Proud sponsor of:

Proud sponsor of:

P: (901) 482-0354 | E: Jo@JoGarner.com

P: (901) 482-0354 | E: Jo@JoGarner.com

Looking Your Best On A Mortgage Application and Staging Your Home To Sell Quicker 10-5-13

by | Oct 7, 2013 | Tips, Tricks & How To's

“Looking Your Best On A Mortgage Application and Staging Your Home To Sell Quicker”10-5-13


Topics covered on this podcast

Questions for Gwen Christensen of Builders Floors and Interiors to answer:

  1. 1.     I know you are the flooring expert for home builders in the area.  What are some of the staging rules builders use to attract buyers at their model homes?

 

  1. 2.     Can you think of any experiences you’ve had with former customers where the decorating or staging or different flooring helped sell a house?

 

  1. 3.     If you were on a tight budget, what are the least expensive—most basic things you can do to stage your home?
  2. 4.       A lot of people are on a budget.  I have seen how you can offer over the top customer service and a great product and still come in with a lower price than the “big box” flooring companies.  How do you do that?

 

  1. 5.     What makes carpet look worn out? What do you do about pet stains?

 

  1. 6.     Does wood add value to your home?  How do you care for wood?

Questions for Chet Whitsitt of Crye-Leike to answer:

  1. 1.     What are some general tips you give your clients who want to sell their homes quickly and for the best price?
  2. 2.     Can you think of any actual instances when the home staging made a definite difference between selling the home and having it sit on the market?
  3. 3.     If you were on a tight budget, what are some of the least expensive—most basic steps you would advise a home seller to take?

Carolyn Bendall of Fashion Academy –shares helpful insight about the importance of making a good first impression. 

Questions for Jo Garner to answer:

  1. 1.     What are the number one areas where people can make a good impression on their mortgage loan application?
  2. 2.     What are some specific things people can do to improve their credit scores?

 

4th segment 9:47 AM  Real Estate Tip of the Week

(Gwen or Chet or Carolyn to offer a practical, money-saving, time-saving tip related to real estate)

Good morning Memphis!  Good morning across the country on IHEART radio.  You’re on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe and I’m your host, Jo Garner, mortgage professional with Evolve Bank and Trust. Are you thinking about buying a house? Are you thinking about selling one?  Are you thinking about applying for a mortgage? There’s a number of folks around the coffee table today but we’ve got a few spots left you to join us.  Give us a call on the air and let’s talk.  (901) 535 WREC. That number again is (901) 535-9732.   Today our general topic is “Looking Your Best On A Mortgage Application & Staging Your Home To Sell Quicker.”

Around the table today we have interior decorator, and owner of Builders Floors and Interiors, Gwen Christensen.   Gwen you have a great reputation in the industry for offering a quality product at below “big box” prices.   AND you have your interior decorator skills to add too.   Tell our audience a little bit about yourself and what you offer your customers at Builder’s Floors and Interiors.

Chet Whitsitt, top-selling realtor with Crye-Leike Realtors has joined us.  Chet is THE KING OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS and has been featured in several local papers and on several talk radio shows.  Fed Ex Global Sales Department voted him “Zaniest Marketer of the Year”  for ads like his Halloween card with pictures of his face attached to drawings of Michael Jordan captioned   “Air Chet” along with “Chet Presley,” “Fu Man Chet,” and “Gorbachet” to name a few.  And then there are the “Check With Chet”  and “Got Chet?” billboards.  Tell us a little more about yourself and what you do for your clients<Chet has about 1 minute to introduce himself>

Carolyn Bendall of Fashion Academy writes the Make Over column in the Commercial Appeal and I’ve seen first-hand what she can do when it comes to making first-impressions count.

