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Mortgage Matters is your go-to show for all things home financing. Join Roland and Heidi as they break down the ins and outs of the mortgage world. From first-time homebuyers to seasoned investors, we’re here to guide you with expert insights, real talk, and the latest market trends. Whether you're looking to buy smart or refinance right, Mortgage Matters is your trusted source for smarter decisions and financial freedom. Tune in and take control of your home financing journey.
Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a kunv Studios original program. 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. It's Roland Daniels with Geneva financial. My NMLS number is 355859, company, NMLS number is 42056, and we have my co host, Heidi Griffith,
Heidi Griffith 1:00
Good morning. Happy Sunday. Roland,
Roland Daniels 1:04
happy Sunday. How are you today?
Heidi Griffith 1:06
I am good. I am. Heidi Griffith, also with Geneva financial. My NMLS number is 2247754, and together, we are mortgage matters. So it was an interesting week, right between the smoke and class and all the stuff that we've done, we've had a busy week. I can't believe it's over, and we're getting ready to start a new one.
Roland Daniels 1:27
Yes, I know it is very busy. Yeah. So we kind of
Heidi Griffith 1:32
sat down and thought about what we were going to talk about today, because we actually got a lot of calls from the last show. So we will focus on reverse mortgage. So anybody who had any questions on that, hopefully we'll get most of them answered today. First thing that we want to talk about is on, and I believe it's October 5, we will actually be at the health and housing fair that is hosted by CPLC. That's the nonprofit organization that we actually do our Freddie smart HUD, certified first time homebuyer classes with. And this is going to be a great event. Don't you think? I
Roland Daniels 2:12
think it'll be an awesome event. Is for the public. I think it starts at 11am and ends at four. That is correct. And Heidi, you want to share with some of the activities that we have scheduled. Yeah, it's going to
Heidi Griffith 2:24
be awesome. So so the event is actually sponsored by CPLC, Chicanos, Port la casa, and it's also sponsored by the Southern Nevada Health Consortium and anthem, Blue Cross, Blue Shield. They are going to have food trucks. They're going to have music live entertainment, so it's going to be really cool. Then there's going to be health and housing vendors there to answer any questions you might have. On top of that, they're going to be doing free covid and flu vaccines as well as free HIV testing. They'll also be information on mortgages, on down payment assistance. We'll be there. We'll actually have a table set up so that if you had any questions, we would be there to answer them for you.
Roland Daniels 3:10
And we would love for you guys to come down and meet us in person. We're happy to answer any questions you may have and put a name with a face.
Heidi Griffith 3:18
Yeah, absolutely. And I love events like this, because community events, they're important. They're important to get people to show up and support what's happening. There's a lot of great resources available to us in Las Vegas, and I think a lot of people are unaware of the things that are available, not not just with housing, but, but overall, and when it comes to housing, away from getting a mortgage and doing all that kind of stuff, there's some great stuff, even if you're in trouble with your mortgage. I mean, there's resources available to avoid foreclosure, so there's some good stuff happening.
Roland Daniels 3:57
Yeah, so along with supporting us when we're doing our first time homebuyer classes, there are mortgage default services that they provide as well. Let's say, if you're behind on a mortgage, we have the resources to help you catch up. If that's a possibility for you, it can make it happen, along with credit counseling, pre purchase counseling, maybe you need assistance for your utilities. That's
Heidi Griffith 4:24
a big one. That's a big one. They will actually help with Southwest gas and envy energy. There are assistance programs. So if you or someone you know needs help with that, the resources are available. Don't let anyone tell you that there's no no one out there that's going to help you, and nothing available. There are always resources, right? So if you'd like to attend that event, that event is actually going to be held at CPLC. It's on the corner of what is that? That's Maryland and Bonanza, Maryland
Roland Daniels 4:57
Parkway and bonanza. Outside on the corner. Yep, 555,
Heidi Griffith 5:01
North Maryland Parkway. And that will be Saturday, October 5, from 11am to 4pm so like we were talking about reverse mortgages, we got a lot of questions on those. We did. That's really good. That's good. So if you're not familiar with what a reverse mortgage is, Roland, why don't you explain just kind of in a nutshell what a reverse mortgage is.
