Good morning Memphis! You are on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program with me Jo Garner, Mortgage Officer with Evolve Bank and Trust. Tom King of King and Vaughn Consulting, certified Shelby County tax appeal experts is sitting here at the table with us today. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and scoot in close around the table with us this morning. We’d like to know what YOU would do if you suddenly had an extra $250 dollar income check coming to your door every month for the next several years. What would YOU do with the extra $250/mo? Our topic today is “What Would YOU Do With An Extra $250 Per Month: Compliments Of Your Mortgage and Your Property Tax Assessor?”
You know the old saying that the plumber’s sink is always clogged? The mortgage loan officer’s mortgage never gets refinanced and so on and so on…
Well, not anymore. I’ve been on the same side of the desk as my customers these days. Yep. I’m refinancing a couple of my own properties.
(Tom asked)-“What does it feel like being on the customer’s side of the desk?”
(Jo answered) Its easy to understand why so many people get frustrated with pulling the paper work together. First you have to produce ALL PAGES of your bank statements. Murphy’s Law says the latest bank statement you have ALWAYS has at least ONE PAGE missing…go figure. Oh, and those three large deposits I made? It is required that I verify exactly where the money came from. I get a call from the compliance department informing me that something very bad has turned up suddenly on my credit report. It took me a good part of a day to produce proof that the credit entry was NOT mine and get it removed. It takes time to plow through all of that and I’m thinking, “This is what my CUSTOMERS have been going through.”
Enough about me. We have some great news this week if you currently own a house or if you plan to purchase one.
Mortgage rates popped up mid week but dropped back down to about 3.625% to 3.875% on the 30 yr fixed rates. The Mortgage rates dropped again as the European debt crisis deepens. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 1 basis point to 3.16 percent. The average rate for 30-year jumbo mortgages, or generally for those of more than $417,000, fell 4 basis points to 4.46 percent. The 5/1 ARM fell 2 basis points to 2.99 percent. With a 5/1 ARM, the rate is fixed for five years and adjusted annually thereafter.
If you have been listening to the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program for a few weeks, then you already know the biggest news ever is the release of the special government HARP refinance program that does not require an appraisal. This program has been a life saver for homebuyers -especially those who owe more on their homes than their homes are worth. There are a few guidelines you must meet -one is that you do not have any payments over 30 days late on your mortgage in the last few months. So if you pay on time and Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac has been the backer of your loan since before May 31, 2009, you can probably take advantage of his program.
My very capable assistant, Susan Belew, and I would like very much to give you a free evaluation just to see how much we can save you using the HARP refinance on your primary residence or any OTHER property you own. Call us directly on our direct line (901) 482 0354.
This Monday June 11th those of you who have FHA loans now and would like to refinance to a much lower rate on another FHA loan–well–FHA has significantly cut down on their upfront mortgage insurance AND monthly mortgage insurance for this program.
Are you into rehabbing a fixer-upper house? Evolve Bank and Trust has TWO popular fix-up loans. One is the Homepath Renovation loan where you can pay very little down, no private mortgage insurance and you can get funding for the renovations and repair you do to the home you purchase–even if you are an investor! Call me about these loans (901) 482 0354
The other R&R loan (that stands for Renovation & Repair and not Rest and Relaxation) The other R&R loan is the FHA 203K Renovation and repair loan. You can use this to buy a home or refinance the one you already have. Evolve is introducing a new flavor to this FHA 203K repair loan in a few weeks. In a few weeks Evolve is scheduled to be offering this fixer-upper 203K loan to owner occupants AND investors. And get this–this investor only has to pay 10% and gets to borrower his closing costs!
Our topic today is What Would YOU Do With An Extra $250 Per Month: Compliments Of Your Mortgage and Your Property Tax Assessor?”
Tom, I know how I can save someone $250 per month and a LOT more…but how can YOU help add to that savings each month?
Questions Tom asked Jo : What would YOU do with the extra $250/mo?
Jo’s answer : One of my financial advisors, Zack Davis with Edward Jones, told me how much extra I need to invest into my retirement funds if I want to retire early. As much as I love this business and the people in it, one day, I would like to retire and spend more time each day with my family and friends doing the things I love to do. Of course a LITTLE of that $250 per month would be added to the vacation fund. If you’re gonna work hard, you gotta’ play hard too.
Question 2 Tom asked Jo : You mentioned that you are on the same side of the table with your customers right now because you are refinancing your OWN house. How do you feel about the loan process now that you are experiencing it as a CUSTOMER?
Jo’s answer: The best thing a loan officer can do for his client is to prepare them for what to expect on getting the paperwork together. If the customer knows more of what is expected on the front end, then the process seems a little easier.
Susan is great about sending our customers a list of support documents needed to complete the loan. However, sometimes when the bank statements come in, there are large deposits other than payroll that will be the customer’s responsibility to document the source.
The mortgage company wants ALL PAGES of everything–ALL pages of your latest bank statements, ALL PAGES of your signed tax return if you are self employed.
Question 3 Jo to answered: Who would benefit in refinancing right now?
Jo’s answer: Tom: As a rule of thumb, if your rate is 5% or higher, most likely you can stand to gain quite a bit by refinancing to a lower rate with the same term or a much shorter term.
Real Estate Tip Of The Day: If you are a busy person and you need help pulling your loan papers together quickly to refinance or purchase a home–don’t be afraid to ask for help. (1) Usually for free, your CPA can fax or scan your tax returns to the mortgage office for you. (2) Ask your banker to print up a 45 to 60 day print out of your bank account history and stamp it certifying the copy. Let your banker send to your mortgage loan officer all pages of the electronic bank statement. (3) Ask your insurance agent to fax or scan the insurance declaration document to your mortgage company (4) If you are buying a house, ask your realtor to fax or scan all pages of the purchase contract .
For a recap of our program you can “play it again” on my blog www.mortgageloansblog.com
Let me help you solve your real estate and real estate financing challenge. Finding the solution to your real estate and mortgage problems is the purpose of our radio show and blog posts. Contact me, Jo Garner, Mortgage Officer, at (901) 482 0354 jogarner@mindspring.com