Business Innovators Radio - Unlocking the Mortgage Secrets: An Insider’s Perspective with Raymond Fuentes

Starting point is 00:00:02 Welcome to the Agents Lounge podcast, where we talk all things real estate with the industry's top performers. Join us as we dive into the inspiring journeys of successful agents and uncover the secrets to their success. Whether you're a seasoned agent or just starting out, we've got the tips and tricks to help you navigate the world of real estate. Brought to you by Eritory Comfort Solutions. So grab a seat and join us in the Agents Lounge. All right, welcome back to another episode of the Aege. agents lounge podcast. We are on a roll.

Starting point is 00:00:40 This is actually our third episode of the day, man. And we've got a special guest joining us today, Mr. Raymond. Of the year. Of the year, too. He's right. Yeah. Because this guy was on freaking, like, what do you call that again? Sabatical.

Starting point is 00:00:55 Sabatical, that's right. Yeah, for the whole month of January. So we're playing ketchup. 30 day sabbatical. That's right. So we've got a special guest joining us today, Mr. Raymond Fuentes, with Southwest Fund. A Better Way to Mortgage. Is that right?

Starting point is 00:01:09 Yes, sir. Absolutely. Welcome to the show, Raymond. Thank you for having me, guys. Welcome to the agents lounge. Normally, we're talking with real estate agents, and believe it or not, you're the first lender. Wow. The first lender to grace this platform.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Why? I guess he just doesn't have enough friends. I don't know what it is. What is it? What do you think? We don't like you? No. He's very selective.

Starting point is 00:01:34 He's very selective. Man, so I should feel special. You should feel special even though you were the number two guys. No, well, we always interview realtors and we're like, how come we don't get an expert in the industry as well that's not a... Do we've been needing this, man? We've been needing somebody to come in and drop in and give us some knowledge and some golden nuggets about the mortgage process because we're always hearing

Starting point is 00:01:52 from the realtors, which is a different point of view, right? And you know a lot of them. I know a lot. A few. You know a decent amount. But the mortgage banker angle is a different angle. you're dealing with different things. You have your head in the numbers a little bit more,

Starting point is 00:02:11 and you have to, you know, some of that stuff is very black and white, and you're the one that gets to decide approved or not approved. Pretty much, right? And if it's not approved or if it is approved, what are the details that surround that, right? So we'll be talking a little bit about that, because there's different categories that you have to worry about. Let's just dive right in. Let's dive right in.

Starting point is 00:02:33 So, first of all, give us a little bit of. bit of your background. How long have you been doing this? How long have you been with Southwest funding? Do you have a team? Is it just you? Give us a lowdown. So I've been in the mortgage business for, I don't know, 2008, 9. You know, I started off doing credit repair initially. And so I had clients that, you know, we would help get them in a position to buy that come to me, hey, my realtor is not calling me, my lender is not calling me. Can you help me? You already have all my stuff. Right. So that's how I got in. You know, I went and got licensed and started helping people. They went full 100% mortgage, probably around 2018.

Starting point is 00:03:17 Okay. So I've been with Southwest Funding since 2015. Okay. But what were you doing then? What were you doing between 15 to 18 for Southwest funding? Well, both. I was doing both. Okay. Yeah. Okay. But what happened in 2018? You went on your own, is what you're saying? Well, no, I went full on 100% and got out of the credit repair business.

Starting point is 00:03:36 Oh, got you. Okay, okay. So you still had your foot in that a little bit. Right. Yeah. But 2018, you're like, this is all we're going to do now. We're going all in on the mortgage thing. All in, man.

Starting point is 00:03:45 Wow. Okay, awesome. So 2018, 2019, the market was great. And things were moving along really nicely. And then, of course, we had this little hiccup in 2020, right? Little. Little small hiccup. Things got a little flipped upside down.

