Kristina Walsh: She turned underwriting grit into buyer wins

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
I am Christina Walsh of Mortgages by Christina with
Atlantic Coast Mortgage.
I am a mortgage loan officer, incase I didn't say mortgage
enough.
And I primarily serve first-timehome buyers.
That's like my niche.
And military.
Take me back.
How did you get started?

(00:20):
Um, I actually got startedstraight out of high school.
I was going to be a hairdresser.
I didn't like math in highschool.
I didn't want to do anythingmath related, so I was going to
be a hairdresser.

Side note (00:32):
hairdressers do math, in case anybody was wondering.
But I, my aunt was president,vice president of countrywide
way back when.
And um, I was working two jobs.
I had just graduated highschool.
She called me and offered melike$12 an hour as a
receptionist.
I made$2 at the haircuttery andmaybe like five at the Radio

(00:53):
Shack.
So I was like major bank, and Iquit, started at countrywide and
never looked back.
I went from receptionist to likeI did some accounts payable.
Then I went into pre-processing,processing, underwriting, and
now a loan officer.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10):
Wow.
How did you end up with thecompany that you're with today?

SPEAKER_02 (01:15):
Um, I so I was an underwriter up until about three
years ago when um interest ratesskyrocketed and I was laid off
and I decided to become a uh aloan officer.
Everyone that I called, theywere all my past contacts were
like, you used to structure yourdeals, just become a loan
officer.
And so I did, but I wasn'tfeeling confident in like the

(01:36):
sale side of mortgages.
So I joined a team and I wasthere for about two years and I
learned a lot.
It was great.
But I wanted to just grow myselfa little bit more.
Um, and I had started uh talkingwith other companies, and then
Atlantic Coast got a hold of meand I met Karen Grafton, John
Coy, and Mark Kilfeather.

(01:58):
Um, but Karen is really who soldme on Atlantic Coast.
She got on a Zoom call with meat like six o'clock at night,
and she was just so excited andso excited about what Atlantic
Coast could help me with, um,and some of the training
programs and really just likethe cheerleading that she does.
And she even followed up with atext.
We it was like a stormy night,we lost service.

(02:20):
She followed up with a text, shechecked in on me the next day,
um, and really Karen's who soldme.
It's that relationship buildingthat she's so, so good at.
Yeah, she's amazing.
She's so awesome.
She's so much fun, too.

SPEAKER_01 (02:33):
She is.
She's got it.
If you follow her social media,you can it is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 (02:37):
I love watching her.

unknown (02:39):
All right.

SPEAKER_01 (02:39):
So I have a handful of questions.
If it's okay with you, I'm gonnajump right into them.
All right.
Um, so you've been described asa goal-oriented professional.
What personal values drive theway that you serve your clients?

SPEAKER_02 (02:52):
I think personal values, it's I think it's just
like real life.
Like you can't, you know,everybody has things they're
going through.
For me, I'm a single mom.
Um, so I tend to fall in, youknow, categories or meet people
that are more like me in mybackground.
And everyone has a story.
They might not always tell youthe whole story, but I just try
to be relatable.

(03:12):
I think that's the biggest thingis just be relatable.
So I tend to really work with alot of first-time homebuyers.
And it's just a scary processbuying your first home,
especially you already havekids.
Um, so you just have to not dumbit down, but slow it down and go
at their pace and theircomfortability.
I think that's the biggestthing.

SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Yeah, I know that's right.
Um, what does putting thecustomer first look like in your
day-to-day work as a loanofficer?

SPEAKER_02 (03:39):
Probably kind of like I just said, just slowing
things down and going at theircomfortability.
I'm always asking, does thatmake sense?
You know, if this doesn't workfor you, maybe that works for
you.
This might not be for you, butmaybe this is for you.
Um, I just try to do a lot ofproblem solving skills and
trying to really like get to theroot of what you're looking for

(04:00):
and how I can help you best.

SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
That's awesome.
What first drew you into themortgage industry?
So when I know you said becauseyou're was it your aunt that
attracted you in?
But what's kept you passionateabout it for so many years?

SPEAKER_02 (04:14):
I think just so passionate would just be helping
people buy their homes first,second, third.
It's it's just really somethingabout seeing people get so
excited about accomplishing agoal.
But also my family, my aunt's inthe business, and so's my
mother.
My aunt's a loan officer, and mymother's an underwriter.
And my grandfather owned a autodealership.

(04:36):
Um, he passed away about nineyears ago now, but he was in
finance and selling cars.
So it's I think it's just in myblood, I just never knew it.
I was always gonna, this wasalways my destiny.

SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
So looking back, what's one lesson from
underwriting and processing thatstill guides you as a loan
officer today?

SPEAKER_02 (04:53):
Knowing your guidelines.
I know how to problem solve.
I know how to read theguidelines.
I know how to push back andargue when I need to.
And I know not how to makethings fit, but how to make them
fit in the boxes.
I mean, there's certain things,certain ways you calculate
income.
There's so many behind-the-scenethings that you don't know

(05:14):
about, like loan level priceadjustments, and it would really
just start to blow your mind.
But there's so many differentthings that you have to know,
and already knowing them and howto work around them or work
through them, I think is reallybeneficial for me.

SPEAKER_01 (05:29):
It helps me and your clients.
For sure.
You've got that edge.
Yes.
Um, so Atlantic Coast Mortgage,they talk about being more than
a leader, that it's a team.
What does teamwork mean to youin this business?

SPEAKER_02 (05:40):
Um, so I had actually another loan officer at
Atlantic Coast call me yesterdayand give me some guidance on a
file.
And she was like, hey, if youever want to grab coffee, if you
ever have a question, if there'sever anything I can teach you.
And it's not just that one loanofficer, it's all of them.
So it's not really, they're notlike, this is my agent, this is

(06:00):
my client, this is mine, this ismy, my, my, my.
It's really like, hey, you haveyour thing and you're gonna be
great at it.
And if you need help, I can helpyou.
I think they're really good withthat as far as like, you know,
it's not all one person and oneperson is gonna be go to the
top.
They're like, we'll all worktogether to get you there.

SPEAKER_01 (06:20):
It's hard to create greatness in silos, right?

SPEAKER_02 (06:23):
Yeah.
I mean, we even have like teamcalls, challenges.
We're in a five-week challengeright now, and everyone gets on
and shares their knowledge witheveryone else.
What's working for them, howthey're creating videos, and
what AI is helping them, or youknow, what new tool?
Because things are evolvingevery day.

(06:44):
So it's great when people shareand we share.
We don't like it's not like myidea.
Yeah, no gatekeeping over here.

SPEAKER_01 (06:52):
Your experience in the FHA, VA, jumbo, arms, and
more.
It's like do you call them arms?
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
How do you help clients find theproduct that's the right fit for
their goals?

SPEAKER_02 (07:05):
Sometimes it's really easy, especially when I
say my my two niches are VA orfirst-time homebuyers, because
if you're a first-time homebuyer, 95% of the time it's
going to be a first-time homebuyer program.
There's certain things that youcan layer to help make your
payment more affordable, um, andespecially your closing costs.
What qualifies somebody as afirst-time home buyer?

(07:29):
Oh, that's a really goodquestion.
A first-time home buyer issomeone who has not been on the
deed to a property in the lastthree years.

SPEAKER_00 (07:37):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (07:38):
So you've either never owned a home before, which
automatically you're afirst-time home buyer, or you
owned a home and sold it threeyears ago.
There's a few other littlecaveats here and there.
Uh, one of them is if a propertywas left to you through an
inheritance and you've neverresided in it, you would still
be considered a first-time homebuyer.

(07:58):
And then if you have militarybackground, like automatically
we're gonna go VA first.
So I think it's really easy, um,just depending on what you're
coming to me for, to kind offigure out where the program
fits you best.

SPEAKER_01 (08:13):
Understood.
What's one myth about mortgagesyou wish more buyers or
homeowners understood?

SPEAKER_02 (08:20):
Myth.
Well, for VA, the myth that mostpeople, I just actually had um a
VA client, he's closing a day,shout out to him, who thought
that you could only ever useyour VA once and that uh you
were always subjected to afunding fee, which is not
accurate.
So VAs don't have mortgageinsurance, they have a funding

(08:41):
fee.
Uh, but disabled veterans arenot subjected to that funding
fee, and you can use your VA uhnumerous times.
So that's one for VA.
Um and first-time home buyersprobably 20% down is not a
thing.
You do not need 20% down.
The minimum down payment is 3%,and there are several programs

(09:02):
that help you come up with that3%.
There's also programs that have100% financing.
So those are probably the twobiggest myths I run into.

SPEAKER_01 (09:12):
Wow, I didn't know that.
I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_02 (09:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (09:15):
Learning today.
In a competitive market, how doyou give your clients an edge
when it comes to securingfinancing?

