 Hi, I'm Sarah Morrow, Realtor with Cell State Peak Realty. My guest on today's proper tea time is Natalia Veccarelli of Arvada, Colorado. She's a young lender who's already quickly becoming known across the front range as the down payment assistance expert. She's passionate about helping her clients realize financial independence through real estate and she attributes her team for her ability to have this specialty niche locked in so early on in her career. She works for a financial institution called Spire and she serves on the Williams team who has an accumulated 30 plus years of experience in fulfilling the dream of home ownership. As the newest member of this Fierce team, Natalia brings insight into programs that are rapidly changing at this time and she's proactive about placing herself on the cutting edge of the current evolution and the trends of this sometimes mystifying little pocket of the biz. As a result, she's opened the door to home ownership for many who never thought it possible for themselves. She prides herself in expanding Spire's reach to more and more people each quarter, particularly those just starting out and those renewing their financial stability. She does all this with grace and grit because of her background from a young age as a competitive, nationally acclaimed figure skater and ice dancer. She also has a natural tendency towards seeking out the finer things in life. And one of her favorite ways of using this skill and her curiosity is through her long-term search for the perfect Colorado breakfast burrito. She's actually accumulated a list of over a hundred burrito purveyors. She's a true Colorado at heart herself and she's determined to find the very best burrito in the state. I'm thrilled today to extract some of her down payment assistance program prowess and I was even able to score the top 10 tea time, well, lunchtime recommendations from her in the process. See the comments below for her burrito bravado. And while you're down there, please subscribe. Hi. Hi. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. Thanks for that introduction, too. Oh, you're welcome. My pleasure. You're a rock star. So let's dive right in. Why don't you tell us a little bit about Spire Financial? Tell us about your role with them, what team you're on, and how you've become such a specialized niche in the down payment assistance space. Yes. So I'm with Spire Financial. We are local lenders in Colorado, but also most of the U.S. as well. I work out of the branch in Denver, but we have branches all around Denver Metro. And I am on the Williams team. So there's about 11 of us. There's three loan originators, which is what I am. And my niche is really down payment assistance and working with first time home buyers. Awesome. So tell us about down payment assistance programs, whether or not those are always just for first time home buyers, how one qualifies, like, what does that even mean down payment assistance? If I know that I want it, okay, I can talk to a lender, but like, what am I even qualifying for and applying for? Right. And I think with down payment assistance programs, that's something where, you know, you can really get into the weeds pretty easily because there's a lot of stuff out there and it can be pretty confusing when researching, you know, first time home buyer programs and all of that. But those really, I think, are a myth because you don't have to be a first time home buyer to utilize a first time home buyer program or down payment assistance programs. Oh, okay. So the goal of the programs is to be able to get people into houses, to make it more accessible, you know, not dipping into all the savings that you have and just being able to get you in the home. Great. So yeah, so if I'm a buyer and I haven't really built up tons of reserves, maybe my credit's really banged up, how do I go about starting this process? Right. So to start it, it really starts with the conversation with the lender to figure out, you know, how much you're actually making, you know, figure out what your gross income looks like, what your credit score is to the best of your knowledge, and then to figure out what program works for you from there. So we work with two. We work with Metro DPA and CHFA. CHFA is the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. So two programs, they offer a little bit different things, but when it comes down to it, they're both down payment assistance programs that you can layer on top of, you know, FHA or conventional loans. So as a realtor, I rely heavily on you lenders, you loan originators to basically, I mean, make dreams come true, right? Like you guys are the ones taking the practical income, the practical credit score and making something possible where maybe people don't think it's actually possible. And I admit, I hear a lot from buyers first. I hear, I want to buy a house. First question, have you talked to a lender? Do you qualify, right? And they're like, well, what do you mean? So how do I, I mean, obviously I just send them to a lender, right? And I might refer them to you. But like, when in this process and what is the timeline, you know, I tell them, I'm just your personal shopper. I need a credit card balance to go shopping with, right? So how can you share with us a little bit about like the timing? Like they ask me, oh, down payment assistance and like, qualification, never mind. I'm sure I don't qualify. And then they kind of, wind comes flying out of their sails and I don't hear back from them. So tell us about how you start the process and get them excited. Right. And I think it can be very confusing because there's so much stuff out there. And I always say, you know, they don't teach you this stuff in school. So it's not really up to the borrower to figure it out on their own, but really up to us to be able to tell them. You know, I call myself the reality maker. I really make sure that, again, we know what their income looks like and how does