September 4, 2025 • 25 mins
Jason Crouch from Innovative Home Loans shares his expertise as a mortgage loan broker with over 23 years of experience. Through his role, Jason can offer clients numerous financing options that traditional banks can't provide, enabling him to truly advocate for his customers' best interests rather than following restrictive institutional guidelines.
• First-time homebuyers often mistakenly believe they need 20% down to purchase a home
• Many loan programs exist that require only 3% down, allowing buyers to build equity over time
• Various mortgage options are available for investment properties, from rental homes to multi-family units
• Young people should consider real estate investment as a wealth-building strategy
• Critical credit advice: avoid large purchases or opening new accounts during the homebuying process
• Jason acts as a "mortgage coach" for clients who need time to prepare financially
• Customer service is Jason's priority - he's available evenings and weekends for client questions
• His philosophy differs from others in the industry - he's willing to work with challenging credit situations
• The satisfaction of helping someone achieve homeownership when they thought it impossible is incredibly rewarding
To learn more about your mortgage options or begin preparing for homeownership, contact Jason Crouch directly on his cell phone at 859-468-2221.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, mike Murphy.
Thank you, charlie.
Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
We talk to local businessowners, influencers, movers and
shakers people that help us livebetter lives here in northern
(00:23):
Kentucky.
One of those people is sittingnext to me right now.
His name is Jason Crouch, soJason is a good friend of mine.
I've known Jason for years now.
We've done a lot of businesstogether through BNI.
Shout out to BNI If you don'tknow about BNI, well, you need
to know about BNI.
So, in any event, you'll seethat we're wearing our colors.
(00:45):
I'm maize and blue, michigan.
He's Ohio State.
What's scarlet and gray?
Scarlet and gray?
Boo.
We'll get to that later, butyeah, we did that on purpose,
but this is just proof thatMichigan and Ohio State fans can
sit in the same room withoutkilling each other.
We are friends.
So Jason is with InnovativeHome Loans.
(01:07):
He's kind of like the mortgageguy that many of my friends go
to, and so I'll have Jason tellyou more about Innovative Home
Loans here in just a second.
Jason, welcome to the show.
It's good to see you here inMurph's basement doing a podcast
with me.
We knew it would happen.
We knew it would happen one day.
(01:27):
So here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Here we are, love it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So, jason, tell us about Innovative Home Loans.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Innovative Home Loans .
We are a local mortgage loanbroker, so that gives us a lot
of options that local banks andlocal mortgage companies don't
have.
Local banks and local mortgagecompanies don't have.
I've been there a few monthsnow, but I've been in the
industry for over 23 years.
So I finally joined IntimativeHome Loans to give myself the
(02:01):
opportunity to work more formyself as to not have to work
for a bank and follow theirrules and guidelines, or a
mortgage company and followtheir rules and guidelines.
A broker essentially has theability to go out and find
unique financing, your normaleveryday financing, but we can
(02:22):
go out and shop differentcompanies, find that right fit
for the customer, which allowsme to really empower my customer
instead of empowering myemployer that I work for.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Okay, so you're an advocate for your client, your
customer, correct.
They come to you and say I wantto buy a house.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I don't know what the heck I'm doing.
Jason, help me find them thebest fit so that I'm not trying
to cram just that one brokenpuzzle piece into the puzzle
that it won't fit into.
I can really figure out thebest fit for that customer, okay
.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So on occasion I'll see in the news or just hear
people talking about variousdifferent programs that I mean,
let's face it, right now it'stough for young people to buy a
house, okay, and they all feellike they have to accumulate a
20% down payment before they cando anything.
(03:39):
And as they're trying to dothat, life hits them in the car
tires or hits them in the youknow broken water line or
whatever.
So they feel like it's ahopeless cause.
Right, and it's the job ofsomeone like you to say all hope
is not lost.
So in the here and now, arethere different programs that
(04:03):
you would say to the first timehome buyer hey, let's have it,
let's have a talk, because thereare probably options that they
might not know exist becausethey're not you.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Correct, and that's essentially what I enjoy doing
the most is helping that firsttime home buyer understand what
options they have and make it sothat they can feel comfortable
about the decision movingforward depending on how much
(04:33):
money they want to put down,what they can afford.
Are they payment driven um?
Do they have money saved up, dothey not?
All these things are importantwhen you're buying a home, but
if you know that you can buy ahome with only 3% down and let
your money or let the equity ofin your home earn you that money
(04:58):
back over time, then that maybe better than putting 20% down.
20% down is, of course, thebest scenario, quote unquote but
you don't have to do that andI'm going to make sure that my
customer knows all the optionsthey have so they can make the
best choice for them.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Okay Well, is there a particular program happening
right now that's sort of gottime limit on it that you're
trying to promote to people?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
No, not really.
