I will be covering some creative mortgage ideas you may not have ever thought about that can add to your financial bottom line on your home purchase loan or refinance in today’s episode of Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe.  John Lawhon will be covering some clever ways you can make your landscaping bring happiness to your household and your home’s value. 

Thank you for stopping by for a visit.  If you did not get the information you were seeking from this blogpost/podcast, please connect with me at jo@192.232.195.219 or at (901) 482-0354 and I am happy to help you find the information you seek. 

To your success,

Jo Garner, Mortgage Loan Officer, Radio Talk Show Host for Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe

__________________________________________________________________
Good morning, Memphis!  Welcome to our podcast listeners, online listeners and those of you joining us via your radios from across the airwaves! You’re on Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe. I’m your host, Jo Garner, Mortgage Loan Officer.  You can connect with me at www.JoGarner.com.   Our general topic is CREATIVE MORTGAGE IDEAS & CLEVER LANDSCAPING IDEAS TO IMPROVE YOUR HOME AND YOUR FINANCIAL BOTTOM LINE. If you have a question or comment and you’re on Twitter, make them to #JoGarner or call me directly after the show at (901) 482-0354.  You can call us while we are live in the studio at (901) 535-9732 or outside the Memphis area (800) 474-9732 Today is  October 1st, 2016.

In today’s episode of Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe I will be covering some creative mortgage ideas you may not have ever thought about that can add to your financial bottom line on your home purchase loan or refinance.  John Lawhon will be covering some clever ways you can make your landscaping bring happiness to your household and your home’s value. 

The Lawhon’s design, install and maintain landscapes for both residential and commercial customers.  They also install irrigation systems.  The Lawhons are serious about doing the job right. John, it’s great having you back on Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe. Tell us a little bit about how you got into the landscaping business and what keeps you there. <John introduces himself>

(Jo) John, you are a guy who solves riddles and provides the best solutions to your clients’ challenges whether it is improving the homeowner’s curb appeal so they can sell their house or fixing their drainage problem.   I am a mortgage loan officer, always on the lookout for the best financing scenarios for my client’s individual situations. I plan to share a few of these ideas later in our show.  And between the customer and me, we can find some very creative mortgage solutions.  Sometimes we come up with some great ideas, like WOW, it pays to spend just a little extra time outside the box.

Kind of the like the story of Marco Polo in the 13th century when he told the Mongols the trick of using rocks instead of wood for heating and for cooking.   He showed them how to collect these certain kind of rocks and how they magically lit up when they were heated and they burned longer and hotter than the big branches off the oldest trees.  But instead of being willing to think outside the box, the Mongols crossed their arms , shook their heads and said, “You can’t burn rocks!” (said with a Southern drawl) Well, maybe they didn’t say it exactly like that.   The Mongol people were not willing to step outside of the way they had always done things and they shut down some great ideas that could have prospered them. Consequently, the Europeans didn’t  develop coal mines for another 600 years, delaying the Industrial Revolution and the Modern Age. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

There are so many great ideas that are working beautifully right now for my clients who are willing to step out and put those ideas to work.  Mortgage rates yesterday remained still very low in the low to high 3’s on the conventional 30 year program with the 15 year fixed rates coming in around the high 2’s to mid 3’s.  This moment may be yours to be able to refinance, keeping your payment close to where it is now but shortening the term on your mortgage so that in 10 or so years, POOF, no more mortgage! You are free to do more of the things you have always wanted to do.  You will thank yourself one day and so will others for making the decision today to restructure your financing.   But you have to talk with me personally so I can work with you personally.  You can connect with me at www.JoGarner.com or call me directly at (901) 482-0354. LET’S MAKE YOUR PLAN, WORK YOUR PLAN. IF THE DEAL WORKS FOR YOU TODAY, DO IT TODAY!

<John makes comments>

(Jo) Some of the mortgage clients I get to know the best are real estate investors who work with me for their financing over and over again as they build their wealth buying rental properties.  Sometimes the deal is just a regular fixed rate 30 year mortgage to buy the rental property with a nice positive cash flow.   Other times the house they want to buy has problems and needs structural repairs or the seller won’t sell at a low enough price unless the investor pays cash. So many times, in cases like this when we put on our thinking caps, we strike on a few ideas on how they can use a loan secured on a different piece of real estate or secured on a portfolio of stocks or bonds to give the real estate investor the cash he needs to buy that great deal.   I know where to find those kinds of loans.  This method of financing is called substitution of collateral because the loan is secured on something else other than the property you are buying.

