Appraiser Brian Mallory and I will be talking about steps you can take and resources you can use to appeal your property tax assessment to lower your taxes.  Or he can do it for you for only half of your first year’s savings.  I will be covering some steps you can take to get rid of your private mortgage insurance and how to get rid of your mortgage sooner too.

Subscribe by emailing me at jo@jogarner.com and put Subscribe in the subject line.  We will send you our links to our latest podcasts and you will be the first to hear about new changes in the mortgage market that will affect you and your pocketbook.

What real estate and financing topics interest you the most?  Let me know what real estate or financing scenario you would like to discuss.

To Your Success,

Jo Garner, Mortgage Loan Officer and Host of Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe

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

ONLINE LOAN APP FOR SOME TERRIFIC MORTGAGE TERMS

https://jogarner.evolve.mortgage

___________________________________________________________________

LET’S CONNECT!

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 HOW TO APPEAL YOUR REAL ESTATE PROPERTY ASSESSMENT -AX THE TAX & CHOP THE MORTGAGE COSTS.  Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe is brought to you today May 20th, 2017 by Evolve Bank and Trust the Memphis Mortgage Department.  Who do you know that wants to ratchet  up their mortgage career and have fun doing it?   Give me or Chad Irwin a call at (901) 260-2480.  

 If you have a question or comment and you’re on Twitter, make them to #JoGarner or call me directly off the show at (901) 482-0354.  You can call us while we are live at (901) 535-9732 or outside the Memphis area (800) 474-9732 Today is May 20th, 2017

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS PODCAST

Today on Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe our special guest, appraiser Brian Mallory and I will be talking about steps you can take and resources you can use to appeal your property tax assessment to lower your taxes.  Or he can do it for you for only half of your first year’s savings.  I will be covering some steps you can take to get rid of your private mortgage insurance and how to get rid of your mortgage sooner too.

INTRODUCING BRIAN MALLORY

Now to introduce our guest—first time in the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe studio—ready to help us save some money—Brian Mallory.  Brian has been a licensed property tax agent, certified residential appraiser and real estate broker for many years. He owns and operates The Mallory Firm, Inc, REALTORS, Mallory Appraisal and Mallory Property Tax Advisors.   He was appointed by the Mayor and Memphis City Council to serve as a board member on the Shelby County Board of Equalization from 2009-2011.  Brian, you know you stuff.  Tell us a little more about you and what you do for your clients. (Brian shares about himself and what he does)

INTRODUCING JO GARNER

I’m Jo Garner, a mortgage loan officer for over 25 years.  I work with people who want to refinance or purchase real estate here in the Memphis area or anywhere in the country. You can call me directly at (901) 482-0354 and we talk about what you want to accomplish with your mortgage financing.   Or you can complete your loan application online at https://jogarner.evolve.mortgage   You get personal service and a very competitive rate too all in one.

MORTGAGE MARKET NEWS

Rates this week took a surge downward early in the week due to the market reaction to the latest  changes going on in Washington DC.  But stocks made a comeback the later part of the week. Mortgage rates on the 30 year fixed rate are still hanging around the low 4’s on the conventional primary residence. Loans on investment property is higher.   The 15 year loans are down in the 3’s.   Call me but you have to ask for me personally or we may not get to work together.  I do want to work with you.  Call me directly at (901) 482-0354 or connect with me at www.JoGarner.com   

CLEVER WAYS TO PAY YOUR MORTGAGE OFF EARLY

The higher values on homes today will allow you to pull off some REALLY clever methods of getting rid of your mortgage all together much sooner than you think.

If you I loan you $200,000 on a 30 year mortgage today, you can eliminate about 7 to 8 years off that loan by making one extra principal and interest payment each year until the loan is paid off. You could also have 1/12th of the principal and interest amount of your payment added to your regular payment each month, even if you are using an electronic bill paying system.   At a 4% interest rate, your principal and interest payment would be about $954/month.