A lot of those programs havekind of gone away.
There aren't essentially anytime-driven programs out there
like there used to be.
There are programs availablefor everybody, depending on what
their need is.
(05:51):
We have loans that will allow a0% down payment.
We have loans that will allowyou to buy a house, maybe if you
want to just buy a propertythat you're looking to rent out.
Maybe, instead of buying yourown home first, you want to buy
(06:12):
investment properties and andand start making money that way,
we have loan programs that willhelp people do that.
So we have many differentprograms for first-time home
buyers, whether it be for thehouse that they're going to live
in or maybe they're going tobecome an investor, right now,
okay, investing.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
That's an interesting thing because I think when I,
when I think of my mortgagebuddies, for the most part I
just think you know, traditional30 year loan, et cetera, et
cetera, right, but more and more, I'm seeing a lot of my
especially real estate friendstalk about hey, you can buy
(06:54):
investment properties.
If you or someone you know islooking for an investment
property, come see me, becausethere are ways that people don't
realize if you're not living inthat world already.
Right To be able to takeadvantage of the real estate
world to build wealth, and thereare people that are flipping
homes, there are people that arebuying homes to do short-term
rentals, airbnb, burbo, whatever.
(07:16):
So do you get involved in dealslike that, then, with investors
?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Absolutely.
We have many programs that willcater to an investor and type
of situation they're in, whetherit's their first purchase and
it's going to be a rental, orwhether they're looking to buy a
four family.
You know, anything like that wecan help somebody with and I
(07:46):
think that's important nowadays.
You know, I told my, I toldjust one of my daughters the
other day.
I said you know, one of mywishes wishes is that my kids
started buying properties now,because it will be a way for
them to invest in their future.
Owning properties is one of thethings that is constant in
(08:11):
America that we can do when wehave the privilege to do, and it
doesn't go away.
We're always going to have aneed for housing and housing,
typically, is going to increaseyour value by owning it.
So I think starting young andhaving these investors start
(08:33):
buying properties to rent out toAirbnb, to or renovate and flip
properties to rent out toAirbnb, to to or renovate and
flip is a great way to invest intheir futures.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
right now, okay, there's a country song, I think
called like buy dirt orsomething, right, right.
So you help people buy dirt, doyou kind of sort of kind of,
and the sticks and bricks thatgo on it?
Correct?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Okay.
So, um, I know that there arepeople that have that dream and
you can help them realize thatdream.
Part of helping them realizethat dream is helping them
understand that, as soon as theyengage with you and you help
them understand, yeah, this ispossible, you could do this.
(09:17):
You have to make sure theydon't run out and buy a car or
start racking up credit cardbills on furniture that's going
to go in that eventual house.
They very quickly go from highto the depths of despair because
(09:40):
they have shot themselves inthe foot by screwing up their
credit in the 11th hour just asthey're getting to the finish
line.
So any advice for people there,just in terms of how they need
to handle credit while they'rein the process of dealing with
you and buying a house?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Absolutely, you know the credit is one of the most
important things when buying ahome.
I mean, this is a mortgage loan, is the biggest loan you're
probably going to take out,possibly ever.
So credit and realizing youknow that you're good at paying
(10:20):
your bills is important.
So you know the things to do.
You know the biggest thing todo, especially when I first
speak with a customer, is you'rein home buying phase right now.
This is a car buying phase.
This isn't go out and fill thathouse up with stuff phase.
You're in the let's find ahouse and buy a house first.
(10:45):
So, essentially what I tellpeople to do is A don't make any
big purchases without talkingto me first.
B don't go up, go out and opena bunch of credit accounts.
Up, go out and open a bunch ofof credit accounts.
Don't uh, there's no need toadd to your credit card
collection.
Uh, right now, and pay all yourbills on time.
(11:05):
Um, make sure you don't missthat one payment, that one email
.
Um, do not be late on anything.
Um.
Then, once I look at theircredit, I can kind of coach them
and maybe they still have theability to go out and buy a car
if they need one, if one brokedown.
But they need to speak to mefirst, or they're going to be
living in that car that they buyinstead of living in that house
(11:27):
that they want.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Okay, so can people come to you and say I know I
want to buy a house one day andinstinctively I think I can't do
that now, and you may agreewith them.
But then you enter a mode ofhere's how we're going to
prepare you to eventually buythat house.
(11:48):
So here's the homework you needto do over the next month, year
, whatever it is.
Can you coach them in?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
that regard Correct.
I mean, that that's you.
You, you stole a word right outof my mouth.
I can become mortgage coach,credit coach, um, lifestyle
coach, uh to uh get that personready to buy, and then I can
give them a pretty accurate uhtimeline on that.
