Opening Doors with Annette Compo

Keith Kampe on Family, Leadership & Guiding Buyers Through the Home Loan Process

• Annette Compo

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0:00 | 17:14

In this episode of Opening Doors, Annette Compo sits down with Keith Kampe, Home Lending Branch Manager at Flagstar Bank and a trusted lending partner for many of the clients served by the Compo & Medema Group.

Keith shares his journey from playing college baseball at the University of Cincinnati to building a successful 17-year career in the mortgage industry. The conversation explores how lessons learned through sports, teamwork, leadership, and discipline continue to shape the way he serves homebuyers today.

Annette and Keith also take a deep dive into one of the most valuable home financing tools available to veterans: the VA loan. They discuss eligibility requirements, zero down payment options, lower interest rates, the elimination of private mortgage insurance (PMI), and how many veterans may qualify for benefits they do not even realize they have.

Along the way, Keith talks about family life, raising three young children, the importance of helping clients make informed financial decisions, and why understanding your mortgage options early can make a significant difference when it is time to buy a home.

Whether you are a first-time buyer, planning ahead for a future move, or a veteran looking to better understand your benefits, this episode is packed with practical information and real-world advice.

🏠 CONNECT WITH KEITH KAMPE

Keith Kampe
Home Lending Branch Manager
Flagstar Bank

📞 (248) 935-3591
🌐 https://www.flagstar.com/

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SPEAKER_01

Hi, it's Annette from Opening Doors with Me. Another great week of great podcasts and great guests. Um, I have the pleasure of having you in studio. And I always say you or I say your first name because I think it's so important that you get to introduce yourself. Because when I say a net compo, it sounds so different than when you say it. So tell us who you are and where you're from.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Well, thanks for having me in that. My name is Keith Campey. I'm a mortgage loan officer at Flagstar Bank. I have been in the industry just over 17 years now and uh originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan.

SPEAKER_01

Love that.

SPEAKER_00

And uh lived, I went away for to University of Cincinnati for a couple years, uh, came back and finished up at Oakland University, and then I've been in the Metro Detroit area ever since.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. So when it's fun, um, Keith, because you know, I've got to know you being in the industry, and obviously you're one of our preferred vendors for a real estate team, um, helping our customers. So thank you for that. And it's fun when I do the podcast because I get to hear things I don't normally have known. Um, there's always something that surprises me, even the ones I've been friends with forever, and they've been vendors um, you know, or preferred, you know, helpers in our business. Um, but you came right out of the shoe. Like I had no idea you went to the University of Cincinnati. Right. There's always something the Bearcats. The Bear Cats.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. So uh many years ago, I was I was athletic. I actually uh played college baseball there. So that's where um so you're a baseball player. Yeah, I was a baseball player. Another good trivia.

SPEAKER_01

Didn't know that either. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

So I uh grew up in a sports family. My uh father, he's the longtime basketball coach at Oakland University. He's been there.

SPEAKER_01

You're just dropping trivia bombs.

SPEAKER_00

Good right, he's been there, he's the actually the longest tenured coach in uh college basketball. So he's been there for I think this is his 43rd or something year.

SPEAKER_01

So okay, we we have to have him on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00

Right, we'll get him next time. He's way more interesting than me.

SPEAKER_01

Oh no, I know you keep, but that's pretty cool. So you've got some great heritage of sports leadership.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

Love that.

SPEAKER_00

And that's kind of been, you know, me being in the mortgage industry, kind of taking that, you know, the sports, what I learned from that and applying that in my business has been, you know, very helpful.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's one of the things that, you know, I I had Trevor, my son, my business partner, on the podcast, and he has his own podcast as well, as you know, um, is that he talks a lot about football. And the reasons why, you know, he, yes, he loved the game, he loved playing the game, but it was that brotherhood, that team experience that he had, um, that he shares a lot in regards to how he does his business and how that that leadership development has become an intricate part of the language of how you know he handles his clients. So it's interesting that you kind of are leading into that conversation as well.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah, I can relate to that, just the team mentality and sports and you know, working hard and putting the the hours and the effort in to be successful, practice makes perfect. So it goes a long way in sports with life as well.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and when you're on a sports team, everyone is interconnected or interdependent on each other, right? Because you're trying to get to the finish line. Of course, you're hoping for a win, right? In baseball or football or any sports. And in the real estate industry, it's very similar. You know, a person decides that they're gonna buy a house or they're gonna sell their house and they're gonna buy another house. Um, they're not the experts in it. So they they reach out to a real estate agent or a mortgage lender and say, Hey, I need to build a team, right?

