Speaker 1: 0:30

Darius Jenkins and I'm a senior loan officer for GMB Mortgage. And, let's see, I'm from the area. I'm an Army brat, actually Army beneficiary. Okay, that's what I like to say. So I grew up in Arlington. My dad put in 20 plus years in the US Army Wow, I know Long time and so I grew up on Fort Myer in Arlington, virginia.

Speaker 2: 0:59

Okay.

Speaker 1: 1:00

So I basically have lived in Northern Virginia just about my entire life, wow.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Homegrown yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:06

Homegrown pretty much. Yeah, it was kind of unique in that typically in the military a lot of military families travel quite a bit, but that didn't happen with us. I was born in Panama because my dad was stationed there, but then at the age of three we came to Fort Myer and I went to elementary school at Fort Myer, junior high school at Fort Myer. Okay, he kept getting reassigned in different positions in the area. So he's at the old guard on Fort Myer, then he was at the Pentagon and then his last duty was at White House Communications.

Speaker 1: 1:44

So he was there for quite a while.

Speaker 2: 1:46

Love it and now you're a finance slash mortgage loan officer. Talk to me a little bit about the type of services that you offer and what are clients coming to you for. To me a little bit about the type of services that you offer and what are clients coming to you for.

Speaker 1: 1:56

Well, a loan officer by definition. We originate mortgage loans, so my company is called a lender. Okay, on the street they refer to loan officers as lenders, but technically that's not what we are, and so what we do is we bring in business to the employer, whether it's a mortgage company, whether it's a bank. We try to. We help people get money to buy homes right, and people can choose whatever, whoever they want to work with to get that particular loan. A loan originator basically sells their services, the services of their company, to work with them, to do their loan through them. So it's 100% commission, and sales is always tough.

Speaker 1: 2:40

A lot of people think real estate's easy. Being in mortgage business is easy. Anyone who's in the business they will tell you that's not true. It's very tough when you get into it. What I like to think of it is it's all bells and whistles. Initially yeah, and then they put you in a boat, they row you out to the middle of the lake, they throw you over, they say, hey, we'll see you at the dock. Oh man, so you can make it or you can't make it.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Yeah, sink or swim.

Speaker 1: 3:10

Sink or swim.

Speaker 1: 3:11

Yeah because when I broke into the business yeah, because when I broke into the business and I did 20-something years in information technology before I did this yeah. But when I got into the business, the company I was with at the time, a company called First Horizon they had a training program. They'd send you down to Dallas and train you for a week and there's a class of us To this day out of that class. I think there were about 30 people in that class. I'm the only one still in the industry out of that class, so it's a tough business to break into.

Speaker 2: 3:41

Yeah, I believe it, especially now with so many laws. I'm sure laws have always been changing and new kinds of things coming in, but because I feel sometimes I feel like maybe social media or the industry portrays it like, like you said, bells and whistles, or the industry portrays it like, like you said, bells and whistles, like look at this. Or like I just made this much money by selling Makes it look like nice we never talk about the realities of it Just like with anything in life, right, right, exactly.

Speaker 1: 4:05

20% of the people do well, 80% of the people don't have any business, and that's what people need. That's basically standard. What you use in sales yeah, so. Or what you use in sales yeah, so. It's not for everybody yeah, but I would not go back to the 9 to 5. I happen to enjoy it and love it. I love the freedom it provides me, but every month you start from zero. Every single month, it's zero.

Speaker 2: 4:25

And you're starting over again. You've got to put in that hard work right, You've got to put in the time. You've got to're in your branding. What are you doing to get your name?

Speaker 1: 4:43

out there and what kind of like brand or I guess. Well, today you've got. Today, you really have to have some type of presence on social media. Yes, right, social media is all the rage and AI is all the rage, and you've got to have some presence on that. I see people who I know have been in the industry a long time. Suddenly they have more of a presence on social media, because that's the thing right, and that's what all the young kids are into and new buyers. So you've got to figure out a way to sell your services, your company services, through social media. You've got to have some type of marketing program along those lines. In addition to that, though, you still have to touch base with people.

