July 27, 2025 • 28 mins
Welcome to this week’s Indie Artist Music Hustle with Blonde Intelligence. I am your host, Ms. Roni, and I always seek to give you exquisite cranial repertoire. Dreaming of homeownership while pursuing your creative career? This eye-opening conversation with real estate agent Katina Harper demolishes the myth that artists and independent professionals can't qualify for mortgages.
"I am passionate about African Americans achieving the American dream through home ownership," shares Harper, who specializes in helping first-time homebuyers navigate the process. She explains how artists with inconsistent income can document their earnings through royalty payments, digital publishing, and other revenue streams to satisfy lender requirements. "Money is money. They don't care what you do, as long as it's stable and it's documented."
Harper tackles the fear many feel about entering today's housing market, highlighting why ownership beats renting in the long run: "If you're renting a home or apartment, it's appreciating in value as well, but you're not going to see that increase." She reveals several programs offering $10,000-$20,000 for down payment assistance, shares strategies for buyers with student loan debt, and explains how buying multi-family properties can create immediate income streams when you live in one unit and rent the others.
The conversation explores innovative approaches to building wealth through real estate, including investment opportunities in developing areas, utilizing properties for Airbnb income, and acquiring commercial spaces. For artists specifically, property ownership provides stability during income fluctuations and creates pathways to generational wealth that extend beyond your creative career.
Ready to transform your financial future? Pull your credit report, connect with a knowledgeable lender, and remember Harper's advice: "The way to look at it is either I'm going to do it now or I'm going to do it later, but I am going to do it." Your journey to homeownership starts with education – join Harper's upcoming event for heroes in the community or reach out for a one-on-one consultation at katinasalesrealestate@gmail.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Music.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Music, music, music, music, music Music.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Music, music, music, music, music Music.
We got a special guest thisweek.
We have Ms Katina Harper, whichis a real estate agent here in
Arkansas.
Say hello to everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello everyone.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
So what she's going to do now is drop some jewels on
us.
She has an event coming up, shehas some different programs for
new homebuyers and she's goingto tell why this is important,
especially for our community.
So what I'm going to do is letyou take over and tell everyone
a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you.
So, as she said, I am KatinaHarper and I am a realtor here
in Little Rock, arkansas.
I work with Start to FinishRealty and I offer buying
services, investment services aswell as selling services.
So I've been in real estate foreight years total.
(01:16):
I've been in real estate beforethe pandemic and then
post-pandemic as well twodifferent worlds.
I specialize in first-timehomebuyer education and in
working with what we call heroesin our community.
So that's our first responders,our educators, any government
position, those of us who areserving our community may be
(01:38):
more than we're servingourselves.
We have some special programsfor that.
And wealth building andgenerational wealth building is
my specialty.
Before you go out and get thatapartment, go ahead and get that
duplex.
It is, it's better moneymanagement and that, and so
generational wealth and keepingthe money within our communities
and within our families.
(01:58):
Because I know that everyone ispaying attention to what's
happening in the economy rightnow.
So I think that, whereas I knowa lot of people right now and I
hope I'm not getting ahead ofmyself, but I know a lot of
people right now are afraid tobuy.
But if you think about it, lookat what rent is doing.
If you're a renter, you knowwhat rent is doing.
If you're a landlord, you'regetting over it.
(02:19):
But if you are a renter, youknow what rent is doing and, at
least with a mortgage, it'sfixed and then it's appreciating
in value.
And then you get to realizethat if you're renting a home, a
house or an apartment, it'sappreciating in value as well,
but you're not going to see thatincrease or that big.
I mean you don't have thesecurity and and as a people I
(02:41):
really do I really am passionateabout African Americans
achieving the American dreamthrough home ownership.
Because real estate is a fixedinvestment and it is especially
in the state of Arkansas.
You are always I'll say atleast 80 to 95 percent of the
time going to see an increaseand a return on your investment
(03:01):
over other forms of investment,going to return on your
investment over other forms ofinvestment.
I'm not saying not to diversifyyou should have a portfolio, but
real estate is one way toachieve and it's a way to
sustain wealth, especially whenyou have a health crisis or
something.
If you, if you're a homeowner,you can stay in that house
having a health crisis, but ifyou're in an apartment, they
want that money in 30 days okayquestion many times.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yes, especially in our community.
We were taught growing up, Iwould say in a certain age range
that you can't have a housenote, you can't have a car note.
So what steps or how easy is itto actually get from point A to
(03:49):
point B, to realize the dreamof home ownership, instead of
just getting that apartment?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
That's a fantastic question and, believe it or not,
the process and thedocumentation that you have to
come up with is not much morethan renting.
It just depends on what yourprice point is.
It's not much more difficultthan renting an apartment
because you know a lot ofapartments want you to have
three times the rent.
They want you to have an incomethat's three times the rent.
(04:19):
If you look at that as far as amortgage, then that mortgage
you'll still end up paying lessfor the mortgage than you would
for the rent.
So, basically, you're going tohave to have, of course, the
dreaded credit score and I saydreaded because we dread it, but
we shouldn't dread it, nomatter what it is, no matter
what it is, if it's 400, if it's800, you need to know.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
At least you have a starting point of where you need
to start working from.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Absolutely, and so the first first step go ahead
and pull your own credit reportsbefore you go to a lender.
Of course, the lender is goingto pull your credit reports, but
we get a free credit reportonce a year through all of the
different agencies for free, andso you should check it any who.
So go ahead and pull that.
You need two years employmenthistory and tax returns, and
you're probably going to need tohave some money in the bank.
(05:08):
How much money in the bank justdepends on the programs we have
, and that speaks to what youwere discussing earlier.
So, long story short, go aheadand pull your credit record and
just see where you are.
You got to start somewhere,because a year is going to pass
by either way.