Then when the repairs are done or as soon as the real estate investor is ready, I can  use a Quick Cash Back loan program to refinance the new property to allow the investor to pay off the loan against the other asset so he can use that same asset or line of credit to go do the next great cash deal when he finds it. It’s like a one-two punch and POW, you have the property you wanted at a great price AND your  other asset or credit line freed up to buy more. Let’s talk about this on the air while we are live October 1st, 2016 Just call (901) 535-9732 or 800-474-9732 or call me after the show directly at (901) 482-0354 (901) 482-0354. If you are the techie type, you can email me at Jo@JoGarner.com or find me at www.JoGarner.com

John, we’re talking about CREATIVE MORTGAGE IDEAS & CLEVER LANDSCAPING IDEAS TO IMPROVE YOUR HOME AND YOUR FINANCIAL BOTTOM LINE. I have talked with people who have used you for their landscaping and irrigation projects.  You have a great reputation.  Talk about of the great landscaping ideas you and your clients have come up with that have made their lives better.  <John launches into his topic until 9:15 break>

[2nd segment after 9:15 break: Our Look Back Memphis Trivia Contest is brought to you  by notable Memphis historian, Jimmy Ogle. Jimmy Ogle offers free historic walking tours downtown in the spring and fall.  For information about Jimmy Ogle, go to www.JimmyOgle.com.  The Look Back Memphis Trivia Contest is  sponsored by John and Jennifer Lawhon of Lawhon Landscape (901) 754-7474 the Lawhon’s can help you plan your landscaping if you have a BIG, BIG project or a smaller project . The Lawhons are giving away a $25 gift card to the first person with the correct trivia answer.  If you know the answer to our trivia question, call us at 901 535 WREC 901 535-9732.]

Blues Hall of Fame (blues.org)

Question: I have the sound of Memphis for decades and now have my very own building! Who am I?

Hint:  $2.9 million was raised from fans all over the world for my facility development and opening in Downtown.

Hint:   I honor inductees in five categories: Performers, Individuals, Classic of _____ Literature, Class of _____ Recording (Song) and Classic of _____ Recording (Album).

Hint:  Since 1980, I have had 130 performer inductees.

Final Hint:   I “opened” initially in Memphis in 1980, but opened my public exhibits on May 8, 2015.

Answer: Blues Hall of Fame. The Blues Hall of Fame honors those who have made the Blues timeless through performance, documentation, and recording. Since its inception in 1980, The Blues Foundation has inducted new members annually into the Blues Hall of Fame for their historical contribution, impact and overall influence on the Blues. Members are inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in five categories: Performers, Individuals, Classic of Blues Literature, Classic of Blues Recording (Song), Classic of Blues Recording (Album). Since 1980, The Blues Foundation has inducted 350+ performers, industry professionals, recordings and literature into the Blues Hall of Fame.  Of the 130 performer inductees, 120 of them are African-American.

A Blues Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held each year in Memphis and a web presence has long existed but there has never been a bricks and mortar presence, never physical exhibits to honor the legends or for people to learn from and enjoy.  Until now. On May 8, 2015, The Blues Foundation opened the Blues Hall of Fame in downtown Memphis across the street from the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel.

The Blues Hall of Fame: (1) pays tribute to the great blues men and women, giving them and their music the respect and validation they deserve; (2)  annually educates tens of thousands of visitors about blues music and its performers, whether those visitors are young school children or music fans from around the globe; and (3) brings tens of thousands of visitors into contact with The Blues Foundation, for increased membership, increased donations to our HART Fund and Generation Blues programs and merchandise sales that help fund all of our programs.  Go to blues.org.

Jimmy Ogle gives free outdoor walking tours on the sidewalks and parks in Downtown Memphis during the Spring and Autumn of each year, with the next Walking Tour is Broad Avenue at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 7 (meeting at Bingham & Broad). The D’Army Bailey County Courthouse Tour (indoors): one Thursday each month at 12:00 noon – the next being Thursday, October 20.  The first Overton Square Walking Tour is 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 23 at the Tower Courtyard Stage.  Go to jimmyogle.com for more information.

__________________________________________________________________

QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY John Lawhon:

  1.  Creating Eye-pleasing curb appeal on a budget to help sell a home.
  2. Pretty Ways to control out-of-control water on the lawn and around the house
  3. Expanding Your living space by simple landscaping techniques
  4. Landscaping on a budget
  5. Landscaping the big, big project in phases
  6. What are some well-known locations that showcase your landscaping work and designs
  7. Give an example of when you have completed a major landscaping project in phases for your customer
  8. Talk about the new trend in having “rain gardens.”

