Mortgage Myths, Interest Rates & Home Buying Truths

What do interest rates, home equity, and mortgage myths really mean for your ability to buy, sell, or move in today’s real estate market?

Welcome back to The Realtor Who Wines Podcast, your go-to podcast for real estate, wine (and sometimes whiskey), entrepreneurship, and community-driven conversations. I’m Rashelle Newmyer, your hostess with the mostest, and I’m excited to bring you our first guest episode of Season 2. Cheers 🥂

In this episode, I sit down with Risse Davis, mortgage advisor and branch manager at American Pacific Mortgage, to break down what’s really happening in the mortgage world and how it impacts you as a homebuyer, seller, or homeowner.

From navigating interest rates and equity to understanding loan options and refinancing strategies, this conversation is packed with practical insight, real-world examples, and myth-busting truths that can help you make more confident decisions.

✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:

•  Why interest rates aren’t the only factor when deciding to buy or move 
•  How homeowners are using equity to relocate or improve their financial position 
•  The impact of credit card debt—and how refinancing can reduce monthly expenses 
•  Why it’s valuable to talk to a lender early, even if you’re not ready to buy yet 
•  Common mortgage myths (including down payment misconceptions) 
•  The differences between conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, and jumbo loan options 
•  How working with a local lender can create a better strategy and flexibility 

We also mix in a little lifestyle featuring local Oregon whiskey from Bull Run Distillery and highlighting the community side of real estate, including one of our favorite local spots, Freeman Barrel House in Milwaukie  

If you’re a Realtor, homebuyer, homeowner, or entrepreneur, this episode will give you clarity around the lending process and help you better understand your options in today’s market.

Thank you for listening! Connect and collaborate with Realtor Rashelle on any of her social media platform pages > https://linktr.ee/RealtorRashelle 

Transcript

0:33

This is my first episode for first season two. Yeah. Am I going to be the first one or is it? Well, there's one. There's one episode on March 25th. That's me just talking about recapping a season one and what to expect of season two. Yeah. But you'll be my first guest. What's that? That's high profile. Get ready to entertain everyone, man. Yeah. You're like, I need a few more sips. I started going around to make the drinks. Yeah, it is a skill set to learn how to drink, girl. And then, like, the skill set, I'm willing to learn. Well, I am very honored that you have me here in front of your wall of Golden Girls. Thank you so much. Reece. Cheers to you. Cheers to you, my friend. Thank you for being on the realtor. Who wines Reese and I are not drinking wine today, though, because we are both bourbon gals and whiskey gals, and so we thought it would be fitting to have a local, bourbon. Yeah, well, actually, it's technically whiskey. American whiskey. Finish an Oregon Pinot noir. I mean, yes, 100% from Bull Run Distillery. They are located in Portland, just outside the Pearl district, and then also in Carlton. They have tasting rooms that you can taste all of their, spirits and then as well as by bottles. So definitely check them out because this is delicious. It is delicious. Will you please introduce yourself? Sure. Yeah. I'm, Reese Davis, And I am a mortgage advisor and branch manager of a little cute little office here in Southeast Portland. American Pacific mortgage. And what? Well, I don't want to say. What year did you get started? But what got you into mortgage? You know, like Bob Ross would say, it was a happy little accident. Yeah. I got, you know, I could go into the story really deeply, but to to try to do high level. I was a personal trainer for, like, the first 12 years of my adult life, and I always worked with, special needs populations for the most part. So people that were recovering from surgery or cancer or diabetics, things like that, Parkinson's disease, you name it. I worked with somebody. And so I decided at one point that I wanted to go back and get my master's degree in health psychology. And in order to do that, I stopped personal training, and I took a, summer job as a receptionist mortgage company. And here I am 17 years later. Oh, my gosh, I love that. What about that summer job that piqued your interest? Like, what did you see in the office? Or kind of overhear that made you think, I'm kind of interested in that. I mean, it was steady pay Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. That's always what it was. If somebody had been a personal trainer for 12 years and was, you know, at the gym

at 430 in the morning and 9: 3:27

00 at night, you know, I knew that wasn't sustainable to try to do that and go get my master's degree. And so I thought, well, I just need something that steady that I have on evenings, my weekends, I can work around it totally. And then I literally never even got my best, like, you need it. Yeah, that's how it goes sometimes. Yeah. What was your journey throughout your career? What does that look like that different like because forgive me, I don't know all the different roles within mortgage. Yeah. The mortgage was like yeah. Yes, please. Because I know I'm not the only one out there that's like, what exactly is everybody do? Yeah, yeah. So I started as the receptionist, which is a pretty self-explanatory title. But as part of that role, I also assisted the transaction coordinator. So the transaction coordinators are the unsung heroes of mortgage. They are literally the ones that can, I swear on this podcast. Yeah, okay. They do you they get shit done. And so I was kind of, you know, a little lackey to them that if they needed anything from I mean, back in the day when we were still using file folders, I would put together a file folders for them and dividers and everything. But then also following up on employment verifications and things like that. And, you know, I the, the manager at the time shout out to Jeff Strode and told me that once you start in mortgage you, you don't ever get out. And he said, it's like the firm that once you're there, you can't get out. And I. And he didn't lie. Yeah, I was I was like, no, I'm not in mortgage. I'm not in mortgage. I work in health. Yeah, yeah. So I went from receptionist assistant and I just, I really liked that transaction coordinator role because it's very detail oriented. Sure. And it just it spoke to me and it sounded interesting. And again, throughout this time, I still kept thinking I was going to go back and get my master's degree, but I was like, well, it's to make a little bit more money as a transaction coordinator. That versus the receptionist. So I was transaction coordinator for a few years and then got pulled into being, a licensed assistant. So that was, you know, the loan officer, this role that I have now, I was working with a handful of loan officers