Work Hard, Play Hard, and Give Back - A Real Estate Podcast

S2E9 – Behind the Rate: Vinnie DiOrio Breaks Down Modern Mortgages

• Coldwell Banker American Homes • Season 2 • Episode 9

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In this episode of Work Hard, Play Hard, and Give Back – A Real Estate Podcast, Mike Litzner sits down with Vinnie DiOrio, Branch Manager at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, to shed light on the modern mortgage process. From his early career with the New York Islanders to building a client-first approach in lending, Vinnie shares his insights on:

  • How the mortgage industry has evolved
  • Appraisal waivers and competitive offer strategies
  • The importance of face-to-face consultations
  • Common pitfalls buyers face—and how to avoid them
  • Why service, education, and relationships matter more than rates

Plus, hear about his passion for family time, his famous dog Coco, and the causes close to his heart, including support for children with special needs and the Heart of American Homes Foundation.

Stay tuned to the end for the Drop the Mic question: a wild closing story you don’t want to miss.

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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome to the newest episode of the Work Hard, play Hard and Give Back a real estate podcast. I'm Mike Litzner, broker owner of CoWall Banker American Homes, and I'm here at the studio at American Homes in Smithtown. Today we have our guest, vinny DiIorio, who's branch manager at Fairway Mortgage Fairway Mortgage. All right, there we go, vinny. Welcome to the show. Thank you, mike. Thanks for having me. Awesome, awesome. I just want to remind our audience that if you like what we're doing here, please like and subscribe to our channel. We've got some great interviews coming up in the future and don't forget to stay for the drop the mic question. So, vinny, this is our first interview with a mortgage broker and, I think, a mortgage banker I probably should say better right and I think there's a lot of value that your industry can lend to our audience here because it works so symbiotically right With the real estate industry, sure? So, vinny, you've been in the mortgage industry for a long time now and you've even owned your own company. What first drew you to the business?

Speaker 2:

So true story is, the person that I got my first mortgage from, I believe, put me in something I couldn't really afford at an adjustable rate at the time, and I couldn't believe that someone that was responsible for something as important as your biggest purchase of your life, your roof over your head, your family, your investment. I was kind of surprised at that, and I had an accounting background and I knew a lot of people. So I was like this can't be right. So I tried to. I got in the business part time and then took over full time. Yeah, so I tried to. I got in the business part-time and then took over full-time. Yeah, so what business did you migrate from? So at the time, I was director of ticket operations for the New York Islanders hockey club.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

That's interesting. Yeah, it was good, it was fun. I was 24 to 30 at that time. It was very exciting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I had a lot of contacts.

Speaker 2:

It was definitely good you got to see behind the scenes. It's not as glitz and glory as everyone thinks. Not so sexy, right? No, not at all. It's more like a circus.

Speaker 1:

It's not sexy like mortgages are.

Speaker 2:

No, not at all. It's more hours though.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yeah. What were some of the biggest lessons you learned from running your own mortgage company?

Speaker 2:

Running Academy Mortgage. The most challenging aspect of it was on the secondary side, dealing with larger banks that we would sell loans to. Okay, you know, what I really enjoyed the most was helping people Okay, servicing people. It was very rewarding, but the most challenging was dealing with other banks. They're more like sharks, so it really wasn't.

Speaker 1:

So it's the back end of that mortgage lending where the money comes from.

Speaker 2:

Correct the regulations, the audits. That was the most challenging.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so now that you're in Fairway, you're in a different seat at Fairway and that is all off your plate now, right, that?

Speaker 2:

all liability, all the regulatory side to certain aspects are off my plate. I did that to devote myself to servicing clients. Okay, because that's really what I enjoy the most is helping people.

Speaker 1:

You know you're still a top producer. What do you think sets you apart in such a competitive space in the mortgage industry?

Speaker 2:

What's worked for me is I tell my salespeople all the time don't go after the money Right, go after the relationship and the people and the money will come. A lot of my competition seems to be more transactional than relationship driven, so it's about getting the deal where I'd rather think outside the box, give people their options, explain to them it's a big purchase and now, with the way prices are here on Long Island, this is serious.

Speaker 1:

How have you seen, over the last five years, the average mortgage amount? How has it changed for you? What would you say? Your average loan closed today is Average loan amount is about $550,000. Okay, how different is that from five years ago?

Speaker 2:

woof five. Five years ago is probably about 380, four hundred thousand, okay.

Speaker 1:

It's so. It's up anywhere. Thirty to forty percent, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And I'm thinking it's gonna increase from there because house prices seem to be increasing as we speak?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, very much so. Yeah, how have you seen the mortgage industry evolve over the years and, really, how have you adapted to stay ahead of it?

