Real Estate Show Lender Updates for Dec 2022 

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Real Estate Show Dec 2022 Lender Updates with Guy Giles

Alice Lema: [00:00:00] Well, hey, there's Southern Oregon. Welcome back to the Real Estate Show. So glad you could join us again today. I'm Alice Lema. I'm a broker at John Scott Real Estate here in Southern Oregon and your host of The Real Estate Show. Today we're gonna be talking to Guy Giles and Beth Rodriguez of Mutual Omaha Mortgage.

They come on the show, the beginning of every month, bring us up to speed on what's happened. And we had more stuff with the Federal Reserve. Interest rates are very, very volatile and Guy Giles and Beth Rodriguez will kind of enlighten us of what's happening and what to expect next. They're also bringing with them Russell Brown of State Farm and Russell Brown of State Farm. We're gonna ask him some questions about how to be safe over the holidays, what kind of insurance issues can happen in the winter, and then also get an update from him regarding homeowner policies and such for our real estate.

So it's gonna be a great show today. Before we bring on Beth and Guy and Russell wanna just [00:01:00] talk briefly about the local statistics because it's, it's very interesting how week to week we're watching the market try to settle and just react to all these interest rate changes and economy and, and still we have buyers out there and still we have sellers.

We're actually still selling quite a few houses, just not as many as we did before. So let's start with Klamath Falls. Klamath Falls year to date, sales are down, the number of sales are down 12%, but the prices in Klamath Falls are up 8%. Now, we watch this every week. It fluctuates a little bit but it's, it is quite interesting how we're watching the market settle week to week. So Klamath Falls, solds are down 10%. But up 8%.

Josephine County sold s since the beginning of January, Josephine County solds are down 10%, but Josephine County prices are up 6%. Jackson County number of solds are down 8%, and the prices in Jackson County are [00:02:00] up 4%. So it's very interesting. We're watching things settle.

We still have a slew of buyers. The interest rates went down a little bit this week. People wanna own a home. People wanna sell their home and get something else. People want a second home or an investment property. There's still real estate happening out there. So just wanted to give you some encouragement, that if you're thinking about buying or selling, we're still making it happen.

Quite a few of escrows lately are contingent on selling another house, but that's a sign that the market is health more healthy, a little more neutral, and suddenly because the sellers feel comfortable taking a contingent offer for a house to sell, where a few months ago they weren't. So that's where we are. Let's talk to our guests in a quick minute.

Well, hey, Southern Oregon. Good morning and welcome back to The Real Estate Show. So glad you could join us today. We got a great show in front of [00:03:00] us. We have Guy Giles and Beth Rodriguez from Mutual of Omaha Mortgage. So glad they could be here again. They come every month and today they brought along Russell Brown with State Farm. Give us an insurance update. Good morning everybody. So here we are, December . We made it, we made it through 2022 little bumps and bruises. Guy, where do you wanna start? What's, it's been a, it's been a month since we've talked and a lot has happened. I'm not even sure where to start?

Guy Giles: Probably a month ago nothing was going on and it doesn't feel like that now, I guess would be the way to kind of describe it. We you know, in this business we obviously reinvent ourselves every month. We don't have the luxury like the insurance guys do. Once you're kinda in , this kinda is there, not that he's not a great insurance agent, he actually happens to be mine. And But it's one of those things that, that last month, I don't think there was a whole lot of people walking in the door.

And now we've put a few contracts in this week and I think [00:04:00] people are kind of settling into the fact that they don't have to be married to, to a rate that's a little bit higher for the rest of their life. You know, that, that right now is just in, instead of bidding $30,000 over for a house and then praying, you get it, you're, you can actually go in and negotiate with the sellers a little bit.

And maybe have them contribute something towards buying down your rate to where, where it was. And it, it just feels like, I don't know everything from first time home buyers to people moving around a little bit again. So, I mean, I don't think we're back or we're going to be for a little while with the craziness that we've been experiencing the last few years. But, you know, people buy houses in the eighties and you know, they'll buy 'em now.

