With the clock ticking on the first day of school, a teacher and his family rely on REALTOR® Shawnna to guide them into a new home with a special loan. But when they bail on an accepted offer for a new listing, the family might be left with no home at all.
Shawna (00:06):
On this episode, we're in our first time feelings in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I'm about to
Melissa (00:10):
Cry. Happy
Shawna (00:11):
Tears. Happy tears. Okay. I'm realtor. Shawna Summers a member of the National Association of Realtors. I think with the loan requirements that we need that this house is a great option. I'm helping my clients, all of Alyssa get the best deal possible. There is a very specific loan that takes your down payment to about 2.5%, but when they back out of an accepted offer to pursue their fantasy house,
Paul (00:36):
We just got a new listing alert for a house. It seems perfect.
Shawna (00:39):
Will their last minute switch leave them empty handed? What could happen is we end up with no
(00:44):
House.
(00:57):
I'm Shauna Summers. I'm a real estate professional. I've been serving people in the Tulsa area for seven years, and as an Oklahoma native, I have an innate knowledge of our community and the surrounding areas. So we've got that new open house. What do you think we should do for it? I love working with first time buyers because I love taking them through the process, helping educate and empower them to make good decisions about their financial future.
Melissa (01:22):
Violet wants to find a place where we can keep a horse.
Paul (01:25):
Is that right, violet? Yeah.
Shawna (01:27):
My first time buyers are Paul and Melissa, who have two children who are eight and nine.
Paul (01:31):
My name is Paul Mayfield. I'm a teacher and a coach.
Melissa (01:34):
My name is Melissa Mayfield. I've been a nurse for 12 years now.
Paul (01:38):
We've got two kids, towns and Violet.
Shawna (01:40):
Paul and Melissa are relocating to Tulsa from a town about three hours away.
Paul (01:45):
I was offered a position at one of the most prestigious high schools in the state.
Shawna (01:48):
They're coming to me after a bad experience.
Melissa (01:52):
We made an offer on the house and we went to see it again right before we closed and the basement was flooded with about four inches of water, so
Shawna (02:01):
We had
Melissa (02:01):
To back out on that deal.
Shawna (02:03):
So it's very important for me to make sure that they understand every step that we are about to take. We are on a serious time crunch with only a few weeks before Paul starts teaching and the kids start school.
Paul (02:15):
The type of house we are looking for is three to four bedrooms. With some land with two kids, we'd like to have some space for them to be able to run and play
Melissa (02:24):
A deal breaker for me. We got to have two bathrooms. Definitely
Paul (02:26):
Two bathrooms.
Shawna (02:28):
So how do we feel about that one?
Melissa (02:29):
I just feel like that one's way too small.
Shawna (02:32):
We've looked at 12 homes so far and we haven't found the one that fits all of their criteria with our low inventory. Right now, it's hard to find homes with large lots of land that are in their price range. Paul and Melissa are pre-approved for an FHA loan at $285,000, but they do not have a lot of out of pocket money to spend. But as good fortune would have it, we were showing and I saw their license plate and I knew that there was something better out there for them. So who is Native American?
Melissa (02:59):
I'm Cherokee.
Shawna (02:59):
There is a very specific loan that caters to anyone that is tribal Native American. The Native American community is very strong and very vibrant and very active in the Tulsa area. There are 38 federally recognized Native American tribes and there are benefits and ways that they can purchase a home. We can use what's called a HUD 180 4 loan. It takes your down payment from five to 10% to about two and a 5%. My family is Native American and my husband and I purchased our first home with a HUD 180 4 loan. So when I saw that license plate, I knew that there was a way for Paul and Melissa to save a little more money.
L3: THE TRAIL OF TEARS FORCED RELOCATIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS FROM SOUTHEASTERN STATES IN THE 19TH CENTURY, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE NATIVE AMERICAN POPULATION IN OKLAHOMA
L3: A HUD 184 LOAN ALLOWS FOR A LOWER CREDIT SCORE AND DOES NOT REQUIRE PRIVATE MORTGAGE INSURANCE
Melissa (03:40):
Both of my parents are Native American and it goes back generations. So it's something I'm very proud of and it makes me really happy to hear that there is a program that's going to help us as first time home buyers.
L3: THE HUD 184 LOAN PROGRAM PROVIDES NATIVE AMERICAN AND ALASKAN NATIVE TRIBAL MEMBERS WITH ACCESS TO MORTGAGE FINANCING
Shawna (03:56):
Paul and Melissa are now approved for a HUD 180 4 loan. We are in a time crunch. Paul starts teaching soon, and so we have really got to find a house and get an offer in and get it accepted. What I found is a home that's very close to the school, it's move in ready. It has a great backyard and I think it will check a lot of their boxes. This is our house.
Melissa (04:19):
Oh my gosh, this is so cute. I really like it.