You can spend a year working onyour credit to get the house,
or you can spend a year rentingagain so and with no plan for
(05:31):
what the next year is.
So you need your credit report,you need two years of
employment history, verifiableand again, there are programs
that work with those of us whoare self-employed.
So that doesn't knock you outof the box.
Like you said, there's a lot ofmyths.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So how would that work for independent music
artists?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
okay, if you're an independent music artist, are
you a business?
Have you filed taxes?
But here's the beauty of it andI just worked with someone who
was in a similar situation.
So, even if you say, well, Ihaven't filed taxes, have you
made money?
So lenders will even allow youto go and file those tax returns
(06:13):
in arrears.
So, let's say, you did makemoney in 2021, but you didn't
file, you can still go back andfile those taxes and as long as
you have two years of taxreturns, even if you're an
independent artist, there areprograms that will work with you
based on your credit score.
So it's like an algorithm.
So everyone is different.
So you may have a high creditscore, but you may have low
(06:35):
residuals and other thingssomeone else may have.
The best piece of advice that Ican give you is to go to the
lender and I'm working withCadence Bank right now on some
deals is to go to the lender,and I'm working with Cadence
Bank right now on some deals.
Go to the lender, why?
Because every person isdifferent and you don't want to
say, okay, well, this works forme, but it's not going to work
for you, or this didn't work forme, so it's not going to work
(06:56):
for you.
So every person is different.
So you can.
That is a myth, myth buster.
You can be an independentartist and you can still own
property, and you should, andyou should have a business so
that you can own more than oneproperty, so that you can also
become an investor.
You can get that studio and youcan write that studio off, but
(07:18):
we won't get into all thosethings.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
But yes, artists, you can, okay, tell us about this
event that you have coming upthis weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So this Saturday, from 1230 until 230, I'll be in
the River Market at the RobertsLibrary and we'll be doing,
we'll be hosting heroes in thecommunity.
We've got the educators againthat I mentioned, our first
responders and that.
But I've got the educatorsagain that I mentioned our first
responders and that.
But I've got about a handful ofspaces left.
So if you want to reserve aspot, if you'd like to RSVP,
(07:52):
it's at katinasalesrealestate atgmailcom.
That's Katina with a KK-A-T-I-N-A salesrealestate at
gmailcom and you can reserve aspace.
But we're going to go overthings like credit.
We're going to go over thevarious types of programs.
We're going to discuss studentloans and I know that there are
a lot of people who believe thatthey cannot get a home because
(08:13):
they have so many student loansand that is, that is another
look, that is not true.
That's another myth you canbecome a home owner with student
loans.
So if you don't get to come tothe event again it is this
Saturday from 1230 to 230 in theRiver Market at the Roberts
Library If you can't make it orif we run out of space, email me
(08:37):
and we can do a privateone-on-one consultation.
And again, that's Katina saysrealestate at gmailcom.
But yes, I love busting thesemyths and I am also an educator
and I love answering questions,because if we are knowledgeable,
then we're prosperous.
I don't know anyone who'sprosperous who's not
knowledgeable.
(09:02):
OK so tell us about some of theprograms that you work with.
Ok, so we have some grantprograms and I say we and that
is I worked for Start to FinishRealty, but right now I've been
working with Cadence Bank.
So there are some programs thatcan offer you up to $10,000 to
$20,000 for a first-timehomebuyer, for your down payment
and closing cost assistance.
That's a fabulous program.
(09:22):
There are programs for peoplewho do have the student debt.
If you can get into a program,then you may have been told that
you can't get a home becauseyour um, your debt to income
ratio, is lopsided.
They have programs that allowyou to work with that.
So that is one of the majorprograms that they're going to
be discussing Saturday and I'mexcited about that because
(09:44):
that's going to help a lot ofpeople that I know.
Also, some programs for thoseif you live in a rural area.
Now they've been closing in onthose areas because you know, we
found out that that's how a lotof people were getting homes
and you didn't understand howthese people building these
relationships you see it inrural development.
Absolutely, you know it.
And so, yes, they've lessenedthe good cause.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I like that because now I could they could have
changed some things on it, butback in the day when I was
looking at it, if you live likefive or ten miles outside of a
town that had 50,000 people,then you own land.
Then it was zero down, whichwas good if you wanted to stay
in the country, but if youwanted to stay in the suburbs
(10:26):
that wouldn't work.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And that's the thing about that.
But you know, I have somepeople, some good friends, who
live in the country and theylike rural living.
So that's a program.
I grew up in the country.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
I don't want to go back.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I would say that's not my cup of tea either.
But I'll say that's not my cupof tea either.
But I'll say that since thepandemic, a lot of people are
wanting to move farther out, alot of people who were living
there's, people who have sold ahouse in the city years back and
they've moved out into thecountry.
And again, the pandemic made alot of people, I guess, but I'm
not one.
(11:02):
But if you did want, if youwere interested in rural living,
then we have those programs.
And there are also programs, ofcourse, for veterans.
I don't know if you have anyveterans and again, you don't
have to have been a veteran.
A veteran means one year.
You don't have to be a retiredveteran or you don't have to be
(11:23):
a disabled veteran.
If you are a veteran and youserve this country, give me a
call and let's get you into ahome, because I think the
country owes you that.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
You know what?
I got a friend that works withveterans, and I am going to give
her your number.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Please do Thank you.
I will fight for them the waythey fought for us, because I
just think every veteran to meshould have a home.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Okay them the way they fall for us, because I just
think every veteran to meshould have a home.
I do believe that, um, that'sthe program that I can think of.
Okay, I'm sorry, go ahead.
So, being in Arkansas andknowing, I would say and this is
just the true fact that onceyou get past Little Rock, going
down south, how the pay goesdown, does the price of housing
go down also, or is it stillabout the same within the no,
(12:14):
but yes, the cost, the cost of ahome, typically mirrors
whatever the standard or cost ofliving.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Standard cost of living is in the area, so price
per square footage would be lessand even say pine bluff, then
it probably is in little rock,however, but I look, I know that
what I was paying for rentthat's what my mortgage is.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
there was only like a couple of dollars different.
