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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. 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,
Music 0:22
the
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.
Heidi Griffith 1:07
Well, good morning, Roland. Happy Sunday.
Roland Daniels 1:10
Happy Sunday.
Heidi Griffith 1:11
Staying cool out there.
Roland Daniels 1:12
Oh, trying to..
Heidi Griffith 1:14
AC is important right now, isn't it? AC is important. Good morning, everyone. I'm Heidi Griffith. I'm also a mortgage advisor and your director of client services. My NMLS number is 2247754 So, we had good conversation last week, didn't we?
Roland Daniels 1:31
We did.
Heidi Griffith 1:32
We kind of talked about, you know, kind of trying to figure out why interest rate is the question we get asked most often.
Roland Daniels 1:39
Yeah, we had the two most common questions.
Heidi Griffith 1:42
Yeah, interest rate, what's what's what's the market like, right? Yes, and then another big one that I think we don't hear a lot about, but I know that if we cross paths with somebody or we have a conversation in one of our classes, it comes up,
Roland Daniels 1:58
it does.
Heidi Griffith 1:59
So this is what I've been wondering about all week, when we were trying to figure out what are we going to talk about this week, and I think this is good. Do you know what I'm wondering? I wonder how many people have already decided they can't buy a home because of a number.
Roland Daniels 2:17
So, what do you mean?
Heidi Griffith 2:18
Well, you know, a credit score, right? They kind of have predetermined stuff in their heads. Maybe they've been to a home buyer class and heard that you needed a specific credit score. Maybe a friend or family member - who do you call those people, the
Roland Daniels 2:33
street committee
Heidi Griffith 2:34
- maybe they gave them some insight on what the, you know, the golden rule was, or maybe they saw something online that said you needed x, y, and z, and before they even find out where they actually stand, I think that they've made a decision for themselves. How many people have ruled themselves out of home ownership because they were focused on a number,
Roland Daniels 2:59
probably more than we actually realize, I agree. Maybe some lender told them something years ago that they had to work on their credit and just call me back.
Heidi Griffith 3:10
We hear that all the time.
Roland Daniels 3:11
When you're done,
Heidi Griffith 3:12
I couldn't count on my two hands. We hear it more than I think we should
Roland Daniels 3:18
agree. Definitely coming from a lender,
Heidi Griffith 3:20
we, you know, we meet people, say, in a class, and we start talking about their path and what it looks like, and really we just talk to folks about what their goals are, what their home ownership goals are, and I hear far too often that a lender has told them, hey, your credit score isn't up to par for whatever program they're looking at doing, I, you know, could be conventional, could be FHA, it could be down payment assistance, it could be just a bunch of different things, but they've been told your credit isn't up to par, you need to have this credit score to qualify, when you get it there, give me a call, yeah,
Roland Daniels 3:53
and that could be six months or a year, well,
Heidi Griffith 3:55
and not only could that be six months or a year, but now we're sending people back out with no guidance,
Roland Daniels 4:01
no answers,
Heidi Griffith 4:02
no, no help, right? So that is
Roland Daniels 4:05
correct.
Heidi Griffith 4:06
Some people got denied years ago, maybe they assume nothing's changed, maybe they heard that they needed, you know, a 640 and I'll use that 640 because that's the Nevada Housing Division. So maybe they were in a class.
Roland Daniels 4:18
Yep,
Heidi Griffith 4:18
you know, we teach class every single month, we meet with anywhere from 20 to 40 people a month in class.
Roland Daniels 4:24
We do,
Heidi Griffith 4:25
and we do talk about 640 being the minimum credit score to utilize Nevada Housing Division and Nevada Rural Housing's down payment assistance programs. I think a lot of people start going back in their head to when they checked Credit Karma, or when they looked at their bank, and, oh, I don't have that, so this isn't for me, even though we tell them,
Roland Daniels 4:46
yeah, because they are using, like you said, Credit Kerma, and Credit Kerma are not actually the FICO scores,
Heidi Griffith 4:51
right? And even beyond that, even if their FICO score isn't 640 that doesn't mean hard stop, that means reach out, figure out. What your path forward is, because you know, especially if you're close, if you're, you know, 40 points, there's a path,
Roland Daniels 5:07
there is,
Heidi Griffith 5:07
there's a path. We've worked with folks who, you know, maybe it took them a couple of years, but we were there,
Roland Daniels 5:14
right? We started in the low fives on a couple of clients, and we got them up to in their mid seven hundreds, and they were able to qualify and actually purchase a home.
