The Southern Nevada Real Estate Show

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. You're listening to special programming brought to you by ragana Come and Henry of Coldwell, banker premiere Realty. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and Moore the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. You

Regana Kooman Henry 0:36
welcome to the Southern Nevada real estate Show. I'm your host, ragana. I'm with Koval Banker Premier Realty, and I'm a real estate agent and broker associate here in Southern Nevada for over 30 years, full time. And this is where we break down the market with real world insights to help you buy or sell with confidence. And joining me today is someone I trust and collaborate with often. Kirsi mbaki, Senior loan officer with the loan depot mortgage company. Welcome back to the show.

Kirsi Mbacke 1:13
Kirsi, hey, thanks. Regana. I am excited to be here with you today and to you know, help people navigate this ever changing market.

Regana Kooman Henry 1:22
Yeah. So let's start with the big question, what kind of lending environment are we in right now? Kirsty, that you're seeing, yeah.

Kirsi Mbacke 1:32
So I mean, as far as what I'm seeing, and I'm sure you know, you're probably the same, but we're in a buyer's market right now. You know, rates are, you know, they're still pretty low. They're not at the historic lows that we used to see in 20 and 21 you know. But they've eased a bit since 2022 the peak when the rates went sky high there for a minute, you know. So for most borrowers, you know, you're going to be seeing like mid to high sixes on a 30 year fixed loan, you know, maybe a little bit lower rates for your FHA or your VA USDA programs, you know, and you know, what does that kind of mean for for the people out there? It means that, you know, your affordability is a little bit more in reach now, you know your buyers who plan wisely and budget realistically, they're still winning homes. And you know, historically, we're still the rates are at a below average, right now,

Regana Kooman Henry 2:31
right? And that's what I'm seeing to Kirsty, buyers are more strategic, and sellers are learning to price for today's you know, reality, the frenzy is over, but opportunity hasn't disappeared. It's just more balanced.

Kirsi Mbacke 2:47
Yeah, I'm seeing that too, just a little bit more, you know, balanced for our buyers and sellers out there. So the key really is to, as a buyer, focus on what your monthly comfort is not just the purchase price or or what the rates are. You want to just focus on what is a comfortable payment for you and your situation, your family. You know, today, I think buyers, they're they're more prepared. They're getting pre approved early. You know, they know their numbers. They lock in rates when it makes sense to lock in the rates. And you know, if they're sitting there waiting for the perfect time, that can really cost you, cost you more in the end, than acting when the numbers, you know, acting while the numbers already work, instead of just sitting and waiting for the rates to drop

Regana Kooman Henry 3:40
Sure, sure. You know, homes that show well and are priced right, they're going to sell more quickly, and the sales of over asking price days may be gone right now, but you know, good homes still sell strong, and they sell within a decent timeframe overall, maybe a little bit longer on the market, but they will still eventually sell when they're priced correctly. And I've also seen more creativity with rate, buy downs, seller concessions, things like that. And is that what you're seeing as well Keirsey being in the mortgage business?

Kirsi Mbacke 4:19
Yes, absolutely. So, you know, rate buy downs are pretty big right now. You know you can pay a little more upfront, or you can use your seller credits to temporarily reduce your rate for the first year or two on your mortgage, right? Sure, right? And that's great for easing into your payments. Or maybe, you know, you get a raise every year, or you're getting a bonus, or something like that. That can be a great tool, you know, for buyers to get in now and have their payment a little bit less and be able to ease into that, sure. And you know, as long as you understand the break even point before you commit to that. And then I'm also, right now regana, I'm seeing. Paying a lot of down payment assistance for our first time homebuyers. And you know, when you combine that with the seller paying the closing costs, if you can negotiate that, some of my current borrowers right now are coming in with less money than it would take them for deposit and first month's and last month's rent on a place. So that's a something to consider. Instead of maybe just going out and re renting, you might be able to get into a home for the same or less. You know, yes, yeah. And a thing I just got over my email, Nevada housing just announced their worker Advantage Program. Oh, so worker advantage. What does that mean? Basically, it's for our essential workers, health care, education, public safety, construction and labor. Those are the people that this program is designed for, going to start on December 1, and it's only going to be a limited amount of funds,

Regana Kooman Henry 6:02
so around a corner, yeah,

Kirsi Mbacke 6:06
well, it's still available because it is a first come, first serve program, you know, and it's a no interest, no payment, non forgivable second so you don't pay interest on it, you don't pay a payment on it. You can use it for down payment. You can use it for closing costs. You can use it to buy down the rate. So really, you just have to have lived in Nevada for six months and be an essential worker. There's some other guidelines to it. You know, if you want more information on that program, and they're giving 20,000 towards your down payment or closing