So I am not tripping because Iwas already standing in a place
where they hadn't actually wentup on the rent, but just looking
at everything that's going onin pine bluff, such as building
a new hotel onto the casino,having the new dispensaries
doing um, revitalization, uh,neighborhoods where you they
(13:01):
have grants for that area, sodoing all those things.
And I remember when I used tostay in California how
gentrification happened and Ifeel like it's a form of
gentrification developing now inPine Bluff.
And if you're going to buy, nowis the time to buy.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I don't disagree with you and again, you are correct
as far as events happening downin that area.
And for those, a couple ofthings on that if you have
family property and you live inPine Bluff, or if you, if people
have moved on because ithappens, they need to make sure
to secure their property, makesure those taxes are paid and
that because, again, speaking tothe generational wealth, hold
(13:45):
on to the properties that youalready have first.
But as far as buying otherproperties, absolutely, and if I
could recommend anything, ifthere are any multifamilies,
because that is a strategy alsoso let's say you know there is a
triplex, or even you know afourplex, a first-time home
buyer could move into one andthen those other units Rent the
(14:06):
other and have the income to paythe mortgage and the bank will
give you credit for it.
So, as opposed to that being aliability, that becomes an asset
.
So each one of those units thatyou rent that is now added on
to what your monthly income is.
As far as the bank goes, Iwould recommend especially even
lots, even vacant lots.
(14:28):
I would buy them and hold on tothem, and especially in the
Pine Bluff area right now youcould probably buy vacant lots
for in the hundreds, not eventhe thousands of dollars, and I
will pick up a couple, Not now.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I have a few vacant lots and I didn't get anything
in the hundreds.
But I did buy some land over byLake Saracen, right by the lake
, and I am going to hold on tothat because eventually I want
to put another house there.
So my water property I am notgoing to let go of.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And you should not.
And you should not, If anythingbuild and then if you want to
Airbnb it or something like that, but I definitely wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I never thought about Airbnb.
That's another form of income,because, you know, my show is, I
would say, geared towardshelping everybody, but
especially people who's workingin the music industry, because
they work so hard and peoplethink that they quote supposed
to get all this money.
(15:32):
But music can actually besteady money sure, absolutely,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
And again, making wise choices and investments as
an artist, because I haven't.
I guess I have lived, not notthe music industry artist, but
I'm a jewelry artist, so I putmyself through.
I was a river market vendor for10 years and I gigged, so I
understand.
So, yes, when you get thosegigs that pay well, it is good
(16:03):
to go ahead and plop that downon a piece of property and hold
Right.
Hold or rent, find ways toutilize it.
Buy small commercial properties, because commercial properties
sometimes there's people whoabsolutely though sometimes you
(16:25):
can scoop those up a littlefaster even than the residential
the business went out ofbusiness 20 years ago.
There's an heir that lives incalifornia.
They don't know it, you know,they don't care anything about
it and you can pick that up andeven if you use it for storage
or an event center, just becreative.
Artists are creative anyway.
So, acquisition, just justacquire, acquire but use a real
estate agent.
I'm not saying that because Iam one or maybe I am, but I'm
(16:47):
saying that because, okay, justone or maybe I am, but I'm
saying that because, okay, justlike.
What's this Record companypeople are shady.
Real estate people are shadier.
So you definitely needSometimes, sometimes.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Let me tell you something my cousin was getting
ready to buy a house inCalifornia and the real estate
agent that she had kept takingher to undesirable locations and
she had to let the real estateagent go and go look for her own
(17:20):
, because I don't know if it wasa racial thing, but that real
estate agent was not trying toput her in the best that she
could.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
And that's called steering.
For those who are thinking ofgetting your realtor's license,
that's called steering and thatis against the law.
We don't make any assumptionsabout clients and where they
belong.
We, based on everything we goto will be based on your desires
and whatever your pre-approvalgoes for, whatever is in your
(17:53):
budget.
If it says that you're amillion-dollar customer, then
we'll go to million-dollarneighborhoods.
If it says that you are athousandaire, I'll pick you the
best thousandaire property thatI can find.
But that is against the law.
That is.
That's called steering.
It's akin to redlining.
It really is.
It's the sister to redlining.
(18:14):
When you see that type ofmalpractice, that's when you
know that, again, a laypersonmay not know, but a realtor does
.
That's why you need a realtor.
You need a realtor becausepeople do what's in their best
interest financially.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
OK, so what are some practices that we should be
aware of?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
For instance, again go with a realtor, because that
you know, I know, you guys knowthat the scams are through the
roof right now.
So there's so many scams inreal estate.
For instance, this happened toa friend of mine, but because
she's a friend of mine it didn'tget to go through to fruition.
So a home had just sold.
(19:00):
So there's a small window inbetween the time when a home
sells and when it's recorded.
The deed is recorded.
Recorded, so let's say thatescrow, so now, and so it's
after escrow.
Let's say so after when youfirst bought your home.
For a few days it doesn't showup as yours, it's caught right,
(19:23):
it's everything's in the mail,all the paperwork is in the mail
.
The deed is not recorded withthe courthouse yet.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So there's a small window.
So you have these scammers,because of that small window,
who are actually going intohouses that have just closed or
that are closing and they'repretending to be landlords and
renting them out to people orpretending to own the home.
This has happened.
A person who had owned the home.
They caught someone in thatwindow and if you go online not
(19:54):
if you're real to go online, butif you go online it looks as if
that person still owns thathouse and you bought it from
them.
And they said I don't want,let's not use real estate, let's
just take more money out of it.
That way, you know, I don'thave, you know I'm upside down
and so that'll just put mefurther down, and that way we
don't have to worry about creditor anything.