Speaker 2:

It was easy for me to adapt because the business model of putting clients first works in every market, every changing market right people are people right. So rates can change, prices can change, mortgage products can change, but people's families and affordability right doesn't change, right. So the goal is always to make that customer as happy as possible and the rest kind of takes care of itself. And then, in the slow times, that's where the referrals come from.

Speaker 1:

Right. We've both seen over the years the advent of technology which has made information available to the consumer, the end user right, so they can Google anything. At the same time. How educated do you see as the average borrower come in? How informed are they really?

Speaker 2:

Not as educated as they should be, and I think they know that because you could.

Speaker 1:

Google.

Speaker 2:

The internet is always great because people are quick to put it on the internet but not take it off. So certain things are dated, don't exist anymore. And then there's always the art of structuring the deal. It's not just what's your rate down payment? Here you go, have a nice day Right loan to value.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's looking at their overall debt. What's their other monthly obligations? Does the house need upgrading? Does it need work? So there's always the avenue of what makes the most financial sense overall, right, where I think most people kind of get sucked into. The lowest rate is the best mortgage, right. Not always the case. It's the lowest payments are the best mortgage, okay.

Speaker 1:

There's a difference. So what advice would you give to a new home buyer that's competing in today's marketplace?

Speaker 2:

Be as strong as possible financially, whether it's down payment.

Speaker 1:

All right, there you go. I was going to elaborate on that.

Speaker 2:

Yep, A lot of people now. To get their offer accepted, they need to do what's called waive the appraised value. Okay. What that means is if the appraisal comes in shorter than the.

Speaker 1:

What that means is if the appraisal comes in shorter than the offer price that they'll still go ahead with the transaction.

Speaker 2:

What's the risk with that, though it depends on down payment. If you're even 10% down or more, there's really no risk. Obviously, if you're spending $100,000 more than it's appraised for, that's bad, but I haven't seen that Right. If an appraisal isn't coming in it's usually between 2% or 3% it doesn't really impact anything, but a 5% down could kill the deal, correct? So if you're a buyer with 5% down, it's very important to meet with a mortgage advisor to really structure yourself, to be as strong financially as possible, to be considered seriously.

Speaker 1:

All right, just for our audience again, because some of them are. You know we have a big agent following, so they're going to know the industry jargon, but I think the average consumer hears things about appraisal. They understand the idea of appraising the value of something, but I don't think they understand why. So correct me if I'm wrong. But for our audience, who's again maybe a novice at this we incorrectly say we're going to the bank for a mortgage and essentially what we're doing is going to the bank for a loan. We give the bank a mortgage back or a lien against our property. That property becomes collateral correct, correct, all right. And typically the bank wants to appraise the collateral to make sure it has sufficient value to secure the monies.

Speaker 2:

Correct Banks are lending the money for the loan based on the value of the property Right and the consumer's ability to pay back as well, of course, of course. Yes, so the appraised value it's done by a licensed appraiser not controlled by the bank or anything like that. It's a third party, comes in, evaluates. Typically it's similar houses, square footage and condition.

Speaker 1:

Comparables yes, a sweet term right. Our real estate people know that as comparables right or comps right.

Speaker 2:

That have closed within a half a mile radius within the last six months.

Speaker 1:

How much does zip code slash school district play into the half mile? So like? Because you know, especially on Long Island, here we have numerous districts and what have you could be in the corner of a school district, slash zip code and you crisscross and so you're half mile. What does that impact?

Speaker 2:

so the comparables an appraiser is going to use is typically the same school district, okay. So, even if it's a half a mile, if it's a superior school district in that half mile, they'll use comps for a similar school district. Okay, but they can make adjustments for that, okay. So, in simpler terms, one house has a two-car garage, another house has a one-car garage Correct, they'll adjust down for the one-car garage, right. They'll take away some value there, right? Same thing with school districts, okay.

Speaker 1:

Property size Right or just up, where maybe there's additional square footage or additional bathrooms per se or other features. Value-added features Correct.

Speaker 2:

Like the biggest battle I have with consumers more than realtors is. Zillow is not accurate. Oh yeah, this is a really good point to touch on here.

Speaker 1:

It's just an algorithm, right? That's all it is.

Speaker 2:

It doesn't understand condition of the property, doesn't understand what's inside the house, doesn't understand if there's a family transaction. Yeah, right arm's length yes, yeah, if that house sold for $100,000 less than market value, that's because that's a family member. Yeah From the mother.