Speaker 1: 5:25

In the end it's all about touching base with people, listening, caring about them, letting them know you're there for them, and you've got to figure out a way to do that. You just can't go out and try to sell and like, hey, I'm Johnny Joe Mortgage, use my services, they're not going to pay attention to that. You've got to touch them on a personal level and you must figure out a way to do that. And I do that through a number of different, besides social media. I speak, or I volunteer to speak at home buying seminars on behalf of Virginia Housing, and they have them throughout Northern Virginia and I've been doing that since 2004,. I think it is, yeah, 2004. Okay, and just giving knowledge education to first-time homebuyers. You don't have to be a first-time homebuyer to take the class when most people are, yeah, giving knowledge education. I do webinars. I've got a webinar tonight hosting, I think it's, 98 people at this point. Oh, wow, that's a pretty good number. It's a pretty good number. I was pretty surprised by that, right.

Speaker 1: 6:23

Yeah, so we'll see how it goes. So you've got to have a bunch of different avenues to try to sell your services, sell your company and offer people assistance.

Speaker 2: 6:34

Absolutely, thank you. I would like to ask you if you could walk us through different types of mortgage loans available and their pros and cons.

Speaker 1: 6:42

To some of those that are, Well, generally there are four main type of loans. You've got what's called a conventional loan, which is basically backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are government, which is basically backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are government, private quasi entities. And then you've got FHA loans, which is backed by the government. You've got VA loans if you're a veteran, and USDA loans. If you live in a rural area, like out here, you would have USDA loans. You would not have a USDA loan in Arlington, for example. So that's not going to happen.

Speaker 1: 7:20

But those are the main four loans. That just about everybody in the country does, and depending on your particular profile. So I think of it as your financial triangle profile. You've got your assets right your money, your investments, your checking, your savings. You've got your income and you've got your credit. What's your debt, like Credit score? If you're strong on all three sides of a triangle, odds are you're going to do a conventional loan. If you're strong on two sides, maybe your credit's not the best.

Speaker 1: 7:56

Not that it's poor, but it might not necessarily be 780. Yeah, okay, maybe an FHA loan might be best for you. If you're a veteran, automatically you should look at a VA loan. It's surprising how many veterans are unaware of the VA loan, but that's a great loan. If you have served and you can qualify for that loan, you should definitely do that loan. And again, world loans. Or if you're going to buy out in the farmland area or something like that, you should look at a USDA loan. And all these loans have pluses and minuses. So when you sit down with someone, you do an analysis of them. Some people may qualify for all three, some two, some one, depending on what it is. You give them the pros and cons and you let them make the best decision that they think is best for them. Yes, and then you do your best to make that a reality.

Speaker 2: 8:47

Love it. I'd like to ask you are you working with a team or a group? Do you have any employees? Talk to me about that.

Speaker 1: 8:55

Well, we have employed the company, so I'm a W-2 employee of the bank, of the mortgage division, but every loan officer has a processor they work with and an assistant, an assistant processor, and then behind that you've got a bunch of people doing certain items and certain things.

Speaker 2: 9:12

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:13

But yeah, so I've got an assistant, I've got a process that works for me. Yes, love it.

Speaker 2: 9:22

And I'd like to ask you what are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about the mortgage application process and if you could give me some of those.

Speaker 1: 9:27

Oh, let's see Misconceptions. Misconceptions Well, there are a couple things that go on there. One they see the lending industry as a commodity, Loan officers as a commodity. All mortgage companies are the same right. But that's not necessarily true, because you're dealing your key point is one person, so that's that one loan officer. Now, if that one loan officer does a bad job, that really could be detrimental to you in getting a mortgage. I've seen people get pre-approved, approved, get a contract on a property, Then a week before settlement find out they're not approved, they never should have been approved. So that's a loan officer who, whatever reason, missed something right. So therefore, it's not that everybody is exactly the same. It's just like that would be like saying, well, a doctor's a doctor and a lawyer's a lawyer. Well, that's not true either. Some you feel really comfortable with, some you don't. Lawyers you feel comfortable with, some you don't. When you go and speak to a loan officer, it should be the same situation.