__________________________________________________________________

QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY JO GARNER:

1.   What are some creative mortgage ideas for people wanting to buy a house?

A.  If you need to buy the house of your dreams and, ideally, you would like to sell your current home first and use the equity as a down payment, but you can’t sell your current home until AFTER you buy the dream home, you may be able to qualify for a home equity line of credit on your current home to use for the down payment on the new home and, once you sell your current home, you can pay off that bridge loan equity line.   (you don’t want to get the home equity line added to the first mortgage on the purchase of your dream home, because the way mortgages are priced today, you might get hit with a pricing penalty of over 1% of your first mortgage loan amount.   You could avoid the pricing penalty if you secure the home equity line of credit on your current home instead. You can use the home equity line funds to pay the large down payment down on the dream home so that your first mortgage on the dream home is very low with a low payment amount.  The funds from the new equity line you secured on your old home provided the large down payment on your dream home and when you sell your old home, that equity line and any other loan that was secured on the old home is paid off.

B.   There are unique situations where an adjustable rate with some good safety caps can be used to save you tens of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest costs.  But call me personally and let me know you unique situations.  In most cases, presently, it is better to use the fixed rate mortgage product.  Adjustable rate mortgages aren’t the best choice for most scenarios.  They do offer a low rate and payment in the beginning, but unless you have a plan or cash infusion later to keep your overall costs down, the adjustable rate mortgage program could only be a temporary solution.  You don’t want to apply a permanent  fix to a temporary problem.

C.  If you have a chance to buy a house for pennies on the dollar and do a fair amount of repairs (at least over $5,000 in repairs—maybe even $110,000 in repairs) and the house appraises after your repairs for over 10% to 30% more after you buy the house and pay to have it repaired, may be worth it to you to pay a little more in closing costs fees for your home to do the renovation and repair loan.  For instance we worked with a customer recently that was buying the house for about $90K and putting about $10,000 to $15,000 into repairs making them have a little under $110,000 invested in the house, but by doing the repairs, the house value moved up to around $140,000.  Would it be worth it to YOU to work through a few extra steps on doing the Renovation and Repair loan steps in order to instantly enjoy about $30,000 in extra equity?

D.   If you are a first time homebuyer, there are several great down payment assistance programs with some restrictions, to get you into your home for very little down or no down payment at all.

2.    What are some creative mortgage ideas for people wanting to refinance or restructure their mortgage?

A.   There are multiple ways you can structure your mortgage to minimize or completely eliminate the need to pay lender’s mortgage insurance which only helps the lender and not you.   If you want to know methods to get rid of mortgage insurance, give me a call and I can share some ideas with you.

B.    There are multiple ways you can refinance or restructure you mortgage to lower your interest costs and, sometimes shorten the term on your loan too.   The way to enjoy the most savings, though is usually to lower the interest rate AND shorten the term on your loan.  Sometimes the payment stays around the same but if you shorten the term on your loan by 10 years or more, getting rid of 120 months of principal and interest payments, it can save you TENS of thousands of dollars instead of just a few hundred dollars a month.

C.   There are mortgage refinance products like the special HARP program and government loan streamline programs that do not require an appraisal value which saves on costs and these programs have a few more lenient regulations also.  Call me personally and I am happy to help find the best creative mortgage idea for you.

D.   For real estate investors, using substitution of collateral in cases where repairs are needed or a quick closing doesn’t give time to process a mortgage. Use what I call the Quick Cash Back refinance to pay off the line of credit used so you can use the line of credit again to buy your next real estate investment and the next one after that.

__________________________________________________________________

REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK ( Jo shares a tip :  Don’t make a permanent, irreversible “fix” for a temporary problem.  Example of a mortgage company wrongly convincing a retired woman on a fixed income to take an interest-only, adjustable rate loan just because that is the only thing she could afford in the beginning.  When the loan starts fully amortizing and the rate and payments start going up, this lady struggle to pay her mortgage and may lose her house.   Fixed incomes usually need fixed interest rates unless there is an early cash infusion to pay down the balance over 15 to 20% before the rate starts going up.  __________________________________________________________________

