Ep. 19 | Laura Witte – Truth and Lending at Highland Mortgage

Laura Witte says first-time buyers can put down zero to three percent. Some programs will even give you the down payment. First-time buyers also get discounted rates and tax breaks like the homestead exemption, which you file once and keep as long as you live in the home. Certain professions like teachers, veterans, police, and medical workers get additional discounts through programs like Heroes Advantage.

“As a first time homebuyer, you can put zero percent to three percent down. There's programs that will give you the down payment. Your rate is discounted for being a first time home buyer.”Laura Witte

Laura says if parents put their child on the deed of the parents' house, that child loses first-time homebuyer status and all the discounts that come with it. She saw this happen twice in one month. She recommends parents wait until after the child buys their first home to add them to a deed, or talk to a family attorney about other ways to pass the house on.

“If your parents put you on the deed of their house, you are no longer a first-time homebuyer. They lose the discounts. It happened twice in the last month. Parents didn't know, it was out of the kindness of their heart.”Laura Witte

Laura Witte says now is a strong time for buyers in Atlanta because sellers are motivated, prices are coming down, and sellers are willing to pay closing costs or buy down rates. She calls it a unicorn market for buyers. Even with higher rates, one buyer saved money because the seller dropped the price fifty thousand dollars. That buyer can refinance later when rates drop and keep that equity.

“It's a unicorn market for buyers right now. Sellers are more motivated than they ever have been. Prices are coming down, sellers are paying, like let me buy your rate down please.”Laura Witte

Laura says buyers have significant leverage. One client bought a house originally listed at five fifty for closer to five hundred thousand. Even at a seven percent rate, the monthly payment was fifty dollars lower than it would have been at five fifty with a six and a half percent rate. Sellers are willing to negotiate and pay thousands in closing costs because they need to move.

“At seven percent at five hundred thousand, the payment was fifty dollars lower than at five fifty at six and a half. This person got a house for almost fifty thousand less. At some point the rates will come back, she'll refinance, she still has that fifty thousand equity.”Laura Witte

Laura explains a bridge loan lets you take money from your current house and bridge it to your next house so you do not have to sell before buying. She structured a zero payment bridge loan for a teacher who barely qualified and had almost nothing in savings. The loan pulled equity from his current home for the down payment, and by using a departing residence program, they excluded both his current mortgage and the bridge loan payment from his qualifying ratios.

“We have a bridge loan where you can take money from your house and bridge it to the next house. So they don't have to sell before buying, because I could not sell first before buying because I have dogs and kids.”Laura Witte

Laura describes a recent deal where she used a departing residence program that normally does not allow zero payment bridge loans. She reversed the structure by creating a bridge loan with a payment, then excluded that payment because it was a departing residence, effectively creating a zero payment bridge loan backwards. The teacher client also bought a house on the market over one hundred days that appraised for one hundred thousand more than he paid.

“We sort of did a reverse where we did a bridge loan with a payment, and then because it was a departing residence they excluded the payment. So it was a no payment bridge loan. Even the underwriter was like how did we do this?”Laura Witte

Laura Witte says not necessarily. Someone will call and say they have twenty thousand dollars and want to pay off credit cards to raise their score, but Laura says let me look at it first because you may not need to do that. Using your down payment money to pay off debt may not make sense. On the flip side, if you have one hundred thousand in debt, paying it off and putting less down can save you much more in monthly interest.

“Somebody will call and say I have twenty thousand, I'm gonna pay off my credit cards, and then my score is gonna get higher. I'm like let me take a look at it because you may not even need to do that.”Laura Witte

Laura says do not assume what ChatGPT or Zillow or Rocket Mortgage tells you is correct. Talk to a local mortgage person even if you are not buying for two years. If you have credit issues, she can tell you what to do for the next year so you will be ready. If you wait and get the wrong information, you may not be able to buy when you are ready. She says get pre approved even if you think it will be six months, because your perfect house might go on sale next week.

“Don't assume something, get with somebody. There are people that do actually have credit issues. If you came to me now and you weren't buying for a year I could tell you what to do for the next year and you'll be ready.”Laura Witte

Laura says it is hard to know when to refinance without talking to a lender. She offers a no lender fee refinance to her clients. She warns that notices from your current mortgage servicer about refinancing often include fifteen to twenty thousand dollars in points buried in the small print. She recommends calling her to run the numbers and see if it makes sense, rather than relying on promotional emails.

“There's no reason to pay points. Whenever I do estimates I always tell people here is with points and without points. To pay four or five points, forget that, that makes no sense.”Laura Witte

Laura says yes, she is happy to do consultations even for people who are not buying right now or who are using another lender because they are with a builder. She does not charge by the hour. Mortgage lenders work for free until a loan closes, just like real estate agents. She says she hopes karma is on her side and it comes back to her.

“I'm happy to help. I work for free basically until someone closes. I win more than I lose thank God. I really care and I like what I do and I try to find the best deals for my clients.”Laura Witte

Laura says she was working as a film intern at twenty five and tried to buy her first house. She was treated so badly by a lender that she decided she wanted to do things differently and protect people. This was before the crash when it was the wild west. She wanted to be an advocate for people who do not think they can get a mortgage or have been treated poorly. That drive has kept her in the business for twenty five years.

“I went to get a mortgage at a bank and I was treated so badly. I thought I want to protect people. Twenty five years later here I am still doing the same thing, which is to be an advocate for people that don't think they can get a mortgage.”Laura Witte

Laura says it is never boring and every situation is different, which addresses her ADHD because she has to keep things interesting. She also loves puzzles and helping people. People's lives are puzzles. Someone will say they were denied and she will figure out they just need to move this here and that there. She grew up fixing things herself because her single mom did not have money to hire people, so she likes solving problems.

“I love what I do, it's never boring, every situation is different. I love kind of figuring out puzzles. A lot of times they're puzzles, trying to put the pieces together.”Laura Witte