Speaker 1:

Right or father, and that throws off the algorithms. Yes, so coming back to the appraisal, if someone waives the appraisal, it takes out the risk factor for the sellers what you're saying and it helps them better position their offer as more competitive in a competitive market.

Speaker 2:

Correct. It also means that the buyer is more serious. So, in other words, I'm making an offer on a $900,000 house that's valued at $799,000. We've seen this recently, right, $799,99,. It's price low. All of a sudden, there's 20 offers on the house Bidding war yes.

Speaker 2:

I'm offering $900 on a $799 asking price. Everyone's worried. Well, what happens if the house doesn't appraise for $900? Right? Well, the truth of the matter is, even if you have a 20% down Right, all banks could do 5% down financing. So not to bore you with calculations, right? But that means you have 15% wiggle room that if it didn't appraise Now obviously it's not going to appraise 15% less, but the bigger the down payment, the less risk of it affecting finance. 5% down or 3.5% down you really don't have any wiggle room. You can't do that as a buyer.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because the bank's not going to lend over certain LTVs. So if you have 3.5% down and the appraisal comes in 5%, they're not going to lend more than 100% of the value of the house, correct?

Speaker 2:

Unless the buyer has the money to make up the shortfall. Yes, okay, but if they did, odds are they're not doing the 5% or 3.5% down anyway, correct, correct, and again, just for clarity, from the real estate side.

Speaker 1:

So it's the real estate brain talking to the mortgage brain and it shows how these things interlock and what have you. But the reason sellers care about this so much is the standard contract of sale is typically contingent upon a buyer's ability to get financing. So if there's obviously a cash deal, they're waiving that contingency. So the deal is typically not contingent upon appraisal. But if that appraisal comes in so short that it prevents that buyer from attaining the mortgage, now it's the mortgage contingency comes into play. So essentially, what people fail to recognize is that when you're negotiating to purchase a house is that you're not just negotiating price, it's the terms. If you can't get to the finish line or there's high risk whether you're going to execute on that contract, the seller takes that into consideration and it hurts your position in negotiations. So this comes circles back to the appraisal as being one of the wild cards that come into play, especially in a market that we've seen for the last several years nothing but bidding wars Right.

Speaker 2:

So in the same scenario of someone offering $900,000 on the $799 house, one offer doesn't waive the appraisal value, the other offer does. The one that does is going to appear stronger even though the terms are exactly the same. But one's waiving the appraised value. It takes away the fear from a seller of what happens if it appraises for $880.

Speaker 1:

Right. Well, in this case it doesn't matter. Now there's rumors or not rumors. I've seen scenarios where banks actually, or mortgage lenders are actually waiving appraisals. Can you share with us, because it seems to be an inconsistent process so we don't know where or when or how that's being leveraged? But that could help alleviate the fear of a purchaser knowing I got an appraisal waiver anyway, so I can offer that waiver. What does that look like?

Speaker 2:

So we don't know either. Okay, and they're not going to tell us, because then we would figure out how to manipulate you know, whether it was down payment or credit score or something like that. Basically, my understanding is data that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac has.

Speaker 1:

Okay, my understanding is data that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac has in that particular area has nothing to do with LTV, nothing to do with credit score or borrow. I would think it would be LTV, meaning loan to value for our audience, because if someone's putting 50% down, they're still getting 50% financing, but what's the likelihood this thing's going to come in appraised 30% under? I've never seen it. I've never even seen anything close to that.

Speaker 2:

No, but for them to actually waive the appraisal. They don't know it's really 50% down, right? Because if it appraised for less, then now it's not 50% down of the value, right? 50%?

Speaker 1:

of the contract price.

Speaker 2:

So we had a scenario with the Mesbica Park office. Dan Murphy had a client buying a house in Huntington for $900,000. There you go. Now you're thinking, well, okay, I'm not going to get an appraisal waiver on a $900,000 house, right, we did Okay, and that was just based on the information we upload electronically to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Okay, and that was just based on the information we upload electronically to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Okay, and they'll tell us whether an appraisal is needed or not.

Speaker 1:

How early in that process can you upload that information? As soon as they get a like? If Dan comes to you when he's making the offer and he says you know here's the address we're bidding on, how fast can you find that out?

Speaker 2:

Basically as soon as they have an accepted offer. We can do that. Can we do that before we can? It just gets complicated doing it on every offer because once you have enough information you're triggering RESPA. So you have to disclose application. So you don't want to put the buyer through an application every time they want to make an offer. So the don't want to put the buyer through an application every time they want to make an offer.

