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Leaha Crawford and Rhonda Nolen are business consultants that discuss the current struggles of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Each episode covers steps necessary for smaller businesses and business owners to grow and prosper.
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This is a kunv Studios original program. The following is a paid program sponsored by Crawford management group and smart time consultants. Please be advised that the voices and opinions you hear do not represent the views of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. You music. Hi.
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My name is Leah Crawford,
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and I'm Rhonda Nolan,
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and you're listening to the let's talk with Leah and Rhonda show for all the beautiful entrepreneurs
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out there. This is for you. Good morning, Las Vegas, good morning, Leah, how are you doing today?
Unknown Speaker 0:43
I am amazing. Thank you for asking. I've been working out. So I am actually ecstatic. Couldn't do it this morning. No had to work this morning. Had to finish all my work this morning. But today we have an exciting, excited I want to jump right in, because he got a hiring event going on on Monday, and I am super duper on the 24th right? Lamont, the 24th on the 24th I want to welcome again. He is not new to this. Lamont, welcome back to the show.
Unknown Speaker 1:12
Thank you. Pleasure being here. Pleasure
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being here. Okay, so you have a hiring event on Monday. On Monday,
Unknown Speaker 1:18
we said the 24th but Monday is actually the 26th it's the 26th
Unknown Speaker 1:22
Monday is the 26th Okay, today is the 24th you wanna know when you get old? All the days run together, especially at the end of the month, right? That's it. It's different when you're in school and you're like, Okay, today, Time moves slow, but now Time moves fast. Okay, so it's 26 Yep. 20 Monday hiring event. Talk to me, 26 so
Unknown Speaker 1:40
Monday, we'll be in the office all day, inviting people to come in. And pretty much what we have going on that day is we're going to be talking to people that are new to the mortgage industry and people that have experience. We're going to be talking to them alike about some of the changes that are taking place in our industry, and about how this is a super, super exciting time to get exposed and join and be a part of that movement, right? So we're well aware that, you know, interest rates have been what they've been for the last 18 to 24 months. But, you know, I've got news for everybody, rates are falling. Yes, rates are falling, and it's exciting times for those that are looking to purchase and or refinance a home. And the cool thing about that is that means that we're getting busier, right? So with all that busy, busy, busy, we're gonna need all the help that we can get productive,
Unknown Speaker 2:32
productive, productive, productive, right? I like that. And
Unknown Speaker 2:36
so I like one of the cool things that I like to do is I like to expose our industry to people that just don't know about the industry. You know, I find it really interesting that most people don't learn about mortgage until it's time to acquire a mortgage.
Unknown Speaker 2:50
Well, you I'm glad you said that, because if you are in the process of buying a home,
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what is the first step? The first step is to get pre approved. To get pre approved. So who do you have to go see? You got to go see a mortgage company, a loan officer, right? And me, I'm biased. I say go see your local mortgage broker, because your local mortgage broker is independent, right? And who better to support than he or her? And who knows your community inside and out they do, right? Right? You know, so, so I'm a big advocate for mortgage brokers. I believe that you should support your local mortgage broker. Big banks are fine, right? They don't need any more of our help, right? So I say, go support that local, local person in your community. Now, are
Unknown Speaker 3:34
there any certifications that they might have to acquire a loan officer?
