Interview with Santa Cruz Lender – Jenny Boffy

Interview with Santa Cruz Lender – Jenny Boffy; Cross Country Mortgage

Hi, I’m Shemeika Fox, your Santa Cruz real estate expert, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenny Boffy, a mortgage advisor with Cross Country Mortgage. In this insightful interview, Jenny shares her journey into the mortgage industry and how she applies her background in child and adolescent development to educate and empower her clients. Discover her passion for helping people achieve their dreams of homeownership and her commitment to providing exceptional service. Read on to learn more about the invaluable insights Jenny provides as a trusted Santa Cruz lender. Before we get to the interview, let me tell you a little bit more about Jenny.

Jenny Boffy, a native of Santa Cruz, is a highly experienced and dedicated professional in the mortgage industry, specializing in assisting individuals and families with their home financing needs. With over 16 years of expertise, Jenny understands the significance of owning a home in this beloved city and is passionate about helping others achieve this dream.

Having personally experienced the process of purchasing a Santa Cruz home and being a homeowner herself, Jenny recognizes that it goes beyond a mere financial transaction. She acknowledges the complexity and importance of the journey and strives to work with clients who seek a knowledgeable and empathetic partner. With her extensive background, Jenny has honed her skills in assisting clients not only with home purchases but also with refinancing options.

To better understand her clients’ desires and requirements, Jenny offers consultations where she dedicates time to discuss their goals and aspirations. By carefully assessing their needs, she can provide tailored solutions that align with their financial objectives. Whether clients are looking to purchase a new home or explore refinancing opportunities, Jenny’s expertise and commitment are invaluable assets in navigating the mortgage process.

Outside of her professional pursuits, Jenny enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends. As a dedicated mother to her ambitious and down-to-earth daughter, and being married to her husband, who is also a Santa Cruz native and a local insurance agent, Jenny cherishes the bonds she shares with her loved ones. Embracing the natural beauty of Santa Cruz, she takes pleasure in outdoor activities such as hiking, gardening, running, and soaking up the sun by the poolside or at the beach, promoting an active and fulfilling lifestyle.

If you are seeking guidance and assistance in purchasing a home or refinancing your current mortgage, Jenny Boffy’s expertise, combined with her genuine care for her clients and her deep understanding of Santa Cruz’s real estate landscape, make her an ideal choice. Reach out to schedule a consultation and embark on a journey toward realizing your homeownership goals with a trusted professional by your side.

Interview Highlights:

1. Getting Into the Mortgage Industry: Jenny reveals how she entered the mortgage industry through a personal connection and embarked on her first career trajectory right after college. Her background in child and adolescent development equipped her with valuable teaching skills that she now uses to educate clients about the intricacies of purchasing and refinancing a home. By employing various teaching methods, she ensures her clients understand the processes involved.
2. Overcoming Challenges in the Market: Jenny discusses the challenges faced in the mortgage industry, particularly the constantly shifting market conditions and the impact of negative media on potential homebuyers. She emphasizes the importance of having meaningful conversations with clients to dispel misconceptions created by the media and help them realize their homeownership possibilities. Jenny’s ability to innovate and find strategies to assist clients even in challenging market scenarios sets her apart.
3. Facilitating a Smooth Transaction: Jenny outlines the process she follows to ensure a seamless and efficient transaction for her clients. Starting with an initial consultation, she dives deep into clients’ goals and objectives, enabling her to tailor loan scenarios specific to their needs. By offering personalized mortgage analyses and fully underwritten preapprovals, Jenny helps clients make informed decisions when making offers on homes. This approach not only enhances their chances of securing their dream home but also differentiates them in a competitive market.
4. Empowering Clients and Making Dreams Come True: Jenny’s passion for educating and empowering people shines through in her work. She shares heartwarming moments where she guided clients who initially believed homeownership was impossible, only to witness their joy and gratitude when they achieved their goals. Jenny’s commitment extends beyond home purchases to refinancing, as she emphasizes the benefits of reviewing mortgages annually to ensure they remain advantageous for homeowners. Her dedication to making American dreams come true every day is truly commendable.
5. Standing Out as a Santa Cruz Mortgage Advisor: Jenny explains that her individualized approach and unwavering commitment to her clients set her apart from her competition. She invests personal effort and goes the extra mile to understand clients’ unique circumstances and provide tailored solutions. Unlike lenders who focus solely on rates, Jenny’s emphasis on educating clients about the potential drawbacks of certain options and offering transparent breakeven point calculations demonstrates her dedication to their long-term financial well-being.

