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Good morning, Memphis! Good morning to everyone across the country on IHeart radio. You’re on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program with me, Jo Garner, mortgage officer with Evolve Bank and Trust. Our co-host today is Ken Bowley, of Erin McDonald Allstate Insurance Agency.
Ken, glad to have you on the show. Tell us a little about yourself and what you do for your clients. Ken, its nice having your son, Hank back in the studio with us again.
Our topic today is “Planning For A Quality Life For Your Loved Ones: Lowering The Cost on Loans & Insurance” You can join us around the coffee table by calling 901 535-WREC. That number again is 901 535 9732.
Trulia did a survey of 18- to 34-year-olds . 43% of these are already homeowners. For the entire survey population, 31% of renters said they plan to buy a home in the next two years, compared with 28% in May and 22% for January 2011.
To all of you out there looking to purchase a home or real estate investment property—here’s a word for the wise—pick a team of professionals who first listen to what you want and need and who have the experience to guide you away from expensive pitfalls. You need a good realtor, you need a good mortgage officer, a good closing attorney, maybe even a good fix-it-up guy like Kim Shumake from Key Homes who does the radio show right before ours. Seek counsel from wise counselors—that’s my advice.
Make sure you’re comfortable with the house payment and the money you need to spend to get into the house. Getting a comfortable house payment is not that hard these days with the historic low rates. It cheaper to buy than rent in most cases.
The 30 yr fixed rate fell 2 basis points for week ending December 13th to 3.32% to 3.5%. The 15 year fixed rate slipped 1 basis point to around 2.66% to 2.75% and for the FHA government loans, the rates are even lower.
Ken there are still people steadily refinancing their primary residences, their 2nd homes and investment properties to free up more cash per month or to eliminate years off the mortgage term. Some people are pulling cash out to reinvest other places. This week I sat across the closing table from some very happy customers. They owed about $230 thousand on their mortgage and were payment $2,211/mo principal and interest per month. They had 25 years left to pay at this rate. But, they wanted to retire in a few years and at the same time put their teenage daughters through college. How were they going to do both?
We refinanced them to a 15 year loan. Getting rid of the last 10 years of the mortgage saved them the principal and interest payment of $2,211/mo x 120 month (which is 10 years). This alone saved them $265,320 dollars in payments. Then, to add icing to the cake, we lowered the rate significantly saving them about $664/mo. Over the next 15 years the savings on the payment will save them $119,676. Imagine your banker writing you a check for this cash—She She totals up on her adding machine the $265,320 and then the $119,676 and makes the check out to you for $384,996. So what if you enjoy it a little at a time for the next 15 years? Its REAL MONEY! And you can get your children through college AND retire all at the same time. WHAT A DEAL!
My very capable assistant Susan Belew and I would like VERY much to sit across the closing table from YOU. Whether you have decided to stop paying high rent and instead buy a house OR if you have decided to give yourself a raise and a huge bonus by refinancing your mortgage to much better terms, Susan and I would like to work with you. It really makes the work we do every day worthwhile to help someone realize that kind of “real money savings. Call us directly off the air at 901 482 0354. That number to call again is 901 482 0354.
When it comes right down to it, Ken, we make decisions in life and in our finances to benefit those we love. You’ve been urging us on this program to buy the insurance we need now before the cost of that insurance goes up in 2013.
Questions for Ken Bowley to answer:
1. What type risks do the various insurance policies cover?
2. Is there a way you can arrange to have your long-term care and other policies pay for themselves?
3 How does accident insurance work?
Questions for Hank Bowley to answer:
1. We have talked about the Millenium Generation or Generation Y and that they have a dream of owning their own home. You’re 8 yrs old so you are on the border of being Generation Y and Generation Z. They say Generation Z is the most “connected” generation because you have grown up using multiple social media outlets, smart phones, texting and other media connections that earlier generations didn’t experience until later in life. Since you are on the border of both generations, Hank, tell me, when you get older what kind of house do you want to live in?
