Full Transcript is Below:
– [Megan] Welcome to Home Run: Great Client Experiences, a podcast by NFM TV. I’m Megan Cascio. And today we have some very special guests with us. We have our happy client, Charmaine James from Fayetteville, North Carolina. We have our Loan Originator, Hannah Payne from The Taylor Group, and we have our Realtor Paulina Salas from ERA Strother Real Estate. Let’s get started with Charmaine. I know you recently purchased a home in July, which is so exciting. Congratulations. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
– Yes ma’am, I’m 42 years old, a divorcee. I’m originally from Virginia. I moved around a lot throughout the years. I have been in the property management business for over 20 years and I got my undergrad degree in clinical and counseling psychology, and I decided that it was time for me to pursue a career in actual counseling. So I decided to start doing therapy part-time and once I got into therapy part-time I decided that I liked it a lot, so I decided to pursue it full-time. And so I decided that it was time for me to plant some roots. So I decided that I would start looking for a townhome or a condo. So I put in a lead online and Ms. Paulina called me back. And at that time she asked me what was my interest and what I want, so I told her that I really was interested in a condo or a townhome. Well, because I’m considered high risk, I told her I couldn’t really come out and look at it though. She came out and she looked at everything, did the virtual walk around for me. And so we decided that we would put an offer in immediately on it. I actually contacted a lender. Well, I had a pre-approval from a lender. So I sent all that information to Ms. Paulina. And so in June, I believe it was when we were supposed to originally close. And the first week of June, I found out from the lender that it had fell through.
– [Megan] I’m so sorry to hear that. After the deal fell through, like, what happened, how did you get reconnected with Hannah?
– [Charmaine] When they called me and told me that the loan had fell through, I probably cried for like 30 minutes. And as soon as I got done crying, Ms. Paulina happened to call my phone and she’s like, “I’m not gonna let you give up. “I’m not gonna let you give up. “We’re gonna find a lender.” She said, “with your credit score “and the money that you have in the bank. “I’m not gonna let you give up.” So that’s when she reached out to Ms. Hannah and within an hour, I believe Ms. Hannah was calling me. And because I had the information in an organized folder, I just forwarded everything that I had previously provided the initial lender with. I just forwarded it to Ms. Hannah, who was very, she was just so on point, she let me know that she received everything right away. She let me know what the next steps would be. So everything was just awesome.
– [Megan] That’s great. That’s wonderful that she was able to come in and save the day so quickly too. Now question for you, Hannah. Can you kind of explain the situation from your perspective when you get the call, you know, another lender turned down a borrower and you’re being asked to come in and save the day.
– [Hannah] Yeah, I mean, whenever I get that call, I’m always a little nervous at first. You know, I want to be that person that’s going to come in and save the deal. So I really want to be very thorough, you know, in looking through documents and asking questions to find out what went wrong with the previous lender to see if I do feel that is something that we can do here at NFM. So it’s always a little scary at first, but I truly get invested in my clients that I work with and I want them to succeed, and I want them to be a homeowner, you know, just as bad as they do. So I always feel like I’m up for the challenge.
– [Megan] Was there anything that kind of stood out about Charmaine’s situation specifically?
– [Hannah] With any loan, you know, you do have certain debt to income limits that you can go to. Me and Charmaine had discussed her student loans. So we look at their whole balance of student loans, and usually we have to count 1% for a payment for them, even if they’re on like a zero monthly payment, income-based payment plan or whatever the case may be, we still have to count some sort of payment. With the previous lender, I believe they were telling her at first they could use her zero payment that she was on from income-based payments. But then once they actually started working on the loan, they realized that they could not use that zero monthly payment. So once they went in and counted 1% or whatever it was that they were using, her debt to income ratio ended up going over 50%, which is why they were telling her they could not help her. But fortunately, you know, we knew that conventional loans, we could go Freddie Mac and only count a half a percent, which drastically brought her debt to income ratio down. I also work with some really great insurance companies here in town that, I mean, they give great coverage, but really great prices. So we were able to get her a really great price on her insurance to help bring that debt to income ratio down as well.
– [Megan] Switching over here to Paulina, you know, I understand that you also encouraged Charmaine not to get discouraged through the process as well. So when you have a situation like this, how do you keep your clients calm and, you know, kinda help them reach that finish line.
