March 5, 2025 • 42 mins
- Dayna talks with Melvonna Kruger with First Financial Bank and Alan Asher with Asher Construction about land purchases and home building.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I hope you're enjoying this glorious
day and getting to have a little fun. I am
so excited for this show. I have with me Melvana
Krueger with First Financial Bank, and I also have Alan
Asher with Asher Construction. In today, we're going to talk
about are you thinking about purchasing a piece of land
(00:28):
for any reason? Are you thinking that maybe you want
to build that dream home, or maybe you need a
piece of land to put a big shop on it,
or maybe you need some land to use as a
hunting lease. Well, we have the people here today that
are going to help you achieve that goal. And so
today we're going to be talking about how do you
(00:49):
get a loan for land. It's very different than residential
real estate purchases, So how do you do that, what
does that look like? And then once you have that land,
how do you make make it what you need it
to be? And so Melvana and Alan are going to
walk us through from start to finish what they can
do to help you get that dream accomplished. But before
(01:10):
we do that, I just wanted to kind of give
you an update on what's going on in the market.
You know, every week. Almost every day I have someone
approach me and say, okay, hey, Dana, what is the
market like? So I want to give you a little
snapshot of what's going on. So for this last month,
we saw a pretty soft start to the year. We
(01:32):
closed a total of two hundred and ten properties, which
was a total of about fifty million dollars in real estate.
The total number of months of inventory is about six
and a half months of inventory. Now we've talked about
this before, but let me remind you what kind of
a market a six and a half month inventory market is.
(01:53):
So anything around five or six months is about an
even mare. As you go under five months of inventory,
you're really looking at a seller's market, But as you
go over six months of inventory, it's getting closer and
closer to a buyer's market. I will tell you, however,
(02:14):
there are some price points. This is just a general
overall view of the market, but price points will determine
a little bit of a different months of inventory. For example,
as you get a little bit lower, your months of
inventory are a little bit smaller. As you get higher
in price, when you're five hundred thousand and over, you
are over six point five months of inventory. You're looking
(02:36):
at more like about ten months of inventory. So what
does that mean for you? That means that if you
are in a higher price point, you may have the opportunity,
depending on location, Daesel market a lot of things, you
may have the opportunity to be able to get a
decent price on a property. I think if you're considering purchasing,
(02:58):
now is a great time to purchase. We have seen
the market start to move up as of today. We
are seeing people because it's beautiful outside. They're like, hey,
it's nice and warm and beautiful. The sun is shining,
the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming. It's a
great time to go buy a house. And we are
(03:20):
typically at this time moving in a direction of selling
more houses. So what you may want to consider is
do I want to get in the market prior to
all of those people who decide to get in the
market in late spring and early summer, because then your
competition is going to be greater. Now for some of
my clients, they're talking about, well, what's the interest rate
(03:41):
going to do? And we're going to talk to Melvana
more about that. But we have seen we saw a
little bit of a drop in the interest rate over
the last six weeks or so, and we have been
told by the Fed that they are not going to
continue to do drops through the year. Now, I'm not
the person to give you all of the information on that,
(04:02):
and so when we get to visit with Melvana, she's
going to give you more detail. But in general, we
do not anticipate the interest rate to change very much
over the next several months. Now, you know as well
as I do that the world changes in a heartbeat
occasionally with things that we don't expect. So could it happen, Yeah,
it could go up or it could go down. But
(04:23):
what we know right now is the interest rate is
at a very reasonable rate, under seven percent for most
wonder four family residential market houses mortgages. So, as I've
said to you over and over before, what we're seeing
is that over the last thirty years, the average mortgage
rate was about seven point seven percent. So you can
(04:45):
see we are well below average, or a little below,
not well below, we're a little below average, which is
a very reasonable mortgage rate. So if you're thinking about
buying or selling, my office is open and ready to
take your call. Four nine eight six six eight three
two six, or go to Dana Simmons real estate dot com.
(05:06):
You can send a message to my team and someone
will get back to you as soon as possible. Also,
if you have questions today for Melvanna, or if you
have any questions for Allan about getting your land ready,
you can give us a call here and we'll try
to answer those on air. That's four O nine eight
nine six five five eight four or if you can
(05:29):
remember it this way, four O nine eight nine six KLVI,
and we're happy to answer those questions for you. So
I'm going to introduce you to our guests today and
let them tell everyone a little bit about themselves. So, Melvanna,
we were just talking before the show. Even before you
started working with First Financial Bank, you actually were a
client of mine and that's how we first met. Yeah,
(05:51):
you were relocating to the area.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yes, I just happened to call a Bill Dern. He said,
you've got to talk to my wonderful real estate agent
and called you up and we were able to meet,
and you were our first contact in the area and
our relationship professional and friendship wise has only grown from there.
Moved down here in twenty twenty one and We've really
(06:17):
established our roots from here. Our children. We live in Lumberton,
our children love it here. So it's been a wonderful
path we took.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, and so you actually work out of the Beaumont branch,
but you can. It's just people though all.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Over, that's correct. So I'm with First Financial Bank. I
can assist people in any part of Texas. That's the
only caveat. We have a lot of customers who wish
we could do loans in Louisiana, but Texas. If you're here,
I can help you.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah. Well, I'm so excited that when you first came
to work here, you live here, you were working for
a big bank, you were working for more of an
national company, and then got connected with First Financial Bank,
and you've been with them doing a phenomenal job. And
just like I love First Financial Bank, I know you
(07:11):
do as well.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Oh my goodness. Yes, coming from a big bank, I
had been there almost a decade. I'm so glad to
be in a community bank. We really do what we say.
We invest in the community. It's not just a business.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, absolutely, it's very connected to the community. Also with me,
Alan Asher, who happens to have his lovely new wife
here with us today, and so Alan, tell us a
little bit about you.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Well, my name is Alan, I was born and raised
here in Beaumont, Texas. I went to Harden Jefferson High
School and studied engineering Lamar University, So I've kind of
grown up here. I know the area pretty well.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And yeah, tell us a little bit about the fact
that you've been married.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
How long I've been married for six months and a
few days.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Love to hear, and she doesn't know him to ask
him this, but love to hear. How you met your wife?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yes, actually met my wife through racing motocross. I've been
racing for about fourteen years. One day this gorgeous girl
showed up in the track and I thought, Wow, I
want that. I talked to her, and a few months
later we're engaged.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, and so Emily, right, Emily is here with us,
and he's exactly right. She's beautiful, and I'm so glad
that she's been able to come and be a support
to him while he's on the radio show. One of
the things that people may not know is that many
years ago, like I've done BSF, which is Bible Study
(08:42):
Fellowship for over thirty years, and so many years ago.
Alan was actually one of the students in the high
school program at BSF, or either junior high or high
school program. Your grandmother, Beverly Sanders, who is like one
of the most amazing people in the entire world. I
(09:04):
am a huge fan of Beverly. She is so sweet
and while sweet describes her, there's also she can be
a little salty too when it comes to what she
knows is right. She's going to make sure you know it.
So I love her. And she was such a great
grandmother and that she brought you to BSF, and so
(09:26):
we love BSF around here. And if you ever have
a question about Bible Study Fellowship, you can google it
and I've done it for a very long time. They
have been person classes, online classes, so and you can
always just listen, send me a message, I'll tell you
more about it. But today on the show, we are
talking about land and so one of the things that
we're going to talk about what are some of the
(09:47):
land properties that are out there that you might be
interested in, And then we're going to talk about how
do we get those finantes. So when we come back,
we're going to be talking to Malvana about what are
the types of loans, what do you need to do?
So don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and I am joined
(10:08):
today by Melvana Krueger with First Financial Bank and also
Alan Asher, he has Asher Construction. We are talking about
lots and land today. You know, for many many years
my husband and I had a dream of having a
huge piece of property and being able to build on
that land. Well we did many years ago find a
(10:30):
piece of property out in Finet. We still have that
property and we absolutely love it. But it does take work.
It does take you know, how do you finance that?
