John Cannata - Mortgage Loan Consultant - Frisco Texas - Reliant Mortgage Ltd

That's right, you can save THOUSANDS of dollars. I know, sounds impossible and you are waiting for the punchline or for me to tell you to invest in something that will have huge gains. Nope! That's not my job, but I am sure there are plenty of posts and/or infomercials that will take care of that for me.

This post was sparked from phone calls I received from new and previous customers. Yes it is true that rates are still at an all time low. But does that mean you need to refinance? Well, that is not always the case. What?? A mortgage consultant telling you it may not make sense for you to refinance? Yes and No. When I am talking with someone about refinancing, I look at many different aspects. Obviously we are going to talk about credit so we can assess your current situation. This post is not about Credit though. If you need to review your credit though, take a look at my previous post which talks about getting a free credit report.

When I consider someone for a refinance, I look at their current loan balance, the term they want compared to how much time they have left, and their credit score. Right now, more than ever, your credit score is a major driver of what interest rate you will receive. So, let's look at a scenario where you can save yourself some thousands of dollars without refinancing.

It may not be possible for you to increase your monthly mortgage payment due to current cash-flow, but if you can that will obviously help. Most mortgages permit you to make additional payments to your principal at anytime. Perhaps you receive a larger than expected tax return, or an inheritance, or a non-taxable cash gift. You could apply this money towards your loan's principal, resulting in significant savings and a shorter loan life.

Let's use the following example:

• Loan Balance $100,000
• 30 year fixed rate
• Current rate 6.5%

In this scenario, the borrower would pay a total of $227,542.98. This is the total of all payments made over the next 30 years. That equals $127,542.98 in interest payments. I know that is a crazy number (for reference, this number can be found on your Truth In Lending Statement).

If the same borrower makes a one-time $5,000 payment the first day of year 6, he/she will pay a total of $204,710.75 and pay off the loan in 27 years (324 months). This shaves off 36 months of payments with a savings of $22,832.23 in interest. Paying a principal reduction in year 6 means nothing, except it worked into my scenario nicely. You may make a principal reduction in year 2 or year 12. The point is to make the principal reduction and you are guaranteed to save on interest.

So... what are you going to do with YOUR tax return this year?

If your principal balance is over $150,000 and you are paying over 6% on your mortgage, you should call your local mortgage consultant. It costs nothing to find out what options are available to you (in most cases) and could save you a ton of money.

You are also welcome to visit my website www.TXMortgageConsultant.com and use the mortgage and budget calculators to see your own savings scenario. No sign-up required and no one will follow-up with a phone call. It is set up for your use only. If you live in Frisco Texas or the surrounding areas, give me a call and I'll be happy to do some comparisons for you.

It's no secret that your credit score plays a major role in being approved or denied for a loan. Over the past 2 weeks, I have spoken with about 6 customers that are looking to purchase or refinance due to the great mortgage rates. In most of the cases, the customer has no clue what their credit scores are. I tend to ask a LOT of questions to get an idea of someone's score without pulling the credit. If you have no clue and have not purchased anything in quite some time, it makes it harder for someone like me to guestimate your scores and provide an accurate Good Faith Estimate.

Don't get me wrong, I understand when someone does not know the exact score. I am referring to anyone who has never looked or taken an interest until the day they decide to refinance or purchase a home. Not just a home, but any major purchase where financing may be needed. Back in October, I wrote a few posts about Credit Scores, what to look for, and how to improve them. Within those posts, I talked about what to look for and how to address issues, but I never really talked about who you could contact for a free credit report. Below should help with your research.

Ultimately, if you are thinking about making a large purchase, you may need to be eligible for a loan. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was amended to require each credit reporting agency (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to provide a credit report to you each year, at your request, completely free of charge.

How do you get the free credit report? The three credit reporting agencies have set up one central website, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.

One the web: www.annualcreditreport.com

Telephone: 877-322-8228

Mail in the Annual Credit Report Request Form to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service

P.O. Box 105281

Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Once you receive your report, call a local Credit Counselor to review it with you and offer assistance. You may also be able to have a local Loan Officer review the report with you and offer suggestions. Please note that Loan Officers review credit reports in detail and can offer suggestions, but they are not the experts. For serious delinquencies, contact a Credit Counselor because they are familiar with credit laws & guidelines. Somethings can be removed where as others need specific attention.

I hope that you have found this information useful. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns and I'll be happy to assist and/or direct you to a Professional Credit Counselor.

We hear about homes being sold in and around our area all the time. Last quarter there were thousands and thousands of homes sold. In North Texas that is certainly true. If you missed it, my last post was - 2008 Real Estate Recap in North Texas. No matter where you live or what your farm area is, did your marketing efforts yield the return you expected?

Over the past few months, I have spoken with many agents. Each of them said it use to be that you could simply mail a postcard to your farm area and you would get a half dozen leads with one of them converting into a listing. Today its much more competitive.

How can your marketing compete for attention when there are over 10,000 licensed Realtors(r) for your area bidding for the same area? If your marketing isn't producing results, someone else's is. Homes are selling (not quite like hotcakes anymore... but they are selling). If your marketing is falling short of your expectations, than you're losing opportunities. And if that wasn't bad enough, with no leads it can create some strong emotional stress. One particular agent I spoke with last month said she's lost some listings because she knows during her presentation that she came across too desperate for the sale. Some call this 'commission breath'.

There are two major things that hold back your ROI:

1. Consistency - To have impact, your message must reach the same audience multiple times. Studies show that people won't take any sort of action until they've seen your message at least 7 times. Thats a lot of messages, but thats the average.
2. Changing Your Audience - Every successful agent I've known had one thing in common; they marketed to the same farm for years. You don't need to get a new audience just because your marketing does not generate leads after the first 2 or 3 mailings. You should not change your audience until the well is dry and when does that really happen?

