Real Estate Show Lender Updates Late May 2023

Full video transcript below

Real Estate Show - Lender Updates Late May 2023

Alice Lema: [00:00:00] Hey there, Southern Oregon. Welcome back to the Real Estate Show. So glad you could join us again. Today we have Guy Giles from Mutual Mortgage coming on the show with his team to bring us up to speed on what's happened in the financial markets and mortgage markets, not only locally, but nationally. There's still a lot of volatility there's still a lot going on. So Guy Giles for Mutual Mortgage and his team will be coming on the show today to field some questions and kind of bring us up to speed on what's happening as we're in the middle of our spring selling season here in southern Oregon. In the meantime, let's check the stats cuz we're having some changes.

Some of them are really exciting and some of them are a little nail biting. Let's start with Klamath Falls. Klamath Falls this is single family residential only. Klamath Falls prices year over year are up a whopping 36%. That means a single family home in Klamath County on average will now cost you [00:01:00] $373,385.

The number of single family homes sold year over year in Klamath county are down a whopping 40%. The number of listings in Klamath County year over year are down 8%. We have zero closed foreclosures this week in Klamath County, zero closed short sales this week in Klamath County, and zero closed million dollar sales in Klamath County this week.

Jackson County, year over year is unchanged. A single family home will cost you on average $515,932 in Jackson County. The number of solds in Jackson County year over year are down 41%. Another whopping number. The number of listings in Jackson County year over year are down 10%.

We had one foreclosure close in Jackson County this week. It was in Butte Falls, and it closed for $270,000. The number of short sales were zero [00:02:00] closed in jackson County this week. But we did have a million dollar sale close in Jackson County this week for 2.3 million in Eagle Point, it was three houses on 197 acres.

Josephine County prices year over year are down 9%. Single family home in Josephine County now costing you $399,510. The number of solds in Josephine County year over year this week we're down 41%. The number of listings in Josephine County year over year, were down 12%. We had zero foreclosures closed this week in Josephine County. Zero short sales closed this week in Josephine County, but we did have another million dollar sale. And it was in Josephine County for 1.3 million. It was on the Rogue River. It was 11 acres riverfront with a 3000 square foot house. So there you go. Let's bring on Guy Giles right after these messages.[00:03:00]

Well, hey, Southern Oregon, welcome back to the Real Estate Show. So glad you could join us today, especially on this memorial weekend. We're welcoming back, Guy Giles and his team Christie, Stockbrand and Trent Driscoll from Mutual Mortgage. Thanks you guys for joining us, especially on the holiday.

We thank you.

Guy Giles: I figured since we, since I had to work on this Saturday, we'll bring in these two also and introduce 'em. They've been here almost two months actually, and they're already killing it in the mortgage side, so I think

Alice Lema: Oh, that is so awesome. That is so awesome. So Kristi Stockebrand you've been there two months. How's it going?

Kristi Stockebrand: We're amazed that the two months has flown by already, but everything is phenomenal. The company is great. The team here locally is great. Couldn't ask for anything better at this time.

Alice Lema: That's wonderful. And Trent, how about you? How's it going with you?

Trent Driskell: Oh, we've been thrilled. Super welcoming team and [00:04:00] They, they provided us everything we've needed to be successful. So it's been great.

Alice Lema: Well, that's great. I'm so glad that you've joined Guy. He's a rockstar in the loan world for sure.

Guy Giles: I've closed two now.

Alice Lema: So folks, he is just joking. He probably does two every 10 minutes. Speaking of 10, oh, sorry, go ahead.

Guy Giles: Oh, no, I was gonna say we we're, we're super blessed to have 'em here, so we're gonna just take over the whole thing around here now.

Alice Lema: Well, and it's exciting that your team is growing. Does that mean that the market is changing? Because I thought this week was kind of strange out there in Mortgage Land. Wanna talk about that.

Guy Giles: I've been doing this for a couple of decades and yeah, strange. I mean, it hit strange Monday at around noon and then just got weirder from there. So it's, it's, it's just one of those, one of those things where you, again, just have a whole bunch of, of feds running around talking when they just should be like, looking at the [00:05:00] numbers, the actual numbers. And, and so it is a very strange time. I mean, obviously we have this debt ceiling that's, you know, kind of weighing on everybody right now.

