In today’s show we are looking at current trends in real estate. We will cover some very strategic preparations you can make to help insure you get house and terms that you can feel good about for many years to come. John Lawhon of Lawhon Landscaping will be sharing some examples of ways to use landscaping to improve curb appeal. He will cover some ideas on how to expand your living space, making your home a happier place to live.
What do YOU want to accomplish with YOUR mortgage? Let’s stay connected! Subscribe at Jo@JoGarner.com to get our weekly podcasts with show notes. Call me at (901) 482-0354 if you want to look at financing scenarios for you mortgage plans.
To Your Success,
Jo Garner, licensed mortgage loan officer NMLS# 308757
(901) 482-0354 www.JoGarner.com Jo@JoGarner.com
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Welcome!
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. Subscribe at www.JoGarner.com and you will get our weekly podcasts complete with the show notes right into your email inbox. Our general topic is LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR REAL ESTATE SUCCESS INSIDE THE MORTGAGE NUMBERS AND OUTSIDE THE HOUSE You can call us while we are live at (901) 535-9732 Today is July 14th, 2018.
Getting Good Curb Appeal On Your Mortgage and Your Landscaping
In today’s show we are looking at current trends in real estate. We will cover some very strategic preparations you can make to help insure you get house and terms that you can feel good about for many years to come. John Lawhon of Lawhon Landscaping will be sharing some examples of ways to use landscaping to improve curb appeal. He will cover some ideas on how to expand your living space, making your home a happier place to live.
Introducing Our Landscape Expert
In the studio we have John Lawhon of Lawhon Landscaping. The Lawhon family have a great name in landscaping since 1955. John, you have done some work for me and many of my friends and associates who have been very pleased with your work. You even designed the Collierville, TN square and the Page Robbins Senior Center. Tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what services Lawhon Landscaping offer your clients. (John introduces himself and talks about the services Lawhon Landscape offers their clients.)
(Jo) USA Today in their April 13, 2018 edition talked about the importance of landscaping for your home when you are trying to sell for the highest profit. Wheeler, Johnson and Lewis talked about the fact that you only have one chance to make a first impression. You have to attract the right kind of home buyer if you are going to get the right kind of offer for your home. According to USA Today, while statistics vary, most evidence shows you’ll get more than 100% return on investment for money spent on landscaping. Allen Johnson leader of the AJ Team Keller Williams realty in Northern Virginia talked about the good return on investment landscaping can bring.. “Think about refreshing mulch, trimming shrubs, and planting seasonal colorful plants. These small investments create value when selling a home.” In fact, while the statistics vary, most evidence shows you’ll get more than a 100% return on investment for money spent on landscaping. according to Johnson. In fact, while the statistics vary, most evidence shows you’ll get more than a 100% return on investment for money spent on landscaping.
John, what are some quick and somewhat inexpensive landscaping improvements home sellers can make to attract the right buyers to purchase their home? (John talks about common landscaping improvements home owners can use cost-effectively to improve curb appeal . John gives examples of what clients have done to give their homes good curb appeal.)
1. (Jo asked John) What are some factors to consider before planning a landscape?
-Who will be using the outdoor space? Elderly family members? Toddlers? Teenagers? Pets?
-What kind of activities will the people using this outdoor space enjoy doing?
-Is low maintenance preferred?
-How will the outdoor space be used during each season
Jo) You’re listening to Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe. I’m your host, Jo Garner, Mortgage Loan Officer. What do YOU want to accomplish with YOUR mortgage? Let’s talk. Call me directly after the show at (901) 482-0354. Connect with me at www.JoGarner.com When we come back we will sharing some stories of homeowners who laid the groundwork to make their homes more enjoyable and a better investment. I will start getting into some strategic groundwork you can do to ensure you are happier with your mortgage terms.
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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 istoric 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.
Garner # 134 * 07/14/18
Shelby County
Question: Memphis is very glad to call me “home” for 199 years. Who am I?
Hint: I am the first of my kind in Tennessee, west of the Tennessee River.
Hint: I once had a government building named after my namesake, but not anymore.
Hint: My name sake is a veteran of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
Final Hint: I am the largest of my kind in the State of Tennessee.
Answer: Shelby County is named for Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky and U.S. General in both the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. In 1818, Shelby and Gen. Andrew Jackson negotiated a treaty with the Chickasaw Nation for all lands west of the Tennessee River to the Mississippi River (6.8 million acres) for a price of $330,000. That land is now 21 counties in what is collectively known as “West Tennessee”. Shelby County was founded in 1819, with the town of Memphis being laid out in 1819 and incorporated in 1826. In 1910, the Shelby County Courthouse was opened, and in 2015 the name changed to the Judge D’Army Bailey Courthouse.
