Five Things EP10: Single Parenting, Networking, and Refinancing with Tammi Rowe
https://brandascentmedia.com/?page_id=1054

00:00
it's really important to set the table
00:01
up front that's one of the most
00:03
important things the mortgage
00:04
professional can do to set those
00:06
expectations because it's a very
00:09
different market than it used to be and
00:11
the pendulum is swung back to where
00:13
things are a little more conservative
00:14
with underwriting and so there's a lot
00:17
of documentation requirement so I try
00:20
and set the table up front to let my
00:22
clients understand that were basically
00:24
going to need everything except
00:25
vaccination records so
00:32
[Music]
00:37
the truth is adding value will never go
00:39
out of style hello in actually good
00:44
morning from Raleigh North Carolina here
00:46
with Tammy roam or gauge professional
00:47
and excited about this podcast we're
00:50
drinking our coffee we're getting things
00:52
started right and other than that
00:55
Tammy's got a busy lifestyle super busy
00:58
professional supermom doing some
01:01
traveling so thanks for getting up early
01:03
she's already been at the gym today
01:05
she's already in crush modes we're
01:07
excited to learn about some things about
01:10
Tammy specifically and she's gonna help
01:12
us understand the five things that we
01:14
need to know about refinancing right now
01:16
but Tammy thank you for joining us and
01:19
thanks for having me this morning great
01:20
to see you as always tell us a little
01:22
bit about who you are and what your
01:25
background is sure be happy to so
01:27
originally from New York and moved here
01:30
in 1992 when I was with a training
01:33
program with GE Capital and it was a two
01:35
and a half year program and every six
01:37
months I would rotate to a different
01:39
position ended up here for my final
01:41
position working with GE Capital
01:43
mortgage insurance and that's where I
01:45
learned to speak mortgage okay so I was
01:47
selling private mortgage insurance at
01:49
the time and then left the industry all
01:53
together went to Cisco Systems for
01:55
several years and then came back in
01:56
industry back when my twins were born
02:01
and yeah about 15 years ago mm-hmm that
02:05
was a handful yes and have been
02:07
originating ever since so yeah I've got
02:09
three teenagers now all in high school
02:11
I've got a 17 year old rising senior so
02:14
everybody needs to say some prayers for
02:16
Tani's indeed yeah I'll go background on
02:19
that but I I can relate yeah and then
02:20
I've got twins boy-girl twins that are
02:23
15 and they're rising sophomores so a
02:26
full plate for sure lots of fun oh
02:27
that's a that's a handful I mean when I
02:30
first started I watched security started
02:33
going through divorce and and that sort
02:34
of thing but essentially had the three
02:36
teenagers at the time and I'll tell you
02:39
just absolutely handful and fortunately
02:42
actually had the oldest and my youngest
02:43
were pretty good my middle one was just
02:45
a tear he's just the wild man it's
02:49
I'm glad to be through that and I'll
02:51
certainly say some prayers for you so
02:54
you're from New York what when'd you
02:56
move here no to Raleigh back in 92 okay
03:00
mmm-hmm that's right so I actually got
03:03
here 93 so it's very similar time a lot
03:06
of change here since then oh my god
03:07
absolutely but so from the north
03:10
originally you're okay with the weather
03:12
here obviously well you know the
03:14
humidity you can keep but what are you
03:16
gonna do so huh
03:19
so that's how you got in the mortgage
03:20
industry just real quick for the
03:23
audience what are what are some
03:24
challenges you think you've encountered
03:27
in the industry lessons you've learned
03:29
whether it was maybe dealing with people
03:32
dealing with customers I don't want to
03:35
over your load yet 8:30 in the morning
03:36
but you know just something that our
03:39
audience can learn from because you know
03:41
you've been doing this for a long time
03:43
now so there's no question you you've
03:46
probably forgotten more than you you
03:47
know the average mortgage person knows
03:49
so that being said if you had to take
03:53
one or two things that really jump out
03:55
at you if you're looking back what do
03:58
you think some things would be so I
04:01
guess some of the challenges would be
04:03
just a lot to balance this is a very
04:07
rewarding career and very demanding as
04:09
well and so you've got your end clients
04:13
that you're assisting with their
04:14
financing when they're purchasing or
04:16
refinancing and then you've got your
04:18
referral partners that you need to take
04:19
really good care of as well and so also
04:23
getting out in marketing and doing sales
04:26
but also working really hard to make
04:29
sure every detail is covered so that
04:31
each transaction goes smoothly and
04:33
closes on time without any hiccups
04:35
so just many irons in the fire and a lot
04:39
to balance which keeps it fun and
04:41
interesting managing lots of
04:43