SPEAKER_02 (09:21):
Uh so my biggest edge is my underwriting
background.
When I call a listing agentbecause we're presenting an
offer, I can confidently say Ihave pay stubs, I have W-2s, I
have employment history.
Sometimes it's hard for me totake my underwriter hat off and
really dig through the file, butit's literally a
pre-underwritten file.

(09:42):
So it's a very strongpre-approval letter when it's
coming from me.
I think that's my biggest.

SPEAKER_01 (09:47):
Do agents know that if like you've got a file that
this is solid?
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (09:52):
They know, they know that I've gone through the file.
If I have a question aboutsomething, they know I've
already addressed it.
I've already escalated it if Ineeded to, and that it's pretty
much an approval.
I'm not officially an underunderwriter anymore, but if I've
looked at it, it's a prettysolid commitment.
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
What do you hope clients remember most about
working with you beyond justgetting the loan closed?
That we're family.

SPEAKER_02 (10:17):
It's not just a transaction.
We're family, we're gonna keepin touch, and that I was
helpful.
I want to have made an impact.
I don't want it to just be like,oh, I don't remember that loan
officer that was a snake thatput me in my house and then
never helped me and neveranswered my calls.
Like what a horrible thing.
So you have there are horriblehorror stories out there.

(10:38):
I don't ever want to be thehorror story.
I want to be, I want to be thefriend.
I want you to be comfortablecalling me all not 24-7, but if
you have questions, I'm alwayshere to help.
So I want to be helpful andfriendly.
And I want you to refer your momand your sister and your brother
and your aunt and your unclesand your bank teller, because I

(11:01):
was so helpful.
That's always my goal when I'mhelping my clients.

SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
Beautiful.
How do you see your role as notjust financing homes?
I know you said your family, buthelping families build stability
and wealth.
Do you see yourself playing arole in that?
Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (11:15):
Because so homeownership is the number one,
the fastest way to generationalwealth.
So a lot of families that, youknow, when we're just paying
rent, we're just throwing awaymoney, you're paying somebody
else's mortgage.
You're helping them build theirwealth.
Um, so there's a lot of greattools that we have that I can
show people, especiallyfirst-time home buyers, how

(11:35):
they're building their wealth inthe future and setting up
success for their children too.
It's just, I feel the same wayfor myself.
You know, I bought my first homeand now I'm in my second home.
And this is a legacy I'm leavingto my children.
So I definitely feel likehelping buyers in especially
into their first homes is agreat door towards financial
stability.

SPEAKER_01 (11:56):
So I know you mentioned earlier that you're a
single mom.
Yes.
That you're a very successfulcareer woman as well.
Yes.
Have you ever found in thatjourney there to be struggles
that maybe being a single momyou had to deal with that all
the time.

SPEAKER_02 (12:11):
I don't even know.
Every five minutes I'm checkingmy schedule, like, am I
forgetting something?
Am I my boys are in sports.
Uh my oldest is 16 and myyoungest 11.
And um, my 16-year-old has heplays football for uh his high
school every Friday night.
We're on the field.
Well, he has an injury and needsto have an x-ray.
He has a possible injury.

(12:32):
I'm just gonna keep sayingpossible injury and it not
really being injury.
So I need to take him forx-rays.
And I'm like, would have to bethe day that I need to go and do
this.
And he's like, I want to go toschool, I want to go to football
practice, so I need you to bethere tonight.
So it's definitely challengingto keep all of the schedules
together.
Some nights looks like I'mworking until 10 or 11, but I

(12:56):
took enough time off to pourinto my kids what they needed
from me.
So that's one thing that I loveabout loan officer is I can be
flexible.
There might be some nights whereI'm I'm struggling staying up
late and getting things done,but I am always there for my
kids, and that's reallyimportant for me.

SPEAKER_01 (13:14):
That's great to be able to have a career that you
can work around your mostimportant things in your life,
such as our children.

SPEAKER_02 (13:22):
Yeah, it's so true.
But that is people always askme, like, are you ever gonna go
back into processing orunderrating?
No.
There's no little flexibilityright now.
Those are like nine to fivejobs, and yeah, there's a lot of
flexibility here.
So some days it's hard, but Ican't I wouldn't change it for
the world.
I I absolutely love it.
But actually, last weekend myson called me at like seven in

(13:43):
the morning.
He decided he was gonna go tohomecoming dance.
So rather than logging in ateight o'clock and starting work
and like, hey, sorry, I can'thelp you, it was it's flexible
enough that I can go save theday and then get get to work.