Starting point is 00:04:00 Tell me about what those couple years, what was 20 and 21 like for you as a mortgage lender? Man, it was surreal, man. Did you sleep? No. It was very, very surreal. It was like watching a movie, you know, all this stuff coming down, being considered, you know, getting permission to be able to go to the office, you know, driving to the office and no one is out there, literally no cars. I have this one story where me and a friend of mine went cycling downtown San Antonio, middle of the day. not one person, just birds.

Starting point is 00:04:37 You could actually hear the birds chirping. That's pretty crazy to consider midday during the week. No one downtown. So, you know, it was a little surreal. So you're telling me you weren't scared. You were still living your life. Man, I would go to the office every day. I'd cycle.

Starting point is 00:04:55 You were cycling with a mask on? No. You're crazy, man. Believe it or not, there were us people out there cycling with a mask. I know. No, believe it or not, I saw it. Yeah, we all saw it. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:05:06 I didn't make a lot of sense because I need my oxygen, bro. I need to breathe, you know. I think, you know, people just didn't know what they didn't know, you know, to today. But, yeah, I mean, as far as business goes, you know, we were still taking apps. People were still looking to purchase, you know. So, you know, the difference is just not that many people out there. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:05:26 No, what I noticed was that people are at home. They're, they can't go anywhere. they're realizing, okay, man, this is maybe this is not enough space after all. And I got nothing else to do. I'm still getting paid. Let me go to Zillow. Yep. And those prices are great.

Starting point is 00:05:44 Wow, the interest rate is great, right? And so we had this huge influx of people that were moving around and buying and selling. And it was just totally nuts. It was just total chaos. You know, with the with the economy and the rates going. down, Fed doing this, that or the other. I mean, it drove a frenzy of people out, you know, to go buy properties, which increased, you know, the pricing on homes, people making offers over $100,000 list price, which is very, very crazy. I mean, I did a loan at 1.99%, you know, it's crazy.

Starting point is 00:06:19 Was that your own? No, no. I wish. He locked in a few investment properties. No, it was a VA loan at 1.99%. Crazy. I mean, we'll never see that in our life. lifetime again. No, we won't. So Linda, let's go down that route. Right now, we're living in a time. We're at the time of this recording. It's early 2024. The rates are, quote, unquote, high because we got real spoiled with those low rates. Now, when you zoom out, the rates are not high, right? My dad was a real estate agent in the late 70s with Century 21, and he told me, he told me the rates were around 20% at that time. Crazy. And so now the house prices were very affordable, though. Right. So they could do an interest-only loan and they could still make a it happened. Today we've got higher interest plus very high house pricing, right? The prices are inflated. But how are you navigating that? Because the majority of people are really still kind of with that mindset of, man, the rates were so low and I'm going to wait for them to come down. And,

Starting point is 00:07:16 you know, what is your wisdom and guidance on somebody that comes to you and like, Raymond, I want to buy a house, but I'm going to wait for the rates to go down, man. What should I do? So when I first got into the business, the rates were where they're at right now. So, I mean, It's nothing new to me. I've seen this before. You know, the difference is just the cost on the rate, right? Everybody's paying points. You know, it's kind of leveled out a little bit and, you know, it's a little bit more affordable to be able to get, you know, a rate with not having the pay points. I think we need to readjust and not focus so much on the lowest rate as much as on the lowest cost, you know, because everybody is so focused on the rate. Rates were three, four percent, you know, like I said, 1.99. I mean, that's not normal. You know, we were in a, you know, in a time where it was just not realistic, you know, to see those type of rates. Only because of COVID did we see that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:08:14 So I think, in my opinion, you know, we need to focus more on educating the client, you know, regarding what are the costs versus, you know, lowering. And then you can refinance later, you know, why come out of pocket? and then the recoupment period that it's going to take for them to be able to refinance and recoup that money is just not going to be there. They're going to lose money in the long run. Yeah. Yeah. You're true. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:08:40 So this is to the listeners that are, that's never bought a home before. What's it like or what do they need or, I mean, to get started on that road, right, to homeownership? Well, I mean, it's very simple. Like, I break stuff down to the client in three simple things, right? We look at credit. We look at income. We look at assets. This is very simple, right?

