Jason GrayMortgage Loan Officer · Washington State

570 all the way to a 645 credit score. I had an agent, Clint, who had a client who had really bad credit and couldn't figure out how to make the deal work. So typically if you have bad credit, you're a higher risk because you can't make your payments on time. And in doing so, most lenders won't touch those transactions. We set his clients up with a credit repair company who went through their credit, set them up on a plan, and in six months had their credit score from a 570 all the way to a 645 credit score. Yeah, clients ended up purchasing at home, super happy, have been living at home for four months now. If you have a client who's struggling because their credit is holding them back from purchasing, DM me reach out to me and let's set them up on a good plan.

You think you can't afford a home in Seattle? Have you explored all your options? I think one of the first loan programs you should look at is an FHA 5-1 ARM. An FHA 5-1 ARM means the interest rate's fixed for five years and it gives you a lower interest rate than a normal 30 year fixed interest rate but our strategy here is to refinance at a later date. This will lower your monthly payment. You can negotiate the seller to help you pay some closing costs which will in turn sometimes buy that interest rate down. FHA programs are better for people who has maybe limited employment history, limited credit history or actually low credit. There are pitfalls to this program. What happens if interest rates don't get better in the next five years? So you have to weigh out those options. DM me, I'll send you some options but let's see what works for you in your current financial situation.

FHA loans. I say FHA loans are people for low credit scores and high debt-to-income ratios. I rate that as a B. The VA loan. I'd rate that as a C. It's a veteran's loan. You have to be a veteran to obtain that loan, but it's a fabulous loan, but it's a limited group of people that can actually take on that loan. USDA. USDA is a great loan, but I'm going to rank it as a D. Sort of limited access to it. And what I mean by that, if you live in a big city like Seattle, you are stuck to the outskirts, out in the rural areas, right? So now you have some limitations. Credit score limitations, income limitations, and the big thing, location limitations. The DSCR loan. That's going to be our bra with bottom ranking. I say that's a D. The DSCR loan is what they're looking at as the rent that's coming in and they're looking at the debt. And so they're looking at it as the debt service. It usually has to be a 1.0 ratio, so you want to have the rent higher than what the mortgage payment is. Great for investors. Conventional loan. Conventional loan is ranked S. And the reason why it is, they have the best rates, the best terms, the most flexibility, and you can hit the array of clients. You don't have any limitations on locations, you know, style of properties, anything like that. That's the best loan for people for sure. I ranked all these loans, but they all have their purposes for the right people. So my job responsibility is really evaluate each one of those transactions, tell you why that transaction is best for you and how and why and why we need to get there. If you're a home investor and you're looking to buy an investment property, that DSCR loan is a great loan. But then you got to look at the conventional loan too for what their investment loans look like, because those don't have prepayment penalties on there. So it really depends upon the client's situation and figure out what that profile looks like and give you the best possible solution.

Here are three questions you should ask your loan officer before you start working with them. Number one, can you explain to me how the loan process works? You're gonna get a feel when you talk to loan officers really what their knowledge is or what their knowledge base is and if they can't explain to you the basics, maybe they're not the right person for you. Question number two, you should always ask how competitive you are on interest rates and are you willing to match the other competitor? You wanna get the best possible interest rates for you in the marketplace. You get better interest rates. You get a loan officer who has more knowledge that they have access to multiple investors because those loan officers are typically more skilled to be honest with you. Question number three, you should always ask them how many years have they been doing this? You're making the largest purchase of your life. Work with someone who's been doing this a long time that has a team around them that can actually take care of you. Bonus question for yourself, how do they make you feel when you talk to them? Critically important that you feel comfortable with them and you feel comfortable with the process. My name's Jason Gray. If you need a loan, DM me. I'd love to give you a loan.

Five loan programs every investor should know. Number one, the 7/6 ARM. What that means to you is fixed for seven years then after that it becomes adjustable every six months. Number two, conventional loans. They have incredibly great interest rates and the more money you put down, the better the terms get. Number three, DSCR loans. The most common loans for like larger investors or people who are trying to not show their whole portfolio very simple, very quick, very easy to do. Number four, non-QM loans. Non-QM loans creates a lot of really good solutions for you on unique properties. Number five, HELOCs. Most people don't know you can get a home equity line of credit on a second mortgage on that investment property. Really, really good if you're looking to pull that cash out for tax purposes, right? Cause remember, when you pull that money out, it's non-taxable. If you're an investor looking to actually do one of these loans, please DM me.

I didn't start this business in social media. I started this business in 1993. I built my business by picking up the phone, talking to people, educating them, and making them feel comfortable with the whole process. Realtor sent me their next deal because I close my deals on time. Along the way, I learned that you need to look at those complicated situations and take a deeper look at those and see how I can make those deals work. Being self-employed or having a bankruptcy in your history does not give you the whole picture. Sometimes digging into those details gives you options that people miss. That shape how I work today. Honest answers, clear plans, and following through. After 33 years, almost all my business comes from referrals and past clients. I work and I earn that trust every day. If you're buying a home or you're an agent and you have a buyer who's buying a home, DM me. We'll walk you through the situation, direct the next steps, and make it super easy for you so you'll understand the process.

Each individual investor is completely different between a big investor or a small investor or just getting into it, so they might be a first-time investor. So you really have to take each individual situation and try to figure out what fits their needs and make sure they look at the long-term goals. They look at the long-term plan for that property. Look how it's going to look for you in the next five to 10 to 15 years and how does that fit your overall plan for retirement. And maybe pull some cash out on those properties in the future that is not taxable.

Your buyer just got denied, call me, get a second opinion. We have access to programs that other loan officers don't have access to. Plus I got 33 years working in the mortgage industry and I have knowledge that other loan officers just don't have. They're not creative or they haven't been in that situation where they can actually figure out how to make your deal work. You're a realtor and you're not working with someone at NEXA. You're actually doing a disservice to your clients. If you're an agent and you're looking to actually look out for your clients' best interests and actually take care of those one-off deals that are really wonky, reach out to me, give me a call.