SPEAKER_01 (13:55):
So I really have to give it on the tuxedo and the
yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (13:58):
I had to go and sign the form to allow him to go.
And then we had to go shoppingthe next day because heaven
forbid, he decided to go to adance the day they announce the
dance.
He wants to wait till the lastday to decide.
Kids these days.

SPEAKER_00 (14:12):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (14:14):
Next the next dance that comes, I guess that that's
prom.
I'm just gonna buy the ticketsand sign the form.
And then if he doesn't go, I'llsell them and I'll help some
other mom whose child isdeciding at the last minute.

SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
Yeah.
Smart.

SPEAKER_02 (14:27):
That's my new, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (14:29):
So so what you do is you learn from As you go.

SPEAKER_02 (14:32):
I was literally getting ready to say, I just
learn as I go most days.
When something comes up and ithas like thrown a wrench in the
schedule, I'm like, okay, noteto self.
This is how I'm gonna do it inthe future.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (14:42):
So and I say that to everybody I talk to, whether
it's my team, friends, family,it's only a mistake if you keep
doing it.
Yeah.
Well, if you if it happens onetime, you know, what is that
like?

SPEAKER_02 (14:53):
Shame on fool me once, shame on you, fool me
twice.

SPEAKER_01 (14:56):
Yeah, but if it yeah, so after that first time,
if you're in a pickle, if you'rein a situation where you're
like, I didn't like that, evenif it wasn't quote unquote your
fault.
Right.
Well, what did you do to makesure that that doesn't happen
again?
If you don't do anything aboutit, then you're not being
proactive and now it's on you.
Yep, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 (15:12):
There was another mom I was talking to, and their
homecoming isn't as early asours was, and she was saying her
son hasn't committed yet togoing.
And I'm like, just buy theticket, trust me, just go buy
the ticket, go buy the outfit,just have it ready.
And if he doesn't go, then youcan just sell it.
And I'm like, that's what I'mdoing in the future from now on,
because this last minute we'reat football late Friday night,

(15:34):
and then I'm up shopping all daySaturday, and then my Sunday,
you know, we're in church andpreparing for the week, and like
my whole weekend was gone.
If it was just bought, itwouldn't have been so chaotic.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (15:47):
Same thing with yearbooks, by the way.
Just buy the yearbook.

SPEAKER_02 (15:49):
Yeah, actually, this school just messaged me somehow.
I managed to opt him out of theyearbook, and I was like, Oh
gosh, I don't know how I didthat, but please fix it.
He will die if he is not in hisyearbook.
And I'm like, we're alreadytalking about yearbooks.
School just started.
No, and I was thinking the samething, like, yep, just gotta buy
the yearbooks.

SPEAKER_01 (16:06):
My son was like, I don't want the yearbook, and
then the day like when they onlyhad like 30 copies left, he's in
line.
Can you drive me?
Yeah, trying to get a yearbook,yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (16:14):
Or if it's not the day that they need it, it'll be
20 years from now.
And they're like, hey, mom,remember when I was in this
school and you didn't buy myearbook?

SPEAKER_01 (16:22):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (16:22):
And somehow it's mom's fault, not that.
It's nobody's mom's fault.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Everybody's mom's fault.

SPEAKER_01 (16:28):
Looking ahead, what kind of impact do you hope to
leave in the mortgage industryand with the clients that you
serve?

SPEAKER_02 (16:34):
Um, I think maybe just the biggest impact right
now, we're like in a in a ratesensitive market.
So there's some really greattools to help reduce rates for
home buyers, especiallyfirst-time home buyers.
Um, so I think my biggest impactwould just be helping, really
helping people find affordableand sustainable homeownership.

(16:56):
Like I said, especially in thehigh rate environment.
Um, I actually was talking witha client the other day.
Um, he's a first-time homebuyer, and we talked about the
interest rate, and he clammedup.
And I'm like, but wait, there'smore.
There's a program, it's calledSpark through Virginia Housing.
It's coming out in about twoweeks that reduces the interest

(17:16):
rate for you for free a wholepercentage point.
So instead of being six in somechange, we're at five in some
change.
So there's definitely a lot ofways to utilize some of the free
grants and programs or resourcesout there, and just knowing how
to use them and how to structurethem, I think right now is my

(17:38):
biggest impact.
That's awesome.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (17:41):
Is there anything else you would like to add that
I haven't asked you about thatyou'd like to share?
I don't think so.
I think we covered everything.

SPEAKER_01 (17:48):
Thank you so much for being on the podcast.
It was wonderful having you.
Thank you.