relationships you get the referral
04:44
partners where you're getting a lot of
04:46
business from you got your end user the
04:48
client and then you know you got your
04:51
processors you got your people within
04:53
the company that that are critical to
04:55
helping you deliver on that so
04:58
one of the things I think I learned
05:00
early on us I was probably a little bit
05:02
too much of a sergeant when it came to
05:05
running a security company or being a
05:07
manager you know was a little bit more
05:10
of an authoritarian style where's that
05:12
may not play out well and I found it
05:14
actually doesn't play out well
05:16
especially with some people so I'm sure
05:20
that's tough balance when you're dealing
05:21
with the processors who you know your
05:24
names on the line mm-hmm and your
05:25
credibility is on the line and that
05:27
closing day and all that kind of stuff
05:28
there's a lot of pressure the Realtors
05:30
you know blowing your phone up probably
05:32
mm-hmm you know see it's a lot of
05:34
pressure it's all about your reputation
05:36
and it's all about having a long-term
05:39
mindset it's not the transaction it's
05:42
the relationship and so that's the
05:45
mindset I go into it every day with to
05:47
take care of my client like they're my
05:49
only client I'm dealing with and then to
05:52
treat my referral partner like they're
05:54
the only referral partner I have and you
05:57
know even if the one transaction isn't a
05:59
good fit for me that's okay because it's
06:02
the long-term relationship that I'm
06:03
after right and I've been on this kick
06:06
lately of creating setting expectations
06:08
because I think that's a big part of it
06:11
like even when we'll have a client
06:14
that's setting up a an installation for
06:16
I watch security or whatever and and
06:17
yeah we're closing on the fifth we'd
06:19
love to get installed that afternoon you
06:22
know I even tell the client well listen
06:24
we'll go ahead and set it up however
06:25
it's extremely common for you know
06:27
things to get backed up a day or two
06:29
because you got the lawyers involved you
06:31
got multiple people involved Realtors
06:34
mortgage people and we're on you know
06:36
what often than not it goes pretty
06:38
smooth but but about 25 percent of the
06:40
time those people need to reschedule so
06:42
that's just something you know obviously
06:44
as the mortgage person you know
06:46
everybody's looking at you yeah it's
06:48
really important to set the table up
06:50
front that's one of the most important
06:51
things a mortgage professional can do to
06:54
set those expectations because it's a
06:56
very different market than it used to be
06:59
and the pendulum has swung back to where
07:01
things are a little more conservative
07:03
with underwriting
07:04
and so there's a lot of documentation
07:06
requirements so I try and set the table
07:08
up front to let my clients understand
07:11
that we're basically gonna need
07:12
everything except vaccination records
07:14
and firstborn so and that when we need
07:17
it we need it quickly to ensure that
07:18
they get to the closing table on time
07:20
and their notion cups so you know just
07:23
having that understanding up front
07:25
I think prevents a lot of struggles that
07:28
could you know happen on the back end
07:31
right you mean people can't just throw a
07:32
bunch of documents to you at the last
07:34
minute and expect you to turn everything
07:36
around immediately right they can expect
07:37
it's likely you know the one thing I
07:43
want to bring up as well cuz this was
07:44
really tough for me when I was being a
07:47
single parent and we won't spend a
07:49
tremendous amount of time on that or for
07:51
any professionals out there that are
07:53
really having a tough time I would say
07:56
it's totally normal
07:57
like it's supposed to be tough you know
07:59
especially with teenagers they're so
08:01
demanding and you know how how have you
08:06
dealt with that what are some tips you
08:08
might be able to give people out there
08:09
that are maybe getting separated or
08:12
divorced and the finding himself being a
08:14
single parent for the first time or
08:15
they're they're out there starting a new
08:18
career or they're just in a similar
08:20
career but they're the kids are starting
08:22
to be a real pain in the ass now for me
08:26
I would never be I mean for me I could
08:29
just tell you like security at the house
08:31
that I was at in Wakefield at the time
08:33
the you know the security system was is
08:36
for much for keeping my middle son in
08:38
the house at night as it was for keeping
08:41
the bad guys out of the house at night
08:42
so yeah you know that being said I was
08:45
leveraging technology to kind of help me
08:47
out you know we need to talk about that
08:50
I was picking my son up at 2:30 in the
08:52
morning last night oh my god sorry I
08:57
didn't mean that we're literally
08:58
advertising right now like keeping the
09:01
teenagers in the house that's a that's
09:02
literally what living through it but I'm
09:05
sorry to hear that again say some
09:07