If you’ve ever closed on a mortgage, you’ve probably been bombarded with stuff in the mail claiming the sender is your mortgage company offering to help you make your mortgage payment 2 times a month to shorten the term for you.  Of course they want you to pay them $400 or $500 for the service and of course they are really not your mortgage company.   They get the your information from the public records filed in your municipal records office. But the math of paying your mortgage every two weeks is the same if you make just one extra principal and interest payment each year and that method is free.

I had a mortgage client contact me who thought it was impossible to ever be able to get rid of his mortgage early due to medical bills and credit card debt he racked up when his wife was sick. We refinanced his mortgage to a 30 year term and included paying off some of the high interest rate bills and high payment bills.   His new mortgage payment wasn’t that high since he had a long 30 year term.  

Here’s the cool thing.  He was able to pay quite a bit of extra principal each month because of all the extra money freed up from getting rid of the higher interest rate debt we paid off.  He could still get his mortgage paid off in 15 years but at the much lower mortgage rate.  

Connect with me at www.JoGarner.com or by calling me at (901) 482-0354.  Let’s put the numbers together to see what you can save on YOUR mortgage.   

For now, Brian, we are talking about AX THE TAX-CHOP MORTGAGE COSTS.    How can I appeal my Shelby County Tennessee real estate property tax assessment?

____________________________________________________________

QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY BRIAN MALLORY, REAL ESTATE APPRAISER AND CERTIFIED TAX APPEAL EXPERT

Topics for Discussion re: Property Tax Appeals for Single-Family Residential Properties

  • How does the Shelby County Tax Assessor come up with a value for my home?

Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) crunches large amounts of data on parcels located in Shelby County.  This data is then used by the staff appraisers at the Assessor’s Office to derive a value for your home and to make adjustments.

  • What problems are associated with the Assessor’s Office using a mass appraisal system to produce values?

All properties are unique.  They may be located on a lake, or have just a view of a lake.  They may have differences in the quality of construction.  They may have differences in the quality of the finishes or updates.

The mass appraisal system, while it may be necessary to produce values for such a large number of parcels, leaves much to be desired when it comes to comparing apples to apples.  It is then incumbent upon the appraiser to use other data sources to ensure that the subject property is being compared to the most similar properties or sales, in terms of location/age/quality of construction/size/etc.

The appraisers at the Assessor’s Office are limited in the quality of the data sources available to them.  While the appraiser’s most often utilize Chandler Reports, which is a quality product, they are limited by what information is available through those reports.  These reports do a good job of presenting square footage/bedroom bath counts/neighborhoods/and a general condition rating.  However, when it comes to actually deriving the core differences in the level of updates to a property, and truly being able to say you are comparing an apple to an apple, the appraisers are limited.

  • What advantage does the Multiple Listing Service give you, Brian?  

The Assessor’s Office does NOT have access to the MLS system, which is used by the majority of REALTORS® in Shelby County.  Most fee appraisers, who do not work at the Assessor’s Office, utilize this most informative tool.  

MLS sheets provide an immense amount of data when you are trying to find the most comparable sales to value your property.  The most important of which are the pictures of the interior and exterior.  This is where you are able to truly see if a property is another apple, or a banana.

The general public does not have access to the MLS system as well.

  • What can the individual taxpayer do to get their value lowered/without the use of representation by a property tax agent?

Start by reading through the Tax Assessor’s website on the procedures for:

