VA Loan Secrets Every Veteran Should Know

Quentin Edmonds (01:31)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, Quentin Edmonds. And today I am joined by someone that I think you want to like to hear from. I’m excited because I know what she does, what she’s specialized in. And I think it’s so helpful for sometime a community that’s forgotten about. And so I’m so excited about her work and what she’s doing. And so listen, I want to introduce to you who I believe is my friend now, Ms. Caitlin.

Duffy I’m so happy to have you here. I love what you’re doing in the loan space in a capital market space, especially for our veterans But I’m gonna let you talk more about that because that’s your special. That’s your specialty But thank you so much miss Caitlin for being here. How are you feeling today, ma’am?

Caitlin Duffy (02:17)
Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate this.

Quentin Edmonds (02:19)
Absolutely, absolutely. It’s our pleasure. And I think, matter of fact, I know our listeners are really going to take something away from your approach and the way you do things and again, your specialty. And so I want to dive right in if you don’t mind, like for people who may not be familiar with you, you know, they want to know more about you. Like, what is your main focus these days? And also tell them what market you’re in, what market are you operating out of?

Caitlin Duffy (02:45)
So I’m physically in Las Vegas and this is my number one focus. However, I do quite a bit of lending in the Phoenix area. And then I actually, I’m licensed in a lot of states. used to, I was in the military, so I was in the army for 10 years. And so I have a lot of friends in my personal sphere that are either still military or prior military. And they PCS, which is an army term for move duty stations. They PCS a lot. And over the last decade,

Anytime one of my friends pcs to a new state and wanted to buy a home they’d call me and I would just go ahead and get licensed in that state So now i’m licensed in all of the places where there’s big army bases So if you name a big army base, i’m probably licensed in the state, but las vegas is my number one

Quentin Edmonds (03:28)
Absolutely. I love it. You got, you got boots on the ground. say, listen, I’m here, Caitlin, listen, we need your help. you, I love that. That’s, that’s a great networking right there. love it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And so I know we was talking a little bit backstage and so you told me that, you know, one of the things that’s, that’s at the core of what you do is helping veterans. first, I believe you said first home owner, you know, buyership. So.

Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Caitlin Duffy (03:56)
Sure, absolutely. So when I first got into the industry, I was right outside a military base. So my first three, four years of being a mortgage lender and just like the training, the assistant side was almost all VA loans. It just happened to be our market. And so I got really good at the back ends and I’m a self-identified nerd. So reading the guidelines and finding out the new updates coming up, I love that. So I really started to get into like the VA education side.

And it’s my passion right now is to educate our veterans and service members on the VA loan, how to take advantage of all of the benefits, know all of the myths, know all of the, you know, the negative connotations that are kind of out there kind of squashing those. And so really just the VA education side of it is my absolute passion. And I do consider myself a VA mortgage expert.

Quentin Edmonds (04:45)
I love it. Absolutely. So two questions back to back. it within this climate? Do you find it easy to do? And then also what keeps you motivated to do what you do? Like what keeps you, let’s say running smoothly, you know, like talk to me about that.

Caitlin Duffy (05:02)
Right. So the VA loan, if you do them well, they are the easiest product out there. They just slam dunks. There’s so many, and I say this in the most compliant way, there’s so many loopholes out there. Like the VA wants to do what’s best for the client. They’re not just like, hey, this is the rule, black and white doesn’t matter. If there’s something that’s a rule in the guideline and it might be better for the client to go one way or the other, you just call them. just call them. Call regional loan center.

You’re like, hey, here’s my situation. They do a lot of things on a case by case basis. so they’re actually VA loans are so easy. The appraisal is not any harder than any other government product. Title works the same. So when people, you know, I hear people say like, VA loans take longer. Nope. I close them in 18, 21 days all the time. So they just take longer and are harder if you’re not, if your lender isn’t familiar with them.

