Become more financially independent in 2019 by paving your path to home ownership. Watch Lee and Melinda to learn more.
From January GMA interview with Lee Maris
No headphones? No problem! Read the transcript below!
Melinda: "We'll also share some of the home-buying
from the station that's on your
side this is Channel 7 News
good morning Arkansas welcome back to
good morning Arkansas we're happy to
have Lee Maris back with us of course
senior vice president at Bank of Little
Rock mortgage and we're talking about
the new year people trying to maybe get
their finances right maybe buy a new
house in there
get fired up buy a house
in 2019 right yeah is it gonna be a good
time to do it though?"
Lee: "I think so
2018 was good our rates jumped up about
a point but people are still out there
buying and I think 2019 you're gonna see
more inventory hopefully rates
will stay relatively steady first-time
homebuyers seem to be a big part of
what's going on and they need to
because renting."
Melinda: "It;s throwing money away
isn't it you always talk about
that why putting money towards a
rental when you could be basically
buying it yourself let's talk
about the mortgage rights though because
the Fed has raised interest rates how
does that affect the home market?"
Lee: "Well first and foremost your payment will go
up and you can't afford as much house
historically they're still low you know
our parents are rates at 18 percent
we're still around four and a half to
five percent 30-year money so they're
not terrible but I think a lot of these
first-time homebuyers and people are who
have not been around a long time we're
kind of in shock so we're just hoping
you know last year that the rates went
up about a percentage point and
we're hoping that's gonna slow down even
though the feds still wants to keep
raising rates I think there's some
pushback from certain people mainly our
president that says it's killing the
stock market and choking off the
economy so we want to kind of see that
slowdown if you will in 2019 yeah"
Melinda: "we have seen 401ks and the stock market
for a terrible December so hopeful
that stops we're all hoping for that so
how does this affect like how many homes
are out there on the market then"
Lee: "I don't
really think raising rates affects how
many homes are out there on the market
I think you're gonna see a lot bigger
supply in 2019 than we've seen in the
past couple years which ought to help
prices come down some that's the biggest
thing one of the biggest things that's
happened in the last couple years is
inventory there's not been any inventory
right so it's been a seller's market and
if you're a seller you can pretty much
ask what you want so if there's
more inventory out there more
competition prices ought to come down"
Melinda: "yeah more homes I mean everyday we
drive around we see new developments
going in all the time are you seeing
that just more for those being built"
Lee: "mm-hmm especially in West Little Rock
yeah I mean we're just seeing a lot more"
Melinda: "yeah so that that interest rate you're right
I mean we've heard about the three and a
half and the four percents and we will
still want that
so even if that goes up a little so
that gears off sometimes"
Lee: "yeah it does
but they need to get over that yeah
because it's still better than written
you know I mean if you go try to
find a nice apartment you're gonna pay
fifteen eighteen hundred dollars and
that's about a two hundred twenty-five
thousand dollar house so how you get the
mortgage deduction you know hopefully it
will appreciate and a couple years you
can sell it make money take a step up in
house I mean"
Melinda: "yeah it's just a good
financial decision to try to buy so if
someone is looking at their finances and
they're gonna step into this what do
they need to do first you think?"
Lee: "you know
everybody has a comfort level on what
payment they want and call a
professional like someone at Bank Little
Rock let us run numbers for you and you
know a lot of times you can you can
qualify for a lot more you want to pay
you know you might be able to qualify
for two thousand a month but you're not
careful with that you only want to pay
1,500 a month so we can back into
those numbers and say hey you know go
look for a house in this price range"
Melinda: "yeah because you've really got to look at
everything going on in your life you got
kids in school you know you need you
know you're gonna need a new car soon
you know look at all of that right"
Lee: "utilities, insurance, yeah absolutely."
Melinda: "yeah so when I'm coming in what I'll do
I need to bring as far as my salary, bills, that kind of thing?"
Lee: "yeah usually we asked
for a couple pay stubs w-2s for the last
two years or tax returns if you're
self-employed that'll get us going and
we can pull credit and with it within a
couple you know hour or two can tell you hey
you're pre-approved and go find a real
estate agent or go find a house"
Melinda: "and pre-approval really is helpful
right before you ever go out and start
looking"
Lee: "absolutely because realtor don't
really want to drive you all over town
and then find out you're not bankable"
Melinda: "right yeah and then as someone who sold
a house you love seeing that that buyer
has been pre-approved because you know
it's not gonna fall through later"
Lee: "and that's another
thing if you bring in your pay stubs and
your w-2s and we get you pre-approved
the pre-approval letter we provide you
is legit it's not some just you know
over the phone type pre-approval letter
with a million holes in it"
Melinda: "all right so if you want 2019 to be the
year you get it right get your own home
start that life then Bank of Little Rock
mortgage is a great place to start and
they can certainly guide you through all
the steps so you won't be intimidated. Well
Merry Christmas "
