We recently connected with Amit & Nikki Vaghela and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Amit & Nikki thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?
Currently in the Dallas Metroplex one of the biggest trends we are seeing is buyers having to pay way over list price. Just today I received a contract on a home that was listed at $495K and my clients offer was accepted at $610K. I also am expecting one tonight on a home listed at $650K that my client has an offer of $790K on – and willing to go north of $800K if needed.
This trend started at the beginning of covid lockdowns and has continued since due to the shortage of supply. There are currently way more buyers then their are sellers. While this sounds like a great thing for sellers or move up buyers- on the flip side the trends we see are the affordability factor in our market is making it to where a first time homebuyer now needs to either do 1 of 3 things if they don’t have the excess in cash to pay over list. They expand their search to more suburbs outside of the metroplex to find a home in a price point they can afford. They sit on the sidelines and wait. Waiting is risky as house prices continue to rise and so do interest rates. The 3rd trend I am seeing is more and more parents willing to gift their children money to help out with down payment and closing costs. I guess they are ready for them to finally move out of their homes and start their own lives or tired of seeing them throw money away on rent.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have always been in sales and out of college I met someone at work that I became good friends with. She and I worked at a company together and when we both left that company she ended up getting into the mortgage business. She called me and told me she thought I would be good at it and got me an interview and I got the job, me and her started dating and eventually married, and the rest is history. After a few years working for larger corporate operations, we branched out on our own and started to build our brand together.
We pride ourselves on offering solutions for self employed clients who are unable to get traditional financing due to lack on income history. Also for investors we offer solutions to allow them to cash out refinance right after purchase to be able to purchase and get a reduced cash offer accepted and turn around and get their liquid reserves back right away. Another area we are passionate about is debt consolidation refinances or cash out refinances for use to invest and buy more properties or renovate their own home. A debt consolidation can change someone’s life and when you save somebody $1500/month in cash flow you have no idea the impact you are really making – but I can imagine it’s a weight lifted off their finances and their marriage that helps them move forward a little lighter, a little easier.
I want Realtors and Clients to know that while we aren’t constantly out soliciting new business or active on social media, we are always happy to assist you in helping you with your home purchase or your clients. Some things we are proud of recently are the awards we won last year. 2020 FIve Star Professional Award for the 8th year in a row, Presidents Club for Top Producers, Once again we received the D Best Mortgage Banker for 2020, Scotsman Guide Top Originators in the Country. We did all this with a small team of 4 and our customer service rating was a close to perfect as you can get based on past client surveys and our average turn time from contract to close is currently 13.8 days. We pride ourselves on being the fastest in the country.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
When we started to branch out on our own it couldn’t have been at a worse time. It was right after the financial melt down and tons of new regulations in our industry really hampered the growth as we saw many originators exit the business. I think we lost about 70% of originators because of new licensing requirements along with new regulations to compensation. I went from 15 loan officers down to 5 almost overnight due to the uncertainty or due to good loan officers who struggled to pass the NMLS licensing test. There were times when our branch we negative on the P&L Stmt, I didn’t know how I would buy diapers week to week for my newborn son, and I thought about quitting. But I got lucky and read a book that stuck with me to this day. It said whatever business you get into you have to commit to it for 5 years before you can quit. At the 3 year mark do a check up and see where you are at. If you are drowning don’t be an idiot- throw in the towel. I am guessing drowning means house is being foreclosed or car repoed etc. If you’re head is above water and you are floating- paycheck to paycheck- maybe behind on some bills etc- continue to the 5 year mark. The 5 year mark is where the magic happens and income grows exponentially. It is always darkest before dawn and most people quit when the going gets tough. I remember one day my processor had told me she took a more stable job with a larger bank. That night after everyone had left and I was locking up I was on my knees crying and praying. That was the darkest it had been – so I remembered success is right around the corner. I forged ahead and needless to say when the 5 year mark came true to the authors word- we hit our stride.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think our reputation in the market for getting the deal done and quickly was formed by our main objective- to be a reliable person in peoples lives. We strive to be someone you can count on- whether a realtor or buyer or a past client needing to reevaluate their mortgage to finance a portion of college for their children etc. We do what we say we are going to do, we close on time every time. If we make an error we own up to it and fix it and resolve it quickly. One thing I always say is a problem or issue is small today, bigger tomorrow, and even bigger the next day. It is easier to handle the problem when it’s small so we do not wait to break the news – we jump on it and start working on solutions with the buyer and agent right way. After all we all have the same common goal to get to closing so why not use that team energy and effort to accomplish it. In regards to being someone Agents know they can call for a 10 day closing- it’s all about the team. We work similar to an assembly line process to maximize efficiencies and we live by ‘do what can be done today, why wait?’ approach. Loans are not like fine wine- they don’t get better with age. They are like milk and will spoil in the pipeline. Let’s get it cleared to close as soon as possible and have docs out ahead of schedule. Doing this allows us to help Realtors win deals so they can help their clients get into their dream home.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheVaghelaTeam.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVaghelaTeam/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/av-vaghela-4b97758/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/av-vaghela-w-highlands-mortgage-allen
- Other: https://pro.experience.com/pages/amit-vaghela