DESIGNING THE LIFE YOU WITH YOUR HOME FROM THE FLOORS TO THE FINANCING

Jim Rohn said, ““When you know what you want and you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” Here are some tops tips for homebuyers and sellers and stories of people who successfully got closer to their desired life. Tips & resources for flooring. Resources for filing insurance claims for roof repairs. Resources for appealing Shelby County TN property tax assessments.

Connect with us. Subscribe for weekly Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe podcasts with show notes at www.JoGarner.com

Host: #JoGarner #MortgageExpert #MortgageOfficer

(901) 482-0354 Jo@JoGarner.com

Co-Host: #TroyFink #americasbestcarpetandtile #flooring

troy@flooringmemphis.com

#D‘AngeloConnellPhotography 901 292-3715

#EdHill of #MastersRoofing roof & interior-exterior repairs 901 273-6594

#designyourhome #memphisflooring #memphismortgage #memphisroofrepairs #photobranding #realtor #homebuyer

#homeowner #homerepair #mortgageapproval

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Let’s start designing….

Good morning, Memphis! Welcome to our internet listeners and podcast listeners across the 50 states! 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 DESIGNING THE LIFE YOU WITH YOUR HOME FROM THE FLOORS TO THE FINANCING Subscribe to get our weekly blogposts with podcasts at www.JoGarner.com. Call us while we are live today April 5^th, 2025 at 901 535 9732

Introducing Troy Fink of America’s Best Carpet and Tile

Welcome to Troy Fink of America’s Best Carpets and Tile. We are so happy to have you in the studio with us for the first time. You have a good reputation with the business people in our Business Network International group for floor coverings and professional installation. Tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what Builders Floors does for your clients. (Troy has about 1.5 minutes to introduce herself and talk about the services she offers her clients at America’s Best Carpet and Tile)

(Jo) If you could design your life the way you want to live, where would you be living? What kind of activities would you have going on at your home? Hobbies, friends and family visiting? Pets? Would you work out of your home or away? Would you be retired?

Jim Rohn said, ““When you know what you want and you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” From the mortgage desk, Iet’s look at some common designs from people who want to own their home.

1. First-time homebuyers. For first-time homebuyers who qualify for special financing, you can enjoy a lower-than-market interest rate with a lower payment. You can get some assistance with the down payment too.

2. Move-up buyers. These are buyers who want to move up to a bigger house or they want to move closer to the job or to their family . Some of these buyers have put off moving because they have a low rate on their existing mortgage. Some of these homeowners do not want to sell right away. What if I told you, I have a way for you to move to where you really want to live without having to sell your old house right away and STILL get to enjoy a very low payment? Would you be willing to move? Call me and I can show you how .

3. Homeowners who need to care for an aging loved one. They are deciding where they need to live or how they can modify their home to accommodate their family that needs care.

4. Investors. These are people who want to build income and a larger net worth buying real estate investment homes. The mortgage company where I am affiliated, just brought a lot of these mortgage programs in-house. Pricing is much better this year. Let’s talk about your plans and put together some strategies.

5. Some of my clients want to buy a second home in their favorite vacation spot.

RESTRUCTURE YOU LIFE BY RESTRUCTURING YOUR FINANCING

Carter and Claire Caldwell story– Bounding over Barriers To Be With The Grandbabies

 

 

1. What about making your home pay YOU back? Have you considered a reverse mortgage if you are over 62 years old?

Here is a brilliant idea from one of my past “rock star” mortgage clients. Carter and Claire Caldwell were both over 62 years old. They loved their home next to the lake and their longstanding neighbors and friends. But, the Caldwell’s yearned to spend time playing with their toddler grandchildren who lived several hundred miles away. These grandparents were motivated to financially mastermind a way to get a second home near their grandkids. Want to know their brilliant idea????

Since the Caldwell’s were over 62 years old and they had paid off their mortgage early, they applied and got a Reverse Mortgage. The Reverse Mortgage on their primary residence was now paying them each month, so they had the income to afford to spend a five whole months at a time playing and making memories with the grandkids. If you want to see STUNNINGLY BRILLIANT strategy, observe what happens when grandparents are determined to spring themselves across the miles to hold their grandbabies in their laps.