Speaker 1: 10:39

Some banks, some mortgage companies have different programs than others. They may have more niche programs. Just about everybody has a conventional loan. Most do an FHA loan. But, for example, in Virginia you have Virginia housing loans, which is specifically set up for first-time homebuyers so you don't have to be a first-time homebuyer for all their loan products. But not everybody does Virginia housing loans, yeah, Okay, so you really need to ask some questions and you need to find someone that listens to you and provides information. Yeah, they probably won't have the answer to every question because nobody does no.

Speaker 1: 11:14

But they'll get the answer and get back to you. That's what you want and you want to get a good feeling and go. Okay, this is the guy I trust to get this done for me and that's what I try to encourage people to do. I mean, some people just make a decision just based on a rate alone. But a rate doesn't equal home ownership and every loan gets denied every year, every month around the country. All loans had an interest rate, so that doesn't equal you getting the keys to a property.

Speaker 2: 11:40

No, absolutely. Do you feel that the industry has changed since you started, since you have about 20 years of experience? What are some things that have changed? Oh, definitely Talk to me about those things.

Speaker 1: 11:51

When I first got into the industry, you could just walk off the street. Oh my goodness, If fill out an employment form and you could be a loan officer.

Speaker 2: 11:55

Oh my goodness, Wild West.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Yes, and that's actually how it's been referred to. Really, yeah, wild West, but not anymore. Okay, today, you've got to be licensed, so you've got to pass background checks, you've got to pass credit checks, you've got to take a national test, you may have to take a state test. So we're heavily regulated today, where we weren't. When I first got into business, as a matter of fact, I went from IT to being a mortgage loan officer, just like that. Oh my goodness, I resigned, gave my two weeks notice and I was working in the industry, yeah, and just learning the hard way.

Speaker 1: 12:34

Okay, but today that would not happen. Yeah, no imagine if it did. I don't think that would fly anymore. No, no, no, you've got to be in good financial standing.

Speaker 2: 12:42

They look at everything today. Yeah yeah, something to think about. Can you share tips for improving one's credit score before applying for a mortgage?

Speaker 1: 12:50

I can give you a couple items. Loan officers are not what I would call licensed credit specialists.

Speaker 2: 12:56

Okay.

Speaker 1: 12:56

Okay, but we've all worked in the industry long enough. We know credit tips and one thing people don't know. For example, let's say you get a credit card and they say your limit is $6,000 or your limit is $9,000, whatever it is, you never want to charge, if you can, more than 30% of whatever that limit is, that's when you get the most bang for your buck in terms of your credit score. Now what a lot of people would do is oh, I got this card, you can charge up $6,000. You'll charge the $5,000. But once you go over 50%, you can actually lose points on your score. Now they don't tell you that when you get the card. They don't tell you.

Speaker 1: 13:37

When you're at the store, the checkout, and they say, hey, would you like to open a card and we'll give you another 10% off, the answer is no, okay. So you want to keep your balance. You want to try to keep your balance 30% or less, ideally no more than 50, okay, that's one thing you want to do. The obvious thing is do not miss a payment. Never miss a payment. Now we deal with people who file mortgage applications. They're worried about the credit being run. Your score does not severely plummet when a loan officer or lender runs your credit score.

Speaker 2: 14:13

A lot of people think that.

Speaker 1: 14:13

They think that it might drop one to four points possibly. Of course you don't know, because you don't know what the score was the minute before he ran it.

Speaker 1: 14:22

Yes, but if you miss a payment, your score can drop 30, 40 points overnight from missing a payment. Never miss payments is the key. Okay, and monitor your credit. You've got to monitor your credit because at some point something was put on there, some person entered some information somewhere. People make mistakes all the time. Someone turned in the cable box, the guy behind the counter forgot to mark in the computer that they turned in the cable box. Then it goes to collection. Now you've got an issue.

Speaker 1: 14:54

So monitor your credit and you can do that at annualcreditreportcom, which the government had the bureau set up. You can go there and get a free copy of your report once within a 12-month period. Now the smart thing to do is you go there, you run it from one credit bureau and four months later, another credit bureau, four months later, another credit bureau. So you're getting a free copy within every 12-month span, but you're constantly monitoring it. Okay, for free. If you want the score, you've got to pay for it. But don't pay for the score, because if you paid for the score, what are you going to do with the score? Nothing. You may pay over $100 for a score that you're not doing anything with.

