Serving Those Who Serve: A Chat About Homes for Heroes with Charlene Wales

Join us as we dive into the Homes for Heroes program with special guest Charlene Wales from Better Homes and Gardens Native American Group. Charlene breaks down who qualifies, how it works, and why this program is a game-changer for those who serve our communities, from healthcare workers and educators to military personnel and first responders. If you or someone you know fits the bill, this episode could be the key to saving thousands when buying or selling a home. Let’s demystify this powerful resource together.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
welcome to your favorite mortgage guy

(00:02):
podcast the show that brings you timely
insights on essential tips and
everything you need to know about
mortgages it's time to get informed get
inspired and get moving with your host
Steve Rockefeller because here your
favorite mortgage guy has your
back it's your favorite mortgage guy
Steve Rockefeller here with another
edition of Your Favorite Mortgage Guy

(00:23):
Podcast where we try to demystify all
things home ownership whether it's
buying selling refinancing
renting no renting don't want to rent
cuz there's no benefit to renting
renovating or selling a home we're going
to demystify it all today my special
guest is Charlene Wales with Better

(00:46):
Homes and Gardens Native American Group
welcome Charlene thank you hey so listen
let's just dive right in um unless
you've got some questions for me no um
I'm here to talk about Homes for Heroes
one of my favorite programs and I'm
excited perfect awesome all right so
listen what's the one thing that you
want people to know about home ownership

(01:08):
and buying a home it could be more than
one thing well there are so many things
but one of the best things I advice that
I give gave to my daughter it's all
about
communication and we want we are the
experts and we want to make sure that we
provide you all the information
necessary so you can make the best

(01:29):
decisions oh that's perfect that's
perfect you know I know on the lending
side I can tell you the one thing I
can't stand that's probably a strong
word probably shouldn't use that but
it's the reality is I can't stand it
when I have an agent that doesn't care
on the other end i know you do care i do
and there are so many agents out there

(01:51):
that just write a contract dump it in my
lap and I'm the one that's got to deal
with everything but yet the problem is
as a lender I'm on the finance side i'm
not on the home inspection side i'm not
on the other aspect of the house because
I've never seen the house that these
people bought so what do you when you
find yourself meeting with a new client
what kind of educational process do you

(02:13):
put them through
well we always meet first because I'm a
planner and I think the smoothest
transactions are those that we have a
plan in place yes sometimes we have to
adjust the plan but when you're
purchasing a home it's usually the
biggest purchase of your life and you

(02:34):
want to make sure that there's as little
anxiety as possible and the way we do
that is for me to have that discussion
and then provide information uh there
are so many different opportunities and
I want to make sure that the client's
aware of them perfect perfect and you
know in the old days um I say old days

(02:56):
when I bought my first house it was like
a two-page contract now houses were only
$79,000 back then and now they're what
17 18 page contracts and it's got
everything covered and and it doesn't
favor
well everybody's protected let's say to
a certain degree but often times would

(03:18):
you agree the consumer is so afraid
because alls they know is I'm signing
the 75page 17page document i'm giving a
deposit of however much that is and I'm
throwing caution to my real estate agent
to take care of all these things for me
because at the end of the day you're the
one going out there and make sure the
home inspection is taken care of you're
the one that sees the things in the

(03:39):
house that the buyer doesn't see like
maybe they they're looking at some of
the the furnishings but yet you're
seeing the floors rolling absolutely
that is um one of the things that
because I have been in the business 20
years i am 20 years yes wow it's a
lifetime it Well it is and I have seen

(04:00):
the contracts go from a few pages to to
right now it's over 17 but when you add
the disclosures and I sit down to speak
about that with the client to let them
know what the ins and outs are it's over
30 pages yeah so um it takes time and

(04:21):
buying a house can be emotional but it
also is a business transaction and we
want the best for you so that's why we
take the extra time to go through those
things so let me ask you this when you
say you want the best for you so it
sounds to me like you're in the best
interest of the buyer now I know there's
been some changes in the real estate

(04:42):
industry recently where there's there's
um representation on the seller side
representation on the buyer side there's
dual representation is there one aspect
that you feel like is probably the
better aspect for for the consumer to
look for like do they want their own
representation absolutely um kind of
like you're an attorney absolutely um

(05:04):
the listing agent represents the seller
and will always represent the seller the
buyer's agent represents the buyer and
it's good to have division between those
two because um I personally do not
practice dual representation it is legal
in the state of Virginia but I don't

(05:26):
practice it because how can I do the
best for the seller and do the best for
the buyer i can't so that's an excellent
point because you know they've recently
allowed in Virginia where I can be a
licensed realtor and a lender but I
would not do that because how can I
effectively be the lender and pick up a
commission on the sale of the house

(05:48):
that's just that's not that's wrong in
my opinion i agree it's not an ethical
violation but it should be in my opinion
i I agree and that's how I feel about
dual representation yep so if you were
to give um a homeowner let's just say
there's 10 homeowners watching today
perspective home buyers watching today
and
there what is your experience with

(06:11):
homeowners when they come excuse me home
buyers when home buyers come out and
they ask you questions you kind of
anticipate they all probably ask the
same questions kind of like they do with
me what's the interest rate you know or
or you know this that and the other so
what what are some of the things that
you see that buyers need to know about
that maybe they don't really ask about

(06:32):
until they're actually in the house
well we speak about the home inspection
process prior to going to or viewing any
houses once we are looking at houses
when I'm going through I have uh a
different set of eyes as you mentioned
so I am looking at the floors and I'm

(06:55):
looking at uh the different aspects of
the house are there stains on the
ceiling from leaks that have happened so
when I go through I I bring out all of
those things i I am very transparent so
I talk about that but what we don't talk
about is the negotiation part of it

(07:16):
which is huge
because just getting the house is the
first step negotiating the terms is in
my mind the most important part because
that can save the buyer thousands how we
negotiate the contract perfect all right
so let's talk about the importance of a

(07:37):
contract so the one aspect of a contract
is the process of
wait can they buy this house can they
afford to buy it so I know with me on my
side of the house realtors aren't
accepting prequalification letters
anymore because homes that are under

(07:59):
half a million dollars or 500,000 I
should say are flying off the shelf
nowadays now anything over that and
maybe there's a little more negotiable
power in there but what is your opinion
between the preapproval letter or the
pre-qualification letter which do you
prefer
i definitely prefer the
pre-approval and the preapproval is my

(08:23):
way of determining that the buyer is
qualified because they've submitted
their documents it's gone into
underwriting the loan officer has told
me "Okay we're good to go." Uh the
pre-qualification letter
unfortunately many loan officers give
those out pretty readily and what that

(08:46):
means is they've just given the buyer
has just given information over the
phone and it hasn't been verified i know
uh I don't want to disappoint a buyer so
I would never go out to a house and show
them a house based on a letter that may
or may not be accurate so pre-approval

(09:07):
is always preferred so a realtor gave me
an example the other day she called me
up and she says "Hey got a letter from a
credit union." I said "Really what's the
date on the letter?" And she said "It
was a Sunday." I said "Oh so a credit
union was open on a Sunday and somebody
actually wrote you a letter." And she
said "No the client I was with them

(09:28):
while they on their phone filled out the
application based upon the information
and boom within 6 seconds they got their
pre-qualification letter on a Sunday it
was an automated letter as a real estate
agent or realtor are you recognizing
those Sunday pre-qualification letters
from third parties or online lenders?"
No because it sets you up to be

(09:52):
disappointed suppose it's not valid then
the client's disappointed and of course
if they're disappointed then they're
upset with you and I want a smooth
transaction and the best way to have a
smooth transaction is to have everything
you preload it as I call it which means
you take the time to do the full
application

(10:14):
buying a house should not be a spur-of
the- moment activity to get the best
outcome right because you're not going
to live in the home for 15 minutes
that's right you could live in there for
years so have you ever met a client that
wants the highest interest rate or the
highest payment
no I haven't okay perfect just making
sure cuz I haven't either so you know

(10:35):
one of the things that you and I have in
common is the military aspect you and I
have talked about it my grandfather is
buried in the columbarium on the grounds
of the um uh Naval Academy uh my son was
in the military both of my brothers were
in the military my youngest brother
retired uh two years ago both of my
nephews military i couldn't get in cuz I

(10:57):
have a curved spine although I did try
to get in um I think I would have made a
great cook back in the day
potato peeler yeah
and your husband was a retired military
as well as he's a teacher so I mean
congratulations for your career on that
raising the family having your husband
in the military so Charlene tell me what

(11:20):
should people know about the Homes for
Heroes program well first of all it's a
great program not many people know about
it and it's was started after 9/11 it's
for heroes that are veterans military uh
active duty also uh medical
professionals police

(11:43):
firefighters teachers there are certain
uh legal rebates that we can provide so
that the homeowner has the opportunity
to use these in any way they want and
it's a great program to provide that
perfect so how does somebody find out if
they're a hero well you can go to my

(12:06):
website
charlenewalesrealestate.com c h a r l
ne a
l.com and I am an affiliate i have been
through training so I know all of the
ways in which we can help benefit the

(12:27):
new home buyer excellent
excellent so guys you heard it from a
Homes for Heroes expert today Charlene
Wales better Homes and Gardens Native
American Group you want to know
something you need to find out if you're
a hero by going to
charlenewales.com to find out if you're
a hero as Charlie mentioned there's

(12:50):
certain benefits there's certain
financial rewards that are available to
you as the veteran charlene thanks again
thank you yes it's been great being here
and I look forward to doing more and
speaking to more heroes so they can
learn about their benefits that's
perfect that's perfect i'm your favorite
mortgage guy Steve another edition of

(13:12):
our podcast with Charlie and Wales
better Homes and Gardens Native American
Group bye now thanks for tuning in make
sure to follow your favorite mortgage
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have questions or ready to take the next
step reach out at steve mloans.com or
call

(13:33):
757301-9776 we'll catch you next time