Nothing's going to really fix what's going on overnight. So it's, I mean, as far as we're concerned, we're, we're just looking at this and there's still not enough houses for people. If you look historically, yeah, rates are up from where they were before, but it's still a good time to buy. I mean, I know that there's people that would've killed for rates where they are right now.

You know, if you were in the eighties or if you were any other time, and people still bought houses, they still did well doing it and, and. Where the, the people that we are serving right now, even though it's not as many as, as there were before, they're, they're happy when they're getting in their house.

And it's just one of those pillars as far as building your overall wealth. So yeah, it's a little weird. It's a lot weird, but, you know, just get in the game. Is, is just , the motto.

Alice Lema: Well, and [00:06:00] did you see the, the case, I think it was Case Schiller, which is one of the national tracking housing industry reports, that the prices went up just like a little tiny bit and some of the urban areas across the country, like one or 2%.

Yeah. And, and so, you know, we're all just sitting here going, so we're gonna have high interest rates and high prices. Is that what we're doing?

Guy Giles: Yeah. I mean, the, the, the rates have been stubborn, but, but they, they welcome down. You know, we just, we just, it does feel like we're just going next month, next month.

You know, ev every time they get to cook the job numbers, they take advantage of that. Just so they can, I, I'll say they, anyway, I, you know, me I'm not super political at all, so I'll just, that, whoever's in charge of hiring the feds probably should think a little bit more as they, as they install these people.

They're, they were really behind in what they were doing. We're hoping now they're, [00:07:00] they're finally realizing where the markets actually are, and that should translate into, you know, what happens next month. I mean, there's still a 70% chance that there'll be a pause. And, you know, we're kind of done raising rates right now.

You've, and, and again, I always, I always follow up with that doesn't directly affect our rates. That's just your, your credit cards, your lines of credit, things like that. But it's all tied to inflation. And when inflation eases our rates go down and, you know, we we're, we're still expecting to see that. It's just been a little bit more stubborn than, than we thought. But getting this debt ceiling thing all rattled out will be key.

Alice Lema: So, so what kind of rates are your your buyers getting right now?

Honestly, it, there's, there's a wide variety. I mean, I think the lowest person I

Guy Giles: locked in, and I don't have an apr, so I hate to quote a rate.

Alice Lema: Because we were in like the sevens for a while so

Guy Giles: Oh, yeah. And if, I mean, if, if [00:08:00] your, if your credit's not great, I mean, honestly, there are 26 variables that go into quoting an accurate rate. And I, you know, it, it is, it's really just dependent on your down payment, on your credit score, on the loan program that you're doing. So, I mean, you could be anywhere from the high fives to the low eights. I mean, I know that sounds like, oh, that is a wide range. It, it really is. And yeah, helicopter, sorry. There's a helicopter crusing over right now. So, It's, I think it's landing literally outside my office, so.

Alice Lema: Well, they probably need a loan.

Guy Giles: Yes. I apologize. It's not normal for on the air, but actually let these guys talk a little bit about kind

Alice Lema: Yeah. Let's talk about some of the folks that are you're meeting with Christie and Trent. Yeah. Are they first time people? Are they people that have a house to sell? What kind of, what kind of folks are you getting right now?

I

Kristi Stockebrand: would say we're getting a good variety [00:09:00] of clients that we're meeting with. A lot of first time home buyers who have come through the access program as well. Some where we might be doing some credit repair work with them.

So we've got a good variety of clients coming in. Some that are coming into the area, some that are moving out of the area. And that's the great part is we have the, I've got a couple clients in Idaho right now that buying and selling. So we just refuse to get the memo that it's not a good time to buy and just have that good education with the clients so that way you know, we get 'em on that path to home ownership.

Alice Lema: Well, and if you guys are so busy that you're adding people to help the number of buyers, then it sounds like you're successful in getting the word out that it's really a good time to purchase.

Kristi Stockebrand: Correct. Yeah.

Guy Giles: And, and I think we went over it a couple weeks ago. I mean, I, I did the math and there's just, there's no, there, there's no other math that makes sense. Especially if you just have money sitting in a [00:10:00] bank account and you're waiting for house prices to drop a little bit or rates to go down. There's just, there's not an investment person in the world that's gonna make the kind of return on $30,000 as though as your house will make on $300,000.