(12:16):
It could be six months, itcould be a year.
You know, if they follow mycoaching direction, more than
likely they're going to get tothat point, you know.
But again that famous phrase youcan lead a horse to water.
I'm not sure if they're goingto drink right.
So yes, but that's again, oneof the things that I love about
(12:38):
my job is the fact that I get toknow a lot of people in a lot
of different situations, andhelping them get to that point
makes it feel even better.
I like those more than theperson that comes to me and has
said I bought four houses andthis is easy, breezy, jason,
just know, just tell me what myrate is and we'll move on.
(13:00):
You know I leave thattransaction feeling like, yeah,
I helped somebody, but theycould have gone anywhere for
that.
The ones where I coach somebodyfrom them having a dream to
actually fulfilling that dreamis pretty rewarding.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Okay, yeah, that is kind of cool that you get to be
there for them to help themrealize maybe one of, if not the
biggest dream for some people,absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I hear that a lot.
I hear I know this is going tobe impossible, or this you know
their their home, with all theirfurniture in it and saying
thank you.
You know, I didn't think thiswas possible.
(13:45):
That's pretty rewarding.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
OK, good.
Well, hopefully they invite youto their housewarming parties.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
And sometimes, yes, sometimes for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Sometimes for sure.
So, speaking of housewarmingparties emphasis on party you
have a very nice house yourselfand I think the kind of the
signature of your house isyou've got a nice pool out back.
Yes, so I've enjoyed hangingout by your pool out there in
Villa Hills.
(14:19):
Shout out to the VH.
So you know, part of ourrelationship has been our
rivalry between Michigan andOhio State.
Absolutely, it is what it is.
I think it's pretty cool thatyou know your team won the
national championship last year.
(14:40):
We won the year before.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So who's it going to be this year?
I don't know, that's a toughone.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I mean, we can't even beat you guys.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So until we can do that.
I don't know if it decides.
It's been what four years in arow?
I think you've gotten us.
So you know I would love to seeus.
That would be my nationalchampionship this year is
letting you guys know we'restill here to play ball with you
and we're not scared anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
The ebb and flow of that relationship, that whole
series.
I remember there was a timewhen I think Michigan, this was
the John Cooper years we beatyou guys like nine out of 10
years or something like that,and then for the longest time I
was convinced we would neverbeat you again, right.
(15:30):
But you know a pendulum alwaysswings the other way.
You just have to wait it out.
And I think the same can besaid for somebody's finances.
You know it's like if you findyourself kind of in the doghouse
, you know down in the dumpsyou've made some bad decisions
or life has just kicked you in.
(15:52):
Wherever you, eventually, ifyou do the right things, you can
rebound, you can recover.
And I would say you know ameasuring stick that many of us
judge that recovery by is can weafford a house?
(16:12):
Or you know, conversely, likeare we going to lose our house?
Right, you can go either way.
Conversely, like, are we goingto lose our house right now?
I go either way.
So part of what I just want tomake sure anybody listening to
this is hearing is never, eversit back and think you're a
(16:33):
hopeless case.
I have learned in talking to mymortgage pals there's no such
thing, there's always hope.
It's just a matter of neverdelay having that conversation
because you think it's hopeless.
The sooner you have thatconversation, the sooner you can
(16:53):
get on the track to realizingthat dream.
And if you have hope, you haveeverything.
It just puts a more, it justputs a pep in your step.
I agree, I agree.
So, uh, I want to encouragepeople to contact you and have
that, uh, that conversation.
Now back to your house with thecool pool.
Who lives in that house?
(17:14):
Uh, you, you've got beautifulwife and you've got some kids.
I do.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Who are they?
I do so.
Charisma is my wife.
We are a blended family.
We have four kids together.
We have one still living in thehouse, under 18.
She is a senior at Highlands.
That's Presley.
(17:39):
That's my stepdaughter, mystepson Gannon.
He stays with us as well.
We have a beautifulgranddaughter and grandson from
him, so they are at the house alot.
And then I've got my twodaughters, justice and Cadence.
And then I've got my twodaughters, justice and Cadence.
(18:02):
Justice is a firefighter herein Northern Kentucky, yep, so
she's out in, I believe it'sPendleton County, and she kind
of found a passion for it andloves it.
So she is spending a lot oftime putting out fires and I
think she's EMT as well.
And then my daughter,cadenceence, is a senior down at
(18:25):
UK, so she is going to possiblybe a pediatric dentist, as
that's what she's looking atright now.
So so, yeah, we've got the fourkids.
And then I've got three dogsthat I think run the house more
than I do.