Unknown Speaker 3:39
Yes. So there's a licensing process that they have to go through. And one of the neat things about that licensing process is we can take you on a step by step guide and guide you along the way. And so we'll hand hold all the way through seeing you get that license. And then once that's all done, right, you're already part of our team, we'll extend that opportunity to you to join the team and become a full time loan officer. Okay, so
Unknown Speaker 4:03
how do we get in contact with you? Easiest way to contact me is
Unknown Speaker 4:07
call the office. 888-441-3930, that's the easiest way. Again, that number is 888-441-3930,
Unknown Speaker 4:17
wait a minute, I have a question for you. So if I am interested in becoming a mortgage loan officer. How long is that process? How is there a class I have to take? Yes, do you teach me? And how long does that process? And then the test? What's the score I have to get on the test to pass
Unknown Speaker 4:31
Good question, right? So the process is a 30 hour pre license course. That 30 hour pre license course, specifically, I'm speaking for Nevada, that 30 hour pre license course is one that could be done virtually. Okay, so you don't, yeah, you could do it in a week. You could do it in two you don't have to go sit in a classroom physically, but you got to understand the terms. You do need to understand the terms, because they're going to come back up. So the cool thing is, once you take the class, I. Uh, one of the pre courses to graduating from that class is there's going to be an exam, right? So it's and I like to think that it's an exam for the class, but don't mistake it with the exam for the test, because they're two separate, two
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separate things. So you're taking things, so you're taking an exam to get out of
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the class, because you have to graduate from the class, and then you go, then you're gonna go to some place like a psi, right, and take a license exam test, right? You pass that, and then once you pass that, then you actually apply for licensure, right? And so that licensing process, it could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, just depends on how backed up Nevada is at the time, right? So, so you'll go through that process, you'll get license, and then one of the neat things about that is we're going to be there to guide you every step of the way. And then once you actually have successfully completed that task of getting the license, we're going to be able to walk you through step by step, on what your day to day looks like, so that you can become a successful loan officer. God,
Unknown Speaker 6:08
and you hold their hands through the process absolutely all right? I
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look at this as a career, right? And I caution people, when looking at this opportunity, look at it from a career standpoint. Don't look at it from a job. You know, if you look at it from an aspect of a job, it's going to treat you and reward you just like a job. But if you looked at it from an opportunity to be able to embark on a career path where you can create and change lives, right? I say create, because we're creating a major opportunity for a lot of people When embarking on that journey of home ownership, we're creating a change in someone's family's entire outlook, right? We were talking earlier about the DNC and about the Vice President's comments in regards to housing for himself. He didn't have one, he didn't have one, right? And so and so, look at that right. You know, how many of us know someone right, whether they be 3040, 5060, and they've never bought their first home, right? And so and so I talked to a lot of folks. If actually yesterday I was actually talking to a Navy veteran, and he was in his mid 60s. He never owned a home, never owned a home. We're doing it for the first time. That's great. That's great, you know. So, yeah, and, you know, we talked last time on the show, you know, what do we what do we think the biggest, you know, contributing factor to that was, why do people wait so late? And one of the things that we learned about folks is that folks are just they're either it's lack of knowledge or they're fearful. They're fearful that they don't
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or won't qualify. And
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qualify, qualifying is always the key. That's the key. I am. I don't know if I qualify. I come into your office to get a mortgage. Do you help? Does your office help people get qualified,
Unknown Speaker 8:02
absolutely right? So that's one of the major differences. When you heard me earlier talking about how I advocate for independent mortgage companies like mortgage brokers, it's because independent folks are vested in their community. So when you come in, they're going to be vested in trying to do whatever it takes. Rhonda, if you don't qualify today, that's okay. We're gonna do whatever it takes. Put you on the path of qualifying so that we can make this a reality for you.
Unknown Speaker 8:31
Now, let's talk about that. What's that path?
Unknown Speaker 8:33
You know what? So to be honest with you, I think you have to have a plan, right? I think it starts with number one, what's the timeline? Right? Most people don't have a time. Most people are like, I just wanted to see if I qualified or not, right? Well, let's put a plan in place. Okay, you want to qualify, right? That's the ultimate goal, right? You came to me not because you wanted to see but because you want to qualify. You've made a choice, and the choice is, I want to own a home Lamont. That's what I want to do. Okay, fine. What's the timeline look like for you on owning this home? I'd say somewhere between three to six months, right? If that's what a person gave me, the first thing that I would want to know, if we can accomplish it within three to six months, is there anything that would stop you from moving forward? I need to know that up front. I need you to know that up front. Because you might be shocked. You may think three to six months, but Lamont might have you ready in three to six weeks, right, right? And then, if that's the case, if there is ready, are you ready? Are you ready? If there's some hurdle, I need to know about it right now. Don't wait until actually I get you done, and then you're like, Well, you know what? Well, you know.