Alice Lema: And during the crash, Yes. Like it's, yeah. Yeah. So it sounds like you are sensing a shift in the market that it's not quite as traumatic as it was. Is that it?

Guy Giles: Absolutely. And, and there's not the, the storm, like there was before. You [00:05:00] know, we haven't been writing bad loans for a decade now. So there's not, there's not all that inventory of people that just cannot afford their houses. Sure, there's gonna be some, you know, we're in, in the middle of a, of a recession, whether some people wanna admit it or not. But the reality is that people that are in their houses can afford them right now, and they have a ton of equity.

So it's completely different than, than what happened before. What's helping it also is, you know, inflation is finally cooling off a little bit. The feds realize that, you know, maybe they should do something a little while back, and they have been, and it's been painful in some ways, but in other ways it really needed to happen to kind of slow this down and correct everything and, and it's starting to take hold now.

So we're seeing that in the 10 year treasuries. We're seeing that in the mortgage backed securities and some of your longer term investments where rates are coming down and people see that and it's in the news. So that's helping also.

Alice Lema: Cool. Cool. And, you know, on the real estate side and we can hear from [00:06:00] Russell on the insurance side. We're selling a lot of houses. It's still down from last year, but considering all of the speculation and uncertainty, I'm, I'm really pleased and excited that people are still weathering the storm and getting their transactions done cuz they're getting great, great deals. The prices are down. They don't have to like you were talking about Guy, pay overpay.

Yeah, they don't have to overpay, they don't have to give up their inspections. There are still some multi offers, but yeah. So I'm, I'm noticing the beginning of a shift as well. We'll have to see if it gets some legs. Russell what is it like for you in the insurance market?

Russell Brown: Well, for the last year with the pandemic, the theory was everybody's at home. So if their water pipe breaks or a fire breaks out, they're there. So in theory, you would think there weren't as many claims. I'm not sure that overall [00:07:00] it, it came to fruition as much as we hoped. This is not a prediction about next year, but my concern is getting available parts and supplies for people that are having homeowners claims is much more difficult now.

Which increases cost for all insurance companies to put people up in rental homes and hotels while they're waiting for their house to get fixed. That has to translate into next year with increased costs, which usually means increased rates across the nation. It's not just gonna be one company because everybody's dealing with the lack of available countertops, cabinets, flooring, whatever it is that you need. So it just means we're paying more to put somebody into alternative housing while they're waiting.

Alice Lema: Oh, interesting. So this time of year Russell, you know what are the most likely preventable claims?

Russell Brown: The ones that we always see [00:08:00] is pipe breaks, water pipe issues in the winter.

And I would say the, the most common are also dog bites. So people that, need to be careful with their, with their animals and but, but usually it's fire and water pipes burst. So those are your two main ones and Yeah, every winter we send out emails and letters that say, Hey, you know, protect your pipe. You put the little bit hose bid covers on and whatever a homeowner can do. But that just seems to be what it is every single, every single year.

Guy Giles: Do you ever get a dog that's playing with matches and bites a water pipe?

Russell Brown: No but I've had some strange things.

Alice Lema: Can we hear about some?

Russell Brown: What's that? Sorry. I'm trying to think. Some of the stuff we're dealing with is mice that come in and chew, which then creates the problems cuz they're under the house and, [00:09:00] and typically certain rodent type damage is not covered, but sometimes resulting damage, you know, they'll chew through that new more plastic piping instead of the old style, you know, metal, best iron, now you've got some plastics and so they chew through that. Then you have a water leak underneath and you hope you get to it before it, before it causes too much damage.

Alice Lema: Then what other kind of damage do rodents do that you get claims for this time of year under the.

Russell Brown: Well a lot of that isn't covered with most companies because with your car it is, you know, rats get in there and chew wiring in your car, that's covered. But typically with homeowners it isn't. Probably be because it would increase costs so much cuz people deal with that on a regular basis.

