Mortgage Matters

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a Kun V studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Roland Daniels 0:43
Good morning Las Vegas. Welcome to mortgage matters. I'm your host, Roland Daniels, a certified mortgage advisor with Geneva financial. My NMLS number is 355859, company. NMLS number is 42056, and I'm here this morning with my fantastic co host,

Heidi Griffith 1:03
Heidi Griffith, good morning. Heidi, well, good morning. Roland, how are you? I am doing awesome. Happy Sunday. Happy Sunday. It's almost the end of April, isn't it? It is. Ah, man. So we talked about Fair Housing Month. I think every show this April, haven't we? We have Yeah. And here we are end of the month. It is end of the month. We only have a few more days left

Roland Daniels 1:23
craziness. Yeah, but just because April is coming to an end, the conversation doesn't stop here. Fair Housing isn't just a once a year topic. No, it's not right. It's about equity. It's about access and ensuring everyone has a fair chance at safe and secure housing. And if you ever find yourself needing help or have questions about your rights as a renter or a homeowner, the Silver State Fair Housing Council, they offer education, advocacy and real support, and Heidi and I are proud to now serve on their board of trustees for the next three years, and we've seen it firsthand that the important work that they're doing across our communities, and we'll be sharing their contact information at the end of the show. And before I forget, I just wanted to let everybody know that Heidi was also selected as Vice President. Well, thanks,

Heidi Griffith 2:23
of course, Silver State Fair Housing Council. They are kind of the glue when to fair housing. They are not attorneys, nope. They do not determine rights and wrongs, but they're there as a resource for folks who have questions. So please never hesitate to reach out to them if you feel like there's been some stuff that isn't quite right in your housing situation. And fair housing, it does, it applies to both renters and homeowners. It does. It does, it does.

Roland Daniels 2:57
And before we actually, I just want to go ahead and give out that number. Okay, that number for fair housing is 702-749-3288, so that's for Silver State Fair Housing Council. The number again is 702-749-3288, yeah, right. Absolutely,

Heidi Griffith 3:20
absolutely. And we've got about, well, less than a week until our May path to home ownership workshops, right? So that's going to be this upcoming Saturday, and that is the workshop that we hold in partnership with nonprofit and HUD certified counseling agency, CPLC. And you know, by completing the workshop, you then become eligible for the 16 different down payment assistance programs we offer, including

Roland Daniels 3:48
the wish program, which is a four to one match. So let's say, if you have $3,000 and you're checking your savings account, they'll multiply that by four, which gives you 12,000 plus your own 3000 so that's $15,000

Heidi Griffith 4:06
in assistance. Well, and how high can it go? I think

Roland Daniels 4:09
the maximum for 2025 Dave increased it to $7,250 right? So you can get above $30,000 just for the wish funds, and you're still eligible for down payment assistance with Nevada housing division. So

Heidi Griffith 4:26
we can stack those cameras. We sure can. So Nevada housing offers between two and 5% down payment assistance, dependent on where you kind of fit and what you need, right. So you could utilize down so you could utilize Nevada housing, or even Nevada Rural Housing, right, correct? We've talked to Kevin Hickey on this show a lot. So depending on where you're located, and there are pockets in the valley that qualify for Nevada Rural aren't there?

Roland Daniels 4:54
There are we have Summerlin south. We have Winchester, and then Whitney ranch. Not

Heidi Griffith 5:00
Whitney, Whitney, Whitney, yeah. But so we can actually layer those programs, so you could get up to 5% from either Nevada housing, Nevada Rural, or the other down payment programs that we have, and put wish on top of them, right?

