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Chris Armatrout from Valor Mortgage
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Founded in 2019 and successfully navigated the challenges of the pandemic and helping families achieve homeownership.
Christopher Armantrout | Licensed Mortgage Broker | Valor Mortgage Springfield, TN
https://valor.mortgage/about-us/
Christopher Armantrout | Licensed Mortgage Broker | Valor Mortgage Springfield, Tn NMLS 1210804
Hey guys, it's Carrie Ann, your host of the Hub and a founding member of Thrive Hub. Our mission at Thrive Hub is to empower new and inspiring entrepreneurs in our local community by connecting them with experienced business owners. Whether you need guidance on starting your venture, building your network, or tackling business challenges, we're here to help you get up and running. Good morning, hubsters. It's Carrie Ann and I'm here with Chris Armitrout from Valor Mortgage. Chris founded Valor Mortgage in 2019 and has successfully navigated the challenges of COVID while helping families achieve homeownership. I know Chris through our B9 networking group, and we haven't got to spend a lot of time together, Chris. So tell me, tell me about yourself and Valor Mortgage.
SPEAKER_02All right, fair enough. My family moved to Robertson County back in 1988, actually, and I grew up in Robertson County. But didn't actually happen until uh I actually moved back uh in 2014, got into the mortgage industry in 2015, and then started my own operation in 2019. Um, but yeah, it was a it was a big leap of faith. Um, I actually had more credit card debt than I've ever had in my life, um, and convinced myself that I could pay that off, and I was going to go on a quick trip uh to Australia and visit some friends as a reward for success. Um, and it ended up happening that uh the the night that I was gonna go to the Australian Open, the um the host that I was staying with, my buddy friend of mine from uh high school, um, they uh their babysitter's daughter um was one of the first doctors to receive a COVID case in Australia.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So you got like a forewarning.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, forewarning, but then also starting to get text messages from families sending me news articles saying, Hey, the U.S. is closing their border. Um, would you like to come home now?
SPEAKER_01Right. So you almost got stuck in Australia.
SPEAKER_02Almost got stuck in Australia. Um, but it wouldn't have been a terrible place, but wouldn't have been my first choice. Um, so yeah, came home and navigated, um, working through COVID um as a business owner. Um, the business owner for for me during that time, um interest rates dropped and business spiked. Um, and I would pretty much lived in my office 12 to 14 hours a day. Um, and I would I would go home and come back, and the uh the depot or any other local restaurant was my kitchen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that was a crazy time. I bought and sold like three houses during COVID.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, life life flipped upside down. Um, but no, uh it's been it's been a whirlwind and a blessing uh to be able to start a business in my hometown and to be able to live in my hometown. So it's cool.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. And I um my business started during COVID too. I was crazy starting a party business when people weren't having parties. So it took a little while to get it up and running too. But what has helped your business grow, you think? Moving back home where you are like comfortable and know people, or what do you what do you think has helped your business grow in Springfield?
SPEAKER_02I think one of the bigger pieces to that has been um networking. Um networking has been been huge, um, but more so uh not necessarily understanding where your next lead's coming from. You can't always pinpoint and say, okay, I'm going to focus on this avenue of business coming in. Um and so it's um building relationships with banks, building relationships with real estate agents, building uh financial planners, um, and so maintaining relationships and networking um has been a huge uh huge boost to that. Um a second wave, I think, would be um like revamping a website and trying to get more um more traction online.
SPEAKER_01Okay, be more appealing as the years change and move. I agree with that. I just revamped my website too to be more modern. But uh guys, I just listened to Chris receive a phone call prior to this, and networking really does work. A lady called him that he met probably several months, years ago, maybe, that she had a lead for him, and his name stuck with her, and his business stuck with her, and she gave him um some business just before this podcast. So networking really does work. I had another episode telling you about how to find the right networking group for you because you want to feel comfortable and fit in. Um, but Chris, what advice would you give to a new entrepreneur? Obviously, networking probably is at the top of that list, correct?