Heidi Griffith 5:23
So, why do you think it is that people hear whatever that number is, and it might not even be the right number, by the way, but they hear whatever that number is, and they decide to stop.
Roland Daniels 5:33
Unfortunately, like you said, it's a lot of bad information out there. A lot of times we have the fear of receiving bad news, maybe you're embarrassed, past experiences, life experiences, and outdated information.
Heidi Griffith 5:50
Well, the out again, the outdated information is big. So, I've been in the real estate world a long time.
Roland Daniels 5:57
You have been in the mortgage world a long
Heidi Griffith 6:00
time. Yeah, and you started out in the real estate world, so
Roland Daniels 6:03
I did.
Heidi Griffith 6:03
Combined, we've been in the Las Vegas real estate market for many decades. Yes, I'll leave it at that. We've been in for many decades, and you know lots of things have changed in the past. We'll call it 20 years. Yes, you know, guidelines have changed, rules have changed, FICO setups have changed as well, but but there's this magic 720 number that kind of has always floated around, you need a minimum of 720 to qualify for a home,
Roland Daniels 6:36
and that is definitely not,
Heidi Griffith 6:38
and it never was. I had to do some research, because I'm like, well, maybe back in the six, there was no FICO score in the 60s, but no, it didn't exist, and there was never a time where 720 was the minimum FICO score
Roland Daniels 6:51
right
Heidi Griffith 6:51
now, maybe a specific program required 720
Roland Daniels 6:55
but when they heard the 720 that was considered the the elite FICO score, or the scores that you needed to get the best price, and
Heidi Griffith 7:04
that's in the industry, that's fair, but that wasn't the guideline
Roland Daniels 7:07
carried forward, that was never the guide, never
Heidi Griffith 7:09
the guideline. So, 720 isn't the magic number for anybody listening who kind of thought 720 was it, it's not right,
Roland Daniels 7:16
no, because those FICO scores move all the time, depending on the program, and depending on what's going on in the market,
Heidi Griffith 7:23
absolutely, and we saw that change not that long ago with conventional, because forever conventional was 620 was their minimum FICO score.
Roland Daniels 7:32
Yep, and with Fanny, they removed the actual FICO. Therefore, is
Heidi Griffith 7:35
no minimum. Let's talk about that in a few minutes. I want to kind of stay with why people aren't reaching out if they think their credit isn't good enough. It's interesting to me, because sometimes I think nobody actually told them no. I think that they told themselves no,
Roland Daniels 7:52
right? They convinced themselves that it's going to be a no. So, like you said, or we discussed, you have embarrassment, the fear of getting that bad news,
Heidi Griffith 8:03
and I've been in situations where you know I was kind of.. I don't want to say anything because I'm going to be embarrassed, but when we're talking about our lives and trying to grow, that's the only way that we can do it, is to get help with it,
Roland Daniels 8:19
but a lot of times we compare ourselves to other people, and they may have told them that they had a higher FICO, so we want to be, you know, in that same category, but in an actual reality we have no idea what our FICO, and by
Heidi Griffith 8:33
the way, we have no idea what their FICO scores are either, because I don't know how, right, I don't know how many people I talk to that like to talk about how, you know, going back to the Joneses are broke. I mean, somebody driving down the street in, you know, a Land Rover that they're paying almost $2,000 a month for,
Roland Daniels 8:50
right?
Heidi Griffith 8:51
Their credit is shot and they have no money in the bank again. That has nothing to do with people who drive Land Rovers, right? But that's why they're
Roland Daniels 8:59
paying $2,000 a month,
Heidi Griffith 9:01
but there are those out there, the Joneses, who want to keep up with everything.
Roland Daniels 9:05
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 9:06
that like to talk about how cool they are, because they're showing you how cool they are, and they're not always as cool on paper as they're making you feel like they are.
Roland Daniels 9:13
You're right,
Heidi Griffith 9:14
right. So I feel like if you're not giving yourself a chance just to find out, then you're never going to be able to step forward.