that relay into how much you can afford for a home. So the conversation really just starts with an initial phone call to really learn ultimately what your goals are for the home. Because especially with down payment assistance programs, that's going to tell a lender what program's best for you based on longevity and what your goals are. And from there, what it looks like is a pre-approval. It's a credit poll. It's figuring out what exactly your income looks like with documentation and things like that. And then a pre-approval. That can be very quick. My team does it in 24 hours. Oh, wow. And then we relay that information to you. You know, we want to make sure that the client's never in the middle trying to figure out what exactly the language that we're speaking means to them because it can be so up in the air and it can be hard to relay. So it's just to give very clear cut combinations really that we can give to you to make sure that you know what you're looking for in a home. They know what they're looking for. And it can really turn out to be very different things, just depending on how the numbers all break down. Sure. So is it true, I've heard, especially since COVID, that qualifying for down payment assistance is completely separate from qualifying for a loan product. And I've heard that the down payment assistance takes even longer, more red tape. Is that true? And how quickly do they need to be applying for one versus the other? And then the shopping happens. You're saying it's not maybe as long as people think? No, it's actually so much simpler than that. Really, it, again, starts with a conversation with me. And that's my job to make sure that we're figuring out the best loan scenario as far as down payment assistance and conventional and FHA and all of that. So that's my job to put it all together and make sure that you're not applying for down payment assistance and for first time home buyer and for the loan to package it all into one and then present to you here's what your options are based off of the information that I have. And that can take as little as a week or two? Less than that. I mean, depending on how quickly I can get clear cut information on income and credit, we can do it in 24 hours. Wow, cool. So you mentioned FHA. You mentioned DPA Metro. These are two, is this government subsidized money? Is this bond money? Is this private money? How do I really get in on this? Do I have to make a certain, if I make too much? Yeah, so they're both going to be the big determining factors, I guess you would say, on both of them are going to be credit and income. So they each have pretty clear cut guidelines on what's allowable for each of the programs. It is bond money. It's not necessarily private, and that's something that when having a conversation with your lender, you should always make sure that it's possible, because that's something that's going to vary depending on lender to lender. It's not going to be a one size fits all, because you have to get certain certifications and education on these programs to be able to qualify. And so that's where it's not a situation where you have to apply and apply and apply. It's your lender can really do all of that for you. Awesome. And tell us, I know there are classes. I send, to avoid getting question after question for the two of us, I send a lot of people to classes. Tell us about the first time home buyer courses that you are aware of. Yeah, so the first time home buyer courses are going to be required for the first time home buyer programs, as well as down payment assistance. It's very simple, and it's something as easy as my team sends you a link. It's all online, takes, I would say, no more than three hours. There's a quick assessment at the end. And then all you have to do is send us the completion of the course, and we're good to go. And that's really all that they ask for. Cool. Now let's say I hear a lot about down payment assistance with first time home buyers. What if I've already purchased a home, I don't know, long time ago, fairly recently, I'm a step up buyer. Can I still qualify for down payment assistance? Yeah, you can. And so down payment assistance, I would say works similar to how the first time home buyer programs work. You can use it multiple times in your life. The real only stipulation is that you can't use down payment assistance to purchase a second home. You can't own a home at the time of using the program. I understand. So it doesn't matter if you owned a home in the past, especially with first time home buyer programs, which I think is important to know, you can use them multiple times in your life and still be able to utilize the programs as long as you're income and credit score requirements. Do you find that to be like a misconception? I do. And especially here in Colorado, because people move here from other states. So often, they sold their home in another state, and they move here. And it's really great for me to be able to tell them that you can use these programs. So it's not just that they're a first time home buyer in Colorado. It's that they can potentially be considered a first time home buyer again. Yes. Cool. Absolutely. Great. So what does it look like for a buyer to receive lender credits? Yeah, and so I don't really understand this lender credit thing as a non-lander. Right. Again, it's a whole other language. So lender credits are something that really relates to rate and what kind of rate you choose. Now with down payment assistance programs, one of the only downsides really is that you can't shop for rate, meaning that you can't really choose to get a lender credit. A lender credit is what you would want to utilize if you didn't have down payment assistance as a possibility. Oh, OK. So lender credits will usually just depend on rate where down payment assistance programs are clear cut in. You can get a 4% grant or a 5% grant, and that's how you get the money to bring it to the closing table. I see. So