Introduction 

Welcome to another captivating episode of Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty Real Estate Talk & News Radio Podcast Show! 

In this episode, your host Rick Kendrick is joined by Eric Rosemary. 

In this enlightening episode, we'll discuss the importance of shopping around for the best mortgage rates and terms, delve into the intricacies of credit scores and their impact on your loan eligibility, and explore the often-overlooked world of mortgage insurance.

Topics Covered in This Weeks Show

We'll also cover the nuts and bolts of pre-approval, helping you understand what lenders are looking for and how you can boost your chances of securing that all-important loan. And of course, we won't forget to share insider tips on negotiating with lenders to get the best deal possible. 

Whether you're a curious first-time homebuyer eager to learn the ropes or a seasoned seller looking to navigate the ever-changing landscape of mortgage lending, this episode is your comprehensive guide. 

Our mission is simple: to arm you with the knowledge and confidence needed to make informed decisions about one of life's most significant investments – your home sweet home. 

Don't miss out on this opportunity to become a mortgage-savvy pro. Tune in now, take notes, and get ready to ask the mortgage questions that can make all the difference in your real estate journey. It's time to unlock the door to your future with the power of knowledge. 

Transcript of Episode #13

Welcome to the your Home Sold Guaranteed Radio Show, where you get advice you can trust, from the latest real estate trends to the best mortgage rates, from curb appeal to home warranty. This is the show that will help you save and make the most money when it comes to buying or selling your most valuable asset. Now here's your host, broker and founder of your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty of Florida, rick Kendrick.

Happy Sunday. Welcome to the your Home Sold Guaranteed Radio Show. This Rick Kendrick and my wife and broker carries with me today, and we got a special guest today. We've had Eric Rosemary with Cross Country Mortgage on our show a couple of times. He is the guy who gives us information on what's going on in daily and weekly basis on rates, but, more importantly, he gets all our buyers into homes. He gets them fully qualified, pre-approved, ready to go. He is the man that makes it happen and he has a team to back them up to get them done efficiently. And within 21 days he can get them approved, ready to go and get a commitment loan. Not many loan originators or mortgage companies can do that. So, Eric, good morning. How are you doing this morning?

I'm doing good.

Rick, how are you Good? So before we get into your stuff, eric Kerry, tell me a little bit about what's going on in our market today.

Yeah, so we're still experiencing the low inventories that we have been throughout the year. You know home prices are still up over where they were this time last year. Again, just the issue of so many folks during the COVID years had refinanced and have these amazing rates, some below 4%. They're holding on, so they're not selling their homes, they're not putting them on the market and that's creating this inventory crunch that we're experiencing.

Yeah, that's funny, you say that Just real quick. Eric, are you getting any refinanced deals going on right now?

Actually I am. You know, not by people who are obviously looking to lower their rate, or at least not for the most part, but cash out refinances. People are deciding, hey, I'm gonna stay in my house, maybe fix it up. Obviously, there's other types of refinances going on people going through divorce and things like that. So we've got a few refies going on, right?

now. So, generally speaking, eric, how is your business?

Our business is holding strong. We have only lost about 10% of our volume since last year, which is pretty good in a market that is seeing a 30 to 40% reduction in volume. Right now I think mortgage applications are down about 3.1% as of last week and ours are old and steady this past month.

Yeah. So Eric was telling me he and his other buddies in the cross-country mortgage went up to Chicago and looked at one of the mortgage brokers up there and what'd you see?

up there, beautiful, chicago's beautiful. It was actually 15 of the top lenders in the country, not just cross-country mortgage. I'm in a coaching program, the core training, and every semester or six months we go visit our coach's office see how the guys at the very, very top are getting it done. And my coach just happens to work for cross-country. He happens to be right in downtown Chicago and I went there. We learned a lot of tactics and tips to help our clients and better serve them and better serve our realtors.

