13:41
they did, they did. I agree. We've gotten a lot of folks into homes using these programs, so I know you mentioned hospital, but you don't have to be at a hospital, right?
Josie Hatem 13:48
Nope, doctors' offices as well. So, in a medical medical office, where you're treating patients as well, you would fall within those guidelines. You would qualify for the program,
Roland Daniels 13:58
because a lot of questions that I get on a weekly basis, what about the CNAs, the certified nursing assistants, medical assistants, and let's say home health aides, are they eligible as well?
Josie Hatem 14:09
Yes, for home health aid, that is also one of the one that has been found eligible, because they are taking care of patients, and the best thing is, if you know in doubt, they'd be able to figure, you know, figure it out. We get that submitted and find out if you qualify. The best thing, there's always other programs out there.
Heidi Griffith 14:26
There is, because this is not the only Nevada Housing Division program. I think the reason you and I talk about it so much, Ro, is that number one, funds are limited. We've got some programs that funds aren't limited, that's a continual program, right, until that program ends, this one's going to end when the money is gone.
Josie Hatem 14:43
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 14:43
and we've, I mean, we've made.. we were looking at numbers the other day, we've gotten so many families into homes where they may not have purchased right now with this program,
Roland Daniels 14:54
correct? With the critical piece is buying down that interest rate, which is permanent.
Heidi Griffith 15:00
Let's let this is like I said, that's the magic sauce. Let's talk about this for a second, Josie. So you mentioned that we get $20,000 with the worker advantage,
Josie Hatem 15:09
yes,
Heidi Griffith 15:10
and we can kind of slice it and dice it in a bunch of different ways.
Josie Hatem 15:13
Yes, pretty much.
Heidi Griffith 15:14
Okay,
Josie Hatem 15:15
so you have the option to buy down the rate, and there's two different tiers, so either you get it's 4% of your loan amount, what it would cost you, so then you take, you take it from that 20,000 so it's basically the rate is set and it's going to cost you a percentage of your loan amount, and that's use, you use that $20,000 or you can have get a little bit of a higher tier and you still get to buy down the rate, but then you have money left over to apply towards, you know, your down payment and closing costs. There's many ways to get that set up, and so, yeah, and that's where you do that's all the fun, right? That
Heidi Griffith 15:51
is it, because there's so many options with this, like you said, so we could just use the entire $20,000 for down payment, or closing costs, depending on what you were, it's all about having options, as it is, so depending on
Roland Daniels 16:05
opportunity,
Heidi Griffith 16:05
absolutely, so we can just use all of that $20,000 towards that, but but the way that we've been kind of structuring it, and what's worked best for most of our clients lately has been either the two or the 4% buy down, and what that does is, like Josie said, we just take that, that, that cost out of the $20,000 whatever's remaining after that, you can still apply torture down payment and closing costs,
Roland Daniels 16:30
right?
Heidi Griffith 16:30
We see so many people
Roland Daniels 16:32
in the low fives,
Heidi Griffith 16:33
that's what they've been, that's what they've been, we've seen so many people that are, you know, here I go again with my air quotes, they're waiting for rates to come down. Well, let's, let's, so let's, we've got two scenarios, and I probably told you about both of these, Josie. So, we have a client that closed just a couple weeks ago.
Roland Daniels 16:51
We did
Heidi Griffith 16:52
her realtor was able to do some negotiation, she got her $11,000 in seller credits.
Josie Hatem 16:59
Oh, wow,
Heidi Griffith 17:00
so the house was 340
Roland Daniels 17:03
I think, so somewhere around there.
Heidi Griffith 17:05
It appraised for $5,000 above their offer price, so that's built-in equity.
Roland Daniels 17:10
Yep,
Heidi Griffith 17:11
the realtor got her $11,000 to use towards her closing cost. She used the worker advantage; she actually works in a medical facility, um we bought down the interest rate. It was an FHA. You couldn't touch it if you were just out going and buying a house on, you know, a regular rate sheet.
Roland Daniels 17:32
And we did the 4% rate,
Heidi Griffith 17:34
we did the 4% rate buy down, three and a half percent down FHA. She came to closing. You ready for this. She paid for her earnest money deposit, which was $3,000 She paid for her home inspection and for her appraisal, which was about another $1,000 give or take. So, $4,000 before she closed, she came to closing with $442
Josie Hatem 17:59
Wow,
Heidi Griffith 18:01
cash to close was $442 She purchased a home using the worker advance program through Nevada Housing Division, and it cost her less than it would have to go get a rental.
Josie Hatem 18:14
Right, exactly
Roland Daniels 18:16
right, because you're using this the first month's, last month's rent, and then all of the security deposits and application fees, so it adds up,
Josie Hatem 18:25
right. And shit, and then, and then she's already ahead of the game, because the value of the 5000
Heidi Griffith 18:31
in equity,
Josie Hatem 18:32
right?
Heidi Griffith 18:32
She's able to take her money, grow that money. It's beautiful, isn't it?