Roland Daniels 5:15
And don't forget the MCC Let's talk. Talk about that. So the MCC allows you to deduct $1 for dollar from your tax returns. It's a mortgage credit certificate, and like I said, it's about 20% so let's say on a $350,000 loan, probably interest rate around seven to seven and a quarter, you're looking somewhere around, I think he said four to 5000 close

Heidi Griffith 5:39
to $5,000 right? So, and that's through Nevada Rural Housing. So the property would have to be in one of those areas. So within the valley, like Roland said, we've got a couple of pockets in the valley. Then if you're in areas like Pahrump, or areas in Northern Nevada, you know the majority of the rest of the state is actually considered rural. I think that it's it's just Reno. That's not but Carson City and that surrounding area is considered rural still. And you can utilize those Mortgage Credit certificates with down payment assistance and or without down payment assistance, right? And you can actually use them every single time you refinance your home. That is correct. I mean, there's only with Nevada Rural Housing, only with Nevada Rural Housing. But the thing about these kind of programs is there's stuff that people aren't even aware is available to them. That is correct, and they are tools to make it easier to come a homeowner. Don't you agree? 100% Yeah. So we've got the class coming up. That class is, what did we say May 3. May 3. That's this upcoming Saturday. That class is between 830 and three and 3pm you teach the mortgage portion of that class. I do. There's HUD counselors there that go over a lot of different steps. They talk about homeowners insurance. They talk about home inspections. I mean, they really cover everything from credit to budgeting. It runs the whole gamut.

Roland Daniels 7:02
And you will also be teaching as well.

Heidi Griffith 7:05
Yeah, I will. I will. So I'll be there, and then what will be included?

Roland Daniels 7:10
Snacks and lunch and lunch, if you'd like

Heidi Griffith 7:12
to register for that class, or if you have any questions about what we're going to talk about today, you're more than welcome to reach out. We're at 70221020, 022102057, again, that number is 702-210-2057. And you can also find the registration links to that workshop and any of the other upcoming classes that we have at mortgage matters, radio, on Facebook,

Roland Daniels 7:38
and don't forget, with Nevada housing division, they have removed all of the fees associated with VA loans. So part of this, and it was effective, as of April the seventh, they will be waiving the compliance fee, the loan funding fee and the tax service fee for all veterans. Let's talk

Heidi Griffith 7:58
just for a quick second about you know, we know when we talk about the VA loan being probably the most underused benefit that's offered to our veterans and our active duty service members, right? And you know, because of the way the loan was created, there is no down payment and no mortgage, no mortgage, monthly mortgage, then why would I want to utilize a down payment program if my down payments already covered?

Roland Daniels 8:26
Because now you can utilize those funds for your closing costs. What? Yes,

Heidi Griffith 8:32
because there's closing costs associated with all loans. No loans are free. You're not going to ever come out of pocket with $0 right? So you could actually use these kind of programs to cover your your closing cost. You can, and they even have, if you've got your closing costs covered, they even have a reduced

Roland Daniels 8:50
rate right for veterans, yeah.

Heidi Griffith 8:53
And when we talk about building a foundation for home ownership, we really, you know, we want to recognize all the people that are doing the work. CPLC, obviously, right? 100 and here in the studio today, I'm super excited. You know, an organization that's close to both of us because we're both members, right? Roland we are is narep, the National Association of real estate brokers,

Roland Daniels 9:15
yep, Heidi and I are both proud members of nareb. It's an organization built on the principle of democracy and housing, and it continues to lead the way when it comes to equity, education and opportunity in our communities.

Heidi Griffith 9:32
This is all facts. Joining us in the studio today. We're super excited. We've got two powerhouse leaders from narub. We've got Gil Sanchez, who serves as director and leads the new membership efforts, and we've got Alan Shelton na ribs, first vice president and political advocacy Chair. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Both of these gentlemen are experienced realtors, and they're dedicated advocates for narubs mission of democracy and housing. Their work ties directly into fair housing, not. Just in theory, but also in practice. Good morning, guys. Good morning. Thank you so much for being here. Yeah, so let's start with you really quickly. So for those who might not be familiar, I know we talk about a lot, but can you tell us what nareb is all about and kind of who it's for? Okay,

Gil Sanchez 10:16
sure. Be happy to do that. So so the National Association of real estate brokers is to the purpose of this organization is to enhance the professional and business condition of narab Realtors members. We do this by strengthening the consumers capacity of black, minority and emerging target market segments that the real to serve, and by promoting real estate industry in general, utilizing economic, political, legal and social leverages to remediate discriminatory housing practices and property ownership policies that are still prevailing in the United States. Narab is an organization that was formed out of the need to because they were a group back in the 60s, a group of young black professionals that did not have an organization to be a part of. They could not join National Association of real estate brokers, so they formed this organization. The goal of this organization is to fight for democracy and housing for all people, not just for the black community, but for the black to brown community in general. Narab is a national organization. We are just a local chapter of the National chapter organization who fights for on the legislative level, for housing policies, fair housing policies and issues that stand in the way of preventing home ownership for just about anyone. Our organization, again, was built on the back of a minority trade or it's the oldest minority trade association, but our membership is open to everyone, everyone. No one is excluded from joining our organization, as long as they believe in our creed, which is democracy and housing,

Heidi Griffith 11:57
which is, in my opinion, probably the biggest thing that we need in housing, and that's why fair housing was so important to me. This month was so important. But fair housing is every day, and that is the backbone of nareb. It really is. It's the driving force as to why I became a member, and I love to see all that's being done still today, because the fight isn't over. Is it right?

Allen Shelton 12:19
You know, advocacy for for fair play, right? Hasn't changed. You know, organization itself started in 47 out of the need, because it wasn't really fair for black and brown communities during that time. You know, we're we're also realtors. Now, the NARA National Association of REALTORS was established in 1908 it took until 1965 or four before we were even members or recognized as members, as a realtor. So that's why we created real tests. And in 1968 when the Federal Fair Housing Act was incorporated, NAR actually lobbied against it. So so the need is still there for us to be out there and to fight, to be soldiers in the field, because we are, we know what's going on with housing, whatever demographic that you are part of, or whatever city that you are, if you are part of narab, then your advocacy is not just about selling homes. It's deeper than

Heidi Griffith 13:22
that. I agree. I love that. Thank you. Thank you for pointing that out. I really do like that point. Yeah, anything else that you want to talk about, how about how's membership? Well, membership,

Gil Sanchez 13:32
membership is on the rise, but we can always use new members. We're always looking for new, new members to join our organization. We are a minority trade association. And so we definitely need the membership of our members. We just came off of a week of Fair Housing events. It was awesome, huh?

Heidi Griffith 13:53
We did a lot of stuff.

Gil Sanchez 13:55
It was amazing. And so we have several new members that have joined us, joined up with us. And this is real this week, if I can, for just a moment, talk a little bit about what that is yes and what did we do, yeah, and what did we do? We had fun. Just kidding. We did. We did search. But Realtors week in general, this was established by narab in the early 1970s to highlight the importance of black home ownership in stabilizing communities. Again, real this week includes network opportunities for our members, includes workshops and volunteering opportunities. So this is an opportunity for our members to get involved in what we're doing locally. Here we also have now. The interesting thing about Realtors week is that narab As an organization, held the same events practically at the same time. So in other words, the same week, the same month. Every April, we have a realtors week. And across the country, we are doing the same events. We're having Fair Housing workshops. We're having political advocacy right. Conversations where we just had a membership critical real estate conversation couple days ago. And I'm sure Ellen, if you want to talk a little about it, that was a dynamic. We had a very interesting, yeah, conversation. What

Allen Shelton 15:14
Gil is saying is that we had a coordinated effort throughout all the chapters in the country. You know, real Dave is nationally recognized, and we have chapters throughout all 50 states. So we had coordinated efforts so that all our events happen on the same day. So if we went to church on Sunday, every chapter went to church on Sunday, if we had a community outreach on Tuesday, every chapter had a community outreach. So we we try to do things that that will make you understand what are you supporting being part of this organization and the community that you live in, right? You know that's an appreciation of community when you part of this organization. So the thing is that we want to make sure that advocacy remains the same thing, and that our membership understands the purpose of our chapters throughout the nation,

Heidi Griffith 16:01
and it's certainly a give back organization, right? Yeah, absolutely. Because the afternoon that we spent with community outreach, right, we went to the MLK senior center, right? That was fun. And the seniors had a blast. They were amazing. It's an amazing facility. We were able to play bingo, right? We played. They had, they had some fantastic lunch there, right? We got to serve them. And then I heard that the red hats were there, and they could get down.