And, you know, not to mention the tax write-offs you know, the security of not having to worry that your landlord's gonna sell your house. You know, and just, let's face it, putting up a Christmas street, your own house is kind of more fun than somebody else's house.

Alice Lema: Yes, it is, for sure.

Guy Giles: But we're, we're, yeah, we're not gonna really participate as far as it slowing down. You know, we're all, we're all fighting the same things, but, but still, we really, really believe that home ownership is, It is as big of a part of building wealth as anything. I mean, I, I think there's statistics up to 40, it's like 40% or 440 times more wealth for a homeowner than somebody that doesn't own a house.

Alice Lema: Yeah. And all you have to do is drive in the driveway and go to [00:11:00] sleep at night. Well, and pay your mortgage.

Guy Giles: Well, yeah. But, but you're gonna go to sleep someplace, so it might as well be in your own house.

Alice Lema: It might as well. Especially in southern Oregon. And don't you find that Trent, that Southern Oregon is kind of a special place and that the, the house values do go up a little bit more just cuz we're sort of that lifestyle? Yeah. Quote, unquote, lifestyle destination.

Trent Driskell: Of course. I'm born and raised here in the valley. Loved this place. I moved away three times and couldn't wait to get back each time. And, and yes, my, my home purchase has been one of the, the greatest things I've ever done in my, my financial life. So, so yeah, I think, like I said, just getting the game and, and you'll almost never lose in real estate.

Alice Lema: Yeah. And, and if the prices do creep up even just a little bit, then that's instant equity in everybody's pocket.

Guy Giles: Yeah. Well, the other piece of it is, you know, are we really waiting for everything to get perfect so you can get into a bidding war? You know, I mean you know, and, and we're [00:12:00] already starting to see, especially on the lower end stuff, multiple offers on things.

So, you know, I mean, If it mathematically makes sense, you know, you can come in, we're actually fully credit approving people on a soft pull, fully through underwriting. So come in, you have a little,

Alice Lema: Can you define soft pull? Cuz not everybody knows what that means.

Guy Giles: So we're not going to, it's, it's not gonna be a credit hit, it's just gonna be just where we kind of in the background go in and we, we look at credit and that's actually enough with our underwriters. Where we can do it without hitting your credit and get you fully credit approved. So if you're out shopping for a house, you're not looking at Quickens, hey, I put in that I'm a rocket scientist and that I have $900,000 down.

We're actually looking at everything, getting you fully credit approved, and if your offer's going up against, especially somebody from out of town where there's a lot of people. You know, shopping and, and running around with their little pre-qual letter a full pre-approval is gonna be a way better way to go. [00:13:00] And especially having a local lender. I just had that happen this week where the listing agent said, you know, you, we'd really like you to get approved with somebody local because Yeah. You just don't trust these guys.

Alice Lema: Yeah. Well, and in a more volatile market, that's wise, don't you think, for sellers to make that request slash demand.

Kristi Stockebrand: Absolutely. Well, I've seen it. I've seen a lot of the agents coming back or saying, hey, we need you to take a look at this. They've been pre-approved through an online based company and we wanna see somebody local.

Guy Giles: So, and, and definitely if there's apples to apples offer out there and you have a good local lender and you have an online lender, I don't know of anybody that's gonna accept that online lender. You might as well take the person that you can, you know, that that has some accountability that lives in the valley.

So, and we're a big company and we're very competitive with our rates too. You know, if you're out there and you're, and you're thinking maybe you got a weird rate or something, shop us against them, [00:14:00] you know, give us a call. You can Google any one of us and, you know, we'll, we'll see if we can take better care of you.

Alice Lema: Well, and the interesting thing is because you're such a big company, you can have somebody in Idaho moving here and, and they have a local lender because they have you here. Yes, exactly.

Guy Giles: So yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's a little bit of best of both worlds. You know, we're what, a hundred billion debt free company, so we're not, we're not beholden to anybody. You know, we're very committed to mortgages, been in business 114 years, and we're not going anywhere. A lot of places right now are doing everything they can just keep their doors open and we're actually profitable this last quarter. So, you know, we're, we're here, I guess for life.