What do you need to do? And so if that's
your dream today, we want to be able to give
you some options on how do you pursue that dream.
We at Danta Simmons real Estate, we have lots of
(10:51):
different properties for you to look into. You know, if
you're looking for something that is small, if you're looking
for something that is large, we have lots of different options.
One of the options that we just listed not too
long ago is a property over on Alaskan Drive and
that's in the bebel Oaks area and that's about three
quarters of an acre and it's listed for thirty five
(11:12):
thousand dollars. I mean, not a bad piece of property
if you're interested in that, or if you're looking to
be in Hardin County. We have a property over on
four eighteen in Salsby. That's six acres. That's a beautiful
piece of property. Now it needs a little bit of clearing,
so you'd need to get with Allen and maybe work
some of that out on that. But that's a really
(11:34):
nice piece of property. And that's six acres for seventy
eight thousand dollars. Now, I will tell you I just
yesterday I haven't even gotten all the details together for it,
but just signed a listing yesterday on South Pine Island Road,
and you know that's right down a highway ninety great
piece of property. It's almost eleven acres of land out there.
(11:57):
It has a stopped pond at the back of the property.
Now that one over there is going to be a
little bit pricier. That's three hundred and seventy five thousand
dollars because location, location, location, and that one absolutely does
have it well maybe and that's of course Harden Jefferson
School District where Alan went to school, and maybe you're thinking,
(12:19):
you know, I don't need that much land, but I
do want to be in Harden Jefferson School. So over
out in the Reserve neighborhood, so you would take Highway
what oh five and right there opposite Tolliver Road there
is the Reserve neighborhood and those are almost an acre.
(12:39):
They're about point eight five point eight seven. They all
vary just a little bit, but those are seventy nine
to nine and those are properties that are almost ready
to build on. There's probably a little work Alan could
do for you over there to get that pad site ready,
but those properties are really beautiful. Has a curbed and gutter,
curbed street, concrete street. So if you have any questions
(13:02):
about any of those properties, call my office four O
nine eight sixty six eight three two six and I
can't remember if it's Cindy or Paula on call today,
but one of them will answer that call and be
able to get you some information that you may need.
So Melvana, they find the property, they love it. They're like, yes,
(13:23):
this is the piece of land that I want to
do all my dreams right here. What is the next
step that they need to take? Whenever they contact you
about getting a loan for that property.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, a lot of people have heard that land can
be hard to finance, and not just heard probably live that.
Not many banks, especially larger banks, do land financing. It
can be a risk your investment for the lender. So
along with that can come some additional requirements such as
(13:59):
down payment and shorter terms. At First Financial Bank, we
have land loans that are as little as ten percent
down and we do offer terms from ten years, fifteen
up to twenty year terms. The number one thing to
do is to speak with lender to talk about your
(14:22):
current situation. Are you currently renting, do you own a home?
What's your situation with employment? Will be able to gather
all that up and get a game plan so you
can get a loan to purchase the property.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And when you're doing that, what are when you say,
gather your documents, what are some of the things that
you guys require? What can they expect that you're going
to need on getting a land loan? And then when
you do that, will you need things like a survey?
Will you need to have an elevation? You may want
to get one even if maybe that's not required. Talk
(14:59):
a little bit about what are the of things that
are necessary once they come to you and they're going
to move forward on this definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
So documentation anything you can get us will help your
situation and your loan process to go smoother. It's information
on your employment if you're a W two employee, that
is pay stubs in W two's tax returns. In addition,
bank statements typically two months bank statements if you don't
(15:26):
bank with First Financial, from the bank that you do
bank with, showing your funds for closing. If you are
self employed, the documentation does get a little bit more
in depth. It's two years of business, some personal tax returns, yes,
any k ones and addition, depending on what time of
the year, we're going to ask for profit and loss statements. Right,
(15:49):
so the files can get quite complicated, but we're us
still working through those and we'll get listen.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
As a home as a small business owner, I know
that's part of the challenge, no matter what kind of
loan that you're going to get, whether it's a land
loan a home loan. One of the things that I
love though, is by banking at First Financial, I have
my own personal banker and they have guided and directed
me in such a way that they always have all
(16:17):
of those things for me and they instruct me on Okay,
if you're going to work with Melvana on this land,
these are the things, and so they'll direct me to you.
But I have all of those things already because as
of having a personal banker, it makes such a difference.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That's right. You can go through talking with different banks,
but are they truly your banker, meaning do they know
your goals? Do they have your financial needs in mind?
And we do with first Financial THEA as a relationship,
not just as a transaction.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, exactly. So you've gotten all of those documents over
to you. Let's say we're moving forward on the loan.
What are the steps that are going to happen Once
they get everything and you say yes, you're approved for
this loan, what happens next?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, definitely. So it really does depend on what your
goal is for the land, if you're going to immediately
use it to build on or if you're holding on
to it maybe for future or just for recreational use.
If that's the case, we can go ahead with the
loan closing and we don't need information on elevation or
(17:33):
you know, if it's in a flood zone. If there's
no building on the home, we don't need flood insurance,
or building on the property, we don't need flood insurance.
So what's needed typically is determined by what you're going
to use it for. If it is something that you're
looking to build on immediately or in the near future,
(17:53):
we're going to need a survey. That's number one, probably
before you do start with the plans and the bids
with the contractor for your future construction loan.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, And one of the benefits of buying a piece
of property early and just purchasing the land is once
you get that land paid off, oftentimes that can be
part of your down payment when you're not having to
come up with a ton of money on the construction
side of it, because your equity is in the property.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yes, that is correct. So if you do have a
plan in mind, maybe in five years you know you
want to purchase the property and build, you can go
ahead and do that. Now, anything you pay down on
that loan is equity in the future lending. The praise
value is what would be considered in the future versus
what you actually bought it for. Oh on it and
(18:49):
that can be used as the requirement. Typically it's ten
or twenty percent as down payment for a construction loan,
and that can be considered with the value of the line.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, so it becomes like a savings account almost. So
you're investing in your own future and what you're going
to eventually want to build, but you're doing it in
little increments to where you're just paying on a land
note instead of a land and a new construction mortgage,
which can be maybe outside of your budget now, but
(19:21):
you know in five years you're going to have the
opportunity to grow whatever you're doing and be able to
have the ability to do that in five years, and
you've invested in yourself at that point. And so that's
one of the things I like to talk to our
younger buyers about if they are considering, Okay, so they
buy a smaller house now, and they're like, but you know, Dana,
(19:43):
I want to eventually be able to build my dream home.
And I'm like, absolutely, of course, but you know, maybe
at twenty five you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I had this exact situation come up with a client
a few months ago. She was early twenties, just started
her career, she actually was living with her family, but
had the foresight that she knows she's gonna want to
be a homeowner. So she purchased a lot in a
neighborhood she's interested in, and her monthly payment is very small,
(20:15):
and then she's building on that future dream home.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, and so even if you have a starter home
and you're living in that starter home, but yet you
want to be able to have that future dream home,
it allows you to go ahead and work towards that.
So there are lots of different things that you can do,
and we could talk about a million different scenarios, but
if you would like to speak to Melvanna about your situation.
(20:40):
What I love about what they do at First Financial
Bank is that there's not just one You don't put
everyone in just one bucket. You have so many different
options to choose from, which gives them opportunity. So if
someone's considering this and they want to sit down and
visit with you about what are their options, how would
they get a hold of you.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Finally, you can reach me at four oh nine three
one three four nine five zero. That's my cell phone.
You can call or text that number. You can also
visit me at the Lumberton branch, Dollan Road branch. So
First Financial we have seven locations all across southeast Texas.
We'd love to, yeah, answer any questions.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And if they call you, you can set up an appointment
at any of the locations to sit and visit with that.
That is correct, or you can often do a lot
of this online too. Yeah, So it's up to the
client if they prefer to meet in person or just
have a phone conversation, then be able to get the
documents to you online.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yes, yes, we try to work however, whatever miss.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Whatever's easier for them. Yeah, you're convenient, right, Well, thank
you Malvana for going through all of that with this.