SPEAKER_02Correct. Um, I would say networking, but also I would also suggest um building a say a business family um around your business.
SPEAKER_01I like that.
SPEAKER_02Um, whether it be joining a networking group um that you that you check out you know every week, or um example would be I've got uh an insurance guy, Zach with Allstate. Um he's here in White House, that him and I both started our business about the same time. Um I ran into him at a rotary meeting and uh we started bouncing ideas off of each other and have learned that we kind of both have the same vision for our business and how we want to run our business. Um, and so being able to uh have that relationship and be able to um refer people back and forth um and build that trust over time. Um so it's not necessarily just like mortgage and insurance, but it could be um lock and key, or it could be um, you know, a real estate agent. Um so there's being able to build that family, if you will, around to be able to refer people to um can can also be a very spoon for your business.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because all those all those things are intertwined in the business world. So it's really great to have those connections. Why are or what what is a mortgage broker? Like I just thought you would go to a bank and get a mortgage. What's the difference? What's a mortgage broker? Can you decipher the information for our listeners?
SPEAKER_02So I'd actually broaden it out even more. So there is a bank, the bank's gonna give you a product. Um, like they have, let's say, like an A-paper file or a cookie cutter process, if you will. Um, you're gonna go to the bank, they're gonna you're gonna tell them, Hey, I want to buy a house, then they're gonna take your information and the loan officer is gonna reach out to you. Um that loan officer is gonna qualify you um and they're gonna say, Hey, we have X products that we can provide you. Um then from that um you're going to be either presume that you have a relationship with a bank. That's an excellent opportunity. Um, but you may not necessarily have the relationship with um the loan officer. You have a relationship with the banker. Okay. Um and so at that point you may become a number. You may you're just a loan going through the process.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Um, but also with a bank, um, they're going to their risk analysis is going to be a lot more um limited than what a mortgage broker or lender might provide. Um, so an example would be if you were to go to a local bank and say, hey, I want to buy a manufactured home. Um, it's on a permanent foundation, um, and it is a um, you know, it's a clean house. It was built before 19 or after 1976. Yep. Um, then yeah, the bank is gonna say, more than likely you're gonna need to put 20% down if they will do a manufactured home. Um, so flip the tables a little bit. Uh, mortgage broker, um, you're gonna work with me. Um, I'm gonna be, it's me and my processor. There's only two people who be a part of the entire processor.
SPEAKER_01Talking to you the whole time.
SPEAKER_02Talking to me the whole time. Um, and talking to me the whole time, I'm gonna educate you throughout what what to expect. Um, and you're not gonna be put on a conveyor belt, if you will. Um, and then you know, going back to the example of manufactured home, um, not that that's the product that I want to sell everyone, but for someone who comes in and says, hey, this is what I need, then yeah, if you're a veteran, I can do 100% financing on a manufactured home.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_02Um, I can do if you're not a veteran, then we can do three and a half percent down with an FHA loan. Um, and with that, a bank may say, Yeah, we can do a conventional purchase, but your credit score has to be say 680 or 640.
SPEAKER_01There's more parameters, more stipulations.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there they want that it has to fit in this box for me to be able to uh work.
SPEAKER_01And you can go outside the box a little more.
SPEAKER_02Yep, I go, I go way outside the box. Um, give you an example. Um uh credit scores, like the call that we just came in uh right before we jumped on this call was one of a low credit score. Um I had a friend of mine last uh last fall reach out to me. Um, and because they had moved and they had failed to change their student loan uh address.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. They missed a few payments.
SPEAKER_02Student loans came back and basically said, Hey, look, this this has to happen. Like you have to make payments, they didn't receive the notice. So because they didn't receive the notice, they missed payments. So now their pristine credit went from 700s down to like 560.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Um, so they owned a house, they're able to um take the equity from their house and use that as the next down payment. So the risk level was lower. Um with the FHA, if you purchase a house uh with a credit score of below 580 and you have 10% down, there's a stronger possibility that you could purchase. Um, not necessarily for sure, but there's a stronger possibility. So they had a substantial down payment, they had a low credit score, um, and they were able to purchase a home and where others may not have been willing to navigate that field.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a little more challenging, a little more risky sometimes.