Yeah, and how were the restaurants, by the way, were they phenomenal, right, I went to a Michelin-star restaurant called Maple and Ashen.

It was amazing, and they're opening up a location in Miami, which was good to hear.

Yeah, that's great. You get out of your market and you go somewhere else and you see how other people operate and it really gives you a good exposure. But, more importantly, you see how they service their customers, just like we do the same thing. We get on a call once a week with people who are in our coaching program and that says something about us, because our business is up and Eric's his business up. So, coaching, think about this. Buyers and sellers when you're thinking about picking an agent or picking a lender, you may want to ask them a little bit how experienced are? Eric's got 20 years of experience in this business. So what I'm saying here is that you got to make sure you get the right lender and also you got to get the right real estate agent. So, eric, the last couple of shows we were on, we were really boosting hometown heroes. So I know that that was a $100 million right that our buddy Governor Santis had created and now it's all depleted right, yes, and no, okay, um, back in the end of August the funds were depleted 100% and there's no guarantee that it's all gone.

What ends up happening is, as people's financing falls out or their, their transaction cancels whether it's from inspection or lending, or, you know, they just decided not to go through the house those funds become available again. So e-housing and and them decided that every other Tuesday at 10 am, whatever funds have been reallocated will be available and it's on a first come, first serve basis. So last Tuesday when the funds for the first time became reallocated, it was, I think, around three or four million dollars that became reallocated and we were able to lock somebody in. Wow, um, as time goes on, that is going to dwindle down because it's all going to be allocated. So the only way for new funds to come available is if somebody either sells their home, refinances their home, pays off the loan or gives back that money. Other than that, we have to wait till July of 2024, when Florida's fiscal year starts all over again and if Governor DeSantis reallocates that hundred million dollars to that program this is something will go on year after year and they design this purposely.

Okay, what it does, it helps that first time buyer gives them some type of down payment assistance right, and sometimes people are able to qualify for this if they have certain qualifications. But here's the big thing this is going to be ongoing. This is not a project that will stop and never happen again, so don't give up on it. If you need some type of down payment assistance, a lot of our customers used it and they used it wisely to get home, so don't think it's not available. If you are thinking about, you know, making a purchase of a home, okay, and you need some type of down payment assistance, give me a call at 561-901-3333. That's 561-901-3333.

And I'll get with Eric and maybe we can help you out that way, Rick, just notice to note that there are other down payment assistance programs out there. We have one that we do in-house that will give you up to $4,000 in down payment assistance. There's income limits and qualifying limits, but they're not like most down payment assistance programs. Then we have other ones that allow for up to 5% in down payment assistance. One's through the state, county and city, called the SHIP Initiative. The qualifications on that are a little different but we can help you navigate through whatever program you may or may not qualify for.

You know, we're in that market right now where we can actually, as real estate agents, probably negotiate and get them some down payment assistance or closing costs correct.

Correct and FHA allows for up to 6% in closing cost assistance.

That's a lot of money. So understand buyers. When you're thinking about making a purchase here, okay, Just because you're a little wide in your savings account or you just don't think you have enough money, you need to talk to Eric first. Okay, Give him the details and go through the process of what you have and as far as what your income are and your credit score and stuff like that, and you never know, we might be able to help you out. So, Eric, we'll keep our eyes on hometown heroes and keep an update on that as we go on. Eric, just real quick. You know social media is out there, okay, and they really talk about you know Interest rates are driving up. There's a housing shortage. I just want you to kind of let me know has interest rates settled down?

a little bit. They're not as volatile as they were in the beginning of the year. They're holding steady. Every day they go up and down. We are linked in with one of the best mortgage economists in the country and he gives us daily updates as to whether rates are up or down for the future. Morgan Stanley, National Association of Realtors, National Association of Mortgage Brokers they all have their different opinions on where rates are going to go, but they all are in agreement that somewhere between four and a half and five and a half percent is where rates will eventually settle this time next year.