And I, like I said, I do them all day, every day. So for me, it’s the easiest one out there. It’s actually funny when I get a loan that’s not a VA, I’ll have to be like, hold on, let me refresh on these guidelines real quick. don’t want to miss anything. So I always have like a two second stutter where I’m like, yeah, hold on. I know how to do this. Yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (07:00)
Absolutely, absolutely. You kind of answered about what kind of keeps you motivated to do what you do.

Caitlin Duffy (07:02)
Question. ⁓

Yes,

so I am a very technical loan officer. was a great assistant before I was in the sales side of it. So my checklist and my database and the way that my team and I go through our day, it’s very military-esque as far as like we do the same thing every time every day. And so it keeps us consistent. It keeps us disciplined. There’s a rhyme or reason for everything. And, you know, like I’ve said before, like I am

very disciplined and I think that discipline beats out motivation every day. motivation is depending on your emotions and discipline is focused on your calendar. And so if my team and I do the same thing every day based on our calendar and our systems, we have this playbook for success. So why wouldn’t we be successful?

Quentin Edmonds (07:53)
I don’t know why I just felt so attacked when you said, I know you ain’t mean to me.

Caitlin Duffy (07:59)
Specifically to you, Q, not specifically.

Quentin Edmonds (08:01)
But no, that’s great. That’s great. That’s good stuff. Yeah, I listen. I definitely could not have said that better myself. So no, that’s absolutely great. Now listen, now I know there are times when things can get real. Maybe like a deal can go sideways, the time that maybe you had to pivot fast. So you mind sharing one of those stories at times?

Caitlin Duffy (08:22)
yes. Hold on. I have a handful.

Quentin Edmonds (08:23)
Check your time.

Caitlin Duffy (08:25)
Yeah, because I mean, you will we’ve all had those deals where a client buys a car two days before closing, and all of sudden everything’s out of whack. We had one fairly recently, and it was one of those just everybody missed it sort of things. The buyer had child support that nobody knew about. And I didn’t I didn’t see it on the bank statement. He lists he never mentioned having children. It was a single guy. He put zero dependence and it just never came up.

until all of a sudden it wasn’t on pay stubs. looking back, I don’t know, besides specifically asking him the question, do you have child support to a single man with no kids that I thought. But we found out like two days before closing that, yes, he does have children and yes, he does pay child support. They’re just not dependents, which is why he didn’t list them. And, man, and of course it was a domino deal where the person selling the home to that client was buying a home the next day. And all of the realtors I knew.

And my reputation was, you know, on all of it. And I think I cried in a Starbucks parking lot for about five minutes before, you know, walking in and trying to the situation. Um, my underwriters are amazing. So we were able to get everything up and be like, okay, if he can pay off this credit card and pay down this, and we can get another $500 from the seller. We can kind of move everything around and make it work. And it, you know, you really have to have a good team at that point where everybody is on board with wanting to make the file work.

And just, you know, communication is key. think I sent out a group text to all five realtors involved saying. We hit a hiccup. Everyone hold their breath. I’ll come back in a minute when it’s handled. So, but that definitely does happen.

Quentin Edmonds (09:58)
Absolutely.

No, thank you for sharing. That’s the stuff that people need to hear, right? Like, and that’s the stuff that us sitting on the opposite end, you know, need to hear because when we’re going into it, you’re trying to help us out. You know, if we’re trying to get along, let’s not make your job no harder, right? Like we all want the same thing. We all want success, right? And so that’s…

Let’s not make the thing harder. Let’s put all the things out on the table like we need to. And so I thank you for giving your perspective. And this is the stuff that people don’t talk about enough, the hard stuff. And so I appreciate you sharing the honesty and the vulnerability. I appreciate it because this is the stuff we need to know. This is the stuff we need to hear. And so this is why I love talking to people who do what they do and do what they do at a high level. And so thank you so much for sharing. really appreciate it.

Caitlin Duffy (11:24)
Yeah,

always tell buyers, tell me everything. Tell me everything. I know the guidelines. know the guidelines like the back of my hand. You tell me everything, the whole story. And then I know what program to put you in based on the information you give me. Because there’s different programs and different guidelines available. So if you tell me half of the story and I put you in a guide in a program where your story doesn’t mesh and we find out a week before closing, I look incompetent and then you’re stressed out. Nobody wants that.