Roland Daniels 5:29
So when it comes to a reverse mortgage, it is a just like it says a reverse a reverse mortgage, also known as a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. So they go hand in hand. The terminology is interchangeable, and it is a mortgage loan made by a private lending institution, such as a bank, credit union or mortgage company. The loan now is insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which is a division of the US government, so you're not required to make any mortgage payments. Any interest that you owe is simply added to your loan
Heidi Griffith 6:08
amount. But don't you, there's been a lot of bad information we've gotten people that have called and asked us questions based on information they thought was right. So there's a lot of like, myths that are going around out there about a reverse mortgage. So And sure, there's pros and cons, and reverse mortgages are not for everyone. First of all, how old do you have to be to get a reverse mortgage? You
Roland Daniels 6:30
have to be 62 years of age, right? So
Heidi Griffith 6:33
you've got to be 62 or older. If your spouse is younger, you can get a reverse mortgage. Terms are going to look a little different with those but what are the benefits of a reverse mortgage? And what kind of person would that look like? Who would that work the best for?
Roland Daniels 6:51
Like, like we just said, individuals or family members, husband and wife, 62 years or older. Maybe you need help with your retirement. You just retired, and all you're receiving is Social Security and a pension. Well, maybe you have more bills now than you had before. This could be a possibility where you could eliminate the mortgage payment, okay, and then all you're responsible for is your homeowner's insurance and your property taxes, and if you have an HOA, you're still responsible for those as well, but that's a big chunk of your monthly mortgage payment. If you didn't have to pay back or pay the principal and interest is added to the back of the loan. Right,
Heidi Griffith 7:38
right? So you're not paying a mortgage payment, you're still paying your homeowners insurance and your homeowners association if you've got, if you've got that right, and that that is good only if you live in the property. So you've got to live in the house, right? You do. So tell me, because it's for someone that's 62 or older, and we know that life happens, and we hate to talk about this stuff, but this is the reality I live in my home. I'm older than 62 and I've gotten to a point that maybe I need some assisted living. You know, if I'm going to move into an assisted living property, what happens then when I move out of the property? So after six months not in the property, right, they're going to call the note due unless there's extenuating circumstances. So if that happens, you're going to want to reach out to your lender and find out exactly what they're willing to do and how long they're willing to do it. Now, if, in the instance, I have a reverse mortgage and I pass and I have heirs, what does that look like? Roland,
Roland Daniels 8:50
so usually, when you pass away, this servicer for the reverse mortgage will contact you, send you a letter, ask you to provide the death certificate and the details of the ownership of the property if it hasn't went through probate. If you didn't have a will or a trust in place, I would say most likely you will need to go through probate, but please reach out to an attorney,
Heidi Griffith 9:16
and this is where trust becomes important. It's important in all are used. But this is a big one. We I know that you actually have a couple folks that you're working with right now that their grandparent or spouse passed.
Roland Daniels 9:30
I do. I have three clients right now with in that same situation, there was no will and no trust in place. Unfortunately, they are currently going through probate, and I'm in the process of getting them qualified to purchase the home, because they they want to keep the home in their family. They don't want it to go back to the bank, and they're not interested in selling the property, right,
Heidi Griffith 9:53
right? So if you have a current mortgage, let's just say you have a forward mortgage, right? You've got an FH. You've got a conventional, you've got a VA, maybe a USDA, loan on your property, and it's something that piques your interest, right? So I, let's just say I have a mortgage for let's just make up numbers. I have a mortgage 500,000 okay, you have a mortgage for 500,000 but the property is now worth let's call it 750 right now, right? So you've got some equity in that property. What happens when you go to apply for a reverse mortgage? What does that look like? Because I know there's obviously cost associated, but then there's also different ways that you can actually take money out of the property by going into a reverse mortgage, right? So there's
Roland Daniels 10:37
different calculations that will need to be done. They'll look at how old you are, how much equity that's in the property, life expectancy. Are you a male or female? There's many factors that go involved in that calculation. It's not a simple process where you just call me on the phone and say, Well, I have $500,000 in equity, and I owe $250,000 left on remaining on my mortgage. It's a little bit tougher than that, but we can give you the calculation. That number you can if you have any questions, is 702-210-2057, 2102057, that's 702-210-2057
so in this scenario, your home is worth 500,000 you would likely qualify for a loan, or in Some instances, a line of credit as well, and this will leave you about 250,000 left in your equity in your home with these funds, maybe you're not in a dire situation, or maybe you have the income, you have the asset, you can use the additional funds for Buying a new home, or maybe you need a car, a vehicle, without worrying about monthly payments. Maybe you want to pay off an existing mortgage and other debts and eliminate those monthly payments.