SPEAKER_00

Right?

SPEAKER_01

They don't say that, but that's what they're doing, right? They're building a team to get them across the finish line to meet meet their housing goals. So I can see that there's a lot of similarities in our industry of being in lending and real estate that has to do with sports. Yeah. And it also is kind of funny too, because I think you can take sports and use them in the analogy of life. It's like I'm at halftime, I'm getting yelled at in the locker room, I gotta figure out how why my business isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing, and I can do another play, you know, in third quarter. So it's kind of funny how we use sports as an analogy for business. Yeah, absolutely. So tell us a little bit about personally. You have some exciting news just recently as well. So beautiful wife.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. I uh out of my league with my wife, so I did really well there. I got lucky.

SPEAKER_01

So you married up.

SPEAKER_00

I did, definitely married up, so that's all doing good. I have uh three kids. I have a seven-year-old son who's right now he's playing football and baseball, the two sports we were just talking about.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the apple doesn't fall far from the trees.

SPEAKER_00

We're back in that. I'm coach pitching and I actually threw my back out last week doing that.

SPEAKER_01

So how are you doing?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, feeling better now. I can actually walk a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

So not to make fun of you, but you at the sales meeting on Tuesday. I was laughing so hard. You literally, you were like a robot.

SPEAKER_00

I thought you were gonna do like the uh uh Yeah, that's that's what I felt like. So went to the chiropractor, they got me got me feeling a little better now. So uh but yeah, so I have my son, I have my daughter, she's four, she wants to be a princess. We're going to I've taken her to Disney for her birthday in a couple months, so we're really excited about that.

SPEAKER_01

That will be fun.

SPEAKER_00

And then um, I have a newborn son who's he's six months now.

SPEAKER_01

So nice sleeping through the night.

SPEAKER_00

Uh he's still in our room, so okay. Luckily, I'm a heavy sleeper, so I don't uh I sleep through a lot of it, but it's always third time, so we're used to it now.

SPEAKER_01

So nice you like I love to ask people what their big why is, right? Why do we do the things that we do? Um, you know, and it's it's your family, your big why is your family, and providing you know that opportunity. And you know, my real estate clients when they have done business with you, just unbelievable accolades of how you take care of them. And one of the the last um clients, it was almost like they were part of your family, right? They you just was that hand holding through that process. And I'm just so appreciative that you know, you you have that mentality, the same mentality that of how I've grown my business, you know, for 30 plus years.

SPEAKER_00

Right. And likewise, they say the same things about you as well. And you know, just having that, you know, buying a house, it's it's a very stressful time. You know, you have the all the stuff on the the real estate side, you got getting the loan, providing the paperwork, you know, why do we need these documents? You know, I don't think anyone enjoys the mortgage process. So just trying to, you know, explain, you know, different options that might fit for different clients and different programs, uh, you know, and equipping them with the different options, and they can choose the best, you know, loan for their for their situation. So that's kind of what I focus on.

SPEAKER_01

And that's huge. And I think one of the things I want to talk about tonight um is the the VA process. Okay. There is a lot of, I hope you don't mind. Yeah, no, I know you have all great products, and we'll get to those um because I'm excited about the one you guys just rolled out. Um, but the VA product, I I have such a passion for it. One is is that the people that qualify for the VA product are veterans. Yeah, right. And of course, you know, my family, my dad was World War II really instilled what that meant to me, you know, what it means, what it means to my family. Um, and it's really important to me to make sure that we know the the product the best, right? Because they even no different than a first-time home buyer or anyone else, they don't walk in there saying, Oh, I want a VA product, right? They walk in and you ask the questions to see what products that they potentially can qualify for. Right. And the the veteran program is far down the best program if you can qualify for based on your um service. So, how if I was a veteran, let's just walk through what does that look like? How do I how do I um gain access to that that benefit?

SPEAKER_00

Sure. So, you know, first we have to check your eligibility. So, you know, based on your service, you know, how many years of service were you honorably discharged? Uh you get a we order, it's called a certificate of occupancy or a certificate of eligibility. And then we go to the VA and they come back and they'll say, yes, you know, this person, you know, has fulfilled that, whether it's the Army, Navy, reserves, active duty. So all qualify. Correct, all qualify. Normally it's like two years of service, but there's some certain, you know, that's why we go to them. That's the first thing we do as a lender, is we we check that.

SPEAKER_01

So Air Force, CBs, they all are part of that program.

SPEAKER_00

Correct. Yes. So if we can get the certificate of eligibility, now we know that we're good. And now we know that they have access to that product, which um I can kind of go through a little bit how that compares to right. So, you know, as a veteran, you actually the down payment is zero, where in your other programs, like FHA, for example, you need three and a half percent down, conventional normally five. So the VA loan allows you the zero-down option, which is awesome. No money. So no money down. And then the other main benefit is that you don't have to pay private mortgage insurance, which is called PMI in the in the lender verbiage. And that's an additional monthly payment that you make in the other the FHA or the conventional loans that can be really hundreds of dollars a month, you know, depending on your loan size.

SPEAKER_01

So well, and PMI, some people don't even know what that means. Like we say it's private mortgage insurance, but the average individual has no concept. And of course, for me, when I learned about it early on in my career, it's like, well, that makes no sense. I'm buying insurance, ensuring the mortgage holder that if I go defunct, they'll get reimbursed for a portion of what's still owed on the mortgage.

SPEAKER_00

Correct.

SPEAKER_01

But the borrower is the one who pays it, correct.

SPEAKER_00

But unless it's a VA loan, so that's like your main benefit of it. Correct. So that's again, you know, that's hundreds of dollars a month you're gonna have that you don't have to pay that as a veteran. And then um, you know, that is you also do get a below market interest rate compared to the other products as well.

SPEAKER_01

When you say below market interest rate, what are we talking about? So, like, you know, obviously, let's just say hypothetically, so we're not gonna talk about interest rates today. Um, but let's just say hypothetically the interest rate was at um five and a quarter. Um, what what is there like a percentage difference that VA will get? It's like a quarter of a percent or a half a percent.

SPEAKER_00

Great question. So it does it does depend a little bit on the credit score as well. So there's some risk adjustments based on credit score, but assuming um top-tier credit, and and there's different, it's hard to explain. There's different spreads with conventional rates that they're moving. So, like today, for example, you're about a half percent below a conventional loan rate being a VA. So on yeah, on a $300,000 mortgage, that's about $250 a month just from the interest rate, and then also add in maybe you don't have a $250 PMI payment. So we're talking, you know, $500 a month. Correct. So significant uh benefits. And then, you know, when you work with like someone like a net or a good realtor, you know, when rates are higher, sometimes you're able to get, you know, negotiate the seller to cover closing costs, right? Because there are out of pocket closing costs that you have to pay in, you know, VA, conventional, and FHA. So, you know, one of the opportunities right now in the current market, and it's it's different everywhere, but a lot of times you can, you know, negotiate the seller to chip in and cover that. And we've had veterans uh get into houses recently with literally needing no money out of pocket. So it's a very powerful loan program uh as far as the payment and the out-of-pocket to get the deal done.

SPEAKER_01

So if you have served in our in our for our government in the in um the army, military, any of the military um brands, um, you need to, and you're thinking about buying a house or you're thinking about selling a house and buying another one, and you've never used your eligibility, um, you never even knew you had the eligibility, please reach out to us because this is such an incredible product, and only people that are veterans get to use it. Um, and which is amazing. And Keith, you said you will help them through the eligibility letter and correct.

SPEAKER_00

Right. We we'll figure it out on the lender side what you can qualify for. Can you get the VA loan? And then, you know, how much of a house. We kind of we tailor based on what you guys are comfortable with your monthly payments and you know, getting you into that price point and trying to minimize the out-of-pocket cash.