Speaker 2: 15:34

Oh, my goodness yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:35

Just want to make sure what's on there is accurate. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:38

Love it. What do you like to do in your free time? Like you have so much knowledge and so much experience, I'd like to know how you're.

Speaker 1: 15:44

Well, I don't have that much knowledge.

Speaker 2: 15:45

I think you do, at least for me. I'm learning a lot of things here, fresh and ready for your clients, for your company, making sure that you take care of yourself and your mental health. What do you like to do to unwind, to relax?

Speaker 1: 16:01

Well, you must be able to do that because this is a stressful job and it's a stressful profession For me. I pick up guitar, strum it a little bit. I don't play. I know they say if you know three chords you can play.

Speaker 1: 16:19

You're like no, but they leave out these yeah but it's three chords and you need talent, so I don't play. Stop it. But it's enough for me to just kind of relax. Oh yeah, I love that and I mean I'm in the music, I listen to a lot of music, okay, um, oh boy, I kind of call myself a renaissance man because I listen to everything I love beatles.

Speaker 1: 16:33

Beatles are my favorite, but I love jazz. Okay, anything with guitar. I'll listen to pop, I'll listen to R&B. It's whatever sort of mood I'm in at the time. Yeah, that's what I listen to, and I live fortunate enough fortunate enough, not by design to live on a golf course. So I'll go out and shoot a couple holes, though I'm terrible at golf.

Speaker 2: 17:00

You're like I'm terrible at everything, but I'm doing it.

Speaker 1: 17:01

I'm terrible at golf. Stop it. Terrible. Anybody out there who plays golf understands when I say that Golf is really hard and other than that it's just being around friends. We have a large group of friends and we travel together. We see each other all the time. I've got one set group. We've been friends 40 years now, I guess.

Speaker 2: 17:18

That's a long time.

Speaker 1: 17:21

It's a long time.

Speaker 2: 17:22

Besties.

Speaker 1: 17:23

We travel all over the place together. We're going to Alaska next year. A cruise in Alaska.

Speaker 2: 17:30

That is so cool. I've always wanted to go to Alaska.

Speaker 1: 17:33

I'm looking forward to that one. I'm not a big cruise person, but going to Alaska on a cruise okay, I'll do that.

Speaker 2: 17:39

Great, give it a shot. Will you get to get off land at some point?

Speaker 1: 17:42

Good, good.

Speaker 2: 17:42

Because I was like, can't stay on the boat the whole time see the glacier or something I don't know. Cool, there's a lot of pictures. Yay good, I'm glad you're taking care of your mental health and getting to get out there and gotta do that right.

Speaker 1: 18:02

It's very important, absolutely. You must have balance, right it can't just be work. That's well for me, some people, it's all about work.

Speaker 2: 18:08

But no, but it's good to balance it out, and I mean no shade or anybody who's all about work, but some people people don't work like that, and you need to be able to take care of yourself in the ways that that work for you Right.

Speaker 1: 18:18

My wife keeps me in line too, so that's good Shout out wife for that. Oh yeah, she's the brains in the family.

Speaker 2: 18:23

Stop it, you both Stop it. You undermine yourself too much. Can you share a success story where you helped a client navigate, navigate a difficult situation, maybe one that you can remember? You don't have to say any names?

Speaker 1: 18:40

Well, there was. This young lady came in with her daughter and they were living in a studio right and she didn't know if she could buy anything or not. The daughter, all the daughter wanted was her own room and I worked with them and worked with them and worked with them and got them in a place. And her daughter got her own room and she was extremely happy and in every single holiday I'd get this text from them, thanking me for their place, thanking me for their place.

Speaker 1: 19:10

Then I'd get invited to the daughter's high school graduation. I know and, a matter of fact, still talk to them today. The daughter just graduated, just got her master's.

Speaker 2: 19:21

Look at that.

Speaker 1: 19:22

I know, I know, isn't that something? Yeah, that's a feel-good story for me. Yeah, so we always touch base and text and see how they're doing.

Speaker 2: 19:32

How important is it for you to have those relationships with your clients and like, if they happen because you know it's not maybe you'll have a good situation where you did help someone. But that connection like they don't text you all the time, right, it's just's like sometimes, but they had a connection with you.

Speaker 1: 19:45

Yeah, Some are just, you know, they get their house and they move on. But those stories and they're more than one of those type of stories Every loan officer and every real estate agent has those type of stories. It kind of makes it worthwhile. I mean, it's about more than just, hey, I need to pay my bills and get paid too, just like every other job. Yeah, but it reaches a different level than when I was doing information technology. Yeah, and that's one of the things that kind of keeps you doing. It actually is that because you know there are going to be transactions that are stressful.

Speaker 2: 20:21

Yes.

Speaker 1: 20:22

That keep you up at night. There are always those, but then in the end, when someone gets their keys to the house, that just makes it worthwhile yeah it's very memorable.

Speaker 2: 20:32

You help them at such a big point in their life.

Speaker 1: 20:35

That's true. It's the largest financial transaction in most people's life is buying a house.

Speaker 2: 20:41

Thank you for sharing that. I'd like to ask what's the best time to consider refinancing a mortgage and what factors should people weigh? To ask what's the best time to consider refinancing a mortgage and what factors should people weigh?

Speaker 1: 20:50

Okay, what'd you do you get to whip up a list somewhere. Let me go on the internet and get a list of questions. So, when it comes to refinancing, there's so many factors that determine whether it's good for you to refinance or not. How long are you going to have the house? What's the reason behind your refinance? Are you trying to take money out of the equity to use for some particular purpose? Is your rate high and the market has dropped enough? Okay, then it makes sense for you to refinance. So a lot of factors drive that.

Speaker 1: 21:22

Some people think, well, I'll just refinance. Well, it's not quite. You'll just refinance. You've got to see where the market is, where you are. Is it going to be beneficial? Because there's always a cost to refinance. And so, again, you sit down, you do an analysis of the person's situation and let them decide okay, I feel good doing it, or I don't feel good doing it. And some people will get involved and they'll do it to the end, and then they'll decide. You know, I don't think we really need to do this right now. We're not really going to be in the house as long as I thought, and so that's fine. Yeah, but you just got to make sure you're not refinancing just because your neighbor refinanced, so the guy in the cubicle next to you.

Speaker 2: 22:02

I just refinanced.

Speaker 1: 22:04

Oh, maybe I should refinance. Well, maybe it's not beneficial to you. Yeah, and maybe your neighbor needed that because they had to do some work on the house, or they needed some money for the kid in college, or whatever it might be.

Speaker 2: 22:12

Everybody's situation is different.

Speaker 1: 22:14

Everybody's situation is different. You learn in this business. What you see up front is not how things are behind closed doors.

Speaker 2: 22:23

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I'd like to ask you where do you see yourself for the next five years as a person, with your business clients?

Speaker 1: 22:31

Five years from now, I see myself retired.

Speaker 2: 22:34

Okay.

Speaker 1: 22:35

Thanks, so if you want his services, y'all you better hit him up, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 2: 22:40

Five years goes by fast, though.

Speaker 1: 22:41

Five years goes by fast, but five years I'd like to be retired, traveling more, playing more, and maybe sit down and really try to learn to play guitar, who knows? But that's what. Yeah, that's where I see myself. But you never know, Five years from now I might still be enjoying it so much. I mean I'm in line of work. I could continue to do it. I might still be working. Yeah, that's what I see in five years.

Speaker 2: 23:08

Okay, wow.

Speaker 1: 23:09

So we'll see.

Speaker 2: 23:09

Yeah, we'll see where it goes. We'll see five years from now.

Speaker 1: 23:11

We'll check back in the best laid plans.

Speaker 1: 23:13

Yeah, exactly, I'd like to ask if there's anything that I have not touched on that maybe you want to share with our listeners in regards to, maybe, yourself, your industry. If someone is thinking of purchasing a home, they should, if they can, take some type of class on purchasing a home. And I say that because and I'm sure a lot of loan officers would agree with me people don't necessarily prepare for the mortgage loan process. It's one thing to set aside money, it's one thing to have income, but everybody's go through a mortgage loan process, and if you don't prepare for that process, despite these things, you might not be able to get a loan. So do some research. Don't wait till the last minute and assume you can just buy a house right. Talk to a loan officer six months or a year before and find out if you can, or find out if there are things you need to do.

Speaker 1: 24:11

Preparation is the key to everything, right, so prepare for that. That would be the number one thing I would tell people if they're thinking of it, and number two, I would tell them like a house a lot. Don't fall in love with the house until you have the keys to it. If you like it, someone else might like it too and you might not get it, and don't get discouraged. Okay, if there's a house out there for you, just don't get discouraged. Love it when you have the keys, like it. Until you get the keys, yeah, okay, that's the other thing. And for some people, buying a house just isn't their thing, and that's fine too. It's fine too if you just want to rent. Put your money other sources.

Speaker 2: 24:49

There's nothing wrong with that either I think you're one of the first to say that Wow Okay, thank you. Sure, you're just like. I guess no, because it's hard. Everyone's always just like.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Everybody's different. Yeah, I had a buddy for years he didn't want to buy a house. He'd owned a house earlier in life and later like no. I don't want to own a house, and that's okay. That's perfectly fine. Everybody is different.

Speaker 2: 25:11

Thank you for saying that, sure, and so it's kind of hard out there right now too. It's tough to buy.

Speaker 1: 25:15

Well, this area is just. You know it's so expensive. It's tough for people. Don't get discouraged because you can't buy a house right now in this area. Thank you, no, just keep doing what you're doing.

Speaker 2: 25:24

Work up your plans Someday it'll happen for you offer those classes.

Speaker 1: 25:33

Well, I do speak at the Virginia Housing Seminars, okay, and I'm starting webinars now. Okay, so you can also sign up for a webinar, or just contact me and I'll sit down and we'll do a Zoom call and go over it one-on-one Sure. Okay, happy to speak with anyone.

Speaker 2: 25:49

And they can reach you at Always reach me at teamDariuscom.

Speaker 1: 25:53

Okay, you can always find me at TeamDariuscom.

Speaker 2: 25:56

Period. Love it All right. My final question have you had anybody tell you anything that has stuck with you throughout your life? Maybe they said something, or you read a quote from a book, or a song has inspired you a lyric. Would you mind sharing that with us from?

Speaker 1: 26:14

a book or a song has inspired you a lyric. Would you mind sharing that with us? I saw a graduation speech and it was by Denzel Washington Okay, called Fall Forward and he was talking about basically the times he failed, and no one ever talks about the number of times you failed. He mentioned Michael Jordan and how many shots he took, how many shots that he missed. They only remember the ones that you make and Reggie Jackson striking out so many times, but they only remember the home runs he hit. If you're working at it, grinding, you will have some setbacks, you will fail, but that's okay, it's all part of the process. You just stay at it and you'll have successes too, and when you have successes, you don't necessarily remember the failures. They don't carry the same weight with you anymore.

Speaker 2: 27:12

They impact you.

Speaker 1: 27:12

Right, which means really don't give up. You're not the first person that fell, yeah, or something didn't go right, yeah, right. You just got to pick yourself back up and keep moving forward. So it's just like when you get into real estate and I used the going off the boat and swim the shore.

Speaker 2: 27:29

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 27:30

Okay, but it's one of those things where you have to stay with it, because one day, all of a sudden, you'll come out the other side of the tunnel, right yeah, and boom, there you are. That's where you wanted to be. So that kind of keeps running through my mind when things aren't going exactly right or I wish things were going better. So it's okay, it's all part of the process.

Speaker 2: 27:54

Exactly no, and I think we need to realize that sometimes it's that you know you're not in control. You got to just let things go. It's gonna happen for you. Don't compare yourself. Like you, your wins are not the same as their wins exactly, that's exactly right.

Speaker 1: 28:06

Yeah, and whatever someone else is dealing with, let them deal with it. Yes, let them deal with it. Don't take it on you. That's them. They're making their own path. You just stay on your path.

Speaker 2: 28:16

Yeah, exactly, no, I love it. Thank you so much for sharing that. I really appreciate you being here and sharing a lot of good tips and insights.

Speaker 1: 28:24

Well, hopefully. Thanks for asking me to come out.

Speaker 2: 28:27

Yeah, absolutely, it was fun.