Will you rent it or do you want to own that house? Do you use your computer to find answers to questions that you have with your school work or when you are with friends?
2. Hank tells his side of the story on how the accident with his sister happened at home last night and what happened after that.
Questions for Jo Garner to answer:
1. You talked earlier in the show about the clients you had this week that saved $384,996 dollars on their mortgage. Just in case some of our listeners missed how this works, can you break it down for everyone again?
2. You also mentioned earlier in the program that in many cases it is cheaper to buy vs. rent. What are some comparisons people can make to decide what is best for them?
Ken, there are a lot of people out there right now who are pondering if it is better for them to buy or rent—especially our Millennial Generation or Generation Y born between 1982 and the early 2000’s but not restricted to them.
The easiest comparison I have found is on the Washington Post site. Just google Washington Post rent vs buy analysis. Assuming you are going to live somewhere for at least the next 5 years and you are paying about $800/mo in rent. How much could you save buyng a house for say $125,000 dollars? I went through their calculator last night and had it compare paying $800/mo in rent with rents going up 5% per year vs buying a house in Memphis for $125K dollars with 3.5% down payment or less with down payment assistance, paying about $700/yr for home insurance and about $2,355 a year in taxes that are included in your payment, the calculator came back and said I would save over 5 years about $45,832 buying a house. Plug in your own numbers and find out what works for you. That calculator is on the Washington Post site under real estate tools. Just google Washington post rent vs buy analysis tool.
3. There’s been quite a bit in the news about the new down payment assistance program called Helping Homeowners.
The Helping Homeowners down payment assistance program is a great program for people buying houses because it has 0% interest on the assistance money and if you live in the house for at least 5 years, you don’t have to pay back the money. What makes it different than some of the other down payment programs is that it doesn’t require that you be a first-time homeowner. You can only own one home at a time though. And there ARE some income restrictions. They do not have any extra closing costs associated with it like THDA does. So if you are short on funds to close or the seller can’t pay all of your closing costs, give me a call and let’s see if this will work for you. To talk directly with my assistant Susan Belew or me, call us at 901 482 0354.
Real Estate Tip of the Week:
If you are trying to purchase a home and do not have enough money to pay all of your down payment, there are several good down payment assistance programs available for buyers who have not owned a home in the last 3 years. Some of these programs require 2 to 3% extra closing costs and if the seller cannot pay all of it for you, it could kill the deal for you.
But the new Helping Homeowners down payment assistance program only requires you put down 1% of the sales price of your own money. Since the fund is allowed to pay all of your closing costs, prepaid taxes and insurance AND your down payment up to $15,000 if you need it, you can make a lot more purchase deals work that might not have worked on a different program. If you are a seller and do not have enough room to pay for the buyer’s closing cost, we may still get your house to sell using this new program. Word to the wise though, the is a limited amount of money available so it is on a first-come, first serve basis. Call me and let’s talk .
Jo has two announcements to make:
Talk Shoppe is an organization that offers free education and networking to anyone interested in real estate or business. This Wednesday from 9AM to 10AM at the Better Business Bureau, you can meet some new business contacts and maybe get some referrals really fast so bring your smile and lots of your business cards. This Wednesday is Speed Networking : The Reindeer Race For Referrals. For more information go to www.TalkShoppe.BIZ
Next Saturday we have Attorney Ron Cohen from Premium Title Group. We are going to be talking about contracts and other legal aspects of keeping your home. Ron has a little surprise for you too. I think you’ll like it. That is next Saturday 9a to 10a right here on News Radio AM 600.
Transitional Songs: “Caroling, Caroling” Nat King Cole; “The First Noel” by Elvis Presley; “Christmas Canon” Trans -Siberian Orchestra
Jo Garner, Mortgage Officer with Evolve Bank and Trust (901) 482 0354 jogarner@mindspring.com and jgarner@getevolved.com www.MoneyShoppe.NET
Ken Bowley of Erin McDonald Allstate Insurance Agency (901) 372-3500. For real estate financing solutions and insurance 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 money-saving tips for insurance and more.