Jenny Boffy’s expertise as a mortgage advisor with Cross Country Mortgage makes her a trusted and respected professional in the Santa Cruz area. Her unwavering commitment to providing exceptional service and personalized guidance sets her apart from others in the industry. By leveraging her background in child and adolescent development, Jenny employs effective teaching methods to educate her clients about the intricacies of the mortgage process.

One of Jenny’s notable strengths is her ability to overcome challenges in the ever-changing mortgage market. She recognizes the impact of negative media and misinformation on potential homebuyers and actively engages in meaningful conversations to dispel misconceptions. By sharing her extensive knowledge and expertise, she empowers her clients to make informed decisions and helps them realize their dreams of homeownership.

Throughout the mortgage transaction process, Jenny ensures a smooth and efficient experience for her clients. By conducting thorough initial consultations and understanding their goals and objectives, she tailors loan scenarios specific to their needs. Her commitment to providing fully underwritten preapprovals and personalized mortgage analyses enables her clients to confidently make offers on homes and stand out in a competitive market.

Jenny’s passion for empowering her clients extends beyond home purchases. She also emphasizes the importance of reviewing and optimizing existing mortgages through refinancing. By guiding homeowners through annual mortgage reviews, she ensures that their financial strategies remain advantageous and aligned with their long-term goals.

What truly sets Jenny apart is her dedication to the individualized needs of her clients. She invests personal effort and goes the extra mile to understand their unique circumstances, providing tailored solutions that prioritize their best interests. Instead of solely focusing on rates, Jenny takes the time to educate her clients about the potential drawbacks of certain options and offers transparent calculations of breakeven points. This commitment to their long-term financial well-being demonstrates her genuine care and dedication.

In conclusion, Jenny Boffy is an exceptional mortgage advisor who is passionate about empowering Santa Cruz residents to achieve their dreams of homeownership. Through her expert advice, personalized service, and commitment to educating clients, she guides them through the mortgage process with confidence and ease. Whether purchasing a new home or refinancing an existing mortgage, Jenny’s professionalism, knowledge, and dedication make her a trusted partner in the journey towards achieving homeownership and financial success.

Interview Transcript:

• Shemeika: Hi I’m Shemeika Fox, your Santa Cruz real estate expert and I am so excited to introduce to you the lovely Jenny Boffy who is a mortgage advisor with Cross Country Mortgage. And we are gonna get to know a little bit about her and her business. Jenny, How did you get into the mortgage industry?
• Jenny: I got into the business through one of my best friend’s dad’s, while I was in college.
• Shemeika: So this has been your first career trajectory right outta college? Where’d you go to college?
• Jenny: Correct. San Jose State.
• Shemeika: Nice, what’d you study?
• Jenny: Child and adolescent development.
• Shemeika: So how do you apply child and adolescent development to your current job as a mortgage advisor?
• Jenny: Okay great question. So I was learning and studying about early childhood and adolescent development with the intention of becoming a teacher. So using the skills of teaching I’m able to help clients by educating them on the process of not only purchasing but refinancing and being able to explain the processes in many different ways so that they understand.
• Shemeika: I love it. And that’s one of I mean, I have lots of favorite things about you. Like every time I hang out with you I, I’m like I love that about Jenny. But last night you were explaining to a group of women in business about your process with helping your clients and it seemed very natural that you were inclined to educate them to empower them to make the best decision for themselves and their family. I really admire that. What is your favorite thing about being a mortgage advisor?
• Jenny: One of my favorite things about being a mortgage advisor is helping people obtain the dream of home ownership.
• Shemeika: I love that. I’m gonna just keep saying I love that after everything she says. What have been some of the challenges that you have had to endure in the industry?
• Jenny: That’s a great question, Shemeika. Challenges in the industry I would say have to do with things that are out of our control, right? So the market is constantly shifting. As we know currently, interest rates have made it very difficult especially for first time home buyers to actually enter into the home purchasing market which is difficult and it’s something that we cannot control but we have been able to find strategies to still help folks. But I would say kind of going back into that, another challenge not only are like the shifts in the market that we can’t control but what those clients or prospects are hearing in the media which deter them from wanting to even begin the dialogue of figuring out how can I purchase a home, right? So trying to get in front of the media and saying hold on, I know that’s what you’re reading or hearing but let’s have a conversation. And many times those folks that are like, oh I can’t, I can’t, I can’t then finally realize, oh I can.
• Shemeika: I love that. See I keep saying that. I love that. So what I’m hearing is that you are, one ahead of the market, ahead of the curve and you innovate in order to still educate and serve your clients so that they again can be empowered to make the best decision for themselves. And I agree with you, like I’m also in the industry clearly and it makes our job more challenging in my opinion but if there weren’t any challenges there’d be no growth. So I welcome the opportunity but the challenge is that negative media is what sells. Nobody is watching the news when it’s sunny and the birds are chirping and there is not a care in the world, that media outlet will go out of business. So we have a more challenging job to be able to relay to our clients the actual facts and let them look at it. And then there’s really cool things that you get to do on the creative side of lending. Like what about a 2-1 buy down? What about a rate buy down? What about getting a seller credit to help offset the cost of the mortgage so that you can afford? And also like no matter what are and correct me if I’m wrong, but no matter what our economy is, there’s always going to be a challenge. Like the last cycle in the market what I experienced was that a lot of buyers didn’t wanna get involved because there was all across the news these bidding wars and things are selling for hundreds of thousands above the list price. And so now we’re constantly battling the media to educate our clients and to make sure that they have enough information to feel empowered to make the right decision. And sometimes that might be not to buy a house right now and other times it might be, oh I had no idea. I think that’s really cool.
• Jenny: That was amazing. I love that.
• Shemeika: I feel very passionate about educating people.
• Jenny: So am I.
• Shemeika: Can you tell me what the process is that you go through with your clients in order to facilitate a smooth and semi, as seamless as possible transaction?
• Jenny: In general the process begins with setting up an initial consultation either over the phone or in person in the office. Once we are conducting the consultation, we’re gonna be discussing income and assets. So those general formalities have to get covered. But what I do is ask a lengthy amount of questions and those questions kind of have to do with the borrower’s short and long term goals so that when I am putting together different loan scenarios, different loan options I am gearing those towards those goals that they have. So every consultation is curated specifically for that client. Once we have the consultation taken care of, the client then has the opportunity to take a loan application, have their credit pulled and allows me to pre-approve them so that they can move forward. I also create what’s called a mortgage analysis that displays to them a few different options side by side so that they can confidently choose what loan program will fit their short and long-term needs. Once we have kind of dialed that in then they are free to go make their offers with their realtor. And then once they get into contract we have all of the information that they need. The process is quite seamless because a lot of the times what we do is we also take that loan application and all their documents and actually send it to an underwriter ahead of time so the loan is already being underwritten before they’re even making offers.
• Shemeika: As a realtor I love that, it makes your offer also in my opinion stand out from somebody who’s either just pre-qualified or pre-approved but not fully underwritten with their pre-approval. Correct, so ask your lender about getting a fully underwritten preapproval when you are ready to make an offer.
• Jenny: Yes.
• Shemeika: Has there ever been a moment in your career that you were like, damn that felt good because you were able to really educate somebody and they understood and they took action and that action allowed them to obtain their outcome that they were dreaming of? And if so, what was the moment? I mean I’m sure there’s many but is there any that like stands out?
• Jenny: It happens a lot but I guess it feels really good when somebody comes and they just think that there’s like, there’s just no way. There’s just no way. And then you show them the way and it works out and they’re just so thrilled and like thankful. And you’re like, are you kidding me? Like I am as equally like thrilled and like thankful that I had the opportunity to do this for you.
• Shemeika: You’re like making American dreams come true every day.
• Jenny: Yes, I’m making American dreams come true every day not with just home purchases but I really love to emphasize the fact that I also do refinances and there’s such a benefit in refinancing for a multitude of reasons. And I do think that it’s important that once you’re a homeowner that it’s important that you’re having your mortgage reviewed on an annual basis to make sure that it’s still working in your favor and that if you need to make any changes that you can always refinance.
• Shemeika: I know that there’s a lot of choices when somebody is shopping for a home loan and shopping for a lender. What would you say makes you stand out against your competition? You don’t have to say anything bad about anybody else but like why would somebody want to come work with you?
• Jenny: I think that somebody would want to come work with me because of the individual service that I give to each client. It doesn’t look the same for every single client. And I will like roll up my sleeves. I always say sometimes I have to roll up my sleeves and get really dirty to make this work.
• Shemeika: And you’re willing to do that?
• Jenny: I’m willing to do that. Sometimes the answer is not in front of me that day and I’ll tell the client I need to sleep on it. And I wake up in the middle of the night going, I got it.
• Shemeika: I know, I think one time we were messaging at like three in the morning. I’m like what are you doing? And you’re like I just had to crunch numbers. I’m like, at three in the morning?
• Jenny: I get jazzed up about it. I do I really do. I’m like, I just wanna help more people. I honestly do. There’s so many people out there that will just go with let’s say someone who’s just quoting them a really great rate and unfortunately a great rate is not always the best option. It really isn’t because you’re sometimes, to get that interest rate you’re either paying, you’re putting more money than you need to down or you’re paying an exuberant amount of money to buy down the rate and in the end it just doesn’t make sense. And so if you are having your clients buy down discount points it’s important that the lender is showing you what’s the breakeven point? When does this actually really start making me money?
• Shemeika: Smart.
• Jenny: Whereas a lot of people will, other lenders will just quote the rate. And that’s it. That’ll cost you $150,000 in addition to all these other fees. I always feel like I can’t give somebody enough information. I could talk about mortgages all day, every day and like never run outta something to talk about, it’s pretty crazy.
• Shemeika: That is really crazy actually. Three in the morning we were messaging about numbers in mortgages. I was like, go to sleep. Well I think that’s really cool. My experience with you has and like from an outsider’s perspective watching you do your business first of all I think that you handle yourself very professionally. You seem to have all the patience in the world which is very admirable. And I loved what Malia said last night that you’ll answer your phone it’s a client and you wouldn’t know whether you were talking to a client or a friend with the amount of heart and soul you put into everybody and every transaction and every client that you’re serving. So I think that’s really a wonderful attribute. So work with Jenny Boffy, your mortgage expert strategist. Have you ever had a year or like a time period in the industry where you were like, that market was the best market I’ve ever been in? Or is it always like there’s a lack of balance?
• Jenny: Something that I’ve been working, I wouldn’t say working towards per se but having accountability in any kind of profession that you’re doing. But for me personally, having a coach has helped me stay accountable and has helped me stay clearer with like my vision and my goals and my daily tasks.
• Shemeika: That’s great.
• Jenny: I would definitely recommend again not just anybody in this field but any field, any profession that you have that you really want to give your very best, you should have a coach.
• Shemeika: Yeah, I agree. Michael Jordan had a coach.
• Jenny: Everybody should have a coach.
• Shemeika: Do you have a coach?
• Camerawoman: You.
• Shemeika: Oh, I love that. And cut. Thank you, Jenny Boffy. If you are interested in having more information on a home loan or refinance, please reach out to Jenny Boffy, your mortgage expert strategist. She will lead you down the path of empowerment.
• Jenny: Thank you, Shemeika.
• Shemeika: Thank you. I love it.
• Jenny: And cut.
• Shemeika: Cut. And cut.