Paul (04:22):
Yeah, I like it. I wish it had a little more acreage, but I'm excited to see it. So
Shawna (04:26):
This house is three bedroom, one and a half bath, almost a quarter acre, 1400 square feet square. The asking price is 2 64. So right within our budget and it's move-in ready? So you would have to do nothing at all. Well, let's go check it out. Take a peek,
L3: 3 BEDROOMS, 1.5 BATHROOMS
L3: 1,400 SQUARE FEET
L3: $264,000
Paul (04:43):
Right?
Melissa (04:46):
Oh, Shauna, this is beautiful.
Paul (04:49):
This is amazing. This is not what I expected.
Melissa (04:51):
No, it looks so modern in here. Everything is just
Shawna (04:54):
Great. So you have a full open concept, which is nice.
Paul (04:57):
I love the fireplace. I really love the mantle.
Shawna (05:00):
Double-sided concrete. And you do have gas logs down there and this area back here would be a great little office or
Melissa (05:07):
Reading nook. Got a
Shawna (05:09):
Bar, got a
Melissa (05:09):
Bar, and we have a place for the dog bed. So we have a dog bar. I love
Paul (05:13):
It. This
Melissa (05:13):
Is the house,
Shawna (05:14):
Babe. Okay, so let's take a peek at this kitchen. What I love about it, you've got lots of counter space storage space. I know a kitchen was really, really important to you.
Paul (05:24):
Yeah, I love the marble here. This is going to be great. I do most of the cooking at our house, so I really like the kitchen.
Shawna (05:31):
So let's go check out the bedrooms. This is our primary bedroom.
Melissa (05:36):
Alright. Okay. It's got really pretty light. It's a little bit small. I don't know that our bed would even fit in here
Paul (05:42):
Though. I don't think so. We need to downsize a little bit.
Shawna (05:46):
Let's take a peek at the main bathroom.
Melissa (05:48):
Oh, I like it.
Shawna (05:50):
It has the pup shower combo.
Paul (05:52):
Yeah, I like this part.
Melissa (05:53):
The floors are kind of retro. It's pretty. We really want two bathrooms. With this house, there's only one and a half, but with the price being 2 64, our budget's 2 85, so it's something that we could work with.
Shawna (06:06):
Bedroom number two.
Melissa (06:08):
Wow. It's dark.
Paul (06:10):
It's probably a little small for one of the kids, but I like the windows.
Melissa (06:13):
Maybe with some new paint, a
Shawna (06:15):
Little paint party and we could be ready to go.
Paul (06:17):
Sounds good.
Shawna (06:19):
Bedroom number three.
Paul (06:20):
Definitely brighter.
Shawna (06:21):
Okay. It is.
Melissa (06:22):
It's crazy how much difference the paint can make. It seems bigger in here. I like
Paul (06:26):
It. I do too.
Shawna (06:27):
All right, let's look at this backyard. Oh wow.
Melissa (06:33):
This is nice.
Shawna (06:34):
Yeah, it's great.
Melissa (06:35):
Look at this canopy.
Paul (06:36):
Love the canopy. Love the deck.
Shawna (06:38):
Fully fenced like you wanted.
Paul (06:39):
Yeah, that's great for the dogs.
Melissa (06:41):
I love this setup. I love that this portion is connected to the kitchen.
Shawna (06:46):
What do you think about the yard out there?
Paul (06:47):
So the yard's not quite as big as we'd hoped and got a lot of neighbors, not quite as much privacy. It's
Shawna (06:53):
Going to take a minute to adjust, but you do have a lot of entertaining space and a large backyard. We could
Melissa (07:00):
Plant some trees for more privacy from the neighbors.
Shawna (07:02):
There
Paul (07:03):
You go. I like it.
Shawna (07:05):
Alright guys, what do we think?
Melissa (07:07):
So I really like it a lot.
Shawna (07:08):
Okay.
Paul (07:09):
Yeah, I do too. I like how close it is to the school. So that's a big plus for us.
Melissa (07:13):
Honestly, my biggest concern is that there's only one and a half bathrooms. I guess with it being a little under budget, we could do renovations and add on. Yeah,
Paul (07:22):
We'd have some room to expand.
Melissa (07:24):
I don't know that we're going to find anything this close. This beautiful
Paul (07:28):
Meets all of our needs.
Shawna (07:29):
I think with the loan requirements that we need for a HUD 180 4 loan, I think that this house is a great option,
L3: A HUD 184 LOAN REQUIRES THE HOUSE BE IN GOOD, WORKING CONDITION, AND ‘MOVE-IN READY’, WITH MINIMAL REPAIRS
Melissa (07:35):
So I think we should do it.
Shawna (07:36):
Okay, great. So what are we thinking as far as our offer number do you
Melissa (07:44):
Think offering, what's the asking price is going to be competitive, do you think we'll have a shot at getting the house? I think
Shawna (07:50):
Going in at list price is a perfect way to be competitive and to show the sellers that we really do love the house.