Starting point is 00:09:10 You know, we want to find out what their buying power is. That's why we pull credit. We look at the monthly debts, right? If they have buying power, you know, they have a credit issue, that can be fixed. You know, if they have buying power and maybe they don't have the assets. There's down payment assistance programs, right? But the number one thing we want to take a look at is what is their buying power? You know, we want to filter correctly, properly to ensure how we can help that person.

Starting point is 00:09:38 If we're just looking at credit score, well, we don't know the other two things, which most loan officers, that's what they tend to do, is focus in on the score. And that's great. But as far as being able to help someone, right, the first thing is, hey, just fill out an application. Let's have a conversation. I think we need to get a little bit more old school. You know, most people have gotten to the point where fill out the app, you know, here's the link. You know, they take five minutes and conversing with the client and don't really break stuff down to the client.

Starting point is 00:10:09 You know, man, let's get a little bit more old school. Come into the office. Let's spend a little bit more time with the client. Let's create a plan to get them there. If they have a credit issue, you know, if there's an issue with assets, let's create a plan to get a get that client. But fill out the application, you know, get the documents, review everything with them, you know, and take the time to review these things. Because they're buying a house. I mean, it's a pretty big deal. And what do you mean by assets? Well, funds, you know, in the bank. Maybe they're

Starting point is 00:10:40 getting, maybe they can get a gift. Maybe they're selling a property and they need the funds from the sale of the property to put money down or to pay for closing costs. Got it. That's good stuff, man. That is good stuff. What else? Yeah, I mean, and what about, we have a lot of listeners that have maybe one home and they want to get another home, but they're still paying a mortgage, right? So if somebody bought a house in 2010, they've been living in it for 10 years, right, for 13. Well, what's the process for them then? Because they already own a home, they're paying that, but they might be concerned about, man, getting another mortgage. Well, I mean, it depends.

Starting point is 00:11:25 I mean, if they're going to sell it, they can use the proceeds. If they have money, they can do a conventional loan and they can rent to offset. So if they want to buy another house, they can rent that property, you know, rent it out for $1,500. Maybe their payment is $1,000. You know, and we can offset that monthly payment from being counted to qualify for another house. Okay. So there is a way to get a second. Oh, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:11:50 Yeah. Yeah. It just depends on the situation. and the loan program. Some loan programs, you know, you can't have multiple loans of the same program. You know, it just depends. But on a conventional loan, we can rent to offset. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:12:01 qualify that person. So there's, and again, the only way we're going to find out what the solution is is by getting a good application, getting all the documents to review so we can properly make an assessment to see how we can help this person. Yeah, yeah. So there are still a good amount of, like, buyer programs available right now for? Oh, absolutely. All of that still out there. First-time homebuyer programs are out there to help and assist individuals that, you know, maybe they have enough for the down, but they don't have closing costs. Maybe they don't have either.

Starting point is 00:12:29 Right. You know, so there are programs out there to help individuals. And what are you seeing right now? What's kind of the minimum score right now requirement? Well, I mean, we could do an FHA or VA loan, you know, 580 and above. In some cases, you can go down to 500, you know, but obviously it's a little bit more costly to do, you know, the lower. They need a bigger down payment. Yeah, like FHA was going to require 10% down, you know, under 580.

Starting point is 00:12:55 Yeah. VA is still 100%, but the cost for, you know, the rate and closing costs, you know, obviously are going to be a little bit higher. Right. Yeah, absolutely. So there's still a lot of options. If you're kind of like, man, I don't, the rates are too high. There's nothing available.