Alice Lema: Well, and that's an interesting side effect of the interest rate increases so much, so fast, is that some of the borderline companies, are struggling.

Guy Giles: Yes. [00:15:00] Yes. Yeah, it's, it's just when you see volume go down to about nothing, you know, we have our reverse side and we should maybe talk about that a little bit after the break as far as how we could leverage, those in the right circumstances to help people. But we, we have, we have other, other parts of us that, that are able to, we're able to prop them up when things are going really good in, in mortgage and they're able to prop us up if, you know, if we're not quite as profitable at a certain time. So it all averages out and it turns out to be a good, stable place to do business.

Alice Lema: Well, and reverse mortgages definitely have their place. I know there's a lot of misunderstanding about those, just like there is about if it's a good time to even buy right now. So yeah, and we do have to take a, a quick break and we'll come back and we'll be talking with Guy Giles, Kristi Stockebrand and Trent Driscoll of Mutual Mortgage here on this holiday weekend.

We're thankfully brought to you by Guy Giles and Mutual Mortgage, our local Rogue Valley Association of Realtors, Ava [00:16:00] and John L. Scott, Ashland and Medford. This broadcast will be repeated tomorrow, Sunday at 6:00 PM on K C M X. News talk 99.5. Don't touch that dial.

Welcome back to The Real Estate Show folks. I'm Alice Lema. I'm a broker here in beautiful Southern Oregon with John Scott Real Estate and we are lucky to have Guy Giles, Kristi Stockebrand and Trent Driskell from Mutual Mortgage on the show this holiday weekend. And right before we went to the break, we were starting to touch a little bit on reverse mortgages and Guy why don't you talk about that cuz there's a lot of misunderstandings about reverse mortgages.

Guy Giles: Yeah, I mean, I just as a real life example, I have a guy moving to town that just called me yesterday and he is, he's got about $450,000 and he is, came to me for a mortgage loan. He's 70, about 74 I guess. And. It, it might just be the perfect program [00:17:00] for him where he doesn't have a payment. He's just kind of kinda leave everything to his nephew when he passes away.

But you know, you could come in and buy a $450,000 house, pay cash. You could get a loan, a traditional loan, and have a mortgage payment, which, you know, that's not terrible either. Or look at maybe doing a reverse mortgage where he could, you know, at his age, get almost twice the house for his down payment and never have a payment again as long as he lives.

You know, they're, it's a kind of a sliding scale, so they're, you know, if you're 62 years old, about the entry point for a reverse mortgage, you know, they, they're not gonna loan to you at, you know, 80% loan value, but if you're 105, it may be a little bit different. So they always want you to have equity kind of expected on your, on your lifespan.

So it's a little bit of a, of a morbid, weird calculation that you go through, but at the same time, I've never been thanked, like I've been thanked from people that got a reverse mortgage. I mean literally. One [00:18:00] gal a few months ago, just, I would've never been able to stay in my house if we hadn't, hadn't done this.

Another one that we closed three weeks ago, able to do the projects that she and her, her husband fought in World War ii, always wanted to get done around the house he never got around to. And she's like, you know, I just want to do this in his honor. And she pulled out some money and she's gonna redo, redo the house at 90, what is she? 93 years old, one of my favorite people that I ever dealt with, and she wasn't at jeopardy of losing her house at all, but she got to kind of fulfill a dream.

I mean, it's equity in your house is one of those things just like a 401K that, that you work for. You know, and, and to be able to kind of access some of that, some of that equity later on without having to sell your house is, is just a nice way to, to be able to stay there.

And, you know, if you do a line of credit that could help you with maintenance on the house, whatever you want to do. But I think the big advantage is the people that come here because people do come here to retire [00:19:00] that maybe have 2, 3, 4. A hundred thousand dollars, you know, cash and really don't want a payment at all.

You know? I mean, it may not be right for everybody. It's a little bit more expensive to get into you know, but, but there's a lot of education that goes into it, and we always encourage family members to come in and meet also, so everybody understands what it is. But, but if you could get a house that's seven, $800,000 and still not have a payment other than your taxes and your insurance, It's, it's, it's a good way to go and you can purchase a house with it. It doesn't have to be a refinance where there's a lot of misconceptions.