There you go, so just understand that's when the housing market will really take off again. That doesn't mean you don't take advantage of the situation right now, buyers.

No, because you pay 10 percent more next year. Yeah, exactly 15 percent more. So we have a program called Buy Now, refinance Later. We'll give you a zero lender cost refinance. If you purchase now, we'll give you a certificate that waves all our lender fees. If you come back to us to refinance when interest rates drop that's we have the underwriting we'll wave the processing and keep the cost down for you when you refinance later. This way you get into a house at the current prices and then you'll be able to refinance the lawyer payment at a later date.

That's our goal is the buyer to get the price they're looking for with the least amount of hassle, and on top of that, they're able to get some closing costs too, because we're able to negotiate that in their behalf. If you are thinking about maybe making a move, this is the time to do it. Quite frankly, just because what the Fed is saying out there that interest rates may stay still, they may stay steady Okay, it's not so much. What the Fed says is what the inflation is doing. Right, I'm not an economist. I don't. I don't profess to know a lot other than the fact I do know this. Things are starting to settle down as far as rates are concerned, and the target date for inflation rate is 2%. I think the Fed is saying, hey, we're getting close. Now are they going to raise it? We don't know. Are they going to lower it? We don't know. Is that right, eric? We don't really know.

Well, from what I believe and what I see, inflation is still not dropping to the level, to where they want it to be. So that could raise interest rates again, or, you know, by the end of the year. But as time goes on and next year comes around, maybe we'll see it to start settling down.

So listen, if anyone. Just what I want to do is get into our main topic today 15 mortgage questions. You must ask a lender before buying or selling a house, but just this. If you know of anyone who's considering to make a move, I'd love the opportunity to interview for the job. You can give me a call at 561-901-3333 or visit RickHazzTheBuyerscom After the break and I will dive into this topic. Kerry, you going to pitch in with us and help us out here a little bit?

Sure, I'd be happy to.

And so I'd say to you is this I know for a fact we can do something for you. Okay, we got more to come. Stay tuned. This is a Rick Kendrick, your Home Sold, guaranteed Radio Show. We'll be right back.

The schedule and appointment with Rick Kendrick to help you buy or sell your home. Call 561-901-3333 or go to RickHazzTheBuyerscom. Rick will be right back with more of the your Home Sold. Guaranteed Radio Show here on News Talk 850 WFTL.

You're trying to sell your home. What if I told you my friend, rick Kendrick, could guarantee to sell your home and on average, rick gets you 5% more than the average agent? Hi, it's Jennifer. This is what Rick Kendrick is all about. Rick's company your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty of Florida is guaranteeing to sell your home or he'll buy it himself for cash. I don't know of any other realtor that's going to offer you that deal. And on average, rick sells homes three weeks faster than the average agent. And in Rick's case, it's just one story after another when it comes to lifetime customers and Rike and Kat, they've hired Rick four separate times. Most recently, they were forced to relocate to the West Coast of Florida over a job opportunity. They called Rick to sell their Wellington home and after just three days on the market they received a full price cash offer with no appraisal contingency, telling you if you want to sell your home. Call Rick Kendrick today 561-901333. That's 561-901333. Or visit rickhasthebuyerscom.

Hi, I'm Eric Rosemary, branch manager at Cross Country Mortgage in Boca Raton. If you're deciding which lender to trust, whether you're purchasing or refinancing, I would love the opportunity to work with you. Over my 20 year career, I've helped close to 10,000 families buy or refinance the place they call home. Despite what you're hearing about interest rates, you might be surprised, as what we can do for you, let's talk, call or text me at 954-312-3104 or visit rosemarymortgageteamcom.

If you're ready to buy or sell your home and would like to schedule an appointment with Rick, call 561-901-3333 or go to rickhasthebuyerscom. Now back to the your home sold guaranteed radio show and your host, Rick Kendrick.

Welcome back from the break. Well, welcome Eric Rosemary, again with Cross Country Mortgage. In this segment we're going to be talking about the 15 mortgage questions you must ask a lender before buying or selling a house. Now, we probably won't get through all these, but I want to highlight a few of these questions and just kind of go over this, because I think some of these are very, very important for a buyer to ask before he gets out there to start looking. So, eric, when we sit down with a potential buyer, we go over the details of exactly what they're looking for, but more importantly, we need to know how much they can afford. Okay, and that's where you come into play. So kind of give me the basics of what you're looking for when you get somebody to qualify for a loan.

Well, there's three things that really go into qualifying their monthly income, their credit score and how much they're looking to put down. From there we can figure out exactly what they can afford. The misconception people have is that they want to know how much property they can qualify for, and we really qualify not on property but on payment. So we're going to give a max payment and from there we do the reverse numbers to figure out what they can afford as far as a purchase price.

That is key, because they get a check once a week or every two weeks or once a month, and that check comes to them. That first check that they write is going to be a mortgage payment. They want to see how much of that's going to go toward the house payment, and it's pretty important that they know also that there are certain steps that they have to go through, for example, when we talk about credit scores. Okay, when we talk about credit scores, is it matter if your credit score is high or low, depending on what kind of interest rate you get?

Yes, of course. Most interest rates are driven by credit score, so your credit score has a direct impact on the interest rate you're going to get.

I know we're going to go over this in a bit, but is it qualifying? When you talk about the different type of loans FHA, conventional and MBA is there a different credit requirement as far as scores concerned for?

those. Yes, every loan type has a different credit score or minimum credit score requirement. Government loans are a little bit easier to qualify for, so they have a lower credit score requirement than a conventional Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan.

So when they say FHA, what does that stand for? Federal Housing Authority, federal Housing Authority. Believe it or not, a lot of people don't know that. They think it's first time buyer or something like that.

They really don't know, it.

But this is the government back loan, correct, correct? Yeah, okay, so a conventional loan is different from an FHA loan, right? Is that backed by the government also?

Yes and no. Fannie Mae is a publicly traded company. You can purchase their stock. But Fannie Mae is not a federal agency. It's a government sponsored enterprise which is called a GSE, under conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

VA is the same thing as FHA as it respects to backed by the government. Correct? Yeah, okay, so we got FHA conventional and VA. Here's a question I'm curious about USDA. That's a government back one too, right, the Department of Agriculture. Okay, you know, quite frankly, unless you do what I don't, I don't do a lot of those.

We do not.

Yeah.

We're not down here in South Florida. And why is that? You think Because there's not a whole lot of rural areas in our marketplace. If you go out more west in Palm Beach County and up in Martin, you may see some more USDA eligibility for properties, but not so much in the eastern parts of the counties.

I got you Okay. So let's kind of clarify the credit score scenario ranges. So on a conventional, on what's a credit score range you think it should be.

So Fannie Mae has a minimum 620 credit score requirement. Okay, freddie Mac does not have one, but most likely won't approve under a 620.

Okay, okay, and in FHA.

FHA has a 580 minimum credit score requirement with less than 10% down and more than 10% down, there is no credit score requirement. So a lot of banks and lenders out there will have overlays that say that they require a 600 credit score, they require a 660 or they don't do anything under 580. Cross-country mortgage has what's called no overlays If HUD or FHA allows it then we allow it.

I'm telling you step one if you are serious about making a purchase of a home, which I really believe is a great time to do, it is to call me and let me know, okay, 561-901333. I'll get you directly in contact with Eric so you know about where you stand. He can tell you over the phone in about 20 minutes, okay. By running your credit score, he can tell you what you qualify for, how much you qualify for and give you some details of what other programs are out there. So I say to you Eric, what's your number? Does he give him contact with you?