And when we come back, we're going to talk to
Alan about Okay, so here we are. We have purchased
our piece of property. We are so excited. Maybe we
purchased it just now, or maybe we purchased it five
(21:58):
years ago and were ready to start getting that land ready.
So when we come back, Alan Asher with Asher Construction
is going to talk to us a little bit about
what are some of the things that he can do
to help you and what does that look like. So
don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show, Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and I am joined today by
(22:19):
Melvano Krueger, who is with First Financial Bank, and we
have just been visiting about loans on land. Whether it's
a lot, loan, acreage, it doesn't matter if it has
to do with land. First Financial Bank probably has a loan,
more than likely has a loan that can help you.
I'll tell you not all banks do that. So not
(22:39):
every bank or credit union is going to be interested
in doing a lot or land loan. Some may, there
are some, but First Financial Bank because they're a community bank,
because they can do things that other banks can't do
because they are locally.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Our decisions are made.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, decisions are made local. But I don't know how.
I don't know what the word is I was looking for,
but you know it happens. Sometimes the words just leave me.
But they make the decisions local so that things can
be done here that sometimes other people can't do. So
if you have any questions about that, we've given you
Melvana's information. We'll give it to you again here in
just a little bit so that you can reach out
(23:19):
to her and let her talk you through any kind
of landlone you may be interested in. But also with
me today is Alan Asher. He is with Asher Construction
and Alan love the fact that you are a Southeast
Texas guy. You born and raised here, grew up here,
Lamar University grad engineer from Lamar University. You've been working
(23:41):
at several different engineering firms, but you have opened your
own a while back, a little bit ago, Asher Construction.
So talk to me a little bit about what is
it that you do at Asher Construction.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
So it's pretty simple. We're a land development business. So
we're kind of a package turnkey business service. So when
you buy land and you need land clearing, earthworks, grading, drainage,
pond excavations, or even tree removals, you're gonna call someone
like me. I'm gonna come in. I'm gonna give you
a game plan what needs to be done. We can
(24:18):
talk about how to do it, and I can execute
the execute the job.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
So someone is they've just closed, they're they're ready to
go ahead and get moving, and we're gonna get We're
gonna talk more about getting moving when you have when
you have a loan, some of the things you don't
want to do. So we're gonna get to that in
just a second that Melvanna brought brought up in the break.
But before when they finish closing on the land and
they want to go ahead and start working on getting
(24:43):
that land ready for whatever they're going to do, they
call you and you come out and then you guys
just have a consultation there at the property.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
That's correct. Usually we'll walk down the property to physically
see what we're working with. We can take elevation measurement
and look at the topography of the land, look at
trees that need be taken down or stumps that need
be dug up. Also, with raining so much, we can
usually tell if there's drainage problems, if there's puddles standing,
(25:13):
or you know, if ditches need to be placed certain places.
And yeah, everything is in person, you know, talk talking
with the customer. I bring my years of experience of
you know, working with dirt and heavy equipment, and I
can kind of give you an idea of what needs
to be done in order to get to the point
you want to be at.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
And so you guys take a look at all that,
you come up with a plan of action, and then
I'm sure you go back to the office and prepare
a bid, right.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
We prepare a full bid package. It shows a scope
of work, what's going to be involved. We take care
of the legal side of things for marketing utilities, making
sure the job site is safe and that you're good
to go.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
So, you know, Alan, I didn't even think about that.
So some of those things that have to be done
is connecting with the city or the county, or the
electrical companies. All of that is something that you know,
those are kind of the things that I'm glad we're
talking about that on the show today because those are
the things you don't think of, you know, and sometimes
(26:09):
people just rush into it and you need someone who's
experience to be able to do that, right.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, a lot of customers will tell me I just
need this simple activity done or the simple task done.
They don't understand that, you know, hey, there might be
a cable underground, you know, six inches to three feet
below the ground that you didn't think about, and you
can't start digging. You can't do any type of trenching
until you get those utilities marked because it can be
some very heavy fines and even potential danger to your
(26:36):
health if you start digging or pulling up trees without
marking those things.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah, that could be really number one dangerous. I mean,
if it has anything to do with something electrical or gas,
I would think that would be the biggest danger right right, absolutely,
But even at and t or spectrum, they don't look
kindly on you messing with their lines.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Right Those lines are very expensive and they're very expensive
to work on or replace. That they do not like
you cutting through them.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
The other challenge is that your neighbors around you may
not like you very much if you cut their cable
or their spectrum or there whatever, and it forces them
to be without for a while. You just might be
in trouble and not be making friends with your new
neighbors at all.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
It's never a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
No, it can't be a good thing. So let's say
I have a piece of land and I have a
bunch of trees on it, but I want to just
clear a path for a house. But then I want
to make like paths for like trails. Is that something
that you guys do?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yes, absolutely, so I actually love doing that. I grew
up riding dirt bikes and I always love cutting trails
in the woods. So it's kind of a passion. But yeah,
we can walk through the property and basically give me
an idea of where you want the trails to be at.
And we might not have to remove any trees, but
you know, you have underbrush and tall grass and all
the vines. We can certainly cut trails through there by
mulching it. It only eave a nice ground based layer
(27:59):
and you'll have some nice trail is to walk through.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, that sounds awesome. Well, in your experience of what
you've done so far in your business, what has been
one of your favorite jobs that you've done. Is there
one that stands out to you that you think, you know,
I had a blast working on this project.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah, one of my favorite jobs is also one of
the scariest ones I've done. I was in on Alaska, Texas.
I was clearing a couple of acres of land and
the pine trees were probably one hundred, one hundred and
twenty foot tall. Wow, And there was you know, seven
hundred trees and this property. So you know, it's every
kid's dream to drive big excavators, right, And I got
to do that for a few days and just grabbing
(28:37):
all these trees and yanking them out like toothpigs. Yeah,
that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
It doesn't surprise me that the scariest thing would be
the thing that you had the most fun doing. Since
you've done motocross for how many years?
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I've raised motocross for fourteen years and also have my
scott iving license.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah, so you know, it's not surprising to me. But
it is interesting that you're an engineer and so you
understand the safety aspect of all of it too. So
you've brought that into thankfully, you've brought that safety aspect
into the danger that you enjoy, right.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yeah, we take safety extremely seriously. You know, engineering is
kind of I would say eighty percent of engineering is
actually making sure that everything is safe. From civil engineers
with bridges and roads, mechanical engineers with your car, your
seat belts, your you know everything. Safety is extremely important
in my line of work, and it's actually the number
(29:30):
one thing we focus on. You know, we're going to
be safe before we cut corners and cut costs. Safety
is absolutely number one.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
And I love that you talk about that because there
are lots of people out there who have big equipment
that can just go and they're like a bull in
a China closet, you know, but not thinking about the
safety aspect of it, and so knowing that you have
that is really important. Anything else you want to add
for the listeners out there.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Well, So the main priority of sharing about my business
and doing this business is to share our faith. Yeah,
faith is most important to us. We actually operate our
business based on Colossus three seventeen, which says, whatever you
do and word or do you do it in the
name of the Lord, I'm giving thanks to him. So
that's really important to us. And just doing excellent work
(30:23):
and being reliable and being trustworthy and building a name
for ourselves. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Well, the reason you're on the show is because I
know you, and I know your character, and I know
your work ethic, and I know who you are. So
absolutely I love having people on the show who know
Any of our listeners if they called you would be
absolutely thrilled with who you are and how you do business.
And actually one of my favorite verses is just after
that Colausus three twenty three that says work as unto
(30:50):
God and not to man. So everything we do we
work towards making sure we're doing it to honor him.
So thank you, so much. We'll come back and visit
some more. If you have any questions that you want
to ask our guests, please give us a call four
oh nine eight ninety six five five eight four. We
would love to answer those questions for you live on air.
(31:10):
We'll be right back to wrap up our show. This
is Dana Simmons with the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back.
We are talking about lot and land, loans and clearing
and preparation for whatever dream you have, whether a house
or a shop or whatever it is you're wanting to do.
And we are visiting with Melvana Krueger with First Financial
(31:30):
Bank and also Alan Asher with Asher Construction, and they've
been sharing some information about what they can do and
how they can assist you if that is your dream.
One of the things that I did want to caution
you about that just came up in our break, that
I wanted to visit with you about, is that you
need to make sure first that if you're looking at
a piece of property that there is access to utilities.
(31:56):
So there are a few tracks of land being sold
right now. Had someone call me about them, and it
seemed like a really great price for the property. And
I'm thinking, wow, they've priced this really really well. Well
as you get to looking more and more into the information,
(32:16):
there is no access to electricity to that property. So
unless you're going to plan on using it for like
a a hunting little area or something where you do
not need electricity, it's going to be challenging to do
anything else there. So one of the things I think
is really important is number one, use a real estate
(32:41):
agent that is knowledgeable and it is going to ask
the right questions things that you might not even think of.
How many of you would think you have to ask
is there electricity to this property? You also need to
know is there water, is their sewer? Is their gas
if you really want gas, is there The other side
of that is their internet access. Believe it or not,
(33:02):
there is not internet access on every single piece of property.
Although it has increased immensely over the last several years,
not every single piece of property has that. So when
you're thinking about that, you have to consider all those things.
And even Jim brought up you know, if you've got
to get electricity from the road it does have Let's
say you do have electricity there at the road and
(33:24):
you've got to get it to the back of the
land where you're going to build your house. You've got
to think about those costs too. It is not cheap
running electrical to the back of a piece of property.
So do your research, do your homework, get with someone
who can help you ask the right questions. While I
love the opportunity to sell land for someone to build
(33:47):
their dream, I also want to make sure that they
are informed of all of the different pieces that go
with that, because it's not as easy as everyone thinks. Oh,
I love this piece of property, I'm gonna buy it,
and I'm a stick a house on there. That sounds wonderful,
But let's talk about what are all the things that
need to be in place for you to be able
to do that. Now, Melvana, you and I were just
(34:09):
visiting about a potential challenge that can come up when
someone buys a piece of land and then they start
to build on it themselves. They think, oh, good, I
can start paying on this land, but then I can
go ahead and start prepping a foundation and all of
that before I get a loan, or maybe they think, Okay,
(34:31):
we're going to pay for it as we go, and
they get to a point where they realize oh wow,
we don't have enough cash. We didn't realize that we
need to get a loan. Talk a little bit about
what are the challenges when you start to build on
a piece of property before you get a construction loan.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, So, if your intent is to build on the land,
it is in your best interest to not start any
type of construction until you on a construction loan. If
you have property you own and you've started to build
(35:08):
on it, maybe you've got the framework up for a shop,
it can cause issues if you do have to get
financing in the future. And the issue is not so
much with the financing, it's with the title insurance because
the concern is there could be unpaid leans on the property.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yeah. So as we started talking about that, I'm like, okay,
this makes sense. So what happens is someone starts building
on that property and they've gotten so far and then
they're like, okay, I'm gonna get my construction loan when
the title company does their search on it. If you
had someone who you hired to do that and you
didn't pay them, they could eventually file a mechanics lean
(35:56):
against you. But the title company at the time of
clothes on a construction loan if it's not there, they're
ensuring title and they're ensuring clear title, so that if
something comes up at you know, but after the fact,
that's a challenge for them. And so for them that's
a huge risk. And so the risk is the reason
that they aren't really thrilled or may not even close
(36:19):
on it, and you may not be able to get
a construction loan.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Right, that's correct. In every now and then you know,
there'll be a situation and the individual will have to
finance it a different way.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yeah, so you can't which typically if you can't do
it as a construction loan, it may cost you a
little bit more.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
That's correct. Yes, it can be you know, your cash
reserves or you would have to look at unsecured type
of lending.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Yeah, so that's something that if you haven't thought about that,
it seems like a good idea. It seems like a
good idea to go ahead and you know, start to
get your construction going. And if you haven't thought about that,
it's not a good idea. So we're wanting to help
you with all kinds of warnings at this point. So Malvanna, again,
if they have any questions about the loans or what
(37:07):
to do. Tell people how to get in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yes, feel free to give me a call. You can
send me a text also at four O nine three
one three four nine five zero. You can also search
First Financial Bank. My name is Malvana. It's easy to find.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Yeah, you can go on to the website and find
her or on Facebook. First Financial Bank also has a
Facebook page as well. That's so Alan. So Alan Asher
with Asher Construction. If someone is thinking about okay, I
want up to get some work done out here for
them to call you and get a bid, is there
any cost to that?
Speaker 3 (37:44):
There's no cost to that. It's a free free bid process. Basically,
we'll set up a schedule that works for you. I'll
come out and meet you on your property and we'll
talk about it and we can go from there.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
And So if someone is going okay, I really need
to call and get in touch with Alan, how would
they find out more information to get you?
Speaker 3 (38:01):
So? You can call me. My number is four zero
nine six one seven nine nine eight nine. You can
also visit our website at Astraconstruction coo dot com as
astraconstruction ceo dot com and you can also check out
our Facebook and Instagram page.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yeah, and so I did checked out your Facebook because
I knew Alan and I knew he had a construction company,
but I didn't have you know, I was the leader
at BSF and you were a student. I didn't have
your cell phone number. So I actually reached out to
you on Facebook and you responded very quickly. So and well,
I got your number on Facebook and called you that way.
(38:39):
So and then he called me right back. So, if
you have any questions and you want to get with Alan,
don't hesitate to reach out to him to let him
get you a bid for preparing your land for whatever
it is that you're thinking you want to do. Just
a reminder, we have some really great properties that we
have listed if you have any questions about land, and
it doesn't even have to be listed with my company.
(39:01):
It can be landlisted with any company at all in
Southeast Texas. And you want someone to guide you through
the process to help you find the perfect piece of
property that you want to do whatever you want to
do with, and you want some real help to do
that because you know you don't do it every day.
Real estate is something we do every day, even though
(39:23):
you may look at properties every day. People tell me
that all the time. Oh, I watch the market all
the time and it is fun. It is also uh
information that you may not be aware of. So we'd
love to help you. Call my office at four oh
nine eight six six eight three two six, which that's
four nine eight sixty six team the word team, or
(39:45):
you can go on to my website, which is Dana
Simmons real estate dot com. And on that website you
can connect with one of my agents, or you can
just search. You can search for any property all over
Southeast Texas, whether it's late, whether it's residential, whatever it
is that you're needing to find. We have all of
(40:05):
the properties listed in that on that website. I want
to thank you guys so much for being a part
of the show today. It's been a lot of fun.
You know, we don't talk about land that much. We're
usually talking about houses, but a lot of people want
to build their dream home, and so buying that land early,
(40:25):
getting that land paid off enables you to build equity
into that or you can also do a construction loan
with the land purchase.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Yes, that's correct, so same time.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
You can give them all kinds of different opportunities and options,
and so that's why give Melvana a call. If you're
not sure exactly what it is you want to do,
she can walk you through that process and give you
information about the best way for you to proceed. And
then Alan, thank you so much too for being on
the show. Yeah, it's so good to see you after
a very long time. It's been a while since we
(41:01):
got to see each other in BSF, but it's been
great to see you again. I just do this once
a week here on klv I every Saturday at noon,
but every other day I'm selling real estate. So if
you need any information or need any help, just need
someone to guide you through that process, please don't hesitate
to give our office a call or go onto our website.
(41:24):
We would absolutely love to help you help your dreams
come true, whether that is with a lot, or land
or residential we do all of it. So we love
to be able to sit down see what your goals
and dreams are and then see how we can help
you to achieve those goals and dreams. It's been a
great day visiting with you. I hope you are enjoying
(41:47):
this gorgeous Saturday don't miss out on enjoying that beautiful
weather out there, and we will see you again next
week at noon on klv I. This is the Dana
Simmons Show.
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I hope you're enjoying this glorious
day and getting to have a little fun. I am
so excited for this show. I have with me Melvana
Krueger with First Financial Bank, and I also have Alan
Asher with Asher Construction. In today, we're going to talk
about are you thinking about purchasing a piece of land
(00:28):
for any reason? Are you thinking that maybe you want
to build that dream home, or maybe you need a
piece of land to put a big shop on it,
or maybe you need some land to use as a
hunting lease. Well, we have the people here today that
are going to help you achieve that goal. And so
today we're going to be talking about how do you
(00:49):
get a loan for land. It's very different than residential
real estate purchases, So how do you do that, what
does that look like? And then once you have that land,
how do you make make it what you need it
to be? And so Melvana and Alan are going to
walk us through from start to finish what they can
do to help you get that dream accomplished. But before
(01:10):
we do that, I just wanted to kind of give
you an update on what's going on in the market.
You know, every week. Almost every day I have someone
approach me and say, okay, hey, Dana, what is the
market like? So I want to give you a little
snapshot of what's going on. So for this last month,
we saw a pretty soft start to the year. We
(01:32):
closed a total of two hundred and ten properties, which
was a total of about fifty million dollars in real estate.
The total number of months of inventory is about six
and a half months of inventory. Now we've talked about
this before, but let me remind you what kind of
a market a six and a half month inventory market is.
(01:53):
So anything around five or six months is about an
even mare. As you go under five months of inventory,
you're really looking at a seller's market, But as you
go over six months of inventory, it's getting closer and
closer to a buyer's market. I will tell you, however,
(02:14):
there are some price points. This is just a general
overall view of the market, but price points will determine
a little bit of a different months of inventory. For example,
as you get a little bit lower, your months of
inventory are a little bit smaller. As you get higher
in price, when you're five hundred thousand and over, you
are over six point five months of inventory. You're looking
(02:36):
at more like about ten months of inventory. So what
does that mean for you? That means that if you
are in a higher price point, you may have the opportunity,
depending on location, Daesel market a lot of things, you
may have the opportunity to be able to get a
decent price on a property. I think if you're considering purchasing,
(02:58):
now is a great time to purchase. We have seen
the market start to move up as of today. We
are seeing people because it's beautiful outside. They're like, hey,
it's nice and warm and beautiful. The sun is shining,
the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming. It's a
great time to go buy a house. And we are
(03:20):
typically at this time moving in a direction of selling
more houses. So what you may want to consider is
do I want to get in the market prior to
all of those people who decide to get in the
market in late spring and early summer, because then your
competition is going to be greater. Now for some of
my clients, they're talking about, well, what's the interest rate
(03:41):
going to do? And we're going to talk to Melvana
more about that. But we have seen we saw a
little bit of a drop in the interest rate over
the last six weeks or so, and we have been
told by the Fed that they are not going to
continue to do drops through the year. Now, I'm not
the person to give you all of the information on that,
(04:02):
and so when we get to visit with Melvana, she's
going to give you more detail. But in general, we
do not anticipate the interest rate to change very much
over the next several months. Now, you know as well
as I do that the world changes in a heartbeat
occasionally with things that we don't expect. So could it happen, Yeah,
it could go up or it could go down. But
(04:23):
what we know right now is the interest rate is
at a very reasonable rate, under seven percent for most
wonder four family residential market houses mortgages. So, as I've
said to you over and over before, what we're seeing
is that over the last thirty years, the average mortgage
rate was about seven point seven percent. So you can
(04:45):
see we are well below average, or a little below,
not well below, we're a little below average, which is
a very reasonable mortgage rate. So if you're thinking about
buying or selling, my office is open and ready to
take your call. Four nine eight six six eight three
two six, or go to Dana Simmons real estate dot com.
(05:06):
You can send a message to my team and someone
will get back to you as soon as possible. Also,
if you have questions today for Melvanna, or if you
have any questions for Allan about getting your land ready,
you can give us a call here and we'll try
to answer those on air. That's four O nine eight
nine six five five eight four or if you can
(05:29):
remember it this way, four O nine eight nine six KLVI,
and we're happy to answer those questions for you. So
I'm going to introduce you to our guests today and
let them tell everyone a little bit about themselves. So, Melvanna,
we were just talking before the show. Even before you
started working with First Financial Bank, you actually were a
client of mine and that's how we first met. Yeah,
(05:51):
you were relocating to the area.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yes, I just happened to call a Bill Dern. He said,
you've got to talk to my wonderful real estate agent
and called you up and we were able to meet,
and you were our first contact in the area and
our relationship professional and friendship wise has only grown from there.
Moved down here in twenty twenty one and We've really
(06:17):
established our roots from here. Our children. We live in Lumberton,
our children love it here. So it's been a wonderful
path we took.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, and so you actually work out of the Beaumont branch,
but you can. It's just people though all.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Over, that's correct. So I'm with First Financial Bank. I
can assist people in any part of Texas. That's the
only caveat. We have a lot of customers who wish
we could do loans in Louisiana, but Texas. If you're here,
I can help you.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah. Well, I'm so excited that when you first came
to work here, you live here, you were working for
a big bank, you were working for more of an
national company, and then got connected with First Financial Bank,
and you've been with them doing a phenomenal job. And
just like I love First Financial Bank, I know you
(07:11):
do as well.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Oh my goodness. Yes, coming from a big bank, I
had been there almost a decade. I'm so glad to
be in a community bank. We really do what we say.
We invest in the community. It's not just a business.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, absolutely, it's very connected to the community. Also with me,
Alan Asher, who happens to have his lovely new wife
here with us today, and so Alan, tell us a
little bit about you.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Well, my name is Alan, I was born and raised
here in Beaumont, Texas. I went to Harden Jefferson High
School and studied engineering Lamar University, So I've kind of
grown up here. I know the area pretty well.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And yeah, tell us a little bit about the fact
that you've been married.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
How long I've been married for six months and a
few days.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Love to hear, and she doesn't know him to ask
him this, but love to hear. How you met your wife?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yes, actually met my wife through racing motocross. I've been
racing for about fourteen years. One day this gorgeous girl
showed up in the track and I thought, Wow, I
want that. I talked to her, and a few months
later we're engaged.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, and so Emily, right, Emily is here with us,
and he's exactly right. She's beautiful, and I'm so glad
that she's been able to come and be a support
to him while he's on the radio show. One of
the things that people may not know is that many
years ago, like I've done BSF, which is Bible Study
(08:42):
Fellowship for over thirty years, and so many years ago.
Alan was actually one of the students in the high
school program at BSF, or either junior high or high
school program. Your grandmother, Beverly Sanders, who is like one
of the most amazing people in the entire world. I
(09:04):
am a huge fan of Beverly. She is so sweet
and while sweet describes her, there's also she can be
a little salty too when it comes to what she
knows is right. She's going to make sure you know it.
So I love her. And she was such a great
grandmother and that she brought you to BSF, and so
(09:26):
we love BSF around here. And if you ever have
a question about Bible Study Fellowship, you can google it
and I've done it for a very long time. They
have been person classes, online classes, so and you can
always just listen, send me a message, I'll tell you
more about it. But today on the show, we are
talking about land and so one of the things that
we're going to talk about what are some of the
(09:47):
land properties that are out there that you might be
interested in, And then we're going to talk about how
do we get those finantes. So when we come back,
we're going to be talking to Malvana about what are
the types of loans, what do you need to do?
So don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and I am joined
(10:08):
today by Melvana Krueger with First Financial Bank and also
Alan Asher, he has Asher Construction. We are talking about
lots and land today. You know, for many many years
my husband and I had a dream of having a
huge piece of property and being able to build on
that land. Well we did many years ago find a
(10:30):
piece of property out in Finet. We still have that
property and we absolutely love it. But it does take work.
It does take you know, how do you finance that?
What do you need to do? And so if that's
your dream today, we want to be able to give
you some options on how do you pursue that dream.
We at Danta Simmons real Estate, we have lots of
(10:51):
different properties for you to look into. You know, if
you're looking for something that is small, if you're looking
for something that is large, we have lots of different options.
One of the options that we just listed not too
long ago is a property over on Alaskan Drive and
that's in the bebel Oaks area and that's about three
quarters of an acre and it's listed for thirty five
(11:12):
thousand dollars. I mean, not a bad piece of property
if you're interested in that, or if you're looking to
be in Hardin County. We have a property over on
four eighteen in Salsby. That's six acres. That's a beautiful
piece of property. Now it needs a little bit of clearing,
so you'd need to get with Allen and maybe work
some of that out on that. But that's a really
(11:34):
nice piece of property. And that's six acres for seventy
eight thousand dollars. Now, I will tell you I just
yesterday I haven't even gotten all the details together for it,
but just signed a listing yesterday on South Pine Island Road,
and you know that's right down a highway ninety great
piece of property. It's almost eleven acres of land out there.
(11:57):
It has a stopped pond at the back of the property.
Now that one over there is going to be a
little bit pricier. That's three hundred and seventy five thousand
dollars because location, location, location, and that one absolutely does
have it well maybe and that's of course Harden Jefferson
School District where Alan went to school, and maybe you're thinking,
(12:19):
you know, I don't need that much land, but I
do want to be in Harden Jefferson School. So over
out in the Reserve neighborhood, so you would take Highway
what oh five and right there opposite Tolliver Road there
is the Reserve neighborhood and those are almost an acre.
(12:39):
They're about point eight five point eight seven. They all
vary just a little bit, but those are seventy nine
to nine and those are properties that are almost ready
to build on. There's probably a little work Alan could
do for you over there to get that pad site ready,
but those properties are really beautiful. Has a curbed and gutter,
curbed street, concrete street. So if you have any questions
(13:02):
about any of those properties, call my office four O
nine eight sixty six eight three two six and I
can't remember if it's Cindy or Paula on call today,
but one of them will answer that call and be
able to get you some information that you may need.
So Melvana, they find the property, they love it. They're like, yes,
(13:23):
this is the piece of land that I want to
do all my dreams right here. What is the next
step that they need to take? Whenever they contact you
about getting a loan for that property.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, a lot of people have heard that land can
be hard to finance, and not just heard probably live that.
Not many banks, especially larger banks, do land financing. It
can be a risk your investment for the lender. So
along with that can come some additional requirements such as
(13:59):
down payment and shorter terms. At First Financial Bank, we
have land loans that are as little as ten percent
down and we do offer terms from ten years, fifteen
up to twenty year terms. The number one thing to
do is to speak with lender to talk about your
(14:22):
current situation. Are you currently renting, do you own a home?
What's your situation with employment? Will be able to gather
all that up and get a game plan so you
can get a loan to purchase the property.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And when you're doing that, what are when you say,
gather your documents, what are some of the things that
you guys require? What can they expect that you're going
to need on getting a land loan? And then when
you do that, will you need things like a survey?
Will you need to have an elevation? You may want
to get one even if maybe that's not required. Talk
(14:59):
a little bit about what are the of things that
are necessary once they come to you and they're going
to move forward on this definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
So documentation anything you can get us will help your
situation and your loan process to go smoother. It's information
on your employment if you're a W two employee, that
is pay stubs in W two's tax returns. In addition,
bank statements typically two months bank statements if you don't
(15:26):
bank with First Financial, from the bank that you do
bank with, showing your funds for closing. If you are
self employed, the documentation does get a little bit more
in depth. It's two years of business, some personal tax returns, yes,
any k ones and addition, depending on what time of
the year, we're going to ask for profit and loss statements. Right,
(15:49):
so the files can get quite complicated, but we're us
still working through those and we'll get listen.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
As a home as a small business owner, I know
that's part of the challenge, no matter what kind of
loan that you're going to get, whether it's a land
loan a home loan. One of the things that I
love though, is by banking at First Financial, I have
my own personal banker and they have guided and directed
me in such a way that they always have all
(16:17):
of those things for me and they instruct me on Okay,
if you're going to work with Melvana on this land,
these are the things, and so they'll direct me to you.
But I have all of those things already because as
of having a personal banker, it makes such a difference.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That's right. You can go through talking with different banks,
but are they truly your banker, meaning do they know
your goals? Do they have your financial needs in mind?
And we do with first Financial THEA as a relationship,
not just as a transaction.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, exactly. So you've gotten all of those documents over
to you. Let's say we're moving forward on the loan.
What are the steps that are going to happen Once
they get everything and you say yes, you're approved for
this loan, what happens next?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, definitely. So it really does depend on what your
goal is for the land, if you're going to immediately
use it to build on or if you're holding on
to it maybe for future or just for recreational use.
If that's the case, we can go ahead with the
loan closing and we don't need information on elevation or
(17:33):
you know, if it's in a flood zone. If there's
no building on the home, we don't need flood insurance,
or building on the property, we don't need flood insurance.
So what's needed typically is determined by what you're going
to use it for. If it is something that you're
looking to build on immediately or in the near future,
(17:53):
we're going to need a survey. That's number one, probably
before you do start with the plans and the bids
with the contractor for your future construction loan.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, And one of the benefits of buying a piece
of property early and just purchasing the land is once
you get that land paid off, oftentimes that can be
part of your down payment when you're not having to
come up with a ton of money on the construction
side of it, because your equity is in the property.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yes, that is correct. So if you do have a
plan in mind, maybe in five years you know you
want to purchase the property and build, you can go
ahead and do that. Now, anything you pay down on
that loan is equity in the future lending. The praise
value is what would be considered in the future versus
what you actually bought it for. Oh on it and
(18:49):
that can be used as the requirement. Typically it's ten
or twenty percent as down payment for a construction loan,
and that can be considered with the value of the line.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, so it becomes like a savings account almost. So
you're investing in your own future and what you're going
to eventually want to build, but you're doing it in
little increments to where you're just paying on a land
note instead of a land and a new construction mortgage,
which can be maybe outside of your budget now, but
(19:21):
you know in five years you're going to have the
opportunity to grow whatever you're doing and be able to
have the ability to do that in five years, and
you've invested in yourself at that point. And so that's
one of the things I like to talk to our
younger buyers about if they are considering, Okay, so they
buy a smaller house now, and they're like, but you know, Dana,
(19:43):
I want to eventually be able to build my dream home.
And I'm like, absolutely, of course, but you know, maybe
at twenty five you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I had this exact situation come up with a client
a few months ago. She was early twenties, just started
her career, she actually was living with her family, but
had the foresight that she knows she's gonna want to
be a homeowner. So she purchased a lot in a
neighborhood she's interested in, and her monthly payment is very small,
(20:15):
and then she's building on that future dream home.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, and so even if you have a starter home
and you're living in that starter home, but yet you
want to be able to have that future dream home,
it allows you to go ahead and work towards that.
So there are lots of different things that you can do,
and we could talk about a million different scenarios, but
if you would like to speak to Melvanna about your situation.
(20:40):
What I love about what they do at First Financial
Bank is that there's not just one You don't put
everyone in just one bucket. You have so many different
options to choose from, which gives them opportunity. So if
someone's considering this and they want to sit down and
visit with you about what are their options, how would
they get a hold of you.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Finally, you can reach me at four oh nine three
one three four nine five zero. That's my cell phone.
You can call or text that number. You can also
visit me at the Lumberton branch, Dollan Road branch. So
First Financial we have seven locations all across southeast Texas.
We'd love to, yeah, answer any questions.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And if they call you, you can set up an appointment
at any of the locations to sit and visit with that.
That is correct, or you can often do a lot
of this online too. Yeah, So it's up to the
client if they prefer to meet in person or just
have a phone conversation, then be able to get the
documents to you online.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yes, yes, we try to work however, whatever miss.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Whatever's easier for them. Yeah, you're convenient, right, Well, thank
you Malvana for going through all of that with this.
And when we come back, we're going to talk to
Alan about Okay, so here we are. We have purchased
our piece of property. We are so excited. Maybe we
purchased it just now, or maybe we purchased it five
(21:58):
years ago and were ready to start getting that land ready.
So when we come back, Alan Asher with Asher Construction
is going to talk to us a little bit about
what are some of the things that he can do
to help you and what does that look like. So
don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show, Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and I am joined today by
(22:19):
Melvano Krueger, who is with First Financial Bank, and we
have just been visiting about loans on land. Whether it's
a lot, loan, acreage, it doesn't matter if it has
to do with land. First Financial Bank probably has a loan,
more than likely has a loan that can help you.
I'll tell you not all banks do that. So not
(22:39):
every bank or credit union is going to be interested
in doing a lot or land loan. Some may, there
are some, but First Financial Bank because they're a community bank,
because they can do things that other banks can't do
because they are locally.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Our decisions are made.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, decisions are made local. But I don't know how.
I don't know what the word is I was looking for,
but you know it happens. Sometimes the words just leave me.
But they make the decisions local so that things can
be done here that sometimes other people can't do. So
if you have any questions about that, we've given you
Melvana's information. We'll give it to you again here in
just a little bit so that you can reach out
(23:19):
to her and let her talk you through any kind
of landlone you may be interested in. But also with
me today is Alan Asher. He is with Asher Construction
and Alan love the fact that you are a Southeast
Texas guy. You born and raised here, grew up here,
Lamar University grad engineer from Lamar University. You've been working
(23:41):
at several different engineering firms, but you have opened your
own a while back, a little bit ago, Asher Construction.
So talk to me a little bit about what is
it that you do at Asher Construction.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
So it's pretty simple. We're a land development business. So
we're kind of a package turnkey business service. So when
you buy land and you need land clearing, earthworks, grading, drainage,
pond excavations, or even tree removals, you're gonna call someone
like me. I'm gonna come in. I'm gonna give you
a game plan what needs to be done. We can
(24:18):
talk about how to do it, and I can execute
the execute the job.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
So someone is they've just closed, they're they're ready to
go ahead and get moving, and we're gonna get We're
gonna talk more about getting moving when you have when
you have a loan, some of the things you don't
want to do. So we're gonna get to that in
just a second that Melvanna brought brought up in the break.
But before when they finish closing on the land and
they want to go ahead and start working on getting
(24:43):
that land ready for whatever they're going to do, they
call you and you come out and then you guys
just have a consultation there at the property.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
That's correct. Usually we'll walk down the property to physically
see what we're working with. We can take elevation measurement
and look at the topography of the land, look at
trees that need be taken down or stumps that need
be dug up. Also, with raining so much, we can
usually tell if there's drainage problems, if there's puddles standing,
(25:13):
or you know, if ditches need to be placed certain places.
And yeah, everything is in person, you know, talk talking
with the customer. I bring my years of experience of
you know, working with dirt and heavy equipment, and I
can kind of give you an idea of what needs
to be done in order to get to the point
you want to be at.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
And so you guys take a look at all that,
you come up with a plan of action, and then
I'm sure you go back to the office and prepare
a bid, right.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
We prepare a full bid package. It shows a scope
of work, what's going to be involved. We take care
of the legal side of things for marketing utilities, making
sure the job site is safe and that you're good
to go.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
So, you know, Alan, I didn't even think about that.
So some of those things that have to be done
is connecting with the city or the county, or the
electrical companies. All of that is something that you know,
those are kind of the things that I'm glad we're
talking about that on the show today because those are
the things you don't think of, you know, and sometimes
(26:09):
people just rush into it and you need someone who's
experience to be able to do that, right.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, a lot of customers will tell me I just
need this simple activity done or the simple task done.
They don't understand that, you know, hey, there might be
a cable underground, you know, six inches to three feet
below the ground that you didn't think about, and you
can't start digging. You can't do any type of trenching
until you get those utilities marked because it can be
some very heavy fines and even potential danger to your
(26:36):
health if you start digging or pulling up trees without
marking those things.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah, that could be really number one dangerous. I mean,
if it has anything to do with something electrical or gas,
I would think that would be the biggest danger right right, absolutely,
But even at and t or spectrum, they don't look
kindly on you messing with their lines.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Right Those lines are very expensive and they're very expensive
to work on or replace. That they do not like
you cutting through them.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
The other challenge is that your neighbors around you may
not like you very much if you cut their cable
or their spectrum or there whatever, and it forces them
to be without for a while. You just might be
in trouble and not be making friends with your new
neighbors at all.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
It's never a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
No, it can't be a good thing. So let's say
I have a piece of land and I have a
bunch of trees on it, but I want to just
clear a path for a house. But then I want
to make like paths for like trails. Is that something
that you guys do?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yes, absolutely, so I actually love doing that. I grew
up riding dirt bikes and I always love cutting trails
in the woods. So it's kind of a passion. But yeah,
we can walk through the property and basically give me
an idea of where you want the trails to be at.
And we might not have to remove any trees, but
you know, you have underbrush and tall grass and all
the vines. We can certainly cut trails through there by
mulching it. It only eave a nice ground based layer
(27:59):
and you'll have some nice trail is to walk through.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, that sounds awesome. Well, in your experience of what
you've done so far in your business, what has been
one of your favorite jobs that you've done. Is there
one that stands out to you that you think, you know,
I had a blast working on this project.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah, one of my favorite jobs is also one of
the scariest ones I've done. I was in on Alaska, Texas.
I was clearing a couple of acres of land and
the pine trees were probably one hundred, one hundred and
twenty foot tall. Wow, And there was you know, seven
hundred trees and this property. So you know, it's every
kid's dream to drive big excavators, right, And I got
to do that for a few days and just grabbing
(28:37):
all these trees and yanking them out like toothpigs. Yeah,
that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
It doesn't surprise me that the scariest thing would be
the thing that you had the most fun doing. Since
you've done motocross for how many years?
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I've raised motocross for fourteen years and also have my
scott iving license.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah, so you know, it's not surprising to me. But
it is interesting that you're an engineer and so you
understand the safety aspect of all of it too. So
you've brought that into thankfully, you've brought that safety aspect
into the danger that you enjoy, right.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yeah, we take safety extremely seriously. You know, engineering is
kind of I would say eighty percent of engineering is
actually making sure that everything is safe. From civil engineers
with bridges and roads, mechanical engineers with your car, your
seat belts, your you know everything. Safety is extremely important
in my line of work, and it's actually the number
(29:30):
one thing we focus on. You know, we're going to
be safe before we cut corners and cut costs. Safety
is absolutely number one.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
And I love that you talk about that because there
are lots of people out there who have big equipment
that can just go and they're like a bull in
a China closet, you know, but not thinking about the
safety aspect of it, and so knowing that you have
that is really important. Anything else you want to add
for the listeners out there.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Well, So the main priority of sharing about my business
and doing this business is to share our faith. Yeah,
faith is most important to us. We actually operate our
business based on Colossus three seventeen, which says, whatever you
do and word or do you do it in the
name of the Lord, I'm giving thanks to him. So
that's really important to us. And just doing excellent work
(30:23):
and being reliable and being trustworthy and building a name
for ourselves. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Well, the reason you're on the show is because I
know you, and I know your character, and I know
your work ethic, and I know who you are. So
absolutely I love having people on the show who know
Any of our listeners if they called you would be
absolutely thrilled with who you are and how you do business.
And actually one of my favorite verses is just after
that Colausus three twenty three that says work as unto
(30:50):
God and not to man. So everything we do we
work towards making sure we're doing it to honor him.
So thank you, so much. We'll come back and visit
some more. If you have any questions that you want
to ask our guests, please give us a call four
oh nine eight ninety six five five eight four. We
would love to answer those questions for you live on air.
(31:10):
We'll be right back to wrap up our show. This
is Dana Simmons with the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back.
We are talking about lot and land, loans and clearing
and preparation for whatever dream you have, whether a house
or a shop or whatever it is you're wanting to do.
And we are visiting with Melvana Krueger with First Financial
(31:30):
Bank and also Alan Asher with Asher Construction, and they've
been sharing some information about what they can do and
how they can assist you if that is your dream.
One of the things that I did want to caution
you about that just came up in our break, that
I wanted to visit with you about, is that you
need to make sure first that if you're looking at
a piece of property that there is access to utilities.
(31:56):
So there are a few tracks of land being sold
right now. Had someone call me about them, and it
seemed like a really great price for the property. And
I'm thinking, wow, they've priced this really really well. Well
as you get to looking more and more into the information,
(32:16):
there is no access to electricity to that property. So
unless you're going to plan on using it for like
a a hunting little area or something where you do
not need electricity, it's going to be challenging to do
anything else there. So one of the things I think
is really important is number one, use a real estate
(32:41):
agent that is knowledgeable and it is going to ask
the right questions things that you might not even think of.
How many of you would think you have to ask
is there electricity to this property? You also need to
know is there water, is their sewer? Is their gas
if you really want gas, is there The other side
of that is their internet access. Believe it or not,
(33:02):
there is not internet access on every single piece of property.
Although it has increased immensely over the last several years,
not every single piece of property has that. So when
you're thinking about that, you have to consider all those things.
And even Jim brought up you know, if you've got
to get electricity from the road it does have Let's
say you do have electricity there at the road and
(33:24):
you've got to get it to the back of the
land where you're going to build your house. You've got
to think about those costs too. It is not cheap
running electrical to the back of a piece of property.
So do your research, do your homework, get with someone
who can help you ask the right questions. While I
love the opportunity to sell land for someone to build
(33:47):
their dream, I also want to make sure that they
are informed of all of the different pieces that go
with that, because it's not as easy as everyone thinks. Oh,
I love this piece of property, I'm gonna buy it,
and I'm a stick a house on there. That sounds wonderful,
But let's talk about what are all the things that
need to be in place for you to be able
to do that. Now, Melvana, you and I were just
(34:09):
visiting about a potential challenge that can come up when
someone buys a piece of land and then they start
to build on it themselves. They think, oh, good, I
can start paying on this land, but then I can
go ahead and start prepping a foundation and all of
that before I get a loan, or maybe they think, Okay,
(34:31):
we're going to pay for it as we go, and
they get to a point where they realize oh wow,
we don't have enough cash. We didn't realize that we
need to get a loan. Talk a little bit about
what are the challenges when you start to build on
a piece of property before you get a construction loan.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, So, if your intent is to build on the land,
it is in your best interest to not start any
type of construction until you on a construction loan. If
you have property you own and you've started to build
(35:08):
on it, maybe you've got the framework up for a shop,
it can cause issues if you do have to get
financing in the future. And the issue is not so
much with the financing, it's with the title insurance because
the concern is there could be unpaid leans on the property.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yeah. So as we started talking about that, I'm like, okay,
this makes sense. So what happens is someone starts building
on that property and they've gotten so far and then
they're like, okay, I'm gonna get my construction loan when
the title company does their search on it. If you
had someone who you hired to do that and you
didn't pay them, they could eventually file a mechanics lean
(35:56):
against you. But the title company at the time of
clothes on a construction loan if it's not there, they're
ensuring title and they're ensuring clear title, so that if
something comes up at you know, but after the fact,
that's a challenge for them. And so for them that's
a huge risk. And so the risk is the reason
that they aren't really thrilled or may not even close
(36:19):
on it, and you may not be able to get
a construction loan.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Right, that's correct. In every now and then you know,
there'll be a situation and the individual will have to
finance it a different way.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yeah, so you can't which typically if you can't do
it as a construction loan, it may cost you a
little bit more.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
That's correct. Yes, it can be you know, your cash
reserves or you would have to look at unsecured type
of lending.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Yeah, so that's something that if you haven't thought about that,
it seems like a good idea. It seems like a
good idea to go ahead and you know, start to
get your construction going. And if you haven't thought about that,
it's not a good idea. So we're wanting to help
you with all kinds of warnings at this point. So Malvanna, again,
if they have any questions about the loans or what
(37:07):
to do. Tell people how to get in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yes, feel free to give me a call. You can
send me a text also at four O nine three
one three four nine five zero. You can also search
First Financial Bank. My name is Malvana. It's easy to find.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Yeah, you can go on to the website and find
her or on Facebook. First Financial Bank also has a
Facebook page as well. That's so Alan. So Alan Asher
with Asher Construction. If someone is thinking about okay, I
want up to get some work done out here for
them to call you and get a bid, is there
any cost to that?
Speaker 3 (37:44):
There's no cost to that. It's a free free bid process. Basically,
we'll set up a schedule that works for you. I'll
come out and meet you on your property and we'll
talk about it and we can go from there.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
And So if someone is going okay, I really need
to call and get in touch with Alan, how would
they find out more information to get you?
Speaker 3 (38:01):
So? You can call me. My number is four zero
nine six one seven nine nine eight nine. You can
also visit our website at Astraconstruction coo dot com as
astraconstruction ceo dot com and you can also check out
our Facebook and Instagram page.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yeah, and so I did checked out your Facebook because
I knew Alan and I knew he had a construction company,
but I didn't have you know, I was the leader
at BSF and you were a student. I didn't have
your cell phone number. So I actually reached out to
you on Facebook and you responded very quickly. So and well,
I got your number on Facebook and called you that way.
(38:39):
So and then he called me right back. So, if
you have any questions and you want to get with Alan,
don't hesitate to reach out to him to let him
get you a bid for preparing your land for whatever
it is that you're thinking you want to do. Just
a reminder, we have some really great properties that we
have listed if you have any questions about land, and
it doesn't even have to be listed with my company.
(39:01):
It can be landlisted with any company at all in
Southeast Texas. And you want someone to guide you through
the process to help you find the perfect piece of
property that you want to do whatever you want to
do with, and you want some real help to do
that because you know you don't do it every day.
Real estate is something we do every day, even though
(39:23):
you may look at properties every day. People tell me
that all the time. Oh, I watch the market all
the time and it is fun. It is also uh
information that you may not be aware of. So we'd
love to help you. Call my office at four oh
nine eight six six eight three two six, which that's
four nine eight sixty six team the word team, or
(39:45):
you can go on to my website, which is Dana
Simmons real estate dot com. And on that website you
can connect with one of my agents, or you can
just search. You can search for any property all over
Southeast Texas, whether it's late, whether it's residential, whatever it
is that you're needing to find. We have all of
(40:05):
the properties listed in that on that website. I want
to thank you guys so much for being a part
of the show today. It's been a lot of fun.
You know, we don't talk about land that much. We're
usually talking about houses, but a lot of people want
to build their dream home, and so buying that land early,
(40:25):
getting that land paid off enables you to build equity
into that or you can also do a construction loan
with the land purchase.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Yes, that's correct, so same time.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
You can give them all kinds of different opportunities and options,
and so that's why give Melvana a call. If you're
not sure exactly what it is you want to do,
she can walk you through that process and give you
information about the best way for you to proceed. And
then Alan, thank you so much too for being on
the show. Yeah, it's so good to see you after
a very long time. It's been a while since we
(41:01):
got to see each other in BSF, but it's been
great to see you again. I just do this once
a week here on klv I every Saturday at noon,
but every other day I'm selling real estate. So if
you need any information or need any help, just need
someone to guide you through that process, please don't hesitate
to give our office a call or go onto our website.
(41:24):
We would absolutely love to help you help your dreams
come true, whether that is with a lot, or land
or residential we do all of it. So we love
to be able to sit down see what your goals
and dreams are and then see how we can help
you to achieve those goals and dreams. It's been a
great day visiting with you. I hope you are enjoying
(41:47):
this gorgeous Saturday don't miss out on enjoying that beautiful
weather out there, and we will see you again next
week at noon on klv I. This is the Dana
Simmons Show.
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