Fed Chair Powell On The Hill, Housing Starts Soar

• June 24, 2023
• realestatelife
• Podcast

The Fed is on a pause, making us put our feet on the brake. But anytime now, we have to continue hovering over that gas pedal and get ready to go. Chairman Powell says, “It gives us a little bit more time to watch what’s going on, watch the things come through the market, and see some more data. We’re data-dependent.” Uncover the implications of these recent Fed and economic news in today’s episode with Michael Harris. Join him as he looks over the data to figure out where the Fed is going in the following days, weeks, and months as well as the recent happenings on the soar in housing. Stay on top of what is happening in this inflationary environment so you can make your real estate life a reality!

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Listen to the podcast here

Fed Chair Powell On The Hill, Housing Starts Soar

I want to know what kind of loan you have. We’re talking about money. We’re talking about saving money. We’re turning up your frequency by turning down your interest volume. I want you to take a look at that mortgage statement. Maybe you don’t get a statement. Maybe it’s online. Take a look at the breakdown of your principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Look at that interest payment and see what percentage it is to the overall. Is it 50%, 60%, 70%, or 80%?

I want to understand where you are when it comes to your interest volume. The goal is to turn down that interest volume. It will increase your frequency and then pay off your loans much sooner. That’s including everything, all your monthly expenses, whether it’s your car payments, credit cards, or those soon-to-be-added student loan payments again in October. All these items will then be able to be eliminated much sooner. That churns off the interest volume quite a bit when it goes away.

You will have your monthly expenses and your course insurance. I talked about that in previous programs. Your homeowner’s insurance may be going up on renewals, and we will talk about that, but increasing your deductible to help offset that a little bit. Instead of homeowner’s insurance, it’s catastrophic insurance. Maybe you’re changing up the setup on that with many carriers leaving our markets and others considering doing that with increases being proposed. We’re going to see what we can do to not only maintain but start eliminating debt and creating wealth.

I’m Mike Harris, President and CEO of United Mortgage Corporation of America. I’ve been in lending. I’m starting my 37th year, and I’ve been on the radio for 17 full years. In doing that, we provide information and education so you can move forward with your real estate life. In this changing world and changing time, it’s making sure you maintain. Once you maintain, then move forward once again.

You have life’s obstacles they throw your way. Our goal is to make sure we catch each of those, put them right aside, and let them go right by. Utilizing our experience and the time that we spent in this industry, we’re here to help you navigate through the purchase, the refinance, and the transactions that you may have but also make sure that you are able to enjoy your acquisition, enjoy where you are, and not have the stress of the unexpected. I want you to be able to weather that storm.

With that said, we have a poll question. I want to know what is the amount of discretionary monies that you have remaining at the end of each month. Is it $100, $200, or $300? This number is after you pay all your monthly payments. That includes the water bill, the gas bill, the electric bill, the phone bill, your groceries, and all the items that you have. What’s left over at the end of each month? Do you have $100, $200, $300, $500, or $1,000? I want to know what that number is.

With that number in mind, I would like to set a time to discuss with you a perfect financial GPS program that will help navigate you to zero the fastest way possible. You can get from A to B or A to B to C and do that perfectly as you drive in your car, “We need to get here.” You go, but was that the fastest route possible at any given moment in time? You got to your destination, but are you going from California to New York, and you’re going to Hawaii first and then New York? You’re getting there but with your best route.

I want to make sure you have the perfect financial GPS program to get you to zero as fast and swiftly as possible. Mine went from 26 years down to under 8 years. That’s pretty good. On my own, I was getting down to about 12.2. Those additional four years were things that I was not able to perfectly do or stay on top of as effectively as what a perfect financial GPS program navigation device will do for you. Those four years add up to a big number. That was saving me a lot.

I want to show you how you can do the same. You don’t have to be a numbers person at all. You don’t have to do that at all. I would like the fact that you can log in to a screen. That would be important, not just for yourself but a screen so you can see. It’s going to give you the information you need to do what you need to do even on a daily basis.

It’s looking out 90 days out. It’s going to tell you future items or predictive items that you want to know or understand if you’re looking to purchase or do other things. There’s so much more to talk about. We’re going to have a webinar. Email me at Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com to register. You will have me doing a live presentation. I want to talk to you. We will have more after the break.