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  

  1. Talk Shoppe offers free networking & education to anyone interested in real estate or in business. Talk Shoppe meets every Wednesday 9A-10A CT at the University of Phoenix 65 Germantown Center 1st floor Cordova, TN.   This Wednesday October 5th, 2016 Talk Shoppe  presents: “Vision Boards: Manifesting Your Future” presented by Shelley Baur, Leadership Trainer-Coach & Author of Integrity-Based Communications  www.ShelleyBaur.com  Talk Shoppe events are free for the next 2 months thanks to supporters like Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe and Talk Shoppe’s webmaster and brand experts  Sauce Marketing.  Throw some spice on YOUR marketing with Sauce Marketing  www.SauceMemphis.com
  2. Angela Brady of Republic Roofing & Restoration. Republic Roofing and Restoration can repair or replace Roofing systems on commercial and residential properties as well as water damage, fire and mold. (901) 297-4141
  3. SPECIAL NOTE: REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE RECOMMENDS THAT YOU CONSULT WITH A FINANCIAL, LEGAL OR OTHER CERTIFIED, LICENSED PROFESSIONAL BEFORE ACTING OR INVESTING ON ANYTHING YOU HEAR OR SEE FROM THE CONTENT ON THIS SHOW OR BLOG POSTS. THE INFORMATION WE SHARE ON REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE IS GENERAL IN NATURE MEANT FOR GENERAL EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
  4. FOR THIS PODCAST OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE AND MORE, GO TO WWW.JOGARNER.COM
  5. Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe reminds you that you need to MAKE YOUR PLAN, WORK YOUR PLAN. IF THE DEAL WORKS FOR YOU TODAY, DO IT TODAY.

__________________________________________________________________

QUOTE CORNER:

From www.LeFunny.net “Good memories came from bad ideas.”

From www.pastpresentfuture.com “I know the voices aren’t real, but man, do they ever come up with some great ideas.”

__________________________________________________________________

REJOINERS: 

Lee Ann Foster, MS www.MemphisNeurofeedback.com   Lee Ann can map your brain and work to improve your brain. She can help people with memory or dementia challenges.  She works with to help autistic children. Contact Lee Ann Foster to speak for your event. (901) 624-0100

Donna Bellinger, Revenue Accelerator, & Business Development Author, Speaker & Trainer.  Creator of:  “Revenue UP: From Sluggish to Sensational in Sales”. www.donnasmithbellinger.com

Gwen Christensen, Owner of Builders Floors and Interiors Commercial floorcovering | Expert Interior finishes coordination|creating models homes| extremely good Floor covering installations | Huge selection of carpet,laminates,
ceramic tile and other floorcovering | Floor covering expertise
and extensive experience www.buildersfloorsandinteriors.com

Transitional Music: “Just My Imagination” By the Cranberries; “Rock the Boat” by the Hues Corporation 1974;  “Opportunities” by Pet Shop Boys; “Memphis “ by Johnny Rivers for Look Back Memphis Trivia Contest

__________________________________________________________________

ABOUT JOHN LAWHON OF LAWHON LANDSCAPING:

(901) 754-7474

Lawhon Landscaping

Beautiful gardens begin with thoughtful design. The staff of Lawhon Landscape Design includes professionals with degrees in Landscape Architecture, Plant Pathology, Studio Art, and Agronomy. Our designers and plant professionals create outdoor living spaces with your lifestyle in mind.

Our many years of experience in design, installing, and maintaining Mid-South landscapes make us uniquely qualified to create gardens that are both beautiful and practical to maintain.

A Family Business

Our business was started in 1958 by Rex and Beth Lawhon and was one of the first weed control companies in the Southeast. Over the years, we have kept our client list small and personal in order to serve the gardens of Memphis with the best in lawn and shrub care. The high quality of our work has paid off over the years by the many repeat customers we have – both residential and commercial. We follow the philosophy of doing it right the first time. We hope that you will give us the opportunity to serve your garden needs as well.

In 1985, we expanded our family company by offering a complete design build landscape service. John Lawhon, with a degree in Landscape Architecture, offers complete landscape designs for every budget as well as outstanding plant installation services. In order to help maintain your landscape, we offer complete irrigation system installation. We have verything you need to make your home more beautiful than ever.

__________________________________________________________________

ABOUT JO GARNER-MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER:

A New Look At Your Home Financing

www.JoGarner.com    (901) 482 0354  jo@192.232.195.219  twitter @jogarner

Jo describes her job description: “As a mortgage loan officer, my job is to give my client the benefits they want from their financing terms– listening to my client and determine what’s of the most value to THEM–  What is their comfort level on a house payment, how much are they comfortable paying down, what type of financing do they need to get the house they want to buy or refinance. Different clients have different priorities in life—some are buying their first home with very little down payment funds.  Some are recovering from medical challenges, divorces or preparing to send children to college and some are embarking on a long term goal of buying properties to build rental income. Whatever their personal priorities are, my job is to put together a mortgage with comfortable terms that will help them achieve their goals.”

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.com  She was also the editor of Power Shoppe, a free weekly e-zine designed for real estate professionals and others indirectly connected to the real estate industry and currently publishes on her blog www.JoGarner.com