Roland Daniels 9:25
I agree,
Heidi Griffith 9:25
you know, because sometimes you might be right, sometimes you might not be ready today, but sometimes you're not. We've talked to a lot of people who are like, when we talk about credit polls, they're like, it's going to be bad, and then we pull them, and we're like, oh wait, hang on. You're doing great. You know, we met with a gentleman. He had some life stuff that happened. You'll remember who I'm talking about. He had some stuff that went on several years ago. He went through a divorce, lost a business, a lot of stuff that you know unfortunately can happen in life. I remember.
Roland Daniels 10:00
Sure,
Heidi Griffith 10:00
and he was very concerned about trying to qualify, because his score right this moment is still in the fives, but it's in the high fives. And after taking a look at his credit report, we realized the stuff that's on his report - number one, there was a lot of stuff that was getting ready to fall off,
Roland Daniels 10:17
right,
Heidi Griffith 10:18
and he was going to, prior to talking to us, maybe reach out to these collectors. No, no, had he not talked to us, and he reached out, he could have potentially started the clock on several of them,
Roland Daniels 10:28
and then lowered his FICO score again, right?
Heidi Griffith 10:31
But he didn't. He reached out. We had a great conversation sometime towards probably the end of this year. His credit score, just because of time will be in a position
Roland Daniels 10:42
right
Heidi Griffith 10:43
for him to purchase, and
Roland Daniels 10:43
if I remember, he is eligible for an FHA loan, which was only requires a FICO score of 580 with three and a half percent down, but I know that he wanted to take advantage of the down payment, that's exactly
Heidi Griffith 10:55
what they were looking for, is yeah, that they wanted to take advantage of the down payment assistance program, and that was a great point. 580 is the minimum FICO for FHA. Actually, 500 is the minimum FICO for FHA. If you're putting 10% more, so again, does 500 sound like a fantastic credit score?
Roland Daniels 11:18
It may not sound fantastic, but at least you'll know what your starting point, that's it, right, that's it. Because when we pull your credit, it's just a snapshot of where you are today. It doesn't mean that's what you're going to be in the future, it's just what it is today.
Heidi Griffith 11:30
Well, yeah, but if we don't start making changes today, then in the future might look the same, or even possibly worse, depending on what happens, right. So, how often do you think people stop before they actually know where they stand. I think a lot,
Roland Daniels 11:45
a lot,
Heidi Griffith 11:46
I think a lot.
Roland Daniels 11:47
So, if you ever wonder whether you're actually ready to buy or just assume that you weren't, you can give us a call or text at 702-540-0420 Once again, that's 702-540-0420
Heidi Griffith 12:06
So, whenever we have these kind of conversations, I always - my brain always goes back to Josie. She's been on the show before. She actually works with the Nevada Housing Division, and she has a really good success story,
Roland Daniels 12:19
and that story, I think, can apply to everybody. It does,
Heidi Griffith 12:23
and that's the whole thing, you know, that we're not talking about some one off, we're talking about everyday people and everyday situations. But her story kind of fits this perfectly, and this is where, when she said it the first time that I heard it, I was like, ah, people aren't calling, they're not calling, and this is her situation. So, Josie, single mom, has two kids who both have medical conditions, and with that came medical bills, and came some possible collections on her credit report.
Roland Daniels 12:56
Right,
Heidi Griffith 12:57
she knew that she wanted to buy a home, she understood home ownership, she actually understood home ownership, and she also understood that her credit was not where it needed to be to be able to purchase. She was aware of that, so she made a game plan. She started to, you know, work on her credit solo,
Roland Daniels 13:17
and she has some assumptions as well.
Heidi Griffith 13:18
Lots of, we all have assumptions. Yes, that's it. We got to let go of some of those assumptions and get facts.
Roland Daniels 13:24
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 13:24
right. But she was going to work on it alone. We talked to a lot of people who say we're going to, we're going to watch yourself, and that's fine, as long as you're doing the right stuff or
Roland Daniels 13:33
know what you're actually doing when
Heidi Griffith 13:34
doing the right stuff, because buying a house and repairing your credit versus repairing your credit because you're growing two different, they can be two different paths, right. So she started working on her credit. Life happened, another medical bill came. You know, she had to go out of town for something urgent. All of this stuff happened, and so anything that she was doing in her mind to make progress would get set back, and then she would take a step forward and do something else, and step back, and this went on for a long time,
Roland Daniels 14:04
and then she felt embarrassed.
Heidi Griffith 14:06
Well, she wasn't. She didn't want to go talk to anybody. She didn't want to go talk to anybody, because she felt like she was the only person who'd had life happen, and that she had like this terrible credit score that wasn't going to get anywhere, and that she was going to look bad when she went to a lender to talk about it, so she didn't, she didn't talk to anybody. One day her landlord called her, she lived in where she was living for quite some, I think it was like almost 10 years. It
Roland Daniels 14:29
was,
Heidi Griffith 14:30
she loved the property, and when she was thinking about home ownership, she, like, she was like, I want my place to be just like this, it works for me and my family. And her landlord called and said, hey, I hate to do this to you, you're a great tenant, but I'll sell the property, and she's like, oh wait, no, you can't sell it, I love it here, I love this property, how much, and she knew at that point that she had to make a choice, she had to be a little embarrassed for a split second and go see a lender, and she.
Roland Daniels 15:00
Did she did, she
Heidi Griffith 15:00
did, she was in a great position because she worked in housing, so she knew some great lenders. She was able to go to one, and they took a look at her credit, and they're like, "What are you freaking out about? Hang on, just a second. You've been paying on your medical collection since she said yes, because that's important. She wanted to do the right thing, right? He's like, "Well, I just want to let you know we don't look at your medical, so if you need to spend money on paying stuff off, let's take a look at this. Let's pay this credit card down by this amount, and it's not always paid off in full, you know? Maybe you have a $3,000 balance on a credit card, do you have to pay it off completely? In a lot of instances, we actually have a system and an algorithm that we can punch in numbers to, and it will give us an exact dollar number, like pay this Chase card down by, you know, $1,587 yeah,
Roland Daniels 15:52
just like in that example of the $3,000 pay it down to 1500 bucks, and then you can get a certain number of points, and it will
Heidi Griffith 15:59
boost your score by doing just that, so he said, I need you to pay this down, I need you to pay this off, I need you to do these three things or four things, and come back to me, and we'll run it again, and see where you're at within months. Within months, she got her score up to where it needed to be, and she purchased the home that her landlord was selling,
Roland Daniels 16:19
right, utilizing as well,
Heidi Griffith 16:21
and she utilized the Nevada Housing Division Down Payment Assistance Program to give her that boost, because just like credit, money is the, you know, number one in two thing when it comes to barriers to home ownership. She utilized the money, she got her credit to 640 bam, she's a homeowner,
Roland Daniels 16:39
she is a homeowner.
Heidi Griffith 16:40
So, like Josie, what if the things that you're working on aren't actually the things that are holding you back? Medical is a big one, right? Is
Roland Daniels 16:47
medical
Heidi Griffith 16:47
people, I think, kind of assume that they need to fix something on their report. I know that when I first started looking at my credit reports, probably I don't know, 10 years ago, I really started to pay attention to what was on my scores, excuse me, on my reports, we assume that we know what needs to be fixed, and that might not necessarily be the most important thing that needs to be taken care of on your credit record, right?
Roland Daniels 17:15
Because you have collections and charge-offs, and not knowing the difference between a charge off and a collection can make a huge difference.
Heidi Griffith 17:22
I agree. So, so Roland, give me an example of what a charge off is and what a collection
Roland Daniels 17:28
is. Okay, so when it comes to a charge off, you've been making payments to your credit card, and then something happens where you're 30 day late or 60 or 90 day late,
Heidi Griffith 17:37
life lives,
Roland Daniels 17:38
right? It does. So once the credit card issuer or the creditor decides that that account is no longer, how should I say, that you're not making those payments, they can make a decision, they can't collect, they can collect
Heidi Griffith 17:57
from you the
Roland Daniels 17:58
account, which means they turn it over, and then there are collection agencies out there that will pick them up and buy them
Heidi Griffith 18:07
pennies on the dollar, on the dollar,
Heidi Griffith 18:09
pennies on the dollar,
Roland Daniels 18:10
right. So, sometimes you have errors on your credit report, a lot of times you'll have the actual charge off and the collection, and both are reflecting a balance, so
Heidi Griffith 18:21
what's the difference between a charge off and collection?
Roland Daniels 18:24
Well, like I said, on a charge off that was done by the creditor. When it comes to a collection, that means the third party collection agency came in and said, all right, we'll buy that debt and we collect that on our end, and then we'll try to collect those debts on your behalf, or they'll actually buy that debt from that agency.
Heidi Griffith 18:48
And creditors can have their own collection department, they can,
Roland Daniels 18:51
they sure can.
Heidi Griffith 18:51
So, you could have a collection that's with X Y and Z Bank credit card. Yes, so there's there's a lot of stuff that makes up what goes into your score? There's a lot of stuff that can get convoluted, that can be, you know, misread,
Roland Daniels 19:07
yes,
Heidi Griffith 19:08
by you, by you as the consumer, right? When you're looking at stuff, and I think embarrassment, that's that's always the big
Roland Daniels 19:14
one. I think so. Yes,
Heidi Griffith 19:16
I've learned that along the way. Josie taught me a great lesson in that, and when talking to people, I've come to find out that that that could be the reason that they're not reaching out after a class or after a conversation is because they've kind of told themselves this isn't going to work for me, they've
Roland Daniels 19:34
already made the decision before they actually find out
Heidi Griffith 19:38
they have, and you know how many people are still not doing anything because they believe the wrong information,
Roland Daniels 19:44
right? Because just like you said in the past, we've had a lot of conversations with people, and once we run credit, they are actually qualified
Heidi Griffith 19:53
a lot of times, a lot more times than one would expect. So here's the facts. Some people wonder what credit score you actually need. We talked about it not being 720 I think that this is part of the confusion that takes place when we start thinking to ourselves about what we can and can't do.
Roland Daniels 20:13
Right,
Heidi Griffith 20:13
everybody seems to have a number in their head, and it doesn't have to be 720 you know. Maybe they're thinking 700 maybe they're thinking 680 maybe they're thinking that they have to have perfect credit to get a house, some of the social meat, because obviously my algorithm goes to housing, so I get to see a lot of what's being pushed out there, and there's a lot of conversations right now, like we talked about last week about interest rates, right? Right. What are the rates, and why are rates stopping me from purchasing? What's the magic number? We couldn't determine, you know, there was.. there was not
Roland Daniels 20:51
really a magic number. There
Heidi Griffith 20:52
was a study done that said, you know, 6% 50% of millennials said that 6% was that magic number. We talked about why isn't that, then, you know, 6.125 right? Because the payment difference is going to be, you know, pretty slim on that, but there is this magic payment. So, who decided the credit score? They believe the number is the actual number. If you have, you know, kind of stopped looking towards the future. If you have any questions, if you're curious about what scores are needed, we'd be happy just to kind of go over that information with you. We would be happy to go over your personal scenario with you. You can give us a call or text us. We're at 702-540-0420 Okay,
Roland Daniels 21:38
starts with just a simple conversation. It
Heidi Griffith 21:40
does, and you know that this isn't about, hey, this is what you have to do to get a house. This is just the facts. If you have a question and you've been, you know, a little confused about what it takes, if we don't have the information, we'll get the information for you,
Roland Daniels 21:53
right.
Heidi Griffith 21:55
So, let's talk about what we actually need to qualify for homes. Let's start with just the general programs we talked about. FHA,
Roland Daniels 22:03
yes, FHA
Heidi Griffith 22:04
is 585
Roland Daniels 22:05
80 with three and a half percent.
Heidi Griffith 22:06
The minimum is three and a half percent down, not 20% If you've got 10% or more down, you can actually go down to as little as 500
Roland Daniels 22:16
500 to 579
Heidi Griffith 22:17
Rolling, tell us about the VA loan.
Roland Daniels 22:20
The VA loan, if you didn't know, there is no actual minimum FICO.
Heidi Griffith 22:27
What, there is
Roland Daniels 22:29
no minimum FICO score? Who determined that VA, it as is coming from the VA, the Veterans
Heidi Griffith 22:37
Admin.
Roland Daniels 22:38
Yes,
Heidi Griffith 22:39
yeah. No, no minimum credit now. Lenders have overlays, don't they? So, basically, what that means is they take the guidelines from, we'll call it the VA in this situation, they take their guidelines, and then they can put stuff that's required on top of their guidelines. So that's the overlay with Geneva Financial, our company. What is the minimum FICO score for a VA loan?
Roland Daniels 22:59
Heidi Griffith 22:59
80 is the minimum FICO that is not a perfect FICO score, is it?
Roland Daniels 23:04
It is not.
Heidi Griffith 23:05
And can we take a look at everything case by case basis with VA loans? We
Roland Daniels 23:09
can,
Heidi Griffith 23:10
we can.