(Jo) Troy Fink of America’s Best Carpet and Tile – What are some of the trends in flooring you are seeing with homeowners? (Troy has about 2-3 min to start launching into her topics before we have to go on the 9:15 break. She can continue after the break)

(Jo) You’re on Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe. I’m your host, Jo Garner, Mortgage Loan Officer. . What do YOU want to accomplish with your mortgage? Make your plan. Let’s work your plan if the deal works for you today, let’s do it today. When we come back we will be hearing more from Troy Fink of America’s Best Carpet and Tile. We will also have our special guest, D’Angelo Connell of D’Angelo Connell Photography joining us in the studio.

TALK SHOPPE BUSINESS TIP FOR REAL ESTATE PROS

It’s time to talk shop with Talk Shoppe’s Business Tip For Real Estate Professionals. Talk Shoppe is a marketing company offering free education and networking to anyone interested in real estate or in business. Talk Shoppe is made possible by the financial support of its sponsors. For more about Talk Shoppe, go to www.TalkShoppe.com (shoppe) For our Talk Shoppe Business Tip today we our professional photographer, D’Angelo Connell of D’Angelo Connell Photography. D’Angelo, you have done some very professional looking photos for indoor and outdoor athletic events, after-hours events and parties and portraits too. D’Angelo Connell, what is our Talk Shoppe Business Tip for Real Estate Professionals today? (D’Angelo has about 1.5 minutes to share some tips )

D’Angelo Connell of D’Angelo Connell Photography, how do we contact you? (901) 292-3715

www.dcthesnapper.com )

Tip: D’Angelo Connell Photography

DO YOU REALLY NEED A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER?

A common mistake I see when people are hiring a photographer is thinking it’s just about owning a fancy camera. But the gear isn’t what makes a photographer great. It’s the vision, the expertise, and the skill behind the lens. 

Anyone can pick up a camera and take a decent photo, but telling a story with those images—that’s where the magic happens. A professional photographer doesn’t just capture what’s in front of them, they create visuals that connect with your audience, spark emotions, and make them feel like they’re right there in the moment. 

Cropping is important to get your message clearly to attract your customers. Crop out of the picture distracting objects like trash cans, doorways, other objects, making the subject of your photo the main and only focus.

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TOPICS COVERED BY TROY FINK, AMERICA’S BEST CARPET & TILE

1. How do I select a flooring covering for each room of my home? Hard surface or carpet?

2. . What is the difference in laminate, engineered wood floors or solid wood floors?

3. What kind of floor covering should I use to sell my house?

4. What makes America’s Best Carpet and Tile different from any other retail flooring store?

5. Do I put wood floors in my kitchen?

6. I have heard of the solid vinyl floors that look like wood, what do you think about them?

6. Can I just take the square footage of my rooms and figure how much carpet or wood  I need?

what are the most popular flooring sold nowadays and why?

6. What would add the most value to your home?

TOPICS COVERED BY JO GARNER, MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER:

Tips for Home Buyers & Sellers in the Current Market

Today is April 5^th, 2025. In the turbulence of economic uncertainty, the real estate market it steady and moving in a positive, but sustainable direction. Job market stable, mortgage rates potentially could ease down and there are more homes available for sale.

Some tips from the mortgage desk for homebuyers:

1. Get preapproved. 2. Be realistic. Make a realistic offer for a better chance of getting your offer accepted. 3. Consider a more affordable home that you can improve into the home you want. Or, you can sell the smaller home later and use the profit to buy up to the neighborhood where you want to live. 4. Use a reputable realtor and mortgage loan officer. A good professional can help guide you around pitfalls

Some tips for home sellers:

1. Price competitively if you don’t want your home to sit unsold.

2. Go ahead and make necessary repairs.

3. Use a reputable and experienced realtor who can advise on pricing, and highlighting the positives on your home.

Earlier in the show we described some common dreams people have and they ways they set out to live their dream in a home they own. Another common dream that some of my customers pursue is a debt-free life.

Imagine how you would feel if you were headed down to the bank to make the very last mortgage payment on your home. Would you already have a plan and design for the next step in your life of freedom?

On a 30 year amortized mortgage, if you make one extra principal and interest payment per year starting at the first year, you can eliminate 7 to 8 years off your mortgage term.