– [Paulina] This is a really hard situation at times where, you know, a lot of my clients have their own lenders. They come with the lender already and they feel comfortable with somebody. So I try not to move them from where they came from, because I don’t want them not to trust me if I try to push them to somebody else. But in a situation like that, we had where, we were going on a contract for over four, six weeks and the lender, there was barely any communication. They didn’t order the appraiser. They really didn’t do their job. That’s why, when I said, hey, let’s try another lender. Let’s see what my girl who I work with all the time can do for us. And I feel like that was kind of the breaking point. You know, get somebody who, who does the communication, who provides the updates. And I know if Hannah says it is gonna be done and we will be able to close, I trust her.
– [Megan] Absolutely, It sounds like Hannah’s, you know, really your go-to person. So what is it about her that really stands out that makes you count on her every time?
– [Paulina] Me and Hannah have been working together for, I would say almost two years right now. And I feel like, you know, if I call Hannah on Saturday or Sunday, she will answer the phone. If there’s anything going on, she will update. She’s just my to go person. And I’m a 100% sure if she says it is going to happen, it will happen.
– [Megan] Wonderful. That’s great. Final question for you Charmaine, how has your overall experience working with both Paulina and Hannah?
– [Charmaine] The communications between both the agent and the lender was absolutely phenomenal. They kept me in the loop. They let me know what was going on and the whole NFM team between, like she said, Taylor, Ms.Maria, all of them, they would send me emails, text messages, talk to on the phone. I mean, everybody was just so phenomenal with their communication skills and that’s what made me feel more comfortable on the homestretch.
– [Megan] Great. Well, we’re so happy that you had such a great experience and, you know, Hannah, I know you work with The Taylor Group, a really well-established branch of NFM in the Charlotte area. Can you tell us what the team does exceptionally to really provide that great customer service?
– [Hannah] Yeah, so I mean The Taylor Group, I feel like how we provide the best customer service is that we really work together as a great team. We’re more like a family. I mean, if I’m unavailable to help someone, I can immediately call someone else on my team and they will reach out to my client. They will reach out to my agent. They will take an application for me. I mean, whatever I need to do to ensure that client is getting taken care of right then in that moment. We all are super busy, which is great, but we still want to offer that best customer service possible and make our clients feel like they’re part of our family as well, but we just have a great process, great processors. We have great assistants that are helping us put together great loan files, and really look to make sure we’re gonna be able to close this loan. Our underwriters are fantastic. I mean, they’re reviewing files in 24, 48 hours, and our processors are really great at reaching out to our clients and getting the documents we need, getting insurance and getting the loan clear to close. So I really just think it’s working together as such a great family and knowing that anybody on the Taylor group will pick up a phone call, anytime we need them.
– [Megan] That’s amazing. I’m sure it’s great to have such an awesome team behind you in all different directions, but this has been a really great story everyone. Thank you so much for joining. I’m so happy, everything worked out for everyone involved, especially you Charmaine after everything that you’ve gone through. So thank you guys so much for joining us today.
– Thank you.
– Thank you so much.
– Thank you.
– [Megan] Of course, and if you need a great loan officer, please reach out to Hannah Payne. Her phone number is 751-7593. And her email is hpayne P-A-Y-N-E@nfmlending.com. And if you’re looking for a great real estate agent, please contact Paulina Salas with ERA Strother Real Estate. And her number is 701-2933. And her email is psal26@yahoo.com. Thank you for listening to another episode of Home Run, Great Client Experiences.
– [Announcer] Home Run: Great Client Experiences is a production of NFM TV and NFM Inc. NFM inc. does business as NFM lending, NMLS number 2893. Hannah Payne’s NMLS number is 1000288. This podcast is for informational purposes only. NFM Lending is not affiliated with any real estate companies. You are entitled to shop around for the best lender and/or real estate company for you. The real estate agent is not a mortgage lender. Contact FM Lending directly to learn more about their mortgage programs and your eligibility for such programs. The experiences of clients appearing on this podcast are individual experiences of those who’ve used our services. NFM Inc. does not provide incentives for testimonials or reviews. NFM lending is not a credit repair company. You should consult with a credit repair company to determine what may be best for your individual needs. This is not a credit decision or commitment to lend, eligibility is subject to completion of an application and verification of home ownership or occupancy, title, income, employment, credit, home value, collateral and underwriting requirements, NFM Inc. is not affiliated with, or an agent or division of a governmental agency or depository institution. Copyright 2020.