You can just assume my loan.
(20:19):
You know, give me $10,000,things like that.
So there are a lot of.
We're learning about more andmore of them every day.
Also, of course, the conditionof a home.
So a realtor any realtor worthhis or her salt, is going to
tell you to get an inspection.
If you have a person who is nota realtor, they'll think, ok,
well, I want to say I want tosave that $400.
That $400 can say, you know,can cost you thousands, tens of
(20:41):
thousands.
So they're just practices thatrealtors know.
We're going to make sure thatyou can get free and clear title
to the home, because somepeople have liens or
encumbrances on it and you don'tknow that, you don't know to
look for that.
Um, so yeah, just differentthings.
And also, even though I'm not aloan officer, I will say that I
have lost business by sayingthat's a bad loan because
(21:05):
because, again, I'm a communityserver first and, for instance,
when the crash came back in 2007, I was a realtor then.
So you would have peoplegetting an 80-20 loan.
So say, for instance, if youonly qualified for $100,000, but
the house you wanted was$120,000 back, then you would
(21:26):
have two loans.
You would have one for the$100,000 and one for the $20,000
.
And whereas that sounds likeokay, that's doable, there's two
mortgages.
It is, and then one of them hasa balloon payment on it, so
that $20,000 one come Decemberof next year.
They want all $20,000 of that,right then.
And then if you default on itnow you're foreclosed on and I
(21:52):
said that's not a good loan.
I only need one loan for oneproperty, I don't need two loans
for one thing.
I don't care what it is, butthe client went with someone
else and I saw her years laterand of course she had been
foreclosed on.
Because who can do that?
And especially at that time.
And and these balloons again,twenty thousand, thirty thousand
, I've seen sixty thousanddollar balloon payments oh heck,
(22:16):
no look.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I learned about consumer education in what the
the sixth, seventh grade.
We learned about balloonpayments in elementary.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Grown people should not be making those types of
mistakes well, I will say thismany of us are not as
financially literate as weshould be, and I think you know
that for sure.
Um, these are some like wetalked about the myths.
Sometimes in our communities wehave not done a good job of
discussing finances.
You know some, some generationsdidn't think that was kids
(22:50):
business, and so you have peoplegrowing up and they're killing
their credit.
Their credit is already damaged.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
They're they're not even 21 and I wondered about
that growing up and I found thatparents who have decent credit
add their children as anauthorized user to several of
their credit cards.
They don't have access to them,but it builds their credit.
So when they start working andthey're finished with school, or
(23:14):
if they just get a stable job,they're able to go out and buy a
home at 21, 22 years old and Iwas like how they're doing that
and that's what parents aredoing.
So that's what I tried to dowith my children and them as
authorized users.
So when they came, uh, got outof school, they were banging
with the credit and could dowhatever they wanted absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And now I'm looking at people, uh, getting llcs for
their kids as they're in highschool so that by the time they
get out they now have a thrivingbusiness and a business that's
gone.
They've been in business threeor four years.
My son started a business inhigh school and he still has it.
It's taken some turns, but Iknow that he's been able to do a
(23:59):
lot better during the pandemicthan some people who didn't have
access to that.
And we have to have thoseconversations Again.
They are, they're getting outand they can buy a home, but
then what will they end up doing?
Many times, especially ifthey're in an urban area, then
they'll end up buying one ofthose multi-units, like we said,
and then now they have incomecoming in from that and you're
(24:22):
trying to figure out how is thiskid just fresh out of college
and they're taking vacations outof the country and all these
other things?
It's not because they'resmarter, it's just set up better
.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Yeah, because they're going to give you your mortgage
money.
It will give you your utilitymoney and your savings, and then
you're working Absolutely yourutility money and your savings
and then you're working.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Absolutely yeah, and as you said, about artists again
, because we know that artists alot of times struggle with
producing, sometimes documentsthat are bank friendly, real
estate is a viable business asan artist, if you acquire a
couple of properties, then thatlegitimizes you and that gives
you some collateral to do biggerand better things that you want
to do with your art.
I just think as artists youknow if we can be smarter, like
(25:11):
I've worked with a guy, kevincressy, and we we discussed that
but thankfully I think his wifewas handling the finance.
He's been.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
He said you know, I just want to be an artist and a
lot of artists Now look at thedecisions that they need to have
.
It should not be hard forartists to be able to produce
documents to buy a house,Because you get a quarterly
check from your publishing, fromyour digital publishing, which
is SoundExchange, Also fromHarry Fox, from Song Song Trust.
(25:44):
So you're getting all thesedifferent.
They're giving you a check or adirect deposit.
They're taking taxes out of you.
You're doing your W-4s andeverything.
So if an artist is having aproblem producing documents for
the bank, that means they hadn'tdone what they're supposed to
do as an artist.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
And I agree with that , I don't disagree, and
hopefully more of them arepaying attention and doing all
of those things because that'sall you need, that's what I do.
Good, yes, because that's allyou need is that paper trail,
even if you do lashes.
I had a woman get a housebought because she does lashes.
That's what she does Okay.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
But Money is money.
They don't tell what to do, aslong as it's stable and it's
documented.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
It's that documentation that sometimes
throws us, throws us off um andso again with real estate.
That's all it is.
It's just documentation.
Buying a home is simplydocumentation.
The way to look at it is eitherI'm going to do it now or I'm
going to do it later, but I amgoing to do it.
So if you go to the lender andthe lender says, oh my God, your
credit is 490 and you know yourcredit is 490 and you know you
(26:53):
don't have a stable work history, okay, now you know where to
start.
So now you at least know whereto start and you've also started
a relationship.
You've begun a relationshipwith this particular lender and
they will keep reaching out toyou and coach you through and
just keep working on it, becauseagain six months or a year or
two years is going to passeither way well, I thank you for
(27:15):
coming.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Well, thank you again .
