The Dirt on Mortgage Pre-Approval

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Welcome to the Dirt on Real Estate. This is a

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Utah based podcast where we get down and dirty

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with everything you need to know about buying,

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owning and loving your first home. We've got

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a packed episode for you here today. We're going

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to kick things off with some current real estate

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news, and we're going to sit down with Casey.

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He's a mortgage loan officer. We're going to

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break down kind of what it looks like when you

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have that first meeting with a mortgage officer.

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Finally, we're heading out to tour a beautiful

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model home that Edge Homes has in the Lehigh

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River Point community. So stick around. We got

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lots of good dirt coming your way. All right,

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kicking off this news section, the Fed had a

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meeting on June 18th, 2025, released a statement.

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In the statement, they reiterated a forecast

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of two quarter point rate cuts later this year,

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despite slightly raising their inflation outlook

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due to tariffs. In the June meeting, they did

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hold rates steady and they did signal some openness

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to easing. That easing is kind of conditional

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on future data. So inflation rates that are coming

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up as well as unemployment numbers. Currently,

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it is looking like the first quarter point rate

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cut will be in September of this year with another

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one following later in the year. That's it for

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our news section today. Let's hop over to Casey

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and talk about some mortgages. We're here today

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with Casey Bentley. Hopefully I got your last

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name right there. Yep. Yep. Perfect. Casey, you

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work a little bit in the real estate side, but

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also in the mortgage side. Can you give us a

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little bit about your background and how long

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you've been in the business and kind of what

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exactly is that you do? Yeah, I've been a mortgage

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officer going on five years. I think I got my

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license probably August of 2020. I kind of got

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out of high school and was trying to decide what

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to do. And I was actually supposed to go do summer

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sales, door to door sales. And the night before

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I left, I kind of started research researching

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real estate a little bit and it kind of just

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connected a little bit better. So I figured instead

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of doing door to door sales, let's go into a

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different commission area and learn the inventory

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out the real estate. So I ended up studying mortgages,

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becoming a mortgage officer, how financing works,

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what it takes to get a loan. And it's been great

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for all the five years. And that kind of like

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you said, I have, I did go get my real estate

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license, just for that further education, but

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my primary background is for sure, lending and

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what it takes to get a loan. Awesome. You work

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primarily Utah County, Salt Lake. Where exactly

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is it that you focus on, or is it just all of

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Utah? Yeah. I mean, I've done long ball over

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Utah, but obviously I am in Utah County, so the

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majority of them are Utah County, Salt Lake County.

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There's a few up north. I've done a few deals

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like Cache County, like Logan. kind of university

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town just because of the buyers that are more

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my age are usually looking college town but yeah

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pretty much wherever so i've done a few loans

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in california i am licensed in california idaho

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texas i've done a few in texas and if people

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want to reach out to you we'll put your number

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and email in the show notes and you have some

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social medias that you use as well yeah instagram

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it's bentley advisors so you'll see the blue

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logo and Oh, you'll see some of the clips of

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this posted on there as well. So yeah, go check

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that out. There's all these flyers and kind of

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promotions and what programs are out there. They're

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going up on social media all the time. So definitely

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want to go follow that. Right on. Well, today

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we're going to mostly be talking about kind of

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the first steps of, you know, you're thinking

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about buying your home, maybe your first home,

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so you don't really know what the process is.

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And one of the first things that you need to

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do actually is talk with a mortgage lender. So

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that's why we have Casey on today to kind of

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walk us through Those first steps of you know,

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you've decided you want to buy a home now You

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got to find out how much home can you buy and

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get pre -approved and all that stuff? So that's

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what kind of what we'll be getting into primarily

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today Casey when somebody reaches out to you

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and says hey We've been saving up. We're ready

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to buy our first home. What are those first steps

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that you walk them through? Yeah, I mean there's

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A few ways we can go about it, but the base four

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items that I always ask, or not that I always

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ask, but that I need to know is the first one's

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credit. Do you know your credit score? And obviously

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I'll go in and pull your credit later, but credit

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score is a big one. Then the next one, and they

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kind of, the next two, it's the number two and

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three are kind of together, is your income and

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your debt. So how much do you make every month?