prayers for Tammy with the
09:10
and it's there was definitely a period
09:12
of time there where I was like and kids
09:14
are so overrated you know and I really
09:17
meant it you know it's just but give it
09:21
time you know I love them all and it's
09:23
definitely circled back around to you
09:26
know maybe dad's not such an idiot you
09:28
know maybe he actually is looking out
09:30
for my best interest and it's not I find
09:33
boys especially there's none of us spent
09:36
a ton of time on this bit that the egos
09:37
you know and I think that the way I
09:42
communicated would really rub my boys he
09:45
goes wrong sometimes and I had to really
09:47
learn how to deliver my messages
09:49
differently so it wasn't so this is the
09:52
way you do it so sergeant you know and
09:56
then they would do it anyway and I would
10:00
say you know if you're gonna do that ABC
10:02
is gonna happen and then they would
10:04
think not and then they do it and then
10:06
ABC happens and now they're mad at me
10:08
all right yeah I find that too I mean
10:11
instead of being militant it's kind of
10:13
collaboration and just discussing you
10:16
know if this is what you want to do well
10:18
let's talk about it and what are the
10:19
possible consequences of the actions
10:22
that you're taking and to go into every
10:23
situation and think if this then that
10:26
right like always what are the
10:28
consequences before you take any action
10:31
so we talked a lot about Valley highly
10:34
recommended and maybe that's you know
10:36
mom communicating a little bit
10:38
differently than dad I'm a little bit
10:40
more efficient in communication like I'm
10:42
just trying to save you time I'm looking
10:44
out for you just trust me you know like
10:46
I've literally and again I don't judge
10:48
anybody that's ever done this but I've
10:50
never lied to my kids like I never told
10:52
him about the Easter Bunny I never told
10:54
him about Santa I'm not judging anybody
10:56
that does that it's just I wanted to be
10:59
able to be 44 years old and say that
11:02
I've never lied to you I might be wrong
11:04
about something but I've never lied to
11:06
you and you should know that I always
11:08
have your best interest at heart
11:09
so anyway I'm doing all the talking here
11:13
yes yeah I agree and I you know with my
11:15
kids with teenagers you know kind of the
11:17
age of an
11:18
title meant and working through some of
11:20
those issues and you know so with my
11:23
kids you know I told me it so you know
11:25
it's okay to have a difference of
11:27
opinion you know that's just normal and
11:29
healthy and voice it you know talk to me
11:32
about it we need to work through it so
11:33
you can share with me any kind of
11:35
difference you have as long as it's in a
11:37
respectful manner
11:38
right and then we've got a conversation
11:40
that's also you know so maybe write a
11:43
book about this cuz you're spitting out
11:45
some good knowledge for parents here
11:46
mm-hmm
11:48
you know one of the things that I heard
11:50
this recently and I wish I could quote
11:52
who I heard it from it might have been
11:55
Anthony Robbins but it was you can
11:57
question my methods don't question my
12:00
motivations you know cuz that's
12:02
insulting mmm-hmm you know so as a
12:04
parent you know I don't want you to lose
12:07
you know everything I'm telling you is
12:09
to benefit you so anyway I don't think
12:13
we got a lot of you know teenagers on
12:15
watching this podcast necessarily but
12:17
hey mom hopefully ours won't because
12:19
then we're gonna be in some big trouble
12:22
but any other mom lessons or single
12:27
parent lessons you think as far as
12:29
balancing your because you're very
12:30
successfully professional you network a
12:33
lot which is can be time-consuming but
12:35
you still try to be supermom as well how
12:39
do you do it well as far as the lesson
12:41
goes I think one really important lesson
12:43
that I'm trying to instill with my
12:45
children is that all events in life to
12:49
look at them as neutral and then they
12:51
get to decide the spin they're gonna put
12:53
on it is it something positive right or
12:55
is it something negative and are they
12:57
going to be a victim of their
12:59
circumstances are they going to hold
13:01
themselves accountable it's kind of like
13:03
an event happens now what do you do with
13:05
it what action do you take and so that's
13:08
a you know really important lesson that
13:10
I'm working hard to instill in all that
13:13
personal responsibility definitely
13:14
personal responsibility because I feel
13:16
like if they can learn that at this
13:17
young age what a difference it will make
13:19
in their lifetime totally yeah and as
13:21
far as juggling I think it's just really
13:23
important to take time to yourself and
13:26
so I tried to turn over a new leaf about
13:28
three weeks ago cuz
13:30
it was just really tough to balance
13:33
everything and so I've started getting
13:35
up like you said super early in the
13:37
morning I try and get up a few times a
13:39
week during the week at like 5:00 a.m.
