Mary Beth: Hi, this is Mary Beth Harrison with Dallas Native Voice, and I’m sitting with one of my favorite lenders, Jason Browning, with Academy Mortgage. I’ve been wantin’ to do this team for a long time.
Jason: Uh-oh.
Mary Beth: All right. We’re playin’ Truth or Dare today.
Jason: Rock on. Let’s do it.
Mary Beth: All right. So I’m gonna ask the question, and you tell me if this is true or if I need to go find another profession.
Jason: Okay.
Mary Beth: Okay. (laughs)
Jason: Okay. All right.
Mary Beth: So here we go. So, um, I’m under contract for a house and I want to go buy the refrigerator, washer, dryer, and some furniture.
Jason: Okay.
Mary Beth: And so I’m gonna take out a really small loan for that because, I mean after all, the company’s giving me this wonderful, like, zero down, kind of, thing, so that would be great. Right? I could do that.
Jason: That is a dare. Do not do that. That is a go get another profession-type thing.
Mary Beth: Okay, so-
Jason: Yes.
Mary Beth: … why I can’t I do that?
Jason: Well, you qualified before that-
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: … okay? So, uh, yeah, you’re going to take on new responsibilities, new debts, affecting your credit, those types of things. You could actually, you know, turn your qualification into a denial overnight.
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: Definitely frowned upon.
Mary Beth: So, so I, so I can’t go buy the Lamborghini or anything?
Jason: I would not buy the Lamborghini unless you plan on living in it.
Mary Beth: Oh. (laughs) Okay. Uh, let’s see. Hm. Um, my credit score is not the best. It’s, kind of, around, I don’t know, 625 maybe?
Jason: Okay.
Mary Beth: Maybe … is there any way I can get a loan?
Jason: True. You can get a loan.
Mary Beth: Oh!
Jason: Absolutely. I’ve got several loans at a 625-
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: … that can get you into this area’s price point very easily, with very minimal down.
Mary Beth: Okay. So where, wh- where’s the fine line where I can’t get a loan?
Jason: Well it depends-
Mary Beth: (Laughs)
Jason: … on if you buy the Lamborghini or not.
Mary Beth: Okay-
Jason: Um, no, uh …
Mary Beth: … I, uh, I, I won’t buy the Lamborghini.
Jason: So conventional financing, you’re gonna be right around that 620 range.
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: Um, and, again, with the raised, uh, loan limits for even FHA, you can get down … and there is a conventional with 3% down at that point.
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: And we can go all the way … I closed a loan recently with a sub 520-
Mary Beth: Wow.
Jason: … with 20, uh, with 10% down on an FHA loan.
Mary Beth: Wow. [crosstalk 00:02:08] …
Jason: So there’s, there’s programs out there that will get you, uh, into a home for, uh, far less than you think.
Mary Beth: Well with that in mind, here’s the next question. I’ve got student debt, and right now who doesn’t?
Jason: Right.
Mary Beth: Student loans-
Jason: Very common-
Mary Beth: … are-
Jason: … very common.
Mary Beth: … really hurting a lot of first-time home buyers. So with my student debt, can I buy a house?
Jason: Absolutely, you can. Uh, it just depends on how much you have, and then the route that we can go on that particular loan. If it were only a conventional loan, uh, it’s a lot more lenient nowadays than it used to be.
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: It used to be the other way around. FHA was more lenient.
Mary Beth: Ah.
Jason: Now conventional is, and it’s all dependin’ on what’s reporting to the bureaus on the payment, or what documentation you can provide on the payment.
Mary Beth: Okay, here’s my next one. All right, I have no credit. I just graduated college. I, I’m so proud, I have no credit cards, I have no debt, I’ve, I, I’ve been living at my parents house, so there, so there’s no way I can buy a house?
Jason: I can get you a house. That’s a true statement. I can get you one.
Mary Beth: Wow!
Jason: So I … you … If you have zero credit score based on no credit debt …
Mary Beth: Right.
Jason: Not sayin’ … I’m not sayin’ you have h- horrible credit, just no credit.
Mary Beth: Right, no credit. Right.
Jason: Um, I actually closed one of your clients recently on this, uh, to where they had zero credit scores and we treated that as if they were doing a three and half percent down payment and closed that loan.
Mary Beth: All right. Wow! Okay. Let me see. What’s one more question I can ask you. Um, hm. I’m only 18, maybe a year a two ago.
Jason: (Laughs)
Mary Beth: But, I’m only 18 and I’ve saved up some money and I want to buy my first house. Can I do that?
Jason: T- true, absolutely.
Mary Beth: Wow!
Jason: Yes, congratulations. Uh, then again, you may not have to save as much as you think.
Mary Beth: Huh, well cool. So I can start out being, um, oh, like, a Donald Trump that bought the col-, that bought the, the, the apartment they lived in-
Jason: Right.
Mary Beth: … in college, and then rented it out to his friends, and then took that money and bought the next one? Huh.
Jason: Absolutely.
Mary Beth: Okay. Well …
Jason: So I’ve got one for you.
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: So, let’s see if I need to get more professional.
Mary Beth: Oh dear. Okay.
Jason: So-
Mary Beth: Oh dear, all right.
Jason: … you have a client-
Mary Beth: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jason: … that, uh, calls you and says let’s go get in the car, we’re ready to go shop for homes. You should, uh, have them get prequalified, or you just hop in your car and, and, yeah.
Mary Beth: Hm. Yeah, that’s a really great question.
Jason: (Laughs)
Mary Beth: No, we do not hop in the car and go look for a house, for several reasons. One … More importantly, they may be able to afford 300,000, but what they’re comfortable with-
Jason: Is another thing.
Mary Beth: … is another thing.
Jason: Yes, yes.
Mary Beth: So, again, I, kind of, go back to that payment thing. It’s more important to me what the payment is, than what the house cost.
Jason: Correct.
Mary Beth: So, so both sides of that, there’s just no reason to fall in love with something that you can’t have. So, no, I won’t-
Jason: Yeah.
Mary Beth: … let people get in my car without being preapproved.
Jason: Wonderful. Right.
Mary Beth: And to get preapproved, I need to give you my two, two, two’s, right?
Jason: That is correct.
Mary Beth: My two-year tax returns-
Jason: Yes.
Mary Beth: … my two months of bank statements, and two pay stubs, right?
Jason: That’s right. Yes.
Mary Beth: Okay, and anything else that has a dollar sign that goes with my name. (laughs)
Jason: Pretty much.
Mary Beth: Okay.
Jason: And, and, again, it’s very easy. I mean it can usually be done in about 24 to 48 hours to, to be completely pre-, uh, prequalified.
Mary Beth: Wow. Okay, that sounds great. Well I think, I think we can both keep our professions.
Jason: I think we’re good.
Mary Beth: I’m feeling good-
Jason: I think we’re good.
Mary Beth: … about this. (laughs)
Mary Beth: Well thanks for listening today. You can find us on all social media, we go where you go, and you can find us at our website at dallasnative.com.