Regana Kooman Henry 6:38
cost, I totally agree. It's not just about finding, you know, the home, it is about putting the right plan and people around

Kirsi Mbacke 6:48
you right. I completely agree. Regan, I the best thing really, that buyers can do is get your realtor and your lender working together and get them working together early. I can't stress that enough, yes, when you're aligned with those things from the start, budget, timeline, loan strategy, everything just goes a lot smoother, a lot faster. And honestly, on your side of it, you probably won't even see any of the stress

Regana Kooman Henry 7:18
our livelihood. That's what we get paid for, to get you as stress free as possible and have as pleasant as possible of a transaction. That is for sure, for sure. And Keirsey, so what's on the horizon for you think for the next six to 12 months? Keirsey, let

Kirsi Mbacke 7:38
me pull out my crystal ball here. Regana, I mean, basically there's going to be three possibilities, right? Yes. So rates could ease up slightly if inflation continues to go downward like it has been doing. Sure, which is crossing our fingers, best scenario right now, rates could rise if the economy heats up again. I'm not really seeing that. And when what I'm seeing, I'm sure you everybody out there is not really seeing that. And our third possibility, really, is inventory could grow as more sellers return to the market. Sure. Really, the bottom line, I think, is just plan for a little rate volatility. I don't, I don't love the word volatility, but maybe fluctuation is a better word for that, sure, and just remember that real estate is a long term play, right? Yeah, long term play. If the home fits your needs and your budget, to me, that's a win

Regana Kooman Henry 8:39
and buy when it's right for you guys, not when social media says it's the moment. Focus on comfort condition and future potential for your life. And Keirsey and I are here to guide you to see if this is the right time for you. And a lot of people self analyze themselves and think, oh, no, I'll never be able to do this. And people think, oh, maybe one or two more years they'll be ready. And then they come and meet with Keirsey and I, and then they find out, Oh, that one or two years, maybe is four to six months in reality, but they've already self analyzed themselves and price themselves out of the market before they even check to see if they're able to do

Kirsi Mbacke 9:23
it. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And I think a lot of people wait until they, you know, they have they think they need 20% down, and I think they're waiting till they have that. But we have a lot of different programs to help out with down payments and closing costs and stuff like that,

Regana Kooman Henry 9:41
sure, sure. And like our parents and their parents before, they had to put 20% down payment, but there are so many programs where you don't even need a down payment, isn't that? Right?

Kirsi Mbacke 9:53
Kirsty, right? I mean, VA, USDA, and then, you know, obviously the down payment assistance program. Grams,

Regana Kooman Henry 10:00
yes, yes. And my number is 702-596-1267, that's 702-596-1267 and Kirsty is going to also give her phone number and contact information out also at the end of the show for you to write down. So you're welcome for any information regarding real estate to give me a call, and you're welcome for anything regarding mortgages to give Kirsty and Bakke a call. And speaking of empowerment, now we're going to use that word empowerment. Love it. You and I have been hosting home buyer seminar education classes, right?

Kirsi Mbacke 10:47
Yeah, we have. And actually, we do them every month. We do them both in person here in Las Vegas. And if that doesn't work for you, we also do an online version via zoom. And these sessions, they They cover everything from, you know, credit tips, down payments, how to how to save or use programs, different loan options that are available to you. And with regana, it's going to be how to write a really good, strong, confident offer on that that house that that you just love, that you want so bad, yes, definitely. And then we also offer a specific, dedicated VA Home Loan workshop, and this is for our veterans, our active duty members reserves, you know, because I think out there, there that many don't realize how powerful that the VA benefit is. It's a no down payment, no mortgage insurance loan. It often has lower rates. And I mean, honestly, it's probably one of my favorite to do, not just because, you know, it's for who we're doing it for, and it's really a benefit for our military,

Regana Kooman Henry 12:07
yes, and we love our veteran buyers, and it's interesting that some veterans don't even know that they have that entitlement to be able to not put a down payment. Right? You know what I mean, absolutely. And when they come to our classes, they are like stunned, like you don't need and then if the seller picks up their closing costs, they're really walking away without money out of their pocket, right? Absolutely. Uh huh, yes. And we love seeing people walk out of these classes saying, I finally understand how all this works, right? And it's totally zero pressure, and everyone leaves with a personalized game plan, right? Kirsty,

Kirsi Mbacke 12:53
right? Yes. I mean, we want you to understand the process, and we're here to answer any questions that you have. I always say there's, there's no stupid questions, except for the ones you don't ask, right?