Starting point is 00:13:10 That's not true. There's still, you can still work with people. There's still a lot of options. Oh, absolutely. Different things. Some of them, VA, some of them not VA. You can pull out all kinds of stuff. stuff out of your, out of your, out of your little bag of tricks. Oh yeah. Yeah. For example, if somebody has a

Starting point is 00:13:25 401k in most cases, they allow you to pull X amount of dollars depending on the program that, that they're under, yeah, 401K. They could do a hardship withdrawal and pull out enough funds for their down payment and door closing costs or even both, you know. There you go. Gift, gift funds. You know, I have a lot of clients that get gift from their parents to purchase homes. Yeah. In other instances, maybe somebody wants to buy a particular home and they use. their parents, you know, as a non-occupying coal bar to utilize their income to qualify for the house, whereas them by themselves wouldn't qualify, you know. Dang, man.

Starting point is 00:14:01 That's like outside the box way of doing it. Yeah. Wow. I'm interested in hearing a story, like, what was the one where there was no hope and you got them through the finish line? Well, I just, well, there's, I mean, was it yesterday, day before yesterday? You know, Wednesday, you know, closed the loan. gentleman back in, I don't know, March, April, somewhere around there was working with a different lender.

Starting point is 00:14:24 They pulled credit. There was an issue with the scores, you know, not being able to pull a particular bureau for whatever reason. Four months go by, you know, just going back and forth, you know, no answer, no solution. Realtor referred them over to us. It took about 30 to 45 days to figure it out, but we were able to figure it out. communicated with the client regarding the bureaus and how they work. We utilize our credit servicer to find a solution, you know, because a lot of lenders or loan officers may think that you need three scores, right?

Starting point is 00:15:02 Yeah. But you technically don't need all three. You just need to make sure that the bureaus are pulling the data, you know. So in this particular instance, we were able to help that person pull data correctly, even though there was no score on one of the bureaus. and we were able to move forward. We closed two days ago. And we utilized the down payment assistance program.

Starting point is 00:15:23 Nice. That person got $1,500 back at closing from their earnest money. Wow. On a down payment assistance. Right. Now, in the down payment assistance, yeah. Now imagine, you know, if that person had given up, if that realtor had given up, imagine how many of those people are out there that just need that little extra, you know, knowledge-wise.

Starting point is 00:15:42 Yep. So for me, I utilize my experience having helped X amount of people, you know, which is a lot, right? Hundreds, thousands, whatever on credit repair. That experience of helping, understanding the credit has jumped over into the mortgage and allowed me to assist individuals that may not have been able to close otherwise. Sure. Yeah. And so out of the three scores that we have, you guys go with the number that's in the middle? Mid-score, yeah.

Starting point is 00:16:11 Yeah, subtract the high, subtract the low, and whatever numbers in that middle. Yeah, some people think it's an average or, you know, different thing or they think it's the highest one, but it's actually the middle number. Typically, yeah. Yeah, that's the one that you guys work. Now, again, you know, you don't need all three. You know, in some cases, you can even just do a loan with one score as long as the data is being pulled and not scored. Yeah. And you have one, then you can still potentially do a loan.

Starting point is 00:16:35 Sure. And what about entrepreneurs, people that? Self-employed. Self-employed? How do you help them? Absolutely. I specialize in that. That's your specialty.

Starting point is 00:16:47 Well, you know, one of my specialties. Yeah. Yeah. I work with a lot of, yeah. Yeah. I work with a lot of self-employed individuals. What are some of the challenges that they face? Well, I mean, you know, nobody wants to pay taxes, right?

Starting point is 00:17:00 So, you know, most people tend to write everything off, you know. I've seen things of somebody making revenue of $800,000 and writing off $750 and showing 50,000 and they're trying to buy a half a million dollar house, you know. So it's situations like that where, you know, it's going to deter you from being able to purchase. Sure. But, you know, we have bank statement loans where we can utilize deposits, whether it be from a personal account or a business account. Okay. Yep. You know, the average deposit, we can utilize that. Sure. P&L, we can use a P&L loan. Yeah. So in other words, it doesn't just have to be just a tax return. No, no. Yeah. So that really can open up some doors.