Josie Hatem 18:38
Yes, I think that's a great story. Yeah, well, it's great, and it's great when you have someone like you that's out there helping them, because for you to put this program out and to let make you know you take the time every week to make sure people know these programs exist. I truly appreciate it. My job is to make sure you know let people know it exists, but when you're out there doing it every week, I think that says a lot, because as you stated, there's not everyone is out there spreading the news, right, and so, and people are not aware of it because of it. So, you have to get with the right people, and then you know what, we're not the only program out there. So, Heidi and Roland, if they have access to our program, they have access to many programs, and they, I'm sure you talk about the classes and others. So, and that's the best thing, you want to make sure you put someone who's actually going to be able to help you in that way.
Heidi Griffith 19:22
Well, and we do. We've got almost 20 different down payment assistance programs,
Roland Daniels 19:26
but
Heidi Griffith 19:26
time again, time and time again, I'll continue to say Nevada Housing Division is the first stop when we're talking with clients and figuring out what the best route for them forward is. So, let's talk about this really quickly. Do we have to pay that back? Because that's always the, that's the first question we get,
Josie Hatem 19:48
right? Yes, the funds would have to be paid back if you sell, refinance, or move out of the home. And I know they like to tell a story, so if you, how long will it take you to put the funds. The other $20,000 How long will it
Heidi Griffith 20:01
take? Average seven
Roland Daniels 20:03
years.
Josie Hatem 20:04
Okay. All right. So, and what happened? Think about if you started seven years ago, or you did it seven years ago over the prices of the homes. Then
Heidi Griffith 20:11
we don't want to talk about
Roland Daniels 20:12
it, just
Josie Hatem 20:12
and that. Let's, okay, fast forward. If you're going to wait because you don't want to pay it back, you can take, you take those funds, use them for down payment assistance, you know, now, and you're going to build equity by the time you go to refinance, or it makes sense, or you know, you're going to move or sell, it's because it's making sense, it's just going to be pulled out of there, but in the meantime, it's already made you some money, right, so it's way to look at it, and, or else, you know, we don't want to put it together, then we borrow from a friend or family, there's no interest, no payments on that either, but the minute you start taking selfies with food at a restaurant and you haven't paid back that family member, right, they're gonna say, "Where's my money? Why do you have new? Where's that new pair of shoes came from, and you haven't paid me? So we become that friend where you, there's no interest, no payments either, and you know what, the best feeling never is getting into a home and not have asked anyone for anything, where they ask, wow, how did they do it? Because your family and friends would never know, absolutely. So, that's that's the best feeling ever. You're able to do it. I got in there, and it's, you know, it's, you can share the program afterwards, but at that time, you know, you're able to, you're able to reach your goal.
Heidi Griffith 21:20
It's, you know, what it's not a shameful thing. I think it's a great tool to get into home ownership. It takes the average homeowner seven years to save for their down payment, but we also have to think about all of the things that are involved when you buy a home and when you become a homeowner, because it's not free. I mean, you know, there's cost associated
Roland Daniels 21:39
break in the home.
Heidi Griffith 21:40
Well, not only that, but you know, you maybe you do, you know, you stop and you find a, an adorable end table, and you want to buy it,
Roland Daniels 21:48
you have to furnish that,
Heidi Griffith 21:49
or you need a rug for the, you know, the dining room, or whatever, that, or you need landscaping in the backyard, all of those things cost money.
Josie Hatem 21:57
Yep, so if you have your own money, put it aside, use ours, because it's like you're, you're, you're, you're already, you know, you already have the funds. Why use your own? In fact, about 70% of people who use the Home As Possible program had their own funds, and they decided, well, I'm going to keep my money, I'm going to use this money. In the meantime, they can do other things with the money that they already have. When we invest in buying new furniture,
Heidi Griffith 22:21
it's always fun to go shopping, isn't it? It's fun to go shopping, and it's fun to not feel broke when you go shopping,
Josie Hatem 22:27
exactly.
Heidi Griffith 22:28
And we, I mean, we've got, we've got several clients who closed recently who had money in the bank, and they understood the value of this again, you know, talking to people out there. Oh, well, I don't want to have to pay it back. I feel like number one, this is a great opportunity, because Nevada Housing, you know, not necessarily with the worker advantage program, because those were limited funds, but the Home is Possible program, that's your flagship, right? Right, the Home is Possible program, you keep recirculating those funds, so five years from now, when your niece, nephew, kids are purchasing a home, that money is going to be available to them like it was to you.
Josie Hatem 23:08
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 23:09
there is no payment, there is no interest, and you are right. I, from the first class that you and I did together, you told the whole bar from a friend shoe story, and it made me giggle, but it really, it kind of was a light bulb in my head, and I tell that story everywhere we go, and I think that that's important, you know, you're gonna have to pay your, you know, whoever back that's lending you the money,
Josie Hatem 23:35
right?
Heidi Griffith 23:35
You don't have to make any payments, and then when we, you know, kind of pile the worker advantage program onto this with the interest rates, where they are
Roland Daniels 23:43
right, and it's a permanent buy down, that's the key when we're structuring loans.