Unknown Speaker 9:46
Well, you know what? You
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know. So I want to know these things up front so that we can properly plan. So I think you know to answer your question. I think the first step in that process is planning, because a lot of times we don't plan right, and so we're just kind of wandering. Right, right? Existing, existing, existing, right? So, so there's old saying, if you don't plan your hunt, it's just a walk in the woods, right? So, if you don't plan your hunt, it's a walk in the woods. If you don't plan your hunt, it's a walk in the woods. It's a walk in the woods. So you gotta plan it. You gotta plan, but that's with everything, though. That's with everything you gotta plan. That's with everything. So that's step one. Step one is planning. Step two is action, right? Okay, so what's the action? The action is, I need you to actually put forth effort in an application. You know, it's interesting. I have people so many times they come asking all these questions about the home buying process, and I'm like, we need to apply, y'all, we need to apply so we actually will know whether this plan that we have in place is gonna work. It's gonna work. But if you never, ever apply, what are we doing? We just talk. We're talking and talking. And I'm like, you know that's all well, right? Some numbers on people, but we got to put some stuff to paper, right names and some stuff. But, you know, that goes back Leah to people just being fearful, right? You know they're afraid. Sometimes I feel like they're afraid they won't qualify, but more times than not, I think they're afraid they will. Because what if I do qualify? That means I got to do something, right?
Unknown Speaker 11:21
I bet you gotta move. But what I but what I do enjoy is that listening to a bunch of agents over the past weekend, agents now are not taking you out unless you gotta pre qualify, unless you have a pre qualification. But the logic was, I don't want to show you something that I know you can't qualify for, right, that you don't qualify, right?
Unknown Speaker 11:38
Right? Yeah. I mean, agents want you to be pre approved first. They want you to be pre approved. You know, because approved, you know? Because, you know, I hear people saying all the time, like, you know, what's the difference between a pre qualification versus a pre approval, right? That's a good one. Really, really, a big difference, right? So pre qualification means you and I have had a conversation. I've asked you some pre qualifying questions. You've answered them, and I'm like, okay, cool, she's pre qualified. So what does that mean? Nothing.
Unknown Speaker 12:07
At the end of the day, you still don't know if I'm ready. Absolutely. You have, I
Unknown Speaker 12:13
haven't turned any documentation in me for me to actually validate, right? So, so when I hear people say, oh, you know, I talked to someone so they said I was pre qualified and I could buy a house at 500,000 I'm like, that's amazing. Let's get you pre approved right. Different conversation, different conversation, because now getting you pre approved means I need supporting income documentation from you. I need to run your credit right, and that's what agents are concerned with. Agents are concerned with sometimes you have mortgage companies out there, right that are giving people documentation saying they've been pre approved, when, in essence, it was more or less a pre qualification, because you've had no verification of income docs. You've not verified assets. Got it, so now you're setting the client up and the agent up for failure, because they're anticipating that all this stuff was done and they're a Okay, when, in fact, we still got work to do, right?
Unknown Speaker 13:11
Because I've seen people that you're right, because when they had the pre approval letter, I watch a close happen in like a week and a half, because it's done. All they're doing now is finishing stuff up final inspections, and it's done. It's
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done, as long as everything's done properly. Yeah, right. Otherwise, I've seen, and this is no jab at big banks, but I've seen banks, you know, folks been working with the bank for 60 days, and they haven't gone to closing yet, and I'm trying to figure out, like, what's going on with that loan, right? I mean, we know Bank of America and US bank we know they're busy, but they that busy, but it's people. So
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is underwriting different from a mortgage company? Officer?
Unknown Speaker 13:58
Well, what so, so elaborate for me, are we? Are we saying, is it different than going to a retail bank, right? When
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you just said a person's mortgage, you know, 60 days had passed and no one had done anything. Typically, somebody in underwriting is whole. Are holding you up, because it's either a something you didn't give them Yeah, or they're just going through your application with a fine through comb and so,
Unknown Speaker 14:17
so biggest difference is this, right? So you got retail bank versus independent, right? So I'm a big advocate for the independent. Obviously, I'm an independent. I am not Bank of America, us, bank, navy, federal. But the reality is, when going through an independent, we're able to use resources that we tap in as independents,
Unknown Speaker 14:38
gotcha. But all of them are governed by the same guidelines, though, essentially, are they governed by the same guy? So, and when I say that there are certain things that you have to have in order when you're talking about FHA loan, correct?