  • Communicating with the Assessor’s Office.  The tax appeal system for our county gives the taxpayer many opportunities to get their value lowered.  And, the staff at the Assessor’s Office can be very helpful.
  • Go to the Assessor’s Office and tell them you would like a copy of the 5 sales that were used by the Assessor to value your property.  They may charge you a $1 or $2 for the printout, but most of the time they don’t.  You will then have the information that most taxpayers had no idea they could get from the Assessor.  The Assessor does not tell taxpayers on their website that they have the right to get this critical information.
  • From this point, you know the addresses of the properties that they are using to value your property.  Now, if you could only get the MLS sheets and photos of these properties.  Everyone has a REALTOR®-friend.  You might ask your friend if they would be willing to print up these sheets and photos (hopefully in color).  When it comes to appeals, photos are worth a thousand words.
  • Now, how similar are the properties that the Assessor is using to your home?  More than likely, there are some significant differences.  Focus on those differences, and make notes of them.  How updated or renovated is your house?  Does your kitchen have solid surface countertops and stainless steel appliances?  When was your home built?  Are there any external influences on your property, such as having a view of commercial property or nearby railroad tracks?  Anything that could have a negative impact on your property.  Peeling paint/rotted wood/ceiling stains/old roof.  These are items that would more than likely have an impact on marketability.
  • Take interior and exterior pictures of your home.  The Assessor has never seen the interior of your home.  This is your chance to show the Assessor that your house is not a castle.  Point out any deferred maintenance items.  Take COLOR photos and print COLOR photos for the board members to look at.
  • How many chances do I have to get my property taxes lowered?
  • Online Informal Review
  • Conversation with Appraiser from the Assessor’s Office after having submitted your documentation through the Online Informal Review.
  • Appraiser gives an “Assessor’s Recommendation” or “AR”.  This value is hopefully lower than the original value that you are appealing.
  • Decision time.  Do you want to accept the A/R value or appeal your case before the full Board of Equalization?
  • It’s ON!!  Appeal to the Full Board
  • Meet with a hearing officer.  Qualifications of the hearing officers?  The hearing officer tells you what value they will be recommending to the Assessor.  
  • After getting the recommendation from the hearing officer, the Assessor’s Office tells you what they are willing to do – if anything.
  • I didn’t get anywhere with that.  Time to put on a coat and tie and be respectful when meeting the Shelby County Board of Equalization.
  • Tell story of Jo Garner’s  elderly client and how Brian helped him get a tax freeze from Shelby County  due to his age.   

_________________________________________________________

QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY JO GARNER:

  • How do you get rid of private mortgage insurance?
  1. If you already have a conventional mortgage and you think the balance owing on your mortgage is less than 80% of today’s value on your home, you can call your current lender and ask them to remove the private mortgage insurance from your payment so you don’t have to pay it anymore.  They will probably want some money from you to order an appraisal to make sure your mortgage is indeed less than 80% of your home’s current value.  
  2. As a mortgage loan officer my first job is to make sure I cut the cost of the mortgage loan as much as possible for my mortgage customers applying for a mortgage.  One way to do that is to help them avoid paying mortgage insurance as much as possible. I have had mortgage customers apply online or by phone or in person that I have helped them eliminate all or part of what they would have paid in mortgage insurance.   
  3. Here’s an example of a common occurrence. I had a customer who had just finished graduate school and gotten a great job locally.  She got her offer accepted on a home for $160,000 in a neighborhood where she told me, “I want this house to be my forever home!  And even if one day I buy another house, I plan to make money on this one renting it to tenants.”

She applied for a 30 year FHA loan putting down the minimum 3.5% down payment.  After asking her some questions, she told me her parents had given her quite a bit of money for her house.   She had enough to pay 10% down on the house.   When I showed her that she would pay less per month on the FHA mortgage insurance and the note too AND best of all the mortgage insurance payments would go away after a little over 10 years instead of her having to continue to pay it for the life of the loan, she did the math.  She decided to put down 10% instead of the minimum and enjoy the lower payments.

For other mortgage customers, on conventional loan products  the mortgage insurance goes away at around 80% loan-to-value .  But we compare what would work best for their specific situation—to pay the mortgage insurance monthly or  have the lender pay it for them all in one lump sum so they have no payments at all.   There are lots of different ways to minimize the amount of private mortgage insurance you have to pay if you want to pay less than 20% down

For some homeowners who want to get rid of the mortgage insurance AND get rid of the mortgage sooner, we have found some refinance scenarios that can lower the interest they are paying, get rid of the mortgage insurance AND help them pay off the loan sooner. They accomplished all of that by letting me refinance and restructure they existing loan.

Call me while we are live in the studio at (901) 535-9732. But you have to talk with me personally so I can work with you.  You can connect with me at www.JoGarner.com or call me directly at (901) 482-0354. MAKE YOUR PLAN, LET’S WORK YOUR PLAN.  IF THE DEAL WORKS FOR YOU TODAY,  LET’S DO IT TODAY!

(NOTE FOR BLOG POSTS READERS: Call me and let’s look to see if you can get your private mortgage insurance payments dropped.  If you are paying monthly private mortgage insurance on a conventional mortgage, the private mortgage insurance is not helping you. Private mortgage insurance is not like your home owners insurance policy.  Private mortgage insurance  is only helping the bank. The sooner you get rid of it, the faster you can stop throwing money out the window.

If you think the value on your home is now over 20% of the amount you owe on your mortgage, then you need to contact your lender and see if they will remove the private mortgage insurance for you.  They will probably charge you a fee to assign an appraiser to give them a third-party opinion on the value of your home. For example:  If your house has a value of $100,000 and you owe LESS than 80,000, you are under 80% of the value and should be able to get rid of the private mortgage insurance payment. Your lender has the final say on whether they will drop the PMI.  

Once your loan-to-value is at 78% or LESS the lender is supposed to drop the private mortgage insurance automatically as long as you aren’t delinquent on your payments.  If you have an FHA loan and your case number was ordered June 3rd, 2013 or later, and you had a loan-to-value of more than 90% on a 20 or 30 year term, your monthly mortgage insurance is on their for the life of the loan, with few exceptions.  I can offer you some specific solutions to minimize what you are paying out.  I’ll share with you more on how to get rid of your mortgage insurance and how to pay off your mortgage early later in the show.)

  • What are the best  ways to get your mortgage paid off early?

If you I loan you $200,000 on a 30 year mortgage today, you can eliminate about 7 to 8 years off that loan by making one extra principal and interest payment each year until the loan is paid off. You could also have 1/12th of the principal and interest amount of your payment added to your regular payment each month, even if you are using an electronic bill paying system.   At a 4% interest rate, your principal and interest payment would be about $954/month.

If you’ve ever closed on a mortgage, you’ve probably been bombarded with stuff in the mail claiming the sender is your mortgage company offering to help you make your mortgage payment 2 times a month to shorten the term for you.  Of course they want you to pay them $400 or $500 for the service and of course they are really not your mortgage company.   They get the your information from the public records filed in your municipal records office. But the math of paying your mortgage every two weeks is the same if you make just one extra principal and interest payment each year and that method is free.

I had a mortgage client contact me who thought it was impossible to ever be able to get rid of his mortgage early due to medical bills and credit card debt he racked up when his wife was sick. We refinanced his mortgage to a 30 year term and included paying off some of the high interest rate bills and high payment bills.   His new mortgage payment wasn’t that high since he had a long 30 year term.  

Here’s the cool thing.  He was able to pay quite a bit of extra principal each month because of all the extra money freed up from getting rid of the higher interest rate debt we paid off.  He could still get his mortgage paid off in 15 years but at the much lower mortgage rate.  

Connect with me at www.JoGarner.com or by calling me at (901) 482-0354.  Let’s put the numbers together to see what you can save on YOUR mortgage.    

Callers:  

Rich’s question to Brian: “What is the process a homeowner goes through for the 2nd level of appeal on the property assessment?”

Ben’s question to Brian: “How many comparable sales does the tax assessor use in determining the assessment value of a home in Shelby County TN?”

Marcus’ questions to Jo and Brian:  “I am trying to sell a real estate property and I owe back taxes on the property 3 years in arrears.   Will I have to pay all the back taxes before closing or can I pay them at closing?”  (Answer- you can pay them at closing )

“Can I appeal the amount of the back taxes?”  (Answer is no)

David:  “What is the process for me to appeal my real estate property taxes?”