So I’m like, just tell me everything so I can package it beautifully and find the right program for you.

Quentin Edmonds (11:54)
Absolutely. Absolutely. So yeah, thank you. That’s why I know you are in this for the long term. You’re going to be in it for the long term because of the discipline that you betrayed just with that story that you told. So appreciate it. Thank you so much for sharing. So let me ask you this. What are you focused on solving next? Like, is there anything you’re trying to ramp up, scale up? Like, what’s the next goal you feel like for you within what you did?

Caitlin Duffy (12:17)
So I know that I have been focusing on VA education on the veteran side for a long time. And I still love that. I’m not scaling that down at all. I think that it’s important. There’s not enough education out there for the actual veterans when they’re getting out of the military or service members while they’re in the military. There’s not enough education. The other thing that I’m trying to ramp up a little bit more is the education for the real estate agents.

because they have more, they have their claws in the client a little bit more. They spend more time with them. You spend all day house shopping. You don’t mean they are able to build that relationship with the clients much more than the lender can. And so now I’m kind of turning a little bit to try and focus more on VA education for the real estate agents, because I have heard some real estate agents say to clients, some very off the wall facts that were completely untrue. And it’s kind of like, wait, no, stop, stop.

spreading those rumors, you know what I mean? So I’m realizing that I need to kind of get to the root of it or, you know, the head of the problem, which is educating our real estate agents on the VA product.

Quentin Edmonds (13:17)
Absolutely. No, thank you for that. think that’s big. What I love about what I’m hearing from you is that, yes, you’re disciplined, which means that you have systems in place that keep running themselves, but you’re not going to get stagnant at the same time. Like, I’m disciplined and I do the same thing over and over, but I’m not going to get stagnant. And so that’s what I love to hear about you talking about educating the investor. That’s huge. That’s huge. And so…

Caitlin Duffy (13:31)
You can.

Quentin Edmonds (13:43)
You know, I mean, I’m sure you experience things in life that like the next move, can either compound things or create chaos. And of course that’s depending on how you play it. Right. And so, you got people who’s listening in, know, they’re thinking about buying, thinking about getting loans. and I think because I love how you educate the people so they know, Hey, I can put you in the right program. can put you with, we can get this done. Just.

Caitlin Duffy (14:09)
Yes, exactly. You need your doctor in lying. Like, why? Like, they’re there to help you. Yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (14:15)
And in your story, you said you have teams in place. So I want to ask you this, when it comes to building relationships, what you, from that perspective, what you think have made the biggest difference for you with building relationships and having a good team in place?

Caitlin Duffy (14:29)
A team in place? Honestly, are you familiar with the disc personality test?

Quentin Edmonds (14:34)
No, you said.

Okay, no, I’m not. Please tell me.

Caitlin Duffy (15:19)
So it is, it’s a personality test that you can take. ⁓ and I’m certified on it. So I actually teach it to real estate agents and other people in sales. I’ve done it like at a car dealership and stuff like that. So anybody in sales and what it does is it teaches people in sales how to like, if the way that you’re acting for me to them respond based on your personality. Right. So in my team, what’s really good is that when I’m building my team, I have them all take the disc test. So. ⁓

for my first interview with them, maybe an intro and then I send them the disc, but before my first formal interview with them, I have their disc results in front of me and I can tell you right then and there what spot in my team they would be perfect for. Like if you’re a high I, which is more of like an extrovert, I’m going to put you in my marketing team, right? But if you’re a high C, which is compliance, I want you reviewing my loan docs. I want you to go in through bank statements, making sure I’m not missing anything.

So once I look at your personality test, then I know where to put you in my team. And that has made a huge difference on building everything up because then you have people in roles where their, their strengths shine as opposed to trying to make an introvert in sales or trying to make an extrovert read guidelines, you know what I mean? Or, you know, somebody had with ADD read guidelines when that person needs to be the dreamer, you know, so there’s just.