as their assistant, and I really liked that because then you got to actually interact with the clients. Sure. And that's what I had missed a lot in the transaction coordinator role, coming from being a personal trainer and having, you know, really, really I mean, some of my best friends were former personal training clients. I mean, so coming from having that really deep relationship with clients to being behind the scenes was really hard. So I liked the loan officer assistant role that I got to, you know, have a little bit more interaction with clients, but not as much responsibility as being a loan officer. And then so here's where it got interesting. So 2016, I joined the team of the the top loan officer in our company in the country. And he was fantastic. I really loved working with him. There was the three of us on the team, two transaction coordinators and then Doug as a loan officer. Just it was we flowed so well. It was such a wonderful like team team effort. We all were, you know, maybe had too much, work ethic where we were working evenings and weekends and stuff in the back then. But then Doug, in 2008, team came to Melissa and me. My who's Melissa and I worked together such as a nine and said that he was talking about retiring in a future and wanted to know if one of us would want to take over. And Doug having the business that he had, he could have sold his business for a lot, which a lot of lenders and realtors do you do? They sell their book of business when they retire. And he he could have easily done that. But part of the reason why I loved working with Doug is because he was like me, that he did it because he really enjoyed working with clients and helping people and so that wasn't the way that he was going to to go out. So, he saw us down and said, you know, I'd like it if one of you would want to take it over. And Melissa looked at me and said, we'll do it. Thanks, Melissa. It's like, and I just and it was so funny because I think that was the moment that I was like, I might work in mortgage. I think this might be a commitment and then just pops back into your head, right. And you're getting out. Never leave struggle. Always be there for that. Yeah. So then I took over for Doug. And that is a whole episode of, as podcasts on its own. Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah. And now, do you do you own this office or are you leasing this office, like, the team works here underneath you? Yeah, yeah. So we lease through our company. So we work for American Pacific Mortgage. It's an independent mortgage bank, is what it's called. So all we do is mortgage. We're not a broker. We we do it all in-house. And then I leased this office space because for 14 years, my office was in Clackamas, and nobody wanted to come see me in Clackamas. The majority of my. No offense. Clackamas. No, I love you, Clackamas. I do, but nobody wanted to. I thought it was, like, so far away. Majority of my clientele is northeast, southeast Portland. And so I decided that it was time to to move my office over here. And now I have people come in and see me all the time. Oh, nice. Oh, fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you have a great office space, too. It's very fun. It's technically a retail space. And so we we took over this spot and you know, at some point you have to pan out and see. But we've got just windows and we've got this huge, garage door that we can open up in the summertime. And, it's definitely not your typical mortgage office vibe, which is, is highlight because I'm not your typical mortgage officer. I would agree with that. And you host events here and stuff to for your clients. So it's fun to like roll up the doors and like expand the space a little bit. Yeah, we've done some really fun events. We did a a dog focused event for 4th of July where we got to give all the dogs like calming treats and lavender scented bandanas and stuff. So it's something that you know, you couldn't do in a typical breakfast space. Yeah, for sure, especially if you're sharing like, a lot of lenders and realtors have office space inside of like a corporate office space where it's like multiple businesses are in one location. So it's really hard to have events like those types of buildings. Yeah. When I was, looking for an office space, my two biggest things was that I needed at least one window that opened, which technically, I have a garage door open. So I think it challenges. Exactly. I see your when I see your window. When I see the Roger. Literally huge, huge garage door. And then also I wanted to have control over my own, Hvac and I do I got two H vac systems in here so I can make one side warm and one side cool if I want to. Nice. Very nice. Yeah. All right. What? Talking about lending and, like, home buying and all of that stuff. What are some questions that have popped up more recently for you from clients? I mean, I think and this won't be a surprise, but the, the biggest focus is on interest rates. And you know, interest rates are a lot lower now than they have been for the last couple of years. Yeah. Quite a bit lower. Yeah. But still a lot of clients are paralyzed because they're in a two and a half or 3% interest rate and they feel like they're stuck because of that. And it's I, you know, I've talked to clients who want to get a divorce and they're not divorcing because they don't want to deal with losing that interest rate, or they want like a bigger space or a smaller or a different neighborhood, or, you know, all of these shorter commute or commute. And so my my biggest question that people come to me is like, well, how can I afford this when I, when I have this? And I think people would be really surprised the, the combination of how much equity we all have in our houses now because of the appreciation we've seen in the last few years. You know, Portland specifically has has seen above average, appreciation, which is good and bad. But it means a lot of people have a lot of equity in their house that they don't realize that they can take that and roll it over into a new house and have a really similar payment. I actually I have a client come in and later this afternoon who is selling her house, and she was convinced that her new mortgage was going to be higher than her current mortgage. But because she's going to have so much to put down, her payment is going to be lower than it is right now by like $300, but still it's lower and lower was lower. Yeah. She's, you know, able to move that into the neighborhood that she wants to and some people would move I have found if they could even keep their payment about the same. About the same. Yeah. Why the reason they want to move is a lot of it is commute, because now, I mean, you know, that's. But like during the Covid era and all the businesses were shut down or people were allowed to work remote, people started moving out of like, the Portland Metro and more to the suburbs. Yeah. Well, now offices are saying, hey, the remote stuff isn't really happening anymore. We want you in the office like three days a week. Yeah, well, now, even if you're