SPEAKER_02Um so um I can say one thing I clarify product mix. Um, a mortgage broker is going to have a lot more options um for someone to be able to purchase. Um they're going to have credit scores that are going to be have uh willing to jump into the risk that a bank may not be want to. Um and uh a lender may do the same thing. So there's a bank, a mortgage lender, and a mortgage broker. Um a mortgage lender may be willing to do some of the same risk uh avenues, um, but they may not have as many channels to send it through. Um, an example of why that matters is um at lunch today you have many options, right? Yeah, you could go to Taco Bell, you could go to uh jalapenos, you could go like all these places, right? Um, but you have an appetite for different things on different days. Um so investors also have the same appetite for different things on different days based on um I'll give you an example. Did you have Taco Bell yesterday? Well, I don't want Taco Bell today. Um so um if a one particular lender that I'm working with or investor that I'm working with has a um uh a glutton of one product type, then their pricing may not be as um the pricing may not be as uh as good as the next company. And so if you've applied for a mortgage with a bank or a lender and that particular product that you fit well for, they have a glutton for, um, well, their underwriters are backlogged. So to slow that um slow that volume, they're going to raise their prices or their interest rates to discourage new business so that they can manage what they have. So if you work with a mortgage broker, then they get to shop multiple companies and see, okay, well, this company is being more aggressive uh for the exact same product. And with that, I'm only pulling your credit once. Um, if you go out and you shop, then you're gonna talk to three or four different companies. Each one of those companies are gonna want to pull your credit.
SPEAKER_01So you're doing like all the work for me, too.
SPEAKER_02Correct. So it's it's basically I'm I'm getting a mortgage for you, and I should be shopping, um, you know, depending on how many companies that I have a partnership with, um, all of those companies to say, okay, where does this fit the best? Um, and within those companies, they may have slightly different products that work better for you. Um, an example, uh, one investor may have a first-time home buyers program that is um that waives uh a lot of cost that another company may have for the exact same product. So um balancing and figuring out nuances between programs, um, it it pays to work with someone who um has multiple channels um and is well versed in the products that those companies have.
SPEAKER_01Okay, and we can then pick the best product that we want. Like you you share those with all your oh that's nice. So you're not like you said, you're not just getting put into that box, like here's our product, this is it, go buy your house. Like you can buy a house with multiple different options out there.
SPEAKER_02Right, right.
SPEAKER_01I like that.
SPEAKER_02Yep. So it's it's it's shopping without shopping.
SPEAKER_01Okay, if you could go back, this is like we'll wrap this up. But your last question, if you could go back to when you started this business, like what is one thing you would tell yourself?
SPEAKER_02Um, I would tell myself to get out and meet more people. Um, to don't be like it's easy to get inside your own head and to say, like, you know what? I I I'm just gonna manage what I have. Um, I'm not gonna go door knock, I'm not gonna go talk to new people. Um, but just to to purposely push myself to go find new people to talk to. Um, because as you saw earlier this morning, the phone callers came through. Um, I don't remember which bank this was.
SPEAKER_01But you talked to someone and they remembered you.
SPEAKER_02Right. I talked to someone, they remembered me, um, and they're willing to do business with me. Um, and so being putting being purposeful to put myself out there, even when I was green and a rookie, um, to try new things.
SPEAKER_01I think that's great advice. Really great advice. And it's paying off a lot months, maybe you you don't even remember when you spoke to this woman, but years later. So get out there and talk to people. Well, thanks for coming on today, Chris. We're gonna have Chris on again in the future because this was a lot of fun and a lot of information, and we have a lot more questions to ask him.
SPEAKER_00But we'll see you next time on the Hub. This podcast is intended solely for educational purposes. We do not guarantee that it will result in a successful business, nor is it designed to serve as a step by step guide. Please ensure compliance with all applicable city, county, state, and federal business regulations.