Alice Lema: But I think a lot of people don't know that that happens, that that rodents even in a finished garage.

Russell Brown: Yeah, they get in the insulation and make their nests. And get into the heating and air ducts [00:10:00] and make a nest, and chew holes in it. And, and then you find it when it's a problem and you can, you can patch 'em a lot of times and, and repair. It's not usually anything that's drastic, it's just a nuisance.

Alice Lema: And you don't know it's happening. That's why we're so glad you're here today. We're talking to Russell Brown of State Farm, Guy Giles and Beth Rodriguez of Mutual of Omaha Mortgage. Russell, the other thing you mentioned was fire. Since it's the holidays, what can people do to be more careful, more preventative?

Russell Brown: Well, Christmas trees I'm sure across the country are a big deal. I've only seen a few Christmas tree fires in, in my 21 years, but you know, I think people like to leave 'em on all day long and into the evening. And then some, most people, I think shut 'em off when they're sleeping, but others like 'em on all the time and that's fine.

Alice Lema: Are you not supposed to do that?

Russell Brown: Well, some would argue that, you know, you've got a lot more electrical things plugged in, which can, I suppose, [00:11:00] increase the chance of fire. But I don't know if, I think the more things you plug in the, the greater the chance potentially.

But but that's usually you know, people are, are building if they still have building fires and they don't have the, the, the right protection in front of their wood stoves. And so a spark jumps out and gets the carpet. We, we, we get a handful of those, or they don't clean their chimneys once a year.

And sometimes that can do a, a flu fire, which happens on occasion. So a lot of it's maintenance. If you do the proper maintenance, then you avoid a lot of those issues especially homes.

Alice Lema: Yeah. Yeah. Or a home you haven't lived in very long and you don't know. So, yeah. Interesting. Oh, going back to the dog bite. I, I haven't heard that one before, . So first of all, is that covered Russell?

Russell Brown: It is, it is covered under your liability coverage. So I can't tell you how many times in my life I've heard people say, oh, she would never hurt anybody. She'd [00:12:00] never bite anyone. Or, you know, my dog doesn't bite and. But dogs do bite and you know, a lot of times it's, it's people that don't know, a lot of kids don't know how to be cautious and so they'll just want up and want to pet this fluffy thing with just standing there and some of us that are older see a, a certain type of a dog that doesn't look super friendly, we may not go up and just stick our hand out and start petting .

Alice Lema: Yeah. Cuz we know what happens.

Guy Giles: That's probably another thing to think about when you're picking your breed of dog too. I mean, it could, it could affect your insurance, can't it?

Russell Brown: It does with some companies. Yeah. And I will say the State Farm, we, we don't care about the breed. We only care if the dog bites. And if we're okay with all dogs, just not the ones that have bitten someone, that's where it's an issue.

Alice Lema: Okay. Well that's good to know. That's super good to know. And then also, when people are out looking at homes if you're shopping for a home if you're selling a home, A lot of sellers will say, well, I'm gonna leave, but my dog's gonna stay here. And it's like, no, [00:13:00] because there's no way we can be responsible for that. And if you're shopping for homes, don't bring your pets. Hmm. We have people do that and they try to carry them in the house. You can't do that. It's somebody else's house, Plus they might be allergic and, and other stuff. And then try not to bring your children to the home showings just because they are so fast, things can happen so quickly.

But I, let me ask you an insurance question about house showings. I, we didn't, we didn't prep you for this question, so sorry. But if you're selling your house and showings are happening, what happens if their kids break something or. Well, typically they break something.

Russell Brown: Yeah. Typically under a homeowner's policy, you don't have coverage for things like, Hey, I, I knocked my own television over and broke it you know. But the people that come into [00:14:00] your house, if they have either a renter's policy or a homeowner's policy and they damaged something, Typically it's covered under their homeowner's policy for whatever they do in your home.