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And we use growth. So a lot of people will usually

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give me after taxes, but we actually take the

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gross amount. So what's your gross monthly income?

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And then what debt do you have? Do you have a

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car payment? Do you have student loans? Do you

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have a credit card? And then the fourth item

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is how much do you have for a down payment? Do

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you need a down payment assistance program? Do

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you have money saved up? And then from there,

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I can kind of identify which program would be

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better. And it leads into all those conversations.

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But those four main things are definitely what

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is the general basis of getting a loan. We'll

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kind of touch on these four things here. Credit.

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Where does someone I don't ballpark need to be

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because houses are crazy right now. So ballpark

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I don't know what's kind of average a lot of

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people may not even know their credit score What

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do you kind of walk them through with that? Yeah,

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I would say average would probably be the lowest

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Don average is about 680 the higher on average

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is like 740 to 760 and the main thing that credit

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does there's minimum credit limit So for the

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different programs, it depends on how low they'll

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allow your credit to go. But as long as you're

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above the minimum credit, all credit does is

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affect your interest rate. So if you're an 800

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credit score, you're going to have a better interest

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rate than if you have a 700 credit score. But

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there's government programs that will let your

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credit score go all the way down to 580. I mean,

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a lot of people's credit's above 580. So don't

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let your credit be a main reason that you don't

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buy because there's government programs and assistant

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programs that can help if you think your credit's

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not good enough to buy a home. But I mean ideally

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if you're 700 or above we can get you just as

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good of a deal as anyone else. So that would

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be I guess if you wanted to have a goal credit

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area it'd be above 700 would be awesome. I think

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one of the main things of why it's good to reach

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out to a mortgage officer earlier in the process

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is so that you do know about these government

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assistance and programs that are going on because

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they don't last a very long time but sometimes

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they're awesome and they can give you they can

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give you a bunch of money towards a down payment

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or help you need less money for a down payment.

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Is that kind of a main thing that you have to

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research up on is what exactly is going on right

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now? Yeah, I mean, there's there's programs out

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there like Utah Housing, the government entity

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has a pretty stable one. that we know will always

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be available, but the more kind of creative that

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might be a little bit better deal, they definitely

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come and go all the time. And so it's definitely

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one thing we have to stay up on. But with that,

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as far as your credit and meeting with us early

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on in the process, if your credit is low, I also

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have a way to go and help you raise your credit.

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Like I can go in and analyze every aspect of

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it and say, hey, if you pay down this credit

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card to this balance, it'll... raise your score

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from 640 to 680 and that then will be a snowball

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effect to help you get this rate and qualify

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for this program and it'll lower your down payment

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this much and it'll it'll just have a snowball

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effect so all that stuff kind of factors into

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what programs you qualify for how the credit

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works and all that so yeah it definitely doesn't

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hurt to meet with me sooner rather than later

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One of the big things also when working with

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a real estate agent, one of the first things

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they're going to ask you to do in meeting with

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the mortgage officer is get a pre -approval.

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What exactly is that process with you? What do

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you walk them through with that? Building off

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the four things that I've asked, I now need to

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verify the four things and make sure that your

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answer is actually aligned with reality. So if

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you tell me you make a hundred thousand a year,

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but then I get a pay stub and you only make sixty

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thousand a year. So there are loan officers that

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just take your word for it and it can get get

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you in trouble because maybe you thought you

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made more than you did, but you really don't

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because the mortgage guidelines and how they

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are. So my next thing I'm going to ask for is

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pay stubs, W -2s, bank statement, a picture of

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your driver's license to make sure you're a real

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person. And I have a list of documents that I'll

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email out. I'll get it all uploaded into the

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loan application. And so I kind of usually start

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there is getting a loan application filled out.