Alice Lema: Yeah, it's really kind of interesting cuz I, I have the same experience. We don't see a ton of 'em, but when we do, it's the difference a lot of times between the older person getting to stay in their home or being able to be in a home at all or not.

And in southern Oregon our elderly are really struggling with housing. The housing shortage that we talk about [00:20:00] every week affects them as much as it does the first time home buyers, maybe even more so because, the older people sometimes don't have the physical ability just to get around in a, in a place that's not really appropriate for them.

Guy Giles: No, it's, it's definitely a really good tool, you know, and there, there's actually a lot of different things out there, I think. Christie and Trent have dealt with access a little bit recently. Just trying to, just helping some people get in and, you know, obviously there's always the, you know, family members that can come in and give gift funds.

There's, you know, you could borrow from 401ks. There's different ways to come up with down payment. But this, this access thing, I'll turn it over to you guys.

Alice Lema: Yeah, let's talk about that. Cause I don't think a lot of people understand and access, just so the audience knows they're the food bank people. Mm-hmm. But they have a housing program, so yeah. Let's, let's talk about that.

Kristi Stockebrand: Yeah. So access does the, I, that's a piece that I don't think a lot of people know about is one, all of the [00:21:00] different down payment assistant programs that are out there, but locally for us here, we do have access. They've got a whole home buyer education piece.

Start off with attending a class, go through a couple counseling sessions as far as budget and credit repair if they need to. We have a client that was lucky to go through all of that and was awarded some funds, got him pre-approved and he's under contract as of last night, so, it's very, very exciting. It's being able to help some of those people out there become homeowners has been really great. So, and Access is our local group right here.

Alice Lema: So how what are the cri what's the criteria to be in that program.

Kristi Stockebrand: So anybody can take the home buyer class. They do receive a certificate for it. So it does meet a lot of those home counseling requirements that even some other down payment assistant programs require. And [00:22:00] then it depends on what grants that they may qualify for. Some are income-based, some are not income-based, some are forgivable and some are not. It just kind of depends on how that particular program is set up.

So there's some that are specific to veterans. There's some that are just in a lower income, they meet a certain income threshold and first time home buyers, or maybe they're first generational home buyers. So some of the funds come from State of Oregon, some is raised locally and some is donations that are fund created.

Alice Lema: Wow, that's awesome. So I've heard that it takes time to go through that program. Do you know any of the details about that?

Kristi Stockebrand: It, it could take a few months depending on how many applicants are coming through. So the sooner people can get started on it, the better. A lot of times if I'm talking with somebody and I think that that is a good direction to go, I will get them started right away.

Maybe at the same time, we're doing some credit repair for 'em as well, so [00:23:00] that way they're just getting in the process and getting in the loop. Some of those funds don't, I mean, they'll run out as soon as funds are received by access, and then we're waiting until next spring and maybe even clear into June of the following year before funds are available again.

So again. I see some of the down payment programs that we have that we offer here at Mutual, those are national funded, so I've got a couple of those going right now for clients as well.

Alice Lema: Wow, that is so exciting. That is so exciting. And does access have an opinion about what house you buy?

Kristi Stockebrand: No, as long as it meets within loan guidelines a lot of times their, their programs will allow for conventional F H A, U S D A or even VA programs, which is really nice. Gives them some.

Alice Lema: Wow. So you could buy something. So U S D A is out in the countryside, right? Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. Yep. That's awesome. And is it specific to Jackson County or will it work [00:24:00] in Grant's Pass also.

Kristi Stockebrand: Josephine County as well. Access Will, . Josephine and Jackson County.

Alice Lema: That's great. That's great.

Guy Giles: I think your house was Josephine County, right?

Kristi Stockebrand: No Jackson?

Guy Giles: No, the one that you just got in.

Kristi Stockebrand: Oh, Josephine yes. Yeah. Yep. So, so it, it does work over there.

Guy Giles: And you know, some of these down payment assistance programs that we have, they're, we've used them. I mean, we, we just have a, a second mortgage. Sometimes it's repayable, sometimes it's not. But you're just basically qualifying for a loan. And this, this it's an FHA program on the one that we're doing.