Speaker 1:

So the disclosures is really. What Respa gets back to is all the disclosures. It's heavily regulated industry as it pertains to finance. Is that correct for our audience out here that is not in the finance business or necessary real estate?

Speaker 2:

Correct. So that same situation Huntington $900,000, no appraisal needed, right Doing a loan now with someone with 30% down, right Getting a actually what I think is a good priced home. It's Larry's sale, larry Theodore, yeah, and I would have bet we would have gotten an appraisal waiver and nothing and we didn't get the appraisal waiver. So it's really my experience, case-by-case basis If they have enough data in that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, if they have enough data in that zip code, square footage which over time they are compiling, because every appraisal now has to do an HTML upload of information more important about the house. So as they compile more data, technology gets better and maybe someday we won't need appraisals at all.

Speaker 1:

Forty years doing this and appraisals have been a staple of this industry. So let's hope, because anything that can simplify the process would be great. How would you best deal with potential buyers who are trying to overcome the challenge of a minimal cash investment?

Speaker 2:

It depends on the individual. You know a lot of time. Most of the time I don't mandate it, but I tell people it's better to have a sit-down, face-to-face meeting yeah, so I can show them different options and what goes on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so maybe describe I don't want to say dumb it down because again, we have a lot of realtors, so this might seem simpler to them. Again, we have a lot of realtors, so this might seem simpler to them. But if there was a prospective new first-time home buyer out there, I want to make sure we convey information in a way they can digest. So what would you consider the minimum down payments for some of the purchase of home?

Speaker 2:

today In this market to get an accepted offer in our area. 10% down is kind of the minimum that I see.

Speaker 2:

I do have people making 5% down and 3.5% down offers. They are getting offers accepted, but then I'll give the client the information on what makes them strong and then it's up to them if they want to relay part of that information, or all of that information, to the agent presenting the offer, in other words to a real estate agent or a listing agent. Sometimes speed is a factor House is empty. Maybe it's an estate Someone passed. They want to get rid of the house fast.

Speaker 1:

Right Time is money for the seller yes, paying taxes. Vacant place Utilities Correct.

Speaker 2:

So closing quickly sometimes is an advantage in some situations Right. Some people's credit scores Right. You know, if they have an 800 credit score, I'm not going to tell the agent what the score is, but the client could divulge whatever they want. Correct Debt to income ratios Right. Some agents understand what that is and some don't. If someone's got a very low debt to income, yeah, the buyer might want to convey that.

Speaker 1:

So let's lean into debt-to-income ratios. Obviously, someone knows what their income is, but what is qualified debt for our audience out there?

Speaker 2:

Officially there's two ratios a front ratio and a back ratio. Correct, the front ratio is the mortgage payment or, as we call it, pity in the business, principal interest taxes, insurance. Correct, the front ratio is the mortgage payment or, as we call it, pity in the business, principal interest taxes, insurance. Correct, divided by their gross monthly income Right, that gives us a housing ratio. Correct, the total debt ratio is the back end Pity plus car payments, credit cards, student loans, anything that appears on their credit report. Okay, that, combined with the front pity, is their debt ratio. You take that, divide that by their gross income Right and we get a percentage. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Let me just put this out to our audience who's in the home buying market. If you haven't sat with a mortgage professional first before going to see houses, you're wasting your time because you might find that you're going to find, you know, be able to qualify for a loan a hundred thousand less than you think, or you might find out I've seen what people can qualify for a hundred or two hundred thousand more because they there's just nuances in there. They just didn't anticipate to be an over-conservative and they were missing out on properties that really would have fit their price range. I often like to say this Vinny is, people incorrectly go shop price when they're really shopping. Monthly payment Correct.

Speaker 2:

A good example of that is real estate taxes. Yes, of that is real estate taxes. Yes, you might have a price in mind. That price could be a million dollars, right, based on 18,000 annual real estate tax, correct. But now you find a house with 24. Yeah, 28,000 in real estate tax. Now, your purchase ability is less, yeah, so it could go back and forth. Sometimes, depending on the property, you might be able to go higher than you think.

Speaker 1:

And for our audience, that's not in New York. Yes, he did say $28,000 a year. I talk to people around the country and they go do you really have $28,000? Yeah, I'm sorry, I don't understand how New York has normalized $28,000 a year. I think that's a different topic for a different podcast right now. But we'll leave it at that right now.

Speaker 2:

I don't think there's anything normal about.