13:40
to hit the gym for a 5:45 class and that
13:44
way I've got my me time out of the way
13:46
and it has an impacted time with my
13:49
career time with my kids and so that's
13:52
helped a lot and just really focusing on
13:54
here's the time that I'm committed to
13:56
myself to my career and my kids and not
14:01
necessarily in that order but to make
14:03
sure that you separate that and you
14:06
devote the time one-on-one to each child
14:08
so they feel heard and special and cared
14:11
for that's awesome it's super awesome
14:14
that's good stuff Tami so let's jump
14:18
into you've got this awesome looking
14:20
playbook which the first time I saw this
14:22
was eight o'clock this morning so tell
14:25
us about your your cool playbook here
14:27
and I'm gonna jump it up or you can hold
14:28
it up there alright so I just started
14:31
publishing this last month and it's a
14:33
monthly playbook that I give out to my
14:36
real estate partners and they asked me
14:39
do I want a picture or a caricature and
14:41
I was like well let's do the caricature
14:42
that's that sounds like fun my daughter
14:44
looked at it and she was like what I'm
14:48
like everybody else likes it so it's got
14:52
lots of really neat marketing tips and
14:54
tools it's got scripts and just pop by
14:57
ideas and it's just filled with
15:00
information that's you know good for
15:03
whatever season it is time of the year
15:05
and it's just to help agents market
15:08
their business and grow their business
15:09
that's also you know you can have the
15:12
best product or service in the world you
15:13
can be the best realtor in the world but
15:15
if nobody knows about it you're out of
15:16
business
15:17
mm-hmm you know before you can sell
15:19
something before you can offer your
15:20
services you have to get somebody's
15:22
attention so that's awesome that's a
15:25
great resource and super creative on
15:27
your part as well yeah anything I can do
15:29
to help create value for them and help
15:32
them and grow
15:32
business to build the relationships
15:34
creating value for people success -
15:38
Tammi ro so with that we'll jump right
15:42
into obviously we're we're basically are
15:45
we in the middle or are we entering into
15:46
the refi boom we're smack dab in the
15:50
middle of okay it's an insane time right
15:53
now because interest rates are really
15:56
favorable and so you know there's so
15:59
many different reasons it would be
16:01
helpful to just do an annual mortgage
16:03
review and you know no obligation no no
16:07
no no charge no obligation but it's
16:10
always a good idea just to do a review
16:12
and kind of see where you are and what's
16:13
changed since you did your last mortgage
16:15
to see if there's an opportunity to
16:17
benefit right and there's like you know
16:19
premier like five different reasons you
16:21
might want to consider you know
16:23
evaluating a refinance to see if it
16:25
makes sense so the most common one that
16:27
people come to me about is just to lower
16:29
their payment you know let's say they're
16:30
currently in a 30-year fixed and they
16:33
want to get a lower interest rate and
16:35
get a lower monthly payment to help
16:36
their cash flow so you know that's
16:38
pretty typical in the industry right and
16:41
it's helping people save you know
16:43
hundreds of dollars a month and reduce
16:45
the interest over the life of the loan
16:46
which is pretty significant in the thing
16:48
that I want to kind of pile on there
16:50
it's not just let's say you're saving a
16:52
hundred and eighty dollars a month it's
16:54
not just the one eighty that you're
16:55
saving if you're smart with that one
16:57
eighty you're already used to spending
16:59
it so apply that towards a credit card
17:01
maybe where you're paying twenty percent
17:03
on over the course of you know two three
17:06
four years you save yourself a lot of
17:07
money then you turn around and start
17:09
investing and you're making ten percent
17:12
on that one eighty a month a year that
17:13
sort of thing over the long term so it's
17:15
not just the one eighty a month it's
17:17
what you do with it exactly it can
17:19
ultimately turn into B three four or
17:21
five hundred dollars a month at the end
17:23
of the day okay you know over a course
17:25
of ten twenty thirty years so you know
17:29
some people might say well it's only
17:30
$180 a month why it's a lot of money
17:32
especially when you are smart with the
17:34
savings
17:35
mmm-hmm absolutely so that's number one
17:37
yeah absolutely
17:38
the next reason a lot of people want to
17:41
pay off their mortgage more quickly so
17:43
reducing the term from let's say a