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Thank you for spending some time with us here. We have a webinar coming up. I want to make sure you get registered for that event. It’s something that’s not going to cost you anything but your time. It’s an investment in your time to allow you to learn something a little bit different and open your mind to understanding how you can eliminate interest and come out further ahead. I want to help show you how to do that just as I’ve been able to practice, preach, and do myself.

You can register at Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com. If there’s a program to eliminate most of your interest in your lifetime and pay off all your debts, personal and business, even mortgages in as little as a third or half the normal time without refinancing and without changing your lifestyle, no pork and beans, we’re not changing what you’re doing, would you want to learn more? That’s what I’m asking you to do.

We had a tremendous event out in Irvine. Many of our audiences have shown up out there, and I appreciate that. We had others there as well and some of my colleagues. We had a tremendous presentation and a tremendous weekend with many people who are moving forward and finding a path to financial freedom. It’s that overwhelming. We had multiple individuals who were crying about what they did, what they couldn’t have done on their own, and what the potential is now utilizing exactly what they have, their checking and savings. It’s that enlightening. That’s what I would like you to see.

My goal is not to make you cry. It’s to have that epiphany at that moment to understand your why, what can be done, and maybe what someone hasn’t shown you before. If you want to register, I would love to see you there, Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com. We had a number of individuals who have moved forward from the weekend. We’re getting them moving forward at this time. It is tremendous how we were able to get that done. I appreciate them for their interest. That was fantastic.

Where Are Your Idle Funds Sitting?

You’re out in Ventura. What are you doing out here? You have a mortgage, a car payment, other debts, other obligations, and other items that you need to handle. You’re doing a good job. You’re making payments. Sometimes you’re not. Sometimes you are. You’re trying to decide which one is going first. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you had a perfect financial opportunity and program that would allow you to give that insight for you to make perfect decisions? You could always make a different decision but it’s going to tell you what the cost would be accordingly. Maybe you pay off things a little less.

We have had individuals who are buying a car or getting a 72-month payment car at a certain payment and certain value that they went and got a loan for. Instead of paying off in 72 months, the program hasn’t been paying off the net in 1.2 years because the program is going to work smart to eliminate debt faster. It’s not coming up with, “Get another job.” If you do, great. You have more money, and your number is going to go down even further. It becomes almost a game you play. It’s fun. You go in there, “I got a bonus. I got an extra overtime.” All of a sudden, you put in your check, “I saved 0.1%.” You’re able to take these decisions and move forward.

One of the things that I have people looking at right away is, “Where do you have your idle funds? If you have idle funds, where are your idle funds sitting? Are they earning 0.1% if you’re lucky? Are you earning zero?” You can put money away at 3.4%, 3.6%, or 4%. Eleven months is almost at 5%. There are many different places to park money. If you park that money and earn an extra $1,000 or an extra such, that’s more money that you didn’t have before.

You’re fighting over the monthly gas, electric, or cell phone bill but you aren’t taking the initiative to put the money somewhere to earn that amount of money for you each and every month. One of the first things I like to do is find out where your money is and what idle money we can have working harder for you with no risk. Those are some of the things that I’ve been able to accomplish, and I’ve been able to move around even business funds, opening up a business promotional accounts where business money is earning a rate of return, as well as funds that aren’t going to be necessary for 90 days or later.

We’re able to layer certain funds on different dates that are due. You have funds that are available depending on where you are. You work with your financial planner, your CPA, and others as necessary to look at that setup as well. We’re working with seniors 55 and over on reverse mortgages to have the same luxury of the ability not to have a mortgage payment that would be due and to have optional payments but also even if they don’t utilize the funds to have them available so they can layer on those items of availability and need as well. They worked hard for their home. Now it’s time for their home to work hard for them.

These are the things that we look to do, depending on where you are and where you’re looking to head. We have individuals who are still in those earning stages. We have people who are starting to hit in getting those student loan payments starting up again in October. That’s going to be an eye-opener. Some of you have your student loan payments pegged to your income. If your income is low, you may not have that higher student loan payment or a payment due but as you gain additional income, that’s going to be then siphoned away.