Regana Kooman Henry 13:05
Exactly, exactly, and yeah, helps you make confident decisions. The more you really you know. Know knowledge is

Kirsi Mbacke 13:14
power, right, exactly. Knowledge is power, you know. And when you understand how the rates work, you understand what goes into the payment, because it's not just a payment. You've got your taxes, insurance, HOAs, things like that, right? And just how programs fit together. When you have all that knowledge, then you can make confident decisions,

Regana Kooman Henry 13:36
yes, definitely. And so if you've been thinking about buying your first home using your VA benefits, or even just exploring what's possible in today's market. This seminar, and you can call us to register for the next home buyer or VA loan workshop. We'll even do a complimentary affordability analysis afterward, so you'll know exactly what price range fits your needs and whether you're a first timer or planning your next move. This is your moment to make informed, confident choices, not looking at the news, not looking at the social media, but actually getting a game plan together with a lender such as Kirstie and bake with the loan depot mortgage company, or myself, regana with Coldwell Banker premiere Realty. We've both been in the business for decades. We have so much full time decades. Yes, we're kind of soft.

Kirsi Mbacke 14:48
Don't be telling our secrets or our age.

Regana Kooman Henry 14:53
Yes, yes, we're, you know, we still feel 21 or 30. We really do. Yeah. So whether you're a first time buyer or planning your next move, since we've been doing this a long time, and this is like our full time career, we are here for you. We're here to guide you. A lot of you out there may be kind of nervous, right? Keirsey,

Kirsi Mbacke 15:19
right? I mean, even I, you know, when I purchase a home, I've purchased a couple homes, and I've been in the business for, you know, a little bit, I get nervous, right? Yeah, and I understand the process. So I just always invite people Look, don't, you know, don't hold back any questions you have. You know, I'm, that's what I'm here for that's what ragana is here for. Just ask the questions so that we can help you navigate that and not be quite so nervous in the process.

Regana Kooman Henry 15:49
Yes, definitely. And hiring the right real estate agent and hiring the right mortgage lender is two of your most important foundations to a successful transaction. Yes, there's other people in the mix. There's appraisers, there's home inspectors, there's title company and title work to be done, there's family members. There's all kinds of other people that fall into this, but the foundation is going to be a very good loan officer that has years and years of full time experience. It's not a site. This is not a side hustle for either one of us. This is what we eat, sleep and breathe every day, right? Really, sometimes it feels like it is 24/7 but we do love what we do, or we wouldn't be doing it all these years, absolutely, and we love to help people. So with that in mind, I'm going to switch gears now, and I'm going to do the stats to go over the stats for October, and stats are so important to know what's going on and Southern Nevada, not other places, but Southern Nevada specifically. Because when you watch the news, not everything is specific to everybody. You know everything has its place, and one state can be doing different from another state. So Kirsi, do you mind sticking around and I'm going to bring you back little bit later on in the show, after the stats and after I talk a little bit, to give your contact information for the listeners so that they're able to get in touch with you.

Kirsi Mbacke 17:39
Yeah, absolutely. I'll be right here with you. Regatta.

Regana Kooman Henry 17:41
Okay, sounds good. So now let's get into the stats for October for Southern Nevada. These are four single family homes for the month of October. So let Here goes. There were 1700 24 homes that sold. $474,370 was the median price of homes that sold. There were 3077 new single family home listings, $525,000 was the median price of new single family home listings, and 545,000 was the median price of all available single family home listings new and not new on the market, excluding offers and 50.4% of all homes went from available to under contract with a buyer in 30 days or less. You know, it sounds like you know nothing selling right away. Well, it looks like 50% selling 30 days or less. You know, this is not for new construction homes. This is for resale homes. New homes are different animal. It's hard to keep up with exact numbers on those. So now I'm switching to condos and townhouses. There were 492 condos and townhomes combined that sold in October. $285,000 was the median price of all condos and townhomes combined that sold there were 935 new condos and townhome listings combined now $295,000 is the median price of all new available condos and townhomes listings combined. And 280,000 is the price of all available condos and townhomes combined, both new and not new on the market, excluding offers. And 42.7% of all condos and townhomes that sold combined went from available to under contract with buyer in 30 days or less. So you guys have just been educated like I do every month about the stats, which is so important. Like I said, it's always important. To know the numbers and what's going on, because, like Keirsey and I have said, knowledge is power and Kirsi, let's go ahead and talk about some of those down payment assistance programs a little bit more for the listeners, in case they weren't available to listen to it earlier, or they're just now tuning in. So if you want to mention the new the new one that you mentioned a little bit earlier on the show, and also maybe another program for people that have limited down payment funds, yeah,

Kirsi Mbacke 20:39
absolutely so that the new one that's rolling out on December 1 is for our essential workers. So anybody in health care, nurses, even if you were a janitor in the hospital, you know that that counts as essential worker. Health care, education, public safety, it's going to be $20,000 and you can use that for down payment assistance. You can use it to buy down that rate to a permanent buy down, not not one that's going to go up, but permanent buy down, fixed rate, fixed rate, absolutely. And right now it's as low as 5.125 the lower your rate, the more you're going to qualify for, right? And it's a no interest, no payment. There's a lot of down payment programs out there that you you pay, you pay a little monthly on that assistance that they give you, but this one's No, no interest, no payment, you know, and it's not for forgivable, excuse me. So if you refinance or sell the home, then you pay it back. But you know if you if you don't, then after 30 years, it's forgiven.