Unknown Speaker 14:51
So FHA loans, for example, FHA USDA and VA loans, right? Those are the three types of loans that are all insured by government. Agency
Unknown Speaker 15:00
now, so no matter who the person is that you're getting the loan through, don't they have the same requirements?
Unknown Speaker 15:06
No, they all have different requirements, but they all have FHA guidelines that they must follow, okay, USDA guidelines that they must follow, or VA guidelines. And
Unknown Speaker 15:15
that's funny. I just heard about USDA guidelines probably a couple years ago. I was like, USDA does home loans. Like, absolutely,
Unknown Speaker 15:21
yeah. So in our space, the mortgage space, there are commonly two types of loans. There's either a conventional loan or what people in the industry refer to as gubbies. So a guvy is a government loan, and there's only three types of government loans. There's a USDA, which is backed or insured through the US Department of Agriculture. There's the VA loan for our service members, that is the Veterans Administration backed loan, right? And then there's FHA, the loan that for you know, our common folk, you're eligible for the FHA loan. Those loans are insured through the Federal Housing Administration, right? So I use the word insured on purpose, because I want to remind folks they're insured by these agencies. These agencies do not lend money. They're just insured. They're just insuring the loan on behalf of who, whoever the investor is that's lending the money, right? So that doesn't do anything special for you, the buyer. It's something special for the lender. Now
Unknown Speaker 16:24
let me ask you this, are there limits to how much they will actually insure Absolutely,
Unknown Speaker 16:29
right? That's why you have things like FHA loan limits in counties. Certain counties have certain loan limits. It's not a state loan limit, it's a county loan limit, right? So for example, LA County in California might have eight, $900,000 off the top of my head. I don't know what it is, but
Unknown Speaker 16:46
just they might have a higher limit, absolutely, than here in Clark County. Clark County, absolutely. Okay. Housing costs are different,
Unknown Speaker 16:52
absolutely. But in my personal opinion, I think 2025, I think one of the things we're going to learn FHA loan limits in Clark County are going to increase because our home values, home, home prices in Clark County have definitely, definitely increased, definitely,
Unknown Speaker 17:10
definitely increase. And I don't know if that's a good, I don't know if that's a good. I think,
Unknown Speaker 17:14
I think it's happening quickly, yes, a lot quicker than we really have anticipated, I don't think anyone saw the prices rising as fast as they have been, especially post covid. Do
Unknown Speaker 17:28
you all right? Well, I won't ask you that, because that's, I know you don't have a crystal ball to know, but the interest rates are coming down. They are coming down. So that means, because I know, at one time with a high interest rate and a high price of a house. People were complaining, you know, they
Unknown Speaker 17:42
couldn't afford Yeah. So here's one of the challenges, right? When you talk about interest rates going down, right, the anticipation is, I'm not going to buy my house yet, because what I'm going to do is I'm going to wait for the rates to fall. Well, somebody else gonna get that. And when the rates fall, it's gonna be a perfect time. The only problem with that thinking, guys, is that, ladies, if you're waiting for the rates to fall, you need to be cognizant of the fact that as the rates fall, the prices are going to go up, right? So the prices aren't going to go down as rates fall, that's not going to happen, right? So it's, it's, it's one of those things you heard me say the last time that I was on here, folks need to date the rate and marry the house. I need the consumers to make sure that the house that you're looking at, let's make sure this is the house. So date
Unknown Speaker 18:33
the rate, date the rate, because if I'm in the house now, I got the house at this price, yep. And if my rate goes down, then my mortgage will go down absolutely.