Melissa (07:58):
This one seems like something that is going to be close to what we've been looking for. It's not perfect, but I think that we can make it work.
Shawna (08:12):
Our offer was accepted. It's time to move right on to inspections and hopefully we can get to the finish line by the time school starts. Hey Paul, how are you?
Paul (08:27):
I'm doing good, Shauna. We just got a new listing alert. It's for a house. It seems perfect.
Shawna (08:32):
So Paul just called me. He found a bigger house on five acres. That is the unicorn we've been searching for.
Paul (08:39):
I know we've already made an offer, but I think we should at least go take a look at it.
Shawna (08:42):
The problem is that we are officially under contract with the last house, so we would need to cancel our contract and we could possibly be starting back over from scratch. Definitely losing the other home. So what could
L3: PAUL AND MELISSA WOULDN’T BE APPROVED FOR TWO SEPARATE MORTGAGES SIMULTANEOUSLY
(08:54):
Happen is we end up with no house, but it's important that you guys have your dream home right?
Paul (09:00):
Absolutely.
Melissa (09:00):
It just makes me really nervous. We are on a time crunch and I'm afraid that we aren't going to have a house at all. By the time Paul has to start his new job. I hope we're making the right decision.
Paul (09:10):
We're willing to roll the dice because it really seems like the perfect house.
Shawna (09:14):
Let's go look at it. Let's pray that it's everything that we want and we'll go
Paul (09:18):
From there. Thank you. All right.
Shawna (09:20):
I never want any of my clients to settle and it kind of feels like they settled a little bit because we are in a hurry. At the end of the day, my job is to make sure that everyone is happy and in love with their new home. Paul and Melissa called me yesterday and let me know that they had gotten a notification that a new home had hit the market. It has everything that they have been looking for. The first house, the sellers accepted our offer, but unfortunately we cannot move on to another house without canceling our first contract. So here we are. Had to get in and see it. All right guys, this is it. Oh
Melissa (09:56):
My
Shawna (09:57):
God, what do we
Paul (09:58):
Think? This is amazing.
Shawna (09:59):
Four bedrooms, two full bath, almost 2300 square feet and it sets on five acres at the same price of 2 65.
L3: 4 BEDROOMS, 2.5 BATHROOMS
Paul (10:06):
I love this rock here. Is this a retaining wall?
L3: $265,000
Shawna (10:08):
This is a retaining wall. There's also one in the back that's about 20 feet high. Alright. Okay. Ready to check it out? Let's do it. All right, let's do it.
Paul (10:15):
How close is it to the school?
Shawna (10:16):
So you're about a 25 minute drive from the school. So this one's a lot further than the last one, but there is five acres.
Paul (10:22):
All the privacy here. This is exactly what we wanted.
Shawna (10:25):
Yeah,
Melissa (10:25):
I love it so much.
Paul (10:27):
This is great.
Shawna (10:27):
All right, you ready? Let's
Paul (10:29):
Do it.
Shawna (10:31):
Wow. Look at this place.
Paul (10:34):
This is great. It's huge. Gosh, I love how open this is. You can see 'em to the dining room here.
Melissa (10:39):
Plenty of room for the kids to run around.
Paul (10:41):
I love the fireplace.
Melissa (10:43):
I'm about to cry. Happy tears. Happy
Shawna (10:45):
Happy's here.
Melissa (10:46):
Okay.
Shawna (10:47):
All right. The perfect dining room. So it's nice and big and everyone can eat and you can see the football
Melissa (10:52):
Game. There you go. Yeah. This is such a big space where all of our family can come. It makes me so happy. I'm so excited.
Shawna (10:59):
Kitchen. So the good news is all of the appliances stay and you do have a kitchen nut.
Paul (11:05):
Looks like all stainless steel appliances everywhere, so that's great. Yeah, we'll do a lot of cooking in here. Okay. I wish these were marble, but lemme make these work
Shawna (11:13):
And the kids are in the same hallway.
Paul (11:15):
Oh, that's great.
Shawna (11:16):
So bedroom one.
Melissa (11:18):
Oh, this is a nice size.
Shawna (11:20):
So this could be for one of the kids.
Melissa (11:22):
They're going to fight over this. This is a big size room.
Paul (11:25):
Yeah, this is great.
Shawna (11:26):
This one's already purple.
Paul (11:28):
Oh, that's perfect for Violet.
Shawna (11:29):
It's perfect for Violet.
Melissa (11:30):
I'm telling you this house was meant to be.
Shawna (11:34):
There's a bathroom right in the middle for them both to share here
Melissa (11:37):
And I'll have my second bathroom.
Paul (11:40):
That's
Shawna (11:40):
Right. Okay. Primary suite upstairs. Okay.