Making extra principal and interest payments in earliest years of your mortgage can save you thousands of dollars in interest cost. The reason is because, on an amortized loan, the biggest portion of the principal and interest payment is interest and only a small amount of the payment makes up the principal portion. As the loan term progresses, more and more of the principal and interest payment becomes principal and not so much interest. If you are prepaying your mortgage in the early years, making a small amount of prepayment to principal eliminates a lot more interest payments because in the early part of the mortgage the principal portion of the payment is so small.

If you have a lot of other debt with higher interest rates or variable rates that carry higher interest rate costs, you might consider looking at a cash out refinance on your home and use the cash out funds to wipe out all the high interest rate debts. Some of the credit card companies have hiked their rate to 20% to 29% compounding interest. Once the high interest rate debt is paid off with the funds from your cash out refinance on your home, then take the savings per month and start aggressively start paying the mortgage off early. You will be surprised how restructuring your debt can make a world of difference. It is like burning the debt candle down at both ends.

BUY LOW, IMPROVE LATER, LIVE THE WAY YOU WANT TO LIVE-CHARLIE’S STORY

We can call him Charlie (not his real name.) He was in his 30’s with a wife and a young child and another baby on the way. “The house we are in is a little cramped now, but when the baby is born, this house won’t work for us at all.” He talked about a neighborhood where he and his wife were looking at houses.

When I asked him questions about the price ranges of the homes in the neighborhood where he was describing he had been looking, his voice sort of trailed off and he didn’t finish his sentence. Without any warning, he just blurted out, “I don’t really want to buy an existing home anywhere. What I really want to do is build the house the way we want to live in it.”

When he asked me which way would be the best deal for him, my answer to him was the answer he already knew to be true before he ever asked. The real question was, “Where will you be happiest—in an already built home or the new construction home you design yourself?”

So may times the best deal ever is the one where you follow your heart and figure out for yourself how to make it work. Charlie and I started doing the numbers on what the money down would be and the payments per month if he built the house he really wanted out in the country. After looking at a few ideas, he finally decided that he could afford right now to build the house he wanted if he didn’t finish the attic and left the bonus room unfinished.

“With small children, I wouldn’t want them trying to navigate stairs anyway. When the children are a little older and I have a little more saved back, we can finish out the upstairs and it will be like having a brand new house.” His plan was to consult with a realtor who knew the values in the area. He was going to get with a builder and then come back to me with some prices and terms we could compare on putting together his mortgage terms.

Make your plan. Let’s work your plan. If the deal works for you today, do it today. Connect with me at www.JoGarner.com Subscribe at www.JoGarner.com and you will get our weekly podcasts with show notes conveniently in your email box. Pick up the phone and call me the old fashion way. I want to hear your plan and roll up my sleeves with you to come up with a design to get your mortgage financing working for you. (901) 482-0354

4^TH SEGMENT 9:48 AM TO 9:55AM

REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK (Ed Hill of Masters Roofing calls in with a tip from the roofing industry) Ed Hill of Masters Roofing in Memphis 901 273-6594

Ed recommends getting a tarp on a damaged roof to prevent further water damage following the storms homeowners have experienced over the last few days.

Do NOT use someone in a pickup truck who just drives up and asks for your roof repair business. Some of those folks are from out of town. If something goes wrong on the roof repair, you would never see them again.

Use a local A+ rated company like Masters Roofing to climb on your roof and chalk out the damaged areas. They will give you an honest assessment and pictures to help you when you are dealing with an insurance adjuster.

Troy Fink of America’s Best Carpet and Tile has about 1 minute to share a tip from the flooring industry Don’t put off doing the repairs on your home, especially if you are going to sell it. Whether you are leaving or living in the home, getting the repairs done right away can save you time, money and give you more enjoyment.

Jo Garner’s tip You don’t know what you don’t know, so ask Jo”

There are so many special mortgage programs and special features available on common loan programs that can make a very large and very positive difference in the amount you pay each month and the amount you pay down at closing.

Jo gives example of a loan program offering mortgage s i

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Talk Shoppe equips with education, engages by offering connection opportunities between business people and empowers businesses in a supportive community. Talk Shoppe meets every Wednesday 9A-10A CT at Independent Planning Group’s conference room 110 at Clark Tower 5100 Poplar Ave 1^st floor Memphis, TN

(Thank you Manny Corless and Ben Hunter (615-601-0568) outstanding Financial Professionals at Independent Planning Group for being Talk Shoppe’s location sponsor)

Join in person or online by clicking www.TalkShoppe.com and click the Events tab for the link to get into the event online.

