Latest / Life. Money. You.® Podcast / S3|E24: The Keys to Unlocking Homeownership

Transcript

S3|E24: The Keys to Unlocking Homeownership · Life. Money. You.® Podcast

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome everyone.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: If you're here for the keys to unlocking home ownership provided by Life Money You, the financial well-being program of the credit union, you're in the right place.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: And before we kind of kick things off, we're gonna give folks maybe a minute or two here to hop in the room, get comfortable, get their bevy, um, get situated, and um we're just gonna small talk.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we were talking about golfing before.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't know if anyone here is a big golfer, but Erman was talking about his handicap.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: Which is not so good, but hey, you'd love to see, I'd love to hear uh all of your guys' handicap and where you're from around the country.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: Throw that in the chat.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, do it.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know I'm getting married in November at a course, and we're just uh fingers crossed, maybe we'll be able to play, but we know the reality of um November in the Midwest.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's pretty unpredictable.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Congratulations, Danny.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm really excited.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's um one of those things where you totally blink and you're like, oh my goodness, it is right around the corner.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm gonna go ahead and introduce myself.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't already know, I am Danny Bushik.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: I am the program manager.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on these live events often.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: You'll hear my voice on our podcast.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not already subscribed, it's the Life Money You podcast.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: And as I said before, Life Money You is the holistic financial well-being program of BCU, a credit union you may already be a part of, or if you don't already know, eligible to join.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we'll leave some links for you in the chat if you're curious about um learning more.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Avery, I'm from Oregon too.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, pretty cool.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Not many people who join these are from Oregon, so that's awesome.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so to kick us off, I'd love to have Ermin and um Dave introduce themselves.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'll start off.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh my name is Erman Ramos.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: I work for BCU.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: I'm one of the senior sales managers um here in uh uh for BCU, and I run the branch team, the community team, and the Puerto Rico team.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I've been doing this uh coming up on almost 35 years.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: So happy to be here.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Danny, for having me.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: And um I I'm already loving it.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm looking at the chat, I'm seeing we got people from New Jersey on the East Coast, all the way from Oregon on the West Coast.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: So Oh, yeah.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: We know, we know you are not from the West Coast, though, Erman, the way you say Oregon.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_03: I'm from the Midwest.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Dave, what about you?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, everybody.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: This is actually my first time presenting.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you so much, Danny, for having me on the uh Life Money You podcast here today.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, my name is Dave Sessions.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: I've been with the credit union for seven years now, and I am our manager of mortgage product experience.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: So anything related to how our members interact with our mortgage products, um that's kind of my wheelhouse.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: So very, very excited uh to be here today.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and both of these voices have also been on the Life Money You podcast.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think, however, Dave was in our auto area of the organization.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: So he spoke to that, and then Erman's been on before talking about homes, same old stuff.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: A couple of things here I'd love to cover before we kick off with the content.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, our QA is open.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you're dropping comments, dropping questions, interacting with us.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: We do see this as we're talking through the content itself and might pull something that you ask into the conversation live.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: We also have 15 minutes at the very end dedicated to your questions.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: So again, make sure you're leaving them there because if we don't get to them during the condo itself, we will get to it at the very end.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so with that, I would love to have Ermin get into it for us.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Let's kick this off, Ermin.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Appreciate it, Danny.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you, everybody, for joining.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, uh, just another uh housekeeping tip, um, reminder for all of you that um once this is over, you can reach out to me if you have questions.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: I know in the past I've done a lot of these and some people have reached out uh saying, oh, we're not really sure where to go, but you can always just go to the bcu.org website, look up my name if you feel the need, you need to ask me any type of question about anything home ownership.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: I've been doing this for a very long time.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: So um I might not have all the answers because you know it's ever changing, uh, but you know, hopefully I can get you the right answer uh in in a short amount of time.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_03: So the path to home ownership.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, some of you guys are uh looking to buy a home.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_03: I I'd be interested in seeing um, you know, how many of you guys are renting now and looking to buy a home or or have owned a home in the past, possibly, and you're relooking.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: So you could drop that in the chat.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh, the first thing you have to do is self-assessment.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'll just give you a quick story about me.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm in my mid-50s.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: When I first started early in the 90s, I graduated college, I was gonna buy my first home.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: I had to do a self-assessment.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_03: Funny story is I found that um that I'm glad I did it because I don't know if you guys are as old as I am, but back in the day we had these uh uh uh tapes and records called BG Columbia House.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I had a collection on there, which I didn't know, you know, young, um uh didn't didn't really pay attention to paying my bills in college and all that stuff.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_03: But uh that was my self-assessment.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: I had to get my credit up, and we're gonna talk a little bit more about that.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I also was ready to move, um, as you see here on the slide.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: And in order to be ready to move, you have to do a self-assessment and then figure out what my timeline was because life was going pretty fast.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_03: I graduated college, had a job, and you know, uh I'm joking when I say this, but you know, essentially got kicked out of the house uh because I was adult.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: And um happens to all of us at some point, Ermin.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: And really quick, while Erman's talking, we're actually gonna launch a quick poll so we can actually get a feel for the room.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: How many of you are renting?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: How many of you are not renting, right?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe really interested in learning more about first-time home buying.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Keep going, Erman.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love it.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: So uh ask yourself, um, you know, uh, when are you gonna be ready to move and what is your timeline that you have?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: So it within that self-assessment, uh, if we move to the next thing, which is budget and budget and credit check, uh, that's what you're gonna be looking at uh uh next.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you're gonna do a butt budget and credit check.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: And also you're gonna ask yourself, uh, why should I buy a home versus renting?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I see a lot of you here, 75% of you are now renting, or and 25% of you not renting.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: Well, here's the thing: when you own, it gives you uh a lot of um stability, a place that you can call your own.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, it's an investment in your future for uh future equity and appreciation, as well as also uh creating that generational wealth, right?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh nowadays, um investments are handed down uh through generations to create that generational wealth uh for you and your family.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but there's also potential tax deduction and no more rent increases.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, as you know, uh the affordability has been the key word these past few years.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and affordability with the rent increases has been going up steadily for a good amount of time now, for uh several years now.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um and you rent, you know, the the positive side is a low initial investment, okay.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh limited responsibility for maintenance and repairs, but on the flip side of the uh responsibility and maintenance for the repairs, um, if you own your own home, you can do them yourself without having to ask the landlord, right?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like as we said, it's calling it your own place, making it your own place.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then when you rent, uh obviously there's more mobility and flexibility.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so that is uh some of the things you have to do of should you buy a home.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then uh getting pre-approved.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: Uh what you're gonna have to do is get pre-approved.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so once you do your budget and credit check, oh, let me, I I kind of kind of didn't hit this.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: Uh when you do your budget, you have to um make sure you look at your bills and you want to get those bills down as low as possible.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then we talked a little bit about credit, you know, your credit check.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: At BCU, we have a tool here uh that you can use in your online banking that actually kind of checks one of your credit bureaus.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um but then there's also I I let people know that there's uh credit karma, uh, which is free as well, uh, that pulls two of your credit scores, which is actually your vantage score, not your actual credit score.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but uh, you know, you're able to get an idea of what bills you have and what you what you need to do to prepare yourself to own a home.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: Keeping in mind that the lower monthly bills that you have, uh, you know, the more affordable, uh more home you can afford to buy.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_03: So that's what you're really prepping for, building your credit up and um getting your bills in line so that you can afford that home, that first starter home that you're looking, looking to do.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: Next slide, please.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: And as I move to the next slide, I want everyone here listening to keep in mind if you're wondering how the economy plays into this right now, I'm gonna dangle that.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Dave is actually gonna touch on it once we go through this process, right, of the path to own home ownership.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: So again, if you're wondering where economy plays into renting, buying, what have you, um, we're gonna get to that uh near the end of the presentation.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Keep going, Ermin.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_03: You bet.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_03: And then and then, and just a little quick word.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: I know I talked about that B uh B and G Columbia House thing.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: I had to, you know, right here you see budget and credit check.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: What are you spending at the?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: I had to pay that collection off to get me the best rate possible.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: You want to have your credit in in line.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's not that you can't do a loan with lower credit, you can, but your interest rate's gonna be higher because um, you know, it's based off of uh risk, uh uh risk factors.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, the lower the credit score, the higher the interest rate, which is based off of risk.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that's a whole nother conversation, but I just want to brush over that with you guys.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: And then are you set?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: Do you have your budget in line and is your credit in line?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh next slide, please.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so how do you do that?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_03: The biggest question I get when I'm out there all the time, and I didn't know, honestly, when I was buying my home.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: So when I first bought my home, you know, you're getting that paycheck, you're excited.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm out of college.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, this is the biggest amount of paycheck I've ever uh earned in my life.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure Dave and and Danny had the same thing when they, you know, when they started earning, uh whether it was out of high school or out of college, and you're like, what do I do?
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, how how do I budget myself?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: No one ever told me that, you know.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_03: My mom was first generation Filipino right off the boat.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: So she she had her way of doing it, but she was not really, there was no set way of of how she actually budgeted, right?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, the only thing she told me, and I was joking about this uh in another call with these guys, that she just told me, save money, right?
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: Save money, but save money, but I don't know how to save money.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how much do I save?
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, and nowadays it's even harder to save money.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, so you really have to be disciplined with the invention of Amazon Prime and Wayfair and all of the TikTok shop.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, we could go on, Erman.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's the click of a button away.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: And then, you know, you get it like instantaneously.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_03: You like you order something, boom, and there, there you have it the next day and the next morning on your doorstep.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: So really have to stay uh disciplined.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: So here's a little pie chart for you guys.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you take what's your uh you take 30% of your paycheck, uh, you know, of your wants, 35% towards your housing or rent payment, and then savings 20%, and then the housing the other 15%.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: Now I ask all of you, 75% in the poll were renters, okay.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: The other 25% not renting.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not sure if you guys are rent-free or living with parents or what have you, but for those 75%, and you know, even the 25% you can follow along.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, for that 75%, what I always like to do when I do these in person is I'd like you to take out a pen and get a piece of paper, okay?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_03: Because I want to show you something really quick.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: Now, if you're renting, let's use, for example, you're renting and uh you're paying$1,500 a month for rent, right?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I want to show you a figure that might blow your mind, okay, because it always does when I'm doing this in person.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: If you're renting$1,500,$1,500 a month, right?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_03: And this is for those people that say, well, Erman, I don't know if I can ever buy, I don't know if I can ever uh buy a house or afford it.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but this might this might sway you to to to give yourself and force yourself to budget the way that we're talking about in this slide.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, year one, okay, um, if it's a three-year lease and you you're tied in for three years, year one, you're spending$18,000, okay, in in money, just going out the door, not just for your housing, it's going to the to improving um the wealth of your landlord.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: Year three, it's fifty-four thousand, okay.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're in there over five years, that's$90,000 you're spending.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_03: Now that might be eye-opening.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: You're like, wow, that's a lot, or it might not be eye-opening.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: But let me give you the eye-opening portion of this, okay.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: Let's say you were to buy a house side by side, so you just rented for five years, you just spent 90 grand, right?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: Let's say you bought a house for$250,000 on the same, you know, you're the same person side by side, right?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: In year one, because of appreciation, okay, we're gonna use 7% as a standard because that's a pretty good average.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Uh back in the day, it was three to five percent.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: The last 10 years, it's there's pockets in the country that have been appreciating at over 7%, anywhere from 12 to 15.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna just gonna play it safe and use 7% appreciation on a$250,000 house.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: In year one, um, you would have built up uh equity, your$250,000 house after year one at 7% appreciation, and equity would be$267.5.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: Your value of your home after that in year three would be$306,260.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: And in year five, the same amount of time that you would have been renting uh of that$250,000 home you just purchased in year five would be$351,000.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_03: So let me summarize this for you.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, you paid$90,000 in rent, right?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, um, with nothing to show for in five years.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: If you were to own a home,$250,000 home that you bought after five years, you would have built up$101,000 in equity.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: So hopefully that's eye-opening for you.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: So nothing to show after five years in rent.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: If you're a homeowner, you have$100,000 basically in equity that you can show, you know, that's an asset for you.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_03: Whether you do and then that just keeps compounding, right?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: Real estate.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: One of you, one of the things you guys, and I know I'm talking a little bit long on this, but I want to really hammer this home because you the a lot of the biggest wealth builders in the US throughout history have done it through real estate.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: Now I'm not saying you all have to go out there and be landlords, but you can you can be the CEO of your own home, which is what I always call myself in my house.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_03: Well, sometimes I am, but most of the time I'm not because my adult kids take that over.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: But um yeah, you can you can really see how you can make an impact and difference by still maintaining and living your regular life, going out and hanging out with your friends, partying, going, you know, going to different events, concerts, what have you, spending your money.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: But because you have that piece of real estate, if you're renting, you have nothing to show for after five years.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: If you have that piece of real estate, you now are$101,000 uh more in the better, in the in the in the in the green, so to speak.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I'm gonna give you my own okay story really quick because I know people like to hear stories.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I got divorced in 2010, right?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I went out, um, I was fortunate enough to have enough for a down payment.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: I went and bought a house, small town up in here in uh northwest suburbs of Illinois, bought it for$210,000.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: Do you know what that home is worth now after 16 years?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's now worth$393,000.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: How do I know this?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_03: I just pulled it the other day, just to check.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: So I didn't do the math on that, but$210,000 to$393.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: That's how much my home appreciated in 16 years.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: If I absolutely did nothing, I didn't save, I didn't put anything in a 401k, I didn't because I hear that a lot too.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: Herman, I can't save, I don't put anything.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_03: I have already made myself a little nest egg should I decide to retire or or what have you.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_03: I have all that money and equity.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, if I decide to sell that home in downsize, that spread there between 210 and and uh uh uh 393,000 on top of what I paid down my mortgage is what what I would come out with if I sold my home and a check was cut to me.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: So hopefully that all makes sense to you.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but make yourself a budget is the takeaway from this.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_03: And here's a good example.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: Now you can adjust these percentages any way you want.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but if you're if you're looking to save, do 20% savings, uh, 15% for your other household stuff, 30% in wants.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's a 50, 30, 20 rule.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: And then as we talked about earlier, know your credit score.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: As we move over to pre-approval too, or it looks like we're actually going to stay down a little bit on um the down payment portion of budget and credit check, but I want to do address the room again.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: 75% of you said that you're currently renting.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so I imagine that that affordability piece might be something you think about often, right?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Savings.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: How am I going to save for that down payment, right?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that I have a lower cost of um borrowing, right?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: That interest rate that's going to determine how much you're paying to borrow your money.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one thing I love to recommend to folks because sometimes, you know, automation's great.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can pull directly from your paycheck to a savings account and continue to nurture that.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: But maybe you can't.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, you know, that money you already have places for it and it's difficult.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Saving windfalls are huge.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: So some of you might not know what that means.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: In a couple months, believe it or not, it'll be 2027.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: That is wild.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a couple months after that, we're all going to be approaching maybe bonus season, maybe tax return season, maybe some of those saving windfalls that we experience on an annual basis.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Similar to what Erman described, if you were to just put that cash away, put it in a high yield savings account, CD, whatever it is, and just accrue additional savings on top of it, you can make uh that down payment a lot more quickly than what you would maybe if you're only doing incremental direct deposits automatically from your income.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: So again, just another idea for you, if you are just focusing on that savings portion for your down payment, think about that.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and as we're moving here too, it looks like Christy just asked, what about for those first-time home buyer options that cover three to five percent?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we are.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: Christy, I'm gonna answer that in one second, but I want to piggyback off with Danny really quick.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: We at nowadays there are so many tools that you guys have available with technology, and I'm gonna share one of one of them with you that I just found out last week, okay?
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_03: And what that is, and you know, Danny talked about savings windfalls.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna talk about savings small falls because what I mean by that, and I I just named it, I just made it up.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: But what I what I found out here at BCU, and I'm there might be other financial institutions, but here at BCU, we have this thing that I enrolled in, and I didn't know about it until like I said last week.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: And what is whenever you make a purchase on your debit card, it actually rounds, it'll it'll you can enroll it to round up to the next, you know, say it's$53 and 23 cents, that difference between 23 and the next dollar, round it up, and it will actually throw it into a savings account.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I actually right now, dive.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just looking here.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: I I just enrolled in this last week and I already have like$9.22 in one week in my account.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: So cool.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: That that's another way.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: Now I equate that.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: The reason why I enroll in that because I'm one of those old school people, and I used to take the change out of my pocket and I throw it in a jar.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then you know, after six months or a year, I cash it in, and you know, you have four or five, six hundred dollars.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: So that's all meaningful money, and you can, you know, tap that along with what Danny said with the big windfalls, and boom, now you have a savings vehicle uh that you can tap into and and use for your down payment and closing costs.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: So now back to what uh Christy was asking.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_03: What about those first-time home buyer options that cover three to five percent down?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um that that I'm glad you asked that question because it's right here.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: Do I typically need 20% down?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_03: The answer is no.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: We have uh three to five percent uh programs um here at BCU, as well as if you qualify, we have down payment assistance programs as well across the country.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so you can see where your down payment can come from.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_03: We just talked about one vehicle, which is your savings and how you save with the windfalls and small falls, uh, but they would come from your uh deposit accounts, retirement accounts, or you can actually get a gift from relatives, which I've seen here in the mortgage industry more and more prevalent in the past 10 years.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: Because, as I stated earlier, uh people are handing their generational wealth down through the vehicle means of not only their retirement.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Retirement costs, but also through their real estate.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: Relatives are able to pull their money together as a gift and give it to the person that is ready to buy in their family that is prepared with their down payment and closing costs to purchase a home.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes they move in with them, the gifts from relatives.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: They may, I've seen it where they have given the gift and then they've moved in and then they pay them rent.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: So now you can make money that way too.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: And so they can come from deposit accounts, retirement accounts, or gifts from relatives.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: What funds won't work are personal loans, cash advantages, cash advances, and cash mattress money.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_03: Let me address each one.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_03: Personal loans, obviously, or cash advantage advances.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_03: I can't talk today.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_03: Is because you know there's a monthly payment that gets attached to that, and that's going to lower your buying power and it could affect your approval.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: Cash mattress money has never been acceptable because we have to source and season where that money comes from.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: Is it coming from your paycheck?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: Is it coming from your savings?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: Cash mattress money doesn't just it doesn't work for other reasons as well.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: And then what else am I missing?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_03: Closing costs and uh reserve reserves.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and then there's another question in here.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: I'm looking.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh with a small down payment, then you get PMI correct.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: That's a great question, Harrison.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: And typically, yes, but we have a program here at BCU.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's called Smart Buyer Program with 3% down and no PMI.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_03: Now, the difference you may ask, okay, well, how does that happen?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's one of our portfolio programs that we service in portfolio here at BCU.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: But also, just so you know where it goes, because there's no PMI, um, it's kind of built into the interest rate.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: So you may get a little bit of a higher interest rate versus paying PMI, but there's pros to that because even though your interest rate is higher, remember on your first mortgage, um, talk to your tax tax preparer or tax accountant, uh, you get to write off the interest, right?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: Up to a certain amount.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, where PMI, you don't get to really write that off.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: So um, and so even though the the the there's no PMI, and a lot of times you'll you'll see that the payment, even though the interest rate is higher, the payment could be lower than with a payment with a lower interest rate with PMI.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_03: So that's where our uh mortgage loan consultants would come come in and they would advise you what would be the best for you.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: So what do you have to do?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_03: You have to get pre-approved, right?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: You have to know how much you can afford.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and getting pre-approved and getting that pre-approved letter, you have to give that to your real estate agent.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, that way it makes you a more attractive buyer.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you'll be equipped to go for multiple offers.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it gives you more room to negotiate when you're buying a home and accelerates the home buying process.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: If you don't have that pre-approval letter, nine times out of ten, real estate agents are not going to take you around to uh look at homes because they don't want to waste their time.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: Real estate agents are paid on commission and they're not going to waste their time, their gas.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, truth of the matter is, uh, if you're not a serious buyer.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're looking to buy and you don't have a pre-approval letter on the seller side of things, the rep a real estate agent representing them is always gonna look for that pre-approval letter.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: You may have 10 offers out there that they're that they're entertaining, and five with no pre-approvals are just gonna kick those to the curb and they're only gonna look at the five with pre-approval letter.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_03: So that's why you want to get pre-approved and to know how much you can afford.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Erman, really quick.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we got a question, but I wanted to ask for folks listening right now, if they want to get pre-approved, like they're ready to start shopping, they want to meet with someone, how do they go about doing that?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: You just go to bcu.org and you can um uh contact one of our loan uh loan uh mortgage consultants there.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you can reach out to me directly because I'm on doing this podcast with you guys, uh and we can get you lined up.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_03: But if you go to bcu.org, go to our home loans page, um, you can go right there uh and we can and and they can get pre-approved.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_03: They'll talk with the mortgage consultant, they'll ask you some questions, you'll do an application.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_03: And even if you're ready to buy in like a year or three years, it's a good time if you're serious about buying and you know you're gonna buy to really uh talk with the mortgage consultant and get the process going now because they may see things right now to help you out.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_03: We also have what's called goal consultants um here at BCU.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't want to steal anybody slender, but those goal consultants uh help you out, get prepared here.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_03: And uh most of our employees here are uh goal consultants and certified to do that to help you get prepared for buying free of charge when you're a BCU member.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: Gold consultants is synonymous for what you may have heard as financial coaches.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll cover a little bit more of that at the very end.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: But Alicia asked us, how do we calculate what we can afford?
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Is it 3.5 times annual income?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, how you what you can afford.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: So the first that's a great question, Alicia.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_03: And the best way to do that is to do this.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_03: Umly you can see how much you can afford with your lifestyle.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, it's tailored to you.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: There's no cookie cutter answer.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, what one person might be able to afford might another person might not be able to afford.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: We all have different lifestyles, and but I'm gonna tell you some of the variables you have to look at when you see what you can afford.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: The reason why we do that self-assessment and budget check, okay.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna use my brother, okay?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_03: I'm the dust, but he's gotta have his Starbucks coffee every day.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_03: I'm literally, I'm not even lying.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: He gets it twice a day, and he gets this, that, and the other in it, shots and latte and blah, blah.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: His Starbucks coffee, I kid you not, when I go with him, it's like$9 for one.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: And he gets two a day.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: So he literally has with his wife, these they've budgeted in for him,$18 a day of Starbucks coffee.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: So you have to look at your habits like that.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: Do you have a dog like I do?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: I'm a dog guy.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I have a dog that I have to take care of.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I have to calculate that in my budget, okay?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: And then you have to look at um, do you want to live in a home or do you want to live in a townhouse or condominium?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_03: Difference is a home doesn't have to usually doesn't have uh homeowners association fees.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_03: That's another added on top of that that you have to pay.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_03: And then you really have to kind of look at what are my hobbies?
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, do I like cars?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_03: Do I like to get cars and buy them and sell them or fix them up?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm a I like to I like to play a lot of sports, and me and Dave were just talking and uh Danny about golf.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: I like to golf in the summer, so that's in the budget.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_03: So um, Alicia, I know there's not exactly one, I think you have three and a half percent annual income of your calculation, but no, there is not um there's not a specific thing on what you can afford.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_03: It's really what you think you can afford as far as your mortgage payment.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're paying$1,500 in rent today and you're like, wow, you know what, that's a little, you know, maybe I need to go down a little bit.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_03: Or you know what, I can afford more.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I'm I got this new job, I'm getting promotions, I'm I'm moving up the ladder.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I can afford a$2,000 a month housing expense, is what I call it.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and and then you work off of that.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: So that's your baseline.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_03: Figure out what your habits are, figure out what your housing expense you want to be so you can live comfortably and you're not, you know, what I call um cash strapped or house poor where everything's going towards your, you know, it's guys, uh this is such a great question because I see this happen all the time.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: I know I'm going off on a tangent here, but too many people look at this beautiful house that they they buy, especially you guys that are first-time homebuyers.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_03: Don't go out and and and spend everything and be house poor for your first house, right?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_03: Because things will change in life.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, you may have kids, you may have a family, you may have um like like me, and and my mom got elderly.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_03: I had to move her in with the caregiver.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_03: So these things may change.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Work from home.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think of that right now in my current place.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Both me and my partner work from home, therefore, the two additional bedrooms are offices.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's exactly it.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_03: So, really, you know, just really look at um the home you're gonna get and then understand that you can always move up and buy it a bigger, bigger house.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: Don't come right out of the gate and get the biggest house and then be like, wow, I really can't afford this.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_03: As the payments come, and then you know you have to get a lawnmower and all that other stuff.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully I'd like to add as well.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: You can do all these calculations too on your own.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, obviously pen and paper and calculator obviously work, but there's also resources online as well that you can find.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then if you go to bcu.org, you know, we have a homeowner, homeownership affordability calculator.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: We have a rent versus buy calculator.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: So there are a lot of tools and resources that you can utilize that are already created for you to make the process a little bit easier to really calculate those numbers.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely good point, Dave.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, really good point.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm gonna speed it up a little bit because I'm I know I'm um we're on time here.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so the path to home ownership, what do you do?
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we just talked about that.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: Get your needs versus your wants, start your broad, then narrow down and be ready to act.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_03: Get yourself a realtor.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, the realtor is gonna look at these considerations, uh, days on the market of a property, market conditions, um, what the other uh seller motivations and other offers that are in there.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_03: And then what's in an offer?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, when you make an offer and you're ready to make an offer, the price is in an offer, it's a sheet that they present to the seller, the closing date, the length of offer, any contingencies that are in there, contingencies meaning um it could be anything that's included in there, uh, time that they need to move out, um, washer dryer included, uh, lawn mower and uh snowblower included, things of that nature, and any household items that may be included, like couches, TVs, um, you know, appliances or anything like that.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then when they make the offer, the real estate agent, um, you know, they're gonna give you a bunch of other tips.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you're gonna schedule an inspection so you make sure that the property that you're buying has been uh professionally inspected and you're not buying a lemon of a house.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then you're gonna you're gonna use all your other resources that you have available to you, uh like the real estate agent, if you're an attorney closing state, your lawyer, as well as most importantly, your mortgage loan officer to go through those options with you.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_03: Now, we put together some uh frequently asked questions.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think I answered one of them earlier on.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_03: Do I need 20% down payment?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_03: The answer is no.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, as a primary readiness, you can do as little as 3% down of the sales price.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, do I need a real estate agent?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_03: We tapped on that a little bit.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: The answer is no.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: However, I would highly recommend that you uh get a real estate agent because there's many benefits.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_03: I listed a few of them earlier on.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: They know the market area, they can do the narrow down the housing search for you.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they're ingrained in the community, so they can give you all the information you need to know about the community in terms of school districts, uh, where the great shops are, where the restaurants are, where to take your dog.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_03: They're usually ingrained in the community, so they don't know a lot about it.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_03: And most importantly, when it comes to the home, they can look at the home and spot things that you might not be able to spot, like water damage, mold, other things.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_03: Although they're not inspectors, but these real estate agents have an eye for that.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_03: Remember, the real estate agents are hired by you and are out to look out for your best interest.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_03: So find yourself a good real estate agent, in my opinion.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_03: What happens if the appraisal comes in low?
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_03: If it comes in lower, let's say you put an offer for$300,000, the appraisal comes back at$275.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_03: You have a couple options, you can renegotiate down to the$275.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_03: You can dispute the value if you think it's gonna come in higher, or you can just simply back out of the deal and then go look for another house.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_03: What's my total out of pocket uh cost in addition to my down payment?
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: That varies, but I'm gonna give you a percentage.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_03: On average, it's about one to three percent of the purchase price.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_03: Now, one other thing I want to add to this frequently asked questions is because people get confused.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, when you go to the closing table, um, you have one figure that comes.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_03: That one figure is comprised of two components.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: That's your down payment and that's your closing costs.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_03: So$100,000 home, if you're if you need 3% down payment, that's$3,000 for your down payment.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_03: Factor in another 3% for your closing costs.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: So total, you would come on a$100,000 purchase.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just using uh round numbers,$6,000 in total uh for the closing costs.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_03: But obviously, it's going to be um different for per the purchase price.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_03: Now, what happens next after you have gone through the process, you found a home, you got pre-approved.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh underwriters um and processors here and your mortgage consultant got you pre-approved.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_03: It will go to our underwriters, they will approve it, and then it's time to close.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so uh you'll set a closing date, you'll get you'll sign all the paperwork, you'll get your keys at the closing date once you come with your your down payment and closing cost check.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then you become a homeowner.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: So congratulations, you're a homeowner.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_03: And with that being said, I'll turn it over to Dave, and he's he's got some more good information for you about the market.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much, Arman.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and obviously very excited to get to speak with all of you guys here today a little bit more about home buying.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but before we jump into some of the uh mortgage solutions, you know, the credit union offers here, I just wanted to spend a minute talking a little bit more about the market that home buyers are navigating today.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so there are really three key things that are driving most conversations that we're having with buyers right now.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: Those three things usually center around interest rates, inventory, and home prices.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: The first point on this slide I'm going to touch on a little bit is interest rates.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so this is the first question lots of buyers ask.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_02: As many of you probably remember, just a few years ago, mortgage rates had reached historic lows.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: It was creating opportunities for buyers and reshaping expectations around what we really view the mortgage market and really how we viewed it and what it looked like.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but obviously as the economy recovered coming out of COVID, rates began to rise rapidly.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: And just roughly about a year and a half ago, they had actually reached their five-year peak.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: Now we had did see some rate improvement last year into early this year.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_02: However, rates have recently riven back, risen back to about the same level as they were about a year ago.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, however, there is some positive news.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: Rates have been relatively stable in recent weeks, not increasing or decreasing by a large margin.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: And while we're probably not returning to like sub 4% rates anytime in the next year or so, many do expect rates to gradually improve over time.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, one of the big bottom lines about rates is it's not permanent.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: It is something that can be changed in the future if rates do improve.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: And you can refinance these loans.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like this is not something you're stuck in for for the rest of your life.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it is a refinanceable loan, and it's something that obviously can improve over time, so long as you know, obviously rates improve as well.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: So don't ever think of your home and your interest rate as being something that you're locked into.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: There are opportunities to refinance in the future, and there are you know services that you know the credit union offers can make that easier on yourself.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: And Dave, really quick, one of my favorite sayings that y'all say, Orman and Dave, is marry the home, state the rate.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: So again, if you love the home, know that you are always um not locked in, as Dave just said, depending on the market.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I know there's a question in the chat about PMI.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_02: PMI is another one of those situations where you're not locked into PMI as well.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: If you improve your equity situation, as our mom was talking about, if your home value increases, PMI is something that when you refinance in the future, it's something that can also be removed.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_02: So don't ever think of your mortgage the first time you get it as you are locked into this for the rest of your life.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: There are opportunities to improve over time, and there are opportunities to have those things that might make it a little more challenging, affordable right now, um, removed in the future to make it a little bit easier.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: Now, the second part of the slide I wanted to talk a little bit about is inventory.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, for several years, buyers were competing for a very limited number of homes.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: This led to a very highly competitive market that a lot of people were experiencing over the last few years.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: And quite frankly, that made the process of buying a home for many quite challenging and frustrating.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_02: And although, you know, we haven't seen inventory return back to the historical norms, things are looking up.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: Most markets across the country are nearing similar levels of inventory that was seen roughly five years ago.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: And there are generally more homes available today than there were during the peak of the housing boom just a few years ago.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: What this means is buyers often have more choices today and a little bit more breathing room as they search for the right home because there's a little bit more inventory than there was just a few years ago.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's a very big common misconception in the market right now that there are no homes available.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: Don't get me wrong, you know, it might be a little bit challenging finding the perfect home for yourself, but that's where, you know, we come into play.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's where we have a network of realtors that can kind of help you.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's where our loan officers have connections within the market to say, like, hey, this is a great realtor who can help you out and help you find a home.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: The credit union is here to help you.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: And although inventory is not, you know, at the highest level it's ever been, it is getting better, it's improving.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_02: And many markets around the country are seeing significant inventory increases.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's making it a lot easier to buy homes.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: So a good recommendation is really just go start exploring the market.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, preparing is one of the steps your mind went into about buying a home.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_02: So start preparing, start looking around.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you don't need to go out and buy a home tomorrow.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: You can start looking, you know, a few months in advance to really find that home you want, or even just look in neighborhoods.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: Generally, houses pop up in and on the market very frequently.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, find a neighborhood, keep a tab on that neighborhood, and you know, take take the time to find the right home for your for yourself.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_02: And finally, the third point on this uh slide is home prices.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_02: While appreciation of home values has slowed in recent months compared to the rapid growth we saw over the last few years, home values have remained remarkably consistent.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, for prices, prices are continuing to rise in many markets across the country.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_02: And this actually creates a real opportunity for home buyers entering the market.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll kind of tell you why.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, a lot of you guys on this call probably own a car or you've gone out and you've purchased a car before.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: Many of you guys know that when you go and you buy a car, the minute you drive off the lot with that vehicle, it's gonna be worth five to 10% less than what you purchased it for that day.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's a given, you buy a car, it's gonna be worth a lot less, literally the day after you buy it.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_02: That is not the case for buying a home.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_02: Buying a home has always been an investment and always will be an investment.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_02: An investment that you can make real money on and you can make money on over time.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you should treat this as something as an avenue to be able to invest in.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_02: So um think of buying a home as more of an opportunity than it is as a cost because it's something that you can build, you know, wealth and equity in over time.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: So, what's the big takeaway from all this?
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the big takeaway from all this is that today's market can certainly feel challenging, but it's also becoming more balanced than what we've experienced over the last few years.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_02: Buyers have more options, a little less competition, and hopefully like an improving rate market to help make ownership a little bit more possible.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: With all this in mind, um, I just want to kind of go over some of the ways that BCU is currently helping members, you know, overcome common home home buying challenges.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_02: So if you want to go ahead and jump into the next slide.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so the the bottom line that I kind of like to talk about when I talk about BCU's mortgage solutions.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, when I go over this slide, I can always go over every single product that the credit union offers.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_02: However, there really isn't a one-size-fits-all mortgage solution.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_02: Every buyer's situation is different.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: For some, the biggest obstacle is saving up for a down payment.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: For others, it's navigating today's interest rate environments.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, for people who already own a home, it might just be trying to figure out how to use the equity that they've already built in it.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_02: And that's why BCU as a credit union offers a variety of solutions designed to meet members where they are in their home buyership journey, whether it be that first home or improving their current home.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_02: We're here to help you out wherever you might be.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_02: So there's programs like Smart Buyer for first-time home buyers helping with down payment assistance and that PMI question that a lot of people have.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: There's the buy now, buy now refinance later program.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_02: As we were saying, marry the home, date the rate.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_02: Buy now refi later lets you do that.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: If you purchase a home today, you can refinance it with a fee-free refinance or with a closing cost covered refinance in the future if rates improve in the next three years.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's huge.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then there's home equity solutions for, you know, obviously homeowners who currently own a home looking to borrow against the value in their home that they've already built.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: And then on top of all this, we regularly offer mortgage specials that are limited time promotions that can help reduce the cost of owning a home even further.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: But honestly, the most important thing isn't memorizing everything that the credit union has to offer.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: The best thing any one of you guys can do today is have a conversation with one of our mortgage loan officers.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: Their job is to understand that a member's goals and explain the available options to them and help them match them to a solution that makes the most sense for their situation.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: Ultimately, our goal is simple.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's to help make homeers ownership easier to navigate and help members move forward with confidence in buying a home.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_02: And with that, I will turn it back over to Danny to kind of take us home here.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_03: Can I just interrupt really quick?
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_03: Danny, I'm sorry.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_03: One thing I really want to say is Dave talked about all of this stuff.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: And one thing I want to piggyback off of him being the uh one of the senior sales managers, I get to see the feedback from a lot of our members.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I can unequivocally tell you when we launched this Buy Now Refi Later program a couple few years back, it was just kind of Like a okay, let's see how it goes.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_03: But then it was so successful.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_03: And throughout the years, people have been coming back, Mary the House Date the Rade, to do this.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: We've saved our members.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: I can't, I don't have the figure, but it's thousands and thousands of dollars from refinancing with low cost, coupled with the the specialized uh promos and programs we have.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_03: So I just wanted to kind of throw that out there.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, piggybacking that, you know, we are really are here in your best interest.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, obviously, you're one of us, you're a member.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_03: So we we really do try and find products that fit your needs as a member.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it looks like Sherry, you have your hand raised.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'd highly recommend leaving your question in the chat.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: And before I get into some of our closing comments, we are at the 15-minute mark.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_01: So again, if you have questions, we have our experts here live ready to answer whatever those questions are related to home buying.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: So please drop them in as I wrap us up with some additional resources you can use on your homeownership journey.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so those include, of course, our credit union products.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: So they're currently hopefully populating for you now.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: But we have a full spectrum of different services for you.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: So everything from checking savings, we mentioned pocket change today, but we also have benefits checkings.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: We also have a lot of different solutions for you depending on where you're at in your financial journey overall.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: One of my favorites that I know Irman mentioned early on is our free credit score reporting tool.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're at the stage where you're keeping a pulse on your credit score, trying to really boost it, bulk it up, um, this tool is wonderful, especially if you're an existing digital banking member.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Credit Karma offers the same sort of service.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_01: However, unlike Credit Karma, we don't actually sell your information to third parties for additional loans.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_01: So we understand your time is precious.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so we want to make sure that it's dedicated to solutions that are going to work from you and not overwhelming you with more opportunities.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so, again, we really love our free credit score reporting tool embedded within digital banking.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, as the Life Money You program, we create a lot of content on a routine basis to help you on your financial well-being journey.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, of course, there's this webinar here, but we also have other podcast live events coming up.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, highly recommend if you are interested in a debt-free game plan before the year ends.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: Many of us have here probably have some form of debt that we're trying to chip away at.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so, what that event next week on the 8th at 11 a.m.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_01: is intended to do is help you get ready, help you get ready for the holiday season.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as I said, a couple of months, we're gonna be in 2027, but help you build a plan so that you can confidently pay off your debt.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we mentioned it before, but goal consultants slash financial coaches are here to help you walk through everything that you want to when it comes to your financial well-being plan and whatever goals you have.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_01: I know uh David said, highly recommend talking to a mortgage loan officer about your plans.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them are CCUFC certified, which means that they are also financial coaches.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, in addition to having the expertise in a mortgage and home buying, they also have the expertise on a holistic financial well-being scale.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we will drop that link in the chat for you to schedule a coaching appointment if that's something that you're already ready to do after this presentation.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so, just to kind of talk a little bit more about what our coaches do, if that's still something that's in your head, at Life MoneyU, we like to focus on measurable financial health.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we talk about a credit score.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's first, right?
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: So helping you build your credit is one of our first goals as the program because that helps you um expand your buying power.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you're paying less when you borrow money.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so um we love our free credit score reporting tool for that.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_01: And we love keeping a pulse on your credit score so you feel empowered when you are making these purchase decisions.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_01: The second measurable part of your financial well-being we focus on is your debt.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, debt is uh not good or bad.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: It just right exists.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_01: It can be good or bad, but in general, it's not good or bad, it just exists.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we want to make sure that you feel good about what that is.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so oftentimes it's crushing debt.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: We want to get it away, right?
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_01: We want to pay it off.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so we want to help you figure out what that debt repayment plan looks like.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_01: And something you'll hear about next week is your debt-free date, right?
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_01: You can have a plan, but if you don't have the end goal, that date set, right?
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: You probably hear smart goals all the time.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_01: But that debt-free date helps you stay steadfast at achieving your crushing debt goal.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then last but not least, unleashing savings potential.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the third measurable part of our program.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd say it's probably a little bit more qualitative than measurable, but our products, like those mentioned before, really help you unleash your savings in a way that's going to make you feel even more financially confident when you are spending money or opting into one of our products or services at the credit union.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: So again, we'll drop the link in the chat here at the end of the presentation.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_01: But if you do want to meet with a coach, we highly recommend it.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: And we've come to the close with about 10 minutes remaining of this podcast live event.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: And as I said, I'd love to open it up.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_01: There's about 30 of you still here, and we want to hear about any questions you have.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what's your next step?
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: I believe we also have a question we're gonna pose in the poll about where you're at or what your next step is going to be after all of these takeaways.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd love to open the floor to Irman and David for any additional thoughts as we wait for any additional questions to come through the chat.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thank you, Danny.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and thank you all for joining us.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we do appreciate um your feedback here and the questions that you have in the chat.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but you know, we're here, uh, we'll always be here, so just feel free to reach out.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you can go to bcu.org and we just have a plethora of tools for you guys to use to help you to be to be a home buyer.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it looks like we do have some questions here in the chat.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna open them up.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: The first one is from an anonymous attendee.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: Home prices super inflated during COVID and beyond, and now sales are coming down because of the economy and the market.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_01: How does that affect getting approved for loans?
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, that really, I'll take that one.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that really doesn't have anything to do with uh getting approved for a loan.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_03: A pro when you get a pre-approved for a loan, it's it's you getting pre-approved.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's not the the market, the economy, or the housing.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_03: So, although um the effect could be uh if you know when they were inflated, to your point, um, you may be able to afford more home now if the if the market's coming down.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_03: So um, and one thing I do want to tell you guys in the affordability portion of this is uh over the past 40 years, and I I forgot to mention this, I usually mention it, but in the past 40 years, um, you know, interest rate, uh, the median average has been 7%, right?
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I know in COVID, a lot of you guys are like, oh, 2% interest rate.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_03: That that was an anomaly.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's probably not gonna happen again.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_03: And we are now seeing uh the rise of the turn of the tide of those two to three percent interest rates now converting, whether they've sold their home or stepped up buying.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_03: So that pool of low interest rate mortgages is now shortening and lessening, and more people are getting out on the market.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_03: But um, if the home prices uh were deflated and they start to come down, now that you get pre-approved, you may be able to afford more home more of a home now uh with the housing prices coming down.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_03: So hopefully that answered your question.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_01: The next question we have is from Christy.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_01: I want to buy a condo, but I don't know how to ensure the condo association is in good standing with their own maintenance to ensure I won't get unexpected maintenance bills that they should be handling.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's great.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_03: So one of the things that that's a great question.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, I'm really surprised that that came out.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_03: Usually that comes up later in the process when someone's buying.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_03: Great question.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_03: So here's what we do for you as a uh as loan officers.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_03: When you are looking, it's two things.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_03: Before you're looking to buy, you can talk to your real estate agent and tell them that you want to see the um the homeowners association uh um uh declarations uh that they have, uh say they can get those for you.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_03: And you always want to ask the questions are there any future assessments uh coming up on that?
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_03: And your real estate agent can answer that.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_03: But what we do to to kind of um protect you and protect the interests of the property uh as well as yourself as a lender, when you do go into contract, we actually send them a condo questionnaire that asks those very questions, okay, um, similar to what you just asked.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_03: So it talks about their budget, how much they have in their budget uh to ensure that the condo association um is liquid and it's not going, you know, going to be uh resolved anytime soon.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_03: And um there are certain questions in that condo questionnaire, depending on where the condo is, um whether it's on the East Coast, by water, or whatever, that we we ask those protective questions.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um and we also always ask uh for them to be, you know, insured, liable, liability, and all that that good stuff that comes along with it.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_03: So there are there are things in place that we do to protect you.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but if you're just simply shopping and you're looking at a bunch of different condos, that is definitely a question your real estate agent uh can get those documents for you and should be able to get them for you should right before you're interested in making that offer.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_01: Next question.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_01: We no longer have a local branch where I am.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was closed a year ago or so.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_01: Can I schedule with an MLO for a virtual appointment?
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_03: Our L MLOs are scattered and do business all across the US and Puerto Rico.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so you absolutely can.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um we we do business in all 50 states in Puerto Rico.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so we'll always have an LO available for you.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_02: You can probably put that link in the chat, but also like if you go to our website, consult an expert, that's gonna be the form you'll fill out, and it'll give you all your options to be able to schedule an appointment with one.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_01: We'll leave that link in the chat here too, um, as well as the show notes.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_01: Last question here.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have about five minutes remaining.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: So if you do have any last questions, we might be able to squeeze you in.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_01: Feel free to leave it here now.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, does the three to five percent include taxes and fees you'll have to pay at closing?
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_03: The three to five percent down is just your down payment.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so remember it's it's broken in two.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_03: You have your down payment and then you have your closing costs.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_03: So the three for three to five percent down is simply your down payment, and then you still have to come up with another three to five percent, depending on the purchase price, um, of your closing costs, which does include what you just mentioned, as well as appraisal title, um, you know, all those other fees, counter recorders, uh uh standard fees that come in purchasing a home.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_01: Med Medini asked, can external state or local down payment assistance programs be combined with BCUs?
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_03: Great question.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_03: And yes, it can.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_03: So if you qualify, we can stack.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh let me tell you a little a little story.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I've been doing down payment assistance programs for a lot of my career, and I've literally come to the table with my with my uh you know, clients and members um, you know, various times where they're only bringing.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I'm not gonna say this is gonna be you, but many times they've come to the table with like three, four hundred dollars, five hundred dollars.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_03: That includes their down payment and closing costs, because down payment assistance, nine times out of ten, whether it's state, local, or ours, and we stack them together, it pretty much covers a lot of a lot of that.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_03: So um one thing with down payment assistance though, uh usually the requirement is that you do have to file uh qualify under that quarter category of low to moderate income for your area.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but check with your local loan officer and they can they can advise you as such.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_01: All right, we have our last question here.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_01: Are there any fees that weren't discussed that we as purchasers may not know about?
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_01: How do we find an appraiser in person to check the home?
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you actually don't find the appraiser.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_03: We will find them for you because we are assigned with we have um companies called AMC appraisal management companies that we deal with.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um we do not so back, let me take it back to 2008 with the mortgage crash.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there were some rules and regulations that have been put in place that um, you know, we cannot uh we we cannot and you cannot choose an appraiser because it has to be an arm's length transaction.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_03: They do not what would happen back then is there was a lot of persuasion going on.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so they the regulator said nope, you have to have appraisal management companies that you deal with.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um so we will actually find the appraisal management company for you when we appraise the home.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_03: Now you can, if you're not in contract and you're not going through the process yet, um, you can talk to your real estate agent, which is another uh tool that you can use prior to going into contract.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and they can do what's called a uh BPO for you or broker's um uh purchasing uh I forgot uh opinion.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_03: And what that is, is they just pull some comp comparables for you.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's not official, but they can give you an idea of um what the value of a home is there versus the versus the it gives you an idea versus the appraised value, that official appraised value that you would get uh when you start going through the process um for uh being approved for your mortgage.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_03: Great question.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_01: And with two minutes remaining, I want to let our last question will the deck and recording be shared?
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, dropped in late.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_01: We will include this information in our show notes.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_01: So um we are live on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want more episodes like this, I highly recommend you just to subscribe to the Life Money You podcast and explore the show notes.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, in short, yes, you can reference all this information there.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you all so much for being part of this podcast live event.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_01: Your questions were awesome.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna help so many other people that are able to listen to this recording.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_01: And as I said before, if you are interested in our program or membership, feel free to visit bcu.org or lifemoneyu.com, depending on what you're interested in learning more about.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, everyone.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, everybody.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_01: All right, until next time.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.
• 58:23
  unknown: Bye.