Looking Its Best Will Sell The Rest— Spotlight On Landscaping Curb Appeal & Credit Make-Overs
Highlights from our podcast:
Market News
Successful Credit Make-Over Spotlight –interview with a youth pastor and his wife
Questions answered by John Lawhon:
1. Why should new homeowners be concerned about the landscaping around their home?
2. How does landscaping your home affect the neighborhood you live in?
3. How do homeowners go about the process of improving the appearance of their homes?
4. Why should the homeowner spend the money to hire a professional when they could just use Home Depot?
5. What are some tips on enhancing curb appeal on a budget?
6. What are some tips for keeping up with landscape maintenance?
Questions answered by Jo Garner
- 1. How do you keep your credit looking its best?
- Overall to look really good on your loan application, what are some things I can do?
REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK
Good morning Memphis! Good morning around the country on IHEART radio. You’re on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program. I’m your host, Jo Garner, mortgage professional with Evolve Bank and Trust. John Lawhon with Lawhon Landscaping is sitting around the coffee table with us this morning. John, I am always hearing great things about you and the excellent work you do. Glad to have you with us today, John. Tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and Lawhon Landscaping.
John, you are going to be able to add a lot to our discussion today. Our general topic is “Looking Its Best Helps Sell The Rest- Landscaping Curb Appeal & A Credit Make-Over” But we want to talk with you about whatever real estate topic you want to discuss. Give us a call on the air at (901) 535-WREC. That on-air number again is (901) 535 9732.
- (Jo) Speaking of looking good—mortgage rates ended the day yesterday looking better than they’ve been all week. Of course a lot of bond buyers and other traders were out on spring break. The stock market slumped too. But next week could be a different story, especially with the Federal Reserve making their policy announcement on Wednesday and the big Employment Situation Report due out on Friday. These events could send rates up again. And they tend to go up faster than they come down. Yesterday the conventional 30 year rates were around 4.375% with no points. 30YR FIXED –4.375
- FHA/VA – 4.00%
- 15 YEAR FIXED – 3.5%
- 5 YEAR ARMS – 3.0-3.50% depending on the lender
John, overall rates are still showing some excellent curb appeal. My advice to our listeners is “If The Deal Works For You Today, Do It Today. What trends in YOUR business are you seeing this past week and the week before?
<John talks for about trends he is seeing in his marketplace>
Most of the economic gurus see our mortgage rates going up this year. There seems to be more demand than there is supply of homes which keeps pushing the prices on homes up so if you’re still renting and plan on being in Memphis for at least 2 or 3 years, you may want to consider BUYING a home while rates are still in the 3’s and 4’s and while prices are still below where they were before the bubble burst. Right now there are so many opportunities to enjoy a lot more house and amenities and pay LESS per month than you were paying in rent. If you are that person or know that person, Susan Belew, my experienced assistant, and I would like very much to talk with you about your plans, your comfort level on a house payment and down payment. We can run some financing scenarios for you too. Call us off the air at (901) 482-0354. That direct number again off the air is 901 482 0354. Or call us right now on the air at 901 535 WREC (901) 535-9732 or catch me on my blog www.MortgageLoansBlog.com
<John makes a comment here about a success story with an employee of his getting a credit make over with Susan and Jo and was able to refinance to much better terms on her home >
(Jo) I think most of us would agree that having your house totally paid off would make your finances look better. Susan and I can work up scenarios for you to compare if you would like to look at how much interest you could save by refinancing your primary residence, second home or your investment property. If you could save a couple hundred or more dollars per month, that’s money that you can use to gradually pay the mortgage off early. If you shorten the term on your mortgage you can save TENS of thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. But don’t wait around. Let’s look at the numbers for you now. Some of our refinance programs do not even require an appraisal value.
Over the last few months, more and more of our clients are coming to us to get cash out from properties that they owned free and clear. They are taking the cash out money and investing to buy additional real estate at a bargain price or they are plowing the money into other investment funds or businesses to make exponentially more profit from it. Now that real estate values are coming up in some locations, you may be able to refinance or get cash out today even though the value wasn’t there when you tried refinancing a year or more ago.
John, I’ve been talking about how to look your best on your financing. Our general topic today is “Looking Its Best Helps Sell The Rest- Landscaping Curb Appeal & A Credit Make-Over.” How can we get the best curb appeal on our homes by doing some landscaping? < John launches topic)
CREDIT MAKE-OVER from Challenge Through Change To Championship —We love success stories and we have one to share with you today. John and Mandy Flatman are in the studio with us today to talk about their recent Credit Make-Over.
John is the youth pastor at Church of the Harvest in Olive Branch, Mississippi. (1) John and Mandy, tell us a little about yourselves. You just bought a beautiful home that is perfect for you and your family. You got a monthly note that was VERY comfortable for you and paid nothing down at all at closing. Life is good. But tell us what life was like a few years ago before you put yourself through the Credit Make-Over.
(Flatmans ) “Our process started about 4 years ago. We never thought it would be possible for us to own our own home. I owned a house about 16 years ago from a previous marriage that was placed into a wrap around mortgage by my ex-wife .That in turn started to ruin my credit from late payments made by the property management company that owned the title to the home. To top it off both my wife and I had made some poor choices in how we handled our finances in the past. We both lacked some discipline in our spending habits and how we made payments on our credit accounts.”
(Jo) When you were experiencing the challenges of damaged credit, what did you do to start turning things around?