Our goal is to try to eliminate that number as it’s affordable to do without somebody picking your pocket sooner than you would like. We would like to set up an appointment with you so we can come up with a game plan that works best based on the new payment that’s coming in. We have seen student loan payments going from $1,000 to $2,000.

We have had some high payments that we have seen coming in on the front side. The goal sometimes is getting started earlier than later because those student loan payments are going to be hidden pretty well. We haven’t seen student loan payments now for some time. All of a sudden, that’s going to come in. People have been waiting for somebody to say, “Poof,” and make them go away. That’s not quite going to happen here. I want to make sure we address that.

The other item that I’ve been addressing as well is the insurance side of things or the homeowner’s insurance. People are pulling out of the market. Different ZIP codes and regions have already had increases based upon risk assessments with fire hillside and whatnot. The rest is looking to get those increases coming as well. We have seen some homeowner’s insurance go up twice, possibly anywhere from 40% to 100% increases.

I want you to be able to plan ahead, be ready for that, and have a plan rather than, “I have to do something because it already occurred.” Make sure you stay on time on your payments. Do not go in default on those monthly, quarterly, semi, or annual payments because they’re looking for a reason not to renew. Some of them are not even writing new policies in our market.

A lot of things are changing. I want to help navigate you through that process but I also want to give you additional discretionary money on a monthly basis. It goes back to our poll question. If you want to call or text (888) 543-3980, I want to know how much discretionary monthly money you have. Text a number, $100, $200, $500, or $1,000. I was curious. With that discretionary, if you have a mortgage, student loans, or a car, you don’t have all three. It could be just one.

What’s Coming Out On The Market

I’ve had some individuals, “I don’t have any debt. I just have a mortgage.” That’s a debt. If we could take that mortgage from twenty-some-odd years down to a single digit without changing your lifestyle, then it’s something that you should look to. That’s (888) 543-3980. We have a lot of things that are coming out. It starts on Monday with nothing scheduled but on Tuesday, we have Durable Goods Orders.

We have S&P Case-Shiller, new home sales, and consumer confidence. That’s coming out on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we have advanced US trade balances, retail inventories, and wholesale inventories. On Thursday, it’s initial jobless claims and pending home sales. On Friday, we got personal income and spending. We’ve got the core PCE year-over-year, Chicago Business Barometer, and consumer sentiment.

We’re looking at all these items and taking in the data to figure out where the Fed is going in July. July 12th is a big day on my books because we’re looking at the inflationary numbers coming out. It’s the inflationary numbers for June. These numbers are important. What it does is it knocks out June ’22. June ’22 had a very high number, 1.2%. If we’re sitting from 9% down to 4%, and if we went from 4%, and let’s say that 1.2% goes away, now 4% minus 1.2% is 2.8% but we will have some inflationary percentage.

If that’s 0.1%, 0.2%, or 0.3%, we’re now getting something in the low 3% or possibly, if we get lucky, a little bit lower, maybe the high 2%. If we see that headline number, 3%, now it’s not 2% as the Fed’s target but it has fallen from 9% to 3%-something. We’re finding these Fed moves, these increases that we have seen, and the 10% that we have had. I’ve talked about it. We had a pause but it was a hawkish pause because the Fed came out and said, “A majority of the Fed wants to see two more moves after the pause.” Put your foot on the brake but we got the gas pedal ready to go, and we’re gassing up.

That didn’t make the market feel any better, and then to put off the whole fact that the Fed is going to be easing by the end of the year. Everyone is going, “Is it going to be an increase of pause? Are they going to get into a new pattern half on the break and gas at the same time?” The way Chairman Powell described it was, “It gives us a little bit more time to watch what’s going on, watch the things come through the market, and see some more data. We’re data-dependent.”

I got it. Looking at data is important, and it does take time for these moves to even be seen coming through the marketplace because we have had ten. There have been different degrees from a quarter to halves to three-quarters repetitively. I was more in the camp of, “Pause. Done,” or it was, “Raise a quarter and then pause.” With the fact that we paused, they’re prepping for more so the market doesn’t get all Goldilocks and happy. As this economic news comes out, we will see it. Is the employment rate going to increase up to 4.1% or 4.5%? Is it going to go higher as the end of the year goes?