My direct number is 954-312-3104. And just remember, you may not be ready to purchase right now, but it's always good to know where you stand. So you're not going to offend me and I'm not gonna pressure you into purchasing right now. Come get a free pre-approval. Whether you're a client now, six months from now or two years from now, we're gonna treat you the same. We're gonna pre-approve you. We're gonna tell you what you need to do to get into your first home or to get into a home altogether.

You know, we have a lot of our potential buyers who are currently renting right now. Okay, and they are paying, probably on the average. I think the average in Palm Beach County is like 25, 2600 dollars a month. All that money is going to somebody okay, and nothing to them. When I see somebody getting a mortgage, okay, there are certain tax advantages right Tax advantages. They're able to write off their taxes right, they can write off the mortgage interest they can write off the PMI.

They can write off any lender discount points closing costs that are to the lender. On their taxes. They get tax benefits for writing off property taxes and homeowner's insurance.

There are major, major advantages in owning as opposed to renting, and I just wanted to bring that up briefly to highlight the fact that people who are thinking about maybe making a move and they're saying to me, eric, because we hear this all the time I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna wait for interest rates to go down or I'm gonna wait for housing prices to go down. What's your thought process of that one?

How did that go over the last five years?

Yeah, there you go, there's your answer.

Property values are increasing five to 10% a year, conservatively 5%. We've seen 15, 20% increases over the last year in South Florida, but conservatively 5%. What do you think's gonna happen when interest rates go back to four and a half 5%? Property values are gonna go up and inventory is gonna go down.

It's a see-saw right, or?

lack of inventory is gonna go down.

It's a see-saw, eric. That's what it is. You're on one side, I'm on the other. I'm selling a house, you're getting into the interest rates. It's what it is. It's one of those factors that you. That's the reason why, when Eric talks about the aspect of, you might as well go ahead if you can do it, make that purchase now, because that's the reason why he offers what he's offering right now. What's the offer if they wanna come back and buy now?

Buy now, refinance later. We'll waive all our lender fees on our refinance. When you come back, when interest rates drop, you just have to make six mortgage payments on your current loan and then we would refinance you after that.

So real quick. I know we didn't get to cover a lot of the questions here. Whenever we have Eric on our show, there's just so much to cover. I really wanna get him here more, but he's so busy and he's got a lot of things going on. But the factor is that people hear about interest rates every day. They talk about I wanna get qualified, I wanna get pre-approved. This is what you can do. You can give me a call at 561-901-3333, or rickhastabuyerscom and I can get you in touch with Eric directly. So today we were able to highlight a few of these questions, but if you would like an entire free report, you can call me or text me at 561-901-3333, that's 561-901-3333, or visit my website, rickhastabuyerscom. Eric can be reached at 954-312-3104, or visit his website, rosemarymortgeteamcom. After the break let's talk about our feature listing of the week, our buyers and waiting, and talk a little bit about our Go Serve Big mission. This is Rick Kendrick and I'll be right back.

The schedule and appointment with Rick Kendrick to help you buy or sell your home. Call 561-901-3333, or go to rickhastabuyerscom. Rick will be right back with more of the your Home Sold. Guaranteed Radio Show here on News Talk 850 WFTL.

Hi, it's Jennifer Ross and you know if you've been thinking about selling your home, you already know that the only agent that I would recommend to you is my friend, rick Kendrick. He's a broker and founder of your home sold guaranteed Reality of Florida. Now, what about the listener who would love Rick to sell but doesn't want to deal with the headaches of cleaning, staging, holding open houses and all that other stuff?

Well, jen, we have the perfect solution. First of all, we always like to make our traditional home selling process stress-free. But for the listener who doesn't want to fix up their place, who is inherited a home or simply wants a fast, hassle-free Sale, we can make them an immediate cash offer and for that seller to get the most amount of money for their home.

Come on, you can do that.

Absolutely. Jen will come right over a praise a home, make you a fast, fair cash offer and close as little as three weeks cash in your hand Hard to beat it.