Starting point is 00:17:40 Yeah, or for investors, you know, that are self-employed that don't show income under tax returns. There's programs out there like a DSCR, a debt service coverage ratio loan, where there is no debt-to-income ratio, there is no income. It's just based off of the market rent for that property and the monthly payment. Gotcha. Okay, let's go a little deeper. Let's go a little deeper in the woods. Transitioning, transitioning to a slightly different... Should I be scared?

Starting point is 00:18:10 No, I'm just curious. Or is all the numbers boring? It could be a little bit boring, but it's necessary. You know, you got to cover it. You know, that may not be the sexiest part of it all, but it's, you got to get through it. The cheesme is the sexy part. That's right. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:18:26 So, all right, now let's talk about Raymond Fuentes from a little bit more like of a business perspective. So you've been, you've been in the game full time since about, you said 18, right? Yeah, 2018. 2018. Okay. What is your, what is your strategy for? for like how do you how do you find the realtors how are you getting you know the people that you work or how do you do you go direct to consumer as well like what's that what's your strategy

Starting point is 00:18:48 for for client acquisition right now is it just kind of networking networking uh social media i get a lot of phone calls from social media yeah postings uh group postings other realtors tagging me um and typically the the relationships or conversations start off due to like you know they want a spanish speaking lender so you're bilingual 100% bilingual. Yep, that's a big one. They're looking for someone to help a client that has an I-10, you know, which is an individual tax identification number. So, you know, you go and search some of these groups, you know, Spanish-speaking lender, I-10, you know, I pop up on there.

Starting point is 00:19:25 Ah, okay. So that's one, that's one. You know, consumer also, you know, I get a lot of phone calls from our, from our Google listing, local listing. Okay, yeah. You know, we have over 100 reviews in there. I started working on that maybe a year and a half, two years ago. Nice. You know, which I think everyone should have their Google listing.

Starting point is 00:19:45 Yep. You know. It's a big deal. And you should be collecting reviews. Reviews, man. Reviews. I get phone calls literally almost every day from a Google search. Yeah, from a Google search.

Starting point is 00:19:55 That's huge. And Google will prioritize you the more reviews you have. Absolutely. They're like, this guy's legit. We've got to bump them up. That's the mindset. And one misconception about the reviews is that it has to be a client. I mean, I send the five-star request to every person involved in a transaction, not just the client.

Starting point is 00:20:15 Yeah. You know, because you're working with multiple types of individuals, you know, multiple businesses from title reps to insurance to home warranty. AC, maybe an AC person was involved in the transaction because they had to go fix something in order to clear a condition. Yeah. Right. And so if there's a real estate agent that's listening and they don't know who you are, what do you, what do you, what do you? you bring, you know, that's different from maybe, you know, the other lenders that are out there? What's kind of your secret sauce, your, you know, your differentiator? Like, what are they going to get

Starting point is 00:20:47 working with you versus somebody else? Um, you know, I feel I communicate, you know, pretty well. I, you know, I think number one thing for me is I answer the phone, you know, what, you know, I did a, I've done many, many meetings with realtors and I ask them, like, what are your pain points, right? Um, and typically they all answer, you know, communication or answering the phone. or just updates in general. But I think the number one thing is just answering the phone. Yeah. It's always on.

Starting point is 00:21:15 It's always available. Man, I mean, I get calls all the time. And if I'm available and I can answer, I mean, you know, some people will complain, oh, well, you know, I'm sitting at home. I mean, you're watching TV. The phone rings. Answer the damn phone. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:21:30 You know. Yep. And that's my opinion. You know, I know other people's, you know, they're set up where, you know, I'm not taking calls after 6 o'clock. Yeah. You know, how about you? Do you take calls after 6 o'clock, Francisco?