Regana Kooman Henry 21:47
And also, for listeners out there that might think they have to have perfect credit and a perfect 800 plus credit score, give us some examples, like maybe some buyers that had much lower credit scores that you were able to help. I believe it probably went through the FHA loan process, but tell us a little bit about that.

Kirsi Mbacke 22:09
Yeah, so on FHA, we can go down pretty, pretty low on credit scores. Even I've got some done at like a 520 you have to put 10% down when you do them that low. But I mean, even under 600 we can do, you can know, you know, we can do those FHA, FHA loans and VA. VA is pretty much the same, you know, we just kind of look at your overall credit history, and not necessarily the score. And another thing that they were just rolling out, it hasn't gone into place yet, but I think here in the next week or so, so on a conventional loan, you you know, there used to be a minimum credit score of 620, sure. Otherwise, the automatic approval system that we run them through, it wouldn't. It would just decline you if you were under a 620 so if you were a 619 but you had the money down and all these things, they wouldn't approve it, right? So Fannie Mae, they just rolled out that they're removing that 620 credit score requirement.

Regana Kooman Henry 23:18
So you hear that, guys, you have, you have some potential, even if you think your credit is so damaged that you can't do it. What does it hurt to find out the worst someone can tell you, the worst Keirsey could say is not at this moment, but then she's gonna guide you, right? Keirsey, yeah, she's gonna guide you and like baby steps, step by step. And you might think, Oh, I won't be able to do this for years. But let me tell you, I've seen this lady here. See, she's turned some things around that I didn't think could ever be done. You know, she's she's risen people from the dead. I mean, I think

Kirsi Mbacke 23:58
that our longest client was, I'm not gonna say any names, but probably we worked with a gentleman, and he was a veteran, and for what was it? We're going like, two years, two years, two years, two and a half years, but you know, we got, we got him into a house and, you know, his kids. And it was it, it was really, that one was a little touching for

Regana Kooman Henry 24:24
me, you know, yeah, it was touching for me too, because real estate transaction is a process from A to Z, and any, if any of those steps are not followed properly, you know, your transaction can go very bad, really, super fast. So that's why it's so important to know who you're hiring me. I've been in the business over 30 years here. See, has been in business for what? Yeah, so combined, we have, what, 5060, years experience between us, full time, not a side gig. And again, I'm regana. 70259612677025961267,

Regana Kooman Henry 25:07
so Keirsey, if you'd like to please say your name, your company name and your phone number twice for the listeners, so that they can get a hold of you

Kirsi Mbacke 25:17
absolutely. And before I do that, though, Organa, I just want to say, you know, we're over the radio here, but regana fights for her clients like nobody I've seen. And, you know, we all work with different lenders and whatever, but I'm going to tell you, I never worry one bit about the buyers when regana is the real estate agent. Thank

Regana Kooman Henry 25:43
you so much, Kirsty. And you fight for your borrowers too, just as well to get things overturned with underwriting. I really appreciate all your hard work.

Unknown Speaker 25:53
I don't like the word.

Regana Kooman Henry 25:56
She doesn't trust me. She doesn't thank you so much, Kirsty for being on the show. I appreciate you, and we look out for each other.

Kirsi Mbacke 26:06
I'm Kirsi mbaki from the loan depot and MLS NUMBER 1398336, and you can reach me at 702-322-0421, again. Kirsi mbaki, and don't worry about messing up my name, you can just call and yeah, I answer to a lot of things that you know, as long as it sounds somewhat similar.

Regana Kooman Henry 26:30
Yes, name isn't easy, but I've learned it over the years. It's a nice name, but it's not easy. Yes, yeah, 702-322-0421, and I am regana cumin Henry with Koval banker premiere Realty. And I am your host for the Southern Nevada real estate show that airs every third Sunday of the month at 8:30am and my number again, it's 702-596-1267 that's 702-596-1267 and my license number is BS 27880, thank you so much Kirsty for being on my show this morning. And again, I'm regana Coldwell Banker, 702-596-1267, and my license number is BS 27880, thanks so much for listening this morning, and I hope everyone listening is having a great Sunday And a great week. You you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai