“12 Days of Christmas- Top 12 Ways To Negotiate Your Home Purchase & Mortgage Terms” 12-14-13
Highlights from today’s podcast:
- Choose an experienced loan officer and realtor with a good track record to help walk you around the pitfalls in the buying process
- Get preapproved by a reputable lender before you make an offer on a house, but make sure the payment fits your budget.
- Do your homework before bidding
- Hire a home inspector
- Remember you are dealing with real people with real feelings.
- Pay attention to the condition of the home.
- Compare rates and closing costs of 3 different lenders. Remember, the lowest rate is almost NEVER the best deal. You must compare the cost of the loan as well as the payment amount.
- Once your loan is in process, do not take on any new debt and do not add to the balances owed on existing debt.
- Be as conservative and accurate with the loan officer as possible when giving them your income and asset figures.
- If the homebuyer knows he will be relocating within 5 years, they may want to look at a lower rate loan like a 5-1 ARM, fixed for the first five years and then converting to an adjustable rate.
- Homebuyers education through a HUD approved company like United Housing here in Memphis.
- A good way to keep your credit scores at their optimal level is to keep your credit balances UNDER 30% of the total credit limit.
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Good morning, Memphis! Good morning across the country on IHEART radio. We are now only 12 days from Christmas. Its really okay if you don’t get EVERYTHING done on your list before the big day. Take a little time to enjoy some precious moments with friends and family. That’s really what counts anyway. Thank you for spending a little time with us here on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program. I’m Jo Garner, mortgage professional with Evolve Bank and Trust. Joining us around the coffee table today is our co-host Pat Goldstein, realtor with Crye-Leike in Memphis.
Pat has been voted Realtor of the Year by the Memphis Area Association of Realtors and has almost 30 years experience as a realtor. It’s always great having you on the show.
Today we’re talking about the “12 Days of Christmas: Top Twelve Ways To Negotiate Your Home Purchase & Financing Terms.” If you have a real estate or financing challenge or maybe you have found a solution that may help someone, give us a call on the air at (901) 535-WREC.
Everyone seems to be sitting on the edge of their chairs waiting for the Federal Reserve to say when they will taper off buying mortgage-backed securities. We should know more about the direction mortgage rates will be heading Wednesday after the Fed makes their big speech. IF they start tapering THIS month December 2013 instead of March 2014, the housing market will probably see a substantial dip because mortgage rates will probably go up again. Rates went up a little this week and ended sideways yesterday with the 30 year fixed rate around 4.625% with no points on the conventional program. 4.25% on the 30 year government loans and the 15 year about 3.625% no points. If you don’t mind paying a little extra on costs, you can get a lower rate.
(Jo) Coming up this January 2014 stricter regulations for mortgages will take affect. It will be be more important than ever to make sure you team up with an experienced loan officer and an experienced realtor with a good track record to help steer you around the pit falls. My word to the wise is “IF THE DEAL WORKS FOR YOU TODAY, DO IT TODAY.”
You may be buying your first home, a vacation home or another of many rental properties. Mortgage rates are still a bargain and the values on homes in most areas still look to be a bargain compared to a few years ago.
Several years ago after graduating from Union University in Jackson, TN, I moved up to Portland, Maine where I got into the real estate business. I didn’t have any family up there but met some very fine Northern New England folks who set me on a solid path and kept me out of trouble. We were so busy chopping firewood and hauling it 9 months out of the year I was too TIRED to get into too much trouble. Some of these very hardy, dyed in the wool yankee friends who surrounded me grew up during the Great Depression. They used to tell me ‘Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.’ One of my mentors never tired of reminding me never to buy anything unless it was on sale. Well,,, mortgage rates and a lot of real estate is still on sale at a bargain.
(Jo ) My very experienced assistant, Susan Belew, and have been busy getting customers approved for mortgages to buy houses, but we are still helping homeowners refinance their homes, their vacation homes and rental properties. So many of the loan products we have today do not even require an appraisal. If you know someone who is always short on funds but they have good credit and own their home, I may been able to free up a few hundred dollars a month for them just by restructuring their mortgage terms. Give me a call now on the air at 901 535-WREC or directly off the air at (901) 482 0354. That direct number off the air is (901) 482 0354 or catch me on my blog www.mortgageloansblog.com
If you know someone who wants to own their own home, call me. We have down payment assistance programs and a few 100% loans to qualified buyers. Maybe you’re e self employed with good credit and you’ve been turned down by a bank due to lack of income—call me right now. If you will send me ALL PAGES of your tax return including any K-1s, we just might be able to find all the income you need in the BACK PAGES of your returns. It amazes me how many other loan officers to not bother to look there.
Pat today we are talking about the “12 Days of Christmas: Top Twelve Ways To Negotiate Your Home Purchase & Financing Terms.” If you are refinancing or purchasing a home, here’s one of the tips I would like to share today: 1. Choose an experienced team with a good track record for your realtor, and your loan officer. With the ever-changing government regulations on home loans, it is more important than ever to have a loan officer on your team that can steer you around pitfalls and land you with the terms and approval you need.
Pat, you’ve got almost 30 years experience as a realtor in Memphis. What are some tips you can share
Talk Shoppe’s Make A Wish celebration at Evolve Bank and Trust Tuesday and introduce Ms. Jenkins and her family. Ms Jenkins shares her thanks to Make A Wish and those people who raised money to make her son’s wish possible and she encourages others to give to Make A Wish to help other children and their families
Jo issues Jack’s Challenge-to take someone who is alone or grieving out for coffee and spend quality time with them.
____________________________________________________QUESTIONS FOR PAT GOLDSTEIN TO ANSWER:
- . Get preapproved by a reputable lender before you make an offer on a house, but make sure the payment fits your budget. . Lenders qualify buyers based on their incomes and debt-to-income ratios without considering how much the borrowers spend on items such as transportation, savings, food and other necessities.”Every buyer should create their own budget and know their limits,” says Stephen Adamo, president of Weichert Financial Services in Morris Plains, N.J.
- Do your homework before bidding.
- Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that’s about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.
- 4. Hire a home inspector.
- Remember you are dealing with real people with real feelings. this is not a company merger or acquisition; it’s the sale of a family home to another family,” Phipps says. “You’ll get a better outcome if you negotiate with that in mind.” One example of this style of negotiation: “Send a personal letter with your counteroffer,” Phipps recommends. Say something along the lines of, “This is a great house, we’ve really enjoyed it, and here’s why we’ve really enjoyed it.” Understand your buyers, and remember that money is not the only motivator as you negotiate the best price on your first home. One seller discovered that a potential buyer was a golf fanatic. So instead of discounting the price of the home, he sweetened the deal by offering to pay the buyer’s initiation fee to the country club.
- Pay attention to the condition of the home. Depending on the loan product you are using, most require the home to be in livable condition when you move in. It there is a leaky roof, rotted wood, or systems that do not work, chances are the buyer or seller will have repair these BEFORE closing. In some cases you can set up an escrow account at closing for repairing the him but not in all cases. If there is over $5,000 in repairs, you may consider getting a special FHA 203K renovation and repair loan to buy the house AND fix it up.
QUESTIONS FOR JO GARNER TO ANSWER:
7. Compare rates and closing costs of 3 different lenders. Remember, the lowest rate is almost NEVER the best deal. You must compare the cost of the loan as well as the payment amount.
8. Once your loan is in process, do not take on any new debt and do not add to the balances owed on existing debt. Certainly do not open a 12 months same as cash account.
9. Be as conservative and accurate with the loan officer as possible when giving them your income and asset figures. . Do not change jobs or create any changes in your income. Do not move money around from one account to the other or spend any of the funds you have told the loan officer you have in your accounts. And don’t make large deposits that you cannot prove the source.
10. A good credit score can get you the best terms available for your financing but a low credit scores can cost you thousands of dollars in higher priced debt. A great score is 740 and higher. A good score is 700 to 739. A decent score is 680 to 699. Some lenders will lend to someone with a 620 or 640 but the price of financing will be higher.
If you need to boost your credit scores by 50 or 100 points before applying for the loan, my assistant, Susan Belew and I can use the Credit Simulator systems to help you get the highest score in the shortest amount of time for the least amount of investment.
11.First-time homebuyers today typically want the lowest rate and usually choose the 30 yr fixed rate loan instead of interest-only mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages. However, if the homebuyer knows he will be relocating within 5 years, they may want to look at a lower rate loan like a 5-1 ARM, fixed for the first five years and then converting to an adjustable rate. Homebuyers who can afford a higher payment and want to pay the house off sooner, could look at a 15 or 10 year loan to reach their goals faster.
12. Homebuyers education through a HUD approved company like United Housing here in Memphis.
REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK (PAT GOLDSTEIN 1.5 MINUTES.
Jo can add a short tip of the week about using the Credit Simulator tool
Jo has three announcements :1. Talk Shoppe offers the community free networking and education to anyone interested in real estate or business. This Wednesday 9A-10A at DeVry University 6401 Poplar Ave 6th floor in Memphis Talk Shoppe invites the general public and members of other networking groups to join us for our end of the year Networking party. Some of us will be dressed for the holiday theme. Its optional. The events are free. For more information about Talk Shoppe go to www.TalkShoppe.BIZ
- Next Saturday 9AM on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe Tom King, Shelby County Real Estate Property Tax Appeal Expert will be hosting. He would LOVE to hear from you.
- Jo issues Jack’s Challenge to take someone out for coffee that you know is alone or grieving a loss this Christmas. Spend some quality time with that person.
Transition Songs: “Carol of the Bells” Trans Siberian Orchestra; Caroling, Caroling (Christmas Bells Are Ringing) by Nat King Cole; “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” Manneheim Steamroller
Jo Garner’s Bio
www.MortgageLoansBlog.com www.MoneyShoppe.NET (901) 482 0354 jogarner@mindspring.com
Jo Garner is a mortgage officer with extensive knowledge in tailoring mortgages to her customers who are refinancing or purchasing homes all over the country. She offers conventional, FHA, VA or other loan programs for refinancing and purchases.
Jo can help you look at rent vs buy, when it makes sense to refinance, how to get the best deal on your home purchase financing.
Jo Garner has been in the real estate/financing business for over 20 years. She got her start in Portland, Maine where she first began her real estate career. She received her real estate education from the University of Southern Maine and was personally mentored in San Diego, California by Robert G. Allen, author of Nothing Down, Creating Wealth and The Challenge.
On moving back to West Tennessee in 1987, she went into business buying and selling discounted owner-financed notes secured on real estate. In 1990 Jo went to work for a residential mortgage company and has been a mortgage loan officer for over 20 years. Her goal is to offer excellent, affordable service to her customers, tailoring the loan programs to the specific needs of her clients.
In addition to her work in the mortgage field, Jo Garner is the primary sponsor and founder of Talk Shoppe in Memphis. www.TalkShoppe.BIZ She was also the editor of Power Shoppe, a free weekly ezine designed for real estate professionals and others indirectly connected to the real estate industry and currently publishes on her blog www.MortgageLoansBlog.com .
Pat Goldstein, Crye-Leike Memphis, TN (901) 606-2000
For real estate financing solutions, plug into the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program. You can find mortgage rates, FHA Streamline refinance with no out-of-pocket costs, refinancing options, home purchase loan programs, answers and real estate, money-saving tips and more.