(Jo) The mortgage market didn’t make any great impressions this week. Since some of the government agencies were shut down, the Non-Farm-Payroll report didn’t get reported and bond investors sat on their hands all week keeping the mortgage rates steady at a 3-month low.  With no points this week on a conventional 30 yr- you are looking at about a 4.25% rate (and you can get much lower than that if you want to pay a little more).  FHA and VA the 30 yr fixed rate is around 4% to 4.25% no points.  The 15 yr is down in the 3’s.   If you know someone who missed the boat on refinancing this summer, let them know they have a chance to save big again.  Susan Belew and I would like very much to talk with you about how we can lower your mortgage interest costs and even shorten the term on your mortgage so you can get rid of it quicker.  Now that values are starting to come back, cash out refinances are more popular giving some our clients a chance to pay off higher interest rate debt and still pay their mortgages off early.    If you know someone like that, give me a call on the air today at 901 535 WREC or call me directly off the air at 901 482 0354.  That direct number is 901 482 0354.   Or catch my blog at www.mortgageloansblog.com

(Jo) Home purchases ARE up and it’s a great idea to make a good first impression with the mortgage lender.  My assistant, Susan Belew and I , have a lot of experience finding ways to make you look your best .  We try to show all of your assets like 401k or IRA’s even if you won’t be using the funds at closing.  I have gotten so many self-employed borrowers approved.  And these are people with great credit who have been turned down by other banks because the loan officer did not know how to find their income in the BACK pages of their tax returns.   If you’re just a little off the best credit scores, we can use the Credit Simulators to help you get the highest score with the lowest mortgage rate.  Just like there are little details that can make you PERSONALLY look better when you are getting a Make Over, or when you are staging your house to sell,  there are so many little details on the loan application that can help give you a lot of favor at approval time.

Whether you’re BUYING a house or REFINANCING one, we have some special programs that will specifically help you meet your goal.   Remember rates are low, call JO.  Susan and I can help you make a great first impression on getting your loan approved.

Speaking of great first impressions—we have Gwen Christensen, interior decorator and owner of Builders Floors and Interiors around the coffee table with us.  Chet Whitsitt, successful realtor with Crye-Leike knows a thing or two about making a good first impression when you’re selling your house.  And Carolyn Bendall of Fashion Academy is sitting in with us today too.

Gwen, what are some tips you can give us as a decorator if we are trying to sell our house quickly?

 

Questions for Gwen Christensen of Builders Floors and Interiors to answer:

  1. 7.     I know you are the flooring expert for home builders in the area.  What are some of the staging rules builders use to attract buyers at their model homes?

 

  1. 8.     Can you think of any experiences you’ve had with former customers where the decorating or staging or different flooring helped sell a house?

 

  1. 9.     If you were on a tight budget, what are the least expensive—most basic things you can do to stage your home?
  2. 10.    A lot of people are on a budget.  I have seen how you can offer over the top customer service and a great product and still come in with a lower price than the “big box” flooring companies.  How do you do that?

 

  1. 11.  What makes carpet look worn out? What do you do about pet stains?

 

  1. 12.  Does wood add value to your home?  How do you care for wood?

Questions for Chet Whitsitt of Crye-Leike to answer:

  1. 4.     What are some general tips you give your clients who want to sell their homes quickly and for the best price?
  2. 5.     Can you think of any actual instances when the home staging made a definite difference between selling the home and having it sit on the market?
  3. 6.     If you were on a tight budget, what are some of the least expensive—most basic steps you would advise a home seller to take?

Carolyn Bendall of Fashion Academy –shares helpful insight about the importance of making a good first impression. 

Questions for Jo Garner to answer:

  1. 3.     What are the number one areas where people can make a good impression on their mortgage loan application?
    1.  If you have assets like a large savings account, CD’s, mutual funds or retirement funds, go ahead and disclose them on the loan application even if you aren’t going to use the funds for closing.  Automated underwriting programs and even HUMAN underwriters like to see reserve funds for a borrower. It insures if there was an unexpected emergency, the borrower would be able to weather the storm without missing a house note.  Liquid assets are what I call “grease on the cog” because it can ease a loan into an approval status even if there are other aspects of the file that might not be so clean.
    2. State your income correctly. If you are a W2 employee, don’t over state your income.  Most of the time the previous W2 and the year-to-date income totals on your latest paystub help you get the income right.   That is what a loan officer will look for.  If you write off unreimbursed employee expenses on your tax return, let the loan officer know because this amount gets deducted from your regular income.