I thank you for coming.
It is lunch and Learn onOctober 19th, from 12 to 2 pm at
the Roberts Library on ClintonAvenue in Little Rock, arkansas.
So if you get a chance, comeout and meet with her.
If you're in the business ofbuying a home, even if you're an
(27:39):
artist, bye.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Hey girl, let me tell you about this podcast.
Girl, everybody has a podcastthese days, but this one
interviews new and interestingindie artists.
It's called Indie Artist MusicHostel with Blonde Intelligence.
Really, when can I find it?
It's on all podcastingplatforms streams live on social
media and on RPENTradiocom.
(28:01):
What'd you say it was called?
Again, it's called Indie ArtistMusic Hostel with Blind
Intelligence.
Girl, I'm going to have tocheck her out.
Give it a check, girl.
Music.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Music, music, music, music, music Music.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Music, music, music, music, music Music.
We got a special guest thisweek.
We have Ms Katina Harper, whichis a real estate agent here in
Arkansas.
Say hello to everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello everyone.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
So what she's going to do now is drop some jewels on
us.
She has an event coming up, shehas some different programs for
new homebuyers and she's goingto tell why this is important,
especially for our community.
So what I'm going to do is letyou take over and tell everyone
a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you.
So, as she said, I am KatinaHarper and I am a realtor here
in Little Rock, arkansas.
I work with Start to FinishRealty and I offer buying
services, investment services aswell as selling services.
So I've been in real estate foreight years total.
(01:16):
I've been in real estate beforethe pandemic and then
post-pandemic as well twodifferent worlds.
I specialize in first-timehomebuyer education and in
working with what we call heroesin our community.
So that's our first responders,our educators, any government
position, those of us who areserving our community may be
(01:38):
more than we're servingourselves.
We have some special programsfor that.
And wealth building andgenerational wealth building is
my specialty.
Before you go out and get thatapartment, go ahead and get that
duplex.
It is, it's better moneymanagement and that, and so
generational wealth and keepingthe money within our communities
and within our families.
(01:58):
Because I know that everyone ispaying attention to what's
happening in the economy rightnow.
So I think that, whereas I knowa lot of people right now and I
hope I'm not getting ahead ofmyself, but I know a lot of
people right now are afraid tobuy.
But if you think about it, lookat what rent is doing.
If you're a renter, you knowwhat rent is doing.
If you're a landlord, you'regetting over it.
(02:19):
But if you are a renter, youknow what rent is doing and, at
least with a mortgage, it'sfixed and then it's appreciating
in value.
And then you get to realizethat if you're renting a home, a
house or an apartment, it'sappreciating in value as well,
but you're not going to see thatincrease or that big.
I mean you don't have thesecurity and and as a people I
(02:41):
really do I really am passionateabout African Americans
achieving the American dreamthrough home ownership.
Because real estate is a fixedinvestment and it is especially
in the state of Arkansas.
You are always I'll say atleast 80 to 95 percent of the
time going to see an increaseand a return on your investment
(03:01):
over other forms of investment,going to return on your
investment over other forms ofinvestment.
I'm not saying not to diversifyyou should have a portfolio, but
real estate is one way toachieve and it's a way to
sustain wealth, especially whenyou have a health crisis or
something.
If you, if you're a homeowner,you can stay in that house
having a health crisis, but ifyou're in an apartment, they
want that money in 30 days okayquestion many times.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yes, especially in our community.
We were taught growing up, Iwould say in a certain age range
that you can't have a housenote, you can't have a car note.
So what steps or how easy is itto actually get from point A to
(03:49):
point B, to realize the dreamof home ownership, instead of
just getting that apartment?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
That's a fantastic question and, believe it or not,
the process and thedocumentation that you have to
come up with is not much morethan renting.
It just depends on what yourprice point is.
It's not much more difficultthan renting an apartment
because you know a lot ofapartments want you to have
three times the rent.
They want you to have an incomethat's three times the rent.
(04:19):
If you look at that as far as amortgage, then that mortgage
you'll still end up paying lessfor the mortgage than you would
for the rent.
So, basically, you're going tohave to have, of course, the
dreaded credit score and I saydreaded because we dread it, but
we shouldn't dread it, nomatter what it is, no matter
what it is, if it's 400, if it's800, you need to know.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
At least you have a starting point of where you need
to start working from.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Absolutely, and so the first first step go ahead
and pull your own credit reportsbefore you go to a lender.
Of course, the lender is goingto pull your credit reports, but
we get a free credit reportonce a year through all of the
different agencies for free, andso you should check it any who.
So go ahead and pull that.
You need two years employmenthistory and tax returns, and
you're probably going to need tohave some money in the bank.
(05:08):
How much money in the bank justdepends on the programs we have
, and that speaks to what youwere discussing earlier.
So, long story short, go aheadand pull your credit record and
just see where you are.
You got to start somewhere,because a year is going to pass
by either way.
You can spend a year working onyour credit to get the house,
or you can spend a year rentingagain so and with no plan for
(05:31):
what the next year is.
So you need your credit report,you need two years of
employment history, verifiableand again, there are programs
that work with those of us whoare self-employed.
So that doesn't knock you outof the box.
Like you said, there's a lot ofmyths.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So how would that work for independent music
artists?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
okay, if you're an independent music artist, are
you a business?
Have you filed taxes?
But here's the beauty of it andI just worked with someone who
was in a similar situation.
So, even if you say, well, Ihaven't filed taxes, have you
made money?
So lenders will even allow youto go and file those tax returns
(06:13):
in arrears.
So, let's say, you did makemoney in 2021, but you didn't
file, you can still go back andfile those taxes and as long as
you have two years of taxreturns, even if you're an
independent artist, there areprograms that will work with you
based on your credit score.
So it's like an algorithm.
So everyone is different.