Shelby County now has seven municipalities incorporated within its boundaries: Arlington (1900), Bartlett (1866), Collierville (1870), Germantown (1841), Lakeland (1977), Memphis (1826) and Millington (1875). Shelby County is the largest county in the State of Tennessee in both population (927,644) and acreage (755 square miles). Memphis and Shelby County will jointly celebrate their Bicentennial next year (2019).
Jimmy Ogle gives free walking tours on the sidewalks and parks in Downtown Memphis during the year, with the next being the Judge D’Army Bailey Courthouse Tour at 12:00 noon on Thursday, July 26 (meet at the southwest steps, corner of Second & Adams). Go to JimmyOgle.com.
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY JOHN LAWHON-
1. What are some common inexpensive landscaping improvements home sellers can make to get the best curb appeal and the most return on investment?
2. What are some factors to consider before planning a landscape?
-Who will be using the outdoor space? Elderly family members? Toddlers? Teenagers? Pets?
-What kind of activities will the people using this outdoor space enjoy doing?
-Is low maintenance preferred?
-How will the outdoor space be used during each season?
3. Share some stories of people who have expanded their living
spaces successfully?
4. What are the advantages of hiring a professional over doing
it yourself?
5. What kind of solutions to you use to handle drainage problems?
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TOPICS COVERED BY JO GARNER, MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER:
1. What are the trends in the real estate and mortgage market this year 2018?
A. Mortgage rates have been heading higher. They are still good though, mostly under 5% on the 30 year. The Federal Reserve has been inching up on the Fed overnight rate and are predicted to continue going up. The Federal Reserve rates tend to affect variable rate loans like home equity lines of credit and credit cards.
(Tell story of Darrell -not his real name. Darrell had been busy working and helping loved ones. Over a period of a few years he had amassed tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt without giving it much thought. But since the rates had been moving up on his credit card debt suddenly he felt like he was being strangled financially.
We did the numbers on Darrell’s scenario and it looked much better to refinance his current home and pay off his old mortgage and include a lot of the balances owed on the credit cards into one fixed rate mortgage secured on his home. Over the course of 5 years, Darrell would save thousands of dollars in interest expenses, especially since the rate on the new mortgage was a fixed rate and would not go up.
Do you have big balances on your credit cards or on a home equity line of credit? Let’s explore how much interest costs you can save by refinancing your home and combining these variable rate debts into one more stable fixed rate loan. Call me at (901) 482-0354 or apply online at https://jogarner.evolve.mortgage. We can look at the numbers. Make Your Plan. Work Your Plan. If the deal works for you today, do it today.
B. The inventory of homes for sale are still very low compared to the large number of people in the market to buy a home. Builders are building new homes which is lessening the discrepancy.
Due to the high demand of homes and short supply of homes listed for sale, buyers need to be prepared when they apply for their mortgage. I help my clients get a much stronger prequalification letter to give them an advantage over other competing buyers. Here are some other bits of best practices for laying a strong groundwork for your success in real estate.
2. What does laying the groundwork look like when it comes to getting a mortgage?
A. John, laying the groundwork for getting a mortgage is very much like laying the groundwork for building a house or even building an outside living space for that house like you do.
You first need to visualize what kind of life you want to have over the next 5 years so you can better determine what house payment will be comfortable for you to pay and how much money you will be comfortable putting down.
Just like when you are planning your outdoor landscaping design, when you are planning for your mortgage, you want to ask yourself these questions:
– What is the maximum house payment I can afford right now?
A. Several financial gurus say that your total house note including principal and interest, taxes, homeowners insurance, and/or mortgage insurance and homeowners association fees needs to be between 25% and 30% of your gross income. Your total income-to-debt ratios, including the new house payment and payments on other debt does not need to exceed 38% to 45% of your gross income.
– Mortgage underwriting software can sometimes approve you income-to-debt ratios of 45% or upwards to 55% of your gross income. Stay within your PERSONAL comfort level though, regardless of what the mortgage software tells you.
-Consider where you plan to be in the next year, the next five years, and the next ten years.
• Are you planning to retire? What will your income be when you retire? Will you still be living where you are living now?
• Are you planning to get married? Do you plan on expanding your family? Do you plan on taking an aging family member into your home? How much do you estimate your living expenses go up? Will your income likely increase too? How much?
• Are you just getting started in your career? Is it likely your income will go up? Will you need to relocate? How long is it likely you will keep the house? What would it cost to rent versus buy a home like the one you want?
• Do you own a house with a lot of equity that you plan on selling within a year of buying the new house? Do you plan to make a very large prepayment to principal once you sell your old home?
• Do you plan on starting your own business or acquiring income-producing real estate? This might require you to keep your mortgage payment low so that you can afford to finance other investments.
-What is the maximum down payment that is comfortable for you?
Several financial gurus say that if you enjoy a stable, salaried job, you probably need about 3 months of living expenses in an emergency fund. But, if you are self-employed or get a 100% commission income, you probably need about 1 full year of living expenses in an emergency fund
– What kind of property are you purchasing?
