February 7, 2026 • 42 mins
- Is this the right time to buy? And what about financing? Dayna and her guests tackle the topics on today's show.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I hope you're enjoying this wonderful
Saturday and for you today, I have some very special guests.
I have Kimberly Piper. She is a lone originator with
First Financial Bank here in Southeast Texas and years and
years of experience in helping people with mortgages. So she
(00:22):
has some great tips for you and information about if
you're thinking about buying, what are some of the products
that are out there, and what are some of the
things that you need to know going into that process.
Also with us Jessica Welborn, who is a buyer's agent
for Danta Simmons real Estate, and we are going to
be talking about is now the right time to buy?
(00:44):
What makes now better than other times, or what makes
it a time that you may want to pause for
a minute. So we're going to go through all of
those things for you in today's show. But before we
get started, I'd love for you to get to know
them just a little bit. I love that our local
people here, you're in Southeast Texas or a part of
our community, and you get the privilege of meeting them
(01:05):
on air, so that before you even have to call them,
you kind of get an idea of who they are
and see, is this the person I want to do
business with? And I think you will say yes to both,
So here we go. Kimberly Piper, you are one of
the lone originators for First Financial Bank, and you were
stationed out of the Lumberton office, but you help people
(01:25):
across the entire state of Texas, right.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yes, ma'am, yep, I'm just housed there at their Lumberton branch.
That's where I live, So I was just conveniently located
for me.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So when you moved here, you kind of married a
little bit of a local celebrity. Talk a little bit
about that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, his dad, for sure is a local celebrity. So
I'm married to Michael Piper. His dad is Jack Piper.
If you've been around Southeast Texas a bit, you probably
know Jack pretty well. He worked in radio, I think
for over fifty years, so he is a bit of
a local celebrity and actually worked right here at this station,
(02:05):
so he's got a lot of friends here.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah. Absolutely, anyone who's listening to KLBI and has been
here for a little while will no doubt know the
name Jack Piper. And if you maybe don't know the name.
If you heard his voice, it's a very distinct voice.
And he served Southeast Texas for a very long time
and we appreciate all he did. Now, you aren't originally
from here, but you did move here and you've been
(02:30):
here for a while and very active in our community.
Talk a little bit about some of those things that
you do.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Sure, yep, first and foremost, I'm very active in my church.
My faith is very important. Whenever you moved to a
new location or a new state, which I've done it
several times in my adult life, but it's difficult. It's
difficult to get reconnected with people, especially when you're in
a sales position. So my church Parkway Life is a
(02:58):
big important part of my life and our family, and
it's really it's helped me persevere through some of the
tough times because we are in a little bit of
a slower market and then just having to kind of
recreate myself once again and make those connections. So my
faith is super important. Also, I was in the B
(03:19):
and I Southeast Texas Networkers. I served as the president
of their chapter and we grew, gosh, we grew probably
when I started last year, we were at about thirty members,
and when I took over as the president, we were
(03:39):
up to fifty members and now I think they have
eighty six. So we are just growing really fast. But
that's allowed me to really improve my public speaking skills
and I've got to speak in front of over groups
of two hundred people. So it's fun and I love
I love teaching. I've always loved that kind of that
part of my job, being able to counsel and coch
(04:00):
borrowers and clients.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And you've been to the banking industry for a very
long time.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yes, ma'am, since nineteen ninety four. I can't even believe
I'm this old. Sometimes join the club, I'm thinking, wow,
that was a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I know. Well, I love that you brought in about
your faith and your church. I have lots of friends
who go to Parkway Life, and wow, they are doing
some really incredible things. And talk about growth. I know
you talked about to be an eye growth, but your
church growth at Parkway Life is just incredible. There is
a movement of God there that is expanding numerically.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yes, yeah, it's been incredible just to see since we've started,
and I think on most weekends, they have like up
to fifteen hundred people attend all three services, and then
we're part of their small groups. And then we also
took part in their freedom which was like a twelve
week and then we got rebaptized together. So it was
just really fun. Yeah, it wasn't for my faith. I
(05:01):
may have questioned being here and trying to recreate myself
at fifty two.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, right, but it's been really great and there was
a purpose and yeah coming here. And one of the
things that if someone doesn't know where Parkway is, tell
them where that's located.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I don't know the actual address, but it's just right
outside of Lumberton, I think is on Keith.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
It's right at the wy Yeah, right at they if
you take the Cooks Lake Road exit, stay on the
Feeder Road. Yep, there you are on the right. So
it's right at the why as you're going into Lumberton.
And you guys have three services. Do you know those times? Yep?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I believe we have eight thirty, ten o'clock and I
think eleven thirty.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, yeah, I think always go online Google.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
It, yeah, yeah, for sure, and you can watch online
even so great, Well, we.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Are so glad you're here and participating. We're excited about
hearing what the mortgage side of lending is doing. I mean,
we've heard so much about interest rates, and so we're
going to chat a little bit about that in our
next segment. And so don't go away, guys, you're gonna
want to hear what she has to say. Also with us,
Jessica Welborn and Jessica, you've been around South East Texas
(06:08):
a long time.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I have born and raised.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, and moved away for a bit, but then moved back.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yep, so we were I was invited my whole life.
And then we lived in Port and Ahs for five
years and then moved away to the great state of
Mississippi for five years.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
And in that time frame you became friends with some
pretty famous people. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Well we got to know the Napiers from hometown, and
a lot of the people that are on the show,
the side characters were good friends of ours. So it's
pretty fun watching our little town still watching it on
TV every week and seeing seeing the difference that they're
making in their hometown is really special, which.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
We're wanting to do here locally as well, saybe in
a different way, but it is the goal. And so
God brought you back to south east Texas.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yep, and here we are. We came back in June
of sixteen, so we are literally almost ten years back.
I can't I can't believe it. We've since our marriage began,
we have not been in the same house or the
same spot for this long. This is our longest, longest time.
And we're happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, your family's here, your parents.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Are both of our parents are here. And that's part
of the reason we came back was to you know,
it was it was great to be in a new place.
We found a lot of independence with our our nuclear family,
James and I and the kids. But also it's difficult
to be to raise your kids far away from your parents,
(07:47):
you know, aging parents, and also you know, and just
just being a part of our community is as sweet.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And you mentioned your kids.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yes, got four of them, the Riley, Dacksonrory, and Dane.
Dane is the baby in sixteen and driving and it
is a whole new world.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
The Welborns have hung up the our what is it
parent pickup line tags?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
We're done with that. It's so crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Our kiddos are so far apart. Riley's twenty eight and
Dana is sixteen. So we have been, you know, parenting
school age kids for twenty three years. We've still got
a couple more left, not kids, but ye'res so yeah so.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
And you're also a grandmother.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Have a son in law, David, and three grandsons that
are just so fun. They're at fun ages. They're six, four,
and two, and they're a ball of energy and fun.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
They are a whole new perspective to life when those
grand babies come into it.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
When they call and I get to hear the big Mama,
I just oh, it just warms my heart.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
It's so sweet. Yeah, your grandma name is big Mama.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
So it was in the plan for a long time.
I don't know why, but.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
That just I heard it one time and I was like,
that's that's who I am. You I'm going to be
big Mama.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah. Well, And one of the things I love about you,
Jessica that I think is really interesting is that you
went to school to be a registered nurse, So you
have that nurturing spirit in you, but at some point
decided that's not what you wanted to do, but came
into being a real estate agent with our team brand
(09:35):
new when you came into our office how many years ago?
Six six almost like six and a half almost seven years? Yeah,
and so but you what I love about that is
you bring that same nurturing spirit where you want to
just care for people, take care of them, make sure
they're doing well. I love that about you. So we
(09:58):
will talk more about the pri of buying and what
that looks like and Jessica, what you do who assist
and help clients as they're going through that process. So
we are going to take a little break and when
we come back, we are going to start with Kimberly
Piper and she's going to talk to us a little
bit about what are mortgage rates doing. You know, been
(10:19):
talking about them for a very long time. So don't
go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and I am joined today by
Kimberly Piper. She is with First Financial Banks. She is
a mortgage broker there, and she is going to talk
to us a little bit about getting ready to purchase
(10:40):
a house. Now everyone hears about pre approvals, but talk
a little bit about what that means.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yes, ma'am. So there's pre approval and there's a prequalification.
Whenever I want to preapprove somebody, you really can't give
a true pre approval without pulling credit, without analyzing the
income the subs. A lot of times if you're just
calling some of maybe the bigger mortgage companies, where it's
(11:08):
just kind of like a call center, you're basically just
gonna be taking a loan application and doing what I
would call basically a soft approval, which really doesn't do anything.
So when I preapprove someone, I'm gonna get all the
critical information, look for any red flags, make sure that
if they want to make an offer, they're they're solid
(11:29):
and ready to go.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
So let's talk a little bit Jessica Welborne, who is
also joining us. She is one of the buyer's agents
with Dana Simmons real Estate. Let's talk a little bit
about what are the challenges when you don't get that
full pre approval that she's talking about, when they just
pull a soft one and then you make an offer
(11:51):
based on that.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I think the biggest is sticker shock, you know, is
really someone not understanding what their their payment may look like,
you know, on a soft, softful, especially, like she said,
the larger mortgage companies, they may not have a good
estimate of what their monthly payment.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Is going to look like.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Also, there may be hiccups in there that that aren't
Maybe you don't have the full story. Maybe when they're
when they get a long application, the person taking it
may not get the full story.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, and if you're making that offer, the next step
is to order inspections.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Right, and then you're out money, you know, and money
that you don't get back, and you're in the process,
you're you're going we hit the ground running as soon
as that offer is made, you know, earnest money.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
There there are things that become involved, option fee a
lot of times, all of the requirements of an inspection,
you know. And that doesn't even consider the emotional toll
that can take on someone who you fall in love
with this house. You make an offer, you think you're qualified,
(13:06):
and then fourteen twenty one days later, after you've made
lots of plans, oh, I'm so sorry, you're not pre approved.
And Jessica, you and I have both seen that in
the past with people who we've tried to warn them
in the beginning. Sure, you try to say, look, this
is not a local person. I have concern You can
(13:28):
use whomever you want, right, but I really recommend that
you get someone local. It's the same thing I have
when I have a seller and the buyer that comes
and has a buyer preapproval from an out oftown lender.
I always preface it with my seller to say, let
me just give you a warning. Here are some of
(13:49):
my concerns. And so for that seller, they can have
the right to go ahead and move forward, or they
can have the right to say I'd rather have that
buyer get a local preapproval. And you and I recently
had that. We did. We had that happen on about
two weeks ago. That came out. So there's some of
(14:10):
the challenges with allowing someone from out of town to
just do a soft pre approval. And it's not that
you're trying to be difficult or challenge, you're really trying
to protect them definitely.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And I think because we live in such a digital,
digital world now, sometimes the loan officer can take it
for granted. You know, you might say, hey, well here's
the link to fill out the application. If you just
take that application when you get it and don't talk
with the borrower and ask them questions. Like you said, Jessica,
there's so many, so many things that maybe you don't get.
(14:46):
What's the other part of the story. What are the variables?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Bless you? Thank you?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So you just really you really have to talk to
your borrower find out what's going on. And then too,
there's a lot of loan calculators on built into real
estate websites and Zillow and Redfin and all these real
estate websites that are out there, and a lot of
times they have a rate that's plugged in there that
maybe isn't what the going rate is. So you know,
(15:13):
they're looking and thinking they're pre approved for a certain
payment and they you know they they really aren't. In
taxes and insurance if those aren't estimated correctly, that can
kick someone out from qualifying.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So you really just have to.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Talk through the full the full payment, and then I
also always let them know, Okay, this is what you're
looking at payment wise, what are you paying for rent now?
Is this seemed budget budgetable for you? What are your
hobbies because some of those hobbies may now go away
because you're going to be paying a bigger house payment right.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
All of those things are so critically important, and so
when people sit down and they're like, but I don't
want to go through that whole process, they don't understand
that there are all those pieces that will impact them
down the road if they don't do it up front.
Just do it up front. There are also lenders who
don't understand Texas law. I just had one of these
(16:08):
happen where it was a borrower who was married and
was buying a primary residence and the borrower was on
the loan, but when we got to closing, it's like, oh, yeah,
he has a wife, and the lender had no idea
the wife needed to be included from the deed because
(16:30):
of the laws we have in Texas. And so the
challenge can be that those lenders just don't understand all
the nuances. Insurance is one too, because one not only
just the fact that we have in Jefferson County, you
know windstorm as a separate policy flooding. Is it going
(16:51):
to require flood insurance? How much is that going to
add to the note? Is that going to push you
out of being qualified for this property? I mean it
can be absolutely. We've seen it where the property flood
insurance was like four thousand dollars a year. Will that
pushed that bar or from being able to be able
to qualify for that loan. And so you've been through
(17:14):
all of that, and you've spent money on an inspection
and appraisal, maybe even a survey, and here you are
now in a situation. So we don't want to skip
that true preapproval, do we?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
No?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
No, for no reason. The other thing that I think
is critically important is people. When you're dealing with people online,
they really don't care as much as local people. Like
what you were saying, you're going to run into them,
definitely in the grocery store, Yes, at church, at sporting events, sure,
(17:52):
you're going to run into these people. So what you
do and how you do it is important to you.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
It's my reputation, so absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
And it sticks with you. Okay. So the other thing
I think that's critically important that you and I had
talked about is focusing only on the rate. So sometimes
when you reach out to those big lenders, they're quoting
you a really low rate, but you have no idea
what the other fees are exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, always make sure when you if you are shopping around,
which I always you know, I know you guys do too.
I recommend my borrowers shop around. I know our rates
are very competitive, so our rates are are always very good.
But if you are shopping around, let's make sure we're
comparing apples to apples and looking at that loan estimate
because I can get you whatever rate you want, you know,
(18:42):
as low as it goes on the rate sheet, but
you're going to pay for that. And so a lot
of times clients don't understand, Yeah, you know, XYZ mortgage
company is giving me four point nine to nine percent,
but I'm also paying twelve thousand dollars and extra points
that make no sense to pay exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
And Jessica, you and I do this all the time.
We say, bring in your rate sheets, your fee sheets. Yeah,
let's look at those together, because we know what we're
looking at. A bar or may not.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
It's very confusing. You know. They made the new loan
estimate easier for the consumer to understand, and it's it's
not easy to understand.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
It's not every time the government gets involved in making
something easier and somehow it's more difficult. I just it's
every time we were shrinking our closing disclosures from being
two pages. They were going to shrink that, we're now
at five pages. So it's an amazing anomaly. I don't
know how they manage it, but they do. So you're
(19:41):
exactly right. Let's look at those fees sheets, see how
we're comparing. There are things on there like they may
have you closing at the first of the month and
someone else has you closing at the last of the month,
so that all that interest I mean, so there are
so many variables that could be on that sheet that
(20:02):
really are not apples and apples yep.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I've had borrowers send me a competing loan estimate. They
haven't even put in the escros for the taxes and insurance,
so of course my estimate looks, you know, five six
thousand dollars higher. But barrowers don't understand. You know, you're
selling one product and then get to the closing table
and it's like, wow, I don't ever want my loan
(20:25):
estimate to go out and have something be unexpected. I
want to make sure I'm quoting it accurately and letting
them know, hey, here's what the only things that could change,
which are minimal.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
And for us at our team, we'd rather overestimate and
have you pleasantly surprised for sure than to underestimate. That's
just critical for us. Well, when we come back, we
are going to talk more about the loan process, what
you can expect and you know, what are rates doing
right now and what do we expect them to do?
So don't go away. This is data sentmens with the
(20:58):
data SIMENS show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and
I have Kimberly Piper and Jessica Wellborn here with me.
Kimberly is a loan originator with First Financial Bank and
Jessica is a buyer's agent with Dana Simmons real Estate.
And we're talking about buying homes and what are some
of the first steps, What do you need to know
(21:19):
and why is it important? And so we've just been
through why you really want to get a true pre
approval and what you need to focus on when you're
looking at those numbers. Now, as you're looking at those numbers,
like Jessica, there are lots of different things that we
look at when we talk to a buyer. Let's say
we have a buyer and they come in with a
certain loan pre approval. There are some houses that only
(21:42):
qualify for specific ones. So we're going to talk about that,
but first let's go to Kimberly and let her tell
us what are some of those different loan products.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Sure, so you have your standard conventional loan, and there
is a big misconception out there that you have to
have the twenty percent down to get a conventional loan.
We can do conventional loans with as little as three
percent down. Now, one of the borrowers does have to
be a first time home buyer or to not have
purchased a home within the last three years. That's the qualification.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
I think that's huge, but people don't understand that even
if it's your second home, if you haven't bought a
home in three years, yes, you're still considered a first
time home buyer.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, and you do, of course have to carry the
mortgage insurance premium, the PMI, But it's very affordable now.
You know a lot of people, well it was after
seven and oh eight mortgage insurance premiums were extremely expensive.
They're very low now. I mean, unless you have very
poor credit, you could expect to pay probably like seventy
(22:42):
five to maybe one hundred and twenty five dollars a
month for mortgage insurance, so it's it's definitely affordable, and
it can be dropped once the loan does reach the
eighty percent loan to value.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
So if someone just has three or three or and
a half percent, a lot of times they thought they
could only go FAHA. Talk the difference between an FHA
loan and a conventional loan and what the benefits could be. Sure.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Sure, So with an FHA loan, you can never drop
the mortgage insurance, so you are stuck with that for
the term of the loan, where with conventional you can
have it be dropped. And then there are a lot
of disclosures that go along with the FAHA loans and
property conditions that have to be met. It's funny a
lot of times first time home buyers will contact me
(23:26):
and say, well, I need to get an FHA loan,
and so I'll always ask, well, what makes you think
you need an FHA loan? So I'll kind of find
out where there it may be pass credit problems or
is it just kind of a stigma that they've always
been told, Hey, first time home buyers get an FHA loan.
I don't like to pigeonhole anybody just because I want
(23:47):
to make sure that they're getting the right product. Also,
with the FHA loans, the property condition and appraisals, it
requires a specific appraisal. But on the flip side of that,
FHA can be a little more generous on the debt
ratios and the loan loan to values.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
So, so the benefit to FAHA is that if your
credit has a little bit of a challenge, or if
your debt to income may be a little off, FAHA
may be the best route to go. And that's three
and a half percent down, correct. Yeah. The challenge with FHA, though, Jessica,
let's talk what are some of the challenges for a
(24:30):
home buyer who may be looking to purchase a home
and they have an FHA loan approval.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I think the biggest challenge is property condition. Like Kimberly
was saying, you know, the house has to meet a
lot of times when we're looking at an FAHA approval,
it is in a price range that houses that have
gotten expensive. The houses may may need some work, you know,
they may need some updating. And my husband and I
(25:01):
looked at when we bought our house, we were we're
fine doing work on a house. We would rather get
a good price and do the work. But with an
FHA loan, you kind of can't do both on something.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah some of those requirements. Yeah, well, let's talk about
what are some of those requirements that FAHA may may
call on an appraisal.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
My best way to explain it is to say, if
it's a government backed loan, they're going to look at
safety and usage. They want you to be able to
It doesn't have to be pretty, but you have to
be able to move into the house and safely use it.
And so it has to have the appliances and we're
(25:42):
not talking about a refrigerator, washing dryer, but the built
in appliances. It had no rotten wood, you know, broken glass.
It has to be functioning, solid, safe and usable.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
So I think the biggest issue that can come up
with FAHA is often it has to do with electrical
So when houses were built, and when they're older homes,
they were not built with ground circuit interrupters GFCIs, and
so a lot of these houses it's not required that
(26:17):
you do that prior to putting it on the market.
So the seller says, I don't want to do that.
And so the seller may say I don't want to
sell to a buyer who is getting a government insured loan,
which can be FAHA VA and USDA. It doesn't mean
(26:37):
that the house is not safe, although GFCIs are absolutely
more safe than not having them, sure, but the challenge
is that they're not willing to do that. So it
can limit you if you are if you have an
FHA loan, and so not.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
To mention if and as spring is here and the
market heats up, if you if you're competing offer, and
you're competing against an offer that is conventional, the agent
is going to very likely explain to that seller the
hurdles that you may have to cross. You know that
(27:15):
it's just an easier appraisal with less hurdles between contract
and closing around a conventional versus an FHA.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
So it's not impossible. No, absolutely not. We do it
all the time. Large percentage of buyers shoes fhi.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
But what Kimberly, I think you're saying is look at
your options. Definitely.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, And that's where working with a really someone who's
more of a loan expert, who can look and analyze,
you know, your situation, make sure that loan is going
to fit, you know, financially for the long term.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah. And then and then look at those numbers. Yeah,
I think not only looking at your numbers of costs
to close, but looking at those monthly numbers.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Definitely, that's super important. I always the first thing that
I ask when I start talking to a first time
home buyer is you know what I know that you
want to know how much you qualify for? But what
are you comfortable with? What's your comfort level right now?
How much are you paying for rent right now? And
then I have to break the news to them. Okay,
here's where rates are sitting for a home that price.
(28:18):
Here's what you could expect to pay monthly. And nine
times out of ten they're astonished. They can't believe that
they're so far far off from where they thought.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, and it's not just interest rate. Especially right now,
we'll talk briefly about interest rates have gone down.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yes, interest rates are actually in an average range. They're
sitting right below six percent. Gosh, I've been doing this
for over thirty years, and really a good interest rate
was in the fives that was considered a great rate.
I think we're just all a little spoiled thinking we're
getting these two and three percent rates again.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
And I always tell people, if you average rates over
the last thirty years, really a little over seven, yes,
is the average rate over the last thirty years. And
so the fact that we're even in the fibes yes,
is amazing. Really rate. But I'll tell you where affordability
is a challenge. Taxes and insurance. Yes, those are the
(29:14):
two things that over the last three years have increased significantly.
And so that's where I think a buyer is shocked. Yes,
And there are things that you can help them do
to help them kind of bring those down as well.
So it's not just the loan side. It's saying, Okay,
what are some things we can do to facilitate making
(29:34):
this more manageable.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah, definitely. You know, always shop your insurance, and it's
it's tough right now. Insurance is extremely expensive, even from
carrier to carrier, even the best rates out there, just
because of all the natural disasters here with the flooding.
I do loans in other states as well. Colorado is
very fire prone, so their insurance, believe it or not,
(29:56):
is even higher. There than it is here, but shopping
the insurance, and then I also make sure people understand
that they can homestead the taxes. That's going to give
them a little bit better, a little tax break there.
But it's just making sure they really understand that you
could have hoads the insurance and also that the you know, yes,
(30:18):
your principal and interest payment stays fixed for that term,
provided we've given you a thirty year fixed straight or
fifteen year fixed strate. But those taxes and insurance can
go and go up and down. So even some of
the clients that I had that were lucky enough to
get those two and three percent rates, they've seen their
payments go up five maybe six hundred dollars between taxes
(30:41):
and insurance. So it's it is tough just economically right now.
I think that's where people are scared. Even with these
great rates, you just have the cost increases for general living.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Absolutely, and so those are some things that you know,
as real tours, we're always looking to try to talk
to our legislatures and work on making those changes. But
when we come back, we're going to talk to Jessica
about Okay, so we have gotten with Kimberly we are
on the path to have our pre approval. We know
(31:14):
what we're doing, we know what we can afford. What's next.
Don't go away, We'll be right back. This is the
Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and
Kimberly Piper with First Financial Bank and I we have
been talking about getting a mortgage, the differences and the
types of mortgages. What are some of the loans. What
(31:38):
are the different types of loans? Also, you know what's
the difference in a pre approval that is a true
pre approval and a soft one. If you didn't get
a chance to listen to the first part of this
show next week, this will be posted on the iHeartMedia podcast,
so you can go back and take a listen. I
(31:58):
think that it will be helped cool for you. But
let's talk Jessica Welborne with Dana Simmons. Real estate is here.
She is our buyer's agent. And Jessica, we have our
pre approval. Uh, they make an appointment, we sit down
in the office, talk a little bit about what does
that look like.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Now is the fun part. You know, you know what
you can spend, you know you're ready to go. So
we sit down in our office and go over the
beyond the basics. We we know, you know, three bedroom
to bath or whatever it is, and your budget, where
you want to buy, what you're looking for, how you
(32:38):
use your home. Is a good thing to help us
narrow down really what's important to you, get behind the facts,
get to what matters to you, and start making a
list of properties to go see.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, it's the listening side of it, you know. And
sometimes when people come in as they were talking. I
love it when a husband and wife do it because
things come out that it is just funny.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
It is.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
It is so much fun, and so you get to
kind of talk through what is important and what they
start off in the conversation saying, by the end of
our conversation has shifted a little bit, and it's such
a good opportunity to not just go meet him at
a house and show a house, right, but to build
(33:29):
a rapport and help us to begin to locate for you. You know,
so many people think, oh, I'll just shop online, and
yeah you can, but there's so much that's not online, right,
So sitting down and getting to know their lifestyle. So
for for our office, as sitting down and having that
hearttheart conversation, getting to know each other so that you
(33:51):
can best help them. And then and then we have
tools for them as well.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Absolutely, we have a great buyer's book that I like
to share with my new buyers. I always tell them
it doesn't replace me, but it does. It answers a
lot of questions, but it also can bring about questions
just walking through the process and giving you kind of
a baseline. I meet with multiple people in a day.
(34:16):
Sometimes that someone has bought many homes, they're comfortable, they're
ready to go. And then the next person I can
meet with, well, they will say, we've never done this
and we have no idea what we're doing. So sometimes
we are starting from ground zero, which is really fun.
I love educating my new buyers that have never bought
a home before.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
It's a fun process. But even for those who have
bought several in the past, things change change.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Just like we're talking about insurance and taxes and such everything.
I mean, things change as far as even the process
with option periods and competing offers. Like we said, you know, yes, absolutely,
things change all the time.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Well, the other thing I love is that we created
that buyer book from thirty years of experience. It's not
something that we ordered from a national company. This is
something that our office created, curated and produced to help
guide you, and we change it often, yes, things change.
One of my favorite things in that book is our
(35:17):
list of vendors absolute. So that book takes you from
the very first appointment all the way through closing, and
then after closing, talk a little bit about what those
steps are. So they come in, have a conversation with you,
You get a fuel for what they're looking for, and
you schedule some appointments.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Yep, and we go and look at houses. When they
find the right one, When they find the one that
they want to make an offer on, we sit down
again and write up that offer.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
It's just the.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Contract with It doesn't become a contract until everyone signed it.
So it's a written offer that's got all the terms.
You know, that's more than just a sales price. Some
people think that that's all that that's there's a lot
of different factors, a lot of different things where we
can negotiate through the process.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
So we write up the offer.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Seller accepts, let's say, or we negotiate back and forth
a little bit and the seller accepts, then we're officially
under contract and that's when the busy time starts.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
In a bit. So one of the things that I
know that you do that even before you make that offer,
once they really like that property, there are a lot
of things that you're looking into to see what some
important things. So if you're in Jefferson County, for example,
what are some of the things you have to look.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
At, Well, we need to look at flood zones, we
need to look at windstorm insurance schools that you know,
it really is important. Different things are important to different people.
So whatever is important, there's hoa's there are restrictions in
some places, all different.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
So depending on that house, you really there are so
many other things to look at other than oh this
is pretty I like it. One of the things that
just came up this week for us is that the
house did have a windstorm certificate on it, and the
windstorm certificate was I think sixteen years old. But on
the seller's disclosure they said they replaced the roof six
years ago and there is no windstorm certificate for that
(37:18):
six year old roof. Yeah, when that was album dressed
with the listing agent at the other company. She didn't
notice that when she listed the house. The challenge is
if you don't have a buyer's agent checking that and
making sure that that roof age matches with the windstorm.
(37:40):
If you just look and say, hey, it has a
windstorm certificate. Yeah, it's sixteen years old on six then
that can be a problem for a buyer in the
next several years because if that as that near's twenty
years old, that WPI eight and they think that's how
old the roof is, that insurance company may not want
to ensure you, or you may have to pay more
(38:04):
because it doesn't have an insurance windstorm, or some won't
write you at all. Right, So there are lots of
little nuances like that that we do that people have
no idea. That's why having an experienced agent is so important.
Some people are like, oh, well, my best friend sells
(38:24):
real estate on the side, Like that's great. I love
that you're supporting your friend, but does your friend really
understand what they're doing? Right?
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Yeah, just like you said, our vendor list even on
insurance to be able to talk to an not an
online insurance company. We've talked a lot about an online lender,
but also an insurance company that's not from here and
they don't know that, like you said about the WP
I eight and windstorm. And I've gotten buyers that in
(38:56):
our option period get an insurance quote and it sounds
great until it gets down to real life and they're like, oh,
we thought that was.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Included well, and then as the lender, yes, you're looking
at that because the lender is going to have requirements
for insurance, right correct. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
And another good point that I wanted to bring up
is once the borrower does go finally go under contract,
you know, of course I always tell them send me
the contract right away. I'll make sure I'm working with
the with the buyer's agent. But also I want to
go back through and readdress. Hey, here's where the rate
is now since we prequalified you. Maybe it's higher, maybe
(39:36):
it's lower. Also, what are the taxes? How much is
the insurance going to be? Because they're going to remember
whatever you prequalified them with. Maybe it was thirty days,
could have been sixty days ago, and they have this
number in their head. My payment's going to be X.
But then maybe this property the taxes are one thousand
dollars more per year, or the insurance ends up being
more so just going back and having that conversation with
(39:59):
them once again.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
And making sure you're doing that in the option period.
And so for most transactions in the offer, you're including
an option period, and there are some things that are
important to address in that option period.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Insurance, yes, very very important for this specific address, not
just for the idea of a house, but for this address.
What is the insurance situation? Inspections also very very big.
And then negotiating any repairs.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah, so as you can hear, this topic today has
been about you know, are you thinking about buying a house?
Is now right for you? There are lots of things
to consider as you move forward doing that and I
would love if you, and I know she would too,
if you would give Kimberly a call and let her
talk you through. Don't cost anything right now, We.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Can always do a free consultation for you, sit down
and talk with you at any time.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Yeah, so tell people how would they get a hold
of it.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
You can stop by the Lumberton office or feel free
to reach out to me on my cell phone at
four oh nine two zero one five one eight seven.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
So give you a call. Also, you're on Facebook. Yep.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
You can find me there for sure.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And you're called the mortgage Buff. The mortgage Buff.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Yeah, I'm a bodybuilder competitor, so I kind of put
that as my little tagline. It's fun.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
I love that, I really do. It's wonderful. It helps
people remember you too, the mortgage Buff. Right, I am
not the Buff. I'm the Granta and Jessica. So if
someone's thinking about buying and they're like, you know, I'd
like to interview you, Jessica, to see if we're a
good fit. How would they connect with you to be
(41:39):
able to.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Do that, I would say, call our office. We have
people answering the phones from eight to eight Monday through
Saturday and one to eightday on Sunday and eight. That's
four O nine eight six six eight three two six
or eight six six. Team is the easy way to
remember it, yep, or my cell phone for a nine
(42:02):
three five one five two six zero.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Well, ladies, it's been a pleasure having you on the show,
and absolutely Jessica's right. You can call our office at
any point in time. We're also happy to get you
in touch with Kimberly. You can also go to our
website Danasimmons real estate dot com and there's a place
there where you can make an appointment. We would love
to chat with you and see if now is the
(42:24):
right time for you. And one of the things I
love both about Kimberly and Jessica is if now it's
not the right time, they will walk you through what
you need to do to get to that point to
fulfill those dreams for you so that you can buy
a home. So our goal is to guide you through
that process for a timing that is right for you.
So hope you have a great Saturday. Thank you for
(42:46):
joining us. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I hope you're enjoying this wonderful
Saturday and for you today, I have some very special guests.
I have Kimberly Piper. She is a lone originator with
First Financial Bank here in Southeast Texas and years and
years of experience in helping people with mortgages. So she
(00:22):
has some great tips for you and information about if
you're thinking about buying, what are some of the products
that are out there, and what are some of the
things that you need to know going into that process.
Also with us Jessica Welborn, who is a buyer's agent
for Danta Simmons real Estate, and we are going to
be talking about is now the right time to buy?
(00:44):
What makes now better than other times, or what makes
it a time that you may want to pause for
a minute. So we're going to go through all of
those things for you in today's show. But before we
get started, I'd love for you to get to know
them just a little bit. I love that our local
people here, you're in Southeast Texas or a part of
our community, and you get the privilege of meeting them
(01:05):
on air, so that before you even have to call them,
you kind of get an idea of who they are
and see, is this the person I want to do
business with? And I think you will say yes to both,
So here we go. Kimberly Piper, you are one of
the lone originators for First Financial Bank, and you were
stationed out of the Lumberton office, but you help people
(01:25):
across the entire state of Texas, right.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yes, ma'am, yep, I'm just housed there at their Lumberton branch.
That's where I live, So I was just conveniently located
for me.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So when you moved here, you kind of married a
little bit of a local celebrity. Talk a little bit
about that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, his dad, for sure is a local celebrity. So
I'm married to Michael Piper. His dad is Jack Piper.
If you've been around Southeast Texas a bit, you probably
know Jack pretty well. He worked in radio, I think
for over fifty years, so he is a bit of
a local celebrity and actually worked right here at this station,
(02:05):
so he's got a lot of friends here.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah. Absolutely, anyone who's listening to KLBI and has been
here for a little while will no doubt know the
name Jack Piper. And if you maybe don't know the name.
If you heard his voice, it's a very distinct voice.
And he served Southeast Texas for a very long time
and we appreciate all he did. Now, you aren't originally
from here, but you did move here and you've been
(02:30):
here for a while and very active in our community.
Talk a little bit about some of those things that
you do.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Sure, yep, first and foremost, I'm very active in my church.
My faith is very important. Whenever you moved to a
new location or a new state, which I've done it
several times in my adult life, but it's difficult. It's
difficult to get reconnected with people, especially when you're in
a sales position. So my church Parkway Life is a
(02:58):
big important part of my life and our family, and
it's really it's helped me persevere through some of the
tough times because we are in a little bit of
a slower market and then just having to kind of
recreate myself once again and make those connections. So my
faith is super important. Also, I was in the B
(03:19):
and I Southeast Texas Networkers. I served as the president
of their chapter and we grew, gosh, we grew probably
when I started last year, we were at about thirty members,
and when I took over as the president, we were
(03:39):
up to fifty members and now I think they have
eighty six. So we are just growing really fast. But
that's allowed me to really improve my public speaking skills
and I've got to speak in front of over groups
of two hundred people. So it's fun and I love
I love teaching. I've always loved that kind of that
part of my job, being able to counsel and coch
(04:00):
borrowers and clients.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And you've been to the banking industry for a very
long time.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yes, ma'am, since nineteen ninety four. I can't even believe
I'm this old. Sometimes join the club, I'm thinking, wow,
that was a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I know. Well, I love that you brought in about
your faith and your church. I have lots of friends
who go to Parkway Life, and wow, they are doing
some really incredible things. And talk about growth. I know
you talked about to be an eye growth, but your
church growth at Parkway Life is just incredible. There is
a movement of God there that is expanding numerically.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yes, yeah, it's been incredible just to see since we've started,
and I think on most weekends, they have like up
to fifteen hundred people attend all three services, and then
we're part of their small groups. And then we also
took part in their freedom which was like a twelve
week and then we got rebaptized together. So it was
just really fun. Yeah, it wasn't for my faith. I
(05:01):
may have questioned being here and trying to recreate myself
at fifty two.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, right, but it's been really great and there was
a purpose and yeah coming here. And one of the
things that if someone doesn't know where Parkway is, tell
them where that's located.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I don't know the actual address, but it's just right
outside of Lumberton, I think is on Keith.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
It's right at the wy Yeah, right at they if
you take the Cooks Lake Road exit, stay on the
Feeder Road. Yep, there you are on the right. So
it's right at the why as you're going into Lumberton.
And you guys have three services. Do you know those times? Yep?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I believe we have eight thirty, ten o'clock and I
think eleven thirty.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, yeah, I think always go online Google.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
It, yeah, yeah, for sure, and you can watch online
even so great, Well, we.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Are so glad you're here and participating. We're excited about
hearing what the mortgage side of lending is doing. I mean,
we've heard so much about interest rates, and so we're
going to chat a little bit about that in our
next segment. And so don't go away, guys, you're gonna
want to hear what she has to say. Also with us,
Jessica Welborn and Jessica, you've been around South East Texas
(06:08):
a long time.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I have born and raised.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, and moved away for a bit, but then moved back.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yep, so we were I was invited my whole life.
And then we lived in Port and Ahs for five
years and then moved away to the great state of
Mississippi for five years.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
And in that time frame you became friends with some
pretty famous people. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Well we got to know the Napiers from hometown, and
a lot of the people that are on the show,
the side characters were good friends of ours. So it's
pretty fun watching our little town still watching it on
TV every week and seeing seeing the difference that they're
making in their hometown is really special, which.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
We're wanting to do here locally as well, saybe in
a different way, but it is the goal. And so
God brought you back to south east Texas.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yep, and here we are. We came back in June
of sixteen, so we are literally almost ten years back.
I can't I can't believe it. We've since our marriage began,
we have not been in the same house or the
same spot for this long. This is our longest, longest time.
And we're happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, your family's here, your parents.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Are both of our parents are here. And that's part
of the reason we came back was to you know,
it was it was great to be in a new place.
We found a lot of independence with our our nuclear family,
James and I and the kids. But also it's difficult
to be to raise your kids far away from your parents,
(07:47):
you know, aging parents, and also you know, and just
just being a part of our community is as sweet.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And you mentioned your kids.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yes, got four of them, the Riley, Dacksonrory, and Dane.
Dane is the baby in sixteen and driving and it
is a whole new world.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
The Welborns have hung up the our what is it
parent pickup line tags?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
We're done with that. It's so crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Our kiddos are so far apart. Riley's twenty eight and
Dana is sixteen. So we have been, you know, parenting
school age kids for twenty three years. We've still got
a couple more left, not kids, but ye'res so yeah so.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
And you're also a grandmother.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Have a son in law, David, and three grandsons that
are just so fun. They're at fun ages. They're six, four,
and two, and they're a ball of energy and fun.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
They are a whole new perspective to life when those
grand babies come into it.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
When they call and I get to hear the big Mama,
I just oh, it just warms my heart.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
It's so sweet. Yeah, your grandma name is big Mama.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
So it was in the plan for a long time.
I don't know why, but.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
That just I heard it one time and I was like,
that's that's who I am. You I'm going to be
big Mama.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah. Well, And one of the things I love about you,
Jessica that I think is really interesting is that you
went to school to be a registered nurse, So you
have that nurturing spirit in you, but at some point
decided that's not what you wanted to do, but came
into being a real estate agent with our team brand
(09:35):
new when you came into our office how many years ago?
Six six almost like six and a half almost seven years? Yeah,
and so but you what I love about that is
you bring that same nurturing spirit where you want to
just care for people, take care of them, make sure
they're doing well. I love that about you. So we
(09:58):
will talk more about the pri of buying and what
that looks like and Jessica, what you do who assist
and help clients as they're going through that process. So
we are going to take a little break and when
we come back, we are going to start with Kimberly
Piper and she's going to talk to us a little
bit about what are mortgage rates doing. You know, been
(10:19):
talking about them for a very long time. So don't
go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and I am joined today by
Kimberly Piper. She is with First Financial Banks. She is
a mortgage broker there, and she is going to talk
to us a little bit about getting ready to purchase
(10:40):
a house. Now everyone hears about pre approvals, but talk
a little bit about what that means.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yes, ma'am. So there's pre approval and there's a prequalification.
Whenever I want to preapprove somebody, you really can't give
a true pre approval without pulling credit, without analyzing the
income the subs. A lot of times if you're just
calling some of maybe the bigger mortgage companies, where it's
(11:08):
just kind of like a call center, you're basically just
gonna be taking a loan application and doing what I
would call basically a soft approval, which really doesn't do anything.
So when I preapprove someone, I'm gonna get all the
critical information, look for any red flags, make sure that
if they want to make an offer, they're they're solid
(11:29):
and ready to go.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
So let's talk a little bit Jessica Welborne, who is
also joining us. She is one of the buyer's agents
with Dana Simmons real Estate. Let's talk a little bit
about what are the challenges when you don't get that
full pre approval that she's talking about, when they just
pull a soft one and then you make an offer
(11:51):
based on that.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I think the biggest is sticker shock, you know, is
really someone not understanding what their their payment may look like,
you know, on a soft, softful, especially, like she said,
the larger mortgage companies, they may not have a good
estimate of what their monthly payment.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Is going to look like.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Also, there may be hiccups in there that that aren't
Maybe you don't have the full story. Maybe when they're
when they get a long application, the person taking it
may not get the full story.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, and if you're making that offer, the next step
is to order inspections.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Right, and then you're out money, you know, and money
that you don't get back, and you're in the process,
you're you're going we hit the ground running as soon
as that offer is made, you know, earnest money.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
There there are things that become involved, option fee a
lot of times, all of the requirements of an inspection,
you know. And that doesn't even consider the emotional toll
that can take on someone who you fall in love
with this house. You make an offer, you think you're qualified,
(13:06):
and then fourteen twenty one days later, after you've made
lots of plans, oh, I'm so sorry, you're not pre approved.
And Jessica, you and I have both seen that in
the past with people who we've tried to warn them
in the beginning. Sure, you try to say, look, this
is not a local person. I have concern You can
(13:28):
use whomever you want, right, but I really recommend that
you get someone local. It's the same thing I have
when I have a seller and the buyer that comes
and has a buyer preapproval from an out oftown lender.
I always preface it with my seller to say, let
me just give you a warning. Here are some of
(13:49):
my concerns. And so for that seller, they can have
the right to go ahead and move forward, or they
can have the right to say I'd rather have that
buyer get a local preapproval. And you and I recently
had that. We did. We had that happen on about
two weeks ago. That came out. So there's some of
(14:10):
the challenges with allowing someone from out of town to
just do a soft pre approval. And it's not that
you're trying to be difficult or challenge, you're really trying
to protect them definitely.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And I think because we live in such a digital,
digital world now, sometimes the loan officer can take it
for granted. You know, you might say, hey, well here's
the link to fill out the application. If you just
take that application when you get it and don't talk
with the borrower and ask them questions. Like you said, Jessica,
there's so many, so many things that maybe you don't get.
(14:46):
What's the other part of the story. What are the variables?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Bless you? Thank you?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So you just really you really have to talk to
your borrower find out what's going on. And then too,
there's a lot of loan calculators on built into real
estate websites and Zillow and Redfin and all these real
estate websites that are out there, and a lot of
times they have a rate that's plugged in there that
maybe isn't what the going rate is. So you know,
(15:13):
they're looking and thinking they're pre approved for a certain
payment and they you know they they really aren't. In
taxes and insurance if those aren't estimated correctly, that can
kick someone out from qualifying.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So you really just have to.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Talk through the full the full payment, and then I
also always let them know, Okay, this is what you're
looking at payment wise, what are you paying for rent now?
Is this seemed budget budgetable for you? What are your
hobbies because some of those hobbies may now go away
because you're going to be paying a bigger house payment right.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
All of those things are so critically important, and so
when people sit down and they're like, but I don't
want to go through that whole process, they don't understand
that there are all those pieces that will impact them
down the road if they don't do it up front.
Just do it up front. There are also lenders who
don't understand Texas law. I just had one of these
(16:08):
happen where it was a borrower who was married and
was buying a primary residence and the borrower was on
the loan, but when we got to closing, it's like, oh, yeah,
he has a wife, and the lender had no idea
the wife needed to be included from the deed because
(16:30):
of the laws we have in Texas. And so the
challenge can be that those lenders just don't understand all
the nuances. Insurance is one too, because one not only
just the fact that we have in Jefferson County, you
know windstorm as a separate policy flooding. Is it going
(16:51):
to require flood insurance? How much is that going to
add to the note? Is that going to push you
out of being qualified for this property? I mean it
can be absolutely. We've seen it where the property flood
insurance was like four thousand dollars a year. Will that
pushed that bar or from being able to be able
to qualify for that loan. And so you've been through
(17:14):
all of that, and you've spent money on an inspection
and appraisal, maybe even a survey, and here you are
now in a situation. So we don't want to skip
that true preapproval, do we?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
No?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
No, for no reason. The other thing that I think
is critically important is people. When you're dealing with people online,
they really don't care as much as local people. Like
what you were saying, you're going to run into them,
definitely in the grocery store, Yes, at church, at sporting events, sure,
(17:52):
you're going to run into these people. So what you
do and how you do it is important to you.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
It's my reputation, so absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
And it sticks with you. Okay. So the other thing
I think that's critically important that you and I had
talked about is focusing only on the rate. So sometimes
when you reach out to those big lenders, they're quoting
you a really low rate, but you have no idea
what the other fees are exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, always make sure when you if you are shopping around,
which I always you know, I know you guys do too.
I recommend my borrowers shop around. I know our rates
are very competitive, so our rates are are always very good.
But if you are shopping around, let's make sure we're
comparing apples to apples and looking at that loan estimate
because I can get you whatever rate you want, you know,
(18:42):
as low as it goes on the rate sheet, but
you're going to pay for that. And so a lot
of times clients don't understand, Yeah, you know, XYZ mortgage
company is giving me four point nine to nine percent,
but I'm also paying twelve thousand dollars and extra points
that make no sense to pay exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
And Jessica, you and I do this all the time.
We say, bring in your rate sheets, your fee sheets. Yeah,
let's look at those together, because we know what we're
looking at. A bar or may not.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
It's very confusing. You know. They made the new loan
estimate easier for the consumer to understand, and it's it's
not easy to understand.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
It's not every time the government gets involved in making
something easier and somehow it's more difficult. I just it's
every time we were shrinking our closing disclosures from being
two pages. They were going to shrink that, we're now
at five pages. So it's an amazing anomaly. I don't
know how they manage it, but they do. So you're
(19:41):
exactly right. Let's look at those fees sheets, see how
we're comparing. There are things on there like they may
have you closing at the first of the month and
someone else has you closing at the last of the month,
so that all that interest I mean, so there are
so many variables that could be on that sheet that
(20:02):
really are not apples and apples yep.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I've had borrowers send me a competing loan estimate. They
haven't even put in the escros for the taxes and insurance,
so of course my estimate looks, you know, five six
thousand dollars higher. But barrowers don't understand. You know, you're
selling one product and then get to the closing table
and it's like, wow, I don't ever want my loan
(20:25):
estimate to go out and have something be unexpected. I
want to make sure I'm quoting it accurately and letting
them know, hey, here's what the only things that could change,
which are minimal.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
And for us at our team, we'd rather overestimate and
have you pleasantly surprised for sure than to underestimate. That's
just critical for us. Well, when we come back, we
are going to talk more about the loan process, what
you can expect and you know, what are rates doing
right now and what do we expect them to do?
So don't go away. This is data sentmens with the
(20:58):
data SIMENS show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and
I have Kimberly Piper and Jessica Wellborn here with me.
Kimberly is a loan originator with First Financial Bank and
Jessica is a buyer's agent with Dana Simmons real Estate.
And we're talking about buying homes and what are some
of the first steps, What do you need to know
(21:19):
and why is it important? And so we've just been
through why you really want to get a true pre
approval and what you need to focus on when you're
looking at those numbers. Now, as you're looking at those numbers,
like Jessica, there are lots of different things that we
look at when we talk to a buyer. Let's say
we have a buyer and they come in with a
certain loan pre approval. There are some houses that only
(21:42):
qualify for specific ones. So we're going to talk about that,
but first let's go to Kimberly and let her tell
us what are some of those different loan products.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Sure, so you have your standard conventional loan, and there
is a big misconception out there that you have to
have the twenty percent down to get a conventional loan.
We can do conventional loans with as little as three
percent down. Now, one of the borrowers does have to
be a first time home buyer or to not have
purchased a home within the last three years. That's the qualification.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
I think that's huge, but people don't understand that even
if it's your second home, if you haven't bought a
home in three years, yes, you're still considered a first
time home buyer.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, and you do, of course have to carry the
mortgage insurance premium, the PMI, But it's very affordable now.
You know a lot of people, well it was after
seven and oh eight mortgage insurance premiums were extremely expensive.
They're very low now. I mean, unless you have very
poor credit, you could expect to pay probably like seventy
(22:42):
five to maybe one hundred and twenty five dollars a
month for mortgage insurance, so it's it's definitely affordable, and
it can be dropped once the loan does reach the
eighty percent loan to value.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
So if someone just has three or three or and
a half percent, a lot of times they thought they
could only go FAHA. Talk the difference between an FHA
loan and a conventional loan and what the benefits could be. Sure.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Sure, So with an FHA loan, you can never drop
the mortgage insurance, so you are stuck with that for
the term of the loan, where with conventional you can
have it be dropped. And then there are a lot
of disclosures that go along with the FAHA loans and
property conditions that have to be met. It's funny a
lot of times first time home buyers will contact me
(23:26):
and say, well, I need to get an FHA loan,
and so I'll always ask, well, what makes you think
you need an FHA loan? So I'll kind of find
out where there it may be pass credit problems or
is it just kind of a stigma that they've always
been told, Hey, first time home buyers get an FHA loan.
I don't like to pigeonhole anybody just because I want
(23:47):
to make sure that they're getting the right product. Also,
with the FHA loans, the property condition and appraisals, it
requires a specific appraisal. But on the flip side of that,
FHA can be a little more generous on the debt
ratios and the loan loan to values.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
So, so the benefit to FAHA is that if your
credit has a little bit of a challenge, or if
your debt to income may be a little off, FAHA
may be the best route to go. And that's three
and a half percent down, correct. Yeah. The challenge with FHA, though, Jessica,
let's talk what are some of the challenges for a
(24:30):
home buyer who may be looking to purchase a home
and they have an FHA loan approval.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I think the biggest challenge is property condition. Like Kimberly
was saying, you know, the house has to meet a
lot of times when we're looking at an FAHA approval,
it is in a price range that houses that have
gotten expensive. The houses may may need some work, you know,
they may need some updating. And my husband and I
(25:01):
looked at when we bought our house, we were we're
fine doing work on a house. We would rather get
a good price and do the work. But with an
FHA loan, you kind of can't do both on something.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah some of those requirements. Yeah, well, let's talk about
what are some of those requirements that FAHA may may
call on an appraisal.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
My best way to explain it is to say, if
it's a government backed loan, they're going to look at
safety and usage. They want you to be able to
It doesn't have to be pretty, but you have to
be able to move into the house and safely use it.
And so it has to have the appliances and we're
(25:42):
not talking about a refrigerator, washing dryer, but the built
in appliances. It had no rotten wood, you know, broken glass.
It has to be functioning, solid, safe and usable.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
So I think the biggest issue that can come up
with FAHA is often it has to do with electrical
So when houses were built, and when they're older homes,
they were not built with ground circuit interrupters GFCIs, and
so a lot of these houses it's not required that
(26:17):
you do that prior to putting it on the market.
So the seller says, I don't want to do that.
And so the seller may say I don't want to
sell to a buyer who is getting a government insured loan,
which can be FAHA VA and USDA. It doesn't mean
(26:37):
that the house is not safe, although GFCIs are absolutely
more safe than not having them, sure, but the challenge
is that they're not willing to do that. So it
can limit you if you are if you have an
FHA loan, and so not.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
To mention if and as spring is here and the
market heats up, if you if you're competing offer, and
you're competing against an offer that is conventional, the agent
is going to very likely explain to that seller the
hurdles that you may have to cross. You know that
(27:15):
it's just an easier appraisal with less hurdles between contract
and closing around a conventional versus an FHA.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
So it's not impossible. No, absolutely not. We do it
all the time. Large percentage of buyers shoes fhi.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
But what Kimberly, I think you're saying is look at
your options. Definitely.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, And that's where working with a really someone who's
more of a loan expert, who can look and analyze,
you know, your situation, make sure that loan is going
to fit, you know, financially for the long term.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah. And then and then look at those numbers. Yeah,
I think not only looking at your numbers of costs
to close, but looking at those monthly numbers.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Definitely, that's super important. I always the first thing that
I ask when I start talking to a first time
home buyer is you know what I know that you
want to know how much you qualify for? But what
are you comfortable with? What's your comfort level right now?
How much are you paying for rent right now? And
then I have to break the news to them. Okay,
here's where rates are sitting for a home that price.
(28:18):
Here's what you could expect to pay monthly. And nine
times out of ten they're astonished. They can't believe that
they're so far far off from where they thought.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, and it's not just interest rate. Especially right now,
we'll talk briefly about interest rates have gone down.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yes, interest rates are actually in an average range. They're
sitting right below six percent. Gosh, I've been doing this
for over thirty years, and really a good interest rate
was in the fives that was considered a great rate.
I think we're just all a little spoiled thinking we're
getting these two and three percent rates again.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
And I always tell people, if you average rates over
the last thirty years, really a little over seven, yes,
is the average rate over the last thirty years. And
so the fact that we're even in the fibes yes,
is amazing. Really rate. But I'll tell you where affordability
is a challenge. Taxes and insurance. Yes, those are the
(29:14):
two things that over the last three years have increased significantly.
And so that's where I think a buyer is shocked. Yes,
And there are things that you can help them do
to help them kind of bring those down as well.
So it's not just the loan side. It's saying, Okay,
what are some things we can do to facilitate making
(29:34):
this more manageable.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah, definitely. You know, always shop your insurance, and it's
it's tough right now. Insurance is extremely expensive, even from
carrier to carrier, even the best rates out there, just
because of all the natural disasters here with the flooding.
I do loans in other states as well. Colorado is
very fire prone, so their insurance, believe it or not,
(29:56):
is even higher. There than it is here, but shopping
the insurance, and then I also make sure people understand
that they can homestead the taxes. That's going to give
them a little bit better, a little tax break there.
But it's just making sure they really understand that you
could have hoads the insurance and also that the you know, yes,
(30:18):
your principal and interest payment stays fixed for that term,
provided we've given you a thirty year fixed straight or
fifteen year fixed strate. But those taxes and insurance can
go and go up and down. So even some of
the clients that I had that were lucky enough to
get those two and three percent rates, they've seen their
payments go up five maybe six hundred dollars between taxes
(30:41):
and insurance. So it's it is tough just economically right now.
I think that's where people are scared. Even with these
great rates, you just have the cost increases for general living.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Absolutely, and so those are some things that you know,
as real tours, we're always looking to try to talk
to our legislatures and work on making those changes. But
when we come back, we're going to talk to Jessica
about Okay, so we have gotten with Kimberly we are
on the path to have our pre approval. We know
(31:14):
what we're doing, we know what we can afford. What's next.
Don't go away, We'll be right back. This is the
Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and
Kimberly Piper with First Financial Bank and I we have
been talking about getting a mortgage, the differences and the
types of mortgages. What are some of the loans. What
(31:38):
are the different types of loans? Also, you know what's
the difference in a pre approval that is a true
pre approval and a soft one. If you didn't get
a chance to listen to the first part of this
show next week, this will be posted on the iHeartMedia podcast,
so you can go back and take a listen. I
(31:58):
think that it will be helped cool for you. But
let's talk Jessica Welborne with Dana Simmons. Real estate is here.
She is our buyer's agent. And Jessica, we have our
pre approval. Uh, they make an appointment, we sit down
in the office, talk a little bit about what does
that look like.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Now is the fun part. You know, you know what
you can spend, you know you're ready to go. So
we sit down in our office and go over the
beyond the basics. We we know, you know, three bedroom
to bath or whatever it is, and your budget, where
you want to buy, what you're looking for, how you
(32:38):
use your home. Is a good thing to help us
narrow down really what's important to you, get behind the facts,
get to what matters to you, and start making a
list of properties to go see.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, it's the listening side of it, you know. And
sometimes when people come in as they were talking. I
love it when a husband and wife do it because
things come out that it is just funny.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
It is.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
It is so much fun, and so you get to
kind of talk through what is important and what they
start off in the conversation saying, by the end of
our conversation has shifted a little bit, and it's such
a good opportunity to not just go meet him at
a house and show a house, right, but to build
(33:29):
a rapport and help us to begin to locate for you. You know,
so many people think, oh, I'll just shop online, and
yeah you can, but there's so much that's not online, right,
So sitting down and getting to know their lifestyle. So
for for our office, as sitting down and having that
hearttheart conversation, getting to know each other so that you
(33:51):
can best help them. And then and then we have
tools for them as well.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Absolutely, we have a great buyer's book that I like
to share with my new buyers. I always tell them
it doesn't replace me, but it does. It answers a
lot of questions, but it also can bring about questions
just walking through the process and giving you kind of
a baseline. I meet with multiple people in a day.
(34:16):
Sometimes that someone has bought many homes, they're comfortable, they're
ready to go. And then the next person I can
meet with, well, they will say, we've never done this
and we have no idea what we're doing. So sometimes
we are starting from ground zero, which is really fun.
I love educating my new buyers that have never bought
a home before.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
It's a fun process. But even for those who have
bought several in the past, things change change.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Just like we're talking about insurance and taxes and such everything.
I mean, things change as far as even the process
with option periods and competing offers. Like we said, you know, yes, absolutely,
things change all the time.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Well, the other thing I love is that we created
that buyer book from thirty years of experience. It's not
something that we ordered from a national company. This is
something that our office created, curated and produced to help
guide you, and we change it often, yes, things change.
One of my favorite things in that book is our
(35:17):
list of vendors absolute. So that book takes you from
the very first appointment all the way through closing, and
then after closing, talk a little bit about what those
steps are. So they come in, have a conversation with you,
You get a fuel for what they're looking for, and
you schedule some appointments.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Yep, and we go and look at houses. When they
find the right one, When they find the one that
they want to make an offer on, we sit down
again and write up that offer.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
It's just the.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Contract with It doesn't become a contract until everyone signed it.
So it's a written offer that's got all the terms.
You know, that's more than just a sales price. Some
people think that that's all that that's there's a lot
of different factors, a lot of different things where we
can negotiate through the process.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
So we write up the offer.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Seller accepts, let's say, or we negotiate back and forth
a little bit and the seller accepts, then we're officially
under contract and that's when the busy time starts.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
In a bit. So one of the things that I
know that you do that even before you make that offer,
once they really like that property, there are a lot
of things that you're looking into to see what some
important things. So if you're in Jefferson County, for example,
what are some of the things you have to look.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
At, Well, we need to look at flood zones, we
need to look at windstorm insurance schools that you know,
it really is important. Different things are important to different people.
So whatever is important, there's hoa's there are restrictions in
some places, all different.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
So depending on that house, you really there are so
many other things to look at other than oh this
is pretty I like it. One of the things that
just came up this week for us is that the
house did have a windstorm certificate on it, and the
windstorm certificate was I think sixteen years old. But on
the seller's disclosure they said they replaced the roof six
years ago and there is no windstorm certificate for that
(37:18):
six year old roof. Yeah, when that was album dressed
with the listing agent at the other company. She didn't
notice that when she listed the house. The challenge is
if you don't have a buyer's agent checking that and
making sure that that roof age matches with the windstorm.
(37:40):
If you just look and say, hey, it has a
windstorm certificate. Yeah, it's sixteen years old on six then
that can be a problem for a buyer in the
next several years because if that as that near's twenty
years old, that WPI eight and they think that's how
old the roof is, that insurance company may not want
to ensure you, or you may have to pay more
(38:04):
because it doesn't have an insurance windstorm, or some won't
write you at all. Right, So there are lots of
little nuances like that that we do that people have
no idea. That's why having an experienced agent is so important.
Some people are like, oh, well, my best friend sells
(38:24):
real estate on the side, Like that's great. I love
that you're supporting your friend, but does your friend really
understand what they're doing? Right?
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Yeah, just like you said, our vendor list even on
insurance to be able to talk to an not an
online insurance company. We've talked a lot about an online lender,
but also an insurance company that's not from here and
they don't know that, like you said about the WP
I eight and windstorm. And I've gotten buyers that in
(38:56):
our option period get an insurance quote and it sounds
great until it gets down to real life and they're like, oh,
we thought that was.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Included well, and then as the lender, yes, you're looking
at that because the lender is going to have requirements
for insurance, right correct. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
And another good point that I wanted to bring up
is once the borrower does go finally go under contract,
you know, of course I always tell them send me
the contract right away. I'll make sure I'm working with
the with the buyer's agent. But also I want to
go back through and readdress. Hey, here's where the rate
is now since we prequalified you. Maybe it's higher, maybe
(39:36):
it's lower. Also, what are the taxes? How much is
the insurance going to be? Because they're going to remember
whatever you prequalified them with. Maybe it was thirty days,
could have been sixty days ago, and they have this
number in their head. My payment's going to be X.
But then maybe this property the taxes are one thousand
dollars more per year, or the insurance ends up being
more so just going back and having that conversation with
(39:59):
them once again.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
And making sure you're doing that in the option period.
And so for most transactions in the offer, you're including
an option period, and there are some things that are
important to address in that option period.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Insurance, yes, very very important for this specific address, not
just for the idea of a house, but for this address.
What is the insurance situation? Inspections also very very big.
And then negotiating any repairs.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah, so as you can hear, this topic today has
been about you know, are you thinking about buying a house?
Is now right for you? There are lots of things
to consider as you move forward doing that and I
would love if you, and I know she would too,
if you would give Kimberly a call and let her
talk you through. Don't cost anything right now, We.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Can always do a free consultation for you, sit down
and talk with you at any time.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Yeah, so tell people how would they get a hold
of it.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
You can stop by the Lumberton office or feel free
to reach out to me on my cell phone at
four oh nine two zero one five one eight seven.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
So give you a call. Also, you're on Facebook. Yep.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
You can find me there for sure.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And you're called the mortgage Buff. The mortgage Buff.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Yeah, I'm a bodybuilder competitor, so I kind of put
that as my little tagline. It's fun.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
I love that, I really do. It's wonderful. It helps
people remember you too, the mortgage Buff. Right, I am
not the Buff. I'm the Granta and Jessica. So if
someone's thinking about buying and they're like, you know, I'd
like to interview you, Jessica, to see if we're a
good fit. How would they connect with you to be
(41:39):
able to.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Do that, I would say, call our office. We have
people answering the phones from eight to eight Monday through
Saturday and one to eightday on Sunday and eight. That's
four O nine eight six six eight three two six
or eight six six. Team is the easy way to
remember it, yep, or my cell phone for a nine
(42:02):
three five one five two six zero.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Well, ladies, it's been a pleasure having you on the show,
and absolutely Jessica's right. You can call our office at
any point in time. We're also happy to get you
in touch with Kimberly. You can also go to our
website Danasimmons real estate dot com and there's a place
there where you can make an appointment. We would love
to chat with you and see if now is the
(42:24):
right time for you. And one of the things I
love both about Kimberly and Jessica is if now it's
not the right time, they will walk you through what
you need to do to get to that point to
fulfill those dreams for you so that you can buy
a home. So our goal is to guide you through
that process for a timing that is right for you.
So hope you have a great Saturday. Thank you for
(42:46):
joining us. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
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