Are we looking at a target rate instead of 5.13% or 5.6%, which is another half percent, which the Fed has baked in, showing what they want to do? As we get these numbers coming and inflation starts getting calmed down a little bit, and we’re still seeing some pain on the other side of things, the recession perhaps can be there. The Fed may have to step back in because as they go ahead and do ease in the later time, some of these increases hadn’t gone through. It’s not canceling but they’re offsetting.

Think of it this way. When you go and take a shower in the morning, you turn on the hot water. In some cases, you have great hot water coverage. You’re excellent, and it goes right away hot but let’s say you got an older home. You turn on the hot water, “It’s cold. I have to get it hot. Let me turn it on full blast. It takes a little bit. Now it’s warm. Let’s dial it back.” When is the Fed looking to dial it back?

That’s when we are looking at the next transition. Are we now scalding? Is it going to get hot, and they have to dial it back? That’s where we are in this process. We’re near to the end. With the end in sight, we have seen mortgage rates come back a little bit. They hiccup here and there but now, we’re looking at them hitting from the low 6% to the high 5%. We’re still seasonally and historically lower than the average. It’s just that we’re at a different time, different age, and a different area of what we got used to.

We still have low inventory. We have high demand with low inventory. If rates do come back down a little bit, we’re going to have more pressure for increased prices. Buying a home now is important. If you find a home, and that’s what you want to do, it is important but it’s gaining the best route that’s important, whether it’s low down. You don’t need 20% down to buy a home and get pre-approved, which you can do with us here at United Mortgage Corporation of America, United4Loans.com.

I’ve been doing that now in my 37th year doing lending. I can help navigate you through that process and make sure you’re comfortable with the choice that you’re making, understanding the choice you’re making and not having hindsight, going, “What did I do?” We want to help educate and make sure that you’re eliminating that debt responsibly. Responsibly is eliminating interest that you don’t have to pay. You pay the principal but you can eliminate early interests utilizing discretionary money.

That puts me back to that poll question. How much discretionary money do you have at the end of each and every month after you pay for everything? This is all items, whether you pay your food, gas, electric, mortgage, insurance, or all your items. What is your end-of-the-month monies, $100, $500, or more? I want to know because I want to knock out your debt sooner by showing you how a perfect financial GPS can do that.

Take a moment. Register for our event. If you’re not able to attend, send me back an email from the invite that I’ll send out to you. Let’s set a time that works for you during the day or even on the weekend, not during the show where I can meet one-on-one with you, and we can go over your items and numbers and make them specific for you. If you cannot attend a general meeting in understanding, I got it.

It’s not for everyone. You can register at Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com. I’ll send you the invite and the information. If something comes up, you let me know. We have had a couple of different meetings already. The first one was very busy. We have had a tremendous time getting second appointments and setups with individuals. Some people have already moved forward.

We have had another meeting as well. It was less attended because a lot of people also deferred and went out to our live event in Irvine. I wanted to make sure I can reach out to you and have the time to give you as much time as necessary to make sure your outcome is a perfect one. Call me at (888) 543-3980. You can text me. Let me know if you would like to register or email us at Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com.

It’s so important to move forward. Don’t put your head in the sand. Don’t crawl up in a fetal position. Don’t think everything is going to be okay and take care of itself. That’s what your lender and your creditors want you to do. They want you to be lulled into that sense of well-being. They want you to keep you on that path of paying that high interest.

I’m talking about the interest in volume. Some of you even have high-interest rates on top of that high-interest volume. I want to help control one, and then I want to help control the other. I want to move on that as fast as possible so we can help you with your real estate life. That’s (888) 543-3980. Go to our website at YourRealEstateLife.com where you can get started. We will have more after the break.

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Economic News: Second Quarter Wrap-Up

We’re wrapping up here the second quarter, the first half of the year. We’re putting a bow on it here and coming up at the end. We have economic news coming out. I mentioned Durable Goods, Case-Shiller, consumer confidence, new home sales, retail-wholesale inventories, jobless claims, and pending home sales. We got PCE and various other items like consumer sentiment. A lot of things are happening as we wrap up the end of the second quarter.