Heidi Griffith 12:12
So you could, you could get a lump sum, is what you're saying.
Roland Daniels 12:14
You can get a lump sum or an equity line of credit. It works both ways. And
Heidi Griffith 12:19
what about monthly payments, you could actually also receive monthly payments, right? So you could basically get another check every month. Yes,
Roland Daniels 12:26
you can. So maybe you need additional expenses, I mean additional income or assets for home health care, maybe you had a delay in your social security to getting your full benefits, or maybe you want to take that dream vacation that you dreamed about. And of course, you can preserve your retirement assets and invest in new investments.
Heidi Griffith 12:51
That's awesome. Okay, so that sounds great, but there's some downsides to it, right?
Roland Daniels 12:57
There's always downsides to anything that we do, right?
Heidi Griffith 13:01
And so if, if, let's just say, because we're putting everything on the back end of it, so interest is accumulating, yes,
Roland Daniels 13:10
and the interest is accumulating and is increasing your loan balance on the back end, right?
Heidi Griffith 13:16
That increases your loan balance. So this is another thing to think about with heirs. If the loan balance goes up, then the equity in the property then goes down. Am I correct in saying that you are correct, right? So this, this makes perfect sense. If you don't have kids, or you don't have heirs, if you have children, it doesn't eliminate this, though, because, as we've seen in the valley, prices aren't going down. They continue to rise. You just may not get as much equity out of the property, right? Yes, right. And so there's fees associated. And you've got upfront fees, don't you? Roland,
Roland Daniels 13:56
you do? You have some upfront fees. Maybe there's upfront origination charges mortgage insurance, and then, of course, there's closing costs involved,
Heidi Griffith 14:06
right, right? And also, the one thing that we always want to stress when we talk about reverse mortgages is you've got to make sure you make your property tax payments, because you risk foreclosure if you don't. We have a lot of folks who, in the past, when reverse mortgages didn't look like they look today, they got themselves in a real pickle.
Roland Daniels 14:29
Well, some people thought, Okay, I have a reverse mortgage. I don't have to make any names.
Heidi Griffith 14:34
They sure did. And got themselves into a a, you know, a major issue with with the local assessor's office, because they weren't making their property tax payments, and they, you know, you don't make your property tax payments, and they can put a lien and or foreclose on your property. We don't want that to happen to anyone, because we always want people to be successful. Homeowners, right? That
Roland Daniels 15:01
is our goal to make you the most successful homeowner possible.
Heidi Griffith 15:05
So any other things that you can add to reverse mortgages that might help folks kind of understand what they are or what that looks like,
Roland Daniels 15:15
just the simple explanation that it just works in reverse, any 30 year, 15 year fixed mortgage is considered a forward mortgage. Now we just go in an opposite direction. The interest is tacked on the back end you don't have that principal payment, and it allows you the freedom to do other things with that money. So it may be you're not in a position to take a vacation, or maybe you want to help your grandchildren out with education, you have that possibility,
Heidi Griffith 15:49
right? Not always as easy when you're on a fixed income. That is correct, right, right? So, so there's pros, there's cons. It's definitely worth the thought and the conversation, and it has helped quite a few people. It makes sense to a lot of people, so hopefully that answered a bunch of questions. But if anyone ever has any questions about that, they can feel free to reach out to us. We are at 702-210-2057, that number again, is 702-210-2057,
so we've got a Fed meeting coming up, right
Roland Daniels 16:30
we do next week.
