Step into the world of success and innovation with Real Estate Champions, a compelling TV show that highlights the exceptional leaders, agents, and investors shaping the real estate industry. Each episode uncovers the strategies, leadership, and insights that fuel the success of industry trailblazers, offering practical takeaways for professionals across residential, commercial, and investment real estate.
Real Estate Champions brings together top professionals and thought leaders from various sectors of real estate, including residential, commercial, and property development. These influential guests share their journeys, expertise, and advice to inspire and empower the next wave of real estate leaders and entrepreneurs. Today our host, Sarah Olson, spoke with Walter Bianchi.
Walter Bianchi
Owner / Broker at Bright Vision Mortgage
Website Address: www.WaltBianchi.com
Short company description:
Residential mortgages – purchase and refis
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Transcript:
Speaker 1
Welcome back to another episode of Real Estate Champions. And today I’m meeting with my friend here, Walter Bianchi with Bright Vision Mortgage Here in, northeast Florida. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2
Thank you. Thanks for.
Speaker 1
Having me. Yeah, this is an interesting, time that we’re in, right? Everybody’s fussing and fighting about high interest rates and low interest rates and where everything’s going and makes your life and my life very interesting. Tell me a little bit about. About you.
Speaker 2
Well, you know the Chinese that a curse. May you live in interesting times. So, yeah, these are interesting times. I am a co-owner of, Bright Vision Mortgage. We are a regional, local, brokerage. Mortgage brokerage. We do residential loans only. Okay. We work with around 20 or 20, 22, 22. I forget the exact count of mortgage lenders.
Speaker 2
So we do everything from conventional loans. FHA, VA, and even USDA. Most people don’t know that the USDA does loans for rural properties. So yeah, we do. We do it all. He locks, purchases. And I had somebody ask me I didn’t know you did revise. Yes, we do revise too. Yeah.
Speaker 1
So you’re a mortgage broker. So you shot you shop the best rates, best programs for your customers.
Speaker 2
Exactly right. We have we have systems that when I have a, I input the parameters of a loan into the system. And it tells me which banks are ideal for that customer.
Speaker 1
USDA is one of those untapped areas that that a lot of people don’t even realize in Northeast Florida that there’s little tiny pockets. There are can get a USDA loan.
Speaker 2
There’s none. None in Duvall or I think. But in Saint John’s County, Clay County, there are there are pockets where you can get vegetables.
Speaker 1
And USDA is very similar to a VA loan.
Speaker 2
It is zero money to zero down. You can you can actually finance up 101%. So you can get money back and closing things.
Speaker 1
Into your closing costs into that a little bit. Yeah a little bit. Yeah. So that’s, that’s good. Yeah. So yeah. So 2026. So we all know what’s happening. But but share share with us. Your from your perspective the history of the last 3 or 4 years of interest rates and and where you see is happening where it’s going this year.
Speaker 2
Well you know, we all remember Covid and the effect of Covid is that the government, flooded the market with money. Interest rates went way down. And then when that ended, and of course, the effect of that was for property values to shoot up double, triple what they used to be. But when that ended, then interest rates started creeping up.
Speaker 2
And now we end up with the perfect storm. We have sellers don’t want to sell because they have a 3% mortgage. And they want to move into a 6% mortgage. Buyers are facing very high costs of buying the home and higher rates. The monthly payment for a buyer today is probably three times what it was back in 2020 2021.
Speaker 2
So it’s a perfect storm. And on top of that, as I was telling you earlier, the building, the building industry has been lagging in construction versus the growth in the population growth of, you know, immigration and, our own population. So that there’s just not enough supply. Some places in Jacksonville, you can’t tell that that’s the case.
Speaker 1
In Saint Charles County.
Speaker 2
But yeah, but in America in general, that’s the case. So that affects rates as well.
Speaker 1
Yeah. So what do you think. What’s on the highlight for 2026.
Speaker 2
The they.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
They the guys are the guys are always saying the.
Speaker 1
Guys that make the decisions.