Unknown Speaker 18:41
And the one thing that's always changing, what do we know that's always changing the rates, the rates, the rates are always changing. If I go back, I priced the loan yesterday, right? I hope I can say this on the air, I locked an interest rate yesterday at 5.1% right? So 5.1% is what I locked that that same loan? Had I locked that loan two months ago? That same loan was 7% it was 7% so
Unknown Speaker 19:08
let me so going back to your hiring event, sure you train your loan officers Yes, to be efficient in this space. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. Do you work with them? Personally? I
Unknown Speaker 19:24
work with them along with the team, right? And so one of the things that I provide outside of me working one on one with folks, is I provide a once a week coaches call, right? And this coach's call, we have our entire team on this call. This is a call where I do 45 minutes of training with the entire company every single week. So I'm that dialed into it, because I'm that passionate about making sure that we're educating our consumers with the right information the way I've made a I guess, more or less, I've sustained myself in this industry. Right is about being an advocate of educating, right? So one of the first groups that I focused on educating for me was the US veteran. Right? I feel like the veteran community as a whole, I've not served in the US military, but my dad served, and my stepfather served, and I became very passionate about educating veterans on the VA home loan, because I was shocked of how many veterans don't even know how the VA Home Loan works. And you lead to situations like the gentleman that I met with the other day to where they're in their mid 60s and they've been retired for 1015, 20 years, and they're like, Yeah, I knew I had that benefit, but I never knew how it worked, so I never looked into it. Wow,
Unknown Speaker 20:49
and that
Unknown Speaker 20:51
goes back to education, because it depends on how you were brought up as a child. Like I had friends I went to school with from New York, they grew up in apartments, so in their mind, they're gonna live in an apartment, absolutely and unless they are educated about buying a house in whatever city they land in once they, you know, leave college. So it just really depends on your lifestyle. It
Unknown Speaker 21:12
really does. It really depends on lifestyle. Because, you know, by nature, all of us as humans, we we're learned creatures, right? So we're creatures of habit, right? So I used to, I used to use this all the time, right? When we talked about vacations, we were talking about, you know, why? Why is it that, you know, growing up? Why did we see it in, like, the black community, why did Black families travel way less than others, right? Well, it was kind of like, because when we were young, right? Some of us didn't get to go on vacation, right? The idea of a vacation was us going to Grandma's house for the summer, right? And that was vacation, right, right? It was, that was it, that's right, you know, most of us didn't know what it was like. You know, I got, you know, it's sad, I'm 45 I got friends that have never been on an airplane. If I go back home and go visit these folks, they still been on it. They've never left. If they can't drive, they scared to get on the plane right, scared. Do not
Unknown Speaker 22:11
know how to maneuver through this. It's
Unknown Speaker 22:13
a lot of people like that. It's fear
Unknown Speaker 22:14
and education, the same thing that goes and to why folks haven't bought a home. Even if you don't want to buy a home to live in, it, you buy a home for an investment. This is the best real estate. Is the best investment that you possibly could make. So, you know that that would be, that would be my thought process on that is, you know, even if you're not buying the home to actually occupy you. Buy a home for an investment, because a real estate investment is one that you can never go wrong with.
Unknown Speaker 22:49
I like that. I like that. But we also talked last time, well, about buying a second house. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 22:55
we talked about buying a second house. And how do you do that here so you could do so, okay, so a second home, right? Can't be in close proximity of your primary right? So, you know, I
Unknown Speaker 23:08
so, maybe not a second home and investment, but an investment property here. But
Unknown Speaker 23:12
what's the mileage? Is it? So, I
Unknown Speaker 23:13
believe it's 100 miles. I believe it's 100 you know, if you're buying something in close proximity or where you live, is an investment. We're gonna buy an investment, right, right? But your second home, for example, you know, LA is, what, 200 something miles away, Newport Beach, absolutely. Newport Beach definitely would qualify as your second home. For sure. You definitely could pull that off. The price point is gonna be a whole lot different than Las Vegas. So we talk about Vegas prices, that's a whole nother animal Virgin Islands, right? So if we can buy it, you know, so, but hey, so interesting enough, right? So buying a home in the US Virgin Islands is something that a US mortgage company can still help you with, right? Because I have loan officers that are licensed in the Virgin Islands, right and there, and we are still governed by the same authority, right, which is the NMLS, right? So NMLS actually is, is who you would go through, the governing body that you would go through for pre license.
Unknown Speaker 24:17
So it just has to be a US Island.
Unknown Speaker 24:19
Well,
Unknown Speaker 24:21
I'm just asking for a friend, because they, you know, I was watching roll call, and some interesting places came up, and I was asking for a friend. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 24:28
so I will tell you this biggest myth is that we are in a space right now in our economy where the housing market is going to crash. I do not see the market crashing. Instead, what I see is a huge opportunity for a lot of folks to embark on this journey called home ownership through some of the amazing programs that are out here right now, there are down payment. Grants that individuals can qualify right now, speaking of one particular grant, you were mentioning something earlier about buyer agents, and talking about the fact that obviously this week is a week that a lot of people that are in real estate have really been focused on, because now buyer agents. The responsibility of a buyer agent to pay for their representation. The buyers to pay for that representation can no longer be listed on the MLS, right? So, so, interesting conversation. So, so buyer agent, right? The buyer agent can still be paid, right? The biggest myth is they wouldn't be able to be paid now, right? So people like buyer agents are gonna fall off the map. They're not gonna be able to make any money anymore. That's not the case. That's not the case, right? But what happens is, the buyer agent, you cannot, we can't put it on the seller to pay for the buyer. Agent, right? You are. So that's very
Unknown Speaker 26:04
frustrating to me, because seeing that as potentially a seller, why am I paying your agent? Why am I paying the agent to sell my house?
Unknown Speaker 26:14
So if you listed your house with that agent and no organization, no,
Unknown Speaker 26:19
that's different. That's the listing agent. Yeah, you're specifically talking to buyer agent. I'm talking about the person that's representing you looking at my house, yeah, but a lot of times they're asking the seller to pay both agents. And so
Unknown Speaker 26:32
that's what's happened in the past. But I will say this, I think we're gonna get past this. I think we in the mortgage industry are looking for solutions for buyer agents, because we want, we want everyone to be able to continue to win. And so ultimately, in order for that to happen, we've created really extreme flexibility in some of our products, where, like, for example, right now, we're offering a 5% grant, right you don't have to be a first time homebuyer to qualify for this grant. But essentially, you could use on an FHA loan three and a half percent for your down payment, okay? And we can actually use the other one and a half percent that could be financed to actually go towards paying your buyer agent, for example, right? So, you know, that was the problem
Unknown Speaker 27:17
the buyer's agents that they I mean, because I was looking at the law. Didn't really understand everything, but I knew there were some changes, because So historically,
Unknown Speaker 27:28
the buyers weren't paying their agents. No, historically, the sellers have been paying both the sellers have been paying both agents, and that's just always understood, always okay, always, always, always so. And then that split between agents is something that would have been on the NML, on the MLS listing, okay, before, so if you were going to, if you were an agent, okay, and you were gonna go show Rhonda house right, right before showing rhonda's house in your listing, you would have already said In the listing that if someone brings a buyer right, another agent brings a buyer to go see this listing that you have for Rhonda, if that's the case, that other agent knows up front what their potential commission is, okay? So maybe total commission you could have negotiated with your client 6% but to the buyer agent in your listing, you only offer two and that's
Unknown Speaker 28:24
why I say you need to understand this call. And that's and that's when it becomes very interesting when you're in this real estate environment, because you have to understand a lot of the moving pieces, right, and what you can and cannot do. Well, that brings us to the end of the show, because we got less than 30 seconds. I want to thank you again for coming on as always, you always accept the call. I appreciate that. No
Unknown Speaker 28:42
worries. I appreciate you guys for having me. Thank
Unknown Speaker 28:44
you so much. All right, and until next week, thank you, peace and blessings, Vegas, thanks,
Unknown Speaker 28:49
Lamont. Talk to you later. All
Unknown Speaker 28:50
right, talk to you guys. Bye.
Unknown Speaker 28:51
Bye. You
Transcribed by https://otter.ai