Been to different financial institutions and got “NO” as an answer? Want to start building equity in a new home?
For this week’s podcast episode, we are joined by TAMARA YORK, Broker/Owner with York Superior Mortgage Group, working with multiple lenders across South Carolina. Being that champion and advocate for financial literacy in the community and working to serve those people that they serve to the highest level of satisfaction, Tamara is also passionate about educating people about the basic tools and necessities for financial literacy through homeownership.
Listen as we chat about our current real estate market, the benefit of homeownership, how to be smart, and creative, and just be prepared for how rates are going to affect homeowners and the buying power of homeowners. Moreover, be financially literate, understand our finances first, and discover different mortgage products that are right for all your needs.
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
- Learn who Tamara York is, what York Superior Mortgage Group does, and its goals, and mission.
- Home prices and interest rate fluctuation. What does that mean for you?
- Household income is needed to acquire an average house.
- Investment property through short-term rentals and long-term rentals.
- The benefit of homeownership, how to be prepared for homeownership?
- What is an Earnest Money Deposit? And how to protect it?
- Why do you need to be financially literate when buying a home?
- Tamara’s perspective on preparing not only for homeownership but also to be investors and participants in the economy.
- Guidelines when applying for loan options.
- The fastest way to build your credit.
So if you’re planning to buy a home soon, it’s best to keep your finances as consistent as possible. Postponing major money moves until after you’ve purchased your home can lead to a smoother application process.
Connect with Tamara York @
- Phone: 843-804-7976
- Email: tyork@yorksmg.com
- Website: www.ysmgbrokers.com
Connect with Corwyn @:
- Contact Number: 843-619-3005
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exitstrategiesradioshow/
- FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/exitstrategiessc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxoSuynJd5c4qQ_eDXLJaZA
- Website: https://www.exitstrategiesradioshow.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmelette/
- Email @: corwyn@corwynmelette.com
Episode 66: Untold Truth About Your Finances and Putting Things in Place
Corwyn:
Good morning. Good morning and good morning. Guys welcome to another fabulous episode of Exit Strategies Radio Show. Hey, I’m your host. Yes, that is me, Corwyn J. Melette, Broker/Owner of EXIT Realty Lowcountry Group in beautiful North Charleston, South Carolina. Hey, if this is your first time listening to the show guys, y’all in for a treat. Yeah, real talk. Y’all are in for a treat. Because our mission is very simple. That is to empower our community through financial literacy and real estate education guys, we are legacy-building. That is what we do. And guys in concert with that, I mean, in line with that, y’all know what I’m talking about. We today have none other than one of our local faves. All right, Tamara York with York Superior Mortgage Group. Tamara, how are you doing today?
Tamara:
I’m doing amazing. I am doing amazing. I cannot complain. How are you?
Corwyn:
I am phenomenal. So we got some stuff to talk about. Because we started talking behind the scenes in the studio. And look here. Look here, she got some stuff to tell y’all today. She knows how to get it right. But Tamara before I get started, if you don’t mind, tell our folks a little bit about you and about York Superior Mortgage Group.
Tamara:
Yeah, so again, my name is Tamara York, I am Broker/Owner with York Superior Mortgage Group. I’ve been in the industry for the past 4 years. I started York Superior in July of 2022. So this year, I love what I do. It’s very rewarding to see the smiling faces on my client’s faces when they get the keys to their home when they’ve been told no repeatedly by other institutions, and they come to me and I make it happen. I need the stuff to work with and make it happen. But just, I’m big on education and financial literacy. So when they leave me, they come to me as a client, but they leave us, as family. And I’m always giving them tips and tricks and everything else on financial literacy, and want to stay in their home. The goal was to own it and stay in it. So I’m giving them everything needed to be prepared for that. But again, I’m a mother of two. I have two little ones, in grade school, and I’m a wife as well. So I’m from North Charleston originally. So that’s all about me.
Corwyn:
Homegrown. Homegrown. So let’s start with the, we miss timing when we have our lending partners come through. One of the things that we talk about, obviously, is the climate, and the current market. And obviously, the markets always fluctuate. I mean, it always fluctuates and changes in the market, no matter what you do, no matter what it is, it’s not going to stay the same. And people often get stuck. They get thinking, Okay, well, this one is gonna be this way and, then when it changes, they get all out of sorts about it. But let’s talk about the current climate. And I know a few days ago, last week, as a matter of fact, when the realtor’s conference and my phone started blowing up with messages, text messages, and all this stuff from lenders that are telling me hey, rates have fallen, and everybody was all excited. So can you tell people what that blurt was as it relates to that fluctuation in interest rates?
Tamara:
Yeah, so, of course, everything is regulated by the feds, the federal government, and with the rates increase, we just had a rate hike about three weeks, four weeks ago. And then I believe there was a segment, maybe about a week or so ago, that was basically saying we’re not heading into a recession. So the rates started coming down. So for a while that the norm was contingent upon credit profile and other factors around the high five, sixes even sevens depending on the type of loan program that you’re going to get into. But yeah, rates are coming down, how, where they’re going to stay at, or where they’re going to range at? That’s the question because I believe, there’s supposed to be, another rate hike next month, from what I’m being told. So where that’s going to go, we just got to get creative and just be prepared for how rates are going to affect homeowners and the buying power of homeowners really.
Corwyn:
Okay. So and that’s something that most consumers and for our listeners, guys, we want to make this thing simple. Okay. You know, there is a lot of complexity, a lot of things that factor into how the rate that people lend money, you think about credit card, interest rates fluctuate, they change, typically based on what prime is, so that is the Gup plus whatever percentage point or mortgage rates don’t do the same. Mortgage rates will fluctuate differently. And some other car loans also must weigh differently. So for our consumers, we want to make sure that you have a basic understanding. But don’t get bogged down into minutiae, because at the end of the day, most of you, as you look at homeownership, and Tamara please, correct me if you disagree, but when you look at homeownership, it is a fundamental need. If you’re buying a house, because you need a roof over your head, you know what I mean? So we oftentimes, have this long conversation and give it all mucked up and complicated, when really and truly people just wanted a house, needed a roof over their head, and the shift from paying for somebody else’s roof to now putting your own roof on. That’s the differentiator. So, we were talking in the studio. Yeah. Because look here, you got some vocal points to me as it relates to what people should be prepared for, you’re talking about financial literacy. It’s a premise that’s fundamental for you. So let’s touch on that. What do you mean by that, when you talk about one of the first things you want to do is help people be more financially literate before you help put them into a home?
Tamara:
So with me, I’m a Mortgage Broker. So basically, just to lay that out, I can do everything a bank can do. A bank cannot do everything I can do. So I worked in the wholesale aspect of mortgages where I worked with multiple lenders across the board. So I have anywhere between 10 to 15 different lenders. And the goal is to get all my clients pre-approved. So during the pre-approval process, I’m seeing everything, I’m seeing bank statements, I’m seeing pay stubs, I seeing everything needed to get you pre-approved. So I’m seeing the spending patterns of clients, I’m seeing things that are not a necessity being spent on but then I’ve been getting bank statements. And that’s not enough money for a simple earnest money deposit, which is what we have to get a ratified contract with and the earnest money in this area is what anywhere Corwyn anywhere between what $500, maybe 2000, depending on the nature of the market, and in the housing market that we’re in.
Corwyn:
If we could get this offer into you’re getting a miracle to go here.
Tamara:
Correct! So if we’re having a hard time saving up money for just the earnest money deposit, that’s not even touching the surface of the down payment in total cash to close, which is your attorney fees, your interest, prepaid stuff of that nature. So where I come into play is just the simple, what is a need, and what is a want? Like, people have to realize, especially if you’re not, you don’t have deep pockets or money, this is not falling off all around you. We have to be smart at how we make our moves when we buy stuff. So I’ve seen bank statements where clients have come to me, and they’re spending two and three grand a month eating out. I’m seeing that. I’m seeing them going on trips. I’m seeing stuff where it’s like living way above their means. So we cut that and in some time, it may take a sacrifice to buy a home. That means we might have to eliminate getting our nails done, we might eliminate getting our hair done, whatever it is, haircuts, and going out on these lavish trips. We might have to cut that out. And so after you buy the house, and, this is what I tell clients all the time. After you buy the house, you are now a homeowner. So you don’t have a landlord to call when your roof leaks. You don’t have a landlord to call when there’s a plumbing issue. I personally just got my roof repaired and it was 17 grand. So that’s nothing to where it’s like oh well who just has money of 17 grand 20,000 whatever it is just sitting around? So you have to be conscious of how you’ll spend it. And so that’s where I come in. It’s like let’s do better. In general, like, yes, my goal is to get you into homeownership, but I also want you to be financially literate when it comes to that. Because if you actually understand financial literacy and homeownership, there’s equity built into these homes that you’re purchasing. So now we can pull out whether it be a HELOC, whether it can be a cash-out, refinance, and start businesses. We can do whatever is necessary to make sure our kids’ kids are taken care of. But you just have to be smart with it. And so that’s where I come into play. And step one is looking at these bank statements and just saying it’s a hard pill to swallow. But you need to cut out the spending habits.
Corwyn:
So I’m gonna take you back to something. So I’m gonna take you back to a previous market that I’m gonna bring you right back because it’s the same thing. You know the previous market, back when we had a tremendous amount of foreclosure, short sale activity, I saw a lot of modifications and things of that nature underway and there are some people that could get modifications, and it could work, and they restructured, refined. And there were some people that couldn’t, and I distinctly remember a number of times when you see people that because people are able to restructure, they think, Well, I can restructure, so they take these trips, Disney world or universe that I’m going to go on these massive vacations. And when the bank statements come in because the lender would ask for the bank statements, bank statements come in, and you didn’t make your mortgage payment, but I saw that she was at Disneyland all week, or wherever all weekend. You ain’t staying there. Meet Mickey and get a room in his house. So Mickey Minnie they got a dog, they got friends and stuff, they ain’t got room for you. So now here we are like you said people are taking these trips and taking. Look here, hold on, I’m gonna say this real quick. I’m gonna get it, you’re gonna, you’re gonna take it and run. So I’m gonna say this, I’m gonna stop. I’m gonna take it and run. They take it so they can take some snaps and post a book. But then like you said, now you’re getting the bank statement, here it is, a little bit later, and there is no money for the transaction that they are trying to make. So what was that about?
Tamara:
It’s a mindset. It really is a mindset. It’s changing that mindset. Because, personally, I don’t care if I get likes on “Oh, I went to Paris,” or I mean, honestly, on my phone, I’m gonna post my moves, to be honest with you. But it’s just, it’s just the nature of the time that we’re living in right now. And instead of having people know your moves, it’s just like, saving up your money. Because those people that you’re trying to impress are probably going to care to be honest. And it’s like it really is a shift in mindset. And that’s my goal is, if I can even just touch one person to say, hey, this is the benefit of homeownership. Yes, rates are high, but it’s temporary. But look at the benefit. Because your house is gonna go up in value because if you look at it, you’re paying towards the bounce, the bounce is gonna come down, but the value, it should go up as long as everything goes accordingly in the market. So there’s your benefit. And not only that, you can pull out money from a house, whether it be your primary or an investment, and buy another investment. Because there are so many programs, especially if you work with me, as a Broker, I have this amazing program for investors where we’re not looking at debt to income ratio, we’re not looking at income is called debt service coverage ratio. And it allows you no DTI. So it doesn’t matter if you can, as long as your tenant is paying your mortgage. That is a win. But now and then on top of these programs, a lot of my lenders, I work with multiple lenders, the Fannie and Freddie, which is a government loan for investment properties, they cap you at what 10 properties finance, with these debt service credit coverage ratio programs, there’s no limit. I have people that have 37 houses financed, and 40 houses finance. And that’s their retirement.
Corwyn:
And you know, so it’s funny, you should even say that. So I just left, WhatsApp left, but a group that I’m a member of is a top agent. We just recently had a meeting. And in our meeting, we had a Business Coach or a Coach. They came in. I’m sorry, and, I mean the end of the year, so everybody’s starting to plan for next year. So they came just to kind of a big session with everybody, not in-depth but kind of, hey, “Let’s start mapping out what your next year looks like, let’s start working on that planning. And one of the things that she said was, every year in the business, you’re in the business, you should buy an investment property. And, you know, we think about this. So, and this is not just for real estate professionals, I mean, listeners, this for all y’all. If you weren’t in the current market, and temps you can, oh, I’m you can say this, and in hit numbers, like you’re spot on, but in our market to buy, quote, unquote, the average price house, you got to have a household income, household income of somewhere around $90,000, if I remember correctly with a little bit of debt. If you got more debt than that, and you need a higher income. We’re talking household income guys, so let me be clear on that, as far as the buyers and stuff go, but you think about that, when you start putting it in context, and that’s not all houses, that’s the average. If you bought a house that’s lower in price point, you won’t need as much money, but you need some money, you need more than, you know, $20,000 working wherever. You need a little bit more income than that in order for you to be able to qualify. So when you’re at that level, when you’re growing the equity in your home, like, as you said, “Well, you know what, let me tap the equity, and buy an investment property, so I can increase my cash flow, that investment property, at that point in time, will pay for itself, throw some money off to me, as real estate appreciates, I gain appreciation, and I have equity there. And you keep doing this as a cycle, maybe you don’t pull it off every year, or maybe you pull off a new investment property every 5 or 10 years. But if you work for 20, or 30 years, and you can buy property every five years, then you’ve accumulated a few properties before you get to retirement. Then now give you the retirement income on top of whatever else you may be able to accumulate. And some of us I mean, shoot, I’m in that mix, hey, we got to build our own retirement because, hey, we’re not employed. for us. So what does that look like? So there are so many options there are so many things that we miss there. But it all goes back and trickles back to what you started with, which is a mindset for that.
Tamara:
And then to also piggyback off what you were saying in regards to investment. Now, if you break it down, even more, you have short-term rentals and you have long-term rentals. And everybody wants it done on Airbnb. We personally live on the coast. So now you’re buying that investment property. And this is as long as the air that you’re buying, and will allow for short-term rental, which again, I have lenders that will do short-term rental properties. And now let’s say, your mortgage payment is 3 grand a month, but you’re getting that amount and more in one week off of Airbnb and short-term rental. Now for a full month, you do the maths. This is as long as you have, you meet your bottom line, you have your expenses laid out, and you have your mortgages paid. If you’ve got to have a management company cleaning crew or whatever. Lawn maintenance, you have that all written down, itemized and you make sure your bottom line isn’t on top of what you wanted. So the possibilities are endless. You just have to have the mindset to say you know what, it might take a sacrifice upfront right now for me to say I’m not going to eat out, I might walk around with my hair kind of messed up or I might just do it myself or something. Come up with something where it’s a sacrifice. And then once you meet your goal, then you could go back and in a lot yourself and allowance, right? Just because the money is there, it doesn’t mean you’re gonna have to spend it all like allot yourself an allowance. And that’s because of what I do. Like because we don’t know where this market gonna go, it slowed down from January of this year to the current. But, if you budget correctly, you’re not going to feel that effect.
Corwyn:
That’s true. That’s true. And I mean so it’s funny, but in the previous interview, I was having this conversation about preparation. You know, and you know, we’re all guilty of not prepared, being prepared at times. And for those not prepared, you just gotta try to trudge through work, push your way through, quote-unquote, but nonetheless, we’re definitely all guilty of that. However, some of us sometimes in the thought process, it’s always well I got time, I got time, I got time, but we have to do it now. You know, we have to start thinking and putting things in place now. You know, homeownership is a “now”. You know what I’m saying? Investment property is a “now.” And what I mean by the NOW is when you can, as soon as you can, you do it, but you’re preparing yourself constantly to do it. So if I’m preparing to be a homeowner, meaning I’m budgeting, maths helps me take the B word out, because the law, they hit the B word, if I’m managing my expenses properly, if I’m setting aside money for a down payment, if I’m cutting expenses, doing all those things, working on paying my bills on time, my credit and stuff is increasing. Then when I get to where I have, everything meets that’s a “now moment” homeowner, buy, and subsequent. I continue to work on that now, during the same thing again, to buy the investment property and when all that stuff mixes and meets together, it is a now we’re gonna do that now. All right, so that’s the thing that we have to exercise. You know, we’re a show where we air on excuse me, this show on an urban gospel station. Shout out to Terry Base WJNI106.3. You know, we got to give, give my man a shout. But if you think about it, as we air, we’re on a faith-based station, right? And the word teaches us now-faith. And that’s something right there. Now, a lot worse is there so we got to do that thing. I made a post recently about faith because faith is all, it’s everything. Faith is a noun, it is an adjective. It’s also a verb, depending upon how you structure it in a sentence, and where you apply it, but faith is all things. So if we in all things, so if we apply faith to what it is that we’re doing, and we make it now faith, as it says, in Hebrews 11. Now faith is the substance. Correct. If we make it. If we do that, then we change the narrative in our lives. And that’s the thing that we got to do. But I’m gonna say this Tamara, and I’m gonna get back and make sure to get your contact information. But on the other side of that, if you go, a little bit further, in that, quote, unquote, that now faith. We also talked about putting on the armor, that’s the thing, we clothe ourselves with armor, right? We talk about clothing ourselves with the armor, but faith needs to be our undergarment. Correct. It needs to be. So we gotta put that faith first. Because without faith, the armor doesn’t work. Correct. So that’s a word, right I’m gonna start writing, I’m gonna share. Right here. But so you work with people on understanding their finances and putting things in place? And I know, that’s a hard conversation. No, it’s a hard conversation. It is. So what do you advise people to do outside of the things that you mentioned cutting out expenses, nails, all that kind of stuff, in order to make sure they’re preparing for not only homeownership but also to be investors and participants in our economy?
Tamara:
I mean, unless, as I said, money is not an object it’s just, I bet I prepare for the worst-case scenario. Because if the numbers get better than we’re good, now you can utilize that money. And if you need furniture, whatever that we went over. But it’s just really, I tell everybody to be prepared to have at least 7 to 10% of the purchase price that you want to save, I’m not doing three to five. If a down payment is three and a half percent, you don’t have enough money off to get eight out the gate. So it’s just 7 to 10% of the purchase price saved. So if you’re trying to qualify for 300,000, we need 10%. I mean, and I tell everybody, different loan programs have different guidelines. So we can use checking, we can use savings, we can use a 401 K, we can even get a gift whatever it is like just and I just come up with them, I look at their individual profiles, I’m looking at the full credit profile, and I’m analyzing I’m dissecting it and say, Okay, this is your issue, because what people don’t realize if you have a spending problem now, if you cannot afford a light bill if you cannot, and I’ve seen it, where I’ve seen overdraft. I see people living off of overdrafts, which if I submit those bank statements to a lender, I don’t care if you currently have the assets if you currently have the income, they don’t look at the history and say okay, why would I lend you a quarter of a million dollars, if you can even be my forte or keep up with a $50 bill, or water bill. So they look at it and that can disqualify you. So I’m giving them the ins and outs of okay, this is what we have to be mindful of. Like if you don’t have the money, don’t spend it. So that’s really it’s just it’s individually like I have to look at it case by case. But that’s the goal is to educate them at the end of the day so when they leave, it’s like, well, if you know what, if I don’t have it, I’m not gonna spend it. Same thing for credit cards. If you don’t have that money sitting in your checking account, because of the way I use my credit cards, I utilize my credit cards, that money is already sitting in my checking or savings account. And that’s how you build your credit. That’s a whole nother topic. But that’s how that’s the fastest way to build credit is through credit cards. But whenever you spin and don’t have it, and now you’re paying like the minimum payment as interest is adding up, that’s gonna crush you. Oh, now I tell people all the time, that this is one of my key points. We all know groceries, and gas that is necessities charged on your credit card, and you’re gonna use your debit card anyway, so charge on your credit card instead, when a bill comes paid down. Money’s already sitting there. So there’s small little, you know, tidbits that I give out to get them credit savvy, to get them to know what financial literacy is and stuff of that nature?
Corwyn:
Good deal. Good deal. So Tamara, how can people get in contact with you?
Tamara:
So my phone number is 843-804-7976. I also have a website, it is www.ysmgbrokers.com. And I’m also on the main social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, whatever it is, but my main points of contact are phone and not my website.
Corwyn:
Awesome. Awesome. So look, guys, as I always ask, I want you all to break Tamara’s website. All right. I want you to log on there and click on contact information. I want you all to shut it down. I want to make it so, there’s somebody who got a call and said wait a minute, I can’t get on because it’s committed. That’s one of the things that I’m gonna share briefly, as we wrap up today’s show. First and foremost, Tamara, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here with us today. The part that I’m gonna add though is not all are willing. Not all are willing. Not all are willing to have this conversation with you, bringing you the truth about the finances. Oftentimes we’re trying to force square pegs into round holes or round pegs in the square holes, whatever it may be trying to get something to work when there are other challenges that need to be addressed first, and we need to have that understanding. So Tamara, thank you so much for being that champion and advocate for financial literacy in our community and working to serve those people that you serve to the highest level of satisfaction. I really appreciate that. So for our listeners, guys, you know how we do, you know what we do. And you know how we feel, but we’re gonna say it anyhow, guys, thank you all so much for tuning in. And thank you all for listening. From wherever you are in this entire world. From Moncks Corner, yeah, Marty’s Corner. yes, yes, yes. All the way down to Chucktown. For those around the world who are tuning in. Thank you so much for being loyal listeners. You know how we feel, but I’m gonna say it right now. I love you. I love you. I love you. And we’ll see you guys out there in the streets.
