Unlocking Homeownership: Strategies for Those with Less-Than-Perfect Credit

Michelle Kesil (01:32)
Hi everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. And today I’m joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, Eugene Byass, who’s been making serious moves in the real estate space and the credit space. So we’re really excited to have you here.

I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching working with people who have less than perfect credit and getting them into their dream homes and helping them really refinance things. So I’m excited to chat with you and yeah, let’s dive in.

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (02:23)
Sure, good afternoon. Thank you for having me, Michelle. I love to be here. I love to help the community ⁓ at large. I’m national mortgage loan officer that lends throughout all 50 states, so I’m limited.

into where we can land. So anyone in any 50 states that hear my voice that’s interested can contact me at 866-362-2711 or visit us at www.merryfincorp.com

Michelle Kesil (03:02)
Awesome. So first off, for people who may not be familiar with your world yet, we would love to know the short version of your main focus these days.

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (03:15)
Well, the short version of my main focus is to educate and get people into the home ownership. As you know, across the country, rent prices are out the window and it’s even higher, in most cases, it’s higher than rent in the local area. So getting people onto the home ownership ladder is our key focus at this point in time.

Michelle Kesil (03:41)
Yeah, and what is your main like tool or strategy to get people into that home ownership?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (03:51)
By educating them and letting them know what they qualify for and what they can do or if there’s any adjustments they need to make to the credit, they may have some delinquencies or some late payments. Let them know what kind of.

are out there, ⁓ don’t payment assistant programs, closing cost programs, grants that are available in different areas, ⁓ things like seller’s concessions that they can get from the buyer that they don’t typically hear about or know about.

that helps them with costs even though ⁓ they may have little money or some money but I think they don’t have all the money to continue in the process.

Michelle Kesil (04:38)
Yeah, absolutely. So what caught my attention about you was the way that you’ve been able to really help the people that are looking to refinance their properties. And what do you feel has been the key to keeping that running smoothly?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (05:46)
Well, the key in that is a lot of people have, they would pay their mortgage, but something falls short. So the credit card would fall short or they have a second mortgage or they a down payment assistant program that did not allow or did not offer a forgiveness.

Yeah, so those people would generally ⁓ fold short. We have multiple programmer, we have access to multiple programs that would help with that and not look at it as a mortgage lay. Most companies on the high street as it would be, the Chase, the Bank of America.

City bank, you know, the high street bank, they would look at it as a mortgage late. There are lenders out there that doesn’t look at those things are considered mortgage late within the past 12 months because of the down payment system, because most people pay the first mortgage and it’s so high as it is. So we try to rule them.

out of that refinance them, cover the debt, pay off the debt. So that payment is no longer a requirement and no longer bears any bearing on them to get taken care of. So they get a little freedom, financial freedom with what needs to be done and what they’re doing.

Michelle Kesil (07:11)
Yeah, can you expand on how those people are able to achieve financial freedom?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (07:18)
Well, they’re able to achieve financial freedom because with interest rates going down, we try to put them into an interest rate so they’ve got a lower rate. Lower rate means lower payment. And then there’s also, most people are familiar with a 30-year mortgage or a 15-year mortgage, but there’s a 40-year mortgage. So we can stretch the term out an extra 10 years to lower the payment. So there’s options out there that’s available to lower the payment.

so that they can have better resources for their day-to-day living.

Michelle Kesil (07:56)
Yeah, that’s super important. Now, I know that every operator also had a moment where things got real. Maybe you had a deal that went sideways or a moment where you had to pivot fast. Would you be able to share one of those moments for you?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (08:19)
Yes, well one of those moments is where the deal went sideways is that the borrower didn’t understand that the monies in the bank was used as reserve, was being used for reserve. So when we went to close, even though we have the Don’t Payment Assistance Program and we have assistance towards closing from the sellers or a grant.

