Good morning, Memphis! And good morning to our IHEART radio listeners across the nation. 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 Tom King, an appraiser and a certified Shelby County real estate property tax appeal expert with King and Vaughan Consulting.
Our topic today is “Take The Leap, Experience The Thrill …of Homeownership At A Bargain!” Tom, no one knows better than you about taking a leap and experiencing the thrill and for you that means Skydiving. Hopefully we’ll hear about that later in the show. Tell us a little about yourself and what you can do for your customers.
Tom and I have a very special, sort of last minute guest in the studio with us this morning. Terri Murphy, former radio show host, a consultant, author and a national speaker with US Learning has popped in for a quick visit. We want her back for a full show one day. Terri, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
We are talking about “Take The Leap, Experience The Thrill of Homeownership at a Bargain.” Let’s talk about YOUR real estate topic. Do you have a question about your real estate property, your mortgage, your credit, your property taxes? Call us on the air at 901 535 WREC. That number again is 901 535- 9732.
The mortgage rates inched down a little this week but they’re not skydiving by any means. The conventional 30 year fixed rate fell 1 basis point to around 3.76% and the conventional 15 year rate dropped 3 basis points to around 3 percent. FHA rates are a little lower than the conventional rates. The prices on these rates vary as determined by a number of factors.
That’s just another reason homeowners in Shelby Fayette or Tipton counties should call you, Tom. By lowering their real estate property taxes, it can make up for extra costs in other areas.
But you’re right, Tom, FHA-HUD are saying, “We’re broke! Gotta’ go up on upfront and monthly mortgage insurance.” If you know someone wanting to buy a house right now and want to use the FHA financing, they need to get their lender to order their case numbers and appraisals before April 1st.
Susan and I have an FHA STREAMLINE refinance loan you can do if you already HAVE an FHA loan and it DOESN”T require an appraisal. If you’ve been told by a lender that you have to bring a lot of money to closing to get that program done, call me directly at 901 482 0354. Susan and I have ways of getting this refinance done with very little out of your pocket. Call us at 901 482 0354.
If you don’t have an FHA loan but your loan in endorsed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac prior to May 31.2009, you can use the popular HARP 2 refinance program WITHOUT an appraisal value needed. There’s nothing like saving several hundred dollars a month AND saving some closing costs too.
The proposed HARP 3 program will be great news for those of you whose mortgage is NOT backed by a government agency. It hasn’t passed yet but the legislators are talking about releasing HARP 3 to help homeowners with non-government backed loans be able to refinance without an appraisal value. I’ll let you know when it arrives.
Steady price increases are helping fuel the housing recovery. Buyers are making a leap to experience homeownership before they lose a great opportunity. Current homeowners have been calling our office to get their refinance done before the bargain rates go higher. My assistant Susan Belew and I would like to hear from you too. If you want to talk ON the air the number is 901 535 WREC. Off the air we can speak more directly at 901 482 0354 . My direct number again is 901 482 0354.
We’re talking about “Take The Leap, Experience The Thrill Of Homeownership” whether you’re refinancing your old loan for a bargain one, or your buying a house that you can brag about or you’re bringing down the cost of your property taxes, it can be a thrilling experience. Our special guest Terri Murphy is working on a program for the mortgage industry called “Your Forever Home.” We ‘ll be talking about that. And Tom King, our Shelby County real estate property tax appeal expert can help you lower your taxes.Tom, how can you help us experience the thrill of saving money on our property taxes?
Questions answered by Tom King:
1 The new Shelby County tax appraisals are about to be mailed out. Why is it important to go ahead and sign up for having your values appealed now instead of waiting until later?
2 Does the tax assessor cringe when you come in the door? Why not?
3 What is the process of getting your property taxes appealed?
4 How is the importance of having a team support you in skydiving the same as when you buy real estate?
5 Tell one of your skydiving stories.
Questions answered by Terri Murphy:
1 Terri you are a consultant for the National Association of Realtors a national speaker, former radio show host and the last book you wrote you wrote with Donald Trump. In your expert observations, where do you see our housing cycle today?
2 What are some things to look for in finding a good realtor?
3 Various other questions Terri answered.
Questions answered by Jo Garner
1. We’re talking about taking a leap and experiencing the thrill of homeownership. What have your customers been thrilled about the most lately?
There are 3 basic types of Thrilled customers:
A. The people who are refinancing their primary residences, 2nd homes and investment properties have been most thrilled when they’ve been able to save several hundred dollars per month by refinancing their mortgage AND, at the same time, they have saved several thousand dollars by shortening the term of the mortgage.
B. The people who are BUYING houses have been most thrilled at a mortgage payment that is so much less than the note they had on the smaller house and CERTAINLY much less than a monthly rent payment.
C. The first-time homebuyers are thrilled over the new Helping Homeowners down payment assistance program through United Housing for up to $15,000. Talk about a low house payment and very little down payment! It’s thrilling.
2. Prices on houses have started to increase and mortgage rates are creeping up. What is stopping people from taking the leap into homeownership?
A. The biggest reasons people won’t take the leap is because of bad credit or not enough money to close.
B. My very capable assistant, Susan Belew and I are trained on the credit simulator systems. If your credit is in the low 600’s we can usually run it through a computerized simulator to get suggestions for how to get your credit scores boosted the most with the least amount of investment in the shortest time. There’s An App For That….
C. As far as money down, there are so many solutions for this but most people don’t readily think of them. You can sometimes borrow against a 401k , you can get a margin loan against stocks and bonds. You can borrow against another asset, get a gift from family, a cash value on your life insurance, down payment assistance and plenty of other places you can dig for gold.
Real Estate Tip Of The Week: Terri Murphy shared about the importance of staging.
Jo has two announcements to make:
Talk Shoppe offers free education and networking to anyone interested in real estate or business. This Wednesday 9 AM to 10 AM Janet Cherry , former instructor at University of Memphis will be demonstrating how to “Distinguish Yourself By Using Good Etiquette At The Dinner Table” The Better Business Bureau is hosting the event. For more information about Talk Shoppe go to www.talkshoppe.biz.
Lynn McDonald of Allstate Insurance is heading up the Make A Wish fundraiser at Talk Shoppe “Sweets For Your Sweetie” Bring your homemade sweets to sell and purchase sweets to raise money for Make A Wish.
Transition Songs: “Jump” by Van Halen; “After Taxes” by Johnny Cash; “Live Like You Were Dying” (the Skydiving Song) by Tim McGraw
Terri’s Notes:
www.terrimurphy.info harnessing the power of connection, I’ve been very active with the mortgage community for several years. Currently, I’m working on an initiative for a certification for the mortgage and real estate industry to better assist our military. I’m the co-author of a certification for the real estate industry: Certified Military Residential Specialist.. I also work with the mortgage industry on a program called: Your Forever Home – more on that tomorrow.. As an entrepreneur who has built a successful business over the last 28 years, Terri Murphy started out like the rest of us…clueless. Early in her career, Terri learned to build a strong customer network, propelling her into the top 10 percent of a national sales organization. Terri took what she learned and began her own sales consulting company.
As a consultant to the National Association of Realtors®, and CIO of U. S. Learning, Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, Terri understands the critical need to interface technology solutions with personal customer care to create truly exceptional relationships.
Terri believes in using the power of the internet to build a customer network and profitable sales.
As a professional presenter, Terri is dynamic, entertaining and captivating. She is also a best-selling author for Dearborn Financial Publishing, an accomplished columnist, television producer, and business e-communication consultant. She is a published author of 5 books, including her most recent book with Donald Trump. Terri continues to consult with high level industry companies helping them to perfect their services of developing strategic partnerships that provide exceptional levels of service that guarantee true clients for life.
Through her dynamic presentations, Terri shares the secrets to maximizing e-commerce opportunities through powerful sales and marketing e-strategies. Terri empowers audience members by providing practical steps on how to build a full and strong Internet presence and use web tools to build a community and business online.
She’s been a featured expert on ABC Sunday Morning News, NBC Sunday Morning News, and WREGTV & CNBC.
About Tom King. (901) 487-6989 Tom King has been an appraiser in the Memphis area for over 35 years. He cut his teeth on appraising since his father was an appraiser also.
Tom currently is partner in the King and Vaughan Consulting firm with Deanna Vaughan. For this company Tom is a certified Shelby County real estate property tax appeal expert. With the new property tax appraisals coming out, Tom is about to be VERY busy.
In his free time Tom likes to sky dive and is VERY experienced at it. He also lives in the country and has horses. He is a long-time member of Bellevue Baptist church and very active in the Christmas Tree production.
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 17 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 editor of Power Shoppe, a free weekly ezine designed for real estate professionals and others indirectly connected to the real estate industry and currently publishes 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.