William: “What is the deadline for appealing my Shelby County TN property tax assessment?  Answer June 30, 2017

REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK (Jo shares ways you can eliminate or reduce the amount of private mortgage you have to pay)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:   

  • Talk Shoppe offers free networking & education to anyone interested in real estate or in business. Talk Shoppe meets every Wednesday 9A-10A CT at Nova Copy Conference Center 7251 Appling Farms Parkway Memphis, TN.   This Wednesday May 24th, 2017.  Talk Shoppe  presents: “Quality Healthcare to the Uninsured Working in Low-Wage Jobs” presented by The Church Health Center.   
  • Talk Shoppe events are free thanks to sponsors/advertisers/supporters  like Lynn and Troy McDonald of Erin McDonald Insurance Agency (901) 849-7101.   Call Lynn and let her do a checkup on your insurance policies to see if you can keep the same good coverage but at a lower costs.   
  • Thank you to Talk Shoppe’s advertiser and leadership supporter Peggy Lau, an independent representative with World Ventures. Peggy is living my dream traveling around the world. She can show you how to earn first-class vacations FREE. To get connected with this one-of-a-kind travel community,Call Peggy at (901) 289-0747 .  (But file your real estate tax appeal first before you head out of town.)  
  • Thank you to Chad Irwin of Evolve Bank and Trust the Memphis Mortgage Office for sponsoring Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe today.  Do you want to ratchet up your mortgage career and have fun doing it?  Who else do you know who wants to kick their mortgage career in high gear?  Call Chad at (901) 260-1480 or call me at (901) 482-0354. Let’s talk!
  • FOR THIS PODCAST OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE AND MORE, GO TO JOGARNER.COM
  • Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe reminds you that 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.

____________________________________________________________________________________

REJOINERS:

  1. Chad Irwin, Evolve Bank and Trust Memphis Mortgage Office (901) 260-1480
  2. Mary Lou Nowak, Mid-South Home Helpers.  For quality, caring non-medical assistance in the home of your aging or handicapped loved one. www.midsouthhomehelpers.com   (901) 414-9696
  3. Katie Gilliland  of www.BackupRX.com  Thanks to BackupRX for protecting Talk Shoppe from ransomware and other nasty internet bad guys.   They can help back up YOUR business data.

______________________________________________________________________

ABOUT BRIAN MALLORY

Brian Mallory has been a licensed property tax agent, certified residential appraiser, and real estate broker, for many years. He owns and operates The Mallory Firm, Inc, REALTORS®, Mallory Appraisals, and Mallory Property Tax Advisors.

He was appointed by the Mayor and Memphis City Council to serve as a board member on the Shelby County Board of Equalization from 2009-2011.  This board serves to examine, compare and equalize the county property assessments by the Shelby County Assessor and to provide citizens the opportunity to appeal and have a hearing regarding the assessed value of their property.

While serving on the Board of Equalization, listening to thousands of hearings of taxpayers, he noted the lack of professional representation for the residential taxpayer.  Most homeowners representing themselves were not prepared to adequately present a case or answer questions from the Board or Assessor’s appraiser.  And, the small number of licensed tax agents, and attorneys, were focused on commercial parcel representation.

 After dropping off the Board, he passed the TN Certified Assessor’s Exam and obtained the property tax agent license from the State of Tennessee.  Mallory Property Tax Advisors was formed to provide professional property tax appeal representation for only residential homeowners in Shelby County.  As one of only 9 licensed property tax agents in Shelby County, our company is the only one dedicated specifically to residential property tax appeals. 

Contact us at 901-870-4663 or bmallory@comcast.net 

Mallory Property Tax Advisors

TN-Licensed Property Tax Appeal Agent #326

4962 William Arnold Road, Suite 105

Memphis, TN 38117

*By appointment only.*
Disclaimer:  Mallory Property Tax Advisors is a valuation service firm specializing in assessment appeals advocacy consulting.  We are acting as tax agents, not appraisers, in this service.  In contrast, an appraisal is an unbiased opinion of value for which contingent fees are prohibited. 

______________________________________________________________________

About Jo Garner

cell: (901) 482 0354

 jo@192.232.195.219

www.JoGarner.com

  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  Jo is host of Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe  and currently publishes on her blog www.JoGarner.com.