As we look at that, I want to go back and take a look at where we are when it comes to your finances. You’ve been going through them and getting through it. You got to this point sometimes better than others, but what I want to do is I still want to attack and do it better. There’s always better. There’s always having an open mind or an open thought to something better. Maybe there’s a better path. Maybe there’s not. Maybe you’re doing good. Some people say, “I’m debt-free. I have nothing. How are you going to help me?”

Where are you in your life? Are you still going to be doing other things? Are you still going to be buying a car or doing something else? Who knows? There’s predictive analysis. There are ways to do things better, and there are ways that we can help save you money. These are some of the things that I like to discuss with you. Understand where you are with your real estate life and your current finances.

Are you starting a family? Are you still looking at perhaps college and other items ahead? Are you still trying to perhaps set up whether it’s long-term care, disability, or life insurance items? Where are you on your trajectory? Are you covered correctly? Are you able to understand and look at things that haven’t occurred yet that may be on the horizon?

It’s understanding homeowner’s insurance, the changes, and the risk levels that are associated with actuarial tables and items that occur. We are living longer, and living longer creates other obligations and burdens to various other items when we look at various decisions when it comes to retirement. How would you like to have a perfect financial GPS that lets you know whether you should take your social security at what age, whether you should take it now or wait a few more years?

As you wait, the number goes higher but as you go now, you get money that you don’t have. Is that money more valuable than the money coming a little later or even later at a higher number? It depends on where you are in your current debt structure in need of money. Is it additional money that gets added to the pile? Is it money that’s necessary to gain a better advantage to be in a position of affordability to have that money now do a lot more because it eliminated the other debt that was bringing you down?

It’s having a perfect financial GPS program that allows you to understand to the T the best decision, why, and for how long. If one is better for the first 7.2 years, and you’re waiting God knows what to get that money, what are you doing during those 7.2 years to gain the same advantage to then perhaps save? Are you able to gain that position? You’re no good if you’re not here to enjoy it. That’s number one.

A lot of times, it’s about stress and health. If we can put you in a better mindset and a better position to gain better health and time, that’s very important as well. There are a lot of things to consider but these are some of the things that we can do. We have been working with marriage and family counselors, believe it or not, because a lot of times, money seems to be the root of a lot of problems. Sometimes it’s too much. Sometimes it’s too little. For each, on both sides, it may be hard to believe.

What is your relationship with money? How did you grow up talking about the terms of money? Where was it in your mindset? Was it something like, “It was always a problem. We never had it. We always had this. We had a great family but,” or was money just there for you, you don’t value what you have, and maybe you still haven’t learned those right principles to move forward? I don’t know.

These are things that we want to talk about. It’s having the right amount at the right time for the right reason and utilizing it in the most effective way possible. That’s what I wanted to discuss with you individually maybe initially in a group setting. If you would like to come to our webinar. We can then schedule you and get you on the calendar. Once you see what this is about, and you have a better understanding and have questions answered, I would like to set an individual time with you. I would like to gain your numbers, what’s coming in, and what’s going out so we can determine the absolute discretionary number, see, watch, and get the results of how and when you can be debt-free.

It is truly that easy but it takes you to participate. Our poll question to text me or call the number (888) 543-3980 is this. How much discretionary money do you have at the end of each month? Text over $100, $200, $300, or whatever it is. I want to get a general gauge of our audience. We had a lot of people participating and letting me know what percentage they had going toward their mortgage payment, which was interest. We found out what their current interest rate is.

We have had people who were like, “I’m at 2.75%. You can’t do anything for me.” We had a meeting, took that 2.75%, and shaved off fifteen years of his mortgage and other obligations. He was shocked. We had another gentleman who was sitting at 4.5%. He thought he was doing pretty good, especially in this market, interest rates, and what’s out there. We were able to show him a few different other items utilizing the opportunity and the perfect financial GPS that we were able to also shave a similar amount of time off his loan, taking his interest numbers down below 2% net.

These things are eye-opening. Numbers don’t lie. This is what can be done. It’s just that nobody has shown you that before. You’ve heard all this stuff about the power of compounding interest and gosh forbid you put this in. You start earlier than somebody who’s given a lot more money at a later time in life. Which one would you want? Think of the power of compounding interest in reverse. Eliminating your debt is what I would like to show you. It’s utilizing the principles of money to do the same.