Speaker 1:

New York.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1:

We're unique. Yes, we are. We are. I believe and correct me if I'm wrong that the typical purchaser, especially the newer they are like a first-time buyer as opposed to someone who's done multiple transactions tends to shop rate first and then later on they realize there's a lot more nuance. So what's the slippery slope on this? Because obviously we can get into things like anyone can say any rate, because if it's not locked in, you get prevailing rate. Okay, so there's a game that's played. Am I correct on that?

Speaker 2:

there is. There is a we call it bait and switch right. Um, there are. There are competitors out there that will blatantly lie about an interest rate that's not available. When people tell me that, I would say most of the time, 99% of the time. If you just educate the buyer and inform them, they kind of detect that it might not be true or it might be aggressive marketing. We'll call it.

Speaker 1:

Right. I mean most of you are going to the same secondary market, so it shouldn't be a wide range unless there's a different product. Obviously, an adjustable rate would be lower today, but you're going to run the risk of when it adjusts and what the market and economy is doing as opposed to a fixed rate. It adjusts and what the market and economy is doing as opposed to a fixed rate. But if it's product to product, I mean is, should there be that much more variable in the rate?

Speaker 2:

as much as now, it shouldn't be. It should relatively be quarter to most a half percent.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that's what I've seen. So it's interesting when people are rate shopping and then it's like, but relax, because unless they're locking in to that rate then they're not delivering it, and so what's the problem with locking in?

Speaker 2:

For our audience that needs to know well why don't you just lock in from the beginning? Because you have no idea when they're closing. Correct so the contract, especially in New York, being unique, we have on or about dates Correct, which means it's a target date. If you have an on or about July 1, closing means they can close as late as August 1.

Speaker 1:

Right and not be in violation of the contract.

Speaker 2:

Right. So when someone locks in, they need to lock to cover August 1.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, not just July 1. Correct what's the traditional lock-in time frame that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg?

Speaker 2:

I think 60 days is long. That's as long as the typical contract date, unless the seller wants longer. I have some people that aren't locking because the seller didn't find a house yet. Okay, so they applied, haven't locked because they might not be closing until September or October. They're floating out there. They're floating, taking a little bit of risk.

Speaker 1:

Applied, haven't locked because they might not be closing until like September or October. Yeah, so they're floating out there.

Speaker 2:

They're floating, taking a little bit of risk. What we've seen is I don't think it's as risky as it was a few years ago. We went from three to seven in six months.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, in 40 years that's the only time I've seen not only a rate double but almost triple, because we did top out around eight and we probably hit bottom out around two and a half or two and three quarters, so it actually almost tripled in a six-month period of time. It was chaos, you know? Tell me.

Speaker 2:

Yes, in my industry it was like shutting a valve off. It just stopped. Now people have gotten acclimated, they've understood now. And the other thing about interest rate the biggest surprise to most buyers is it's not as big of a deal as they think. Like 6.375 and 6.25 is marginal. It's probably depending on the size loan $10 or $15 a month. But people think it's kind of like that old marketing strategy 5.9 isn't 6. So it's not. Again, educating the buyer is the best thing for any mortgage guy.

Speaker 2:

I hate to tell my competition things but educating them and educating them is the best thing for the real estate agent Because it makes their job so much easier the more educated the buyer is. Sometimes I'm brought into a situation where they were pre-approved the realtor, the agent, didn't know the company they were pre-approved by and said why don't I get a second opinion from my guy Vinny? They were pre-approved with 20% down. They didn't have the 20% Okay, which means they also didn't have money for closing costs.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

That might be a problem. Huh, a little bit, yeah. So now when the customer sees and unfortunately there are some customers that don't understand what 20% down is I'm like, why would you do 20% down? Well, that's because I was told that would be stronger. Yeah, but $700,000 house, that's $140,000. Correct. And because we are unique, in New York, closing costs on that could range between $30,000 and $45,000, depending on what they want to do.

Speaker 1:

What's the difference between a conventional loan and a jumbo loan for our audience?

Speaker 2:

The exact numbers I don't know off the top of my head, but a jumbo loan now is over $1.2 million.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I know they raise the loan amount right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's actually three types. There's conforming Okay, then there's what's called high balance, and then there's jumbo Okay. But a lot of people will say the high balance is jumbo Okay, so you could actually borrow a million dollars 1.1. It's a high balance loan, right, but it's not a jumbo Okay. Are there advantages?

Speaker 1:

a jumbo. Okay. Are there advantages to jumbo or disadvantages, or both?

Speaker 2:

It's going to depend on credit score and loan to value. So when you're in the jumbo area, there are times you can get a better interest rate than if you were borrowing 700 000 it's interesting yeah, because it's more geared towards high net worth people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and, and they want, they want those loans yeah, so less likely to default if you're putting 40 or 50 percent down and yeah, and it's a different not to yeah get too technical, but it's a different mortgage pool.