(the Flatmans) We both lacked some discipline in our spending habits and how we made payments on our credit accounts. With having those issues with poor spending habits my wife and I thought it would be best for us to go to a all cash policy for our finances. So for 4 years we did just that ,we paid cash for everything. The downside to that was it left us not generating a credit score because the lack of open credit accounts.
Through much prayer for the house to sell, it did about 4 years ago, and it came off my credit report. After the news of the house in Florida selling and coming off my credit report we started to show a interest in wanting to own our own home again. It’s always been a desire of my wife heart to have a home where our children could grow up in like she did. We also know God wants to give us the desires of our hearts. Through much prayer we received word from some friends of ours about Jo Garner and her unique ability to help people in our circumstance rebuild there credit. Through Jo’s council of being patient, paying down our debit, opening small credit accounts, and for us to have determination on our part to practice self discipline & commitment to pay those accounts on time. Here we are, repaired credit, a new look on how we can be disciplined, patient, and responsible with our credit. Wow that’s all I can say 🙂
(Jo) The biggest part of your success story that I can see is that first you realized you had challenges with your credit which were punishing you by taking away so many of life’s options. But instead of resigning yourself to live under that kind of financial bondage, you made a commitment to conquer the bad habits and establish new, healthy financial habits. You took the bull by the horns. And now? How does life today differ from before?
(The Flatmans) The whole process from the start to finish took about a 1 1/2. It started with us making up our minds to live more disciplined lives with our finances and follow the advice of Jo. It finished with us owning our own home. Making the impossible become possible! Phil. 4:13
Questions answered by John Lawhon:
1. Why should new homeowners be concerned about the landscaping around their home?
2. How does landscaping your home affect the neighborhood you live in?
3. How do homeowners go about the process of improving the appearance of their homes?
4. Why should the homeowner spend the money to hire a professional when they could just use Home Depot?
5. What are some tips on enhancing curb appeal on a budget?
6. What are some tips for keeping up with landscape maintenance?
Questions answered by Jo Garner
- 3. How do you keep your credit looking its best?
Its important that you keep your credit looking its best because in today’s market place the quality of the terms on financing is tied in part to your credit score. The lower your credit score, the higher interest you pay. The better your credit score the better terms you get.
About 30 percent of your credit score is made up from your revolving credit activity. So here’s a tip. Keep your balances owed on credit cards BELOW 30% of the total credit line. For instance, if you had a total credit line of $1000 dollars on a credit card, you would never want to borrow more than $300 on your credit line—keeping the balance owed below 30%. But if you pay off the balance completely it may not help your score that much because the credit card company has nothing to report. Keeping the balance above $12 dollars and under 30% of your credit limit can really put some points on the board. Make sure you are making payments on time each month too and your scores should build itself. Don’t go out and get a 12 months same as cash account. These 12-months-same-as-cash can really hurt your credit scores. If you need your credit scores to be high like when you are about to buy a car, a house or about to refinance something, it is important to keep you scores as high as possible.
- Overall to look really good on your loan application, what are some things I can do?
This may sound unusual, but DON’T go pay off a bunch of debt before you talk to your loan officer. The highest priority in loan underwriting is 1st liquid assets in the bank. Cash is king and it can fix a lot of financial challenges—just having cash money to smooth over problems. 2nd. Good credit. Making payments on time and having a credit score of over 700. 3rd. Income to debt ratios are important but not has much of a deal breaker as assets and credit. Be honest with your loan officer and let the loan officer tell you if you need to pay down the credit cards or pay off other debt. After the loan is closed you can do whatever you want to on paying down or paying off debt.
REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK (John Lawhon)
Jo’s announcements: Talk Shoppe offers free education and networking for anyone interested in real estate or business. This Wednesday 4-30-14 9A-10A at DeVry University 6401 Poplar Ave 6th floor Memphis enjoy Speed Networking: Scoring Business Leads With Fast Pitches & A Race Around The Bases (dress with baseball theme is optional) Talk Shoppe events are free. For more information about Talk Shoppe go to www.TalkShoppe.BIZ
Next week right here on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe we will be getting some tips on how to build wealth from Jeremy Veldman with Turnkey Properties. Jeremy and his business partner were guest on William Shatner’s Moving America Forward program. Call in and talk with Jeremy next Saturday 9A to 10A
Today April 26th 2014, The YMCA is celebrating Healthy Kids Day. Stop by and enjoy games, cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts and more. Stop by the Cordova YMCA at 7950 Club Center Cove. If you are in Collierville drop into the Y at Schilling Blvd at Schilling Farms 9AM to noon. If you are in Olive Branch the Y there is at 8555 Goodman Rd 9A to noon.
Transitional Music: Mama’s Broken Heart” Miranda Lambert; Inch By Inch by John Denver; She’s Got The Look by Roxette; Credit Make-Over theme music “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates
John and Jennifer Lawhon of Lawhon Landscaping (901) 754 7474
YMCA of Memphis www.ymcamemphis.org (901) 766-7677
Rita Connally, personal fitness trainer YMCA Schilling Farms Collierville, TN (901) 850-9622
Church of the Harvest Olive Branch, MS http://midsouthharvest.org/
Jo Garner’s Bio
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 25 years in Memphis, TN. 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. She hosts the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program on News Radio AM 600 WREC in Memphis and on IHEART radio 9A to 10A CST every Saturday.
For real estate financing solutions, plug into the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program. You can find mortgage rates, FHA Streamline refinance with no out-of-pocket costs, refinancing options, home purchase loan programs, answers and real estate, money-saving tips and more.