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I get all your personal information and then

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verifying all the information that you gave me

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over the phone and that all those answers line

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up. And from there, I'll be able to plug in all

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the formulas and be able to tell you what you

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can qualify for based on the national guidelines

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that we have set out for us. And the importance

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of the pre -approval is if you're going to make

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an offer on a home, say you go and look at 10

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or 20 or 50 homes with your agent, you go and

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want to put an offer on a home, 90 % of those

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homes are going to require some kind of pre -approval

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letter with that offer. So it's actually a really

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important step to have before, let alone just

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knowing what your budget is. And you don't want

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to go and look at all these homes and then realize,

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you know, you're up here and what you can really

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afford is $200 ,000 less. So once you kind of,

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you get that pre -approval set up and you know

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how much somebody can qualify for, do you have

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any sort of recommendations or insights as to,

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you know, you can qualify for... Say 500 ,000

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but it would be smart to look at homes in the

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300 range or I don't know There's a lot of different

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opinions on that and some people might be scared

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knowing that they can qualify for a $500 ,000

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home or more. Yeah, but looking at what that

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payment might be each month is Scary. Yeah from

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my perspective. Sometimes it can be better to

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push the higher end of your budget a little bit,

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especially with a first home. What is your opinion

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on that? Once I know what you qualify for, that's

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when I go back to them and I say, OK, there's

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two qualifications that I can send out to you.

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There's one where there's what you qualify for

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and then there's what you can afford. And so

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when you ask them, what can you afford? It's

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realistically, how much do you guys want to pay

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every month? Because maybe they could qualify

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for a five hundred thousand dollar home. They're

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not going to want to go make the payment on a

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$500 ,000 home. They're only going to want to

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make the payment on a $350 ,000 home. And maybe

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they don't even need the size of a $500 ,000

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home. And it just makes sense to start out with

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some smaller. And that's usually where we racket

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that qualification down lower, because everyone

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starts to see the payments. And they want to

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keep their payments as low as possible, obviously.

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And that's where we can kind of come in and find

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a sweet spot. One thing I really started to do

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recently as well is just straight up staying

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in a perfect world. What would you want your

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monthly payment to be? And we can actually just

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work backwards from there. We just take what

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it would be and how much payment that is into

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a purchase price and we can just work backwards.

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And I've seen that go really well because people

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don't know what a $500 ,000 house really cost.

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They just know that they want to keep their payment

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under $2 ,500. It's always the battle of what

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can you afford versus what you qualify for. Yeah.

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So here's another question with that is what

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exactly all goes into a mortgage payment each

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month because it's not just Principal and interest

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for the house. Yeah, it's a little tricky There's

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your principal and interest and that is that

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practically is just your mortgage is your principal

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and interest and so every month when you make

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say your mortgage payment is $2 ,000 about 1500

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will go towards interest $500 will go towards

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actually paying down the loan that you have But

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then on top of that $2 ,000, you'll probably

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have about $150 in property taxes. You'll have

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about $100 in homeowner insurance. And then depending

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on your down payment, you'll also have monthly

00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:25.360
mortgage insurance, or a lot of people know it

00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.200
as PMI. And that'll also be about another $100

00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:32.279
to $200 a month. So on top of just paying the

00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:34.419
loan back, you have to worry about property tax

00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:37.309
with homeowners insurance. monthly mortgage insurance

00:12:37.309 --> 00:12:39.690
and there's all these extra monthly fees that

00:12:39.690 --> 00:12:41.889
a lot of people aren't aware of. So that was

00:12:41.889 --> 00:12:44.830
a good question. I mean, it adds up quick. It

00:12:44.830 --> 00:12:48.049
does. Another thing here for you. It's a long

00:12:48.049 --> 00:12:49.850
process buying a house. I don't think everyone

00:12:49.850 --> 00:12:52.929
realizes that, you know, on Zillow looking at

00:12:52.929 --> 00:12:56.230
things to when they're actually at closing. It

00:12:56.230 --> 00:13:01.399
can be. a year, five years, or six months, but

00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:03.639
typically it's a longer process than people think.

00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:08.159
How involved are you through that process from

00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:13.210
when they sit down with you the first time? very

00:13:13.210 --> 00:13:16.149
heavily involved for the majority of the process

00:13:16.149 --> 00:13:18.909
just because I mean if you reach out to me six

00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:20.889
months before you're going to buy a home I mean,

00:13:20.909 --> 00:13:23.610
I'll need to make sure I'm caught up on the documentation

00:13:23.610 --> 00:13:25.649
I'll need to make sure if your pay is stayed

00:13:25.649 --> 00:13:27.509
the same I need to make sure your bank accounts

00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:30.029
still look the same all the way up until we close

00:13:30.029 --> 00:13:32.629
I'm gonna be taking all this information your

00:13:32.629 --> 00:13:35.860
pay your your assets, your liabilities, and I'm

00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:37.639
going to be taking it to an underwriter and we

00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:39.840
need to have the most updated documentation.