One enjoys the pool more than Ido, and yeah, so it's a pretty
(18:47):
full house sometimes I love yourdogs too.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
It's like whenever we're over your place by the
pool, the dogs are runningaround like little humans, just
kind of interacting, like theybelong amongst us and I guess
they do but uh, yeah, they're,they're fun.
Yep, it is uh cc's pool um Ijust get to swim in it sometimes
with her.
All right, yep, I get it.
(19:10):
So, um, I just want to shoutout your kids names.
I mean, they're very cool names.
Um, I don't know that I've everheard anybody anybody else with
the names of your kids.
So whoever was responsible fornaming the kids, shout out to
them.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You know, we, we, I think we both wanted to be
unique in that decision.
Sometimes the kids hate us whenthey're looking for key chains
with their names on them.
Yeah, but, but they, I think atthe end of the day, they, they
liked the uniqueness and youknow.
I mean I was, I was Jasongrowing up.
You know I remember takingattendance in school and, and
(19:48):
you know, jason are here andfour of us would be like, yes,
in the same class.
So I I didn't want that for anyof my kids.
I wanted them to be able tohear their name and and they
were being called on.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
It's worse being Michael, because I mean there's
tons of.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Mike's, I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Growing up, you know there was a Mike a few houses
down and he was older, so I waslittle Mikey.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
You were little Mikey .
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Little Mikey.
Oh man, when I moved away fromthat neighborhood, that was my
chance to make a fresh start inlife.
Otherwise you'd be calling meLittle Mikey, little Mikey.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Little Mikey likes it .
Right, yeah, that commercial.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, I got that thrown in my face constantly, I
bet.
So back to business.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
If people want to reach out to you, what's the
best way for them?
to do that Typically it's justmy cell phone.
Again, I don't work for a bankor a mortgage company, so I
don't have a separate phone, andI think that's one of the
things that I've always tried tosay out loud about myself is I
am customer service driven.
So, even though my wife may notlike it half the time, I will
(21:03):
answer my phone at eight o'clock, nine o'clock at night.
I will answer my phoneSaturdays, sundays.
There's been plenty of timesthat I'm actually waist deep in
the pool having a conversationwith a customer about down
payment money or how much dothey make, and try to do math
right there for them to givethem an estimated payment.
(21:25):
I don't mind doing that.
That's what makes me differentfrom the person that says they
only work nine to five.
You know I want to.
I want my customers not to sitthere and think, oh my God, I
got to think about this or worryabout this all weekend until
Monday morning when I might getsomebody to call me back.
So my cell phone is thequickest and easiest way to me
(21:48):
and I can promise if I don'tanswer, you're going to probably
hear back from me within anhour or so Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So when I post this, I'll post the cell phone number
too.
But what is it?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
859-468-2221.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Okay, jason Crouch, yep, all right.
Innovative Home Loans yes, sir,all right.
Well, that's easy enough.
I'll make sure to put that inall the things that we discuss.
Well, is there anything elsethat we have not discussed that
you want to make sure peopleknow, either about you or about
(22:24):
Innovative About me, orInnovative, I think you know,
just remembering for me.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
There are a lot of mortgage loan officers, mortgage
loan brokers out there and Ibelieve a lot of them will look
at a lot of customers and gothis is going to be a hard deal,
or this person is going to takeme time, or this is an
immediate paycheck.
(22:55):
And so that's when they don'treturn phone calls, or they will
tell a customer and I don'tthink you qualify, when, truly,
if they would have put in someextra effort, they do qualify or
they will qualify in six monthsor a year.
And that's what makes me alittle different is I've had
(23:16):
many managers tell me to youknow, oh, that's a 600 credit
score, jason, just just turn itdown, you can go make more money
.
Go go find, you can find twomore customers.
Replace them in the amount oftime it takes to coach them, uh,
to buy that house.
And I've just never followedthat philosophy and never will.
Um, I look at everybody as asan opportunity to help them and,
(23:37):
um, even if I don't make verymuch money off the deal within
time spent, um, that doesn'tmatter to me it never has.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Well, I, I do believe in karma in terms of if you put
effort into somebody, um, itspins back on you tenfold
eventually.
Yes, yeah, good for you, and Iknow that part of dealing with
anybody, no matter what theircredit score might be, is
(24:07):
walking around in the pool on aSunday with the cell phone up to
your head talking them off of afinancial leg, right.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I mean, you know, there could be worse places to
do it.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
That's for sure so well, I think that's it for now.
This wraps up this episode ofthe good neighbor podcast.
Jason, I appreciate you comingby and sharing the good news of
innovative home loans andletting people know a little bit
about you, regardless of yourpreference for awful football
(24:43):
teams.
But really it's.
It's nice to have an Ohio statefan come to my domain and see
how the other half lives.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Hey, I appreciate you having me.