So you may have a high creditscore, but you may have low
(06:35):
residuals and other thingssomeone else may have.
The best piece of advice that Ican give you is to go to the
lender and I'm working withCadence Bank right now on some
deals is to go to the lender,and I'm working with Cadence
Bank right now on some deals.
Go to the lender, why?
Because every person isdifferent and you don't want to
say, okay, well, this works forme, but it's not going to work
for you, or this didn't work forme, so it's not going to work
(06:56):
for you.
So every person is different.
So you can.
That is a myth, myth buster.
You can be an independentartist and you can still own
property, and you should, andyou should have a business so
that you can own more than oneproperty, so that you can also
become an investor.
You can get that studio and youcan write that studio off, but
(07:18):
we won't get into all thosethings.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
But yes, artists, you can, okay, tell us about this
event that you have coming upthis weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So this Saturday, from 1230 until 230, I'll be in
the River Market at the RobertsLibrary and we'll be doing,
we'll be hosting heroes in thecommunity.
We've got the educators againthat I mentioned, our first
responders and that.
But I've got the educatorsagain that I mentioned our first
responders and that.
But I've got about a handful ofspaces left.
So if you want to reserve aspot, if you'd like to RSVP,
(07:52):
it's at katinasalesrealestate atgmailcom.
That's Katina with a KK-A-T-I-N-A salesrealestate at
gmailcom and you can reserve aspace.
But we're going to go overthings like credit.
We're going to go over thevarious types of programs.
We're going to discuss studentloans and I know that there are
a lot of people who believe thatthey cannot get a home because
(08:13):
they have so many student loansand that is, that is another
look, that is not true.
That's another myth you canbecome a home owner with student
loans.
So if you don't get to come tothe event again it is this
Saturday from 1230 to 230 in theRiver Market at the Roberts
Library If you can't make it orif we run out of space, email me
(08:37):
and we can do a privateone-on-one consultation.
And again, that's Katina saysrealestate at gmailcom.
But yes, I love busting thesemyths and I am also an educator
and I love answering questions,because if we are knowledgeable,
then we're prosperous.
I don't know anyone who'sprosperous who's not
knowledgeable.
(09:02):
OK so tell us about some of theprograms that you work with.
Ok, so we have some grantprograms and I say we and that
is I worked for Start to FinishRealty, but right now I've been
working with Cadence Bank.
So there are some programs thatcan offer you up to $10,000 to
$20,000 for a first-timehomebuyer, for your down payment
and closing cost assistance.
That's a fabulous program.
(09:22):
There are programs for peoplewho do have the student debt.
If you can get into a program,then you may have been told that
you can't get a home becauseyour um, your debt to income
ratio, is lopsided.
They have programs that allowyou to work with that.
So that is one of the majorprograms that they're going to
be discussing Saturday and I'mexcited about that because
(09:44):
that's going to help a lot ofpeople that I know.
Also, some programs for thoseif you live in a rural area.
Now they've been closing in onthose areas because you know, we
found out that that's how a lotof people were getting homes
and you didn't understand howthese people building these
relationships you see it inrural development.
Absolutely, you know it.
And so, yes, they've lessenedthe good cause.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I like that because now I could they could have
changed some things on it, butback in the day when I was
looking at it, if you live likefive or ten miles outside of a
town that had 50,000 people,then you own land.
Then it was zero down, whichwas good if you wanted to stay
in the country, but if youwanted to stay in the suburbs
(10:26):
that wouldn't work.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And that's the thing about that.
But you know, I have somepeople, some good friends, who
live in the country and theylike rural living.
So that's a program.
I grew up in the country.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
I don't want to go back.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I would say that's not my cup of tea either.
But I'll say that's not my cupof tea either.
But I'll say that since thepandemic, a lot of people are
wanting to move farther out, alot of people who were living
there's, people who have sold ahouse in the city years back and
they've moved out into thecountry.
And again, the pandemic made alot of people, I guess, but I'm
not one.
(11:02):
But if you did want, if youwere interested in rural living,
then we have those programs.
And there are also programs, ofcourse, for veterans.
I don't know if you have anyveterans and again, you don't
have to have been a veteran.
A veteran means one year.
You don't have to be a retiredveteran or you don't have to be
(11:23):
a disabled veteran.
If you are a veteran and youserve this country, give me a
call and let's get you into ahome, because I think the
country owes you that.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
You know what?
I got a friend that works withveterans, and I am going to give
her your number.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Please do Thank you.
I will fight for them the waythey fought for us, because I
just think every veteran to meshould have a home.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Okay them the way they fall for us, because I just
think every veteran to meshould have a home.
I do believe that, um, that'sthe program that I can think of.
Okay, I'm sorry, go ahead.
So, being in Arkansas andknowing, I would say and this is
just the true fact that onceyou get past Little Rock, going
down south, how the pay goesdown, does the price of housing
go down also, or is it stillabout the same within the no,
(12:14):
but yes, the cost, the cost of ahome, typically mirrors
whatever the standard or cost ofliving.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Standard cost of living is in the area, so price
per square footage would be lessand even say pine bluff, then
it probably is in little rock,however, but I look, I know that
what I was paying for rentthat's what my mortgage is.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
there was only like a couple of dollars different.
So I am not tripping because Iwas already standing in a place
where they hadn't actually wentup on the rent, but just looking
at everything that's going onin pine bluff, such as building
a new hotel onto the casino,having the new dispensaries
doing um, revitalization, uh,neighborhoods where you they
(13:01):
have grants for that area, sodoing all those things.
And I remember when I used tostay in California how
gentrification happened and Ifeel like it's a form of
gentrification developing now inPine Bluff.
And if you're going to buy, nowis the time to buy.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I don't disagree with you and again, you are correct
as far as events happening downin that area.