they're two different things. And your job is to kind of find which is the best deal for this buyer. Yeah. And how can we get the lowest rate for them? But there's a cost to getting that. There is a cost to it. There's an origination fee that both CHAPA and Metro DPA charge. But it's not a one-size-fits-all. That's really where you want to have the conversation to say, hey, here's what a down payment assistance option looks like. Here's what it looks like if we don't use down payment assistance, but with a lender credit. Are you a teacher or a doctor? What other programs are out there that can help you with those closing costs that's not necessarily down payment assistance? Also government subsidy. Cool. But there are options. Like you're saying, we can go this route. We can go this route. Whatever. If this one fails, there's another option. Yes. There's other options with lending companies, what they can offer, what their program looks like, things like that. Awesome. But you can encapsulate all of it. Yes. And they don't have to run around finding these little programs like scholarships in college. No. Yeah. It's not searching and then applying. It should be finding someone who can give you all the information. And then you make an educated decision from there. Love it. So let's say I'm a tenant. I plan to sign another lease for at least another year here in 2022 at some point. Because I'm convinced it's the only way to keep a roof over my head. What would you tell me if my dream really is eventually to be a homeowner? Right. And I hear this a lot, especially with first-time homebuyers. And I think it's because there's this stigma of I need to have 20% down. And I need to do X, Y, and Z. I can't have student loans. And kind of all these boxes that you have to check. Like before taking the plunge. Before taking the plunge. And I have to pay a lender to have this conversation. And really none of that's true. And what I find a lot is that even signing a lease, paying for your first month and your last month and security deposit and all of that stuff can sometimes cost what it costs to get into a home. Especially if you've got down payment assistance options. Especially with down payment assistance and 3.5% down, 3% down, things like that. It's so attainable. And so I think that's a conversation where it's, what are your goals? Do you want to own a home? And if you do, what does the next three months look like? What does the next six months look like? What's the next 12 months look like? And it's great to start early because having some goals in mind of here's where we want your credit score to be. And here's where we want your down payment savings to be to have those goals in mind, especially this time of year when everyone's creating fitness goals and diet goals. It's really like a savings goal. Totally. As much as you can really have that idea of your whole financial picture, it's really gonna set you up for some success in the future. I love that. Speaking of success, can you tell us a success story? Can you tell us someone who really considered themselves the least likely to succeed? Or maybe someone who's like, ah, my credit's really banged up. It's not for me. I've gotta pay off my car first, which could take years. Where have you been really instrumental in supporting someone, getting themselves into a home that maybe didn't think they could? Yeah, you know, a few come to mind but I think one of the biggest things I see a lot with first time home buyers is a lot of life stages coming at once. And so I had these clients who they came to me and they said, we're getting married. We just got engaged. We're gonna buy a house and we're gonna get married and then everything that comes along with that. The honeymoon, the expenses. Right, there's just so many things and they knew that home buying that was most important to them, I think. And so really what the conversation looked like with us was, hey, here are these programs that are available to you. And that's really where we started talking about Dom Payment Assistance. And once they started realizing, okay, we can purchase the house, we can have the wedding that we want, we don't have to go to the courthouse or do what we were kind of planning on and kind of do it all at once was really cool to see. And throughout the process, multiple times, it's like they thought, I was gonna say, oh wait, never mind. We said, hey, here's your final cash to close. It was so awesome to see that they realized they could actually do it all and do it traditionally and how they wanted to and have a wedding and do all of that at the same time. It's very rewarding. I've had that experience a couple times too and it is. It's not fair that the biggest expenses in life can kind of all happen at the same time and they think they've gotta kind of scrimp and save and to watch it come to fruition must be very rewarding. It definitely is. Well, thank you so much. You've been a wealth of knowledge. You've been very generous with your time. Last thing I wanna just ask you is, how do people get in touch with you? Like where do you serve and what do you, do you mostly work with first time home buyers or you? Yeah, no, I work with everyone. I think I work a lot with first time home buyers and people looking for down payment assistance because of stuff like this and people who I connect with but definitely worked with a lot of different people and my team does as well. So we're really structured to help people who are buying their first home but also buying their second and an investment property. We really wanna be people who are enabling our clients to be able to set up a good financial future and really realize wealth through home ownership because that's so attainable here in Colorado. So I mean, you can get in contact with me through Google, through calling me, through emailing me, really whatever works. Awesome, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. That's the proper tea.