Heidi Griffith 16:32
Let's, let's all keep our fingers crossed on that. Let's keep our fingers crossed on what Jerome Powell has to say, because his voice is big and we want to hear good things when it comes to interest rates, don't we?
Roland Daniels 16:46
We sure. Do we want interest rates to come down? Oh, don't
Heidi Griffith 16:50
we, though. So what are your thoughts? What do you think he's going to do? So he meets next Wednesday, the 18th, right?
Roland Daniels 16:56
18th? They will start on the 17th, but he will make an announcement on the 18th, and it's usually around 11am Eastern Time.
Heidi Griffith 17:06
We have, we're tuned in.
Roland Daniels 17:08
We're three hours behind, behind, right behind, yeah, so approximately eight o'clock hour time, yep, and we'll know what his decision is.
Heidi Griffith 17:19
Well, he's going to tell us. And sometimes he uses forward words. Sometimes he kind of masks what he's saying. But I'll tell you what, if you pay attention to the market, you'll know exactly what he said, just based on how the market reacts that day. Don't you think, yes, are we seeing red or green?
Roland Daniels 17:37
So right now, they are expecting between point two, five and a half a percent. So the market has already baked in his reduction in interest rates, so we need him to follow through and give us a positive, some positive vibes, because if not, what happens? The market's gonna turn ugly, and rates are going to go up. Yeah,
Heidi Griffith 18:01
we feel, we feel those impacts immediately, don't we? We do immediately. And you know you want, you want to stay informed. You want to know what's going on and pay attention to economic indicators. So it's always good, even if it's not necessarily affecting you. If you're not in the market to purchase a home if you're not looking at your credit cards, if you're not paying attention to those things, investments, it's a good idea to have your finger on the pulse. Always
Roland Daniels 18:30
a good idea. Knowledge is key. How you use that knowledge? Yep,
Heidi Griffith 18:35
yep. Okay, so and I, you know, I wanted to talk about our upcoming class. We've done our first time homebuyers class for the month. I know in previous episodes, we've talked about down payment assistance and the programs that are available. And people still have questions, even the folks who sign up for our classes. There's a lot of I'll call it interesting. I won't call it bad. A lot of interesting information when it comes to Down Payment Assistance information, okay, yeah, it's bad. It's there's a lot of people giving bad information, informed, totally misinformed, right? Yeah. So we what we've actually done, and we've been doing this for probably close to six months now we do a zoom. We usually do it two to four times a month, just depending on what our schedules for the month look like, where we take an hour and a half and we go through the entire down payment assistance program. We talk about how Down Payment Assistance actually works, and different down payment assistance programs have different scenarios the way that they work, so it's not a one size fits all when it comes to different programs, we talk about all of the myths that are out there. The biggest is that there is no money available. And I said this. So the last time we were on air, and I'm going to say it again, there will always be down payment assistance programs available. They're available in every city. They're available in every state. Doesn't mean that everyone qualifies for those programs, but another big misconception that we hear all the time is that these programs are only for low income folks. And that is not true. That is not true. They certainly help lower income people, right? They do, but, but so we're in Las Vegas, and we'll talk about Nevada programs specifically, because we do have some amazing programs in the state. What's the highest income you can have for one of the programs that we've gotten that's, that's Nevada Rural that has the highest income limit. It's $165,000 a year. So you can qualify for down payment assistance if you make $165,000
Roland Daniels 20:56
Sure can. Yeah, it's, it's
Heidi Griffith 20:57
so. So that's just one of the things that we go over in the class, but we talk about myths, we talk about what types of programs are available, we talk about the eligibility criteria, and just hopefully clarify any misconceptions and make people more aware so that when they're thinking of utilizing these programs, they can move forward with the knowledge it takes, because education is everything, right? That's what we do. We
Roland Daniels 21:25
are here. We're here to serve, educate and teach and empower, yeah, and empower people to make the best decision,
Heidi Griffith 21:32
you know. And I want to commend you. You were actually on the phone earlier, and I we sit next to each other when we work, so sometimes I hear what he's talking about. I'm sure vice versa. And he had a conversation with someone who is actually a realtor in another state. He called because he saw an ad for this specific Down Payment Assistance class. He called you up and he was concerned. And you'll have to fill in the blanks for me, because obviously I only heard your side of the story, but he was concerned that you were going to feel like he you didn't want to give him any information because you didn't want competition. Was that the conversation?