As soon as I get home, I'mshowering or jumping in the pool
to wash the funk off, but Ireally appreciate it and enjoy
coming.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I'm sure, the pool is the de facto shower for you
some days.
Sometimes You're in the pool somuch you don't even have time
to get dirty.
All right, well, that wraps itup for this episode of the Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Everybody out there until wetalk again.
See you in the next episode.
Everyone out there.
Be good to your neighbors.
So long, everybody, bye-bye.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast Union.
(25:31):
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPUnioncom.
That's GNPUnunioncom.
That's gnpunioncom.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Or call us at 859-651-8330.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, mike Murphy.
Thank you, charlie.
Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
We talk to local businessowners, influencers, movers and
shakers people that help us livebetter lives here in northern
(00:23):
Kentucky.
One of those people is sittingnext to me right now.
His name is Jason Crouch, soJason is a good friend of mine.
I've known Jason for years now.
We've done a lot of businesstogether through BNI.
Shout out to BNI If you don'tknow about BNI, well, you need
to know about BNI.
So, in any event, you'll seethat we're wearing our colors.
(00:45):
I'm maize and blue, michigan.
He's Ohio State.
What's scarlet and gray?
Scarlet and gray?
Boo.
We'll get to that later, butyeah, we did that on purpose,
but this is just proof thatMichigan and Ohio State fans can
sit in the same room withoutkilling each other.
We are friends.
So Jason is with InnovativeHome Loans.
(01:07):
He's kind of like the mortgageguy that many of my friends go
to, and so I'll have Jason tellyou more about Innovative Home
Loans here in just a second.
Jason, welcome to the show.
It's good to see you here inMurph's basement doing a podcast
with me.
We knew it would happen.
We knew it would happen one day.
(01:27):
So here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Here we are, love it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So, jason, tell us about Innovative Home Loans.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Innovative Home Loans .
We are a local mortgage loanbroker, so that gives us a lot
of options that local banks andlocal mortgage companies don't
have.
Local banks and local mortgagecompanies don't have.
I've been there a few monthsnow, but I've been in the
industry for over 23 years.
So I finally joined IntimativeHome Loans to give myself the
(02:01):
opportunity to work more formyself as to not have to work
for a bank and follow theirrules and guidelines, or a
mortgage company and followtheir rules and guidelines.
A broker essentially has theability to go out and find
unique financing, your normaleveryday financing, but we can
(02:22):
go out and shop differentcompanies, find that right fit
for the customer, which allowsme to really empower my customer
instead of empowering myemployer that I work for.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Okay, so you're an advocate for your client, your
customer, correct.
They come to you and say I wantto buy a house.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I don't know what the heck I'm doing.
Jason, help me find them thebest fit so that I'm not trying
to cram just that one brokenpuzzle piece into the puzzle
that it won't fit into.
I can really figure out thebest fit for that customer, okay
.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So on occasion I'll see in the news or just hear
people talking about variousdifferent programs that I mean,
let's face it, right now it'stough for young people to buy a
house, okay, and they all feellike they have to accumulate a
20% down payment before they cando anything.
(03:39):
And as they're trying to dothat, life hits them in the car
tires or hits them in the youknow broken water line or
whatever.
So they feel like it's ahopeless cause.
Right, and it's the job ofsomeone like you to say all hope
is not lost.
So in the here and now, arethere different programs that
(04:03):
you would say to the first timehome buyer hey, let's have it,
let's have a talk, because thereare probably options that they
might not know exist becausethey're not you.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Correct, and that's essentially what I enjoy doing
the most is helping that firsttime home buyer understand what
options they have and make it sothat they can feel comfortable
about the decision movingforward depending on how much
(04:33):
money they want to put down,what they can afford.
Are they payment driven um?
Do they have money saved up, dothey not?
All these things are importantwhen you're buying a home, but
if you know that you can buy ahome with only 3% down and let
your money or let the equity ofin your home earn you that money
(04:58):
back over time, then that maybe better than putting 20% down.
20% down is, of course, thebest scenario, quote unquote but
you don't have to do that andI'm going to make sure that my
customer knows all the optionsthey have so they can make the
best choice for them.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Okay Well, is there a particular program happening
right now that's sort of gottime limit on it that you're
trying to promote to people?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
No, not really.
A lot of those programs havekind of gone away.
There aren't essentially anytime-driven programs out there
like there used to be.
There are programs availablefor everybody, depending on what
their need is.
(05:51):
We have loans that will allow a0% down payment.
We have loans that will allowyou to buy a house, maybe if you
want to just buy a propertythat you're looking to rent out.
Maybe, instead of buying yourown home first, you want to buy
(06:12):
investment properties and andand start making money that way,
we have loan programs that willhelp people do that.