 But F HHAs actually lowered that mortgage insurance down some. So instead of being 80 basis points, Oh, there we go again. Set it like $800 on, on a hundred thousand dollars a year. It's, it's 500. So they've, they've reduced it quite a bit. They didn't, it's still for the life of the loan, unless you have, you know, a little bit of a down payment.

But it's it, it is a viable option that we've been, we've actually closed a couple of those ones [00:25:00] also. So, but if you can save a down payment, it's always gonna be the best thing. But we do have options if you want to come in and talk while you're trying to figure all that out.

Alice Lema: Well, that's actually incredible.

Guy Giles: I'm closing actually one today at, at or I closed one on Thursday, got mixed up on what day it is, and she decided to pay off her truck. She had a $600 truck payment, so she's been pounding on that rather than saving for a down payment and she makes a decent living and she qualified for it and she just would rather have a little bit of a better house than no truck payment.

Mm-hmm. So, you know, best thing to do is just come in and, and we'll come up with a strategy for you. Yeah. And. You know, if right now's the right time, that's great. And if not, we'll let you know that too and just kind of work you towards, towards that time.

Kristi Stockebrand: Put a plan in place that's specific for them. Yeah.

Alice Lema: And getting this information upfront before you're ready is actually a great idea. And I know there's a lot of people out there that might even be listening right now that we're gonna wait until, [00:26:00] like Guy said, everything was perfect, perfect. But I'm finding that it's better to go and talk to you guys. As a lender, as early as possible.

Kristi Stockebrand: Yes, always.

Guy Giles: You, you, you don't wanna go through the preapproval process, you know, while, while you're in contract.

Alice Lema: So, you know, well, yeah. The, the agents won't write the offers, but, so yeah, I guess .

Guy Giles: That's, that's why you need a good agent like Alice, so. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, anyway, gotta do it in order. She's good. It might be some weird boogeyman in, in your credit, you know, history. That, that we could address. And if we have time to do that, we can, we, we can look at it. And if you're doing it right at the end you know, there's a lot of people, we do it right at the end. It's not a, it's not a big deal.

But if you're just thinking about doing it, you can come in, talk to us. Like I said, we don't have to do a hard credit pull right now. Right. We can kind of get you in there. And like I said, we'll compete. Put us up against [00:27:00] your, put us up against your lender.

Alice Lema: So the other question that comes up a lot is paying off debt. There's people that are waiting to go even have the conversation with you or a lender because they wanna pay off all their debt. And then sometimes we hear later that's not always the best idea.

Kristi Stockebrand: Yeah it, it honestly, it just kind of depends, and that's where we can take a look now, figure out what the goals are for that client and the individual. You know, it might be a comfort level for them to get rid of the debt first, but if they're feeling like that, it's gonna help with their credit. A lot of times that's not really the case, and we have the tools to be able to go in and put together a plan to say, Here's what you need to do in a short period of time, that'll give you the biggest bang for your dollars that you're spending to be able to help them get there quicker. So it's just everybody's so individualized.

Guy Giles: And just, yeah, and, and just having that [00:28:00] conversation because I've actually had some people come in and say, yeah, I paid off all my debt and closed off all my credit cards after I paid 'em off. And that's not necessarily what you want to do. Like closing that off. You know, that's about a third of your credit score is available credit. So it is just, it, it, it's a dumb game. We have to play, you know, the FICOs, they're, they're a private company and, you know, that's a whole other can of worms. But, but it's, you definitely want to navigate that correctly. So that's, that's another reason coming in, even if you're not ready right now, we're not rack, you're not racking up a bill with us.

You know, we're happy to sit down and talk to you and, and really we like closing loans. You know, that's just, you know, we, we love getting people in houses.

Alice Lema: Well, and, and you just, you do want people to come in as early as possible and, and get the right information. And like Kristi was saying, it's not always the best thing to pay off all your debt. And if you are gonna do that because it's necessary, it'd be nice to [00:29:00] know what order to do it in. Right. Yeah. So we're gonna have to take a, another quick break. We're talking to Guy Giles Mutual Mortgage , Kristi Stockebrand, and Trent Driscoll, also of Mutual Mortgage. Thanks for coming on the show this holiday weekend, you guys.