Roland Daniels 23:10
There are certain issues, certain circumstances with the VA that they'll take consideration, and there's sometimes the ability to still get it done.
Heidi Griffith 23:19
And how many vets actually use their VA loan?
Roland Daniels 23:22
Unfortunately, less than 20% of our veterans actually use the VA home loan benefit,
Heidi Griffith 23:30
only because of bad information,
Roland Daniels 23:31
bad information,
Heidi Griffith 23:32
bad information. I'll take myself back to my real estate career days. I'll take myself back to the 90s. My father was a Vietnam veteran, he'd never used his benefits, and because I'd been given bad information in my travels, I talked him out of using his VA loan. He did use his VA benefits, however, I talked him out of it the first time. I gave him bad information,
Roland Daniels 23:57
misinformation. It does happen from time to time,
Heidi Griffith 24:00
and conventional, we talked about that,
Roland Daniels 24:01
we did,
Heidi Griffith 24:02
so we didn't talk about it in full, but the Fannie Mae,
Roland Daniels 24:07
Fannie Mae
Heidi Griffith 24:07
took away a credit score requirement, so if Annie May says we don't care what your credit score is, but it's not quite that easy, is it?
Roland Daniels 24:13
No, because on our side we need what's called an approved eligible, so you can have a 515 but you may not get an approved eligible, right?
Heidi Griffith 24:22
Right, because I think it really, it's going to be based on each individual's credit profile, their debt to income ratio. They're looking at the big picture. Sounded great when they got rid of 620
Roland Daniels 24:32
It did,
Heidi Griffith 24:33
because people like conventional loans, because when you have 20%
Roland Daniels 24:36
down, there is no
Heidi Griffith 24:38
mortgage insurance. There's no mortgage insurance, so people like that. It sounded good. The industry, our industry, was pushing it heavily on social, you know. Conventionals remove their minimum FICO requirement. You still have to be in good standing. Your profile still has to look nice for a conventional loan, doesn't it? And what about the. The most popular down payment assistance programs we use, Nevada Housing Division, Nevada Rural Housing. Yeah,
Roland Daniels 25:05
minimum 646
Heidi Griffith 25:07
40 is the minimum. So, I think the takeaway that I would, I would talk about today is it's about being informed, as with everything, and getting the right information. I know it's embarrassing. I know it's scary to take a look and see where you're at. Josie always talks about how she walked in with her, her credit report. She handed it to the linearity. I've got these clenched pearls in my hands, and she was really nervous, and she said, you know, this wave of relief came over her body after they sat down to have that conversation, and if you think about it, I know I was not great for this. Sometimes I create scenarios in my head comes, we
Roland Daniels 25:48
all do,
Heidi Griffith 25:49
and then when it happens, 99% of the time, it's usually never to
Roland Daniels 25:53
have that debt, that relief, that that deep breath just goes away.
Heidi Griffith 25:59
So, let's talk about this. What about folks with good credit scores? Because you know, typically when we have somebody we've run across a few with really, really good credit scores. They had the perfect mix of their credit makeup, some really good credit scores. I had one just recently, and you know, typically we don't even have a credit conversation, because they know that their credit score is fantastic, right? They know that their credit score is fantastic, and most of us who have really good credit scores, we're proud of that. You should be, but does a, does a great credit score, let's just call it an 820 does a great credit score automatically qualify you for a mortgage?
Roland Daniels 26:36
It does not, because we look at more than just, it's
Heidi Griffith 26:38
not just about price, is it? It's a much bigger picture.
Roland Daniels 26:41
Yes, we look at income, we look at assets, we look at your liabilities and the ability to pay. So, there's more than just a FICO score.
Heidi Griffith 26:50
Yeah, because if you don't make enough money and you have a great credit score, you might not qualify based on that. I mean, we can look at, qualify
Roland Daniels 26:59
for what you actually want, right, or what's available. Yeah,
Heidi Griffith 27:03
absolutely. So, there's just a lot of little working pieces that go together, and a credit score is just one piece of your puzzle. It is not the whole picture. If you have any questions about anything we're talking about today, or would like to see where you stand, please feel free to reach out. You're more than welcome to give us a call or text us. We're at 702-540-0420 Again, that number is 702-540-0420
Roland Daniels 27:34
We'll be back next Sunday morning at 7:30am right here on KU and V 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.
Heidi Griffith 27:49
Bye bye.
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