So we have many differentprograms for first-time home
buyers, whether it be for thehouse that they're going to live
in or maybe they're going tobecome an investor, right now,
okay, investing.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
That's an interesting thing because I think when I,
when I think of my mortgagebuddies, for the most part I
just think you know, traditional30 year loan, et cetera, et
cetera, right, but more and more, I'm seeing a lot of my
especially real estate friendstalk about hey, you can buy
(06:54):
investment properties.
If you or someone you know islooking for an investment
property, come see me, becausethere are ways that people don't
realize if you're not living inthat world already.
Right To be able to takeadvantage of the real estate
world to build wealth, and thereare people that are flipping
homes, there are people that arebuying homes to do short-term
rentals, airbnb, burbo, whatever.
(07:16):
So do you get involved in dealslike that, then, with investors
?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Absolutely.
We have many programs that willcater to an investor and type
of situation they're in, whetherit's their first purchase and
it's going to be a rental, orwhether they're looking to buy a
four family.
You know, anything like that wecan help somebody with and I
(07:46):
think that's important nowadays.
You know, I told my, I toldjust one of my daughters the
other day.
I said you know, one of mywishes wishes is that my kids
started buying properties now,because it will be a way for
them to invest in their future.
Owning properties is one of thethings that is constant in
(08:11):
America that we can do when wehave the privilege to do, and it
doesn't go away.
We're always going to have aneed for housing and housing,
typically, is going to increaseyour value by owning it.
So I think starting young andhaving these investors start
(08:33):
buying properties to rent out toAirbnb, to or renovate and flip
properties to rent out toAirbnb, to to or renovate and
flip is a great way to invest intheir futures.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
right now, okay, there's a country song, I think
called like buy dirt orsomething, right, right.
So you help people buy dirt, doyou kind of sort of kind of,
and the sticks and bricks thatgo on it?
Correct?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Okay.
So, um, I know that there arepeople that have that dream and
you can help them realize thatdream.
Part of helping them realizethat dream is helping them
understand that, as soon as theyengage with you and you help
them understand, yeah, this ispossible, you could do this.
(09:17):
You have to make sure theydon't run out and buy a car or
start racking up credit cardbills on furniture that's going
to go in that eventual house.
They very quickly go from highto the depths of despair because
(09:40):
they have shot themselves inthe foot by screwing up their
credit in the 11th hour just asthey're getting to the finish
line.
So any advice for people there,just in terms of how they need
to handle credit while they'rein the process of dealing with
you and buying a house?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Absolutely, you know the credit is one of the most
important things when buying ahome.
I mean, this is a mortgage loan, is the biggest loan you're
probably going to take out,possibly ever.
So credit and realizing youknow that you're good at paying
(10:20):
your bills is important.
So you know the things to do.
You know the biggest thing todo, especially when I first
speak with a customer, is you'rein home buying phase right now.
This is a car buying phase.
This isn't go out and fill thathouse up with stuff phase.
You're in the let's find ahouse and buy a house first.
(10:45):
So, essentially what I tellpeople to do is A don't make any
big purchases without talkingto me first.
B don't go up, go out and opena bunch of credit accounts.
Up, go out and open a bunch ofof credit accounts.
Don't uh, there's no need toadd to your credit card
collection.
Uh, right now, and pay all yourbills on time.
(11:05):
Um, make sure you don't missthat one payment, that one email
.
Um, do not be late on anything.
Um.
Then, once I look at theircredit, I can kind of coach them
and maybe they still have theability to go out and buy a car
if they need one, if one brokedown.
But they need to speak to mefirst, or they're going to be
living in that car that they buyinstead of living in that house
(11:27):
that they want.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Okay, so can people come to you and say I know I
want to buy a house one day andinstinctively I think I can't do
that now, and you may agreewith them.
But then you enter a mode ofhere's how we're going to
prepare you to eventually buythat house.
(11:48):
So here's the homework you needto do over the next month, year
, whatever it is.
Can you coach them in?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
that regard Correct.
I mean, that that's you.
You, you stole a word right outof my mouth.
I can become mortgage coach,credit coach, um, lifestyle
coach, uh to uh get that personready to buy, and then I can
give them a pretty accurate uhtimeline on that.
(12:16):
It could be six months, itcould be a year.
You know, if they follow mycoaching direction, more than
likely they're going to get tothat point, you know.
But again that famous phrase youcan lead a horse to water.
I'm not sure if they're goingto drink right.
So yes, but that's again, oneof the things that I love about
(12:38):
my job is the fact that I get toknow a lot of people in a lot
of different situations, andhelping them get to that point
makes it feel even better.
I like those more than theperson that comes to me and has
said I bought four houses andthis is easy, breezy, jason,
just know, just tell me what myrate is and we'll move on.