only commuting three days a week, those three days a week are still very long days because all of the essential or non-essential traffic is back. Right. And so they're like, well, I'm losing like two hours with my family every day commuting into the city. So now they want to move back towards the city, but then they feel like they can't, but they would in a second if their payment would even be the same. Yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of people too, at least in my clientele, what I've experienced is they might have moved away a little bit for the reasons that you said, but then they really it's not just the commute, but they miss the community, they miss a bit closer and they miss being able to, you know, walk. This is an especially walkable. Yeah, I live in Milwaukee, but, within a 15 to 20 minute drive, I've got countless restaurants and bars and grocery stores and, and everything. And so I think that some people just kind of miss the, the community and the convenience of living a little bit closer. Yeah. One thing that I think is really overlooked is that people have also, you know, times have been tough for the last few years and people have racked up a lot of credit card debt. And really high interest credit card debt and, and not to go into like a whole diatribe about, finances but credit card interest is compounded daily. And so what that means is like literally every single day, your higher balance on your credit card is now what the interest is based off of. So it gets to be really hard to get out from under credit card debt. And what people don't realize is if they have a lot of equity in their house, they can either refinance or sell, use their proceeds to pay off their credit card debt. Yeah. And might have a, you know, a slightly smaller down payment, but overall, their monthly output is going to be a lot lower and it's going to be just so much more manageable. It's not going to snowball. Well, and even if your mortgage is a little bit higher right now that you're not paying on those credit cards. Yeah. You'll also see that mortgage payment back and equity. Yeah. Versus credit cards. You're not going to see that back. Yeah. So that's a great way to go too. Yeah yeah I've got a client right now that I'm refinancing from a an arm and adjustable rate at like 4.5%. And we're, we're refinancing to a higher rate. But we're lowering their monthly output by $2,000 a month. That's huge. Yeah. That's huge. That's life changing for a family to complete. Five kids like complete life. As long as you don't put it back on their credit card. Exactly. Oh, we've had the conversation. Yeah. Because I that happens to like, you get that debt paid off and then it easily comes right back. Yeah I have a couple clients that are kind of serial, refinance ers for that reason. But I try really hard to or, you know, be that counselor for them to the level that I can't be. I'm not a financial advisor. I'm not a financial counselor. But, to look at the big picture with clients. So when you see a numbers a lot to that is one thing I always talk about with clients is, even if a client's like, oh, I'm thinking about buying, but probably not for a year or two, I have some debt to pay off. My instant response, as always. Have you talked to a lender or do you want to be connected with a lender? Because I know you'll walk them through the process of what they should pay off, what they should focus on, because there is some misconception sometimes, like they think they have to have zero debt right to buy, and that's not the case. And some debt is considered good debt, especially when applying for a home loan, because it shows that your, can make payments and yeah, and reliable and all that stuff. Will you speak to that a little bit on why someone should meet with you, even if they're not planning for to buy for a year or two? Oh, I'm. So that's the best time to. You can talk to somebody. Yeah. I mean, like you said, there's so many misconceptions out there and especially now, I mean, TikTok and Instagram and all of the influencers that, you know, some of them I think are really well-meaning, but every single person is different. Every single situation is different. And so unless, well, in every market's different market, I mean, even in Portland, like I say, we have many markets, like from neighborhood to neighborhood, it can be complete. Absolutely. Yeah. And so talking to somebody that can actually look at your circumstance, not what your dad told you or you know, what your best friend did, but actually look at your numbers. The amount of times that I've had clients tell me, you know, I had no idea that I actually could buy a house. Like, I really thought I could never. I hear that I'll do it, or I can never sell and move or, you know, whatever it is. And it doesn't cost any money to talk with it when you sit down and you can have multiple conversations and do a deep dive into it. And even if it's not the right time, it's not always. Well, I have had pushback when I have said like, oh, you should meet with a lender. And they're like, I don't want my credit pulled right now. I'm like, she doesn't have to pull your credit to even have an initial numbers conversation with you. And I also think everybody's different, obviously, especially when it comes to real estate and lending. But you and I both come from the same point of we want to serve in the best way that we can. And so like talking to me or talking to you, our end game is not like, how do I get you in a house tomorrow? Whether it benefits me or only benefits me or not? You know, I don't, I don't. I want to see you in a house because I believe in homeownership and I believe everybody should have the right to homeownership. But I want it to be on your terms, on what makes sense for your family, and is not going to put your family in a weird position later. And if that means you can't buy a house for five years, awesome. I'll be here in five years. And in the meantime, I can be a resource for you and still your friend. Yes, but like you're the same way with lending. It's like, no, let me just have the conversation with you just to give you some ideas of what you should be working on. Like you wouldn't just go to the gym and start lifting weights without like, doing a little bit of research or maybe doing the one free consultation with the guy at the gym, right, to make sure you're, like, picking stuff up, right? Yeah. There should be no different. Like take up the free consultation, take up the free conversation. Yeah. Even if in the long run you're going to buy, let's say you end up moving to Washington and you're not going to. Well, are you licensed in Washington? You are. Yeah. Yeah. A little different for lenders. We sure. You know, I yeah, I'm licensed in 7 or 8 states now. Yeah. Know most of my clients are right here, but I as you know, I'll go get licensed in a state if I've got a client that wants to move there. Yeah. You know, my mom's buying and, you know, Arizona, I'm like, okay, well, it's not that hard for me to get your license. There's it's all pretty similar. Yeah, but like, there's no obligation, I guess where I was trying to go with that is there's no obligation. Our expectation, like you absolutely have to work with us just because you had a conversation with us. No, I mean, we like being a resource. Obviously, you and I work similarly. That's why we're friends and work together. And not every lender and not every realtor will be the same way. Right? But definitely, like, I would always rather have a conversation with the client and, and be honest with them and say, now's not a good time to buy. But here's the things that you need to do, because otherwise the time is going to pass anyway. You might as well be working on a goal of getting into homeownership. And I, I do I mean, homeownership is the thing that leads to generational wealth. It's if you look back in the course and stability. Yeah, stability and emotional stability and mental stability and financial stability. And you know, it's not without its stresses, don't get me wrong. But, that's, that's why I'm still in mortgage because I got to see how I can truly impact people's like, it sounds cheesy, but it's very true. Like, I can see the actual impact on people's lives and their future, their children's lives. Like I'm so it's it's a huge, huge yeah benefit. So yeah. Well, it's very, humbling and rewarding to be a part of people's big moment. And purchasing a home is like a life goal a lot of people have. And to be just a little small glimpse of that journey as like so, so feeling that's I like it. I mean, both of our jobs can be super stressful because it is such a big moment in someone's life, and you're trying to do everything you can to, like, help them. And there's lots of late nights, or sometimes you spent three hours putting out a fire they never even knew existed, which is our job. We don't need kudos for that. But there is so much going on behind the scenes. But when you get to hand over those keys or say, like, congratulations, we funded and closed. Yeah, just their pure joy and like, excitement and energy. It was like, what Thinking about moving to Oregon. Don't just Google it. Talk to someone who loves it. I help people relocate smoothly and confidently. Reach out and let's talk about your next move and make sure it makes sense for you. keeps those hard days? Yeah. Okay. I had a a run. I think it was last summer where I was just like, you know, we all had a rough couple years in the, in the market. And I was, you know, maybe lacking a little bit of motivation at the time, maybe I was a little bit burnt out. But I had three clients within a month time span that I closed. Two of them were a purchase. One of them was a refinance. And they all hand made me thank you gifts. Oh, they're all here for the best place over there. Like a platter over there. And then another hanging bass over here. And I was like. I mean, literally, like tears. I was like, this is like, these people appreciated what I did so much that they physically made me something. Yeah. You know, they're all artists. That's what they do. But still. Yeah. And that was that was a good motivator for me to realize, like, you know, we're really affecting people's lives. I know it's always it's a very sweet and I'm always very appreciative. But it's also a little awkward when you show up with a closing gift and they have a gift for you, and you're just, like, exchanging presents. But then at the same time, you're like, oh, you bought me something to like things. I was just doing my job. I mean, I care obviously immensely, but it's always like, yeah, interesting when you're like, but I got used to be thinking, yeah, yeah. I show up with their closing gift designing and then they'd give me one. Yeah, yeah. What, are some myths that you know, clients here you mentioned earlier, like social media and, some of the influencers and things like that. What are some myths that are out there in the marketplace that you'd like to debunk for people? I mean, countless myths. And if I had thought about it in advance, I probably could have given you a list. But I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that the lowest interest rate should be your goal. And that is a really good way to cost yourself a lot of money in the long run. Yeah. When I do talk to clients who are talking to multiple lenders, which they they should, I mean, you should certainly talk to just like multiple realtors, accountable insurance companies. Totally. But I always tell them don't shop rates. Interest rates can change from day to day. And my rate might be lower today and it might not be lower tomorrow. Like, that's just how the market is. You know, you need to be talking to somebody that's actually looking at your overall financial picture and strategizing with you, because some people come in and, you know, obviously one of the biggest myth says, I need 20% down. And I think that thankfully, that's, pretty common knowledge now that it's not necessary. Yeah. But sometimes I have clients who have 20% down, but that's not the best option for them. It's not going to get them the best interest rate. It's not going to get them the best, you know, long term investment. So and sometimes if you have that much to put down, maybe just buying your own to one buy down. Right. There's a lot of different options for, for that. Exactly. Like I had a client over the weekend that was, wanting to make an offer and they'd been pre-approved with one of the local credit unions. I won't name names. And of course, they couldn't get Ahold of anybody at the credit union because it was Saturday afternoon. Yeah, I might have been at the hospital with my best friend in the waiting room trying to prepare this person on Saturday. But I told them, I said, you know, I know my interest rate, my my normal interest rate won't be as low as this credit union. This credit union historically has has lower rates than anybody. But I bet you have strategies that are going to save you a lot more money. And nobody at that credit union is going to sit down with you and strategize with you. Yeah. And I am strategizing with them, and I am saving them a lot of money with our different with the, with the buy down, but with other things that we're doing that they would just never have gotten if they. Yeah. You know, and I don't want to disparage credit unions or big banks, but you're not going to get the same kind of strategy of. Yeah, well, on how I explain it to clients, because sometimes they'll say to me when I'm like, oh, do you have a lender? And they're like, no, but I'll probably just go to my bank, blah, blah, blah, like where they do their banking. And I always like what you just said. I do encourage you to have conversations with multiple lenders and multiple realtors just to make sure you find the right fit for you and all of that stuff. But I do caution them when you talk to your bank or said credit union or whatever, keep in mind they're in the business of banking. They're not necessarily in the business of mortgages. They added that subpar to accommodate their clients, but that's not their bread and butter. So although they offer it, it doesn't mean and they might be a great bank for banking, right? That doesn't mean that they're the best place to get your home loan. So just still talk to your bank if it makes you feel better and you just want to know what your bank offers, but also talk to somebody like Reese or another lender that somebody recommends to you, because it is interesting to know the different. Like you would probably present multiple programs like the Oregon Home Bond and all these other things. And I haven't heard banks doing that as much because they're not as well versed in it. And again, no offense to banks, but your bread and butter is banking. You're good at banking. Yeah. And that's your thing. Hire people that do banking and they clock in and they clock out. Yeah. There's there's nothing wrong with that business model for banking. Right. You know, I'm a member of a credit union. I've been for 17 years. I love them. I've, you know, got multiple car loans and whatnot through them. But, you know, having a, actual local person that you can talk to and on nights and weekends, which is when real estate transactions really do take place. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and, you know, like a client this weekend, a different client was looking at a house and they were wanting to offer below the list price because again, with micro markets here and so some of them are super competitive and some of them there's some room for negotiation. And they, they want to offer below the list price. And I was like, or we can get a seller credit for that same amount. And here's why that's going to benefit your dollar, your bottom line so much better. And that's not something that a credit union or a bank would ever. They would have just sent them a pre-approval letter and said, you go make an offer like right now. Yeah, yeah, sorry. Credit unions. Yeah. We don't dislike you by any means. Great, great. Yeah. But for what you are. Absolutely. Yes. Speaking to, like, down payments and stuff. And I know it varies from person to person, but on average, what it is for anyone out there listening, trying to get a rough idea of what kind of down payment they should be saving for, are you thinking, are you seeing more like 3.5%? 5%? Like what? What percentages are you seeing? So technically you don't need to have a down payment. That's true. Down payment assistance programs out there. I will say if you can come up with a down payment and there's a way to do so, that makes sense for you, you're typically going to get better loan terms. And if you do a down payment assistance program. But they're they're out there and they're there for a reason. They get you into the house, they get you starting earning equity. It's it's a fantastic thing if that's the only option. In general for first time homebuyer 3 to 3.5% down. So if we're doing conventional loan versus a government loan, 3 or 3.5%, and then from there, I mean, you know, very few people that haven't owned homes before or don't have parents that are gifting the money, very few people have 20% down. So we just look at the options between three, five, ten. Sure. And to see what makes the most sense. Yeah. And then something else that like clients don't think about that. I just want to put out there and this is normally something I talk about in like my first like consultation with anybody thinking about buying or selling is the difference between a down payment and closing costs, because a lot of people don't talk to them about that and that there's there's a difference. So like you'll have your down payment and then separately, you'll also need your closing costs within those closing costs you've got your closing costs, you've got your prepaid items and then potentially paying points for your interest rate. So there's a whole breakdown there. And that is that is why I love what I do is I am all about educating my clients so they don't get that. The amount of times I've had clients that have talked to a bank or credit union or even another local lender, and then they come to me for our initial consultation. And, you know, I try not to overwhelm them with information, but there's stuff that they need to know, like, yeah, plus closing costs and what that means, the amount of times that they've been like, nobody ever told me that before, drives me bananas for like for the down payment assistance, a lot of times those clients also don't realize they still need closing costs. A lot of times you can ask sellers to pay closing costs and things like that, but you still normally have to bring some money to the table. Whether it's earnest money, you'll need money for inspections. Sometimes you're, paying your buyer's agent fees. Sometimes you're asking the sellers to pay it. So this is these are all examples of why having conversations ahead of time will really benefit you and help you have a more smooth transaction versus a little bit bumpier, right? Yeah. for those that are listening that are like really green on the whole mortgage side of things. Can you explain a little bit about the differences between a conventional loan versus an FHA or USDA? Like, not like in great detail, but just a high level? Yeah, it's what I use or talk with clients about is there's really five main categories of loan types. There's conventional loans FHA, VA, USDA and then jumbo, which is a real technical term. They're jumbo jumbos like the fun cousin or something like here comes Jack, comes jumbo come coming down. So conventional loans, they're backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Which means that all lenders have to underwrite. They have to meet the guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set. Some lenders have what are called overlays. So additional requirements, we fortunately have very few, so conventional loans tend to be best for people who have a higher credit scores. Versus an FHA loan is backed by HUD. And they're it's touted as a first time homebuyer loan. But you don't have to be a first time homebuyer. But it's just a little bit more forgiving. So people who've had credit history, like, bankruptcies or foreclosures might qualify on an FHA when they don't on conventional or if your credit score is below, like 700, you might get a better interest rate in loan terms with FHA. So one thing I want to point out really quick is a myth that I know that you can debunk right now is what is considered a first time homebuyer, because some people think it's only if you've never, ever purchased a mother in your life. No. And it's a very strict definition, is that you can't have owned a home, which includes being entitled to a house that doesn't have a mortgage, within the most recent three years. Yeah. So the only time that that really tends to be a hiccup is like sometimes people are, like on title to their parent's house for like, planning purposes, and that can become a little bit of a hiccup. Yeah, but I wanted to point that, put that out there because, we help a lot of women transition out of marriages and things like that, and they assume they