Starting point is 00:21:43 He doesn't take him during the day. He doesn't take him during the day. But that's why he has a good team. When I started, that was the biggest, one of the biggest issues that I had is that a lot of people have my personal phone. And they would call me all the time and kind of created some stressful situations for me and my family. So now I try not to give people my phone because my focus is mostly on the business management. and the ownership and training. He's trying to work more on his business rather than in the business.

Starting point is 00:22:15 Yeah. Yeah. Now, thank God, I have somebody that answers the phone all the time. There you go. And I tell people, look, don't call me because if I don't recognize the number, I'm not going to answer it. But if you call the business line, somebody's going to answer the whole time. Always going to get answered, right? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:22:28 And then because I get a lot of spam calls a lot. And we all. And usually if I'm with family or with friends, like, I want to enjoy that time with them. Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, don't call the personal number. And to be honest with you, I have a great team. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:22:49 Andy, he's great at answering phones. He was a professional salesperson as well. So you get that person that's motivated to close deals, to sell. To actually help, yeah. Quite a great experience. And then Brian, he's our service technician. I mean, they're getting compensated pretty well to make sure they give a five-star service. We have over 300 and some.

Starting point is 00:23:15 We have over 700 online reviews between Google, Facebook, and the multiple different resources. But that's what I think I take pride on. Usually on Facebook, if you send me a message on Facebook Messenger, I'll respond pretty quick. Or if you text me. All right, guys. You heard that here live. Facebook message, Francisco. That's exactly right.

Starting point is 00:23:35 Or text me. Yeah. That's exactly right. Yep. Raymond, are you from San Antonio? No, I'm actually from Harlingen, Texas. You're another Valley guy, 40956. Bruno 956.

Starting point is 00:23:45 Man. When did you come to San Antonio? Man, I used to be in the shoe business years ago. Back in 97, I got promoted to run my own store here in San Antonio. And that's what got you up here. And that's what initially started it. Arlington South or high? South.

Starting point is 00:24:05 Well, both. I went to both. Oh, really? He's from Brownsville. The majority of my family is in the valley, so I definitely know, definitely know what y'all are talking about. But everybody wants to come to San Antonio. Everybody that grew up there, most of them want to come to San.

Starting point is 00:24:18 Well, they want to leave. They just want to leave. That doesn't matter where you go. Yes, true. That's just San Antonio's kind of the next. Yeah. Do you help a lot of people from the valley? No, not really.

Starting point is 00:24:29 Not really. Not really. I mean, you know, after 97, man, I just, I was out. I'm done here. Peace. 97. Yeah, 97, dude, you were still in elementary. Yeah. But no. And how about, tell us about your family life. You're married? You have kids?

Starting point is 00:24:42 Yes, married. My wife, Sarah. How long? We've been together since 2001. Married since 2008. Nice. I better make sure I get that right. Hey, we'll edit that if you got it, if you need to change it. I got two beautiful kids, blessed, you know, Madden and Aden. They're how old? 10 and 12. 10 is 12. Okay.

Starting point is 00:25:05 They keep me busy. They keep me young. Yeah. Are they involved in anything at their schools or do they do anything? What's their interest? You know, my daughter, volleyball, track. You know, my son's just getting started and stuff. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:25:17 You know, I allow them to pick whatever they want to do and I support them and push them. Yeah. But you're not going to do it half-ass. But I tell them, if you start something, you finish it. There you go. There you go. Yeah. And he's also, he loves riding his bicycle.

Starting point is 00:25:33 You're a bike rider. That's your main thing? like to cycle. I love to cycle. With a mask or no? Without a mask. For sure, without a mask. In 2024, there's no excuse any longer. No, man. No.

