April 24, 2024 • 24 mins
Welcome to a thrilling episode of Hudson Valley Real Estate Explained, where our hosts, Michael Kahns and Rik Brescia, invite Glenn Wu from Tompkins Community Bank to shed light on affordable homeownership options. In this engaging discussion, industry veterans uncover the intriguing aspects of property deals and investment strategies.
As Glenn Wu dives into the subtleties of first-time home buying schemes, listeners get an intricate view of the landscape of affordable homeownership. The conversation brings to the fore special programs aimed at redefining homeowner affordability and eligibility criteria. Rick and Michael lead the conversation adeptly, simplifying the complex world of homeownership for the average listener.
A key highlight of this episode is the "Home Buyer Dream Grant," a program tailored to facilitate maximum financial assistance to deserving first-time homeowners. The conversation further delves into the 'Community One Program,' an innovative home financing scheme that allows potential homeowners to jump-start homeownership with minimal capital.
This episode not only uncovers affordable homeownership options but also peels off the layers around the application process and eligibility criteria. It underscores the limitations such as the grants' "first-come, first-served" basis, educating listeners about the best time to apply for such schemes.
Listen in to this fascinating episode that seeks to redefine the meaning of homeownership by making it more affordable and accessible. Suitable for both seasoned professionals and newcomers in the real estate industry, it's a wealth of information you cannot afford to miss.
The second half of the episode delves into Tompkins Community Bank's novel approach to home loans, offering detailed insights into the bank's unique portfolio loan product. Full of practical advice and expert insights, this episode is a must-hear for anyone looking to navigate the often complex landscape of homeownership.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome to Hudson Valley's Real Estate Explained, your getaway to understanding real estate.
Whether you're buying your first home, an experienced investor,
or just real estate curious, this is the place for you.
So dive in with us as we unravel the intricacies of property deals and investment
strategies guided by industry experts.
We're demystifying Hudson Hudson Valley Real Estate together. Let's go.
(00:28):
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Hudson Valley Real Estate
Explained. I am back with my co-host, Mr. Rick Brescia. How are you today, sir?
I am wonderful. Thank you. Especially on this day.
Excellent. Spring is in the air and home buying season is upon us.
And today we have a very special guest from a local bank called Tompkins Community Bank.
(00:50):
He is a loan officer with them. He has 30 years in the business.
The last 13 years is at Tompkins Community Bank.
And he's got a very special program that's available to first-time homebuyers.
And we'll define that throughout this podcast because it's probably not what you're thinking.
And it's a way of making home ownership a lot more affordable.
(01:13):
And we're really excited to have him on the show. And his name today is Mr.
Glenn Glenn Wu. Glenn, welcome to the show. Thank you, Michael.
Welcome, Glenn. Thanks, Rick.
I feel almost unfair sitting in here because Mr. Wu is one of my favorite people
on the planet, one of my dear friends.
Thank you, Rick. I appreciate that. Yeah, no problem. That's where you're supposed
to tell me you feel the same, though. Oh, absolutely, 100%. Yeah.
(01:36):
Excellent. Well, we can take the gun away from his head now and just have him talk naturally.
Sounds like a plan. Okay, this is going to be fun. So, Glenn,
listen, just to catch our audience up, can you tell us a little bit about,
so we know you've been at Tompkins for 13 years and been in the business for
30 years. What does that look like? Have you always been a loan officer?
Why don't you tell us a little bit about your experience in the mortgage industry?
(01:58):
Yeah. Well, so right coming out of college, I was looking for a job in the 90s,
so it was a little tough at the time.
I found this job at Personal Mortgage Corporation Brewster.
I started out as a customer service rep for a few months. that led into moving
into processing and then went into sales pretty much immediately after that, within a year or so.
(02:18):
Excellent. Excellent. So within a year you've been in sales and never looked
back. That's correct. I've seen everything.
Yeah. So, you know, 30 years, that's mid nineties.
So you saw, you know, you've gone through, you know, the early two thousands, nine 11, 2008.
It's a lot of cycles in a real estate and mortgage business right there.
That's a lot of experience.
(02:38):
And a lot of changes to the industry. Yes, certainly. Excellent.
So, so, so, so you obviously have a wealth of knowledge and know your way around a loan transaction.
So tell us a little bit about, you know, we're going to get into this specific,
you offer something called a home buyer dream grant.
But before we get into that, which I'm very excited to share with our audience,
(03:01):
but before we get into that, tell us a little bit about Tompkins Community Bank.
You've been there for 13 years.
That's a long time to be at the same place.
Can you tell us a little bit about the bank and why you choose to be there?
Well, I've been at many companies before that.
I was at bigger corporations, and I landed here 13 years ago,
(03:21):
and this is the best job that I've worked at.
Oh, that's fantastic. Yep. Yep.
Great. So, well, let's dive right into it.
I mean, you and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago, and I—,
You know, I thought, wow, our clients need to know this.
So if you're out there thinking about buying a home, wanting to get into a home,
(03:45):
start to pay attention right now because this could make it significantly easier on you.
Glenn, Home Buyer Dream Grant. What is it? Tell us about it.
Well, it's a grant that we have available. It's on a first-come, first-served basis.
Okay. And each client is available to receive up to $19,500 towards down payment and closing costs.
(04:08):
So $19,500 as a grant. This isn't a loan or a seller's concession. This is a grant.
So it's basically money that you give them to help them afford a home.
Correct. Up to $19,500.
Right. Excellent. What else?
For this program, they have to be a first-time homebuyer.
(04:30):
So what that means is. Yeah, let's define that. They can't own a house within the last three years.
Okay. So technically, first-time homebuyer. Necessarily first-time homebuyer.
Correct. Yeah. In the mortgage term, a first-time homebuyer is a person that
has not owned a house within the last three years. Gotcha.
So that makes it really, really nice. So if you've owned a house in the past
(04:52):
and you're thinking, oh, I'm not a first-time homebuyer.
I owned a house with my ex-husband seven years ago.
Guess what? But you now qualify as a first-time homebuyer, at least according
to this program, because you haven't owned in the last three years, which is phenomenal.
Len, I don't mean to put you on the spot, but you said up to $19,500.
What changes or what qualifies for the full amount or, you know,
(05:16):
I mean, if you can easily summarize that. Well, yeah.
The max is the $19,500. So what I do is I do qualify my customers up to $19,500.
I don't try to do less. I try to give them the full amount.
Oh, okay. Okay. And most of the time we're able to achieve that? Okay.
What are some of the things that might prevent people from getting,
(05:36):
like, what qualifies somebody for up to that?
Like, is there anything that will prevent them from getting $19,500?
No. If they qualify for the program, then they'll get the $19,500.
Got it. So the program is income driven. So we want to help the less fortunate,
I guess you could say. Sure.
So for instance, in Dutchess County, the household income could be 95,200.
(06:00):
So if you make 95,200 or less, then you could qualify for that first time home buyer program.
Got it. 92.5 or less. Now that that's combined income, right?
Right. Household. Yeah. Household income.
Even if there's only one person on the mortgage or does it matter who's on the
mortgage or who's living, who's going to be living in the house?
Who's going to be living in the house. Got it.
Okay. And that actually brings up another question. So first time home buyer
(06:24):
can't have owned a home in the last three years.
Does it make a difference if they were on the mortgage or the title?
Because some people are on the mortgage and not the title and vice versa.
Or is that something that it doesn't matter if you were a homeowner, you were a homeowner?
Yeah. If you're a homeowner, the thing is, if you are on a deed,
most likely we'll see on your tax returns, we'll look at tax returns.
Got it. If they claim mortgage interest on it, that will disqualify them.
(06:48):
Got it so so regardless whether or not they
were on the mortgage if they were on the deed they were considered a homeowner right
okay that makes a lot of sense so 19
500 basically everybody that qualifies on
an incomes what about home price i mean if they're buying a home not that you
know there's a habitable home right now for 150 000 but if the home price is
(07:10):
so low do they still get the whole full 19 5 if they qualify based on income
absolutely we could use the the remaining money,
if they don't need it for down payment or closing costs, we could just reduce
the principal that they owe.
Got it. So are there any, that's fantastic. Are there any stipulations with the grant?
No stipulation. Well, the main stipulation is that you have to keep the house
(07:32):
for five years. Okay. Okay.
Otherwise, there'll be a recapture fee for some of the closing costs. Mm-hmm.
Got it. So you'll write us a check for $20,000, $19,500, and we have to make
under the income threshold and stay in the house for five years,
which we recommend doing anyway, most likely.
(07:54):
And if you're going to sell faster than five years, it's probably because you've
seen an enormous amount of equity and you could probably afford to pay back that grant.
That's exactly correct. That's how I state it.
It. Yeah, it's wonderful. Sounds like a great product.
Actually, as you're speaking about it, have some people in mind.
So that's awesome. All right, great.
Let me know. I'll be happy to help them. Yeah, it's a great,
(08:15):
so tell me how they, so obviously there's another layer to this application.
What can our potential buyers out there expect when going through this application?
Well, I'd be happy to discuss anything with the customers over the phone.
I tried to lead them into a certain way, discuss that, you know,
discuss our loan products, what's available to them and what's going to be,
what's going to put them in the best situation.
(08:37):
So the program that we have tied to this Homebuyer Dream Grant is our own portfolio
product. It's called the Community One Program.
And we will allow a hundred percent financing on that.
Yeah. Go dive into that. You said a hundred percent financing.
Yeah. Yep. A hundred percent financing.
It's kind of a big deal. Yeah. The only money that they have to come to the
table with or show is a thousand dollars into the transaction.
(09:00):
The rest of it come, could come from the grant money that we have available.
So they could get into a house with just a hundred, with a thousand dollars.
Wow. That, that's, that's a pretty amazing product. Yes.
So, yeah. So give us, you know, so again, I, I just want to make sure this is
all clear because I don't think too many people are aware of programs like that.
(09:21):
So that's part of the income threshold as well. Yes.
So it ties it together. It uses the same income threshold between the Homebuyer's
Dream Grant and our Community One program.
Another, another tidbit about that program is that you get our 30 year conventional rate.
So there's no rate adjustment for it.
Plus you could put 5% down or you could go to a hundred percent financing and pay no PMI.
(09:47):
So wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. You're so 0% down,
no PMI. Plus you'll give me 19,500. Correct.
That seems too good to be true. What's the catch?
Yeah. Glenn, what's the catch? There is no catch. That's other than you have
to live in the house for five years and you get the same rate as somebody that's
putting down 20%. Correct.
(10:08):
So why isn't everybody doing this?
I, I do have a lot of customers that come and take advantage of this.
The thing is the whole, my dream grant though, it's a first come first serve basis.
So once I run out, then I don't have that grant available.
Got it. Got it. Got it. So when does it, is it started?
Does it start like in the beginning of the year? Yeah. This is the first time it started earlier.
(10:30):
It started January 8th this year. Okay. Previous years, it started out in late
first quarter, beginning of the second quarter. How are you looking as far as grant reserves?
You still obviously have, you know, money in the till to give out more of these grants, correct?
Yes, I do have some available still. Okay. Well, that's good because I'd hate
for us to be talking about it and it's not currently available. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(10:51):
So how long do they usually last? Like how, I mean, obviously if you're listening,
I'm hoping you're calling Tompkins Bank today to try to get,
you know, you know, an application filled out, but you know,
is there a timeframe you expect this to run dry in?
No, it's unfortunate. There's no timing it. It's first come first serve.
So once I use it, then it's gone.
(11:12):
What happens is we'll get reevaluated in August.
So for the funds that have not been used by other institutions,
they may give us more funds available. Got it. Got it.
Wow. It sounds wonderful. It is. Yeah.
I mean, it's, uh, you know, it's not often that you'll know this.
(11:33):
It's not often I get excited about a mortgage product, but, uh,
yeah, that that's pretty crazy, man.
Good for you. you. Thank you. Yeah. So like how the, you know,
it 0% down that's, you know, typically only reserved for VA loans.
Like how, talk to me a little bit about how you're able to pull that off.
(11:55):
Is that like a portfolio loan and you're doing like, how, how are we able to offer that?
Because that seems very, very foreign in this industry.
That is true. So it is our portfolio fully old product. Yeah.
We've had this for quite some time since I've been here.
Okay. So it started out with 5% down where the 5% had to come strictly from
(12:17):
the home buyer, the purchaser. So we've,
use this product and it's been a great product for us. So we've went to 97%
and now it's 100% financing because the product has been so good.
And the thing is we're a community bank and we want to help out the community
and get first-time homebuyers into homes.
Got it. Got it. And the grant. It's awesome. Yeah, it is.
And the grant is coming from a larger, that's not coming, it's not coming from
(12:42):
Tompkins Bank, is it? It's coming from Federal Home Loan Bank.
Federal Home Loan Bank, which you partner with.
So 0% down up to 19.5, obviously that's a huge risk for the bank to put 0% down.
You know, I imagine there has to be, well, you can't make too much money.
I imagine there's a minimum amount.
(13:02):
You have to be able to afford the place, and there's got to be some credit requirements
attached to that, correct?
Well, we run it through an underwriting system. So if they get approved through
the system, it's a no-brainer.
Yeah, but like I imagine I can't come in with a 520 credit score and qualify.
Yeah, more than likely that would not happen. been. Yeah. So,
so what, what, you know, what do I need to be able to qualify for the loan?
(13:26):
So the main thing that we look at is as long as you meet the income threshold,
we have done loans where the customer has no credit scores.
We'll do alternative credit trade lines.
We'll look for three trade lines, which could be like a car insurance,
cell phone, even putting money into your 401k.
As long as it's been consistent for 12 months, we'll look at it as a trade line.
(13:51):
Interesting. Interesting. Now, is that because they don't have a credit score?
You look at that as an alternative? Right.
When they don't have credit score, usually there's no credit at all.
Yeah. What if they have a bad credit score and they want to go that route instead?
Can you just call an audible and go the other direction?
I wish I would, but no, that's great.
(14:12):
Cause there are a lot of people that maybe just never developed credit,
but are very responsible. Correct. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Glenn, you'll forgive Mike and I, it's, it's our nature to try to poke
holes in something that sounds too good to be true.
So we keep this barrage of questioning. No problem. All right.
So it doesn't seem like there's an actual number, right?
So you don't have to have a, if you're going the credit route,
(14:35):
obviously you have credit. You don't need like a minimum of a 620 credit score or anything.
There's no like it's decision that you guys make right at the bank.
It goes through an automated underrank system. We use Freddie Mac guidelines in their LPA system.
Yeah. So the thing is not, it's not necessary to have a great credit score,
but the better the credit score, the better chance you will have it. Right.
(14:56):
Yeah. So they take a variety of things into consideration, not just credit score,
income, and some other factors, maybe down payment. If they're putting something
down, all that stuff plays a role into whether or not they'll get approved.
So don't be afraid to apply. If you've got a 550 credit score,
like you could potentially still get approved by Tompkins Bank. Is that correct?
(15:17):
That's correct, yeah. Wow, that's really impressive. Yeah, that is impressive.
Cool. So I got to tell you, I love this product. I think there's, you know...
We all know there's not a buyer out there that's not facing the realization
that home ownership is wildly expensive.
And there is an enormous amount of money that a first-time home buyer needs
(15:39):
to come up with to get their feet into their first home.
Home, the ability to put down a smaller down payment,
not have to pay PMI, pay the same low interest rate they would as somebody putting
down 40% on the mortgage and not pay PMI and get $19,500 grant to them is a, is,
(16:00):
is a recipe for home ownership for a lot of people.
Absolutely. Yeah. It just makes it seem, I'm sorry, Glenn, I didn't mean to
cut you off, but it just makes it seem so much more tangible.
Eligible, you know, I was just putting myself in that situation and just thinking,
wow, you know, if, if I were a first time home buyer, you know,
you'd be remiss and not at least investigating the product.
(16:20):
Yeah, absolutely. Wow. Absolutely.
So yeah, I, I, I think it's absolutely stellar. I, if you're considering buying
a house, I would absolutely contact Glenn here and he'll tell you anything else
you want to know about the product.
Glenn, before you give out your contact information, is there anything you'd
like to add about Tompkins, your programs, or this grant?
(16:42):
Yeah, just to let you know, we are a leading community lender here in Hudson Valley.
We have a ton of other products. We're innovative where we're trying to come
up with different programs like this Community One program to help customers out.
Yeah. So other programs that we have would be, we have construction loans,
we do land loans, And we do renovation loans, which can be done for investment properties as well.
(17:06):
Excellent. So you cover just about everything commercial as well.
Yes. I don't handle the commercial part of it, but our bank is strongly invested
in commercial lending. Excellent. And we're still lending.
That's a good thing. That's important. Yes, it is. And obviously competitive rates. Yes.
Any additional closing costs or fees? No. I'm glad you asked that question.
(17:30):
Our bank only charges $725 for each transaction.
That's all we make from the loan other than the interest rate, of course.
But the origination or the cost of the loan is $725 per loan and that's it.
And your ability to do this is because you're doing a lot of portfolio work, correct?
Yes, we are. We keep pretty much all our loans. Yeah. And for those of you that
(17:52):
may not be familiar, a portfolio loan is, you know, most banks or brokers will
sell the loan after they close on it.
So they close on it and then they'll sell the loan in order to free up more
money or it's backed by VA or Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or something like that.
This is something that where a portfolio loan is a loan where the bank has complete
(18:18):
authority to decide whether or not that is a loan they want to write.
They make a decision and they write it right out of their own pockets,
right out of their own checking account, so to speak.
So this is all done in-house. It's not done by some large, large,
large government, you know, entity. So this is, this is fantastic.
(18:38):
This is a huge opportunity for a lot of homebuyers. So, Glenn,
how can our clients get in touch with you if they want to explore this more?
They could reach me directly. They could call me at 845-278-1068,
or they could Google Tompkins Community Bank and look up my information on there.
And are you out of any particular branch, or do you hop around, or how does that work?
(19:01):
I do hop around. My main office is in Booster. Okay. I do cover the Dutchess
and Putnam County branches.
Excellent. I can do loans in Westchester as well.
Love it. Love it. Oh, that's a great question. Where do you cover as far as loans?
Like somebody in Syracuse, can you cover them up there? Or are you just in the
(19:22):
counties where your offices are?
I could cover basically around our counties, our footprint, which would be Dutchess,
Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, Orange.
Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. Anything else you'd like to add before we head out of here?
Yes. Yes. So with the rate environment at this time, we have another innovative product where,
(19:42):
if you have a 30-year or a 15-year fixed product with us, we will do a rate
reset for you at any time without having you to refinance the whole loan.
So our rate reset program, what it does or entails is that we would charge... No, excuse me.
There is a charge of 1% or 3,000, whatever's lower and we will get you the current rate.
(20:06):
So if rates in three years drop down to 4%, I could get you the 4% plus a quarter percent.
So it'd be four and a quarter and only charge you 1% of the balance as a fee.
So for the, our audience listening, I mean, my, you know, my eyes are like wide
open right now because, you know, there's a lot of talk about interest rates right now.
(20:27):
And one of the big hopes, and I say hope because we, you know,
it really, I struggle with saying when the rates go down because I hear that tossed around a lot.
There's no guarantee the rates are going down, people. There's zero guarantee.
We're all hoping it does, but please don't rely on that.
(20:48):
For those of you that are looking at adjustable rate mortgage products the arm
products tread lightly and be cautious because we don't know that the rates
are going down they could go up just like they did in 2008 but here's what's really really,
exciting to me about what you just said glenn and that's you know if they go down.
(21:08):
Number one, you're not having to go into an on-product. Number two,
you're not having to refinance.
So refinance is a much more robust process and it's a lot more expensive.
You're closing on your house again, essentially.
You're getting a new appraisal usually. You're paying another attorney.
There's a lot of costs involved with refinancing. And a lot of times it makes
(21:30):
sense if you could save an interest point or two, it makes a lot of sense.
But now you're telling me that you can do it for $3,000 and just reset the rate, $3,000 maximum.
Right. And just reset the rate and get a new payment. Correct.
And can that $3,000 be built back into the loan?
It cannot. That would have to be paid up front. Okay. And it would be re-amortized
(21:53):
over the remaining term.
So it wouldn't go back out to a 30-year term. It would be re-amortized for the
remaining amount. Holy smokes, that's even better.
I need to call every potential, well, actually every person I know at this point. Wow.
I don't even buy or sell. It's just right now, just anybody.
Wow, that's such a great program.
(22:14):
Yeah. Yeah, we're very innovative and we're trying to stay ahead of everything.
And it's one time, right? You can't do it multiple times. You can do it multiple times.
So if they drop to four, I pay you $3,000 and you take my 7% to a 4%.
Four and a quarter. Four and a quarter. Thank you.
And then they dropped to three, and I'm kicking myself for doing it too soon.
(22:36):
And you're like, no, just give me another $3,000.
We'll do it again. Yep. Absolutely. Wow.
Pardon me. What a great program. I don't think there's anybody else offering
anything out there that's even remotely close to this. So I'm glad you shared with that.
Glenn, share your information again because to prevent people from having to rewind.
(22:57):
Plus, we'll put all this information in the show notes so you can just click
on it. But how are they able to get in touch with you to take advantage of this program?
Okay. They could reach me directly on the phone at 845-278-1068,
or you can look up my information on Tompkins Community Bank.
Excellent. Rick, I need to become a first-time home buyer.
(23:18):
Yeah, we, we both do. So, so this explains,
you know, the, the availability of products that Tompkins puts out and,
and, And your success pretty much explains why you're able to take me to nice
places for my birthday lunch. Absolutely right.
Which you certainly did two weeks ago. And let me publicly thank you.
(23:41):
You're quite welcome. My pleasure.
All right, everybody. Listen, you heard it here. Team Banks at Compass bringing
you the information that you need to be successful in this wildly competitive industry.
Thank you for tuning in. And leave us a five-star review. Let us know what you
thought. See you around the Valley. We're out. Thank you, Glenn Woo.
(24:03):
Music.
Welcome to Hudson Valley's Real Estate Explained, your getaway to understanding real estate.
Whether you're buying your first home, an experienced investor,
or just real estate curious, this is the place for you.
So dive in with us as we unravel the intricacies of property deals and investment
strategies guided by industry experts.
We're demystifying Hudson Hudson Valley Real Estate together. Let's go.
(00:28):
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Hudson Valley Real Estate
Explained. I am back with my co-host, Mr. Rick Brescia. How are you today, sir?
I am wonderful. Thank you. Especially on this day.
Excellent. Spring is in the air and home buying season is upon us.
And today we have a very special guest from a local bank called Tompkins Community Bank.
(00:50):
He is a loan officer with them. He has 30 years in the business.
The last 13 years is at Tompkins Community Bank.
And he's got a very special program that's available to first-time homebuyers.
And we'll define that throughout this podcast because it's probably not what you're thinking.
And it's a way of making home ownership a lot more affordable.
(01:13):
And we're really excited to have him on the show. And his name today is Mr.
Glenn Glenn Wu. Glenn, welcome to the show. Thank you, Michael.
Welcome, Glenn. Thanks, Rick.
I feel almost unfair sitting in here because Mr. Wu is one of my favorite people
on the planet, one of my dear friends.
Thank you, Rick. I appreciate that. Yeah, no problem. That's where you're supposed
to tell me you feel the same, though. Oh, absolutely, 100%. Yeah.
(01:36):
Excellent. Well, we can take the gun away from his head now and just have him talk naturally.
Sounds like a plan. Okay, this is going to be fun. So, Glenn,
listen, just to catch our audience up, can you tell us a little bit about,
so we know you've been at Tompkins for 13 years and been in the business for
30 years. What does that look like? Have you always been a loan officer?
Why don't you tell us a little bit about your experience in the mortgage industry?
(01:58):
Yeah. Well, so right coming out of college, I was looking for a job in the 90s,
so it was a little tough at the time.
I found this job at Personal Mortgage Corporation Brewster.
I started out as a customer service rep for a few months. that led into moving
into processing and then went into sales pretty much immediately after that, within a year or so.
(02:18):
Excellent. Excellent. So within a year you've been in sales and never looked
back. That's correct. I've seen everything.
Yeah. So, you know, 30 years, that's mid nineties.
So you saw, you know, you've gone through, you know, the early two thousands, nine 11, 2008.
It's a lot of cycles in a real estate and mortgage business right there.
That's a lot of experience.
(02:38):
And a lot of changes to the industry. Yes, certainly. Excellent.
So, so, so, so you obviously have a wealth of knowledge and know your way around a loan transaction.
So tell us a little bit about, you know, we're going to get into this specific,
you offer something called a home buyer dream grant.
But before we get into that, which I'm very excited to share with our audience,
(03:01):
but before we get into that, tell us a little bit about Tompkins Community Bank.
You've been there for 13 years.
That's a long time to be at the same place.
Can you tell us a little bit about the bank and why you choose to be there?
Well, I've been at many companies before that.
I was at bigger corporations, and I landed here 13 years ago,
(03:21):
and this is the best job that I've worked at.
Oh, that's fantastic. Yep. Yep.
Great. So, well, let's dive right into it.
I mean, you and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago, and I—,
You know, I thought, wow, our clients need to know this.
So if you're out there thinking about buying a home, wanting to get into a home,
(03:45):
start to pay attention right now because this could make it significantly easier on you.
Glenn, Home Buyer Dream Grant. What is it? Tell us about it.
Well, it's a grant that we have available. It's on a first-come, first-served basis.
Okay. And each client is available to receive up to $19,500 towards down payment and closing costs.
(04:08):
So $19,500 as a grant. This isn't a loan or a seller's concession. This is a grant.
So it's basically money that you give them to help them afford a home.
Correct. Up to $19,500.
Right. Excellent. What else?
For this program, they have to be a first-time homebuyer.
(04:30):
So what that means is. Yeah, let's define that. They can't own a house within the last three years.
Okay. So technically, first-time homebuyer. Necessarily first-time homebuyer.
Correct. Yeah. In the mortgage term, a first-time homebuyer is a person that
has not owned a house within the last three years. Gotcha.
So that makes it really, really nice. So if you've owned a house in the past
(04:52):
and you're thinking, oh, I'm not a first-time homebuyer.
I owned a house with my ex-husband seven years ago.
Guess what? But you now qualify as a first-time homebuyer, at least according
to this program, because you haven't owned in the last three years, which is phenomenal.
Len, I don't mean to put you on the spot, but you said up to $19,500.
What changes or what qualifies for the full amount or, you know,
(05:16):
I mean, if you can easily summarize that. Well, yeah.
The max is the $19,500. So what I do is I do qualify my customers up to $19,500.
I don't try to do less. I try to give them the full amount.
Oh, okay. Okay. And most of the time we're able to achieve that? Okay.
What are some of the things that might prevent people from getting,
(05:36):
like, what qualifies somebody for up to that?
Like, is there anything that will prevent them from getting $19,500?
No. If they qualify for the program, then they'll get the $19,500.
Got it. So the program is income driven. So we want to help the less fortunate,
I guess you could say. Sure.
So for instance, in Dutchess County, the household income could be 95,200.
(06:00):
So if you make 95,200 or less, then you could qualify for that first time home buyer program.
Got it. 92.5 or less. Now that that's combined income, right?
Right. Household. Yeah. Household income.
Even if there's only one person on the mortgage or does it matter who's on the
mortgage or who's living, who's going to be living in the house?
Who's going to be living in the house. Got it.
Okay. And that actually brings up another question. So first time home buyer
(06:24):
can't have owned a home in the last three years.
Does it make a difference if they were on the mortgage or the title?
Because some people are on the mortgage and not the title and vice versa.
Or is that something that it doesn't matter if you were a homeowner, you were a homeowner?
Yeah. If you're a homeowner, the thing is, if you are on a deed,
most likely we'll see on your tax returns, we'll look at tax returns.
Got it. If they claim mortgage interest on it, that will disqualify them.
(06:48):
Got it so so regardless whether or not they
were on the mortgage if they were on the deed they were considered a homeowner right
okay that makes a lot of sense so 19
500 basically everybody that qualifies on
an incomes what about home price i mean if they're buying a home not that you
know there's a habitable home right now for 150 000 but if the home price is
(07:10):
so low do they still get the whole full 19 5 if they qualify based on income
absolutely we could use the the remaining money,
if they don't need it for down payment or closing costs, we could just reduce
the principal that they owe.
Got it. So are there any, that's fantastic. Are there any stipulations with the grant?
No stipulation. Well, the main stipulation is that you have to keep the house
(07:32):
for five years. Okay. Okay.
Otherwise, there'll be a recapture fee for some of the closing costs. Mm-hmm.
Got it. So you'll write us a check for $20,000, $19,500, and we have to make
under the income threshold and stay in the house for five years,
which we recommend doing anyway, most likely.
(07:54):
And if you're going to sell faster than five years, it's probably because you've
seen an enormous amount of equity and you could probably afford to pay back that grant.
That's exactly correct. That's how I state it.
It. Yeah, it's wonderful. Sounds like a great product.
Actually, as you're speaking about it, have some people in mind.
So that's awesome. All right, great.
Let me know. I'll be happy to help them. Yeah, it's a great,
(08:15):
so tell me how they, so obviously there's another layer to this application.
What can our potential buyers out there expect when going through this application?
Well, I'd be happy to discuss anything with the customers over the phone.
I tried to lead them into a certain way, discuss that, you know,
discuss our loan products, what's available to them and what's going to be,
what's going to put them in the best situation.
(08:37):
So the program that we have tied to this Homebuyer Dream Grant is our own portfolio
product. It's called the Community One Program.
And we will allow a hundred percent financing on that.
Yeah. Go dive into that. You said a hundred percent financing.
Yeah. Yep. A hundred percent financing.
It's kind of a big deal. Yeah. The only money that they have to come to the
table with or show is a thousand dollars into the transaction.
(09:00):
The rest of it come, could come from the grant money that we have available.
So they could get into a house with just a hundred, with a thousand dollars.
Wow. That, that's, that's a pretty amazing product. Yes.
So, yeah. So give us, you know, so again, I, I just want to make sure this is
all clear because I don't think too many people are aware of programs like that.
(09:21):
So that's part of the income threshold as well. Yes.
So it ties it together. It uses the same income threshold between the Homebuyer's
Dream Grant and our Community One program.
Another, another tidbit about that program is that you get our 30 year conventional rate.
So there's no rate adjustment for it.
Plus you could put 5% down or you could go to a hundred percent financing and pay no PMI.
(09:47):
So wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. You're so 0% down,
no PMI. Plus you'll give me 19,500. Correct.
That seems too good to be true. What's the catch?
Yeah. Glenn, what's the catch? There is no catch. That's other than you have
to live in the house for five years and you get the same rate as somebody that's
putting down 20%. Correct.
(10:08):
So why isn't everybody doing this?
I, I do have a lot of customers that come and take advantage of this.
The thing is the whole, my dream grant though, it's a first come first serve basis.
So once I run out, then I don't have that grant available.
Got it. Got it. Got it. So when does it, is it started?
Does it start like in the beginning of the year? Yeah. This is the first time it started earlier.
(10:30):
It started January 8th this year. Okay. Previous years, it started out in late
first quarter, beginning of the second quarter. How are you looking as far as grant reserves?
You still obviously have, you know, money in the till to give out more of these grants, correct?
Yes, I do have some available still. Okay. Well, that's good because I'd hate
for us to be talking about it and it's not currently available. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(10:51):
So how long do they usually last? Like how, I mean, obviously if you're listening,
I'm hoping you're calling Tompkins Bank today to try to get,
you know, you know, an application filled out, but you know,
is there a timeframe you expect this to run dry in?
No, it's unfortunate. There's no timing it. It's first come first serve.
So once I use it, then it's gone.
(11:12):
What happens is we'll get reevaluated in August.
So for the funds that have not been used by other institutions,
they may give us more funds available. Got it. Got it.
Wow. It sounds wonderful. It is. Yeah.
I mean, it's, uh, you know, it's not often that you'll know this.
(11:33):
It's not often I get excited about a mortgage product, but, uh,
yeah, that that's pretty crazy, man.
Good for you. you. Thank you. Yeah. So like how the, you know,
it 0% down that's, you know, typically only reserved for VA loans.
Like how, talk to me a little bit about how you're able to pull that off.
(11:55):
Is that like a portfolio loan and you're doing like, how, how are we able to offer that?
Because that seems very, very foreign in this industry.
That is true. So it is our portfolio fully old product. Yeah.
We've had this for quite some time since I've been here.
Okay. So it started out with 5% down where the 5% had to come strictly from
(12:17):
the home buyer, the purchaser. So we've,
use this product and it's been a great product for us. So we've went to 97%
and now it's 100% financing because the product has been so good.
And the thing is we're a community bank and we want to help out the community
and get first-time homebuyers into homes.
Got it. Got it. And the grant. It's awesome. Yeah, it is.
And the grant is coming from a larger, that's not coming, it's not coming from
(12:42):
Tompkins Bank, is it? It's coming from Federal Home Loan Bank.
Federal Home Loan Bank, which you partner with.
So 0% down up to 19.5, obviously that's a huge risk for the bank to put 0% down.
You know, I imagine there has to be, well, you can't make too much money.
I imagine there's a minimum amount.
(13:02):
You have to be able to afford the place, and there's got to be some credit requirements
attached to that, correct?
Well, we run it through an underwriting system. So if they get approved through
the system, it's a no-brainer.
Yeah, but like I imagine I can't come in with a 520 credit score and qualify.
Yeah, more than likely that would not happen. been. Yeah. So,
so what, what, you know, what do I need to be able to qualify for the loan?
(13:26):
So the main thing that we look at is as long as you meet the income threshold,
we have done loans where the customer has no credit scores.
We'll do alternative credit trade lines.
We'll look for three trade lines, which could be like a car insurance,
cell phone, even putting money into your 401k.
As long as it's been consistent for 12 months, we'll look at it as a trade line.
(13:51):
Interesting. Interesting. Now, is that because they don't have a credit score?
You look at that as an alternative? Right.
When they don't have credit score, usually there's no credit at all.
Yeah. What if they have a bad credit score and they want to go that route instead?
Can you just call an audible and go the other direction?
I wish I would, but no, that's great.
(14:12):
Cause there are a lot of people that maybe just never developed credit,
but are very responsible. Correct. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Glenn, you'll forgive Mike and I, it's, it's our nature to try to poke
holes in something that sounds too good to be true.
So we keep this barrage of questioning. No problem. All right.
So it doesn't seem like there's an actual number, right?
So you don't have to have a, if you're going the credit route,
(14:35):
obviously you have credit. You don't need like a minimum of a 620 credit score or anything.
There's no like it's decision that you guys make right at the bank.
It goes through an automated underrank system. We use Freddie Mac guidelines in their LPA system.
Yeah. So the thing is not, it's not necessary to have a great credit score,
but the better the credit score, the better chance you will have it. Right.
(14:56):
Yeah. So they take a variety of things into consideration, not just credit score,
income, and some other factors, maybe down payment. If they're putting something
down, all that stuff plays a role into whether or not they'll get approved.
So don't be afraid to apply. If you've got a 550 credit score,
like you could potentially still get approved by Tompkins Bank. Is that correct?
(15:17):
That's correct, yeah. Wow, that's really impressive. Yeah, that is impressive.
Cool. So I got to tell you, I love this product. I think there's, you know...
We all know there's not a buyer out there that's not facing the realization
that home ownership is wildly expensive.
And there is an enormous amount of money that a first-time home buyer needs
(15:39):
to come up with to get their feet into their first home.
Home, the ability to put down a smaller down payment,
not have to pay PMI, pay the same low interest rate they would as somebody putting
down 40% on the mortgage and not pay PMI and get $19,500 grant to them is a, is,
(16:00):
is a recipe for home ownership for a lot of people.
Absolutely. Yeah. It just makes it seem, I'm sorry, Glenn, I didn't mean to
cut you off, but it just makes it seem so much more tangible.
Eligible, you know, I was just putting myself in that situation and just thinking,
wow, you know, if, if I were a first time home buyer, you know,
you'd be remiss and not at least investigating the product.
(16:20):
Yeah, absolutely. Wow. Absolutely.
So yeah, I, I, I think it's absolutely stellar. I, if you're considering buying
a house, I would absolutely contact Glenn here and he'll tell you anything else
you want to know about the product.
Glenn, before you give out your contact information, is there anything you'd
like to add about Tompkins, your programs, or this grant?
(16:42):
Yeah, just to let you know, we are a leading community lender here in Hudson Valley.
We have a ton of other products. We're innovative where we're trying to come
up with different programs like this Community One program to help customers out.
Yeah. So other programs that we have would be, we have construction loans,
we do land loans, And we do renovation loans, which can be done for investment properties as well.
(17:06):
Excellent. So you cover just about everything commercial as well.
Yes. I don't handle the commercial part of it, but our bank is strongly invested
in commercial lending. Excellent. And we're still lending.
That's a good thing. That's important. Yes, it is. And obviously competitive rates. Yes.
Any additional closing costs or fees? No. I'm glad you asked that question.
(17:30):
Our bank only charges $725 for each transaction.
That's all we make from the loan other than the interest rate, of course.
But the origination or the cost of the loan is $725 per loan and that's it.
And your ability to do this is because you're doing a lot of portfolio work, correct?
Yes, we are. We keep pretty much all our loans. Yeah. And for those of you that
(17:52):
may not be familiar, a portfolio loan is, you know, most banks or brokers will
sell the loan after they close on it.
So they close on it and then they'll sell the loan in order to free up more
money or it's backed by VA or Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or something like that.
This is something that where a portfolio loan is a loan where the bank has complete
(18:18):
authority to decide whether or not that is a loan they want to write.
They make a decision and they write it right out of their own pockets,
right out of their own checking account, so to speak.
So this is all done in-house. It's not done by some large, large,
large government, you know, entity. So this is, this is fantastic.
(18:38):
This is a huge opportunity for a lot of homebuyers. So, Glenn,
how can our clients get in touch with you if they want to explore this more?
They could reach me directly. They could call me at 845-278-1068,
or they could Google Tompkins Community Bank and look up my information on there.
And are you out of any particular branch, or do you hop around, or how does that work?
(19:01):
I do hop around. My main office is in Booster. Okay. I do cover the Dutchess
and Putnam County branches.
Excellent. I can do loans in Westchester as well.
Love it. Love it. Oh, that's a great question. Where do you cover as far as loans?
Like somebody in Syracuse, can you cover them up there? Or are you just in the
(19:22):
counties where your offices are?
I could cover basically around our counties, our footprint, which would be Dutchess,
Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, Orange.
Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. Anything else you'd like to add before we head out of here?
Yes. Yes. So with the rate environment at this time, we have another innovative product where,
(19:42):
if you have a 30-year or a 15-year fixed product with us, we will do a rate
reset for you at any time without having you to refinance the whole loan.
So our rate reset program, what it does or entails is that we would charge... No, excuse me.
There is a charge of 1% or 3,000, whatever's lower and we will get you the current rate.
(20:06):
So if rates in three years drop down to 4%, I could get you the 4% plus a quarter percent.
So it'd be four and a quarter and only charge you 1% of the balance as a fee.
So for the, our audience listening, I mean, my, you know, my eyes are like wide
open right now because, you know, there's a lot of talk about interest rates right now.
(20:27):
And one of the big hopes, and I say hope because we, you know,
it really, I struggle with saying when the rates go down because I hear that tossed around a lot.
There's no guarantee the rates are going down, people. There's zero guarantee.
We're all hoping it does, but please don't rely on that.
(20:48):
For those of you that are looking at adjustable rate mortgage products the arm
products tread lightly and be cautious because we don't know that the rates
are going down they could go up just like they did in 2008 but here's what's really really,
exciting to me about what you just said glenn and that's you know if they go down.
(21:08):
Number one, you're not having to go into an on-product. Number two,
you're not having to refinance.
So refinance is a much more robust process and it's a lot more expensive.
You're closing on your house again, essentially.
You're getting a new appraisal usually. You're paying another attorney.
There's a lot of costs involved with refinancing. And a lot of times it makes
(21:30):
sense if you could save an interest point or two, it makes a lot of sense.
But now you're telling me that you can do it for $3,000 and just reset the rate, $3,000 maximum.
Right. And just reset the rate and get a new payment. Correct.
And can that $3,000 be built back into the loan?
It cannot. That would have to be paid up front. Okay. And it would be re-amortized
(21:53):
over the remaining term.
So it wouldn't go back out to a 30-year term. It would be re-amortized for the
remaining amount. Holy smokes, that's even better.
I need to call every potential, well, actually every person I know at this point. Wow.
I don't even buy or sell. It's just right now, just anybody.
Wow, that's such a great program.
(22:14):
Yeah. Yeah, we're very innovative and we're trying to stay ahead of everything.
And it's one time, right? You can't do it multiple times. You can do it multiple times.
So if they drop to four, I pay you $3,000 and you take my 7% to a 4%.
Four and a quarter. Four and a quarter. Thank you.
And then they dropped to three, and I'm kicking myself for doing it too soon.
(22:36):
And you're like, no, just give me another $3,000.
We'll do it again. Yep. Absolutely. Wow.
Pardon me. What a great program. I don't think there's anybody else offering
anything out there that's even remotely close to this. So I'm glad you shared with that.
Glenn, share your information again because to prevent people from having to rewind.
(22:57):
Plus, we'll put all this information in the show notes so you can just click
on it. But how are they able to get in touch with you to take advantage of this program?
Okay. They could reach me directly on the phone at 845-278-1068,
or you can look up my information on Tompkins Community Bank.
Excellent. Rick, I need to become a first-time home buyer.
(23:18):
Yeah, we, we both do. So, so this explains,
you know, the, the availability of products that Tompkins puts out and,
and, And your success pretty much explains why you're able to take me to nice
places for my birthday lunch. Absolutely right.
Which you certainly did two weeks ago. And let me publicly thank you.
(23:41):
You're quite welcome. My pleasure.
All right, everybody. Listen, you heard it here. Team Banks at Compass bringing
you the information that you need to be successful in this wildly competitive industry.
Thank you for tuning in. And leave us a five-star review. Let us know what you
thought. See you around the Valley. We're out. Thank you, Glenn Woo.
(24:03):
Music.
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