June 26, 2023 • 43 mins
- Guest Kristi Dourian of First Financial Bank gives the latest information on new construction loans. Plus, buyer agents call in from the open house at The Reserve on Reins Road.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hey, everybody, it's your boy, Gary Levox of Rascal Flats Beaumont.
I made a lot of friends thereon the road, and one are my
friends that you need to meet,especially if you're selling your home, is
Dana Simmons of Danas Simmons Realty.Her team is the real deal, top
shelf, next level, and shemakes it so easy and I like easy,
and remember, sell your home,don't hesitated to Simmons Realistate. Well,
(00:31):
Hello Southeast Texas. We are soexcited to be live on the show
today. We have an incredible guest. I have Christy Dorian from First Financial
Bank with me today and we arewanting to do a little bit of an
open mic session. So if youhave any question about real estate or about
mortgages, feel free to call usat four zero nine eight nine six eight
(00:56):
four and we'd love to do ourbest to answer your questions. But also
today as some really exciting things thatare happening, we are having an open
house out at the Reserve. TheReserve is the newest subdivision. If you
head down Highway one oh five towardsSour Lake, you're going to take a
left there on Rain's Road and thenon the right, you're going to see
(01:18):
the addition called the reserve right now. There are about twenty lots out there
that have been developed and those lotsare just under an acre. They range
from point eight three to point eighteight of an acre and they are ready
for you. We have agents outthere today who are ready to show you
around. And we have two properties, two of our listings that are from
(01:42):
mayoral builders that are absolutely gorgeous thatyou can tour and take a peek at.
Those houses are actually going to havea special this weekend if you decide
after touring one of those that youare interested. The builder has agreed to
give a twenty five thousand dollar credit. Now that credit can go to buy
(02:04):
down your interest rate, pay yourclosing costs, give you additional upgrades that
you want in the house. Youget to do whatever you want with that
credit. So today and this weekendonly is the opportunity to have that twenty
five thousand dollars credit. So ifyou're out and about and you don't really
have very much to do and youwant to run out there and take a
(02:27):
peek it again is called the Reserve. Harden Jefferson School District almost an acre
and a plus is that we aregoing to have a ConA Ice out there
from twelve to one and they're goingto be serving snowcones to all of our
guests, So go get you acool treat. I know we've had some
pretty hot days, but ConA Iceis going to help to cool you off
(02:52):
and give you an opportunity to cooldown and walk around and see what they
have out there. Also, we'regoing to have some giveaways out at the
reserve today as well, So thatopen house is going on from eleven thirty
to one thirty to day, andyou are not going to want to miss
it, So head out there andtake a peek and call in with any
of your questions again. Four ohnine, eight ninety six five five eight
(03:15):
four. And as we begin eachof our radio shows each week, I
want to give you a little bitof an update as to what's going on
in the market. So we havethe latest data from May twenty twenty three
that we're going to compare with Maytwenty twenty four. As many of you
have heard, and Christie's going totalk a little bit about that in a
(03:36):
minute, the Fed actually did notraise the interest rate, so we're super
excited about that, and that hasimpacted our sales here locally. So we're
seeing a little bit of a revup where we had seen a little bit
of a slowdown. There is farmore activity than we've seen in a little
while so in closing. So whathappened in May, we saw our sales
(03:59):
close a little bit lower. Theclosed in twenty twenty two was a total
of three hundred and eighty six.The closed in twenty twenty three is three
hundred and forty five, so abouta ten percent difference, not too bad
at all. So you can seewe're beginning to increase in our total closed
sales. Now, what we dohave is a little bit, very slight
(04:21):
average sales price reduction. We've gonefrom May of twenty twenty two, our
average closed price was two hundred andforty seven thousand dollars, but this year
in May, our average closed priceis about two hundred and forty two,
so not that great of a difference. What is a pretty decent increase is
(04:43):
our active listings. So you're goingto get a far better opportunity to see
more homes on the market in yourprice range today than you would have in
twenty twenty two. We had intwenty twenty two a little over twelve hundred
listing and now in twenty twenty threewe have over fifteen hundred listings. So
(05:04):
how does that impact you if you'rethinking about buying. Well, you know,
we talk about the fact that theinterest rate was a little lower,
absolutely lower in twenty twenty two May, but what we also had was the
lower inventory, and we were havinghouses that sold over asking price. Cash
was king and so it was alittle more challenging for someone to get a
(05:27):
house. Well, this year,we don't have as big of a challenge.
We still have some properties are gettingmultiple offers and some are going over
asking price, but that is morerare than it was in that time.
So you're getting a better opportunity toget a little bit off of your price,
and you're able to get maybe alittle bit of closing costs paid,
(05:48):
and sellers that may have a littlebit more opportunity to negotiate than what we
had last year. So while somepeople say it's not a great time to
buy, I'm going to tell youit depends in your situation, and we'd
love to visit with you about that. Christie would love to talk to you
about what those costs are to seeif now is a good time for you
(06:08):
to buy. When we get intowhat's going on in the future, you're
going to see the potential is thatwe may see rising rates. So Christy,
talk a little bit before we getgoing in our next segment about a
whole lot of other things. Talka little bit about what the FED did
and what is what is the future, what does it look like for rates
(06:30):
in the future. Gotcha? So, yeah, we saw the FED hold
off on any further increase at thismost recent announcement, and following that,
mortgage interest rates have been extremely volatile, like from day to day, they've
been up and down, up anddown. We're not talking about huge swings,
but it's been very much a rollercoaster, not knowing exactly what to
(06:53):
expect from one day to the next. With the debt ceiling stuff and the
FED, which we know, aswe've talked about before, marriage interest rates
don't always follow the FED rush rightstoo totally different things, but there is
often a correlation. So now thereare talks though the expectation is that there
will be probably another couple of hikesbefore the end of the year, and
(07:16):
interest rates we are not really sure. Everything that they've predicted, even as
of December twenty twenty two, hasnot come to pass in the timeline that
the experts. You know, we'rejust it's just a year or a few
years full of firsts in terms ofjust everything that's going on in the economy,
(07:38):
a lot of different anomalies happening,and it's it's a minute by minute,
play by play often is what itfeels like, and that you're exactly
right. Whenever someone says, so, Dana, tell me what's you know,
what's going to be happening with X, Y and Z, I always
say I know enough to know Idon't know. Ye when you've been in
(07:58):
this business long enough, I cangive you an idea of what has happened
in the past. I can giveyou an idea of what the expectation can
be. But I've also been herelong enough to know we really don't know.
I mean, we really don't AndI'm seeing consumers move into that,
you know, borrowers move into thatplace of you know, we're a little
bit desensitized. Now it's been longenough since we've seen the two and three
(08:20):
and four percent interest rates that Ithink people are kind of accepting this as
the new norm, the new normal, so to speak. I don't know
for sure if we're going to seeinterest rates continue to rise, but we've
been hovering between you know, thelow sixes and the low sevens for long
(08:41):
enough now to where whether it's afalse sense of comfort or you know,
borrowers do seem to be a littlebit more comfortable. For a while,
it was like, should I movenow, because what if interest rates continue
to go up? There we're playinga game here where I need to I
need to make a move. Butif interest rates come down right away,
then I'm kind of trapped. Well, no, you're not. You can
(09:03):
refinance. But yeah, that's agreat, a great point that we're going
to talk about here in just aminute. So tell me, um,
tell everyone a little bit about whoyou are and what you do so that
they know where this experience is comingfrom. Yeah, sure, so,
um, Christy Dorian, I ama native of Southeast Texas and I've been
doing mortgage loans for about thirteen yearsnow, helping families get into homes,
(09:24):
whether for the first time or tobuild or to buy. Refinance. Love
putting those pieces of the puzzle togetherand helping of borrowers figure out what the
best path from A to Z is. Yeah, And and you know,
I'm on the board of the BeaumontChamber of Commerce and we've been talking about
(09:46):
the benefits to having local, locallenders, local restaurants were we're so we
take for granted sometimes the benefit ofour local p people. And one of
the things that I'd like to highlightright now is if you're looking for a
mortgage loan when you're shopping, I'lltell you what. Shopping someone out of
(10:09):
the area is just not wise.It can be such a hit or miss,
and it's you know, in myexperience, it's it's more likely that
it's gonna be a miss. I'mI took a loan just last week.
My barrower was six weeks into aprocess with a with an out of state
lender. And from you know,it's not always easy to tell, but
(10:33):
from what I could sell, fromwhat I could tell, there is no
reason he shouldn't have been closed weeksago. And this lender just either didn't
know what they were doing or didn'tcare. And one of the things that
we talked about at at our chambermeeting was the fact that the benefit of
local people is that I run intoyou at the grocery store. Yeah,
you have a reputation here that youhave to hold on to. You give
(10:56):
back to this community. You herewhen you need to find me after closing
has happened and things are going wrongwith your mortgage servicing or you know,
like but there's also Yeah, ourlocal business people are the ones that are
pouring into our community. They're supportingyour kids sports, they're you know,
doing the sponsor, doing the thingson the ground here in the community,
(11:16):
making the community better. So thatis definitely just a value and a virtue
to support local businesses and so thatsupport each other. That's exactly right,
and so get you know, ifyou want to shop around, that's great.
Shop around. Look at what FirstFinancial Bank has to offer here locally,
but also look at some of theother local people. It is not
(11:37):
a problem, but try to keepit local. It is what I think
is so important. So many barrowerswho are splitting hairs over you know,
I've worked with you maybe for sixmonths now. I've helped you build your
rebuild your credit, and then itcomes time to get under contract and you
leave me for a quarter of apoint better, or even an eighth of
(11:58):
a point better when I could haveon that for you. Give us a
shot, you know, give yourlender, give the person that you've been
building that relationship with a shot atkeeping you because nine times out of ten
we can do it and come laterdown the road someone else may hit you
with something that you didn't realize wascoming. So so we're going to talk
more about mortgages and what's going onin the mortgage world in our next segment.
(12:22):
But I want to remind you thatwe do have that open house going
on over at the reserve. Idon't know if you're aware, but those
lots they're listed for seventy nine nine, so you can get almost an acre
for seventy nine nine. But hereis a real kicker. That developer has
agreed to owner finance those lots withten thousand dollars down. He'll do an
(12:48):
amoraterization at five percent interest for tenyears with a three year balloon. And
we're going to talk why a threeyear balloon we believe will at some point
get your loan either lower or youcan have it paid off by then,
or you're ready to build by then. But that is a phenomenal deal right
now. So if you're thinking aboutyou know, I'd like to move out
to the Harden Jefferson School district.I'd like to build something that gives you
(13:13):
the opportunity to go ahead and grabone of those lots, be able to
purchase that lot under a five percentinterest rate. That's just unheard of.
So that's one of the things thatis a huge draw out at the reserve.
But we also have two amazing gorgeoushomes out there that are ready to
move into. So you say Idon't have time to build, I want
(13:37):
to get into a home before schoolstarts. You need to run out there
and take a look at what LindyMerrill and his team, Josh Ruiz and
Taylor Williams, what they've created outthere. It is not your normal spec
home. It is a custom homethat will not disappoint you. And we're
going to talk to some of theagents that we have out there here in
(13:58):
just a bit and let them tellyou more about what's going on. But
remember kna Ice is out there.Noon to one, go get your snow
cone. We have giveaways going andwe also have the builder of those two
houses giving you a twenty five thousanddollars credit. So don't go away.
We're going to come back with alot of great information. This is Dana
Simmons with the Dana Simmons Show.Would you need to sell your home?
(14:20):
No one makes it easier than DanaSimmons of Danas Simmons. Really sell your
home, don't hesitate. Simmons RealestateWelcome back. This is Dana Simmons and
I'm joined today by Christy Dorian withFirst Financial Bank, and we've been talking
(14:41):
about what's going on in the realestate market as well as some of the
headlines from the interest rates and whatthe Fed's doing. But wanted to let
you know we have an open housegoing on out at the Reserve subdivision.
They're off Range Road, Harden Jefferson'sSchool district, and one of our buyer's
agents is out there at the propertyat one seven four seven zero Reserve Drive.
(15:05):
Lauren Camacho, who is our buyer'sagent, is there and ready to
show you that home. Lauren,are you on the line. I am
hi. Everyone. Hey Lauren,why don't you tell us a little bit
about that house and what all itoffers? Okay, well, first of
all, it's beautiful. Yes,it's wonderful everything about it. It has
(15:28):
four bedrooms, four bathrooms, asa three car garage, and you are
just under four thousand square feet hereand you were sitting on almost an acre.
We are towards the back of thesubdivision, so you have plenty.
It's very quiet. Again, likeDana said, you're an h J school
district. But the features and theupgrades in this house are just wonderful.
(15:48):
I'm just walking around in all sotalk about the fact that it does have
bedrooms downstairs and then talk about whatthat looks like us for as a floor
plan. Yeah. Sure. Soyou've got your split floor plan where your
master bedroom is on one side ofthe house and then the other guest bedrooms
are on the completely other side ofthe house. You have a Jack in
(16:11):
Jewel bathroom in between two of theguest bedrooms, and then you have a
front guest bedroom that has its ownbathroom with it. You've also got a
game room upstairs that's pretty large witha bathroom, So that's really great extra
entertainment area as well. Yeah,that house offers a lot of space both
for if you have a large family. It gives opportunity to have more than
(16:36):
one living area, and then youalso have don't you have a formal dining
room there, and then like alittle butler's pantry, you do. You
have a formal dining area in thishouse, and then you have a breakfast
room in the kitchen as well.But you also have plenty of space in
the kitchen for bar stools, forextra seating. You have a huge island
here that you just have so muchroom for a Thanksgiving busse or the Fourth
(17:00):
of July party here. All it'smissing really is a pool. Yeah,
and so that's one of the thingswe're going to talk to Christie about is
that First Financial Bank actually has apurchase plus improvement loan that allows someone to
do that. So we're going totalk to her after we finish with you.
Anything else that you think, Lauren, everyone needs to hear. I
know, they just need to comesee it. I mean describing it as
(17:22):
challenging because it's hard to say andtell you how amazing these finishes are.
They do so really, I mean, you've got high ceilings in here,
the flooring is beautiful. Everything isjust so wonderful. I'm usually pretty picky
when I walk through new homes,and there's just nothing that I don't like
(17:42):
about this house. So really everyonejust needs to come see it because the
photos and the videos and even metalking about it just don't do it any
justice. Yeah. And one ofthe things that Merrill Builders does is they
do hire a design team, avery qualified, wonderful design team who creates
the all of the finishes and makesit amazing. So it's not just someone
(18:07):
picking anything that will go into thehouse that's at a lower price point.
No, no, no, no, They choose quality, beautiful finishes.
So thank you Lauren for calling in, and if you are interested, go
out and take a look at it. Where the house is open today until
one thirty, So we would loveto give you a tour and let you
see that property. And you canstop by and get a ConA ice while
(18:30):
you're out there and just have anice little outing. It's a beautiful day
to do that. And so shebrought up a very good point, Christie,
it just is missing the pool andsometimes with new construction, that is
something that people are missing. Sotalk a little bit about how First Financial
has a product that can absolutely curethat for a buyer. Yeah, So
(18:53):
purchase with improvements it's basically a rehabloom. The lender is going to advance
the funds to both both acquire theproperty and to improve it. So add
that swimming pool, or if you'relooking at a home that needs just some
minor renovations or major major remodel,to go in house with our purchase with
(19:15):
improvements is it's Oh gosh, it'sso much smoother and easier. Lonnie White
and her phenomenal team of consumer lenders, they handle those products. As a
consumer, I've done a rehab loombefore, I've done two of them,
and as a loan officer, I'vedone rehab looms through FHA and the process
(19:36):
just doesn't even compare. Yeah,I personally had one of our client relocating
from out of town, wanted anew house and wanted a pool, and
how we used to do it fifteenyears ago is very different. What we
would have to do then is thebuilder would have to agree to let the
pool be installed before closing so thatwe could wrap that all together and then
(19:59):
close. So we would have todo heavy deposits and then wait for the
pool to be completed prior to beable to for that builder to be able
to close. On that loan.So many builders weren't willing. Merrill was
and he did a few like thatto try to help out the customers.
But what they have now and whatwe've done here recently, and what Lonnie
(20:22):
has done for some of our buyers, is that they have been able to
get a bid for the pool andeven an outdoor kitchen, get all of
that together. We close on thatproperty as soon as the builder is completely
finished and we're ready to go.They close on that property before one thing
(20:44):
is done in that backyard. Andthat is the benefit, so that it
makes it so much easier for thingsto go smoothly. The other benefit is
that the interest rate is going tobe so much better if you do a
purchase plus improvement rather than going outsideof closing on the loan and then getting
a totally different loan. Yeah,or the PAS one note too, you'll
(21:07):
fry my mortgage, whereas if youdo a home improvement loan or an unsecured
loan for swimming pool, which isthat that is a possibility, but the
interest rate, it is a muchhigh erect credit card interest rates on that.
Yeah, and so two notes greatsavings for people to wrap that in
together. So I like to alsothe fact that the person the institution handling
(21:30):
the transaction and closing the transaction isthe same institution that handles the construction portion,
the draws. Everything is done.And you know, by comparison,
if I do a rehab loan,I'm closing with an FHA lender who's or
a conventional and they sell that loanon the secondary market at closing, then
I can start my construction and thenI'm dealing with a completely different service or
(21:55):
my loan officer that helped close meand originate my loan is out of the
picture. I is a lone officer, have no idea what's going on with
that process, and no control,no control if they're having issues with their
builder or their draws or you know, because it is a phase of construction
where you have to take draws forpayment to the builder. But that's not
how First Financial does it. Correctwith First Financials start to finish, from
(22:18):
contract to closing on the transaction tocompleting the renovation, the renovation is all
done in house and it's much morestreamlined. Yep. And you can call
your same lender who's handling that loneofficer and that and that is Lonnie White,
who has been doing that for avery long time and is the most
(22:41):
efficient and qualified person I've ever workedwith in handling something like that. She
is amazing. Yeah, we havesuch an incredible team, Lonnie. Lonnie
does it all. And so that'swhat First Financial has to offer is that
if there's something a little bit outsidethe box, typically there's a way for
you to make it work. Yeah, there is we have. I mean,
(23:02):
you tell me what you need,and I've if I don't have a
way to get it done, thenit probably can't be done. Yeah.
And this week actually I called Lonningabout a situation where someone had a property
up in San Antonio. They neededto get their equity out of that to
be able to do something here locally. So I called her because I know
she does a lot of that,and she said, honestly, Dana,
(23:22):
I'm going to tell you the betteroption is to go with our commercial lender
and to do it this way.It's going to help them and benefit them
in all of these ways. SoI love that she even was thinking outside
of the box. It ends upher not being the person who handles the
transaction or makes that sale, butshe's more interested in trying to do whatever
(23:42):
is best for the borrower and said, I think this is your better option,
and that to me is critical.I want to know what's the best
option for our client. That's sotrue. So many lenders out there,
especially if their commission paid, they'regoing to tell you what the best thing
is that they can do for you, but they may not tell you what
your options would be somewhere else.Yeah, and so we're going to come
(24:04):
back here in a little bit.We're going to talk about some more of
those options that First Financial has tooffer. But if you have a question
for CHRISTI or for myself, we'dlove to hear from you. Four o
nine eight nine six five five eightfour. We'd love to be able to
visit with you and answer those questions. And I'll tell you, no question
is dumb. People always say Ihave a dumb question. They'll call me
(24:26):
up and go, Taana, Iknow this is a dumb No, there
are no dumb questions. I willanswer any question that I can. I'll
preface it with that anything that Ican, I've done it a little while,
so I might have a little bitof knowledge. But if there's something
that I can't answer, I'm goingto get you the answer. Want to
remind you too, we are outat the reserve with our open house.
ConA Ice is out there serving youup some cool treats. Head out there.
(24:48):
They're only going to be there tillabout one o'clock. We have two
of our houses open out there atreserve that are Linda Merrill's property, and
you can take a look at thelots that are almost an acre that our
developer is willing to do an ownerfinance on for a ten year amforaturization ten
thousand dollars down and a five percentinterest with a three year balloon. If
(25:11):
you say, Dana, I don'tunderstand what any of that means, get
with me. I can help you. I can put the numbers together for
you and give you an idea ofexactly what that looks like. You can
call our team at four o nineeight ninety six eight three two six,
or go to our website at DanaSimmons real Estate dot com DSRE dot com
and we can answer those questions thereas well. So don't go away.
(25:33):
We're going to come back and talkmore about additional mortgage plans and some of
the other properties that we have outat the Reserve. This is Dana Simmons
with a Dana Simmons Show. Wouldyou need to sell your home? No
one makes it easier than Dana Simmonsof Dana Simmons, Really sell your home,
don't hesitate, Simmons Realist. Welcomeback. This is Dana Simmons with
(26:00):
the Dana Simmons Show, and weare having an exciting show today. We
have an open house going on outat the Reserve, which is a development
in the Harden Jefferson School district.It's out Highway one oh five left on
Rains Road. You're going to seeit right there on your right. We
have a couple of our buyer's agentsout at the properties and one of the
properties is one seven four six zeroReserve Drive. And Jessica Wellborn, who
(26:26):
is a buyer's agent on our team, is actually there with that house.
Hey Jessica, Hey, how's itgoing. It's going great. So I
would love for you to talk alittle bit about that property that you have
opened. I think at the lastsegment you weren't able to talk because you
had a few people there you werewalking through. I did and they loved
(26:47):
it. Good beautiful house. Itis it is. So tell everyone a
little bit about the house as youas you walk through. It is a
five bedroom, four and a halfpath any of room with a three car
garage home. It's a forty fivehundred square feet and it's almost an acre.
That's one of my favorite thing thingsabout these houses out here is that
(27:11):
every lot is almost an acre.Plenty of room to put in the pool
or just to be able to roamaround where you're not right on top of
your neighbors. Yeah, makes sucha difference, doesn't it. It really
does. It feels like you're intown. You're in a subdivision. You
get all the benefits of being ofhaving neighbors, of having the you know,
the smaller like curb streets you canride your bikes, and then you
(27:33):
also have the benefit of room grassand trees, and it's beautiful and the
Harden Jefferson School district, which isa huge plus. Absolutely yes, people
love it. So tell us alittle bit about the finishes in that home
and the floor plan. It isgorgeous. It's most of the walls are
(27:55):
like a creamy white, so itfeels really open. High ceilings. You've
got beautiful for wood floors, Ithas a dining room right when you walk
in that is sectioned off, butit's it's still open, so you can
walk straight into the living room.You can see the kitchen. You can
actually see the backyard from the frontof the house from the dining room.
It's got a great time living roomwith gas fireplace and huge kitchen island.
(28:22):
I can see everyone sitting down atthe island. And then you still have
your eating kitchen area, um withplenty of room for a big old table.
Yeah. And it has an incrediblegas m cooktop, doesn't it.
It does. It's one of thosemonogram with them the it's six it's four
burners with the middle uh like grittlein the middle and the gold knobs.
(28:47):
I just love them. Yeah,it is. Yes, And then it's
also got one of my favorite optionsin the kitchen. And when they do
the tower with the double ovens andthe microwave on top, just like all
together. And then and then theone thing that we've gotten the most comments
about in this kitchen so far isone of the cabinets looks just like a
cabinet door, but you walk inand it's a pantry. Yeah, and
(29:11):
it still has the courts, countertopsin the pantry with plenty of room to
plug in your bigger appliances. Thatis such a place. Yeah, you
can keep them there and out,but they're not seen, and um,
exactly so nice for somebody who lovesto cook it and has a lot of
those appliances that you know, youdon't want to have to always pull them
out, but to be able tohave them out and not seen on the
(29:33):
countertop, I think, I thinkit's brilliant. So Jessica, tell me
a little bit about the floor planwhere the bedrooms are. Okay, yeah,
it's it's your classic split floor Planum. On one side of the kitchen,
on the left side of the houseis the master bedroom. It's got
a beautiful bay window in the back, and then your master bathroom all together
(29:56):
on this one side, and thenon the right side, on the complete
other side of the living room istwo bedrooms with the Jack and Joel bathroom.
And then on the back of thehouse is another bedroom with its own
bathroom. Yeah, so kind oflike a mother in law suite. Gives
one bedroom with its own bath rightover there, right, and then on
(30:18):
this one upstairs it has not onlylike your game room that you would expect
to see upstairs that it has afull separate bedroom and bathroom. Yeah.
That teenager that needs their own space, yeah, or student, Yeah,
maybe someone going to Lamar wanting alittle bit of separation. Yeah, a
little quiet place to be to havetheir time but still be home. Yeah.
(30:41):
Or the other thing that that's reallygood for is you know when you
have those shift workers and you havedad who works all night and yet has
to sleep during the day. Giveshim a spot upstairs to get away from
everything going on downstairs. So somany different options that are going on.
(31:02):
Yeah, anything else that you wantto make sure that we know about this
property. It does have a beautifulcovered porch area where you could do an
outdoor kitchen if you wanted to.Plenty of covered space with the you know,
the fan and the lights and everything, so it could be comfortable even
in this heat if you turn thatfan on. Enjoy outside. Yeah,
(31:26):
I do love that about those housesthat the big back covered patio gives you
plenty of in for many of us. I mean, I know we're in
southeast Texas and it's hot, butI just love being outside. And then
you have that big, beautiful yardso you want the opportunity to be able
to enjoy that, and so havingthat large patio, not just a little
(31:48):
bit he stick a couple of chairsthere, but a really nice sized patio
out there. Well, Jessica,I hope you guys are having a great
time out there. Get you aConA ice for me? Is that sounds
good? Well, you guys havea great time, and thanks for being
out there. You guys, goout and see Jessica and Lauren. They're
ready to walk you through these properties, show you all the beautiful finishes that
(32:12):
are hard to describe on the radio, but they've done a great job giving
you a little insight and a littlepeek into that. And don't forget that
builder is offering a twenty five thousanddollar credit this weekend. So if you
want to buy down that interest rate, or you want to pay your closing
costs, or you know, ifyou want to add anything to the house,
(32:35):
if you want to put that outdoorkitchen in there, and that can
go towards completing that. There's somuch that you can do and this is
not something that he normally does.So we are so grateful that he allowed
us the opportunity to do a specialtreat for any buyer who decides to buy
this weekend. Also, we havea giveaway going on out there as well,
so go and sign up and register. And I don't know if people
(32:59):
know, but Dana Simmons Real Estatehas their own line of candles and room
sprice so good. It is sogood. We have people walk in all
the time and go, oh,my goodness, what is that smell?
And so typically we just give thoseout to UM when our clients list with
us. We want to make surethat all the senses are covered. We
(33:22):
want to make sure it's stage beautifullyso it's appealing to the eyes, and
we want to make sure it smellsgood. So that's why we've come up
with our own personal scent for people, and we are actually going to give
a couple of those away today,so gives you the opportunity to have that.
We're also going to give away afew other little fun swag items that
(33:43):
we called to so UM. Whenwe were talking about some of those things
that about lending and loan products,there are so many things out there to
help people to purchase a home rightnow, so UM Chrissy talk a little
bit about the rate buy down possibilitiesbecause I know that that's what some people
(34:05):
are doing right now. They're takingthat a builder or a seller is willing
to do, and what is thebenefit of using that money towards a rate
buy down? Yeah, so that'ssuch a great strategy where um, you
know, we're in a market wheresellers are a little bit more willing to
give concessions and pay some of yourclosing costs. So to me, this
(34:29):
is a great it's a great wayto really keep market values from plunging too
far too fast. To rather thandropping the price, a seller can come
in and say here, I'll payten thousand of your closing costs, and
it's a it's a win win forthe buyer who can then qualify maybe get
half a point three quarters of apoint lower interest rate with that money.
(34:52):
Right Rather, you know, tobuy your interest rate down. Whenever you
buy the interest rate down, that'san option that any lenders should be able
to give you, especially if they'reselling your loan on the secondary market.
You have a range of interest ratechoices. The interest rate that's offered to
you is often quoted to you withoutany discount points, but the next lowest
(35:13):
rate is going to usually be ineighth of a point lower, and you
can pay a partial point to buythat down. And a point is basically
upfront interest that you're paying as aone time fee it closing, So you
pay more at closing for the tradeoff of having a lower rate over the
term of the thirty year or fifteenyear loan, whatever the cases, and
that's impacting you long term. Sowhat a great opportunity. So when we
(35:35):
come back, we're going to talkmore about that. And I know sometimes
we talk about these things in termsthat may be more challenging because you don't
hear it every day, but wewould love to sit down with you in
person and help you see in writing, here's what that looks like. Here's
what each part will look like.So if you have any questions about that,
don't hesitate to reach out to us, and Christy and I would both
(35:57):
be happy to sit down and talkthrough some of that. So we're going
to come back in just a bitand wrap up, but don't go away.
We're going to come back. Thisis the Dana Simmons Show. Would
you need to sell your home?No one makes it easier than Dana Simmons
of Danas Simmons really sell you ahome. Don't hesitate Simmons rest Welcome back.
(36:22):
This is Dana Simmons and this hasbeen such a fun show. We've
had a couple of the buyer's agentson our team give us a call because
they're out at the reserve. They'reout at two of our properties that we
have listed there, two of LindaMerrill's homes that are absolutely beautiful. But
we also want you to run outthere to see the lots that we have
(36:44):
available. One of the things thatI want you to know is that there
were twenty lots that were available.There will be more towards the back,
but those haven't been developed yet.So out of those twenty lots, I'm
telling you, they are beginning tosell like hotcakes. We only have nine
leaps and I think those are goingto be going pretty quickly. So if
(37:04):
you're thinking about this might be somethingyou want to do, you may want
to move on that sooner rather thanlater. With that owner finance option of
ten thousand dollars down and a fivepercent interest on an owner finance, that's
an incredible opportunity for you to goahead and wrap these lots up pretty quickly
(37:25):
and be able to say I wantmy kids to go to Hard and Jefferson
School District, or I want tobe not too far outside of Beaumont,
but I want to be on almostan acre right outside of Beaumont that's easy
to get to work, right upone oh five. So many positive things
about that neighborhood. So we're goingto be out there till about one thirty
(37:45):
today, but you're welcome to driveout there anytime. I mean drive out
there. You can't get into thehouses, but you can drive around and
see those lots and see what's goingon out there. That's amazing. We
will be out there until one thirty. If you have additional questions after that
and you want us to assist youwith that, you can always call our
office. As we've said, eachweek, our office has someone answering the
(38:06):
phone eight to eight Monday through Saturdayone to eight on Sunday, you can
call us at four O nine eightsix six team to E a m which
is four O nine eight six sixeight three two six, or go to
our website at Dana Simmons real Estatedot com. Or if that's just way
too long, you can do DSRdot com Also here with me has been
(38:29):
Christy Dorian, and we've been talkingabout all kinds of different options for loans
that are available and things that thebank at First Financial what they can do
to assist you, and real quick, Christy before we don't have a lot
of time left, but I didwant you to hit on a few of
the other loan programs that First Financialis doing that no one else really has
(38:50):
these opportunities for the MMCT. Talkabout what is an MMCT loan. MMCT
is a phenomenal prime I'm so excitedabout this yea offering so UM it's UM
an affordable initiative that we'd basically beenmandated to make financing available more available in
mmcts which are majority minority census tracksand UM, so what we're doing is
(39:15):
we're offering for first time not firsttime excuse me, not first time homebuyers,
but for UM limited income household incomeof one hundred thousand or less.
We have a zowdown payment. Ifyou end up purchasing an eligible property,
there's a zerodown payment. And UM, no pm I that is I mean,
(39:36):
I don't think people realize that's incredible. It is. I mean it's
a very good interest rate too.It is really UM. So I have
an applicant applied for something like UMa down payment assistants, FHA or conventional
if they end up purchasing in oneof these tracks. And let me tell
you these these homes, I meanthey're all over nice. Yeah, they're
very nice, all over Beaumont andPort Arthur, m There are some in
(40:00):
lower income areas. But that makesthis even a greater opportunity right for some
you know, single moms come tomind that are trying to purchase a home
for one hundred thousand dollars. Butpeople who are in the service industry who
make less than one hundred thousand dollars, I mean a zero down payment.
Most people can make their monthly rentor their monthly payment. The challenge is
(40:23):
sometimes that down payment. So withthis, that gives them the opportunity to
get into a house with no downpayment. Now they'll have closing costs,
but they can request the seller topay some of that. In fact,
I've got one right now where theborrower is bringing zero cash to closing because
the seller is paying his closing costsand he doesn't have a down payment.
(40:45):
And I know we say no PMI, and here we go using our acronyms
again. So talk a little bitabout what is PMI and why why is
that such a great savings So,just to kind of keep it simple,
PMI. If you don't know whatit is, you can google it.
But it's not an expense that goesback into your pocket. It's kind of
(41:05):
like gap insurance for the lender you'repaying. It's a trade off. When
you make a lesser than twenty percentdown payment, you have to pay an
additional monthly fee to protect that lenderfrom the potential costs of early foreclosure.
Yeah, it's mortgage insurance. It'sensuring that that mortgage is going to get
paid. So without that, you'resaving every single month. So, Christy,
(41:29):
we've talked a lot about a lotof different types of loans. So
if someone wanted to reach out toyou and ask you questions about any of
those, how would they get intouch with you? I would say,
just like, cut to the chaseand call my cell phone. My work
cell phone is four zero nine twothree eight one zero three zero, and
(41:50):
you can reach me by call ortext anytime. There you can google me.
It's Kristi Dorian is d O UR I A N. So.
The other thing that they can dous call our office and our office will
always be able to give Christie's cellphone number out to anyone. We do
that all the time, so we'rehappy to do that. I just want
to thank you for being on theshow today. I want to just say
(42:14):
thank you so much for all ofyour knowledge and all that you are able
to give us with insight into allthat First Financial has to offer. I
want to say thank you too tomy team members, both Lauren Camacho and
Jessica Wellborn, who are out atthe reserve waiting for you to come on
out and see these gorgeous homes.If you have any questions about the homes
(42:35):
that we have opened out there,or any questions about those lots, please
don't hesitate to call my office.We will be out there until one thirty
today. We would love to seeyou out there, but if we can't
answer your questions right now on theradio because we're about to be done,
you can give us a call atour office and we are always open to
be able to help you get whatyou need. So thank you to Kona
(42:57):
Ice for being out there and servingour customers and those who are out there
to keep them cool on this warmday, and so thank you for listening.
Without you, we wouldn't have ashow. So this is Dana Simmons.
Have a great weekend from The David'sDana Simmons Show
Hey, everybody, it's your boy, Gary Levox of Rascal Flats Beaumont.
I made a lot of friends thereon the road, and one are my
friends that you need to meet,especially if you're selling your home, is
Dana Simmons of Danas Simmons Realty.Her team is the real deal, top
shelf, next level, and shemakes it so easy and I like easy,
and remember, sell your home,don't hesitated to Simmons Realistate. Well,
(00:31):
Hello Southeast Texas. We are soexcited to be live on the show
today. We have an incredible guest. I have Christy Dorian from First Financial
Bank with me today and we arewanting to do a little bit of an
open mic session. So if youhave any question about real estate or about
mortgages, feel free to call usat four zero nine eight nine six eight
(00:56):
four and we'd love to do ourbest to answer your questions. But also
today as some really exciting things thatare happening, we are having an open
house out at the Reserve. TheReserve is the newest subdivision. If you
head down Highway one oh five towardsSour Lake, you're going to take a
left there on Rain's Road and thenon the right, you're going to see
(01:18):
the addition called the reserve right now. There are about twenty lots out there
that have been developed and those lotsare just under an acre. They range
from point eight three to point eighteight of an acre and they are ready
for you. We have agents outthere today who are ready to show you
around. And we have two properties, two of our listings that are from
(01:42):
mayoral builders that are absolutely gorgeous thatyou can tour and take a peek at.
Those houses are actually going to havea special this weekend if you decide
after touring one of those that youare interested. The builder has agreed to
give a twenty five thousand dollar credit. Now that credit can go to buy
(02:04):
down your interest rate, pay yourclosing costs, give you additional upgrades that
you want in the house. Youget to do whatever you want with that
credit. So today and this weekendonly is the opportunity to have that twenty
five thousand dollars credit. So ifyou're out and about and you don't really
have very much to do and youwant to run out there and take a
(02:27):
peek it again is called the Reserve. Harden Jefferson School District almost an acre
and a plus is that we aregoing to have a ConA Ice out there
from twelve to one and they're goingto be serving snowcones to all of our
guests, So go get you acool treat. I know we've had some
pretty hot days, but ConA Iceis going to help to cool you off
(02:52):
and give you an opportunity to cooldown and walk around and see what they
have out there. Also, we'regoing to have some giveaways out at the
reserve today as well, So thatopen house is going on from eleven thirty
to one thirty to day, andyou are not going to want to miss
it, So head out there andtake a peek and call in with any
of your questions again. Four ohnine, eight ninety six five five eight
(03:15):
four. And as we begin eachof our radio shows each week, I
want to give you a little bitof an update as to what's going on
in the market. So we havethe latest data from May twenty twenty three
that we're going to compare with Maytwenty twenty four. As many of you
have heard, and Christie's going totalk a little bit about that in a
(03:36):
minute, the Fed actually did notraise the interest rate, so we're super
excited about that, and that hasimpacted our sales here locally. So we're
seeing a little bit of a revup where we had seen a little bit
of a slowdown. There is farmore activity than we've seen in a little
while so in closing. So whathappened in May, we saw our sales
(03:59):
close a little bit lower. Theclosed in twenty twenty two was a total
of three hundred and eighty six.The closed in twenty twenty three is three
hundred and forty five, so abouta ten percent difference, not too bad
at all. So you can seewe're beginning to increase in our total closed
sales. Now, what we dohave is a little bit, very slight
(04:21):
average sales price reduction. We've gonefrom May of twenty twenty two, our
average closed price was two hundred andforty seven thousand dollars, but this year
in May, our average closed priceis about two hundred and forty two,
so not that great of a difference. What is a pretty decent increase is
(04:43):
our active listings. So you're goingto get a far better opportunity to see
more homes on the market in yourprice range today than you would have in
twenty twenty two. We had intwenty twenty two a little over twelve hundred
listing and now in twenty twenty threewe have over fifteen hundred listings. So
(05:04):
how does that impact you if you'rethinking about buying. Well, you know,
we talk about the fact that theinterest rate was a little lower,
absolutely lower in twenty twenty two May, but what we also had was the
lower inventory, and we were havinghouses that sold over asking price. Cash
was king and so it was alittle more challenging for someone to get a
(05:27):
house. Well, this year,we don't have as big of a challenge.
We still have some properties are gettingmultiple offers and some are going over
asking price, but that is morerare than it was in that time.
So you're getting a better opportunity toget a little bit off of your price,
and you're able to get maybe alittle bit of closing costs paid,
(05:48):
and sellers that may have a littlebit more opportunity to negotiate than what we
had last year. So while somepeople say it's not a great time to
buy, I'm going to tell youit depends in your situation, and we'd
love to visit with you about that. Christie would love to talk to you
about what those costs are to seeif now is a good time for you
(06:08):
to buy. When we get intowhat's going on in the future, you're
going to see the potential is thatwe may see rising rates. So Christy,
talk a little bit before we getgoing in our next segment about a
whole lot of other things. Talka little bit about what the FED did
and what is what is the future, what does it look like for rates
(06:30):
in the future. Gotcha? So, yeah, we saw the FED hold
off on any further increase at thismost recent announcement, and following that,
mortgage interest rates have been extremely volatile, like from day to day, they've
been up and down, up anddown. We're not talking about huge swings,
but it's been very much a rollercoaster, not knowing exactly what to
(06:53):
expect from one day to the next. With the debt ceiling stuff and the
FED, which we know, aswe've talked about before, marriage interest rates
don't always follow the FED rush rightstoo totally different things, but there is
often a correlation. So now thereare talks though the expectation is that there
will be probably another couple of hikesbefore the end of the year, and
(07:16):
interest rates we are not really sure. Everything that they've predicted, even as
of December twenty twenty two, hasnot come to pass in the timeline that
the experts. You know, we'rejust it's just a year or a few
years full of firsts in terms ofjust everything that's going on in the economy,
(07:38):
a lot of different anomalies happening,and it's it's a minute by minute,
play by play often is what itfeels like, and that you're exactly
right. Whenever someone says, so, Dana, tell me what's you know,
what's going to be happening with X, Y and Z, I always
say I know enough to know Idon't know. Ye when you've been in
(07:58):
this business long enough, I cangive you an idea of what has happened
in the past. I can giveyou an idea of what the expectation can
be. But I've also been herelong enough to know we really don't know.
I mean, we really don't AndI'm seeing consumers move into that,
you know, borrowers move into thatplace of you know, we're a little
bit desensitized. Now it's been longenough since we've seen the two and three
(08:20):
and four percent interest rates that Ithink people are kind of accepting this as
the new norm, the new normal, so to speak. I don't know
for sure if we're going to seeinterest rates continue to rise, but we've
been hovering between you know, thelow sixes and the low sevens for long
(08:41):
enough now to where whether it's afalse sense of comfort or you know,
borrowers do seem to be a littlebit more comfortable. For a while,
it was like, should I movenow, because what if interest rates continue
to go up? There we're playinga game here where I need to I
need to make a move. Butif interest rates come down right away,
then I'm kind of trapped. Well, no, you're not. You can
(09:03):
refinance. But yeah, that's agreat, a great point that we're going
to talk about here in just aminute. So tell me, um,
tell everyone a little bit about whoyou are and what you do so that
they know where this experience is comingfrom. Yeah, sure, so,
um, Christy Dorian, I ama native of Southeast Texas and I've been
doing mortgage loans for about thirteen yearsnow, helping families get into homes,
(09:24):
whether for the first time or tobuild or to buy. Refinance. Love
putting those pieces of the puzzle togetherand helping of borrowers figure out what the
best path from A to Z is. Yeah, And and you know,
I'm on the board of the BeaumontChamber of Commerce and we've been talking about
(09:46):
the benefits to having local, locallenders, local restaurants were we're so we
take for granted sometimes the benefit ofour local p people. And one of
the things that I'd like to highlightright now is if you're looking for a
mortgage loan when you're shopping, I'lltell you what. Shopping someone out of
(10:09):
the area is just not wise.It can be such a hit or miss,
and it's you know, in myexperience, it's it's more likely that
it's gonna be a miss. I'mI took a loan just last week.
My barrower was six weeks into aprocess with a with an out of state
lender. And from you know,it's not always easy to tell, but
(10:33):
from what I could sell, fromwhat I could tell, there is no
reason he shouldn't have been closed weeksago. And this lender just either didn't
know what they were doing or didn'tcare. And one of the things that
we talked about at at our chambermeeting was the fact that the benefit of
local people is that I run intoyou at the grocery store. Yeah,
you have a reputation here that youhave to hold on to. You give
(10:56):
back to this community. You herewhen you need to find me after closing
has happened and things are going wrongwith your mortgage servicing or you know,
like but there's also Yeah, ourlocal business people are the ones that are
pouring into our community. They're supportingyour kids sports, they're you know,
doing the sponsor, doing the thingson the ground here in the community,
(11:16):
making the community better. So thatis definitely just a value and a virtue
to support local businesses and so thatsupport each other. That's exactly right,
and so get you know, ifyou want to shop around, that's great.
Shop around. Look at what FirstFinancial Bank has to offer here locally,
but also look at some of theother local people. It is not
(11:37):
a problem, but try to keepit local. It is what I think
is so important. So many barrowerswho are splitting hairs over you know,
I've worked with you maybe for sixmonths now. I've helped you build your
rebuild your credit, and then itcomes time to get under contract and you
leave me for a quarter of apoint better, or even an eighth of
(11:58):
a point better when I could haveon that for you. Give us a
shot, you know, give yourlender, give the person that you've been
building that relationship with a shot atkeeping you because nine times out of ten
we can do it and come laterdown the road someone else may hit you
with something that you didn't realize wascoming. So so we're going to talk
more about mortgages and what's going onin the mortgage world in our next segment.
(12:22):
But I want to remind you thatwe do have that open house going
on over at the reserve. Idon't know if you're aware, but those
lots they're listed for seventy nine nine, so you can get almost an acre
for seventy nine nine. But hereis a real kicker. That developer has
agreed to owner finance those lots withten thousand dollars down. He'll do an
(12:48):
amoraterization at five percent interest for tenyears with a three year balloon. And
we're going to talk why a threeyear balloon we believe will at some point
get your loan either lower or youcan have it paid off by then,
or you're ready to build by then. But that is a phenomenal deal right
now. So if you're thinking aboutyou know, I'd like to move out
to the Harden Jefferson School district.I'd like to build something that gives you
(13:13):
the opportunity to go ahead and grabone of those lots, be able to
purchase that lot under a five percentinterest rate. That's just unheard of.
So that's one of the things thatis a huge draw out at the reserve.
But we also have two amazing gorgeoushomes out there that are ready to
move into. So you say Idon't have time to build, I want
(13:37):
to get into a home before schoolstarts. You need to run out there
and take a look at what LindyMerrill and his team, Josh Ruiz and
Taylor Williams, what they've created outthere. It is not your normal spec
home. It is a custom homethat will not disappoint you. And we're
going to talk to some of theagents that we have out there here in
(13:58):
just a bit and let them tellyou more about what's going on. But
remember kna Ice is out there.Noon to one, go get your snow
cone. We have giveaways going andwe also have the builder of those two
houses giving you a twenty five thousanddollars credit. So don't go away.
We're going to come back with alot of great information. This is Dana
Simmons with the Dana Simmons Show.Would you need to sell your home?
(14:20):
No one makes it easier than DanaSimmons of Danas Simmons. Really sell your
home, don't hesitate. Simmons RealestateWelcome back. This is Dana Simmons and
I'm joined today by Christy Dorian withFirst Financial Bank, and we've been talking
(14:41):
about what's going on in the realestate market as well as some of the
headlines from the interest rates and whatthe Fed's doing. But wanted to let
you know we have an open housegoing on out at the Reserve subdivision.
They're off Range Road, Harden Jefferson'sSchool district, and one of our buyer's
agents is out there at the propertyat one seven four seven zero Reserve Drive.
(15:05):
Lauren Camacho, who is our buyer'sagent, is there and ready to
show you that home. Lauren,are you on the line. I am
hi. Everyone. Hey Lauren,why don't you tell us a little bit
about that house and what all itoffers? Okay, well, first of
all, it's beautiful. Yes,it's wonderful everything about it. It has
(15:28):
four bedrooms, four bathrooms, asa three car garage, and you are
just under four thousand square feet hereand you were sitting on almost an acre.
We are towards the back of thesubdivision, so you have plenty.
It's very quiet. Again, likeDana said, you're an h J school
district. But the features and theupgrades in this house are just wonderful.
(15:48):
I'm just walking around in all sotalk about the fact that it does have
bedrooms downstairs and then talk about whatthat looks like us for as a floor
plan. Yeah. Sure. Soyou've got your split floor plan where your
master bedroom is on one side ofthe house and then the other guest bedrooms
are on the completely other side ofthe house. You have a Jack in
(16:11):
Jewel bathroom in between two of theguest bedrooms, and then you have a
front guest bedroom that has its ownbathroom with it. You've also got a
game room upstairs that's pretty large witha bathroom, So that's really great extra
entertainment area as well. Yeah,that house offers a lot of space both
for if you have a large family. It gives opportunity to have more than
(16:36):
one living area, and then youalso have don't you have a formal dining
room there, and then like alittle butler's pantry, you do. You
have a formal dining area in thishouse, and then you have a breakfast
room in the kitchen as well.But you also have plenty of space in
the kitchen for bar stools, forextra seating. You have a huge island
here that you just have so muchroom for a Thanksgiving busse or the Fourth
(17:00):
of July party here. All it'smissing really is a pool. Yeah,
and so that's one of the thingswe're going to talk to Christie about is
that First Financial Bank actually has apurchase plus improvement loan that allows someone to
do that. So we're going totalk to her after we finish with you.
Anything else that you think, Lauren, everyone needs to hear. I
know, they just need to comesee it. I mean describing it as
(17:22):
challenging because it's hard to say andtell you how amazing these finishes are.
They do so really, I mean, you've got high ceilings in here,
the flooring is beautiful. Everything isjust so wonderful. I'm usually pretty picky
when I walk through new homes,and there's just nothing that I don't like
(17:42):
about this house. So really everyonejust needs to come see it because the
photos and the videos and even metalking about it just don't do it any
justice. Yeah. And one ofthe things that Merrill Builders does is they
do hire a design team, avery qualified, wonderful design team who creates
the all of the finishes and makesit amazing. So it's not just someone
(18:07):
picking anything that will go into thehouse that's at a lower price point.
No, no, no, no, They choose quality, beautiful finishes.
So thank you Lauren for calling in, and if you are interested, go
out and take a look at it. Where the house is open today until
one thirty, So we would loveto give you a tour and let you
see that property. And you canstop by and get a ConA ice while
(18:30):
you're out there and just have anice little outing. It's a beautiful day
to do that. And so shebrought up a very good point, Christie,
it just is missing the pool andsometimes with new construction, that is
something that people are missing. Sotalk a little bit about how First Financial
has a product that can absolutely curethat for a buyer. Yeah, So
(18:53):
purchase with improvements it's basically a rehabloom. The lender is going to advance
the funds to both both acquire theproperty and to improve it. So add
that swimming pool, or if you'relooking at a home that needs just some
minor renovations or major major remodel,to go in house with our purchase with
(19:15):
improvements is it's Oh gosh, it'sso much smoother and easier. Lonnie White
and her phenomenal team of consumer lenders, they handle those products. As a
consumer, I've done a rehab loombefore, I've done two of them,
and as a loan officer, I'vedone rehab looms through FHA and the process
(19:36):
just doesn't even compare. Yeah,I personally had one of our client relocating
from out of town, wanted anew house and wanted a pool, and
how we used to do it fifteenyears ago is very different. What we
would have to do then is thebuilder would have to agree to let the
pool be installed before closing so thatwe could wrap that all together and then
(19:59):
close. So we would have todo heavy deposits and then wait for the
pool to be completed prior to beable to for that builder to be able
to close. On that loan.So many builders weren't willing. Merrill was
and he did a few like thatto try to help out the customers.
But what they have now and whatwe've done here recently, and what Lonnie
(20:22):
has done for some of our buyers, is that they have been able to
get a bid for the pool andeven an outdoor kitchen, get all of
that together. We close on thatproperty as soon as the builder is completely
finished and we're ready to go.They close on that property before one thing
(20:44):
is done in that backyard. Andthat is the benefit, so that it
makes it so much easier for thingsto go smoothly. The other benefit is
that the interest rate is going tobe so much better if you do a
purchase plus improvement rather than going outsideof closing on the loan and then getting
a totally different loan. Yeah,or the PAS one note too, you'll
(21:07):
fry my mortgage, whereas if youdo a home improvement loan or an unsecured
loan for swimming pool, which isthat that is a possibility, but the
interest rate, it is a muchhigh erect credit card interest rates on that.
Yeah, and so two notes greatsavings for people to wrap that in
together. So I like to alsothe fact that the person the institution handling
(21:30):
the transaction and closing the transaction isthe same institution that handles the construction portion,
the draws. Everything is done.And you know, by comparison,
if I do a rehab loan,I'm closing with an FHA lender who's or
a conventional and they sell that loanon the secondary market at closing, then
I can start my construction and thenI'm dealing with a completely different service or
(21:55):
my loan officer that helped close meand originate my loan is out of the
picture. I is a lone officer, have no idea what's going on with
that process, and no control,no control if they're having issues with their
builder or their draws or you know, because it is a phase of construction
where you have to take draws forpayment to the builder. But that's not
how First Financial does it. Correctwith First Financials start to finish, from
(22:18):
contract to closing on the transaction tocompleting the renovation, the renovation is all
done in house and it's much morestreamlined. Yep. And you can call
your same lender who's handling that loneofficer and that and that is Lonnie White,
who has been doing that for avery long time and is the most
(22:41):
efficient and qualified person I've ever workedwith in handling something like that. She
is amazing. Yeah, we havesuch an incredible team, Lonnie. Lonnie
does it all. And so that'swhat First Financial has to offer is that
if there's something a little bit outsidethe box, typically there's a way for
you to make it work. Yeah, there is we have. I mean,
(23:02):
you tell me what you need,and I've if I don't have a
way to get it done, thenit probably can't be done. Yeah.
And this week actually I called Lonningabout a situation where someone had a property
up in San Antonio. They neededto get their equity out of that to
be able to do something here locally. So I called her because I know
she does a lot of that,and she said, honestly, Dana,
(23:22):
I'm going to tell you the betteroption is to go with our commercial lender
and to do it this way.It's going to help them and benefit them
in all of these ways. SoI love that she even was thinking outside
of the box. It ends upher not being the person who handles the
transaction or makes that sale, butshe's more interested in trying to do whatever
(23:42):
is best for the borrower and said, I think this is your better option,
and that to me is critical.I want to know what's the best
option for our client. That's sotrue. So many lenders out there,
especially if their commission paid, they'regoing to tell you what the best thing
is that they can do for you, but they may not tell you what
your options would be somewhere else.Yeah, and so we're going to come
(24:04):
back here in a little bit.We're going to talk about some more of
those options that First Financial has tooffer. But if you have a question
for CHRISTI or for myself, we'dlove to hear from you. Four o
nine eight nine six five five eightfour. We'd love to be able to
visit with you and answer those questions. And I'll tell you, no question
is dumb. People always say Ihave a dumb question. They'll call me
(24:26):
up and go, Taana, Iknow this is a dumb No, there
are no dumb questions. I willanswer any question that I can. I'll
preface it with that anything that Ican, I've done it a little while,
so I might have a little bitof knowledge. But if there's something
that I can't answer, I'm goingto get you the answer. Want to
remind you too, we are outat the reserve with our open house.
ConA Ice is out there serving youup some cool treats. Head out there.
(24:48):
They're only going to be there tillabout one o'clock. We have two
of our houses open out there atreserve that are Linda Merrill's property, and
you can take a look at thelots that are almost an acre that our
developer is willing to do an ownerfinance on for a ten year amforaturization ten
thousand dollars down and a five percentinterest with a three year balloon. If
(25:11):
you say, Dana, I don'tunderstand what any of that means, get
with me. I can help you. I can put the numbers together for
you and give you an idea ofexactly what that looks like. You can
call our team at four o nineeight ninety six eight three two six,
or go to our website at DanaSimmons real Estate dot com DSRE dot com
and we can answer those questions thereas well. So don't go away.
(25:33):
We're going to come back and talkmore about additional mortgage plans and some of
the other properties that we have outat the Reserve. This is Dana Simmons
with a Dana Simmons Show. Wouldyou need to sell your home? No
one makes it easier than Dana Simmonsof Dana Simmons, Really sell your home,
don't hesitate, Simmons Realist. Welcomeback. This is Dana Simmons with
(26:00):
the Dana Simmons Show, and weare having an exciting show today. We
have an open house going on outat the Reserve, which is a development
in the Harden Jefferson School district.It's out Highway one oh five left on
Rains Road. You're going to seeit right there on your right. We
have a couple of our buyer's agentsout at the properties and one of the
properties is one seven four six zeroReserve Drive. And Jessica Wellborn, who
(26:26):
is a buyer's agent on our team, is actually there with that house.
Hey Jessica, Hey, how's itgoing. It's going great. So I
would love for you to talk alittle bit about that property that you have
opened. I think at the lastsegment you weren't able to talk because you
had a few people there you werewalking through. I did and they loved
(26:47):
it. Good beautiful house. Itis it is. So tell everyone a
little bit about the house as youas you walk through. It is a
five bedroom, four and a halfpath any of room with a three car
garage home. It's a forty fivehundred square feet and it's almost an acre.
That's one of my favorite thing thingsabout these houses out here is that
(27:11):
every lot is almost an acre.Plenty of room to put in the pool
or just to be able to roamaround where you're not right on top of
your neighbors. Yeah, makes sucha difference, doesn't it. It really
does. It feels like you're intown. You're in a subdivision. You
get all the benefits of being ofhaving neighbors, of having the you know,
the smaller like curb streets you canride your bikes, and then you
(27:33):
also have the benefit of room grassand trees, and it's beautiful and the
Harden Jefferson School district, which isa huge plus. Absolutely yes, people
love it. So tell us alittle bit about the finishes in that home
and the floor plan. It isgorgeous. It's most of the walls are
(27:55):
like a creamy white, so itfeels really open. High ceilings. You've
got beautiful for wood floors, Ithas a dining room right when you walk
in that is sectioned off, butit's it's still open, so you can
walk straight into the living room.You can see the kitchen. You can
actually see the backyard from the frontof the house from the dining room.
It's got a great time living roomwith gas fireplace and huge kitchen island.
(28:22):
I can see everyone sitting down atthe island. And then you still have
your eating kitchen area, um withplenty of room for a big old table.
Yeah. And it has an incrediblegas m cooktop, doesn't it.
It does. It's one of thosemonogram with them the it's six it's four
burners with the middle uh like grittlein the middle and the gold knobs.
(28:47):
I just love them. Yeah,it is. Yes, And then it's
also got one of my favorite optionsin the kitchen. And when they do
the tower with the double ovens andthe microwave on top, just like all
together. And then and then theone thing that we've gotten the most comments
about in this kitchen so far isone of the cabinets looks just like a
cabinet door, but you walk inand it's a pantry. Yeah, and
(29:11):
it still has the courts, countertopsin the pantry with plenty of room to
plug in your bigger appliances. Thatis such a place. Yeah, you
can keep them there and out,but they're not seen, and um,
exactly so nice for somebody who lovesto cook it and has a lot of
those appliances that you know, youdon't want to have to always pull them
out, but to be able tohave them out and not seen on the
(29:33):
countertop, I think, I thinkit's brilliant. So Jessica, tell me
a little bit about the floor planwhere the bedrooms are. Okay, yeah,
it's it's your classic split floor Planum. On one side of the kitchen,
on the left side of the houseis the master bedroom. It's got
a beautiful bay window in the back, and then your master bathroom all together
(29:56):
on this one side, and thenon the right side, on the complete
other side of the living room istwo bedrooms with the Jack and Joel bathroom.
And then on the back of thehouse is another bedroom with its own
bathroom. Yeah, so kind oflike a mother in law suite. Gives
one bedroom with its own bath rightover there, right, and then on
(30:18):
this one upstairs it has not onlylike your game room that you would expect
to see upstairs that it has afull separate bedroom and bathroom. Yeah.
That teenager that needs their own space, yeah, or student, Yeah,
maybe someone going to Lamar wanting alittle bit of separation. Yeah, a
little quiet place to be to havetheir time but still be home. Yeah.
(30:41):
Or the other thing that that's reallygood for is you know when you
have those shift workers and you havedad who works all night and yet has
to sleep during the day. Giveshim a spot upstairs to get away from
everything going on downstairs. So somany different options that are going on.
(31:02):
Yeah, anything else that you wantto make sure that we know about this
property. It does have a beautifulcovered porch area where you could do an
outdoor kitchen if you wanted to.Plenty of covered space with the you know,
the fan and the lights and everything, so it could be comfortable even
in this heat if you turn thatfan on. Enjoy outside. Yeah,
(31:26):
I do love that about those housesthat the big back covered patio gives you
plenty of in for many of us. I mean, I know we're in
southeast Texas and it's hot, butI just love being outside. And then
you have that big, beautiful yardso you want the opportunity to be able
to enjoy that, and so havingthat large patio, not just a little
(31:48):
bit he stick a couple of chairsthere, but a really nice sized patio
out there. Well, Jessica,I hope you guys are having a great
time out there. Get you aConA ice for me? Is that sounds
good? Well, you guys havea great time, and thanks for being
out there. You guys, goout and see Jessica and Lauren. They're
ready to walk you through these properties, show you all the beautiful finishes that
(32:12):
are hard to describe on the radio, but they've done a great job giving
you a little insight and a littlepeek into that. And don't forget that
builder is offering a twenty five thousanddollar credit this weekend. So if you
want to buy down that interest rate, or you want to pay your closing
costs, or you know, ifyou want to add anything to the house,
(32:35):
if you want to put that outdoorkitchen in there, and that can
go towards completing that. There's somuch that you can do and this is
not something that he normally does.So we are so grateful that he allowed
us the opportunity to do a specialtreat for any buyer who decides to buy
this weekend. Also, we havea giveaway going on out there as well,
so go and sign up and register. And I don't know if people
(32:59):
know, but Dana Simmons Real Estatehas their own line of candles and room
sprice so good. It is sogood. We have people walk in all
the time and go, oh,my goodness, what is that smell?
And so typically we just give thoseout to UM when our clients list with
us. We want to make surethat all the senses are covered. We
(33:22):
want to make sure it's stage beautifullyso it's appealing to the eyes, and
we want to make sure it smellsgood. So that's why we've come up
with our own personal scent for people, and we are actually going to give
a couple of those away today,so gives you the opportunity to have that.
We're also going to give away afew other little fun swag items that
(33:43):
we called to so UM. Whenwe were talking about some of those things
that about lending and loan products,there are so many things out there to
help people to purchase a home rightnow, so UM Chrissy talk a little
bit about the rate buy down possibilitiesbecause I know that that's what some people
(34:05):
are doing right now. They're takingthat a builder or a seller is willing
to do, and what is thebenefit of using that money towards a rate
buy down? Yeah, so that'ssuch a great strategy where um, you
know, we're in a market wheresellers are a little bit more willing to
give concessions and pay some of yourclosing costs. So to me, this
(34:29):
is a great it's a great wayto really keep market values from plunging too
far too fast. To rather thandropping the price, a seller can come
in and say here, I'll payten thousand of your closing costs, and
it's a it's a win win forthe buyer who can then qualify maybe get
half a point three quarters of apoint lower interest rate with that money.
(34:52):
Right Rather, you know, tobuy your interest rate down. Whenever you
buy the interest rate down, that'san option that any lenders should be able
to give you, especially if they'reselling your loan on the secondary market.
You have a range of interest ratechoices. The interest rate that's offered to
you is often quoted to you withoutany discount points, but the next lowest
(35:13):
rate is going to usually be ineighth of a point lower, and you
can pay a partial point to buythat down. And a point is basically
upfront interest that you're paying as aone time fee it closing, So you
pay more at closing for the tradeoff of having a lower rate over the
term of the thirty year or fifteenyear loan, whatever the cases, and
that's impacting you long term. Sowhat a great opportunity. So when we
(35:35):
come back, we're going to talkmore about that. And I know sometimes
we talk about these things in termsthat may be more challenging because you don't
hear it every day, but wewould love to sit down with you in
person and help you see in writing, here's what that looks like. Here's
what each part will look like.So if you have any questions about that,
don't hesitate to reach out to us, and Christy and I would both
(35:57):
be happy to sit down and talkthrough some of that. So we're going
to come back in just a bitand wrap up, but don't go away.
We're going to come back. Thisis the Dana Simmons Show. Would
you need to sell your home?No one makes it easier than Dana Simmons
of Danas Simmons really sell you ahome. Don't hesitate Simmons rest Welcome back.
(36:22):
This is Dana Simmons and this hasbeen such a fun show. We've
had a couple of the buyer's agentson our team give us a call because
they're out at the reserve. They'reout at two of our properties that we
have listed there, two of LindaMerrill's homes that are absolutely beautiful. But
we also want you to run outthere to see the lots that we have
(36:44):
available. One of the things thatI want you to know is that there
were twenty lots that were available.There will be more towards the back,
but those haven't been developed yet.So out of those twenty lots, I'm
telling you, they are beginning tosell like hotcakes. We only have nine
leaps and I think those are goingto be going pretty quickly. So if
(37:04):
you're thinking about this might be somethingyou want to do, you may want
to move on that sooner rather thanlater. With that owner finance option of
ten thousand dollars down and a fivepercent interest on an owner finance, that's
an incredible opportunity for you to goahead and wrap these lots up pretty quickly
(37:25):
and be able to say I wantmy kids to go to Hard and Jefferson
School District, or I want tobe not too far outside of Beaumont,
but I want to be on almostan acre right outside of Beaumont that's easy
to get to work, right upone oh five. So many positive things
about that neighborhood. So we're goingto be out there till about one thirty
(37:45):
today, but you're welcome to driveout there anytime. I mean drive out
there. You can't get into thehouses, but you can drive around and
see those lots and see what's goingon out there. That's amazing. We
will be out there until one thirty. If you have additional questions after that
and you want us to assist youwith that, you can always call our
office. As we've said, eachweek, our office has someone answering the
(38:06):
phone eight to eight Monday through Saturdayone to eight on Sunday, you can
call us at four O nine eightsix six team to E a m which
is four O nine eight six sixeight three two six, or go to
our website at Dana Simmons real Estatedot com. Or if that's just way
too long, you can do DSRdot com Also here with me has been
(38:29):
Christy Dorian, and we've been talkingabout all kinds of different options for loans
that are available and things that thebank at First Financial what they can do
to assist you, and real quick, Christy before we don't have a lot
of time left, but I didwant you to hit on a few of
the other loan programs that First Financialis doing that no one else really has
(38:50):
these opportunities for the MMCT. Talkabout what is an MMCT loan. MMCT
is a phenomenal prime I'm so excitedabout this yea offering so UM it's UM
an affordable initiative that we'd basically beenmandated to make financing available more available in
mmcts which are majority minority census tracksand UM, so what we're doing is
(39:15):
we're offering for first time not firsttime excuse me, not first time homebuyers,
but for UM limited income household incomeof one hundred thousand or less.
We have a zowdown payment. Ifyou end up purchasing an eligible property,
there's a zerodown payment. And UM, no pm I that is I mean,
(39:36):
I don't think people realize that's incredible. It is. I mean it's
a very good interest rate too.It is really UM. So I have
an applicant applied for something like UMa down payment assistants, FHA or conventional
if they end up purchasing in oneof these tracks. And let me tell
you these these homes, I meanthey're all over nice. Yeah, they're
very nice, all over Beaumont andPort Arthur, m There are some in
(40:00):
lower income areas. But that makesthis even a greater opportunity right for some
you know, single moms come tomind that are trying to purchase a home
for one hundred thousand dollars. Butpeople who are in the service industry who
make less than one hundred thousand dollars, I mean a zero down payment.
Most people can make their monthly rentor their monthly payment. The challenge is
(40:23):
sometimes that down payment. So withthis, that gives them the opportunity to
get into a house with no downpayment. Now they'll have closing costs,
but they can request the seller topay some of that. In fact,
I've got one right now where theborrower is bringing zero cash to closing because
the seller is paying his closing costsand he doesn't have a down payment.
(40:45):
And I know we say no PMI, and here we go using our acronyms
again. So talk a little bitabout what is PMI and why why is
that such a great savings So,just to kind of keep it simple,
PMI. If you don't know whatit is, you can google it.
But it's not an expense that goesback into your pocket. It's kind of
(41:05):
like gap insurance for the lender you'repaying. It's a trade off. When
you make a lesser than twenty percentdown payment, you have to pay an
additional monthly fee to protect that lenderfrom the potential costs of early foreclosure.
Yeah, it's mortgage insurance. It'sensuring that that mortgage is going to get
paid. So without that, you'resaving every single month. So, Christy,
(41:29):
we've talked a lot about a lotof different types of loans. So
if someone wanted to reach out toyou and ask you questions about any of
those, how would they get intouch with you? I would say,
just like, cut to the chaseand call my cell phone. My work
cell phone is four zero nine twothree eight one zero three zero, and
(41:50):
you can reach me by call ortext anytime. There you can google me.
It's Kristi Dorian is d O UR I A N. So.
The other thing that they can dous call our office and our office will
always be able to give Christie's cellphone number out to anyone. We do
that all the time, so we'rehappy to do that. I just want
to thank you for being on theshow today. I want to just say
(42:14):
thank you so much for all ofyour knowledge and all that you are able
to give us with insight into allthat First Financial has to offer. I
want to say thank you too tomy team members, both Lauren Camacho and
Jessica Wellborn, who are out atthe reserve waiting for you to come on
out and see these gorgeous homes.If you have any questions about the homes
(42:35):
that we have opened out there,or any questions about those lots, please
don't hesitate to call my office.We will be out there until one thirty
today. We would love to seeyou out there, but if we can't
answer your questions right now on theradio because we're about to be done,
you can give us a call atour office and we are always open to
be able to help you get whatyou need. So thank you to Kona
(42:57):
Ice for being out there and servingour customers and those who are out there
to keep them cool on this warmday, and so thank you for listening.
Without you, we wouldn't have ashow. So this is Dana Simmons.
Have a great weekend from The David'sDana Simmons Show
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