It’s (888) 543-3980. It’s interesting when you have a conversation with a couple, and you have one of them jabbing the other one in the rib, “I told you.” One always knew the answer but the other one wasn’t allowing it. It’s interesting though when you have that looking together and how much of a burden and release that does, knowing that the money that they make or have can be stretched and worked a lot better without having that additional stress. Once that occurs, you will be amazed how many additional items happen because now, you don’t have your attention going that way only.

It’s like when you’re in sales, and all of a sudden, you’re having a bad month. All of a sudden, you have a sale and another sale. It keeps happening because you’re not as overwhelmed to find that number one. This is where I’m looking to help you with your finances. There are a lot of things that could be done, and some of them come into play because certain other things occurred.

Let’s find out what we can do to help. We have had so many people already move forward individually. We have had people move forward through our webinars and then individual appointments. We have a very busy calendar but I am setting individual appointments with people who cannot attend, Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com. You can send that there. You can register at (888) 543-3980. Send me a registration and maybe toss your name so I have that. I’ll send that right out to you. I want to get you there to see what it’s all about. We will have more after the break.

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Amortized Loans

We are here talking to you about your real estate life. We’re talking about your finances and saving you money. In this market, interest rates are higher than they have been. We have a 6% attached. Some people have even gotten 7%. Some people are still sitting with their 5%, 4%, 3%, and even 2% as the front number on their loans, and that’s fantastic. One of the things that you have to understand or realize, which is rarely spoken about, is how an amortized loan works.

I’ve been in the loan business. I’m in my 37th year. As I do lending and get people into home loans and how these loans are set up and amortized, early interest is skewed more toward the front than the back. About 18 to 22 years in, you get to about a 50/50 relationship. Eventually, in your latter years, if you stay the whole term of your loan, you’re paying mostly principal because your interest has already gone away. That’s when also some financial advisors say, “You need to get a new loan because you need some interest.”

Some of the laws have moved and changed, depending on what you can deduct and can’t deduct. That’s another whole story. When you look at the first 5 to 7 years of a home loan, you’re heavily leveraged at the interest portion of the loan. The goal is to knock out early interest to get more into the meat of that loan. When you look at the first six months of a loan, for instance, on a smaller $300,000 loan out here in Southern California, you may pay $5,000 of interest but if you paid that $5,000 early, it could save you $22,000 overall.

The math isn’t as important there for the actuals but give or take the understanding of what the concept is. If you have a perfect financial GPS and roadmap for you and on your behalf letting you know the best move, when, how much to send to whom, where, and why, and you make those payments and take care of your business, that’s the key to coming out on top and ahead.

Your favorite sports team may have won it all. We finished hockey and basketball. We saw West Coast teams do well in that respect and come out on top with Denver and Las Vegas. They are still not stopping because they have next year to think about. Are they drafting? Are they trading? Do they have older players? Are people retiring? Where are you each year to year?

It’s getting you in the best position possible for your finances, whether it’s the interest rate, the decisions you’re making, or the decisions that will be coming. You’re anticipating. Where are you in that process? Years ago, I downsized my home of sixteen-plus years. It did me well. I loved that home but with the home and the size of that home based upon where I was with my family, we were outgrowing that need, and I downsized. It was a large home. My kids now are 23 or 22 years of age. During the sixteen years I was there, they grew up there and that was their family home but I didn’t need to have this huge home any longer. I downsized and changed my financial structure.

As I changed that financial structure, I now have a low interest rate based on my timing but my interest volume was still going higher. I had a little bit better control with a lower rate but it was still high. I have now utilized this perfect opportunity and financial GPS to take my 26-plus years remaining that I have on a normal thought process down below eight years. In eight years, the mortgage will be gone.

I gave an example of $300,000. How about doubling that up? Double it up and add a few shillings on top. That is where I’m at, and that’s going to be gone in eight years. That’s the effective analysis that can be done and allow you to not only be debt-free but perhaps utilize that debt to create additional wealth. We have individuals who come back to us, “I don’t need to pay off the mortgage. I just need to create more properties.” That works.