Speaker 2
It’s the guys are actually these things. They say that rates are going to continue to ease down or nothing dramatic. And you know, when the fed drops their rate that doesn’t do anything to mortgage rates. Right.
Speaker 1
So it’s a misnomer.
Speaker 2
Yeah. Everybody everybody calls you and they get excited about the fed dropping rates. It has nothing to do with mortgage rates. It’s they’re supposed to continue to decline gradually. Well, today you might get a conventional loan at six and an eight, six and a quarter. We will hopefully be in the fives by the end of the year.
Speaker 2
Yeah, FHA and VA have rates that are lower because FHA is insured by the federal government. VA are guaranteed by the federal government. So hopefully we’ll see a lower interest rate environment. But, you know, independently of interest rates, I always say the right time to buy a house is when you need a house and you can afford a house, right?
Speaker 2
You got to live somewhere you can’t go. Renting is even worse than owning these days because rents have shot up too, right? So if you need a house and you can afford a house, buy a house, then get on with your life, work your job, get promoted, get bonuses, get raises, and move on with your life. And the meantime, you’ll have a place to live.
Speaker 2
If rates drop, you can always refi. Yeah, they say marry the house.
Speaker 1
Date the right, date the right. That’s true, it’s true. And you can’t out time the market. So the best time to really make a purchasing decision is when the time is right for you.
Speaker 2
You know, the Chinese have another saying. I don’t know why Chinese today, but they said the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now, right?
Speaker 1
So and that’s true because historically rents and home prices double every ten years. Historically it’s it’s you know, and I know as I get older and I it time goes by very fast. Very very fast. Yeah.
Speaker 2
You know I don’t I didn’t know about the doubling factor, but it’s certainly true. If you look at any chart or any graph of the the trend is definitely upwards. Even when, the mortgage crisis, when they dipped and stayed down for 3 or 4 years before recovering today and they’re three times what they were.
Speaker 1
There’s our grandparents will tell us about the interest rates at 18%. Well, this 6.5% is.
Speaker 2
Yeah, exactly. But it’s.
Speaker 1
Really 6.5% is not the.
Speaker 2
Over the last century the average is eight. Yeah. You know and so six, six and half is what it was in 2015, 2010. So so that’s we’ve returned to somewhat more normal rates.
Speaker 1
Yeah. We just got spoiled with Covid rates. And then the prices honestly haven’t receded enough. There’s still enough demand in there that although home prices aren’t going up crazy, they’re not coming down as crazy as some people, are predicting as well either.
Speaker 2
Well, especially in Florida, because this is a desirable destination. People are moving into the states. So some pockets around the country, in northern states, you know, Michigan, where where the winters are unbearable, because people are leaving those states, they’re willing to the sand states, Arizona, Texas, Florida. So those states have a built in protection against, you know, excessive decrease in prices.
Speaker 2
Now, some adjustment may happen. Who knows? But, okay.
Speaker 1
Perfect. So somebody’s calling you, you get somebody who’s who’s who’s, on the fence of buying, a home and you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re messages to them.
Speaker 2
If, you know, look, let’s look at the numbers. Let’s see if it works. You know, your options are rent or buy, right? You’re either paying your landlord’s mortgage or you’re paying your and.
Speaker 1
Your landlord loves that.
Speaker 2
And listen, if if it’s not right, if the numbers don’t shake out, I’ll tell you. Yeah, I’d rather have a good relationship with somebody than have a transaction.
Speaker 1
Yeah. You know, and it’s nice that you’re you are a broker so you can shop the best from, from your 2020.
Speaker 2
Plus I’m always trying to recruit people who work in banks because people are getting banks. First of all, they’re paid less. Yeah. And second, you know, they don’t have the choices that we have.
Speaker 1
Right? Okay. Fantastic. Well, Walt, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you very much. Our pleasure to meet with you. And, for more information on Walt and Bright Vision Mortgage, and connect with him, go to Property Solutions, TV.com.