-If the property is a fixer-upper with lots of needed repairs, you may want to consider a Renovation and Repair loan so you can finance some of the repairs.
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– Is the property you are financing a condominium or a manufactured home?
– What special mortgage programs are available to you specifically?
A. Are you a military veteran? Are you eligible for the Veteran Administration 100% VA home loan?
B. Are you a first-time homebuyer, not having your name on title to real estate within the last 36 months? There may be down payment assistance programs available to you, even if you are not a first-time homebuyer.
– What methods can we use to develop more than one exit strategy?
A. Is the property in an area that is going up in value? If you really needed to sell the home one day, you could probably do it profitably if the value is stable or headed upward.
B. Is the property in an area that is a strong rental market? In a pinch, you could possibly rent the house and get a nice income from the home.
C. Is the mortgage you have an assumable loan? If mortgage rates go up, one day someone may be willing to pay you good money to have the opportunity to quality to assume your low interest rate mortgage when they buy your home.
What do YOU want to accomplish with YOUR mortgage?
Thank you for allowing me to be on your mortgage financing journey.
B. The higher your credit score, the lower your rate.
A great mortgage FICO credit score is over 740 up to 850. A good score is 700 to 739. A ok score, but a few tiers below the best pricing would be about 660 to 699. Scores below 660 are considered riskier and some loan products will price up the rates for these credit profiles.
– One good practice is to pull your annual free credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com Review the tradelines and other information showing balances owed and payment histories. Make sure there are no erroneous entries.
– Thirty percent or more of your credit score is comprised of the percentage of revolving credit lines you use.
For instance, if you have a credit card with a credit limit of $10,000, you would never want to allow the balance owed during the month to move up over $3,000—even if you pay it off regularly. Keeping your balance owed on a revolving credit line under 30% usage builds your credit scores up. Keeping your owed balances under 10% usage on the credit line can really build the score even higher. Borrowing 50% or more of your revolving credit lines actually tears down your credit score.
-Don’t allow your debt payments to be posted over 30 days late
-Stay away from 12-months-same-as-cash and accounts like that. These 12-months-same-as-cash accounts can really do damage to your score because they score as if they are maxed out revolving accounts.
-Work with companies that are repeatedly reporting negative credit on you. Try to get an acceptable payment or other arrangement with them to keep them from continuing the negative reports against you.
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REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK (John Lawhon has a tip):
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 Pinot’s Palette 8225 Dexter Rd Cordova, TN. This Wednesday July 18, 2018 Talk Shoppe presents “Literacy: The Key to A New Memphis..ARise2Read”, Karen Vogelsang, NBCT, 2015 Tennessee Teacher of the Year, Executive Director of ARise to Read, 901-497-0618, ARise2Read.Org
Talk Shoppe events are free thanks to supporters like Taylor Eason, videographer and social media at Talk Shoppe taylor@createdflawless.com
Thank you also to Tim Gilliland of www.backup.rx for keeping Talk Shoppe’s data safely backed up and secure
1. I would like to send you a complimentary copy of the Get-It-Right-The-First-Time Mortgage Checklist. Just email me to ask for this at Jo@JoGarner.com Or just call me the old fashioned way at (901) 482-0354.
4. SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.JOGARNER.COM FOR THIS REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE WEEKLY PODCASTS COMPLETE WITH SHOW NOTES.
5. Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe reminds you that 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 USE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND DO NOT REFLECT REAL PEOPLE OR ACTUAL DETAILS IN ANY OF THE SITUATIONS.
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QUOTE CORNER:
Unknown “Don’t Downgrade Your Dream Just To Fit Your Reality. Upgrade Your Conviction To Match Your Destiny.”
Vince Lombardi “The Man On Top Of The Mountain, Didn’t Fall There.”
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REJOINDERS:
Bob Turner, Hair Stylist at Gould’s Salon and Day Spa 3670 S Houston Levee Rd 107 Collierville, TN (901) 854-8689
Jana Cardona, Regional Director for West Tennessee and North Mississippi Business Network International www.bnimidsouth.com
Dan Sater, New York, author of the book Top 20 Toxic Credit Mistakes People Make www.creditscoringadvisor.com
Transitional Music:
“From The Ground Up” by Dan + Shay; “Standing On Solid Ground” by Sydney Barnes; “I Can See Clearly Now” Johnny Nash; “Memphis” by Johnny Rivers for the Look Back Memphis Trivia Contest
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ABOUT JOHN LAWHON OF LAWHON LANDSCAPING DESIGN:
Call: (901) 754-7474
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 everything you need to make your home more beautiful than ever.
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ABOUT JO GARNER-MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER:
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH WITH YOUR MORTGAGE?
www.JoGarner.com (901) 482 0354 jo@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