Roland Daniels 22:13
Yes, the Yes, he did mention that, you know, we're not in the same market, and he just wanted to sit down and ask me different questions on how does the down payment assistance programs and the classes that we teach. And he was interested in teaching classes himself in Phoenix, in Phoenix. So I was like, I have no problem sharing information. There's enough business to go around for everyone, and you
Heidi Griffith 22:41
know, and more than that, because Roland doesn't like to be boasty, and I understand that. But more than that, he said something, and it really, it hit home. And it's important to me, and I know that it's important to him as well. Roland, you said something along the lines, not verbatim, but you said something along the lines of, we come from a place of service, which we do? We 100% do that. I really think if somebody asked me what our superpower was, I think that falls in the very beginning of that bucket, coming from a place of service and wanting to make sure that people have the ability to become homeless. And so it was. It was more of a conversation of, I come from a place of service. I'm here to help you. Sure, maybe you're one day going to be competition, whatever that looks like, probably not, but whatever that looks like. But if someone doesn't want to work with me for whatever reason that is, whether it's because they live in a different state or whatever that looks like. That's okay, because I want to make sure that everyone who wants to become a homeowner has the opportunity to do so, yes, right? So I think that that's important. So thank you. Thank you for saying that today. You really, actually gave me a little hope. And
Roland Daniels 24:08
it's not about me personally, it's about you. We want you to become a homeowner. We want you to start the process of building wealth, generational wealth. So whether I do it alone or someone else. The most important is for you to be able to become a homeowner, successfully,
Heidi Griffith 24:27
successfully, right, right? And so that class will actually be Saturday, September 21 it's free. We do that class from 11am to 1230 and that last half hour is usually just for questions. If anybody has anything we need us to to answer for them, we're available for that that's from 11 to 1230 if you'd like to register for that class, or if you have any questions, you're more than welcome to reach out to us. We're at 70. 022102057, you can call our text us at 702-210-2057.
Roland Daniels 25:10
Yes, anything that we do in the community is free. We don't charge for anything if, if there is a charge, we will absorb those charges. We're just trying to get the information out there. And we do come from a real place of service, and we want you to become the most successful homeowner possible. That is our mission. And
Heidi Griffith 25:35
so when you say the most successful homeowner possible, it makes sense in our brains, right? But what does that I mean really? What does that mean?
Roland Daniels 25:43
That means that we will help you from day one and 10 years from now or 20 years from now, we will help you manage that debt. We We feel that is our responsibility to be a a community partner. It is our responsibility to help you manage that debt. We put you in that debt, and we take it upon ourselves, and we take it personally, right?
Heidi Griffith 26:11
And what that looks like? What does that look like? So what that looks like is, if you have questions, because sometimes you get a statement in the mail and you don't know what it means. Maybe you get a tax bill in the mail and you're not sure how to handle it. If you find yourself in a predicament that you know things get tough, because life does happen. Life lives for real. My air conditioning went out this morning. It didn't care that it was going to be hot. But life's life. So we are here. You know, it's not a matter of, you get a mortgage, you move into your house, and you never hear from a deuces sign. No, we're here, and we really do, sincerely mean that we
Roland Daniels 26:58
answer the phone at seven o'clock at night or five o'clock in the morning. Yeah, not to say to call us at five
Heidi Griffith 27:04
o'clock in the morning, but we are up at between 330 and five. So whatever. So yeah, so it's, it's going to be a great week. I want everyone else to have a wonderful Sunday. And yeah, thanks for meeting me this morning, of
Roland Daniels 27:22
course, and we look forward to next week as well. Absolutely,
Heidi Griffith 27:25
we are Heidi Griffith and Roland Daniels and we are mortgage matters. Have a great week.
Music 27:34
You.