Interview of Kyle Arabian Loan Officer by Cliffco Mortgage Bankers

Kyle Arabian, Loan Officer, Sales Manager - NMLS #1671709 - Phone: (516) 316-3505

Phil

Hey folks, this is Phil with Cliffco Mortgage. And today on the show, we have Kyle Kyle Arabian, who is he's gonna tell you who he is actually. So can I, why don't you present yourself a little bit.

Kyle

Hi. Hi everyone. This is Kyle Arabian. I'm a loan officer and sales manager at Cliffco Mortgage.

Phil

Great. How long have you been in this business con?

Kyle

So I've been in the business for about five years just over five years now.

Phil

Okay. So you're, you have a lot of experience already at this position?

Kyle

Okay. Yes, I would say

Phil

My, my first question would be why did you answer this business in the first place?

Kyle

So previously I was in sales. I was actually doing a merchant cash advance. But I kind of wanted to do something, I guess that would be like a little bit more let's say like important or impactful on people's lives. I mean not that doing what I was doing before wasn't important for each business and everything, but helping someone achieve their goal of home ownership and something that's sometimes what could be the largest financial decision, like a couple would make in their lifetime. I just really wanted to be able to help people out with that. And I've loved it ever since I've gotten in.

Phil

Yeah. That makes a difference. so let's talk about the technicals here of this, this helping people. So how do you help first time home buyers to acquire the home that they flip their top about, they really love, they want it, how do you help them?

Kyle

So I mean, I do in various different ways throughout like their home search part of it is going to be, especially when it's a first time home buyer is really just going over like budgeting and stuff and all of the costs that are gonna be involved when it comes to down payment closing costs and then monthly payment as well. And really just making sure that while, while it might be thehome of their dreams I just wanna make sure that everyone is a hundred percent comfortable with everything that is involved in it, because let's say if you do love the house, but the house is $2,000 more than you wanna spend every month. Maybe that might not be the best thing at that time.

Kyle

But when it comes to, as long as everyone is comfortable with all of that then it's something just making sure that you're very involved in the process when it comes to working with the real estate agent making sure their offer is going to get accepted, talking to the listing agent. Who's usually gonna call and go over the financials of the buyer and just making sure that they know they're comfortable with the process comfortable with Cliffco and how smoothly we're going to run this entire transaction from start to finish. and that comfort from the other side is gonna help them pick your offer instead of someone else's.

Phil

Okay, cool. let's, let's take an example. and let's take an example of a little hurdle hurdle that you had to overcome with like a recent transaction, for instance.

Kyle

So I mean, one that comes to mind right away is gonna be in the beginning of 2020 when COVID happened. And people had to stop working and everyone, they were people were getting laid off or losing their jobs because the economy shut down, but real estate was still essential and banking was essential. So people were still buying houses even throughout that time. And one transaction that comes to mind is gonna be where two sisters were actually purchasing a house and this is right after everything happened. They needed to, the sellers were worried about going into contract with someone needed to get a mortgage because a lot of banks weren't able to qualify people. So one thing that we were able to do here at Cliffco is to ease the sellers and let them know that getting the mortgage wasn't gonna be the problem.

We were actually able to get them a to-be-determined commitment, basically stating that on this, for this house, at this purchase price, this down payment and these taxes that the borrows will be able to get the mortgage, a conditional commitment based on just appraisal and title. So that assured the sellers that they would, they were gonna be able to get the mortgage and then they were able to get into contract and we were able to close. So, I mean, that was something that I'm just happy that we were able to do here at Cliffco.

Phil

Okay. Cool. Very good. Excellent example. My next question is about prequalification. How is it important? How is it important today to get prequalified before you go shopping for a home?

Kyle

It's extremely important. A lot of times these sellers or sellers, agents don't even let you view homes without a preapproval. And it's besides that just needing to see get a preapproval to access the homes. It's also just really important to know that you are able to get the home. Everyone thinks that they're gonna be okay. And sometimes you are, but there are plenty of times where people think that they'll be fine to get a mortgage no matter what. And then they’ll go through the process and they realize there's something with their income or credit that they didn't know about, and it could prevent them from getting the mortgage. And if you're in contract already without a preapproval, it could be too late.

And then you either don't get the house or you could lose your down payment. Just going back to what I said before, just knowing where you need to be at where your monthly payment is going to be. And just making sure that you have everything budgeted correctly what the closing costs will be, as well as prepaids and escrow. Just to make sure that you you have the necessary funds and you have funds after the transactions, you have some reserves and money for furniture furnishing the home reserve mortgage payments if, God forbid, something negative happens you'll still be okay and it won't be a tough situation like that. And then again, back to the monthly payment there is another way that I do help buyers is as they're looking for homes when I have them preapproved, I have them just send me every listing that they're interested in… and I price it out for them.

And I send them the breakdown of the monthly payment. This way, they know that at that purchase price with this house at this down payment, this is what their monthly payment will be. And down payment, closing costs. Sometimes those are things that could change a little bit and those are like one time expenses, but once you purchase a home that's for a 30-year mortgage, that's gonna be your monthly payment roundabout for about 360 months unless you sell or refinance.

So that's why it's a little bit more important too.

Phil

Let's talk about an example of uh, a preapproval process, like a real example that happened of a preapproval process that was not absolutely smooth and how you solved that.

Kyle

I guess a good example would be I was working with a person who was looking to sell their home azs they actually had to get a larger home to accommodate their family. And when I got it from the real estate agent who was just really eager to list the house and that, so was the buyer, they thought everything was gonna be okay because it was fine when he bought the house. But then when I checked the credit, it was at uh, 590. So we knew we needed to improve the credit. And it's kind of, not exactly what everyone wants to hear, but it's just really important that they were gonna be moving into a situation that they were also comfortable with. And making sure that they were gonna get the terms that they needed to for the next home to.

So there was gonna be some sort of issues with that. So throughout the process, it took, I believe, like around four to six months but I was able to get his credit up over a hundred points. And by the time that he actually closed, he was able to go into a better loan program. He was able to get a much lower interest rate and he was able to cut hundreds of dollars off his monthly payment all while navigating through the sale and purchase of the home smoothly. That's one of like my more favorite stories where we turned up a bad situation into one of the most positive ones.

Phil

Yeah. That's a wonderful story. Well that's a long that's a, a long cycle to turn this ship around. It's interesting.

Kyle

Yeah.

Phil

You deal with Realtors. Realtors are your partners, so to speak, even though they have their own interest and Cliffco has their own interest, but you have a business relationship, partnership relationship. What do you offer Realtors who bring you deals? What do you offer them that makes Cliffco a better partner than another mortgage bank or mortgage broker?

Kyle

A couple things I could think: one is just the speed and how smooth the transactions are. If you work with another mortgage lender they'll all say like: “oh, I could guarantee I get the deal done.” No one can guarantee anything obviously. But the things that you can improve on are really good customer service, speed of the transaction, and then how smooth the transaction is. And there's not a lot of back and forth when it comes to everything. Just making sure you do your due diligence up front so the process during when you're in contract is really smooth, because that's when it matters.

Going back to what we said before to be determined commitments, which are even stronger than preapproval letters, so that helps their clients get their offers accepted over other ones is from some, from time to time, it's the thing that could really set you apart in terms of customer service.

Like always being able to answer even on the weekends after hours, just making sure you accommodate everyone because you really want to back up your real estate agents and make them look good for referring the buyer to you in this way. They'll be able to refer other people to you, and everyone leaves happy.

Phil

I had an interview with George a few days ago. And he mentioned that the the range of programs that you offer is also a plus, and he was specifically talking about “Non QM loans”. What do you think of that? What's your opinion on it?

Kyle

It's definitely something that sets Cliffco apart: the wide range of programs, the fact that we underwrite and process them in-house, we don't have to broker them out. Other banks actually broker them through us. And non-QM loans are just another just great tool that allows someone to purchase a home who would normally get denied by another bank. And it's still being able to purchase a home with a good quality loan program. And it's not something where someone's gonna be worried about defaulting on their loan. It is still a really great loan program, and it just helps out someone who is, let's say self-employed or had something happen with their credit profile that wouldn't allow them to qualify for a conventional or FHA loan. So it definitely helps out and it definitely helps Realtors out as well.

Phil

Yes, I would, I would imagine that Realtors are more certain to to close a transaction and get it funded with Cliffco in these particular cases.

Kyle

Definitely. I can say that. Yeah.

Phil

That's interesting. Well, that is our interview right there. So let me ask you, what's a number where Realtors and people who want to get preapproved, get prequalified, can call you? What is your email? How do people reach you?

Kyle

So I would say always just call or text my cell phone. I have an office phone, but I'm not always in my office, I'm out and about, and I'm also available after hours. So that number to reach me out, it's gonna be my cell phone (516) 316-3505. That's gonna be the best way to reach me as well. If you wanna reach me by email it's KArabian@cliffcomortgage.com.

Phil

Very cool. And we'll put it at the bottom of the video for everyone to see. And I would suggest to people to look at the reviews of Cliffco. Your name is very often mentioned as a very helpful, very persistent and extremely dedicated person. You're raking the five stars just like foliage in the forest.

Kyle

So I try. Customer service is all it is, is number 1.

Phil

Yes. And it shows in your reviews. So people look at look at the reviews on Cliffco's profile in Google. They are extremely interesting reviews.

Kyle, thank you so much. I'd like to reconnect with you in a few weeks and to get an update on your market. Is that possible?

Sounds good. Definitely. Thank you again.

Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.