And for those, a couple ofthings on that if you have
family property and you live inPine Bluff, or if you, if people
have moved on because ithappens, they need to make sure
to secure their property, makesure those taxes are paid and
that because, again, speaking tothe generational wealth, hold
(13:45):
on to the properties that youalready have first.
But as far as buying otherproperties, absolutely, and if I
could recommend anything, ifthere are any multifamilies,
because that is a strategy alsoso let's say you know there is a
triplex, or even you know afourplex, a first-time home
buyer could move into one andthen those other units Rent the
(14:06):
other and have the income to paythe mortgage and the bank will
give you credit for it.
So, as opposed to that being aliability, that becomes an asset
.
So each one of those units thatyou rent that is now added on
to what your monthly income is.
As far as the bank goes, Iwould recommend especially even
lots, even vacant lots.
(14:28):
I would buy them and hold on tothem, and especially in the
Pine Bluff area right now youcould probably buy vacant lots
for in the hundreds, not eventhe thousands of dollars, and I
will pick up a couple, Not now.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I have a few vacant lots and I didn't get anything
in the hundreds.
But I did buy some land over byLake Saracen, right by the lake
, and I am going to hold on tothat because eventually I want
to put another house there.
So my water property I am notgoing to let go of.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And you should not.
And you should not, If anythingbuild and then if you want to
Airbnb it or something like that, but I definitely wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I never thought about Airbnb.
That's another form of income,because, you know, my show is, I
would say, geared towardshelping everybody, but
especially people who's workingin the music industry, because
they work so hard and peoplethink that they quote supposed
to get all this money.
(15:32):
But music can actually besteady money sure, absolutely,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
And again, making wise choices and investments as
an artist, because I haven't.
I guess I have lived, not notthe music industry artist, but
I'm a jewelry artist, so I putmyself through.
I was a river market vendor for10 years and I gigged, so I
understand.
So, yes, when you get thosegigs that pay well, it is good
(16:03):
to go ahead and plop that downon a piece of property and hold
Right.
Hold or rent, find ways toutilize it.
Buy small commercial properties, because commercial properties
sometimes there's people whoabsolutely though sometimes you
(16:25):
can scoop those up a littlefaster even than the residential
the business went out ofbusiness 20 years ago.
There's an heir that lives incalifornia.
They don't know it, you know,they don't care anything about
it and you can pick that up andeven if you use it for storage
or an event center, just becreative.
Artists are creative anyway.
So, acquisition, just justacquire, acquire but use a real
estate agent.
I'm not saying that because Iam one or maybe I am, but I'm
(16:47):
saying that because, okay, justone or maybe I am, but I'm
saying that because, okay, justlike.
What's this Record companypeople are shady.
Real estate people are shadier.
So you definitely needSometimes, sometimes.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Let me tell you something my cousin was getting
ready to buy a house inCalifornia and the real estate
agent that she had kept takingher to undesirable locations and
she had to let the real estateagent go and go look for her own
(17:20):
, because I don't know if it wasa racial thing, but that real
estate agent was not trying toput her in the best that she
could.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
And that's called steering.
For those who are thinking ofgetting your realtor's license,
that's called steering and thatis against the law.
We don't make any assumptionsabout clients and where they
belong.
We, based on everything we goto will be based on your desires
and whatever your pre-approvalgoes for, whatever is in your
(17:53):
budget.
If it says that you're amillion-dollar customer, then
we'll go to million-dollarneighborhoods.
If it says that you are athousandaire, I'll pick you the
best thousandaire property thatI can find.
But that is against the law.
That is.
That's called steering.
It's akin to redlining.
It really is.
It's the sister to redlining.
(18:14):
When you see that type ofmalpractice, that's when you
know that, again, a laypersonmay not know, but a realtor does
.
That's why you need a realtor.
You need a realtor becausepeople do what's in their best
interest financially.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
OK, so what are some practices that we should be
aware of?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
For instance, again go with a realtor, because that
you know, I know, you guys knowthat the scams are through the
roof right now.
So there's so many scams inreal estate.
For instance, this happened toa friend of mine, but because
she's a friend of mine it didn'tget to go through to fruition.
So a home had just sold.
(19:00):
So there's a small window inbetween the time when a home
sells and when it's recorded.
The deed is recorded.
Recorded, so let's say thatescrow, so now, and so it's
after escrow.
Let's say so after when youfirst bought your home.
For a few days it doesn't showup as yours, it's caught right,
(19:23):
it's everything's in the mail,all the paperwork is in the mail
.
The deed is not recorded withthe courthouse yet.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So there's a small window.
So you have these scammers,because of that small window,
who are actually going intohouses that have just closed or
that are closing and they'repretending to be landlords and
renting them out to people orpretending to own the home.
This has happened.
A person who had owned the home.
They caught someone in thatwindow and if you go online not
(19:54):
if you're real to go online, butif you go online it looks as if
that person still owns thathouse and you bought it from
them.
And they said I don't want,let's not use real estate, let's
just take more money out of it.
That way, you know, I don'thave, you know I'm upside down
and so that'll just put mefurther down, and that way we
don't have to worry about creditor anything.
You can just assume my loan.
(20:19):
You know, give me $10,000,things like that.
So there are a lot of.
We're learning about more andmore of them every day.
Also, of course, the conditionof a home.
So a realtor any realtor worthhis or her salt, is going to
tell you to get an inspection.
If you have a person who is nota realtor, they'll think, ok,
well, I want to say I want tosave that $400.
That $400 can say, you know,can cost you thousands, tens of
(20:41):
thousands.
So they're just practices thatrealtors know.
We're going to make sure thatyou can get free and clear title
to the home, because somepeople have liens or
encumbrances on it and you don'tknow that, you don't know to
look for that.
Um, so yeah, just differentthings.
And also, even though I'm not aloan officer, I will say that I
have lost business by sayingthat's a bad loan because
(21:05):
because, again, I'm a communityserver first and, for instance,
when the crash came back in 2007, I was a realtor then.
So you would have peoplegetting an 80-20 loan.
So say, for instance, if youonly qualified for $100,000, but
the house you wanted was$120,000 back, then you would
(21:26):
have two loans.
You would have one for the$100,000 and one for the $20,000
.
And whereas that sounds likeokay, that's doable, there's two
mortgages.
It is, and then one of them hasa balloon payment on it, so
that $20,000 one come Decemberof next year.
They want all $20,000 of that,right then.
And then if you default on itnow you're foreclosed on and I
(21:52):
said that's not a good loan.
I only need one loan for oneproperty, I don't need two loans
for one thing.
I don't care what it is, butthe client went with someone
else and I saw her years laterand of course she had been
foreclosed on.
Because who can do that?
And especially at that time.
And and these balloons again,twenty thousand, thirty thousand
, I've seen sixty thousanddollar balloon payments oh heck,
(22:16):
no look.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I learned about consumer education in what the
the sixth, seventh grade.
We learned about balloonpayments in elementary.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Grown people should not be making those types of
mistakes well, I will say thismany of us are not as
financially literate as weshould be, and I think you know
that for sure.
Um, these are some like wetalked about the myths.
Sometimes in our communities wehave not done a good job of
discussing finances.
You know some, some generationsdidn't think that was kids
(22:50):
business, and so you have peoplegrowing up and they're killing
their credit.
Their credit is already damaged.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
They're they're not even 21 and I wondered about
that growing up and I found thatparents who have decent credit
add their children as anauthorized user to several of
their credit cards.
They don't have access to them,but it builds their credit.
So when they start working andthey're finished with school, or
(23:14):
if they just get a stable job,they're able to go out and buy a
home at 21, 22 years old and Iwas like how they're doing that
and that's what parents aredoing.
So that's what I tried to dowith my children and them as
authorized users.
So when they came, uh, got outof school, they were banging
with the credit and could dowhatever they wanted absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And now I'm looking at people, uh, getting llcs for
their kids as they're in highschool so that by the time they
get out they now have a thrivingbusiness and a business that's
gone.
They've been in business threeor four years.
My son started a business inhigh school and he still has it.
It's taken some turns, but Iknow that he's been able to do a
(23:59):
lot better during the pandemicthan some people who didn't have
access to that.
And we have to have thoseconversations Again.
They are, they're getting outand they can buy a home, but
then what will they end up doing?
Many times, especially ifthey're in an urban area, then
they'll end up buying one ofthose multi-units, like we said,
and then now they have incomecoming in from that and you're
(24:22):
trying to figure out how is thiskid just fresh out of college
and they're taking vacations outof the country and all these
other things?
It's not because they'resmarter, it's just set up better
.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Yeah, because they're going to give you your mortgage
money.
It will give you your utilitymoney and your savings, and then
you're working Absolutely yourutility money and your savings
and then you're working.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Absolutely yeah, and as you said, about artists again
, because we know that artists alot of times struggle with
producing, sometimes documentsthat are bank friendly, real
estate is a viable business asan artist, if you acquire a
couple of properties, then thatlegitimizes you and that gives
you some collateral to do biggerand better things that you want
to do with your art.
I just think as artists youknow if we can be smarter, like
(25:11):
I've worked with a guy, kevincressy, and we we discussed that
but thankfully I think his wifewas handling the finance.
He's been.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
He said you know, I just want to be an artist and a
lot of artists Now look at thedecisions that they need to have
.
It should not be hard forartists to be able to produce
documents to buy a house,Because you get a quarterly
check from your publishing, fromyour digital publishing, which
is SoundExchange, Also fromHarry Fox, from Song Song Trust.
(25:44):
So you're getting all thesedifferent.
They're giving you a check or adirect deposit.
They're taking taxes out of you.
You're doing your W-4s andeverything.
So if an artist is having aproblem producing documents for
the bank, that means they hadn'tdone what they're supposed to
do as an artist.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
And I agree with that , I don't disagree, and
hopefully more of them arepaying attention and doing all
of those things because that'sall you need, that's what I do.
Good, yes, because that's allyou need is that paper trail,
even if you do lashes.
I had a woman get a housebought because she does lashes.
That's what she does Okay.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
But Money is money.
They don't tell what to do, aslong as it's stable and it's
documented.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
It's that documentation that sometimes
throws us, throws us off um andso again with real estate.
That's all it is.
It's just documentation.
Buying a home is simplydocumentation.
The way to look at it is eitherI'm going to do it now or I'm
going to do it later, but I amgoing to do it.
So if you go to the lender andthe lender says, oh my God, your
credit is 490 and you know yourcredit is 490 and you know you
(26:53):
don't have a stable work history, okay, now you know where to
start.
So now you at least know whereto start and you've also started
a relationship.
You've begun a relationshipwith this particular lender and
they will keep reaching out toyou and coach you through and
just keep working on it, becauseagain six months or a year or
two years is going to passeither way well, I thank you for
(27:15):
coming.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Well, thank you again .
I thank you for coming.
It is lunch and Learn onOctober 19th, from 12 to 2 pm at
the Roberts Library on ClintonAvenue in Little Rock, arkansas.
So if you get a chance, comeout and meet with her.
If you're in the business ofbuying a home, even if you're an
(27:39):
artist, bye.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Hey girl, let me tell you about this podcast.
Girl, everybody has a podcastthese days, but this one
interviews new and interestingindie artists.
It's called Indie Artist MusicHostel with Blonde Intelligence.
Really, when can I find it?
It's on all podcastingplatforms streams live on social
media and on RPENTradiocom.
(28:01):
What'd you say it was called?
Again, it's called Indie ArtistMusic Hostel with Blind
Intelligence.
Girl, I'm going to have tocheck her out.
Give it a check, girl.
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