Starting point is 00:25:44 Yeah, maybe in 2020 you had. Yeah, nonetheless it's one of those like workout masks that, you know, O2. Right, right. With the Apple things on. Yeah, yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. Okay. So what is Ray, so we already know one of the things Raymond Fuentes does when he's not working, his bike riding. What else? What is your, what does your downtime look like when you have some time off? Yeah. Just hang out with the family. much as I can. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:26:06 I mean, this business can be, you know, a little... Draining? Yeah, draining. Yeah. Emotionally, mentally, physically. Yeah. So, you know... Especially with all the roller coaster that we've been on.

Starting point is 00:26:16 Rollercoasters, man. Files, sometimes they have their highs and lows. You could be great one day. The next day, something pops up and you got to go and take care of it. But, you know, I wake up every morning at five. You know, I'm at the gym, you know, de-stressing. It's me time. Yeah. I think we all need some just me time.

Starting point is 00:26:32 Yeah. Whether it's at the gym or something. Yep. I always see his photo they pop on my Facebook and it's always a 5 a.m. photo. Dang. Now, to get up that early, what time do you have to go to bed? I mean, it varies. Are you an early to bed kind of guy? No, I mean, lately I've been trying to adjust getting a little bit more sleep. Yeah. Trying to get those vehemento hours a little bit.

Starting point is 00:26:55 Dude, I used to. Like, I sleep after the workout. I sleep after the workout. He does the photo at 5 and then he goes back to sleep. And then I go back to sleep. Yeah. But you still made your point. I got up, I worked out now, whatever I do.

Starting point is 00:27:06 No, there's videos, there's proof that I actually did something. That's awesome. No, that's awesome. Now, the cycling, same thing. So cycling I picked up back in 2013. Okay. But I liken cycling to mindset training. Sure.

Starting point is 00:27:26 Right? Because if you cycle 20 miles, you go out 10, you got to come back 10. Right. Cycle 60. You got to go out 30. You got to come back 30. True. So it's a...

Starting point is 00:27:39 Not a one-way thing. No. It's a mindset, you know, that it takes to be able to do that. That's a good point. Yeah, I like that, man. Have you called your wife? Hey, pick me up? Like three times.

Starting point is 00:27:52 I went too far. No. And honestly, man, every single time... Well, look, actually, one time was because of my bike. Just, I couldn't... It crept out on you? Two other times. I just...

Starting point is 00:28:04 pooped out, man. And it was more mental than physical. Yeah, sometimes you're thinking about work. I used to be a runner too, and you have negative thoughts. You're not going to be able to run 20 miles horse, but you have all those positive thoughts in the very beginning. Yeah. One suggestion is don't go out with a group of 20 people and then call your wife to come pick you up because you'll never hear the end of it. Those are your true friends. Yeah, those are my true friends. And okay, last question, Raymond, do you, what's y'all's favorite? getaway, like, do you have a favorite

Starting point is 00:28:36 vacation spot that you've been to? Or are you more like a simple, let's just go to the beach or... Just, you know, beach, man. Your country? Yeah, beach, really, more than anything else. You're a beach guy? Yeah, beach. Which one? Well, you know... South Padre Islander or Fort A or those... Top Padre. Yeah. Do you fish or no? Are you fishermen?

Starting point is 00:28:54 Yeah, yeah. They grew up fishing. You know, every Saturday, Sunday we'd be out there, South Padre. Seawall or, you know, out there. They're fishing. Nice. I'm excited about that new bridge that they're making to go to from Rio Hando to South Padre Island. Really? That's going to be nice.

Starting point is 00:29:11 Oh, I hadn't heard that. Because now you don't have to go to Portisabille. You can go through the backside. Yeah. They just got a proof this year. Nice, nice. What is it? Laguna Tasosa.

Starting point is 00:29:21 Yeah, probably. Nice. Nice. You got any final party words for us, Raymond, before we wrap up? No, man. This is my first time on a podcast, so I appreciate you guys having me. You're natural, bro. You know, I got to loosen up a little bit, I guess.