won't be considered a first time homebuyer again. And it's like, no, actually, you haven't been on a mortgage or a title. Yeah. And three years. So you now qualify for all those first time homebuyer programs? Yeah. Yeah. Three years. That said, another kind of myth that I will try to debunk is there's not really as many quote unquote first time homebuyer programs as there used to be. After the crash in 2008, there were quite a few because they were trying to stimulate the housing economy. So there were quite a few different programs out there. But now, because the housing economy is very stimulated, there are definitely still some. But for the most part, like if a client comes to me, even if they've never owned a house, but they have good credit and they've got at least 3% down, we're probably going to do just a regular conventional. Yeah, because it'll be lesser fees that are better terms. Yeah. But there are still some. But it's one of the first questions that people ask. And it's it's a hard thing to have to kind of shoot them down and be like, well, you know, they're are first time homebuyer programs, but most of them have higher fees or higher rate, or they have income caps and you're going over the income cap. So yeah, but we still look at it. We always look at it. Yeah. So and none of like within conventional within FHA, there are options for first time homebuyers and not. So it doesn't have to be one or the other. Yeah. And then same thing with USDA and VA. Those are two other government backed loans. So USDA is backed by USDA. VA loans are backed by VA and you know, those both have their their place. And you know, I love working with veterans. It's not too hard that VA loans have a little bit of a bad rep because there's additional requirements for the property. But really very few properties. Wouldn't me. Yeah. So yeah, I know a lot of people ask me, like, especially when I meet with sellers and they're first time sellers, like, they're selling their, the first property they ever purchase. And so they're like, well, is there a reason I shouldn't, because you always ask, like, are you open to an FHA, a conventional cash seller financing? We go through all the things. Yeah, yeah. And then, they always are, like, should I not be open to VA? And I was like, I'm the worst to ask this because I will always support exactly at every way that I can. So I'm always like, of course you should be open to VA, but then you do have to explain the few things that, the inspections are a little bit more critical, the appraisal appraisals a little bit more critical because a VA has certain, things that it has to me in order to qualify for the VA loan. So that is how it gets a bad rap. And there is a little bit more closing costs tied to it. But it's like so hard to, like, not support our troops over those things. When to your point, most houses pass in flying colors like there's there's no extra things. I mean, especially in Portland is Portland proper and the surrounding areas. It's not like we have a bunch of houses that are, you know, 150 years old. We have some you listed one that was 18 something, but did you have a house that was like 18, 20 or something? Like it was like it had to be one of the first houses. Right in fact, it was 1903 was in 1903. Maybe that's what it was. It was something like that. I just remember looking at me like, did she mean. Yeah. Someone three years. Yeah. Well, and you weren't the only one. I got a few realtors that challenged them or like, I think you type of this. And I was like, I didn't. Yeah. They're like, call the city of Portland. It's a typo. City of Portland. I was like, it's not. And I actually did spend probably 15 hours researching with the county, really. And the city to triple verify. See, these are the things people don't realize that really just to appease a handful of realtors. Right. And they ended up not writing. But now if anybody has questions about this property, I'm your girl. You know, I know everything about this property. Yeah, yeah. But, although I could talk mortgages with you all day, as many of you have heard or have seen, your wealth of knowledge and obviously care a lot about this business. Your home might be worth more than you think. Curious what your equity looks like. I'll run the numbers for you. No pressure, just clarity. Please reach out any time. Let's look at this together. Yes. You're wonderful, but I would love to talk about something a little bit less murky and a little bit more funny just because I like it. I'm very funny. Let's do it. Yes, yes. You and I both love whiskey and bourbon. That's one thing we bonded over. Like. Yeah. And then only. Yes. Talk a little bit about your journey with whiskey and bourbon. Like, did you always like whiskey in bourbon or did you kind of stumble into. Oh, yeah. I mean, funny origin story. Like, I was always a wine girl, like, I the literally the first day that I took my first communion. So how old are you when you do that? Like 13 years old. Yeah. They give me a little plastic cup of red wine, and I tasted that. And I was like, damn, what's that? Oh my. Good. Yeah. So I've been a red wine, y'know, since, you know, before it was legal for me to be. Oh, I know, and so red wine, I was a gin and tonic girl. I was never like, cocktail person growing up or, you know, in my 20s and 30s. And then we went to Kennedy School for, Saint Patrick's Day in 2012 and did a Scotch tasting. And I could not tell you who the scotch was. That makes me feel bad. I have no idea what the Scotch scotches were that we tasted, but I back then I remember thinking, actually this is pretty good. I'm really it took me a minute to be able to drink scotch. Scotch was a lot different. Yeah, yeah. And I love, I love smoking, I like it slap me in the face of the smoke. It's classic. So we did that, but then we also my brother was with us and we started drinking seven and sevens. And so that's Seagram's seven. And then we transitioned to Jameson. And so summer of 2012 was my Jameson summer. I just went around with Jameson over I there's YouTube videos and yeah, like it was just gone wild that Jameson summer. I've got a couple stories there. You know, Jameson in a solo cup can be really dangerous. Oh, my gosh. Hilarious. Oh, I see, that's the name of your memoir, right. So at. Yeah. And I don't know, from there it's snowballed. And, you know, my, my husband actually had never drank alcohol before. He and I started dating. Yeah. 27 years old I love this. Yeah. And so I started him on wine when we first started dating. And then he and I discovered whiskey together. And it's just. I mean, I just love whiskey so much. I mean, to bourbon, I love scotch, I love peaty, I don't like Canadian whiskey. Sorry. Pendleton. And and similar ones. There's a few Irish ones, like, I don't remember last time at Jamison. Funny. I cook with it sometimes. I've got a few recipes that I make. So funny how, like, your palates change over time. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, a lot like. I mean, I remember tasting scotch when I was probably like 25 and thinking, why would anybody ever drink this? Well, even with wine, I remember in college the first time I had, like, decent wine and I was like, yeah, this doesn't taste like my boom, right? Yeah. Love. That's, you know, because you have, like, this sugar powder palate. Yeah. No. Thanks, man. Yeah, yeah. You're good, you're good. Yeah. You got your place back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got your place. You hope you're the gateway drug into the wine industry. Yeah. I didn't really have that. It's not funny. Like I didn't have my I mean that's again a whole different podcast. I did drink, those when I was like 12, hanging out on the ranch with my grandparents. But once I started actually getting straight from church to buck and bales of hay, that's how I earn my beer. But like in college, like I didn't, you know, you couldn't catch me with a midori sour, like, oh, really? Drinking. You know, I discovered, by the way, as a side note, aviation gin. I discovered in, like 2009 before Ryan Reynolds took over. Before it was really popular. Yeah. You called Ryan and said I should get in on this. Yeah, yeah, I wish. By the way, could you get him on the podcast? I so thank you so much. He's a little bit harder now that he's here. Yeah. Blake. Blake. But. Yes. Oh. But yeah. Yeah. That's hilarious. So yeah. Just went from for mine to whiskey and really, really happy that, women who whiskey and yes, I wanted to give them a shout out, too. Yeah. So we both belong to women who whiskey. Which is I tend to explain it because Reese and I also do a lot of networking together and a lot of women in business type situations, but women who whiskey is our fun social club. Yeah. It's not. We got networking. No, not for business. No. Like it's just more. Yeah. Socializing. Yeah, yeah. I've made some great friends through Absolut Whiskey. But I don't, you know, I don't bring my business cards with me to no events. That's, that's. I call it my time. Like, that's my time. That's when I get to go relax, not be mortgage. And, you know, ultimately end up talking about it because I would always pops up. Well, and I mean, our life is our life and like and people are going to ask like, how's work. Yeah. So you have to like talk about it. But that's not the purpose. Like it's different when you're going to like a work networking thing and you're there as real to Russia. Yeah. And you know, lenders. But there we just get to be women who whiskey. And we talk about our love for whiskey. And we have gotten over the years to taste whiskeys that nobody else can taste. So my husband gets pretty jealous sometimes when I'm sending in pictures of what I'm tasting. Because that stuff that we can't get here in Oregon, we've got to meet some really amazing women behind the scenes in whiskey. Yes. You know, at the time, this was a while ago, but the, head distiller of mixers was a woman, and she came out and did a a tasting, an education event for us. We, like Caitlin at Hood River Distillers has done a lot with us. I was going to say the uncle nearest we got to, the owner and the head distiller came out from Tennessee. Yeah, they come out a couple times. Yeah, well, most recently was for the book launch and stuff. Which now every time I'm in Tennessee, I'm like, how do I get over there? I still there just like to go there in person. That's on my bucket list. Yeah, but they are one of my favorite Bourbons to, And I'll do a quick shout out while we're talking about bourbon to Maker's Mark. If people aren't super familiar with it, maker's Mark is like the the old school. Like, you know, when I used to wait tables in my 20s, like that was what the working dudes would come in and order maker's Mark. You can get it anywhere, which I love. But maker's Mark is doing really fantastic things as a company. They're, they're B Corp certified. They're really into regenerative agriculture. They have bees on their property. They have like cows on their property. They're working well. And I think people assume they just have the one variety too. And they have so many different age, different cars, different levels of, well, I don't know if that's a proper term. Don't come for me. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Don't come from me in the comments. I'm just a patron. I'm a don't specialize in Vermont. If you want to teach me and be on the podcast, by all means. But yeah, but they have like, different varieties and like their different series When you go out and order, I know sometimes I get wine. It's so funny when I'm with my wine friends and I'm just having the wine mood, right? And we're like, out of bar. Or like, I travel a lot for real estate and stuff, for the different leadership conferences that I, go to for Oregon Realtors and things like that. And if I order just bourbon by itself, everyone's like, whoa, oh, tough day. I'm like, no, I just well, yeah. And these people put so much time and energy and ingredients into their craft. Like, I don't want to add soda or a mixer or anything. I'm like, like, this is how it is. This would be like insulting if you add added to what we're drinking today. Like, that's seven and sevens anymore. Yeah, sure. Reasonable. Yeah. But do you ever get like people looking at you like, well. Oh yeah. Hard hardcore all the time I've been, I've been called hard core a lot over the years. And a hilarious, Jack. Well, I don't know what the word is, but my husband, who's, you know, six three big dude who also drinks parents. We talked about that when we go out, he orders the fruity. Oh, my God, tell my guy to. Does he? Yeah. Like everything. Or is like fireball. Fireball with everything, which, no offense to fireball. You're fine. But, like, I'm not drinking. Tumbler. Yeah, it's a fireball. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but it's funny how often the server will come out and bring him the whiskey and put the cocktail in front of me, and he's always super offended. He's like, excuse me? Like she's the one drinking the whiskey. Please. Scotch. My pina colada. Give me my umbrella. Yeah. And he's like, you know, give her the sake of the whiskey. Yeah. Same. Yeah. This is why we're such good friends. Yeah, I've gotten that a lot. And a metal one. Really funny story, actually. I was in Montana a few years ago from Montana. My family's from Montana, and my grandma was, a part of the American Legion. So, you know, a little tiny bar. And we went in there and I asked, they only had one whiskey, I'm sure. Was Jack Daniels. Right? Sure. But I was like, you know, can I just get a jack meat? And the waitress immediately grabs a glass and puts ice in it and starts pouring it. And I'm like, thinking to myself, that's fine, it's Jack Daniels, but it's maybe probably better with it. Yeah. But she's pouring it and then like, halfway. She pauses and she goes, oh, neat means no ice, right? And I was like, yeah, but it's fine. And she goes, I'm not used to these fancy drinks. I was like that. I'm sorry. I know that my Jack, I think I just wanted to take her from that bottle and pour it into that cup right there. Right. That's the you're like, oh, I didn't know that fancy that. We had our girls weekend out at the coast and there was like eight of us. And we walked into this like little hole in the wall bar. Yeah, clearly we weren't locals. They knew as soon as we walked in we weren't fooling anybody. But you saw the bartender be like, as soon as you actually doing there. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And she even got the blender out. She's like all right. And then we walked up and I was there with Cindy, who, you know, and she's also a bourbon girl. Yeah. And so we walked in and I was looking at the selection and I was just like, oh, you know what I think? I think I'm just going to get Buffalo me and send you like, me too. And then one of our other girlfriends was like, me three and the bartender like, what? What's happening? Yeah. She's like, I thought you guys would be in here ordering martinis and blended drinks, which they have their place in their purpose. I will get this. But it was so funny. The label that was in. So they put it on you? Yeah, because we were city girls of the coast. And so they just assumed we'd be like, oh, Pina colada. Right. That's exactly. It's. No, it's not that kind of East coast. This is a it's raining outside. It's the Pacific Northwest. Yeah, yeah. In January that's the best time to have a straight glass of bourbon. Yeah. So it was so funny. And then like, two of the other girls got just tequila. And I just noticed. Yeah. Like, it's so funny. I was like, the older I get, the less mixers I want, and I just, I just want to enjoy a really good glass of something. What I really love to do is sit up at the bar, and especially because, you know, we're super cool. And so we like to go when the bars open at like four so that we can be home in, in our sweats by seven. Yeah. Speak for yourself. Yes. That's the way I roll. Yeah. And so set up at the bar and start by ordering something, you know, usually a whiskey or something. But it could be a tequila shot. I also am a big, big fan of some good tequilas. And once you start talking to the bartender and they realize that you have a decent palate and that you somewhat know what you're talking about, then they start pulling out the good stuff and like, you know, like they're giving you my favorite word, a splash. Splash. I might give you a little splash of this. Yeah, yeah. Cause you're like, we of the splashes on Division on my birthday. And that they they, cut. What's the freaking. And I'm not even kidding. What the spirit type is that they specialize, and it's not something that we drink very often. And the guy gave us probably four different tastings, and at one point he's like, I want to push it on you. And we're like, dude, no, push it. Yeah. Not only are you not pushing it on us, you're now becoming our butts. Exactly. Yeah. We bonded. We bonded. Connor. Who? Bears fans. Thanks, Connor. Hey, we're we're now, you know, that's for the fans. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that you just get a different experience when you sit at the bar and and order something good, and you, you get the bartender's attention for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and you learn more about things because, like, you're not going to just randomly order a splash or something itself. Yeah, at least I'm not. Especially if it's like a little bit more expensive. I always get a little bit more nervous, like, well, what if I hate it when I just spent$20 on the small children dram? Whatever. And I know to some people they're like $20. That's adorable because you can easily spend like $200 on it. Damn. Or even more. But sometimes you just want to try something new. Yeah, I don't want to end without giving a little shout out to one of our favorite local bars that we like to go get bourbon and whiskey. Yeah, I love that. So fucking about. Okay. Yeah. What's that little bottle you owe me? So happy. Yeah. So do you want to go ahead and give a shout out and I'll chime in? Sure. Yeah. So you're obviously talking about Juliet Freeman. Yes, absolutely. And Milwaukee and Milwaukee. It's, directly on my way home from the office to my house. So, you know, it's a very convenient location for me. Julie is a the owner, and she's fantastic. She's become a friend. Her and her partner Carrie have become friends. To really great, bartenders. They're Ruby and Lindsay. So, and it's just a really fantastic, comfortable, you know, very chill. And really chill. That can stop it. Awesome selection, great selection. She knows what she's doing. She does normally have a game on. So if you want to go with a friend that loves sports there's normally someone has like old movies on it. Yeah that is a lot of times there is an 80. Yeah, there's an 80s movie, but she will change the channel. There's a big game on and like, I love you know, I just go and bring my laptop. I may be home and I'll stop this game for an hour there. And I actually have a picture of Reese and I. I'm getting an offer right now, like working on. We were helping the same clients, obviously, and we were working on some other paperwork Saturday afternoon. It was actually it was at a Women Who whiskey event. Yeah. And Julie's. Yeah. Yeah. At Freeman, I should say. I always call it Julie's, but it's Freeman. Because it's on Freeman Way in Milwaukee. Freeman barrel house. Check them out. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Good shot. Yeah. I just I wanted to give her a shout out because we do love going there. She does have a great. Yeah. Woman on and operated and great selection. So if you like really good I mean really good cocktails. Like I am a very much a cocktail snob and she's got some really good cocktails. And Lindsay and Ruby are both fantastic. Yeah. Cocktail makers. So yeah. Good shout out. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing your whiskey with me, by the way. Now we have to go to Bull Run. We do? Yeah. This is so delicious. I hadn't had this one that was in the Pinot Noir cast, and I think I have a new favorite. It's a special kind of whiskey, you know, that you can just come in at 930 in the morning and be like, what local whiskey. Do you have it in there? And I'm like, let me pull a couple out. You sure? Yeah, yeah, here we go. It was a good, good choice. Yes. We are recording for those of you that are like 930, we are recording in the morning today and I and I always give my, my guests the option, like, hey, we're recording a little early. If you want to have a sip, we can. If it makes you uncomfortable because it's early, that's fine with me too. I'm flexible. And we figured, what the heck, not? Let's do it for kicking off season two. Yeah, we'll kick it off, right? I mean, Saint Patrick's Day is around the corner. We're just channeling and ready. All right. Yeah our Irishness. So cheers Reese. Thank you for being on cheers to season two. Thank you I'm very excited for season two. You thank you. For those of you listening. Thank you so much for listening. And for those of you that watch, thanks for watching. Can't wait to see you next week. Cheers,