Gil Sanchez 16:32
They were they got into that show, right? Got a good workout about

Allen Shelton 16:38
education too, because we want to make sure that it's that our membership understands what's going on in this state, you know. So we on a political advocacy day. We had Nevada coalition of housing there. We had the urban Chamber of Commerce speak. Because it's important that the community that we that we represent, and that we do business, conduct business, and that we know what's going on, so that if we're to step out on faith or what have you, we have to know, you know, we have to be educated members to know what's happening in housing in our city, you know, because how can you serve a community if you don't know what's going on? I agree that's the most important thing. You know. Yeah, and

Heidi Griffith 17:17
we're going to actually have Maurice Paige with the Nevada Housing Coalition on next week. So, oh, good. Excited to hear his voice. I mean, he's got his finger on the pulse, doesn't he? Yes, he

Allen Shelton 17:26
does, yeah. And there's a lot of exciting things that's happening, you know, particularly in Nevada, especially

Heidi Griffith 17:30
with affordable housing, right? Because that's a big deal right now,

Gil Sanchez 17:34
especially with the excited that hopefully the governor will be able to pull this off. But I'm gonna stand there trying to get us some more land.

Heidi Griffith 17:41
I'm keeping my fingers and toes cross. Yeah, they

Gil Sanchez 17:44
are cross edge. We'll just, yeah,

Allen Shelton 17:45
I think it's going to call this morning. I'm pretty sure it's going to happen. It needs to happen. You know, we're our growth is outpacing the economic, economics of the city, so we have growing pains. So it's going to happen. You know, it needs to happen. You know, common sense will say

Heidi Griffith 18:03
it needs to happen. That is correct. We need to have roofs over our heads, don't we? Right? So you guys, you're both realtors, both been in real estate a minute, right? Right? How long have so why don't you guys tell me how long you've been in business?

Allen Shelton 18:17
Go ahead. Gil,

Heidi Griffith 18:19
we're trying to age Allen, yeah, right.

Gil Sanchez 18:23
Throw you under the bus like that. But no, actually, I'll put it like this. I've been in the business over 20 years, 20 plus years, both. I've operated both from the retail selling side. I've also done mortgages with Bank of America countrywide and some of the big lenders. So you're in this space? Yes, I'm in this space. Been here for a while. Love it awesome.

Roland Daniels 18:46
What about you? I've

Allen Shelton 18:47
This is my 21st year in Las Vegas as a full time

Heidi Griffith 18:51
ah, congrats. So everybody at this table has actually been in the industry for 20 years or longer. That

Roland Daniels 18:59
is correct, because I've been licensed 20 years, but started in oh three, that's

Heidi Griffith 19:04
pretty awesome. So So you guys are out there, you have your finger on the pulse. We we know that there's a lot of needs in housing, right? People are aware of that. Affordability continues to go down, right, right? So what do you guys seeing out there right now with inventory, with, with, you know, are we seeing seller concessions? I know that we're seeing them come across our desks, so we know that there are agents that are writing them up. But are we seeing seller concessions and credits? Is, is it feeling like we're getting more inventory, or where are we Yeah, yeah,

Allen Shelton 19:38
the market is always corrected itself, based on supply and demand. And I've gone through years to where it was clearly a buyer's market, and then other years where it was a seller's market, where you're showing a house. As soon as you walk out with your clients showing a house, there's a line forming outside to see that same house. Now we 2021 right, right. So we have a lot. Lot of inventory. However, the prices haven't come down to where you can say, okay, it's going the other other direction. However, there are homes on the market, I would say quite a few buyers have or are standing by. Can you negotiate sellers? Concession? Yeah, it's a good time. But at the same token, you have to have a reference point of not yesterday, because if the interest rate is whatever it is, that's what it is. Affordability means. How does it feel to you to buy a house right now? You can't look at what your mom and dad and their interest rates and whatnot. You have to look at right now. What is what right now is going to make you feel good? And I say to anyone, you cannot win this game unless you get in the game. That's right, you know, absolutely so you got to buy a house. And

Gil Sanchez 20:52
not only that, you got to look at it from another standpoint too. You look at it, you have to own a part of the American dream. This is your opportunity to do that, in spite of the prices being where they are, they're only going to get higher Well, and that's

Heidi Griffith 21:07
a great point, because, and you guys know this probably better than I do. I mean, real estate markets are cyclical, right? You just set it out, and there's buyers markets or sellers markets. We're kind of in this weird spot right now where it's a little bit of both, right? But, but with that being said, Will prices go down at some point in life? They're going to, they have in the past, but do they always rebound? And when they rebound, what does that look like? Right? Absolutely, this isn't a 24 hour, you know, quote, unquote game that we're playing. This is your livelihood. So we all need roofs over our heads. And what's, what's the number one wealth builder? Yeah,

Allen Shelton 21:44
home ownership, right? And there's no rebound. There is no world we live in where the rebound is going to take that house down to 2016 prices or anything like that one could wish. Right? But you know, the reality is that if you understand how and what real estate feels like to you and what it can do for your family and creating wealth, then you want it to be at a point to where you can get in, and then at that point, most owners, most sellers, want the prices to increase. Of course, there's no there's no world that a homeowner wants their prices to devalue, to go down. That's not going to happen. So there's always going to be a push on the market for inflated value, not inflation, but just you. You want the person down the street to pay more for the same house that you pay, because that creates equity, which is value in your house. You don't want it to go in reverse. Otherwise we've been there is what's called buy and bail. So that's it. That's not coming back.

Gil Sanchez 22:49
Yeah, right, right. And

Roland Daniels 22:51
then we still have institutional investors waiting on the sidelines as well, waiting for prices to drop, to come in and scoop up the properties again that they've been doing.

Heidi Griffith 23:01
And I think that's a great point, actually, you and I, Roland, we had this conversation the other day, because there is, I mean, we're reading it every single day we do where these private equity firms, these large corporations, are coming in, and they have dollars, they're coming in, they're buying subdivisions. They're not just buying a block anymore. They're buying subdivisions. And the conversation went kind of like this. I know it's not easy to take that first step, especially if it's your first if it's your first home, but I feel like now we have to think about, do we want the investor to own the home that we live in, or do we want to become at some point the investor right? Home ownership is important. You may not be purchasing your dream home, your forever home, first go in first boy. We've talked to a lot of people lately that we started talking about a generational living situation. Maybe you're buying with your mom or your brother or your cousin, going, well, I don't want to live with my mom forever? Well, understandable, I get it, but how about live with your mom for a little bit? When you guys build the equity in your home, you can go your separate ways, and now you both have an investment property, right?

Gil Sanchez 24:13
Absolutely, you have to start somewhere. Your first home is never your dream home realistically, right? It's just a launch pad. It's a starting place, but it gives you a you have a sense of pride of ownership. You have ownership. You own a piece of the California Dream. So you have to start somewhere. Yeah,

Allen Shelton 24:29
I think financial literacy is, is huge in the black and brown communities. Is that because we have to, we have to teach others. What does that mean? You know, we're so removed from that discussion, you know, at the dinner table. And I think that's important, because if we understand that, then we know we make it a must. It's a must. I got to, you know, my grandparents had to build that house because they couldn't rent any place, you know. So that's a whole not discussion. But, you know, 60s and 50s when they moved well. 40s. When they moved here, you couldn't rent a place. You know, if you looked a certain way, they were not letting you rent. So you had to know some type of trade. He built his house.

Heidi Griffith 25:10
So your grandparents moved here in the 40s, yeah, wow. That's amazing. My dad

Allen Shelton 25:13
was born here in 44

Heidi Griffith 25:17
Yeah, that's so how? How do we as as a group, we'll start with nareb, and then we'll just take it a little bit further. How do we as professionals in this space? How do we promote financial literacy, and how do we make that happen? Well,

Gil Sanchez 25:34
we have to talk about it everywhere we go. Okay, we have to make that a central theme of a part of what we do. And nareb does that. Hold a lot of workshop. We do a lot of training, because

Heidi Griffith 25:43
there's a class coming up, I think sometime in June, right, right? We're going to do another class. We are absolutely I

Allen Shelton 25:48
think it's important too that we start with the with the community stakeholders, you know, like the churches and political leaders, those people, if we start the conversation with them and show them the data, because we have less black homeowners today than we had in 1968 when the Fair Housing Act came out and that that that is not saying much for us, so we have to really educate our people on Hey, this is what we must Do. It's not an option. It's a must. Because if we're going to be at the table when we talk about economic development, how can we talk about if we have nothing to bring to the table? So I think black and brown communities need to have that discussion right now. You know, before it gets too late, and I think we may already be there, but there still need to be that discussion.

Heidi Griffith 26:40
It's about just, it's always about communication, isn't it? Absolutely it is, it is. So we're running really short on time right now. I just want to thank both Gil and Alan for joining us today and sharing your insight. You guys, your work continues to push the needle on fair and equitable homeownership, and we're always grateful to have you with us.

Gil Sanchez 26:57
Thank you. Thank you for having us and

Roland Daniels 27:00
as Fair Housing Month comes to a close, let's remember that Fair Housing isn't just a theme for April, it's year around, and it's our responsibility. So whether you're a buyer, a renter or a housing professional or an advocate, we all have a role to play if you ever

Heidi Griffith 27:18
have any questions about your housing rights or needs, the Silver State Fair Housing Council is here to help. You can call them at 702-749-3288 again, that's this Silver State Fair Housing Council. Their number, 702-749-3288 next Sunday, like I mentioned earlier, we're going to be joined by Maurice page. He's the Executive Director of the Nevada Housing Coalition, and he's going to share with us what's happening at the state level to expand affordable housing, and why collaboration across sectors is so important. Sounds exciting,

Roland Daniels 27:51
and just a quick reminder that our path to homeownership workshop is coming up this Saturday, May the third when you attend, you become eligible for all of our 16 different down payment programs, including the wish funds to register. All you need to do is give us a call or text. That number is 702-210-2057 that's 702-210-2057 or visit our Facebook page at mortgage matters radio, yeah. And

Heidi Griffith 28:26
before we sign off, Gil, Allen, somebody listening wants to connect with you or learn more about nareb, what's the best way to reach you? How about you give us your information first? Gil, absolutely,

Gil Sanchez 28:35
absolutely you can reach me at 310-213-9563, and I'm available. 24/7,

Heidi Griffith 28:44
so if anybody has any questions about, any questions about

Gil Sanchez 28:47
membership, any questions about narab, any questions about buying a home, relocating from, I moved here from California. So if you're in California, you hear this, you think about moving

Heidi Griffith 28:57
from the Lakers one. I certainly did

Gil Sanchez 29:01
love my Lakers. Always we do too.

Allen Shelton 29:03
What about you? Alan can reach me at 702-234-9728? And I do not work. 24/7,

Heidi Griffith 29:13
Alan sleeps,

Roland Daniels 29:15
so thank you for joining us today. Keep striving, stay focused, and remember you've got everything it takes when You stay true to yourself and your mind. Bye. You