 We're gonna take a quick break and say thank you to our lovely sponsors, Mutual Mortgage, John L Scott, and the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors will be right back after a quick word from these folks.

Well, hey everybody. Welcome back to the Real Estate Show. We're talking to Guy Giles, a Mutual Mortgage, and his team Kristi Stockbrand and Trent Driscoll. And you guys are in Grants Pass today, is that right?

Guy Giles: Yeah, we're down doing the parade for, for Boaty and you know, anyway, it's kind of a fun thing to come down and see. I think some of these boats hit like 150 miles an hour on the river. What that could do to your spleen, but [00:30:00] can't be good. But but they are fun to watch for sure. So, If you got three minutes and you're hearing this, run down quick and watch the parade.

Alice Lema: Well, and boatnic is so fun and it's, it's a local event every year. It's beautiful. It's big and friendly and fun and family friendly, pet friendly.

Guy Giles: It's yeah. it's one of the, probably the biggest community thing they have going on.

Alice Lema: They're gonna be, it's one of the reasons why we live here. Right.

Guy Giles: Well, yeah. And just looking at the mountains all around us. I mean, I, I'm just amazed every time, you know, I try not to share that too much with my motorcycle riding buddies, but I'm just blown away every time the leaves change here, the flowers come out in the spring. It's just a rare place. And I, yeah, I don't, I don't think there's a, a better place to be.

Alice Lema: I agree. I best place in the world to live.

Guy Giles: We've had a little, little weirdness going on with the homeless situation lately. I bet. You know, I'm not telling anybody anything that they don't, that they don't know. But it is good to see that the Medford City [00:31:00] Council is really working to, you know, to address some of this stuff.

Alice Lema: Yeah, they're very proactive, isn't that?

Guy Giles: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is the, the whole thing isn't, About being punitive, but you know, we all work here and live here and we want a nice, safe place. You know, people will be able to go downtown and get their hair cut without, you know, having to step over anything. So really at the end of the day, I think that, that our city council is doing, you know, a really good job.

And if you just get on their website, they'll show some dates of some some meetings where they're explaining, you know, what they're, what they're trying to do to, to just make it, make it good for everybody.

Alice Lema: Yeah, they are working so hard. So yeah, that's great that go on those websites for the Medford, at whatever municipality you live in and get involved and just have, have your voice be heard.

Guy Giles: Absolutely. And then you mentioned on the break you wanted to talk a little bit about U S D A loans as well.

Alice Lema: Because we live in this beautiful, you know, farm country area and I think a lot of people [00:32:00] don't know that there's a no money down loan for civilians.

Guy Giles: Yeah, I mean, I, I'll, I'll start off with a couple of the qualification things and then let let Christie and Trent just kind of finish. But it, it, it is a good program there. There's a little bit of a, of a misconception sometimes cuz just by the, the name of it. You know, you're thinking you're gonna be out running cows are doing something. But it, it really is a program, believe it or not. It's more designed for small towns than it is for just being in, in the rural environment.

Alice Lema: Yes. Oh, I see.

Guy Giles: You can buy in the country with it, but you just, it's one of those things you have to be careful of. If you have a outbuilding, say somebody put a barn on there, that's a $40,000 barn, which would be really cheap right now. They can take the value right out of that, cuz you're only supposed to be financing the house on the U S D A.

So literally I got burnt once with, with a barn and thankfully the guy came back to me and did his, did his next loan. But the house turned out to not appraise because there was plenty of [00:33:00] value with everything. But by the time you fit in the, the money for those outbuildings it, it was, they, took it out and then it hadn't appraised for enough money. So, so that's good to know, nuances to be careful of. But maybe you,

Alice Lema: the values on the house, if you're doing a u S D A Yeah.

Guy Giles: Maybe you could talk about the areas they do and don't do.

Kristi Stockebrand: Yeah. So city limits, you know, within Medford, Central Point, Grants Pass, those don't qualify, but if you're on the outskirts, Eagle Point, Shady Cove, Rogue River, those are areas that do qualify.

Guy Giles: Ashland believe it or not.