Heidi Griffith 23:48
Well, it's a, it's a permanent buy down. Nobody has a crystal ball as to where rates are going, you know. So many conversations about, we're waiting for, you know, those two and a half and three and a half percents to come back. Are they coming back? I hope they don't come back, because that means something bad happened.
Roland Daniels 24:02
Well, we don't have that crystal ball, but I do not think they're coming back. We have a new Fed chairman, and they're talking about rates are still going to continue to go up,
Heidi Griffith 24:11
and those are short-term rates that we're talking about with the Fed. Yeah, so I mean, it just.. there's a lot of reasons why this could make sense. Is this great for everybody? No, you know, we all have different goals. We all have different paths forward. We're not telling you you have to use these programs, but they're a tool.
Roland Daniels 24:28
Yes. Average person
Heidi Griffith 24:29
takes seven years. The average person takes seven years. The two biggest barriers to home ownership: credit and money. Let's talk about credit really quickly. Minimum credit score again for the Nevada Housing Division program:
Josie Hatem 24:40
646 40 is minimum credit score,
Heidi Griffith 24:42
and that shouldn't stop you, should it, Josie?
Josie Hatem 24:44
No, it shouldn't stop you. Would
Heidi Griffith 24:46
you mind if I asked you your personal story?
Josie Hatem 24:48
Absolutely. So, when it came time for me to purchase my home, and it was the reason I was going to purchase it, is because I was leasing, and I've been leasing for about 10 years. Years, and suddenly the landlord's like, well, you know, I'm going to sell, and he gave me two months. My credit score was not 640 and at that point I panicked, and I realized, you know, I had been trying to fix my credit for years. You know, I've been going to different places for a long time, and it was different back then. I mean, there's a lot of great places that can help you now, but it took me a long time to get there, and, and then finally I went to the lender. I was embarrassed, I didn't have a 640 credit score, and they said, "Oh, you're, you know, don't worry, as if nothing, all this me sweating it every day. Yeah, they're like, "Oh, just close this, open this, pay this off, and stop paying the old stuff, and don't pay medical, and I was like, what? Within six months, after 10 years, 15 years of trying, I was in my home, I closed on that home, my credit score got up to that 640
Heidi Griffith 25:53
Isn't it crazy? Yes, we, we see it all the time, and you know, a lot of times, because you know, it's that whole shame thing, and I can't say it enough, we life lives, we've all had stuff happen, I know I personally have, and we got to take that out of the equation, because then what ends up happening is number one, either we're stuck, we don't do anything, we don't move forward, or we try and do it ourselves,
Josie Hatem 26:16
right,
Heidi Griffith 26:17
and not saying that you can't improve your credit yourself, but you know sometimes they're paying the wrong things. Medical is a big
Roland Daniels 26:24
one. When
Heidi Griffith 26:25
you're purchasing a home, we're not looking at the medical collections now. It will impact your credit score, but we're not looking at them, so that should be probably not the first thing that you're going to pay off when you're going to purchase a home. So, there's just.. there's a lot of ways around it, we have free resources, we have free HUD certified credit counselors that will walk through the entire process, and in so many instances, we just met with some people last weekend, he was in, you know, a position where his credit score is probably going to come up substantially within the next three months, they're looking at purchasing in the next six to 12 months, he's not going to even need to talk to the credit counselors. We just kind of set him up on a really easy plan forward, so there's tools, and we're here to help. It's about a conversation, isn't it? Roland,
Roland Daniels 27:14
it
Heidi Griffith 27:15
is, man. That went fast, didn't
Roland Daniels 27:16
it? It did.
Heidi Griffith 27:17
If you have any questions about the Worker Advantage Program, or any of the Nevada Housing Division programs, or you'd like to join us at tomorrow's online class to learn more, please feel free. We're at 702-540-0420 That was fast, wasn't it, Josie? It
Josie Hatem 27:34
was. Thank you
Heidi Griffith 27:35
so much for being on the show.
Josie Hatem 27:37
Absolutely, thank me, and thank you, thank me. But thank you, somebody. Thank me. but thank you for, for actually, for putting this out there, and to bringing, you know, to making awareness to the programs, because it's, it's important, you know, there's people out there like me, you know, out there for 10 years and so long without knowing that this is actually them, someone can actually help.
Heidi Griffith 27:59
You're going to join me again, aren't you?
Josie Hatem 28:01
I'm going to join you.
Heidi Griffith 28:01
You come back here with Roland and I.
Josie Hatem 28:03
Yes, absolutely.
Roland Daniels 28:04
Sooner
Heidi Griffith 28:05
rather than later, because I want to talk about the rest of the programs too.
Josie Hatem 28:07
Yes, finally, do that. Well, you know, we'll set up, and we'll, you keep talking. So,
Heidi Griffith 28:12
thank you again.
Roland Daniels 28:13
Yep, thank you again. Thank you. We'll be back next Sunday morning at 7:30am right here on KU NV 91.5 Until then, believe in what's possible, even if you've been told that it's out of reach, and remember, stay true to yourself and your mind. Bye bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai