Page 25 - EQ Mag-issue 5

COVER STORY (Cont’d)

sometimes frustrating. But their minds were made up. only accept certain types of loans. One of the benefits of
Cleaning up the credit, paying by off bills, strategically working with a lender like Darryl, is he was able to present
getting some secured credit cards, over time the Lewis the Lewis family with multiple loan options that were in
both went from the 510 FICO scoring range number to their budget. They also appreciated the fact that he was
upper 670 FICO range. patient, answered the questions over and over until they
felt at ease and well informed. This did not mean that the
Getting the scores up above 620 was also a goal. Charles questions would not come up again, sometimes a recent
and Kimberly next step was too learned about the as the next day. “It is so important to have a Mortgage
different lending programs. These programs provided Banker that’s patient with you, available to you and is
different purchasing options. The higher the credit score there for you the whole journey no matter the question no
and the more money for the down payment meant the matter how many times,” said Kimberly.
higher likelihood they would get what they wanted.
THE HOME SEARCH
Step 6: to get in position to purchase. Once their score
began to increase, the down payment money account “The home shopping process was also very interesting for
started increasing, and they felt they had made some the Lewis family,” said Charles. He shared that the market
progress in the right direction. Charles reached out to was so crazy, homes were flying off the shelf. On a few
Darryl to give them some payment scenarios based on occasions, homes they viewed in the morning, had an
their capacity to repay, credit score, debt-to-income ratios, offer on them by evening. They also learned an important
to figure out their sales price range. “Another key lesson about being indecisive when in the home buying
ingredient was having a Real Estate Agent that was a market. They lost the bid on several homes because they
friend as well,” the Lewis’ said. were taking time to think it through and make a decision
on what they wanted to do.
Step 7: to reach out to the Real Estate Agent and share the
discussion on what was important to both of them in a Another very interesting experience was sometimes the
home. The location was influenced by commute to work, homes didn’t look as good as they did in the photos
visiting family, and business relationships in the Missouri online. So visiting the property and walking through the
City part of town. Chuck is Self-Employed and his clientele house was very important.
was in the Missouri City area. The couple needed at least 3
bedrooms, gas appliances were preferred, and definitely
decent entertaining space was also high on the list of must
haves.

THE MONEY FOR FINANCING

Once all the steps were completed, it was time to go
through the loan application process. Financing was
secured and Darryl supplied the pre-approval letter that
would accompany the offer on a home they would find.
Charles contacted his Real Estate Agent friend Troy Tezeno
and they began the home shopping process by prioritizing
multiple homes that fit the criteria given.

Another area to learn about were the types of loan
products that were available, and how much closing costs
would be needed based on the price of the home. The [Signing Closing Documents]
Lewis family learned about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
Conventional and FHA products and Portfolio products. The home buying process can be very frustrating and
This was stressful for the Lewis family because they nerve racking, but a good Realtist/Realtor can help a buyer
learned, by losing a house they wanted, that some sellers through the process. One thing the agent cannot help

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