There’s so many different personalities out there. And I think that placing everyone perfectly is what’s really helped our team succeed, is that everybody’s playing to their strengths, including myself, because I know exactly what my weaknesses are.

Quentin Edmonds (16:48)
Now see, that’s good for business and it’s also good for the people that you work with, right? Because they get to shine in a position that you know, hey, you’re built for this. Like, we know you’re built for this. And so that just helps business all around. That’s what’s the system run smooth when you got the people, the right people in the right place. And so yeah, that’s brilliant. Like you can’t think that, like relationships is everything.

I am loving the way you are thinking and the systems that you’re building to make sure that you have the right people in the right place. That is all.

Caitlin Duffy (17:22)
Absolutely.

And it’s also nice because I let them read my disc profile, which is, it’s a little personal because it’s, know, reading it, it’s one of those like, man, that was mean, but you just described me perfectly, is that they’ve read mine too and they see what my weaknesses are and I’m very vulnerable with it. And so it’s easy for me to tell my team like, hey, I promise I’m not being cold and distant. I am just a very high D. So for me, details don’t matter. So I need you to come to me with three bullet points and not distract me with,

some details or like your weekend plans or you know what mean? Because my personality can come off cold, but it’s more, it’s my personality trait. So once they’re aware of that, they realize I’m not cold. It’s just how I interact when I’m in a workplace environment.

Quentin Edmonds (18:05)
Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. I heard one, one person say, and this is not to call anybody a positive or negative. So y’all just follow me with the analogy, right? But when you have a, when you have a car battery, in order for that battery to work, you have a positive and a negative. And so that’s how the car, if you can’t run the car just on both positives, can run a combo on just one on both negatives. Again, not saying anybody’s positive or negative.

I’m just saying that the people who weakness may be here and who strengths there, when you get everybody together, we move the vision forward. And that’s what it sounds like you’re doing with your business and with that distest. We’re gonna move this vision forward because we’re gonna make sure everybody is connecting in the place where they need to connect.

Caitlin Duffy (18:52)
Absolutely. Yeah, no, I like that. That’s good analogy.

Quentin Edmonds (18:55)
Absolutely, absolutely. Listen, this has been wonderful. Listen, before we wrap, if someone wants to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate with you, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you?

Caitlin Duffy (19:06)
If Facebook or Instagram, honestly, so Caitlin Duffy is my Facebook just as it’s written. I’m the only one and then call Caitlin home loan is my tag on like tick tock and Instagram and all that fun stuff. But I’m on you know social media for my 45 minute dedicated time on my calendar every day. So within that 45 minute time I will respond back to anything. But no, that’s the easiest way. And yeah, I would love to teach VA classes to

Future home buyers. My last thing is my VA millionaire class. I would love to teach veterans how to have passive income and become a VA millionaire. I personally use my VA loan 15 times and I own five properties right now. All of them I used my VA loan at one point on. So just, and so I’m going to have passive income. That’s my retirement program or, know, that’s my retirement goal. Even taking my lending side of, you know, business aside. So.

know, just want to empower all of my fellow veterans to have passive income.

Quentin Edmonds (20:05)
Thank you for taking that. mean, you literally, I was going to try to tee you up for that, but you said it perfectly. Cause I was going to ask you, is there any more parting words, but gee, you just said it perfectly. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for sharing with our audience. Thank you so much for getting this message out. I just appreciate you and I appreciate what you’re doing. Thank you so much.

Caitlin Duffy (20:23)
so much for having me. appreciate it. This is a great platform.

Quentin Edmonds (20:26)
Absolutely, absolutely. So listen, we need more people like you in this space. So continue that dedication, continue that forward thinking, continue to do what you do. And so for all those that’s listening, again, this has been my friend, Ms. Caitlin Duffy. And I thank you all for tuning in. If you have found value in this, please make sure you are subscribed because you’re going to miss the conversations like this if you’re not. So we want that notification coming through.

because you never know who’s going to be on here. You never know the information that you’re going to get. It’s always going to be valuable information. So again, Ms. Duffy, I thank you so much. You have a great day and listen, everyone is tuning in. We’ll see you next time. All right. Have a great