00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:42.620
Your financial picture could change every month.

00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:45.340
It's kind of a month to month thing. And so I

00:13:45.340 --> 00:13:47.500
would say at least talking to me once a month

00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:49.399
as you're going through the process, just to

00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.320
make sure I have the updated documents and everything

00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.720
all the way up until we actually close on the

00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.379
loan and you guys have moved into the house.

00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.019
I'd say it's a couple of months of just. maybe

00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:01.120
once a week following up making sure everyone's

00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.899
still on the same page and we all have the right

00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:05.940
expectations and making sure all our information

00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:09.259
is accurate. Well, and then worrying about appraisal

00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:11.940
and making sure that gets back right. Some people

00:14:11.940 --> 00:14:15.759
may not know that when you're using a lender

00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:18.399
to buy a house, the house has to appraise for

00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:22.299
what the loan is, right? Yeah, no, true. Last

00:14:22.299 --> 00:14:25.039
thing. that I want to kind of touch base on here,

00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.899
that it was kind of your step four was down payment

00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:30.240
and how much people have for down payment. It

00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.799
can be kind of flexible if I'm not mistaken.

00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:37.360
What do you recommend? What's kind of best practice

00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.659
for how much to have for down payment? Yeah,

00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:42.299
ideally, if you could have between three point

00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:45.659
five percent or five percent down, we can get

00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:48.740
you a great deal. If you don't have to borrow

00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:51.899
a down payment, it puts you in the best situation.

00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:55.000
but also don't let that stop you from wanting

00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.679
to buy a home. There are great programs out there

00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:59.980
where they'll cover your down payment and some

00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:02.059
of them it'll add like another hundred dollars

00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:03.879
to your payment every month which I know payments

00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:05.840
are already high. Some of them you just pay it

00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:08.460
back when you sell the property so there's all

00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:10.659
sorts of options but ideally if you're between

00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:15.360
3 .5 % and 5 % which is probably about 15 to

00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.440
20 thousand if you have that much saved up I

00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:19.700
think we could get a pretty good scenario for

00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.309
you and that would be ideal. A lot of people

00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:25.629
right now are still saying that rates are crazy

00:15:25.629 --> 00:15:28.269
and it does make it harder to buy a house when

00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:31.190
rates are, you know, six and a half, seven, seven

00:15:31.190 --> 00:15:35.330
and a half. What's your current look at the market?

00:15:35.429 --> 00:15:37.570
Because you're looking at this every day, whereas

00:15:37.570 --> 00:15:39.889
most of us aren't. And you're doing a lot more

00:15:39.889 --> 00:15:43.690
research. What's your outlook on what mortgage

00:15:43.690 --> 00:15:46.590
rates are doing? Yeah, it's so hard. There's

00:15:46.590 --> 00:15:48.769
so many moving pieces, especially kind of in

00:15:48.769 --> 00:15:51.070
the economical climate that we're in right now.

00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:53.600
And the one thing that's always a good thing

00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.799
to remember is we always say you date the rate

00:15:55.799 --> 00:15:58.320
and marry the home. If we're being realistic,

00:15:58.519 --> 00:16:02.320
the interest rate is by far the most temporary

00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:05.179
thing of the whole process. Like the home is

00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:06.860
pretty permanent. If you love the home, let's

00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:09.059
make it work. But your interest rate, if you

00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:11.480
wanted, you could change it every six months.

00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:15.600
Say we lock you in at 7 % and rates go up. Well,

00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:18.019
you're going to be super happy you have 7 % because

00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:21.440
rates are now at 8%. but if you get 7 % and six

00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.200
months later, they're down to 6%, we can change

00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:27.019
that and update that rate and refinance you super

00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:29.580
quick and easy. So it's kind of hard focusing

00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:31.779
on interest rate, then I'm going to be honest,

00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:34.340
it does affect your payment. Like payments are

00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:37.179
high, but the interest rate is by far the most

00:16:37.179 --> 00:16:39.779
temporary and most flexible thing in the whole

00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.899
transaction. So that's why it's hard where regardless

00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:45.929
of what the economy does or what rates do, let's

00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:48.049
still just get you into the home and focus on

00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:50.889
that as we see what happened. Because you never

00:16:50.889 --> 00:16:53.110
know, we could change the tariffs on this day

00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:56.529
or another COVID could come back, like a whole

00:16:56.529 --> 00:16:58.669
pandemic could start. We have no idea what's

00:16:58.669 --> 00:17:01.230
out there for us. And so let's just get you into

00:17:01.230 --> 00:17:03.509
the home, start building equity, and we'll worry

00:17:03.509 --> 00:17:05.349
about the interest rate as we get through the

00:17:05.349 --> 00:17:08.710
process. things change, and we have more information.

00:17:09.029 --> 00:17:10.910
You're right. They are all over the place every

00:17:10.910 --> 00:17:12.670
day. It's hard to track them. I'll give someone

00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:14.609
an interest rate today, and by tomorrow, it'll

00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:16.890
be completely different. Like you said, when

00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:19.529
you lock in the rate, it may be 7%. So here's

00:17:19.529 --> 00:17:22.809
another question. When in the process do you

00:17:22.809 --> 00:17:26.430
lock in the rate? That's always kind of the question.

00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:28.309
And a lot of times, I leave it up to the client.

00:17:28.549 --> 00:17:30.490
As we're climbing home buying process, we kind

00:17:30.490 --> 00:17:33.049
of have the months building up to it. but when

00:17:33.049 --> 00:17:35.549
you're actually under contract that you found

00:17:35.549 --> 00:17:37.569
the perfect house, you put an offer in, they've

00:17:37.569 --> 00:17:39.869
accepted your offer, the average is about 30

00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:43.029
days. We cannot lock an interest rate until we

00:17:43.029 --> 00:17:46.089
have an accepted contract. So we only have about

00:17:46.089 --> 00:17:50.369
30 days of time to lock that interest rate. So

00:17:50.369 --> 00:17:53.309
between me and the client and where they feel,

00:17:53.470 --> 00:17:55.150
a lot of times we'll go to and be like, hey,

00:17:55.250 --> 00:17:57.970
rates are at 7%. If you guys have budgeted for

00:17:57.970 --> 00:18:01.230
that and you're okay with 7%, let's just lock

00:18:01.230 --> 00:18:03.690
it and move on. Let's not stress about it anymore

00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:05.569
because you already have a million other things

00:18:05.569 --> 00:18:08.009
to stress about now that you're under contract

00:18:08.009 --> 00:18:10.349
on a house. But there's some clients where they're

00:18:10.349 --> 00:18:12.589
like, oh, that 7 % is a little high. We want

00:18:12.589 --> 00:18:14.569
to risk it and see if they come down over the

00:18:14.569 --> 00:18:18.009
next 15 to 30 days. Then we'll let it ride. And

00:18:18.009 --> 00:18:20.529
sometimes it goes up and it was a worse situation.

00:18:20.690 --> 00:18:22.589
Sometimes it comes down and it was a good bet.

00:18:23.230 --> 00:18:25.470
It goes back, it's so hard to tell, and it's

00:18:25.470 --> 00:18:27.289
just getting to a position where you're comfortable

00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:29.690
with it and you're confident in moving forward

00:18:29.690 --> 00:18:31.730
during that process. But you only have about

00:18:31.730 --> 00:18:36.069
30 days to mess with the market. And typically,

00:18:36.369 --> 00:18:40.089
rates don't move that much in a 15 to 20 to 30

00:18:40.089 --> 00:18:44.049
-day span. I mean, maybe they'll go 0 .25 % one

00:18:44.049 --> 00:18:46.190
way or the other. You're maybe trying to save

00:18:46.190 --> 00:18:49.630
like an eighth of a point is all the battle is.

00:18:49.869 --> 00:18:53.319
Which can be a lot, but it also... Is it worth

00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:55.940
the risk? I don't know. It depends on your risk

00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:58.440
level as a home buyer. It's a good question,

00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:00.500
but one of those that I just don't have a good

00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:02.759
answer for, it just depends on every deal and

00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:05.299
it's just part of the industry. No, that was

00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:08.660
a perfect answer. It's after you're under contract,

00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:11.740
sometime in that 30 days, basically. That's a

00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:14.579
great answer. A lot of people come and say, oh,

00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:16.579
the feds have announced that they're cutting

00:19:16.579 --> 00:19:19.940
rates this many times this year. What is that

00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:24.039
actually? equate to for what interest rates are

00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:27.019
doing. Not as much as you'd think. So there's

00:19:27.019 --> 00:19:29.559
the Fed prime rate. When it dropped, everyone

00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:32.039
thinks mortgage rates will drop. And over the

00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:34.299
last year, I would say, when we've kind of seen

00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:36.200
the Fed rate come down from eight and a half

00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:38.079
to seven and a half and the drops that they took

00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.380
to get there. For example, if the Fed meetings

00:19:40.380 --> 00:19:42.720
in September and it's rumored that they're supposed

00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.539
to drop that rate. Well, mortgage rates from

00:19:45.539 --> 00:19:48.759
June, July and August have been already budgeting

00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:51.960
in for that drop. So then when it does drop,

00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:54.619
we've actually seen rates go up. The drop almost

00:19:54.619 --> 00:19:58.099
happens before the actual Fed drop because the

00:19:58.099 --> 00:20:00.759
market and mortgage rates start to price that

00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.240
in. So there's been times building up to the

00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:05.519
Fed where like we need to lock right now because

00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:08.240
once they actually lower that rate, we've seen

00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.640
rates go up, but we've also seen the opposite.

00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:13.400
So it's not as cut and dry as people make it

00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.960
out to be. Like if the Fed drops their rate from

00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:19.240
7 .5 to 7 .25, it doesn't automatically mean

00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:21.200
that mortgage rates are going to go down 0 .25.

00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:23.720
It could actually be the inverse of that. So

00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:26.400
not the greatest thing to go off of, but I mean,

00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:28.420
it is just an indicator of where the economy

00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:30.799
is going and where we think inflation is at and

00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.019
the CPI index and all that. But that's a good

00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:35.700
explanation. There's not an exact, you know,

00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:37.960
feds are dropping, so rates are going down. It

00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:41.740
often is the opposite. Last thing that I'll touch

00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:44.670
on with rates here. A lot of people right now

00:20:44.670 --> 00:20:46.349
are saying, you know, we're just going to wait

00:20:46.349 --> 00:20:48.690
and hopefully rates will come down in the next

00:20:48.690 --> 00:20:52.029
year or two. But often when rates come down,

00:20:52.150 --> 00:20:55.990
the prices just go right up. So you're not necessarily

00:20:55.990 --> 00:20:58.430
getting that much of a bigger deal. What's kind

00:20:58.430 --> 00:21:00.369
of your advice for somebody that may be saying,

00:21:00.410 --> 00:21:02.710
well, we want to wait for rates to come down

00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:05.130
a bit. Yeah, I mean, it kind of goes back to

00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:08.089
the date, the rate, marry the home. The rate

00:21:08.089 --> 00:21:11.089
is so temporary. We can change it whenever. So

00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:13.779
if you're waiting. for rates to drop, the home

00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:16.180
prices will be higher. Utah is a very strong

00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:20.480
market and the appreciation rates here are crazy,

00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.140
even through all the economical stuff we've encountered.

00:21:23.460 --> 00:21:25.640
And so honestly, a lot of times, even though

00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.019
your interest rates lower, now that the home

00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:30.339
price has gone up, your payment is actually higher

00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:31.859
than it would have been at the higher interest

00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:34.480
rate and the lower price. And then if you do

00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:36.740
buy it at the lower price, then we can just refinance

00:21:36.740 --> 00:21:38.960
you like I've already talked about. And you're

00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.950
way better off because not only did you buy the

00:21:41.950 --> 00:21:44.130
home earlier, but now you've been able to take

00:21:44.130 --> 00:21:47.109
part in the value of that home going up and that

00:21:47.109 --> 00:21:49.710
equity is now yours. I don't know many scenarios

00:21:49.710 --> 00:21:52.069
where it makes sense to wait, especially if you're

00:21:52.069 --> 00:21:53.990
planning to be in the home for five years. There's

00:21:53.990 --> 00:21:55.930
always the old five -year real estate rule. If

00:21:55.930 --> 00:21:57.549
you're going to be there for five years, there's

00:21:57.549 --> 00:21:59.769
nothing to worry about. You'll be better off.

