EP# 47: Unveiling the Mortgage Curtain: Tim Dion's 40-Year Odyssey in Home Financing
Apr 11, 2024Episode 47
Liz Lemon & Tim Dion
What makes Tim Dion with NationsLending a good neighbor?
Ever wondered how a mortgage industry veteran navigates the highs and lows of home loans? Let Tim Dion of Nations Lending pull back the curtain on his 40-year career journey, from humble beginnings in a bank's collection department to steering a company that's at the forefront of Massachusetts' mortgage scene. With a promise to clarify the oft-misunderstood world of FHA, VA, and conventional loans, our Good Neighbor Podcast is your ticket to understanding the ins and outs of securing the right loan for your dream home.
Join me, Liz Lemon, as we share laughs, debunk myths, and even touch on how personal passions like golf can shape professional excellence. Tim's inspiring story of resilience through the 2010 mortgage crisis and his commitment to personalized customer service will not only enlighten you about the mortgage process but may also spark a desire to hit the links. So, tune in for a conversation that's as informative as it is heartening, and get ready to have all your home loan questions expertly answered.
What makes Tim Dion with NationsLending a good neighbor?
Ever wondered how a mortgage industry veteran navigates the highs and lows of home loans? Let Tim Dion of Nations Lending pull back the curtain on his 40-year career journey, from humble beginnings in a bank's collection department to steering a company that's at the forefront of Massachusetts' mortgage scene. With a promise to clarify the oft-misunderstood world of FHA, VA, and conventional loans, our Good Neighbor Podcast is your ticket to understanding the ins and outs of securing the right loan for your dream home.
Join me, Liz Lemon, as we share laughs, debunk myths, and even touch on how personal passions like golf can shape professional excellence. Tim's inspiring story of resilience through the 2010 mortgage crisis and his commitment to personalized customer service will not only enlighten you about the mortgage process but may also spark a desire to hit the links. So, tune in for a conversation that's as informative as it is heartening, and get ready to have all your home loan questions expertly answered.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Liz Lemon.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a home loan? Surprisingly, you might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your neighbor, tim Dion, with Nations Lending. How are you doing today, tim?
Speaker 3:
I'm doing great. Thanks Liz.
Speaker 2:
Great, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about Nations Lending. How are you doing today, tim? I'm doing great. Thanks, liz. Great, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about Nations Lending.
Speaker 3:
So Nations Lending is a mortgage lender, a direct mortgage lender. We make mortgages for first-time homebuyers, people who are looking, or repeat home buyers Basically it's for anyone looking to purchase a home. Nation's Lending offers FHA, va, conventional all types of first-time home buyer programs. How did you get into the business? Well, we're going to have to go back a ways there, liz. I got in the business 40 years ago and I'm not that old.
Speaker 3:
So, coming out of college, I started with a company, with a bank, a mechanics bank and started actually in the collection department of the bank, which wasn't the greatest of jobs, but mortgage. I enjoyed banking but I didn't truly enjoy the collection aspect and mortgages were just kind of opening up. In other words, you know, 40 years ago when people needed a mortgage, they typically went to a bank to get a mortgage. But that's when we started to offer mortgages through a company called Commonwealth Mortgage Corporation and we actually became the largest lender in Massachusetts. Over time we did so again by offering mortgages that the banks don't offer right Mortgages like FHA loans, mortgages where people had maybe lower credit scores than what the banks were looking for, lower down payments, that type of thing. So it was a terrific business very interesting. Helping people is what I really enjoy.
Speaker 2:
That's great. What are the myths and misconceptions within your industry?
Speaker 3:
Myths and misconceptions within the industry. I guess the best way to put that is you know, I'm really a service-orientated business where people, again years ago, they would confuse what we did with what a bank did. Right, they would say, why would I go to a mortgage company when I can go to a bank? And the misconception was that, that, that if the only people who came to us were people who didn't qualify at banks, that was really the big misconception with mortgage companies. What do we do? You know we we're basically the the arm of a bank, right, all we do is mortgages 24 seven.
Speaker 3:
So it's it's really our job to focus on your needs, you the customer, your needs, your wants. You know what type of mortgage do you want? You know everybody wants the lowest rate, right, liz says everybody wants that. But, but more importantly, it's a matter of you know getting you qualified for the best product that's out there, whether it's a first time home buyer, mass housing loan, whether it's an FHA loan because maybe your credit score isn't as high as it needs to be for the mass housing. It's my job when people, customers, call me to determine what the best placement is for you.
Speaker 2:
Right. A lot of factors, for sure. Outside of work, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:
Well, I really enjoy golfing. You know it's getting toward. Finally. We're seeing a sunny day today, right, and I like to get out and golf with my family, right my son, who's also in the mortgage business, and my granddaughter grandson. I also like to enjoy going to watch him my grandson play lacrosse. My granddaughter is a very good golfer, though, so I go watch her play a lot, plays a lot better than I do, let's put it that way.
Speaker 2:
Let's change gears just for a moment. Can you describe one hardship or life challenges that you rose above and can now say, because of it you're better and stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:
I think the mortgage industry in general, right. We went through that crisis back in 2000. I think it was 2010, right around there, where the mortgage industry really got stepped on a little bit. Right, as they were offering mortgages with very what's the word I'm looking for, they had loosened up their guidelines right to where you could purchase a home with no docs, right? No income verification, no asset verification. So what happened? Obviously, when you've been in a business for 40 years, liz, you see the ups and downs, right, and you live through them. So I'm going to say that when that crisis hit, it really affected mortgage lending for some time and a lot of people in my industry disappeared at that period of time.
Speaker 3:
And I rose above it by staying consistent, right, I never really got involved with those types of mortgages. I never got involved with a no income, no asset. It's always been a priority of mine to get someone into the home the best product that you can afford without kind of overstepping your boundaries. People get excited when they're buying a home. It's like buying a stock, right, I want it. I want it, but do you qualify for it? It's my job to make sure that you understand what the payment's going to be if you're purchasing a two-family home, how to deal with collecting rents. Educating you on all facets of buying your first home it's my job and that's what I enjoy doing.
Speaker 2:
That's important. A lot of factors for sure. How can our listeners learn more about Nations Lending?
Speaker 3:
Best way to reach me is my cell phone, 413-237-5140. Also my email, timdeon, at nationslendingcom. And the nice thing with my business that again is a little bit different than the bank's is I'm available. That's my cell phone. I just came out. So you know. The service industry is what I'm all about.
Speaker 3:
I have people who call me on a Sunday afternoon who say hey, tim, I'm putting an offer in on a house today and I need a pre-approval letter. Can you offer that to me today? Try calling XYZ Bank banker and asking them to do that. I do it. I answer my cell phone. It's a very simple process, liz.
Speaker 3:
If people reach out to me, the home buying process can seem overwhelming, right, but it's really my job. When you call my cell 413-237-5140, to kind of put your mind at ease. I get some basic information from you so that I can determine what product is best, and then I issue you a pre-approval letter. Very important in this market right now, liz, as you're going to bid on a home, that you have that pre-approval letter. Very important in this market right now, liz, as you're going to bid on a home, that you have that pre-approval letter. Not only that, but the realtors that I work with. They know me right. So if they see my name on the pre-approval letter they know I've been doing this for 40 years and it kind of helps you as the buyer as you negotiate your offer that you're working with me, because they know that no surprises are coming.
Speaker 2:
That's fantastic. What a great time, what a great industry that you have, and thanks for all you do. We appreciate you being on the show today and we wish you and your business the best.
Speaker 3:
Moving forward, Tim.
Speaker 1:
Thank you, liz. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppalmercom. That's gnppalmercom, or call 413-414-5940.