Kristi Stockebrand: Yeah. So it's, and it is a zero down program. It is a little more restrictive when we're looking at debt to income ratios. But it is a great option, especially for some of those first time home buyers who may not have you know, the down payment also.

Alice Lema: Do they have any income restrictions on, on the person doing the purchasing there?

Kristi Stockebrand: There are income limits, and it's based on household size, so it's a [00:34:00] family of two. We're looking over a hundred thousand dollars. I mean, I don't know the exact number off the top of my head, but. You know, the income limits are, you know, actually pretty good, but it is based on household size. But they do take into consideration if you have a child that's working and living in the house, they do count that income as well.

Alice Lema: So that could be a double-edged sword. It could, yes. Yes. Some kids keep their jobs and some don't. So that's really interesting. Yeah. Yeah.

Kristi Stockebrand: So for, you know, in different areas and of course U S D A goes nationwide. It just, we can look up the counties. There are county income limits changed by county area. So it's, we've got the tools to be able to look it up. If somebody's finding a home and wonder if it qualifies, we can look up the address to see if it is eligible and fits within the guidelines.

Alice Lema: That is so exciting. So it just has to be on the outskirts of [00:35:00] town. You have to be careful about how nice your outbuildings are. They can't be nicer and that, you know, that's so funny. We're all laughing, but that's very southern Oregon, isn't it? To have a much nicer outbuilding than your house. Yeah.

Guy Giles: I'm always say outskirts. It can't, it's just smaller towns. So it can be, you could do it right in the middle of Phoenix or Talent. Yeah, I mean, so. It just can't be in, in the more highly dense areas. Actually, Grant's Pass qualified for it till about, what, four years ago or so they, yeah. They took it out the same time. They, they took it outta there.

But, but I, I believe for one person you're up a little over $90,000 right now. I'm kind of looking. Wow. One, one to four is $103,000.

Alice Lema: That's your income to qualify. So, so is that like the minimum or, or what are we talking about maximum?

Kristi Stockebrand: Well, that's the max. They do adjust that every year because we know wages change every year.

So this is for people who are not like Warren Buffet.

Alice Lema: Wow. That's cool. [00:36:00]

Guy Giles: Yeah, it is. It, it, it's one of those programs that for the right person with that doesn't carry a lot of debt, that, that might have a decent income. You know, they, they're what she was saying about being more restrictive on their debt to income ratios.

I think it's, I think 43 or something. That's the max is, is kind of the max that I've, that I've seen it. And by that, for every dollar that you have coming in, 43 cents is already going out, you know, including your house. So that'd be a really easy way to just kind of explain, you know, debt to income ratios and that, and maybe we can get into all that stuff a little bit more on the next show. Cause I know I got a parade to jump into and I think,

Alice Lema: Well, it's always so fun to have you guys on. And it's nice that Kristi and Trent joined June. You guys have been there, what, a couple months now?

Kristi Stockebrand: Six, almost 60 days now. Yeah. Yeah.

Alice Lema: That's great. Well, we'll have to get an update from you both later in the summer.

Kristi Stockebrand: Absolutely sounds like a plan.

Alice Lema: Yeah. So [00:37:00] guy, how about you give us a phone number, website. How do people get ahold of you when you're not on the parade?

Guy Giles: Usually they just wave at me in my Jeep. But but my, my number is 541-944-6987 and if you just Google any of us at Mutual Omaha, you'll find us. And Kristi, what's your phone number?

Kristi Stockebrand: It's 541- 9 7 3 -7 6 7 5, and Trent. 541-613-6753.

Alice Lema: Great. So you can get a hold of Guy, Krisit, or Trent as soon as they get off the float for Beat Nick in Grant's Pass. Thanks for taking the time to jump in with us today. You guys super appreciate it.

Yes, thank you.

Kristi Stockebrand: Thank you. Thank you. See you next time.

Alice Lema: See you next time. Well everybody, that's it for this weekend. Have a beautiful southern Oregon [00:38:00] Memorial Day. This. Broadcast will be repeated tomorrow, Sunday at 6:00 PM on K C M X FM 99.5. Thanks again to John L. Scott, Ashland, Medford. Thank you, Guy Giles of Mutual Mortgage and thank you to the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors. Have a great weekend. Everybody. Hug those you love.