00:22:00.069 --> 00:22:01.890
Let's just get you into a home as soon as we

00:22:01.890 --> 00:22:04.609
can. Well, and with that, the last thing I'll

00:22:04.609 --> 00:22:06.910
touch on with that five -year rule, and we don't

00:22:06.910 --> 00:22:10.220
have too much more time today, but Sometimes

00:22:10.220 --> 00:22:13.299
it can be better. I know we talked earlier about

00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:16.720
what do you want your monthly payment to be?

00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.640
And sometimes it can be a little more beneficial

00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:22.859
to push that top end a little bit and be a little

00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:25.859
bit more uncomfortable. Yeah, because in five

00:22:25.859 --> 00:22:27.940
years you're going to be making more money. You

00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:29.960
know, maybe a spouse will be out of school and

00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:33.259
they'll be making money as well. And that home

00:22:33.259 --> 00:22:35.359
value will increase. The other thing I want to

00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:38.539
say with this is often if you can stretch the

00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:40.500
budget just a little to get into that little

00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:43.880
bit bigger house, it'll last you five years instead

00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:46.440
of three years. And then it sometimes can make

00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:49.700
a little bit more sense in the long term. Not

00:22:49.700 --> 00:22:51.960
that it's right for everyone, but it's just something

00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.740
to consider. Yeah. I mean, with that, I always

00:22:55.740 --> 00:22:58.299
kind of word it like we each have our own financial

00:22:58.299 --> 00:23:01.220
fingerprints. Like how we all have our fingerprints,

00:23:01.460 --> 00:23:04.839
they're all so widely different. That's how everyone's

00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:06.880
financial picture is. Some people make sense

00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.380
to buy the more expensive home. Other people

00:23:09.380 --> 00:23:12.819
make sense to do a starter home. Everyone's different.

00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:15.119
And you'd be shocked that even with similar pay

00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:18.039
and similar credit, just based on people's mindset

00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:21.079
and where their goals are to be in two years,

00:23:21.220 --> 00:23:24.230
three years, five years. is how we can structure

00:23:24.230 --> 00:23:27.509
everything to make sure that we're best accommodating

00:23:27.509 --> 00:23:29.609
to your financial fingerprint. Like you were

00:23:29.609 --> 00:23:31.829
saying, may not be best for everyone, but we'll

00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:34.630
make sure as these real estate professionals,

00:23:34.829 --> 00:23:36.490
me and Will, that we'll make sure you guys are

00:23:36.490 --> 00:23:39.329
being in the best situation for your exact situation

00:23:39.329 --> 00:23:41.549
and your goals and your mindset in the industry.

00:23:41.769 --> 00:23:44.910
Very well said. Thanks for talking with me today,

00:23:45.250 --> 00:23:48.210
Casey. Again, if you want to reach out to Casey,

00:23:48.509 --> 00:23:50.930
his info is in the show notes as well as mine

00:23:50.930 --> 00:23:54.549
is always there. If you have more questions about

00:23:54.549 --> 00:23:56.970
lending or maybe you're at that point where you

00:23:56.970 --> 00:23:59.509
need a pre -approval, reach out to Casey. He's

00:23:59.509 --> 00:24:01.529
awesome to work with. So thank you so much for

00:24:01.529 --> 00:24:03.369
being with me today, Casey. Yeah, this was awesome.

00:24:03.490 --> 00:24:06.799
Thanks for inviting me. Thank you guys for listening

00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.000
to the Dirt on Real Estate podcast this week.

00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:12.119
We also do this podcast in a video version on

00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:16.019
YouTube. At the end, we include a video home

00:24:16.019 --> 00:24:18.880
tour each week that's not on this audio version.

00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:20.799
So if you're interested in those home tours,

00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:23.460
hop over to YouTube, the Dirt on Real Estate,

00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:26.200
you'll be able to see those each week. As always,

00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.000
my number and email are in the show notes below.

00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:31.859
Please reach out if you have any questions about

00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:34.440
real estate here in Utah. I'd love to talk with

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you. That's it for today, guys. We'll be back

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next week with more dirt.