Starting point is 00:29:36 You know, I'm a little tight on this. I do have a question before we... Okay. You see, how do you see the market moving in the next month or two or maybe year? No, and again, this is all opinion-based, right? I mean, I'm not an expert at reading tea leaves, you know, or crystal balls or anything like that, right? but we were talking earlier and we were talking about a client or you know realtors in general right and how we go out there and we're promoting you know lower rates and what the rates are going to be

Starting point is 00:30:11 or whatever right yep i think uh you know sell i'm not saying sell but like communicate to the client what's going on in the market today because we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow right um and so you know you you can set unrealistic expectations by telling someone that rates are going to be in the threes at the end of the year when they may not be at the threes. And so that client may end up waiting and they end up paying more for the house because any house today that they buy is going to be worth more later. Yep. Right. So everybody's shopping.

Starting point is 00:30:45 Yeah. And I think, you know, just be realistic. Set proper expectations with clients, you know, and stop reading tea leaves. Right. Like fortune cookies. Yeah. I mean, that, that, I think you set them realistic. expectations with with the consumer out there no I think uh we need more realtors and we need more lenders to be able to say I don't know what the future is going to hold in this thing that's

Starting point is 00:31:10 I can tell you what's going on today I can I can give you options for today that's right but what's going to happen in a month from now right right our rate's going to be at threes probably not yeah you know probably not and if you go on social media you know you're you're going to come across a wide range of stuff, but the majority of those people are going to be kind of full of it. And I see a lot of realtors that are on there and I see lenders that are on there and they're speaking like, like it's gospel. Like, guys, this is going to happen by the end of the year, just kind of to your point that you were saying, right?

Starting point is 00:31:41 I'm going to give you something on that. Okay. Go for it. So, realtor's lenders, no specific anything, right? So for us, so if you drive by a billboard and you have a particular bank promoting a particular rate. You're always going to see in small, fine letters the assumption of what they're promoting. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:32:02 Right? Well, we are held to that same standard. But yet you see people posting rates. The rate is this. The rate is that. And so I think for us that are seeing these things, right, whether it be the consumer or other lenders, I mean, we need to start asking and questioning, okay, so what does it take to get that?

Starting point is 00:32:21 Sure. You know, don't just post the rate, but post the assumption. You go to any lender's website. site and they're posting a rate. They're going to tell you you need to put 40% down. You have to have a 780 credit score. You're going to pay X amount of points. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:32:34 It is very, very deceiving. For sure. You know, so I think we need to be more transparent. Yes. You know, in our industry. Yep. Yeah, we have the same issue in HPEC because we'll see those, hey, get a new AC for 4,500.

Starting point is 00:32:50 I was like, man, well, the unit alone costs $3,500. There's no way that, They're selling them that because he's not that you need the unit, the labor, the refrigerator. Maybe you have to rewire it from a three and a half ton to five-time. So they don't tell you that they're only selling you like half of the unit. Right. But yeah, that's a good point. And then people expect that.

Starting point is 00:33:11 Yeah. That's right. That's a good question, man. Good information. Raymond Fuentes with Southwest Funding, a better way to mortgage. Yes, sir. Thank you for your time today, bro. Oh, thanks for having me.

Starting point is 00:33:21 This was good stuff, man. And you're our first. honorary mortgage lender to the Agents Lounge podcast. Awesome. Well, hopefully we'll have you again. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah, for sure.

Starting point is 00:33:33 I think he did a good job. No, it was good. It was good stuff. I'll bring the heat next time, man. Bring the heat. I'll do some push-ups and, you know, we'll bring the cheese, man. That's right. That does it, guys, for another episode of the Agents Lounge.

Starting point is 00:33:45 We'll catch you here next time. You've been listening to the Agents Lounge podcast, brought to you by Air Eaternity Comfort Solutions. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show, or to listen to past episodes, please visit agentsloungepodcast.com.

Business Innovators Radio - Unlocking the Mortgage Secrets: An Insider’s Perspective with Raymond Fuentes

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