(13:00):
You know I leave thattransaction feeling like, yeah,
I helped somebody, but theycould have gone anywhere for
that.
The ones where I coach somebodyfrom them having a dream to
actually fulfilling that dreamis pretty rewarding.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Okay, yeah, that is kind of cool that you get to be
there for them to help themrealize maybe one of, if not the
biggest dream for some people,absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I hear that a lot.
I hear I know this is going tobe impossible, or this you know
their their home, with all theirfurniture in it and saying
thank you.
You know, I didn't think thiswas possible.
(13:45):
That's pretty rewarding.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
OK, good.
Well, hopefully they invite youto their housewarming parties.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
And sometimes, yes, sometimes for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Sometimes for sure.
So, speaking of housewarmingparties emphasis on party you
have a very nice house yourselfand I think the kind of the
signature of your house isyou've got a nice pool out back.
Yes, so I've enjoyed hangingout by your pool out there in
Villa Hills.
(14:19):
Shout out to the VH.
So you know, part of ourrelationship has been our
rivalry between Michigan andOhio State.
Absolutely, it is what it is.
I think it's pretty cool thatyou know your team won the
national championship last year.
(14:40):
We won the year before.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So who's it going to be this year?
I don't know, that's a toughone.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I mean, we can't even beat you guys.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So until we can do that.
I don't know if it decides.
It's been what four years in arow?
I think you've gotten us.
So you know I would love to seeus.
That would be my nationalchampionship this year is
letting you guys know we'restill here to play ball with you
and we're not scared anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
The ebb and flow of that relationship, that whole
series.
I remember there was a timewhen I think Michigan, this was
the John Cooper years we beatyou guys like nine out of 10
years or something like that,and then for the longest time I
was convinced we would neverbeat you again, right.
(15:30):
But you know a pendulum alwaysswings the other way.
You just have to wait it out.
And I think the same can besaid for somebody's finances.
You know it's like if you findyourself kind of in the doghouse
, you know down in the dumpsyou've made some bad decisions
or life has just kicked you in.
(15:52):
Wherever you, eventually, ifyou do the right things, you can
rebound, you can recover.
And I would say you know ameasuring stick that many of us
judge that recovery by is can weafford a house?
(16:12):
Or you know, conversely, likeare we going to lose our house?
Right, you can go either way.
Conversely, like, are we goingto lose our house right now?
I go either way.
So part of what I just want tomake sure anybody listening to
this is hearing is never, eversit back and think you're a
(16:33):
hopeless case.
I have learned in talking to mymortgage pals there's no such
thing, there's always hope.
It's just a matter of neverdelay having that conversation
because you think it's hopeless.
The sooner you have thatconversation, the sooner you can
(16:53):
get on the track to realizingthat dream.
And if you have hope, you haveeverything.
It just puts a more, it justputs a pep in your step.
I agree, I agree.
So, uh, I want to encouragepeople to contact you and have
that, uh, that conversation.
Now back to your house with thecool pool.
Who lives in that house?
(17:14):
Uh, you, you've got beautifulwife and you've got some kids.
I do.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Who are they?
I do so.
Charisma is my wife.
We are a blended family.
We have four kids together.
We have one still living in thehouse, under 18.
She is a senior at Highlands.
That's Presley.
(17:39):
That's my stepdaughter, mystepson Gannon.
He stays with us as well.
We have a beautifulgranddaughter and grandson from
him, so they are at the house alot.
And then I've got my twodaughters, justice and Cadence.
And then I've got my twodaughters, justice and Cadence.
(18:02):
Justice is a firefighter herein Northern Kentucky, yep, so
she's out in, I believe it'sPendleton County, and she kind
of found a passion for it andloves it.
So she is spending a lot oftime putting out fires and I
think she's EMT as well.
And then my daughter,cadenceence, is a senior down at
(18:25):
UK, so she is going to possiblybe a pediatric dentist, as
that's what she's looking atright now.
So so, yeah, we've got the fourkids.
And then I've got three dogsthat I think run the house more
than I do.
One enjoys the pool more than Ido, and yeah, so it's a pretty
(18:47):
full house sometimes I love yourdogs too.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
It's like whenever we're over your place by the
pool, the dogs are runningaround like little humans, just
kind of interacting, like theybelong amongst us and I guess
they do but uh, yeah, they're,they're fun.
Yep, it is uh cc's pool um Ijust get to swim in it sometimes
with her.
All right, yep, I get it.
(19:10):
So, um, I just want to shoutout your kids names.
I mean, they're very cool names.
Um, I don't know that I've everheard anybody anybody else with
the names of your kids.
So whoever was responsible fornaming the kids, shout out to
them.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You know, we, we, I think we both wanted to be
unique in that decision.