Talk Shoppe on Wednesday April 9th, 2025 ”Blooming Profits-How Garden Tourism Cultivates Economic Growth” presented by TED TALK speaker, Kim Halyak of Experience Memphis Gardens.

Talk Shoppe’s free networking and education made possible to our community by sponsors like real estate attorneys Rob Draughon and Shelley Rothman of Griffin, Clift, Everton and Maschmeyer Law Firm. For your home purchase or refinance, call Rob Draughon and Shelley Rothman at 901 752-1133.

6. Thank you also to Realtor Sherry Harbur of Harbur Realty. Sherry knows the real estate market and has offered to help our Shelby County homeowners who want to contest or appeal their recent Shelby County Tax Reappraisal amount. Sherry can help by supplying a list of recent comparable sales for your specific neighborhood. You can use these to appeal your Shelby County tax appraisal on your home

Call Sherry Harbur at 901 878-3308 or go to Harbur.com

7. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people who have suffered during the recent Mid-South storms.

4. Subscribe at www.JoGarner.com and you can get our weekly blog posts with podcasts conveniently in your inbox.

5. Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe reminds you to MAKE YOUR PLAN. LET’S WORK YOUR PLAN. IF THE DEAL WORKS FOR YOU TODAY, DO IT TODAY.

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. ALL EXAMPLES GIVEN FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ON REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE AND ARE BASED ON TRUE STORIES BUT WE USE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND DO NOT DIRECTLY REFLECT REAL PEOPLE OR EXACT DETAILS IN ANY OF THE SITUATIONS.

QUOTE CORNER:

The quote of the week: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” anonymous

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REJOINDERS:

1. Reverend Jo Rook Huggins, Church of the Harvest

2. Mark McLaurine of Refrigeration Unlimited 901 216-7782

3. Peggy Lau of Viago travel club 901 289-0747

Transitional Music: “You Make My Dreams Come True” Hall and Oates; “Make It Happen” Mariah Carey; “A Better Life” by Keith Urban; “Taking Care of Business” by BTO for the Talk Shoppe Business Tip for Real Estate Pros

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ABOUT TROY FINK, AMERICA’S BEST CARPET & TILE

1716 N Shelby Oaks Ste 9 Memphis, TN 38134

(901) 230-0193 troy@flooringmemphis.com

    I’m a native Memphian that started in the Flooring business with my father in 2001.   I loved working with my dad.  He instilled the philosophy that aside from all the installation  details and materials, the most important concepts to remember were to be honest and accountable with your clients.   Don’t be just a sales person be a counselor and help direct them to the best choice for their particular situation.   

    I can’t believe that’s been almost 25 years ago, but those simple rules have helped me to build relationships with my clients that have lasted  my entire career.   

    I’ve been lucky to work in all aspects of the Flooring industry from Designer retail, commercial , new home construction, insurance remediation, an investment properties .  

      I’m single.  Enjoy spending time with my mother/friends , working out at lifetime fitness and my two Boston terriers.  

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ABOUT JO GARNER-MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER:

www.JoGarner.com (901) 482 0354 jo@jogarner.com X @jogarner NMLS# 757308

(currently working with Everitt Financial dba Supreme Lending)

ONLINE LOAN APPLICATION : https://jogarner.supremelendingLO.com

“Whatever YOUR personal priorities are, my job is to help you get the mortgage terms that will give you bragging rights when you talk about it and help you score on hitting your goals .”

As a mortgage loan officer, my job is to help you get to the benefits you want from your financing terms. What is most important to you? I can help you find the financing terms that will help you get to what you want. What is your comfort level on a house payment? How much are you comfortable paying down,? What type of financing do you need to get the house you 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.”

Jo Garner is a mortgage officer with extensive knowledge in helping her clients find the right mortgage program and making the refinance or home purchase mortgage process EASY. She offers conventional, FHA, VA or other loan programs for primary residences, second homes and investment properties.

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 30 years.  She grew up in West Tennessee and got her start in real estate 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 30 years. 

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 Jo Garner also host the radio show Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe airing on News Radio AM 600 WREC and iHeart Radio with podcasts and show notes published on www.JoGarner.com Pick up Jo Garner’s book on Amazon or Barnes Noble “Choosing the Best Mortgage-The Quickest Way to the Life You Want”