However, we acquire the closing quote some banks require reserves Okay, you need to have three months reserve or six months reserve We use that money that you have in your account as the reserve the client would return in return think that that money is money for them to pay for the Appraisal or for the home inspection, you know any the fees that they need to acquire the mortgage or to take money of it to pay for the credit report ⁓

⁓ or the user might have to pay off credit card bills because if you when they own the house they need to pay off the credit card bill because they won’t be able to afford a credit card bill and that would affect their debt to income ratio and once the ratios are affected then we have a different problem.

so that we have to resolve. So there different things that we have to look at and make sure that the client is aware of and not do that causes the deal to go sideways. Because you only know that when you get that clear to close. You you’re for the clear to close and it’s not coming simply because ⁓ the numbers are not right.

So that’s one way that the loan would go sideways. The next way where we find the loan going sideways is that a lot of people, when it comes to the monies, and it’s always money that makes the loan go sideways, ⁓ they tend to wanna borrow money.

to meet their commitment. And that’s not always the right thing to do because that money has to be taken into consideration. It’s a loan, has to be paid back. That loan is taken into consideration when we’re the loan at the same time. So again, that would increase your debt to income ratio because that’s the debt that has to be paid.

Michelle Kesil (11:23)
Yeah, that’s important.

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (11:24)
So that

kind of stuff, you know, they go and take out a credit card. ⁓ I got good credit. I go and take out the credit card. A credit card is a loan. You know, I spent all for that credit card. I’m creating a loan that has to be repaid.

Michelle Kesil (11:32)
Thank

Yeah and how do you help clients that have these problems? How do you like mitigate that risk for them?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (11:47)
Well, the one thing that we do, if they’re going to open up a credit card, one of the things we do is close the credit card and show proof that we closed the credit card. If they have a loan outside, they go and take a loan, what we try to do is get them to satisfy that loan before we close, get a satisfaction on the loan before we close, because no way we could go forward with that open debt against their record.

Michelle Kesil (12:17)
Yeah. Yeah.

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (12:18)
So that’s

how we typically would work, something like that.

Michelle Kesil (12:22)
Awesome. Yeah, that’s the kind of stuff people don’t talk about enough. So it’s really important that you shared it.

So let me ask you this, what are you most focused on solving or scaling next?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (12:38)
What I’m most solving, okay. For me, I wanna solve the problem where people are, multiple people are living in the house, they’re not comfortable, they’re not happy as a family. They don’t have that extra space to live in as a family because they’re…

So many of them have to live together in order to make that rent payment to meet their utility bills. You know, so what we find in the industry that people are ⁓ we find the industry that people are Consolidating and moving together in order to do that and maintain that

Okay, so in order to make that work, we’re finding that a number of people are coming together to pool their resources. And when they come together to pool their resources, they’re not able to live comfortably like they want to previously. Okay, so by doing the homeownership, we get to help them to accomplish that goal ⁓ because they get more of a financial resources. ⁓

use less of the financial resources in order to get a good living. And that’s what we’re looking to do.

Michelle Kesil (14:05)
Awesome. And let me ask you, what’s the next big goal for you?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (14:12)
The next big goal for me is to be able to have more people into the homeownership network. To have more people not just owning their own home, but ⁓ at the same time, being able to keep and maintain that investment. I’m a true believer, there’s only two big investments you make in your life.

You know, one is where you sleep at night. You know, the next one is into your family. And I’m on both sides of the spectrum to put those things in place and make sure that people accomplish that goal. Because it’s very important that families are together and not just being together, but are happy together. You know, so in order to do that is combining resources.

and being able to that relaxation understanding that we have these things together that we can accomplish our goal as a family moving forward.

Michelle Kesil (15:52)
Awesome. And what’s your strategy for helping those families?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (15:59)
Well, my strategy of helping those families is like our podcast today where we get the word out, you know. I join different groups, get on different podcasts, have different dialogues. We use Facebook. We use ⁓ LinkedIn. We use…

YouTube, I’m sorry, I’m getting old. ⁓ We use a YouTube channel, you know, we try to get the word out of it so people can understand that this is what is being done to make an impact in society, not just in our community, but in society, you know, so that ⁓ people can understand. And my colleagues in business, there may be things that they know that I don’t know, we can dialogue on it. There may be things that I, that…

I know that they don’t know that we can dialogue on it. Like some things like structuring a file. You know, instead of giving a client a denial, why not structure the file? Why not sit with that client, work on their credit, help them build their credit, them, instead of giving a flat out denial, and this is one of the things that make me get into the financial world, is that I hate denials. When I see a denial, I get very upset because…

We understand you get denied. Great. Why you got denied? Great.

How do we fix it? How do we correct it so that denial can go away? So the next time we get to that point, we can move it forward if you understand the sign, you know what mean? How do we change it? Okay, I get it. I got five credit cards. I’ll give you for instance. I got five credit cards. Everybody says I need trade lines. I got three trade lines. I got five trade lines. Why is there a problem? No one understand that if you spend over 40 % of

of your available credit on your credit report, it affects your score in a negative way. But I’m paying the credit card. So what if I use 100 %? I’m paying them every month. Well, no. You’re paying them every month, but you’re at risk because you use all the money on the credit card. You didn’t do the 50-50. Now, most people going in would say, do 50-50. I like 60-40.

Okay, I like 60-40 so I have that extra cushion in case something happens because you know, let me show you, life happens. You know, what if something happened in one month, you’re in pain. You know, there’s things like loss of job, there is ⁓ inflation, there’s so many different things that can happen. You know, do you have the savings with that cushion to say, okay, I’m going to make that payment on time.

You understand what I’m But if you stay within that 40 % window, even if the lender rolls the payment into the next month, you still didn’t hit that 50 % threshold because you had a bad month that one month, you know? So you’re still within the guidelines to accomplish the goal of keeping your credit score at a certain level. And I think that’s most important, keeping the credit score bankable.

Michelle Kesil (18:48)
Yeah.

Yeah, thanks for sharing that stuff. People don’t talk about enough and it’s very important.

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (19:22)
It is, it’s very important, you know. When you look at how many people I asked the question, you know, I had a young man, 23 years old, went into the Navy, you know. Everyone would say to me that he haven’t worked for two years, he’s not bankable. I say no, I totally disagree.

I was able to use his military contract and get him a mortgage in nine months of being in the military. Nine months, he became a homeowner. His first job being in the military. Of course he was an officer in the military, but he’s in the military. You know, he didn’t have a year in, you know, he don’t have a year working experience. But because I was able to use his military contract and get him a VA loan.

You know, under normal circumstances, he was denied. Okay. But again, it comes from learning the programs, knowing the program, understanding the rules and the regs on the program and applying it and holding the banks accountable. I hold the lenders accountable all the time. You know, I had another client where he got denied because he only had a year and

Okay, a year and three months of employment, he saw how she wanted to buy, they told him no. What are the complimenting factors? No one look at the complimenting factor. The broker tell him no, he can’t buy, don’t have two years of employment. Now this is a 50 year old man. What did he do for 50 years? No one got into the whole thing.

Okay. He worked for 40 years of the 50 years. He gave a company 36 years. He has a good life savings. You know what I mean? He have a life insurance. He have an IRA. They’re complementing factors that make him were able to get back on the housing market and buy at age 50 after just a year and three months of working. But if you go with a general consensus, you need to have 24 months of consistent employment.

That is not true. You need to look at the programs and understand what the programs are requiring. There’s other things if you dig deep and meet with the clients and understand their needs and what they have. Some people are non-traditional borrowers, you know? And that’s what my business are here for, to help the non-traditional borrowers. You have any issues out there?

any issues out there, I have a lender that can solve that issue for you. There are lenders out there and they like their, they have their sweet spots, you know, they like their flavor. You may go a quarter of a basis point, an eighth of a basis point, you know, two basis points, regardless of what it is, you become a homeowner. You can refinance your credit situation, it gets better in the next three to five years. You know, during the pandemic, nobody was buying, I thought it was

wrong because interest rates was between 2 and 3 percent. I got my mortgage at 2.99 percent during the pandemic. I still bought. I’m enjoying it. Now, people who did not buy because of pandemic, are at the mercies of 5, 6, 7, 8 percent interest rate in these markets today. You know, it’s a time of uncertainty. So you have to jump in at the right time and be able to make it work for you.

And that’s what I try to stress to my customers. Is it the right time for you? We don’t know that until we sit down and I understand what your financial DNA is.

Michelle Kesil (22:51)
Yeah.

Yeah, amazing. Yeah, that’s so much important information. So yeah, thank you for sharing that. And let me just ask you this. A lot of people listening to the show are early in their journey or looking to level up. And they would benefit from hearing this, that when it comes to relationships and growing your network, what has made the biggest difference for you?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (23:05)
Yep.

Okay, well, I will tell you, relationships and growing my network is being part of.

the appropriate groups ⁓ based on what your flavor, your taste is, where your goals would like to be. ⁓ I am an extrovert, unfortunately, and I meet people and I practice a three-foot rule. As long as you’re within three feet of me, you must have my business card. If you’re within three feet of me and you don’t have my contact information and my business card, I failed myself. That’s rule number one.

Rule number two. ⁓

is I’m always a good listener. I listen, okay, to what is being said. I listen to what is being delivered because I like to have the facts as it’s presented. Okay, I don’t wanna miss anything along the way. So when someone is speaking, I listen. So I get the facts. Now, everything is not a takeaway, everything is not a big takeaway, but it is the facts of the matter. So I like to look at the quirks of the conversation.

I know where we’re going with it. The most important thing the most important thing for me is I do a lot of reading I do a lot of reading okay, and

am on Facebook. I am on multiple, multiple groups on Facebook. ⁓ I read a lot of trends on Facebook. I listen to a lot of ⁓ rebuttals on Facebook. And then I go and I do my own research to see where they’re at. ⁓ Twitter, ⁓ I don’t do, I am on the gram, but I don’t do much on the gram.

⁓ But I do a lot of research to find out where things are and where you need to be, you know. No one gives you the whole story. Your situation is different from the next person’s situation. So the requirement for the next person is different from you, you know. So I like to be in the know and be in the flavor of it. So that’s why I ask questions. I like asking questions to know where we are and where things are going.

Michelle Kesil (25:46)
Amazing. All right. So before we wrap up, if someone wants to reach out to you, connect to you, learn more about what you’re doing, where is the best way for them to reach you?

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (26:00)
Okay, well, if they want to contact me by phone, it’s 866-362-2711. They can reach me there. My website is www.amerifincorp.

AmeriFinCorp.com, yeah. They can also email me at contact at AmeriFin.com. But most, most importantly, I will tell all our listening audience to Facebook group, Let’s Learn Money. I’m on there. I’m always sharing. I’m always teaching. ⁓ I’m always bringing on special guests. I’m always on shows like yours. ⁓

and it’s on there, let’s, L-E-T-E-P-O-S-E-F, learn money on the Facebook group. Join that group, a lot of good information, all the changes in the financial industry is always posted up there. I’m always talking about it. And you can get to learn stuff. And you can ask me questions up there from time to time. And I respond to all questions, get a response.

Michelle Kesil (27:13)
Perfect. Well, I appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. We’re excited to have people like you in this space doing things in this right way. So thank you for being here.

Gene Byass, MBA, COIE (27:27)
You’re welcome. Thank you for having me.

Michelle Kesil (27:29)
Yeah, and for those of you, yeah,

so for those of you tuning in, if you got value, make sure you’re subscribed to the show. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators just like Eugene who are out here building real businesses. And we’ll see you all on the next episode.