Your own homeowners probably won't cover, hey, my kid was in your house and broke one of your antiques. You know, and your own insurance company's probably not gonna cover it, but you'd go back to the person who, who you know, caused .

Alice Lema: And yeah. Interesting. And if you are selling your house and you leave your dog home, your insurance agent does not want that phone call that the dog bit somebody. Well we're gonna have to take a, a quick break. Today we're talking to Russell Brown Estate, Farmers, Guy Giles and Beth Rodriguez of Mutual of Omaha Mortgage. We appreciate the sponsorship from Mutual Omaha Mortgage. Also wanna say thank you to John L. Scott, Ashland in Medford for their ongoing support and our local Rogue Valley [00:15:00] Association of Realtors.

It's the end of another great radio real estate year, and we appreciate your support very, very much, very. This broadcast is going to be repeated tomorrow, Sunday at six o'clock. So you can listen to Russell, Guy and all, over again. Don't touch that dial. We'll be right back.

Well, hey everybody. Welcome back to the Real Estate Show. I'm Alice Lema. I'm a broker at John L. Scott here in beautiful Southern Oregon. And today we're talking to Guy Giles and Beth Rodriguez of Mutual of Omaha Mortgage and also Russell Brown from State Farm. Thanks for coming on the show today, guys.

Guy Giles: Well, thank you for having us back.

Alice Lema: Russell right before the break we were talking about some insurance stuff and houses, house selling, house buying. And then during the break, Guy mentioned something about FICO scores. You wanna add onto that?

Beth Rodriguez: Yeah. So when you're with your auto and homeowner's insurance, Oregon I wanna say it was 20 years ago we voted on [00:16:00] this whether or not to include your credit score with a factor of your, of, of your rate, your premium.

Russell Brown: And after, I think it was three or four years, one of our vice presidents came out and said, we thought it was gonna work well, but we had no idea it would be this accurate that people with better credit scores, we don't know exactly why, I have my own reasons why I think, but people with better credit scores typically don't have as many tickets or claims.

And so I think that's the reason why they get a lower rate and we don't penalize for, you know, medical issues and, and bills that you don't really have control over. It's, it's, it's pretty much, you know just the regular consumer debt, not, not the stuff you have difficulties avoiding. And so over time, it just seems like if you have a better credit score, there's a [00:17:00] correlation to responsibility on how you take care of things. And I know that sounds terrible and there's a lot of people listening that are angry that I made that statement. So it's not in every case, but there is some sort of correlation to it otherwise every company wouldn't be doing it.

Alice Lema: Yeah. That's very interesting. So it's kind of a behavior predictor your FICO score in some cases. Yeah. We're not being judgmental, we're just being, matter of fact, we like data. This show is all about data.

Guy Giles: Oh yeah. And, and when we look at a ton of credit reports and it's, it's more rare find somebody that hadn't gone through something during their life with credit. Than it is to find somebody that's never had a problem. I mean, pretty much everybody goes through something at some point or another in their life. So yeah, we understand that. Is there any kind of a, any kind of a, a cutoff where it's like, Hey, 680, that's, that's where it does it. Or 720 or 740, or is it just

Russell Brown: No, and we don't even, we don't even use those numbers. They won't even give us the numbers they used to, but then they just got rid of it. It's just one of many factors. So they look at, have you [00:18:00] had prior claims? Do you pay on time? What's your score? And it gives you an overall score.

So you could still be really high in all these other areas and they, they, I don't even know exactly what makes up the whole thing, but

Alice Lema: they have their own algorithm it sounds like, right?

Guy Giles: Yeah, I can tell you the Russell is really good though. When I, what, two months ago, bought the fastest production bike on the planet and called him up. I was a little afraid to see what what my rate would be and it really wasn't as bad as I thought at all. So he has been my insurance agent for a lot of years and he's really good if somebody's shopping for an agent.

Alice Lema: Well, that's great. That's great. So going back to the FICO score, what are some of the things Beth and Guy that people can do to raise their FICO score so that they can have better insurance rates, better mortgages, and the whole, whole enchilada.

Beth Rodriguez: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I'll jump in there. Some of the things they can do, obviously no late payments. A lot of people don't realize that just even one 30 day late [00:19:00] payment makes a huge difference in dropping your credit score. So just being really careful about that. And also keeping the balance of your cards, if you can keep it 30% below of your maximum limit, that's gonna help a lot of your credit card.

Yeah. Yeah. And then having you know, that diversity of the trade lines is also helpful. What you don't wanna do is go out and open a bunch of cards all at once and use them all to their maximum limit, because that's gonna look, you know, negative as well. The higher you are to using your maximum limit.

The more negative it can be cuz they're thinking, well, they're having to use your cards to pay things. So that's kind of like a fine line balance. Again, it goes back to those algorithms. There's so many things that go into it, so I know it can be quite complicated. But those are definitely some of the, you know, few things that, that you can do to increase that as well.

Alice Lema: So in in this kind of real estate market, one of the things we were [00:20:00] wondering was how many houses would we sell this year? Were the interest rates really gonna crater, the buyers and nobody's gonna buy anything. And here we are, people are still buying, including some investment properties. So when you guys are talking to people about that what are you hearing from your clients about their feeling on the market because it seems like there's a lot of misunderstanding of how bad it is or how good it is out there.

Guy Giles: Well, no, I don't think there's anybody that can argue that rents are up and for the foreseeable future. I mean, it's just, it's taken them forever to build houses. There's just a ton that goes into to building new ones these days. So there, there's, there's no way to really keep up with the demand even for rentals right now. So as, as somebody that owns rentals, it's, it's, it's a good time to, to do it. And I've actually been, I hadn't even really thought about that a lot cuz I don't deal with a lot of investors. We have great products for them, but there's just people that kind of specialize in that sort of thing.

And like you do, I know you're really good [00:21:00] at finding people, investment properties. That said, it has come up three or four times lately where people that I know are buying investment properties right now, and.

Alice Lema: I think that is so exciting. Is that here in southern Oregon? Good, good. That's a good sign. Isn't that kind of an indicator?

Guy Giles: I, I would, I would think so. I mean, these tend to be the more savvy people with their, with their money and they've thankfully got, you know, kept themselves in a position where, where you know, you're, again, you're, you're not bidding up on a house. You're actually able to, to do your due diligence beforehand a little bit while you're going in to make the offer and you're not coming back out of it thinking, don't know how that happened.

I got too excited about that house and now I just paid 25,000 more for it and now all of a sudden it's not penciling out quite as well.

Alice Lema: Right. just what I thought. We can't do that when we're doing rentals. It has to pencil.

Guy Giles: Yeah. And I don't know what would motivate somebody to buy an investment property right now. Russell might have bought.

Russell Brown: I'm actually [00:22:00] closing on one today. My first yeah. I have several friends that I've just, I get so much information from friends, it takes me a long time before I pull the trigger. And so I was about two months ago talking to friends who have rentals like, man, that was a great time to get in because prices, you know, people aren't having a bidding war. There's, there's more inventory and less buyers and interest rates are up, but they're not always gonna stay up and all that kind of talk. And I just kind of stumbled onto one and my wife and I looked at it and and then you get into that emotional thing like, do we really want to do this?

Alice Lema: I want you to hear that folks, we all have that sleepless night or two, no matter how many properties we've purchased, right? Russell .

Russell Brown: And so I've had other people where I get a little a little apprehensive. They're like, it's gonna be okay. It's so we're just doing it and yeah. If you know how it goes.

Alice Lema: So I'm curious though, and we don't wanna like breach any privacy, but the property you're [00:23:00] closing on today mm-hmm that you're gonna have as an investment, does it already have a tenant in it?

Russell Brown: No we're looking at the alternative ones. The, we have an Air B & B right now at at our house. And so since we've got some experience with that, we're gonna do the same. I think there's six different platforms, so we're gonna try that. And if that doesn't work as well as we want it to, then yeah, then we would have to search for a tenant.

Alice Lema: That's wonderful. And you know, there's a, a local landlord association, SORA Southern Oregon Rental Owners Association. They have forms, they have meetings, they have dinners, they have a newsletter. So okay. If you go, if you go that direction, hook up with them, because some of those folks actually go to Salem for the legislative meetings. SORA, it's called, anyway, going back to our conversation and congratulations again. That's great. The prices are really, really good [00:24:00] right now, but they're still higher than they were. So Beth and Guy, when people come and talk to you about, getting pre-approved and doing a purchase what does that conversation sound like with them?

Guy Giles: A lot of it depends on prior conversations. If somebody comes back in and I haven't talked to them in nine months, there's a whole different conversation than somebody walking in right now because we, we usually try to go over things, especially with first time home buyers, really making them understand, you know, the, the cost of buying a house.

I've made a lot of mistakes with money, but any house I've ever bought, I've, I've, I've done well on. But that said, when it's a little different, when the heater goes out and it's your own house or you know, you're just, just having to buy a lawnmower cause you didn't have to own one before. I mean all the, all those little things.

But, but if somebody was in talking to me six months ago and, you know, we're talking about $1,800 payment and now we're talking about a $2400 payment, [00:25:00] it can be, you know, it can be a little shocking to, to some people. So that's how some of the conversations are going. Letting them know that, you know, rates are up.

It's, it's not necessarily a, a, a bad thing, but, but there was a little bit of sticker shock for some people that we had talked to a while back that just hadn't found the right house back then. But now that rates are coming back down, sellers are getting a little bit more realistic. That's why I think we're starting to get a little busier right now. And people are, are realizing that it's, it is to their benefit to think about buying at this point, not just, yeah.

Alice Lema: Don't you think it's like this golden moment in real estate world where the prices are down a little, the rates are down a little, there's houses to choose from, and it's winter. I just, I just think that's like the perfect suit.

Guy Giles: Yeah. And, and, and again, we're, we're, we are seeing that, you know, we went from just a couple referrals in a week, what, 15 or something in the last [00:26:00] seven days. And, and that was, you know, people are definitely out there. Normally everybody's mind's just on Christmas at this point, and everybody's just hunkered down. But I think people are seeing it as an opportunity to get out and just kind of see what's out there right now.

Alice Lema: Yeah. Yeah. It's very, very exciting and I'm so glad that we have investors going into the market because we need them. We, we don't have enough. But I think it's also a sign when people have a more optimistic business outlook, they'll pull the trigger on a rental or two. Yeah, you can go get another one. Russell.

Russell Brown: Yeah. Well, can I ask you guys a question? So the rates were, the interest rates were so low for so long when we first bought our first house 7% was fantastic and we never thought it would get to 5%. So do you think there is somewhat people who have been through those cycles that are going, you know, they're only at, they're higher than they were, but they're still, they're not in the teens, [00:27:00] so they're, they're kind of refocused back to, these rates aren't terrible, they're just not what we've been experiencing for the last, what, 10 years or however long they've been that low.

Alice Lema: Yeah. And we've got a break coming up in a few seconds, but Guy, Beth, why don't you address that briefly?

Guy Giles: As far as the, as, as the people have been around for a little while and watched this, you know, I mean, I don't, I don't go a week talking about rates without somebody coming in saying that they paid 18%. I think 24% was what one guy paid in the eighties. I think that was a record for people coming in here.

And, you know, if you look historically you know, we're, we're back comfortably down in the low sixes at this point, and 6% has always been considered a great rate. Just if you, if you look historically, so you know, Fannie Mae's still talking about coming down maybe into the fours next year, but that's

Alice Lema: Oh, that would be great.

Guy Giles: Get a house right now before you have to, anyway, I know we're up against the break.

Alice Lema: We'll be right back. Hold that [00:28:00] thought. Don't touch that dial.

Well, welcome back to the Real Estate Show folks. So glad you could join us. Today we're talking to Russell Brown of State Farm, Guy Giles and Beth Rodriguez of Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, and we're talking about how people are picking up the pace a little bit, even though it's December and we're buying and selling houses again. And so Beth what kind of buyer mix are you seeing? Like who is it that's braving this, this real estate tumultuous time.

Beth Rodriguez: Yeah, I would have to say probably the ones we're not seeing as much of is the first time home buyers. Just because, you know, one rates did go up, they got a little bit priced outta the market.

Some are starting to come back now too, but we are still seeing you know, people that are just moving. They're, you know, wanting to upsize, downsize. Moving, you know, into the state, moving out [00:29:00] of the state. We've had a few of those. And then also just the investors, you know, getting some rentals still going on.

So yeah, still a really good diverse mix of buyers. We're hoping to see more of the first time home buyers being able to come back in, now that the rates, you know, getting a little bit better and hopefully throughout next year to continue seeing that as well.

Alice Lema: And don't you think this is a good time of year for first time home buyers to get pre-approved? It's kind of quiet. They can work on their stuff if they're not quite ready.

Beth Rodriguez: Definitely. And also too, it's a great opportunity to let them know, you know, when tax season is coming up, if you get that refund back, save it. Don't spend it. So it is a great time for them to be able to prepare and get some things in order, you know, take a look at at their overall scenario and give them some tips how to get ready for the new year.

Cause I do hear that a lot too. We're thinking in January, we're thinking in, you know, getting ready by the end of the year. So for some reason, I think the new year helps to bring in kind of like new [00:30:00] perspectives and plans that they wanna do for the future.

Alice Lema: Yeah. Well and some people are just, you know, especially the first time home buyers. I don't know about the ones you guys are working with, but the ones I'm working with, a lot of 'em have more than one job. Yeah. You know, they're really, really hustling to get that down payment. And getting a down payment is one of the worries first time home buyers have. So can you kind of tell the audience where people are getting their down payment? Besides saving, like there's a lot of different ways to get a down payment.

Guy Giles: One really good place is family if you're able to gift, gift money. If you're buying an investment, there are different rules on that as far as you having some of your own money. But you know, if you have a parent or somebody that that might have a little bit of money sitting in a checking account, I mean, even though you're getting paid a lot for having that just sitting in the bank, right now.

Alice Lema: Not!

Guy Giles: You know, you might as well help out, help out your kid and you know, get him into an appreciating asset. So we are seeing a lot [00:31:00] of families helping out, helping out the kids as far as that goes. And I think one other thing that kind of speaks to, that kinda speaks to what, what Beth was talking about getting ready right now is because credit score is such a factor and, and I swear I'm gonna do a segment on it maybe next week or something where, where we talk about it, because if, if you just walk in and you come see us the day that you found the house of your dreams, it's, it's not as good as coming in and seeing us a month or two early. So even if you think you're not ready right this second, come in and talk to us and the more we can prepare you, there are things and steps that you can do.

You know, for one, if your payment right now on your rental is 1500 bucks a month and your new house payment's gonna be $1,800 a month, pay yourself that $300 right now. Make it kind of a practice thing for the next few months while you're doing. That way you mentally know that you can do it when, when you did it.

But it's just a good way to practice spending that little bit more while you do it. I mean, while you're looking, rather than [00:32:00] that day. Now all of a sudden you're bound to this higher payment. So having the conversations about credit scores, how we can help you with that, how you might be able to save a little bit more money, let's talk now and, and get you prepared for two months from now or whenever you think you're gonna be ready. Cuz the, the more groundwork we can do right this minute, it doesn't cost you anything to come in and see us. We can, we can just help you with those steps.

Alice Lema: And you'll feel better. That's the other thing, as if, when you're a first time home buyer, there's this disbelief, I guess, I don't know quite what to call it. But once you talk to the lender and you have a, a plan of action and a timeline, you feel better and then you know it's really gonna happen, until you really sit down and have that honest nuts and bolts conversation with you. Then it's still kind of in the blue sky category, but it doesn't have to be.

Beth Rodriguez: Yeah. And it's such a good opportunity to get your questions answered. And you know, so many, especially the first time home buyers, they have so many questions and they don't always feel comfortable [00:33:00] to just go ask anybody. So that way we can create that relationship, you feel comfortable and safe and just really get your, your questions answered. That's so important.

Alice Lema: So just outta curiosity, Beth On the first time home buyer appointment, how common is it for them to bring somebody with them?

Beth Rodriguez: I would say maybe, I would say maybe 40 having somebody with them, 60 not, it just really depends. Yeah. And and also I see different things culture wise can be a little bit different sometimes too. Some will bring a little bit more family members some not. So Yeah. And you I do kind of, that's a good question. That's interesting. I haven't thought about that. But you do see.

Alice Lema: Well, because sometimes if they know they can, it makes them more comfortable just getting that first appointment out of the way.

Beth Rodriguez: It's true and we're always open. We just had, you know, some yesterday that came in with their agent. Sometimes they wanna bring their agent in. It just feel more comfortable.

Alice Lema: [00:34:00] Oh, their real estate agent came with them. Yeah.

Beth Rodriguez: And we're always open to that. Always. You know, especially the first time. Wanna bring. Yeah.

Alice Lema: Now see, because of privacy, you know that real estate agents have to be a little bit careful cuz. We walk that line, probably like the insurance company. There's only so much we're supposed to know. So, but I think that's an excellent idea.

Guy Giles: Yeah. We always encourage it. I, I've, I've actually, when I get a 19 year old or something, I'm just like, could you please bring your, your parent in with you or somebody that's been through this before? Not that I'll, you know, do anything weird with them, but just an extra set of ears and from, you know, somebody that, that cares about them that can the conversations and you know, I try to educate 'em or we both do as much as possible, but just having somebody that's been through it that's an advocate for you is a good thing.

Beth Rodriguez: Yeah. Be really sensitive with that personal information. Obviously if the agents there, we're not gonna blurt out their credit score, things like that. Right. . Yeah. We will [00:35:00] conversation accordingly. So, yeah.

Alice Lema: And the real estate agent won't repeat anything cuz you know, fiduciary people as well. But it's, it's yeah, it's nice when people come. And I've, I've had buyers ask their ministers their like, they might have a, a distant relative that's a real estate investor kind of like what Russell's doing.

And yeah, they, they just help to ask different questions and ask more questions and make everybody feel comfortable. Yeah. That's good. So do you still have many multi-generational people right now? Do you have any of the buyers like older, younger. Do we have any of those group purchases?

Guy Giles: It felt like that was happening a lot a little while back, but to be honest, I hadn't even really thought about it. But that hasn't come up for a while, you know?

Alice Lema: Yeah. Since the pandemic's been over, well, sort of over, we haven't had as many multi-generational requests. I was just wondering if that's changing in your world. Yeah, we haven't had as [00:36:00] many either as we were having. It seemed to be a lot more. Yeah.

Guy Giles: Hadn't even, hadn't even thought about it until, until right now. Maybe they had enough of each other during the pandemic. Whether the pandemic was fake or real, you know. Too much time.

Alice Lema: It's been another great show. Thank you. Beth Rodriguez, guy Giles Mutual, Omaha Mortgage. Thank you so much. Russell Brown from State Farm for dropping in. We're gonna have to have you back cuz there's more we need to talk about. But that's all the time we have. Have a beautiful weekend and we'll see you next time. Bye folks.