Paul (11:44):
Love the stairs here. Yep.
Shawna (11:47):
Alright. Get this amazing.
Paul (11:48):
This is huge.
Melissa (11:49):
This is like the size of our current home. Yeah.
Paul (11:53):
I love the high ceilings and the windows up there. This is amazing. Yeah.
Shawna (11:57):
Bathroom and a nice big double shower.
Paul (12:00):
Oh, this is great.
Melissa (12:01):
I like that This is separate from the sink.
Paul (12:03):
Yes, absolutely. So
Melissa (12:04):
Now we've got the downstairs bathroom and this bathroom. It's everything. I could want
Shawna (12:10):
Your own space. Lots of privacy.
Melissa (12:12):
Shauna, this is all so much. It's too good to be true.
Shawna (12:17):
All right, let's go check out the yard.
Melissa (12:20):
I like this.
Paul (12:23):
Yeah, this is great. Love the saing here.
Melissa (12:25):
The yard is a little bit smaller, but I still like it. It's beautiful. And there's still room for the kids to run and play. You
Shawna (12:31):
Do have five acres that you could clear out and create so much more space.
Melissa (12:36):
That's a lot of land. That's
Shawna (12:38):
A lot of land. Yeah. So what are we thinking?
Melissa (12:40):
I love it. This is everything that I could hope for. I mean, we feel the same.
Paul (12:45):
Absolutely. The five acres put me over.
Melissa (12:48):
We just love it so much. There's so much more space. The high ceilings, the fireplace, the kids' bedrooms are, yeah, they're bigger than our current
Shawna (12:58):
Bedroom. And with our HUD 180 4 loan, your down payment is a lot smaller and so we do have a little extra money in our pocket
Melissa (13:06):
Thanks to you. Can we make an offer?
Shawna (13:08):
We can absolutely make an offer. The sellers are accepting offers until five o'clock this evening. The sellers have called for best and final, which means that we all have until 5:00 PM to have our offers officially submitted.
L3: “BEST AND FINAL” CONVEYS THAT FURTHER NEGOTIATION WON’T BE CONSIDERED. THE OFFER MAY ONLY BE ACCEPTED OR REJECTED
Melissa (13:19):
It makes me nervous that they're only taking bids on the house for one day, but it's also pretty exciting because we're going to know pretty quick if they accept.
Shawna (13:27):
So we need to go in strong. So what are you thinking
Paul (13:30):
For asking price?
Melissa (13:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
Shawna (13:32):
We are staying at list price. After I researched the comparable homes, I feel like 2 65 keeps us in a good comfortable level. So we'll go with list price. I'll call the sellers, we'll get the offer going and we will know something this evening.
L3: ASKING PRICE: $265,000
Melissa (13:47):
There's a lot on the line and we've not seen anything like this house. So work your magic, do what you can. Paula
Shawna (13:53):
And Melissa Love this home. They've found their unicorn. So the expectations of me are very high, so I really need to make sure that they get their offer accepted. Paula Melissa took a huge risk canceling blast contract and putting an offer onto this one. There were a lot of people putting in offers on this home and lucky for us, our offer was accepted and the gamble paid off.
Melissa (14:23):
When we pulled the offer on the other house, I was really scared. I wasn't sure we were making the right decision, but Paul really felt like this house was the right decision and we trusted Shauna and I'm so glad that we did.
L3: PAUL AND MELISSA’S BID WAS THE HIGHEST OFFER AND THEIR LENDER PROMISED AND 8 - 15 DAY CLOSING
Paul (14:36):
It worked out perfectly.
Shawna (14:45):
My favorite thing about my job is seeing people buy a home and having that piece of the American dream. I didn't have that growing up, so it's really important for me to watch an entire family walk into something that's theirs that they're going to have forever.
L3: MOVE-IN DAY
Melissa (15:00):
I can't believe it. We've been so nervous and we really took a big risk and it's paid off. Thank you so much. You are
Shawna (15:06):
So welcome. Okay, so as your closing gift, I paid for your second year of the home warranty. Okay. So thank you so much for trusting. Thank you. I know that Paul and Melissa are a little short on funds. I wanted to make sure that I did my due diligence with the home warranty. We got the sellers to pay for the first year. I paid for the second year. So now we know that everything is covered in their new home.
L3: A HOME WARRANTY COVERS REPAIRS AND REPLACEMENTS ON SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES IN YOUR HOME, USUALLY FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR
Melissa (15:30):
Shauna has been so great through this whole process. I just can't imagine anyone else helping us in the way that she did.
Shawna (15:37):
He's your first child. You ready?
Melissa (15:39):
Ready. Love the honors. Go ahead. Alright, let's do it. We couldn't have done it without Shauna. She's somebody who really cares and she wants our family to find the perfect home. And I think she has.