If you’re self employed, or a 1099 subcontractor or you own over 25% of the company or if over 25% of your income comes from commissions, let the loan officer know.  The formulas and methods for calculating your income is VERY different than if you are a regular W2 income employee.     If you’re self-employed and have good credit and you’ve been turned down at another bank, please call me.  Fewer and fewer loan officers today know how to find your income in the BACK pages of the tax return.   I may be able to help you.   Call me right now on the air at 901 535 WREC or call me directly off the air at 901 482-0354. That direct number again is 901 482 0354.

  1. Credit scores are important.  A great credit score is 740 or higher .   if you scores are lower you can still get a loan but sometimes you end up paying a higher interest rate.  My assistant Susan Belew and I have trained our team on using the Credit Simulators. Its sort of like a flight simulator.  It can suggest ways to get your credit scores higher in the least amount of time with the least amount of investment.
  2. 4.     What are some specific things people can do to improve their credit scores?
    1. Everyone knows you need to make your payments on time.   But not many people know that 30% of your credit score is made up of your borrowing habits on revolving accounts like credit cards.  To boost your credit scores the highest, you want to keep your balance owed BELOW 30% of your total credit limit on credit cards.  If you borrow over half of your credit limit even if you pay your bill on time, it can drop your credit scores significantly.   For instance, if you have a credit card with a $1,000 credit limit, don’t ever borrow more than $300 on it. Keep your balance owed under 30% of the limit.
    2. Don’t ever run out and pay off a bunch of bills before coming to see your loan officer.  I’ve had people come to my office and announce that they paid off a bunch of collection accounts before coming in for their loan, and then they’re shocked when their credit scores have nose-dived over 100 points.  Why is that? If the collection accounts are old, they weren’t affecting your scores that much until you paid them off. Then the computerized scoring program saw the updated collection balance as a new collection.   I’m all for paying off your collection accounts, but if you have old collections on your report, wait until you are closed on the loan before you pay them off.

 

4th segment 9:47 AM  Real Estate Tip of the Week

(Gwen or Chet or Carolyn to offer a practical, money-saving, time-saving tip related to real estate)

 

Jo has two announcements: 

Talk Shoppe offers the community free networking and education to anyone interested in real estate or business.   This Wednesday 9A-10A at DeVry University 6401 Poplar Ave 6th floor in Memphis. Attorney Bruce Ralston will be speaking on “How Someone Else’s Bankruptcy Can Affect You And Your Business.”  The events are free. For more information about Talk Shoppe go to www.TalkShoppe.BIZ

 

Next Saturday on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program Tom King, certified real estate property tax appeal expert will be talking about real estate values in the Memphis area and how to lower your property taxes.  Saturday 9AM cst.  For our past weekly podcasts, go to www.mortgageloansblog.com

Transition Music:  “Mama’s Broken Heart” by Miranda Lambert; “The Way You Make Me Feel”  by Michael Jackson; “You Make Want To Shout”  Little Richard.

Gwen Christensen of Builders Floors and Interiors  www.buildersfloorsandinteriors.com

Chet Whitsitt, Realtor with Crye-Leike, Realtors in Memphis (901) 484-5689

Carolyn Bendall, Fashion Academy  (901) 210-9582

Rita Connally, personal fitness trainer at the YMCA at Schilling Farms in Collierville (901) 850-9622‎

Jo Garner’s Bio www.MortgageLoansBlog.com  www.MoneyShoppe.NET  (901) 482 0354  jogarner@mindspring.com

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.BIZ  She was also the host of the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program on News Radio AM 600 WREC and IHEART radio Saturdays 9A-10A CST (podcast and blog posts can be found on her blog www.MortgageLoansBlog.com   ).

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.