Speaker 2:

So when you're high balance or less, you're pretty much in the pool of Fannie Mae, freddie Mac, ginnie Mae if you're FHA or VA. So those mortgages are pooled together and sold on Wall Street, where the jumbo is a different pool. How many?

Speaker 1:

states can you write loans in?

Speaker 2:

I can write loans in 15 states. States can you write loans in. I can write loans in 15 of the dates, but we could do all 50 but I personally can't write those states. I can refer it to someone in the company. Okay, but the reason why I did the 15 that I did is because I have clientele over 26 years selling in New York, yeah, now buying in other states, right right, obviously Florida was always New.

Speaker 1:

York part two. Yeah, I assume it's the Carolinas, the big part, south Carolina is big right now Florida is big Over the years not recently, but Pennsylvania has always been big.

Speaker 2:

But I'm starting to see some bleeding over into New Jersey because we're having an inventory problem here on the island. Yeah, so they're just going to the other side.

Speaker 1:

Right With more land. Yes, they can go inland. Yes, exactly. So can you share with us an interesting or uncomfortable challenge you had to overcome while closing a deal?

Speaker 2:

Challenges that I've run into basically are maybe title, because title in New York will take two to three weeks to get. Yeah, just the CO search. So we've been approved, waiting for title, and then you get title and there might be a chain of title issue. For those of you who don't know what that is, it just means the history of who owns the property and was it conveyed properly. The most common challenge I think we run into is prior mortgages on the property not being recorded.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so someone has to dig out a satisfaction.

Speaker 2:

Yes, or the title company has to research from who the other title company was to omit that.

Speaker 1:

So that's the biggest challenges I see Again, it's all those little nuances that the typical buyer or sell doesn't even see. That happens behind the scenes before you can clear the clothes right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but lending wise, you really shouldn't run into challenges if you did all your due diligence up front. The more thorough you are up front, the less chance you're going to have an issue. An issue you would have on lending is I call it, the grenade goes off where the borrower didn't specify something yeah, and it wasn't on the credit report, right or they intentionally didn't tell us because they knew it might be an issue then it comes up oh, they bought a car between contract and closing.

Speaker 1:

Does that happen to you several times?

Speaker 2:

furniture to the house. Full of furniture and a car, yeah you know it happens, but that's where knowing the customer and building the relationship you can pivot. Yeah, because now-.

Speaker 1:

Hopefully you coach them ahead of time not to do that we do we give them something in writing warning them?

Speaker 2:

and oh, I didn't know it would be a problem, but the stronger your relationship with the borrower, the more you can get around stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 2:

Now, well, we run into challenges where, if someone's self-employed and obviously they're not reporting that much to the IRS, yeah, but you could. If you did a thorough job. You've structured the loan either with a cosigner or something to make it happen. So that's why the face-to-face Really important? Yeah, it is to make it happen.

Speaker 2:

So that's why the face-to-face is really important it is, and most of my competition, even some of my own co-workers, they'd rather not do the face-to-face. It's so much better it is and you get more referrals. I mean honestly, I get referrals from people that I haven't done a loan for. I purely pre-approve them and they're already referring me people because I did something that no one else did. I sat down with them, took an hour. Yeah, the personal touch, yeah.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of nuance to it. People think again, it's easy, I'm just going to go out. I have this new app, the hottest new app for financing. It's like there's so much layers and nuance to this that gets overlooked, okay. So, Vinny, we're going to pivot a little bit. We like to interact with you a little bit more on a personal level, so what's?

Speaker 2:

something you're passionate about outside of mortgages that people might not know about you. I think one of the things that the people that know me and are close to me that's also a fault is that I care. I put myself out there too much. You know that expression no good deed goes unpunished. Yeah yeah, as dedicated I am to work is as dedicated as I am to personal life. So of course, that comes back to get you, as we all have experienced.

Speaker 1:

But what does downtime look for? Vinny Di Iorio.

Speaker 2:

Downtime is time with my kids barbecuing in the backyard. It's more of a simple life. One of my most favorite things is going out to dinner with my wife to a place where hopefully nobody knows me and it's just quiet.

Speaker 2:

Doesn't ask any mortgage questions. You're talking all day. That's what we do for a living Seven days a week texting, emailing, talking. So when I'm out to dinner I like to be out to dinner and just yeah, unwinding, just letting go. The most satisfying time is being in my backyard, my dog Coco, running around and barbecuing and just having the Yankee game on TV. Sorry for all. You Met fans out there.

Speaker 1:

Including me, it's all right. So, vinny, do you have any daily habits or rituals that help you stay focused or keep you energized?

Speaker 2:

I know a lot of people say they go to the gym, get up early, do all that stuff yeah, um, that's not really what drives me. I don't like I get bored yeah, again, it's. It's a gift and a curse, but what drives me is fear. You know, it's interesting. I don't want to fail or lose. It's competitive. It's not about. It's not about the money, it's not the number Right, it's the transactions and it's winning that keeps me going. I think the biggest thing that does it for me is and from what I've seen from every top producer is self-accountability.

Speaker 1:

If.

Speaker 2:

I didn't get a deal or something went wrong. I don't blame anybody else. I say to myself what could I have done better? What did I do wrong? Yeah, so I wear it, breathe it, sleep it. Yeah, so I'd love to say that there's some sort of ritual or tradition that I do yeah but uh, it's just more of it's out of fear, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So just how competitive is vinnie d orio? You know, are you the one, if you're playing a board game against your kids, that you're gonna?

Speaker 2:

you gotta win I don't let them win no, there you go, there you go. Uh, no, I I'm not that competitive to regard. But, in business. You know I've been called a psycho, but that's a compliment, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I would say as competitive as you want to just keep going, you just want to win. You know that's the rewarding satisfaction of what I do. You get people in homes. If you're refinancing them, you're saving money. That's rewarding. It's not the money. I don't look at how much I'm making on a deal.

Speaker 1:

Well, I guess when you win, your client wins, so you have to win together when you're doing the business correctly. That's the takeaway.

Speaker 2:

You have to win together, which is the when you're doing the business correctly. That's the takeaway. It's actually the opposite when the client wins, I win. Okay, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I'll take it either way. You're aligned so to speak.

Speaker 2:

So it's the bottom line. When that buyer gets an accepted offer in a competitive market with 10 other offers on the house, it feels good.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know you've prepped them the right way. Yeah, house that's, it feels good. Yeah, you know you've prepped them the right way. Yeah, because negotiating in a competitive marketplace is an art form.

Speaker 2:

So right so, and it's 24 7. That's the part I don't like. It's, yeah, technology and cell phones. I never used to give out my cell phone now it's.

Speaker 1:

You live on it. Yeah, I hear you. All right, well, let's touch on, else the rumor has it you're a dog lover. Is that true? That is true, coco? Is that the dog?

Speaker 2:

Coco. She's a little 15-pound Bichon Poodle mix. Yeah, and she's really the star of the show. Okay, we get testimonials, you know. Thanks, vinny and Michelle and your team, and especially Coco. I've had even clients close on a house and bring Coco gifts.

Speaker 1:

Really yeah. So, vin, I want to pivot to talk a little bit about giving back, but before I do, I just want to remind our audience that if you like what we're doing here, please like and subscribe to our channel. We've got some great interviews coming up in the future and don't forget to stay for the drop the mic question, giving back. I don't know if all your clients and members of your community know how generous you have been to the Heart of American Homes Foundation. It's our company-wide nonprofit.

Speaker 2:

You know, but before Heart of American Homes Foundation, my son has severe special needs, okay, and he went to school in Mass Peaker, hagedorn, little Village, okay, and that was my main cause. Okay, because what they did was fantastic. And he went to school in Espeak or Hagedorn Little Village, okay, and that was my main cause. Okay, because what they did was fantastic. Yeah, good, he's aged out of there, he's at Carmen's Road now. Okay, I kind of took on the cause. When I've met you Tom Gallagher, marie Asher, tyra Murtaugh it it really is amazing that you people care, care, right, and one of the things I try to surround myself with over the years is I'm a good person in a bad business, okay, so when you meet other good people right in a bad business, you want to surround yourself with them, right, and what I've learned that you guys have what you do in the cases. It's really amazing Because I don't really know other people in our industries that give back as much and put so much work into it.

Speaker 1:

The work that you all do is you see the fundraisers right, but they're a lot of fun aren't they?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they're great and it's just amazing that you give right, but they're a lot of fun, aren't they? Yeah, they're great and it's just amazing that you give back, but it is a lot of fun. It's good not to talk about mortgages and real estate and have a fundraiser and laugh, pick on each other.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

It's all a good cause.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So that's kind of been my go-to now. So that's kind of been my go-to now.

Speaker 1:

In your experience, what's one thing the mortgage industry could do better to serve people, especially in the underserved communities?

Speaker 2:

It really all comes down to the same thing Put people first. Service. One of the things I try to explain to everybody is when you go for the money, you're not going to make it Right, you've got to go for the relationship. If you go for people, the money will come. Yes, whether it's high-end, underserved, middle-income, low-income, I treat everybody the same right. You know you educate them, you inform them and you try to help them as best you can, right? You know the market dictates what the market dictates.

Speaker 2:

Unfortunately, sometimes people get outbid or can't compete. Of course, but what's rewarding to me is you sit down with someone that you know you're going to have a hard time finding a house on Long Island, but they're so appreciative that you took the time. Yeah, and I tell everybody you might not be ready today, but we'll sit down, we'll have a plan and I'll inform you on what you need to do to get in place Right, what you need to do to get in place Right. And they're so heartfelt and appreciative that you just took the time, because everybody else, if they couldn't get a loan or there was a small loan, people would like hang up on them.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So really underserved, it doesn't really matter, it's care.

Speaker 1:

Good, I like that. I like that. Are there any community programs, especially around financial education or first-time homebuyers, that you support or would like to see more of?

Speaker 2:

There are. It's challenging because, again, we're unique, being in New York. Yeah, so the government does have programs, whether it's FHA, whether it's Sony May State of New York, there are programs out there to help people down payment assistance. The problem that I see in our area, and probably everywhere, is the government is always great at saying what they offer people, right. But then when you find out who qualifies, it's nobody or next to nobody here in New York, right. So in order to get that grant, that down payment assistance, you have to make under a certain amount of money Right Now. If you make under a certain amount of money, you can't afford to buy a house on long island right, so to catch 22 I I guess that a lot, a lot, of a lot of what I would like to see locally.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, might not necessarily be mortgage products or down payment products. I would like to see more developing residential housing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah supply and demand commands the pride of every product and they don't let you develop. Yeah, not my backyard. And when there's not enough inventory, the prices go up. And then they complain that the prices are high.

Speaker 2:

Zoning needs to be done faster, more efficiently. Yes, you know as a local Long Islander. You drive around. We all see empty strip malls. We see empty office buildings. The senior housing would help the housing crisis on Long Island Right, because there's nowhere for anyone to downsize to Right.

Speaker 1:

So they stay in their house. Yeah, right so.

Speaker 2:

I go to other places. I was in South Carolina not too long ago, right, so I go to other places. I was in South Carolina not too long ago. They've got like communities where they have shops, restaurants, townhouses with three bedroom with attached garages and it's just phenomenal. We don't have anything like that here. It would be great. So that's what I'd like to see more of.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, more opportunities for people like that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because the more exotic mortgage programs we get, I think that's just going to compound and make the problem worse. Right, because now house prices go up, because now more people can buy. So I think if they could figure out a way to get us more inventory, that makes sense. That is what I'd like to see. Fair enough, well.

Speaker 1:

Vin is what I'd like to see Fair enough. Well, Vinny, I appreciate your insights. You've been very helpful, certainly to our audience here today.

Speaker 2:

It's time for the drop the mic question.

Speaker 1:

So we always like to have a little bit of fun with the drop the mic question. So what's the most wildest or memorable closing experience you ever had?

Speaker 2:

The wildest closing experience wasn't actually that long ago. I think it was about a year or two ago.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

But I went to the closing. I'm at the closing and I guess the seller was a divorce situation, yeah, and one of them freaked out, ran out of the closing. Them freaked out, yeah, ran out of the closing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, got in her car and took off like screeching tires out of the parking lot.

Speaker 2:

Okay, before signing any yes, of course okay so that was probably the most entertaining closing I've I've ever seen. Yeah, and we're all just looking at each other not knowing what to do. Uh, the listing agent of course ran out and chased, screeching tires coming out of the parking lot right but uh, needless to say, it did close. Ah, there you go. She came to her senses and signed it's.

Speaker 1:

It's a channel, so there's a lot goes into you-changing moves, which many times is a big part of it. So well, vinny, I think again, we appreciate you being on the show. If anyone's interested in finding out a little bit more information about some of the topics in mortgages, finance and the nuances there, how do they reach Vinny DiIorio at Fairway? Mortgage finance and the nuances there. How?

Speaker 2:

do they reach Vinny DiIorio at Fairway Mortgage? So you can call me on my cell 516-457-1991. And you can email me at vin V-I-N at homecom. Vin at homecom.

Speaker 1:

At homecom. All right, good, I like that and it's appreciate you. You're a real professional, gave us a lot of information, so thank you so much for being part of our episode here today. Thank you for having me Glad to be here Great.