Call Rick Kendrick right now 5 6, 1, 9, 0, 1, 33, 33. That's 5 6, 1, 9, 0, 1, 33, 33, or visit Rick has the buyers com.

Hi, I'm Eric Rosemary, branch manager at cross-country mortgage in Boca Raton. If you're deciding which lender to trust, whether you're purchasing or refinancing, I would love the opportunity to work with you. Over my 20 year career, I've helped close to 10,000 families buy or refinance the place they call home. Despite what you're hearing about interest rates, you might be surprised, as what we can do for you, let's talk, call or text me at 954 312 3104 or visit rosemary mortgage team comm.

If you're ready to buy or sell your home and would like to schedule an appointment with Rick, call 5, 6, 1, 9, 0, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3 or go to Rick. Has the buyers? Com now back to the your home sold, guaranteed radio show and your host, rick Kendrick okay, this is our final segment of show.

We're gonna be highlighting our feature listing of the week. So, listeners, if you're thinking about baby making a movie, you have an interest in having your home Featured on our radio show. We'd love to discuss that with you. So our big feature this week is Fort Lauderdale a two bedroom, two bath gorgeous condo, about a hundred thousand dollars worth of improvements to it. It's on Los Solas, price of it is 534. Got about 1100 square feet on it and, quite frankly, we've had a lot of activity on this property and it does show well. The factor is is we haven't just gotten that right buyer yet. This could be used, so I would suggest you take a look at this one. So, anyway, that's our. It's our big feature of the. Also, we have a buyers and waiting program. We got about 20,000 buyers in our database right now, ready to go, mr Sellers. So if you're thinking about maybe putting your place on the market or you would like a free market evaluation, I would be happy to come by and take a look at your place, give you some tips on what to do, what not to do, but, more importantly, sit down with you and kind of go over all your closing costs. And then we do have buyers. Like I said, let's see about. We had like five new approvals this week of buyers that came in that are starting to look for property In that four to six hundred thousand dollar range. We have one in particular is basically ready to go. Conventional loan got 20% to put down. He's ready to go. He's looking in that five, fifty to six hundred thousand dollar range. If you sellers are in that range or you think that you're thinking about maybe making a movie, only give me a call. I'd be happy to help you out. Maybe this guy right here, this buyer, might be the person that wants to buy your place. You won't even have to put it on the market. So anyway, we got that in place, carry. So what's our go serve big mission.

Yes. So our go serve big mission is that Rick and myself we donate a portion of our income from home sales to local charities in the area to, in particular, that we like to mention on the show is Little smiles and the law enforcement assistance foundation. So these are both great charities in the area. So if you know of anybody who's thinking of making a move, we would love the opportunity to sit down with them and discuss their plans.

So thank you for taking time to listening to us today. This is Rick Kendrick, your home sale guarantee Realty serving the southeast coast of Florida. Our network extends across the country. In Canada, you can give me a call or text me at five six one, nine zero one thirty three, thirty three. That's five six one, nine zero one thirty three, thirty three. Or visit my website at Rick has the buyers Dot-com. I would like to again Thank Eric Rosemary, branch manager. We're cross-country mortgage. He could be reached at nine five four three, one, two, three, one zero four. That's nine five four three, one two, three, one zero four. Or visit his website, rosemary mortgage team dot-com. We look forward to next week. Tune in every Sunday at 10 am On 8 50 WFTL news talk radio.

You've been listening to the your home sold guaranteed radio show with broker owner Rick Kendrick heard every Sunday morning here on news talk 8, 50 WFTL. Rick's company name is his promise your home sold, guaranteed realty to speak directly to rick about buying or selling your home. All now to schedule an appointment five, six, one, nine, zero, one, three, three, three, three. Or visit rick has the buyers dot-com and mark your calendar to join rick again next week at the same time for the your home sold guaranteed radio show here on news talk 8, 50 WFTL.