Sometimes the kids hate us whenthey're looking for key chains
with their names on them.
Yeah, but, but they, I think atthe end of the day, they, they
liked the uniqueness and youknow.
I mean I was, I was Jasongrowing up.
You know I remember takingattendance in school and, and
(19:48):
you know, jason are here andfour of us would be like, yes,
in the same class.
So I I didn't want that for anyof my kids.
I wanted them to be able tohear their name and and they
were being called on.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
It's worse being Michael, because I mean there's
tons of.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Mike's, I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Growing up, you know there was a Mike a few houses
down and he was older, so I waslittle Mikey.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
You were little Mikey .
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Little Mikey.
Oh man, when I moved away fromthat neighborhood, that was my
chance to make a fresh start inlife.
Otherwise you'd be calling meLittle Mikey, little Mikey.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Little Mikey likes it .
Right, yeah, that commercial.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, I got that thrown in my face constantly, I
bet.
So back to business.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
If people want to reach out to you, what's the
best way for them?
to do that Typically it's justmy cell phone.
Again, I don't work for a bankor a mortgage company, so I
don't have a separate phone, andI think that's one of the
things that I've always tried tosay out loud about myself is I
am customer service driven.
So, even though my wife may notlike it half the time, I will
(21:03):
answer my phone at eight o'clock, nine o'clock at night.
I will answer my phoneSaturdays, sundays.
There's been plenty of timesthat I'm actually waist deep in
the pool having a conversationwith a customer about down
payment money or how much dothey make, and try to do math
right there for them to givethem an estimated payment.
(21:25):
I don't mind doing that.
That's what makes me differentfrom the person that says they
only work nine to five.
You know I want to.
I want my customers not to sitthere and think, oh my God, I
got to think about this or worryabout this all weekend until
Monday morning when I might getsomebody to call me back.
So my cell phone is thequickest and easiest way to me
(21:48):
and I can promise if I don'tanswer, you're going to probably
hear back from me within anhour or so Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So when I post this, I'll post the cell phone number
too.
But what is it?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
859-468-2221.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Okay, jason Crouch, yep, all right.
Innovative Home Loans yes, sir,all right.
Well, that's easy enough.
I'll make sure to put that inall the things that we discuss.
Well, is there anything elsethat we have not discussed that
you want to make sure peopleknow, either about you or about
(22:24):
Innovative About me, orInnovative, I think you know,
just remembering for me.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
There are a lot of mortgage loan officers, mortgage
loan brokers out there and Ibelieve a lot of them will look
at a lot of customers and gothis is going to be a hard deal,
or this person is going to takeme time, or this is an
immediate paycheck.
(22:55):
And so that's when they don'treturn phone calls, or they will
tell a customer and I don'tthink you qualify, when, truly,
if they would have put in someextra effort, they do qualify or
they will qualify in six monthsor a year.
And that's what makes me alittle different is I've had
(23:16):
many managers tell me to youknow, oh, that's a 600 credit
score, jason, just just turn itdown, you can go make more money
.
Go go find, you can find twomore customers.
Replace them in the amount oftime it takes to coach them, uh,
to buy that house.
And I've just never followedthat philosophy and never will.
Um, I look at everybody as asan opportunity to help them and,
(23:37):
um, even if I don't make verymuch money off the deal within
time spent, um, that doesn'tmatter to me it never has.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Well, I, I do believe in karma in terms of if you put
effort into somebody, um, itspins back on you tenfold
eventually.
Yes, yeah, good for you, and Iknow that part of dealing with
anybody, no matter what theircredit score might be, is
(24:07):
walking around in the pool on aSunday with the cell phone up to
your head talking them off of afinancial leg, right.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I mean, you know, there could be worse places to
do it.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
That's for sure so well, I think that's it for now.
This wraps up this episode ofthe good neighbor podcast.
Jason, I appreciate you comingby and sharing the good news of
innovative home loans andletting people know a little bit
about you, regardless of yourpreference for awful football
(24:43):
teams.
But really it's.
It's nice to have an Ohio statefan come to my domain and see
how the other half lives.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Hey, I appreciate you having me.
As soon as I get home, I'mshowering or jumping in the pool
to wash the funk off, but Ireally appreciate it and enjoy
coming.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I'm sure, the pool is the de facto shower for you
some days.
Sometimes You're in the pool somuch you don't even have time
to get dirty.
All right, well, that wraps itup for this episode of the Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Everybody out there until wetalk again.
See you in the next episode.
Everyone out there.
Be good to your neighbors.
So long, everybody, bye-bye.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast Union.
(25:31):
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPUnioncom.
That's GNPUnunioncom.
That's gnpunioncom.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Or call us at 859-651-8330.
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