We have a gentleman who has taken to the extreme with that example. He now owns over a hundred rental properties. Over 80 of them are free and clear. He utilizes his opportunity to adequately bring in the rents and the monies to utilize, and then he’s buying more doors and more rentals. The more you add, the more you do, and the more things in the businesses that you have to handle with renters, management, other items, contingencies, and reserves. There’s so much more to handle but you are adding your first, second, or third.

We have had some veterans who have utilized their VAs, bought a property of units, moved into the first property, and had two rentals. After a year or so, they decided to go ahead and then utilize the still remaining VA eligibility to buy an additional move into that, and now they have their other doors for rent. Based on the market, conditions, and circumstances in the future, whether it’s refinancing out of a VA loan or having that VA available, they can purchase a primary property in the future.

There are ways our veterans are utilizing it to create wealth indoors. They’re also utilizing our perfect financial GPS program to eliminate debt and stay on top of things. We have individuals in their 20s, 30s, and even 40s doing that, as well as 50s, 60s, and 70s on the other side doing that. We have had 75-year-olds paying off all their debt by the time in their early 80s. They were on schedule to pay it off by the time they were 100.

These are the things that we’re looking to accomplish and do and put the people in the right position possible. You may have a great interest rate. It doesn’t mean your interest volume is in the best spot possible. Let me show you how I can take that one step further without refinancing or talking to you about lending but talking to you about responsibly utilizing the principles of money to reduce debt.

It’s (888) 543-3980. Go ahead and send it over to Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com to register for our webinar. I can set individual appointments during the week and the day, whatever is necessary. We can confer schedules and find out what’s best for you. Maybe you have a day off during the week. Your schedule rotates around. We can set up that meeting together and get you on a path to create a more responsible way to pay off debt and obligations.

That’s the focus I have for most of our audiences but we’re also helping people gain their purchase pre-approval. We are doing refinancing. Many times, people have high-interest-rate credit cards. Consolidating debt is putting them in a better financial position. Sometimes it’s 2 moves versus 1 move or 3 depending on the current loan you have, your obligations, your needs, and what you’re trying to accomplish. We’re able to look at equity lines and equity loans. We’re able to help with home improvement and other items to get you where you need to go on the right path.

I do see interest rates fairly stable as far as the mortgage side. Maybe having 5% is the front number by year-end or in the second half of the year. We’re saving a little bit but I’m more cautious with those who have student loan payments coming back again in October. I’m also cautious with those who have their homeowner’s insurance renewing and looking at your new premium. You may want to get ahead of that and ask questions so you’re prepared.

What we’re trying to do is free up discretionary income or monies that are available to allow you to offset those increases but also decrease other obligations to put you in a better financial position. I want you to get ahead of this rather than behind it. I want you in the line instead of missing the line altogether. Pick up the phone at (888) 543-3980. The phone call is not going to cost you a dime but not making the phone calls will cost you thousands of dollars. It truly will.

I don’t want to be the person sitting here and making up the future because the future will be occurring. We’re already seeing what’s going on the insurance side, the commercial side, and the rent side. We’re seeing what’s going on perhaps as recession and items. If inflation as of June 12th starts moving down, we’re going to see mortgage rates come down but then demand is going to go higher. Mortgages will go higher as far as the values of property. You’re going to be bidding on the property with less inventory. I want you to be ahead of this. I don’t want you to be a victim of it.

Please call (888) 543-3980. When you make that phone call, we’re going to find out where you are on your path with your real estate life. We’re going to understand the decisions that you’re looking to make, the ones that maybe you should have made, and what we can do to rectify those if possible. If you’re doing everything great, we’re going to reiterate, “You’re doing fantastic. Stay on the path.” We’re going to look at these and assess them so we can be in a perfect financial position to make future decisions.

Divorce The Debt

The AMI numbers had come out for 2023. The median income and those go into play with low down payment loans and other items. We can do maybe as little as even 1% down. We have been getting individuals in property, getting them into an affordable payment, and then looking in the future if equity positions improve or rates do improve. We can gain that future later. We can date the rate but the goal is to eliminate the debt. We want to divorce the debt.

The goal overall is to gain your asset, the home, and the position or the place you want to be. We can hone in on the best financing terms and then look to divorce the debt as soon as possible. The goal is three steps. We want to purchase, situate that loan, and then get rid of that loan. The goal is to get it done correctly. Let me help you with those processes at (888) 543-3980.

I always look back at the end of six months here as we are. We’re transitioning now to quarter number three, the second half of the year. We look at the transactions that we close, visit back with those individuals, see where they are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 months through, and see what can be done, where they have gone, where they have stepped, and what they need to do. We stay in touch. I do send out a weekly newsletter staying in semi-touch with people that way. We reach out on the phone and then touch back with individuals trying to fine-tune.

As the market has not allowed much on the refinancing end to lower that current interest rate, we haven’t had as much personalized direction to do anything new. As we hit those six-month anniversaries, we start taking a look at what we’re doing on the current loan and what can be done going forward. We want to make sure you’re comfortable in your property. We’re perhaps getting ahead of anything that you were not anticipating and being able to stay on top of it as much as possible. We’re here to help.

We have referred multiple people to Marisha Charbonnet for estate planning. We referred others to other professionals on the legal side and a couple on the accounting side. We referred multiple people to local realtors in various markets, whether it has been in the Ventura market, the Simi market, the San Fernando Valley, the West side, or going out to Orange and Riverside in San Bernardino County.

We have had multiple referrals. We have had a few referrals out in the Texas market, one in the Colorado market, and two out in the Washington market. We’re working with a builder-developer in the state of Montana. We’re working on a couple of land transactions for them as well as development. We have multiple items going on in multiple states. We stay in touch with professionals in different communities to allow you to get the best insight and direction possible, whether you’re starting your first trust, getting your trust updated, or trying to get good information before you step into something and do something wrong like OGI quitclaim to property to my kids.

Later on, you find out that there are various tax implications to that. When someone catches up, it’s always that adage, “Your tax returns are always correct until someone says they’re wrong.” You think you’re making the right decision but you can’t go back and correct it in some cases. You always want to make sure you consult, whether it’s your CPA, your attorney, or your financial planning direction with trust and estate planning. You always want to make sure you’re on top of that early.

We have had some individuals saying, “Somebody can do this and this without my signature.” You have to understand where you are and what you can do. We’re setting up those appointments. I’m not an attorney. I’m not a CPA. I do have an insurance license for life, health, and disability. We want to make sure you get the right information and make the right decision.

I will bring up various points and thoughts to make you investigate and find out for sure. I will take what I see when I look at tax returns and underwriting. I have my underwriting credential as well for lending. When I look at tax returns and items, I know where we are for income. I’m getting the certification completed on my commercial status as well, not that having those letters is going to do something different than what I already know now but I will have that certification.

That allows me to knowledgeably look at tax returns and items, understand how to go through these items, run the ratios properly to come up with the right income, and then take a look at what we can do to get those numbers to get underwriting decisions correct so we can get you to the best spot possible and save money. That’s (888) 543-3980.

I want to be the best I can be for you. In my 37 years now, I’ve seen an awful lot when I got started, new in the business with eyes wide open, wanting to learn. When you get started, you think you know everything. When you know everything, that’s when you should stop. We’re always learning. Your eyes should be wide open all the time and taking in new information when it’s not what you do best.

I talk to a lot of people each and every day. You do what you do best. This is what I do best. I want to be on your team. I want to be your teammate. I want to work with you. Call (888) 543-3980. I love numbers. I put them in the middle of my desk. You may push them off to the left or the right of yours or off the desk altogether. I attack numbers. I’ll come up with an idea, a plan, and a way to understand what you can do to move forward. Thank you so much for joining us here. Take a look at our website to get past programs. Until next time, what kind of loan do you have?

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I talked about it but it was no surprise to any that the Fed did not raise rates after raising rates in 10 consecutive meetings over 15 months. They left rates unchanged but it was a hawkish pause. They’re talking about possibly two more moves, at least that’s what the Fed numbers look like but we’re going to see what happens with inflation. We’re going to look at that jobs report coming up. We’re going to look at these items and determine if the Fed is going to look to raise, or if they’re done, and the mortgage market is watching that very carefully. Are we going to see on July 12th a lower item on inflation? We will see. We will talk next time.

Important Links

• United Mortgage Corporation of America
• Webinar@AHeadForMoney.com