SPEAKER_01

So obviously, you know, knowing and understanding what the client's needs are is probably what I consider one of your competitive advantages. So whenever I talk about when you're going to call them or one of the three people that we recommend, um, I always say that they're always gonna ask you a series of questions. Be patient. They're asking you those questions because they're technically looking at this mass spreadsheet of all the different products that are out there, the cost and which ones are the most cost effective. And the ones, if you qualify, will be the less amount of down payments, the sometimes a lower insurance. And then, of course, we always have the situations where credit may have been bruised because of whatever happened, medical divorce, whatever. And we have those types of products as well. And then what's really super cool, not to talk probably what you should be saying, is that you actually will help and guide people to understand that maybe someone comes in and says, Well, I have $50,000, but you're like, Well, you don't need to put all $50,000. That extra 10 grand isn't really going to benefit your interest rate, really not gonna affect your payment that much. It might make better sense to invest that money and have it working for you than just throwing it on the house.

SPEAKER_00

Correct.

SPEAKER_01

And I love that about those services that you offer.

SPEAKER_00

Right. That's what I was saying. You know, you give options, right? So some people want to bring more money in and just have the lowest payment. Others, sometimes it makes sense to keep that liquidity, right? If you have something that happens, a medical situation or a job loss, you know, is it worth it to bring that extra cash reserve in and maybe have your payment be $100 less a month than to have that on the side for an emergency fund? So those are all the things that you know we look at and we say, if you know, if you were to keep that emergency fund, this would be your payment, this would be the terms, and you know, or vice versa, and give the options.

SPEAKER_01

So, how long does it take to be pre-approved?

SPEAKER_00

So great question. So normally we can do it pretty quickly, right? If everything, it depends on the the profile of the borrower, right? So if someone's self-employed and has more complex, like I was working with a gentleman uh the other day, he has 32 businesses that he owns.

SPEAKER_01

32.

SPEAKER_00

32 businesses, and his tax returns are 150 pages, and there's different stuff and they're all over the place. So, you know, those ones, they those could take a little longer, right? That's probably not a same-day pre-approval, but you know, most of the time, if you're you know, a salary or an hourly um or a W-2, it's pretty, pretty quick. Um, and also the thing, you know, there's it doesn't cost anything to take that step, which I think is important, right? There's no, you know, you have to pay a fee to get pre-approval. There's no pressure. It's that this is exploratory to see, you know, if you were to buy a house, this is how much money you would need, this is what your payment could be. And even I I encourage, even if you're not in the market right now, but it might be six months away or a year away, it's still good to look at the picture right now and see, you know, where are we at? You know, maybe we want to buy a $300,000 house, but right now we only qualify for $250. So we have a year before we're planning on doing this. Maybe we can work at, you know, paying some debt down, or you know, maybe some different things we can work on over the next year to get to that point. Or, like you said, about the bruised credit, right? You know, it's amazing how credit we could do a whole podcast for hours on credit card.

SPEAKER_01

Totally could.

SPEAKER_00

But like, you know, someone has a you know, $100 Macy's credit card that they have a hundred dollars on, and that I've seen that lower someone's credit score to like $660. And then they put $100 on that card a month later, they're at $760. And that makes a huge amount of difference on the programs and the rates. So um it's always good to get in early and have the conversation because there could be some stuff with credit that we can get out in front of and fix, you know, what to get you ready to get a better deal at that point for your mortgage.

SPEAKER_01

Love that. Awesome. Well, there's a tradition here in the podcast. We always ask if there was an opportunity that you could go and meet with a younger version of you, what is the great advice you'd give that person? Well, not that person, right? Myself. Yeah, yourself.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Um, you know, keep keep doing what you're doing, stay the course, and work hard. Right? You work hard, do right by the customers, and you know, good things will happen. And that's how I've built my business. And, you know, there's ways that you can go off of that in life, and I didn't do it, and I would just confirm that with my younger self to just stay on that path.

SPEAKER_01

Love that, Keith. Thank you for being on the podcast. Yeah, thanks for having me. And thanks for being a great friend. Um, we've even gone to uh sporting events, which is always fun to see the pistons play. Um so thank you for those opportunities for me and my family.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

Until the next version.