Fortunately, the above items are easy to fix. First, commit to achieving more consistency in your marketing. Don't give up too soon because you're not happy with the results. Families need to become familiar with you before they'll consider doing business with you. Second, pick a farm and stay there. Your goal should be to become the "Neighborhood Realtor (r)". Anytime a neighbor in your farm area is thinking about selling or buying a home, they think of you first.

If you need help with your marketing efforts, here are some familiar faces here on ActiveRain that may be able to assist:

Rebecca Livingston - "Real Marketing for your Real Estate Vision" - Rebeccca is the owner of Real Skillz in Wisconsin. She is always blogging about marketing, social media, and the latest and greatest tools available to you. She can also be followed in twitter @Rebeccalev

Katerina Gasset - Wellington Homes in Florida. I'm sure you know Katerina so she does not really need an introduction, but just in case. Katerina and Nestor are both Realtors. For years, they have been fine tuning their marketing efforts and offer a unique program which includes 'hands on' training to ensure success. Katerina can also be followed in twiitter @CoachKaterina

Clint Miller - Real Estate Client Referrals in Montana. Clint actually offers a more unique program which includes providing leads. I would not be able to do his program justice by explaining it, but I suggest you stop by his webpage or give him a call for further clarification. I can say that his Referrals Program is not like typical Lead Generations. Also on twitter @recr

Bottom line... Make it happen, don't wait for it to happen. I wish you the best in 2009.

Since you are following people on twitter... look me up @jcannata

Finally, 2008 is over. I always like to see how many homes we sell in our area. Since I am working on these numbers, I thought I'd share. Sure, its another report on ActiveRain but not necessarily within my area. Below is a comparison from this past years sales in comparison to the previous year.

As you will see, it was a tough year. I think that is not a surprise to anyone. As I looked at the numbers a little further, there were many positive things I found. For example, in many areas the values either held their value and some even gained slightly, as reflected in the average sale price. So while the rest of the nation and much of the Metroplex struggle to cope with declining values, homeowners in the Northern suburbs continue to benefit from home ownership. With interest rates at historic lows, that makes the present moment an excellent time to buy. If nothing else, talk to your past clients about refinancing opportunities - and while you're at it, maybe you can interest them in trading up. Mortgage rates dropped 1.3% since the first of November - that represents a savings of roughly $175 a month on a $200,000 note - the upshot being that qualified borrowers can afford more home for the same payment if they act quickly.

Opportunities are everywhere. The media sees the present economic situation as an opportunity to bum everybody our. We just need to take their lemonds and make them lemonade... or maybe rim a martini glass.

2009 is going to be a better year, but you have to make that decision for yourself.

This months "Coffee with the Mayor" of Frisco Texas was the best turnout yet. Last month, Mayor Maso discussed a new theme for these meetings. The theme would be to hold the meetings at a new location each month. The location would be the topic of discussion (at least to begin with) and would them move to other local events and discussions. The new theme started this month when we held the meeting at Frisco's Emergency Operations Center which is located in the Frisco Central Fire Station. As a result, over 60 residents attending. This marked the biggest showing yet.

I have to tell you in advance that I tried to keep up on the notes, but I was so absorbed with the information provided that I found myself not taking as many notes. It was extremely fascinating to me how the systems worked. The technology and communication within the city was just amazing.

Chief Mack Borchardt was the main speaker for the first 35 minutes of the meeting. During that time, he discussed a product called Situational Awareness For Emergency Response ( S.A.F.E.R. ). Currently, the system is tied to the local schools. With a click of the button, the Emergency Response Team can see what is going on within our local schools in case of a serious emergency. This provides the ERT with an inside view so they know what is happening, what to expect, and how to respond to the situation. In addition, all Response Vehicles have a lowjack type system in place which helps identify which vehicles are on location. All of this helps the Chief direct his team and communicate with other officials. The system can easily be installed with other facilities which have camera's in place. Ultimately providing further safety within our city. Ideally, it will never need to be used, but the technology is there and is far more advanced than most other cities have in place.

In addition to the SAFER project, the Chief provided insight to other safety features. For example, the emergency sirens are tested daily (rotated and signals) and weekly (sirens can be heard for miles). Another interesting fact was that our Fire Trucks have sensors on them to change street signals from red to green. This helps them in traffic and assists with keeping other drivers safe.

After hearing about the safety equipment in place and plans for new developments, its no wonder Frisco is one of the safest cities in Texas. As a matter of fact, we are in the top tier from ISO (International Organization for Standardization). What does this mean to you? Its a ranking system for several things. In this case, it measures our emergency response time and emergency facilities, among other things. Ultimately, it means LOWER INSURANCE PREMIUMS.

The average response time is 4-5 minutes anywhere in Frisco Texas.

Although a majority of our focus was on the facility and functionality, we did discuss a few upcoming events. One of the events is a class called "City Hall 101". This will be a free class offered. The discussion within the class will be about City Hall, the different divisions, and how the residents can help make a difference. There are many opportunities for residents to get involved.

We currently have over 102K residents and growing. Of the employers within Frisco, the Independent School District is still the largest. As a matter of fact, they are employing another 600 employees within the next year due to the opening of a High School. Each year, Frisco ISD has grown their employee base as a result of additional schools and new residents.

It was not yet announced where the next meeting will be held, but I certainly look forward to it. This months meeting was very educational and my blog does it no justice. I invite you to take a trip and be prepared to be fascinated.