17:45
thirty year to a 15 or 20 or ten and so
17:49
you've got your mortgage paid off a lot
17:50
sooner and you've saved an incredible
17:52
amount of interest over the life of the
17:54
loan
17:54
and typically like on a ten 15 year loan
17:57
you're gonna get a little bit better
17:59
rate right am i right in saying that so
18:01
yeah so not only do you pay it off
18:03
quicker but you're also saving money
18:05
you're given less money to the bank
18:06
which I'm okay with
18:08
yeah the interest savings is staggering
18:10
when you take a look at that and what
18:12
some what's new that we're offering is
18:13
you know some people let's say they're
18:15
currently in a fifteen year and they
18:17
want to come back and refinance but they
18:19
don't want to start the clock over we
18:22
can do any kind of amortization term
18:23
that's any good so you know if they've
18:25
been in the loan for two years we can do
18:27
it for thirteen that's great great stuff
18:30
Tami and so moving onto number three all
18:33
right so the third reason you might want
18:34
to look at refinancing a lot of people
18:37
that are in adjustable rate mortgages
18:38
it's a great opportunity to secure a
18:41
30-year fixed or 15-year fixed lock in
18:44
that rate and you know you have your
18:46
stable payments that are not going to
18:49
change the only thing that would
18:50
fluctuate of course would be property
18:51
taxes or homeowners insurance but the
18:54
principal and interest would remain the
18:55
same for the life of the loan so it just
18:57
gives people that peace of mind that
18:58
they don't have to worry about the
19:00
variability okay that's awesome
19:02
number four all right so number four
19:04
another great reason is to eliminate
19:08
private mortgage insurance perhaps so
19:10
PMI private mortgage insurance
19:13
it protects the lender in case you as
19:15
the borrower default and stop making
19:17
your payments and it's required anytime
19:19
you have less than a 20% down payment
19:21
and so people that have been in their
19:24
home a couple years they may have built
19:25
up a lot of equity may be paid down
19:27
their mortgage faster than required and
19:29
so if they've you know built up that
19:32
equity it might be time to take a look
19:35
and see if there's an opportunity to
19:37
eliminate the private mortgage insurance
19:38
from their payment factoring in the
19:40
equity that's already sitting there so
19:42
it's not like you have to
19:43
put 20% down because you've already got
19:45
20% equity exactly so not only can they
19:48
take on a lower interest rate but then
19:49
they're also eliminating the mortgage
19:51
insurance from their payment so it seems
19:55
like a no-brainer there and then that
19:56
PMI is typically over a hundred bucks a
19:59
month right table nice day yeah
20:01
okay so last but not least yeah yeah
20:04
number five
20:05
debt consolidation say like you were
20:08
talking about you know credit card
20:10
interest rates probably in the high 20s
20:13
perhaps so if somebody's built up a lot
20:16
of credit card debt it's a prime
20:18
opportunity I'm doing a lot of these
20:20
right now and the savings is staggering
20:22
because if you take a look at your
20:24
monthly payment on those credit card
20:26
bills right now you're eliminating that
20:28
getting a lower interest rate rolling it
20:30
into your loan at a really low interest
20:33
rate you know I'm saving people four
20:35
hundred or five hundred dollars a month
20:37
that's also in refinancing right now and
20:40
don't run those things up again
20:41
exactly yep also for you know part of
20:45
that would be you know maybe paying off
20:47
student loans or even doing a cash out
20:50
to take money out to fund college
20:51
education mm-hmm so you know all
20:54
different things to look at
20:56
well is there absolutely awesome reasons
20:57
for sure and just something I'm gonna
21:00
throw in there you know this is not 2004
21:04
so you can't just go in there with a 528
21:07
Beacon score and say you make a million
21:09
dollars a year and get a house you know
21:10
so a lot of people that are concerned
21:13
about their credit maybe credit scores
21:17
620 plus is that kind of the range for
21:19
for a lot of the people out there to
21:21
kind of really take a serious look at
21:23
that typically it is gonna vary
21:25
depending on the loan program so you
21:28
know 580 is something that is possible
21:30
to work with with FHA financing
21:33
620 with conventional so let me ask you
21:36
this let's say someone had some concerns
21:39
about that maybe they're carrying some
21:40
dad or this and that have you ever had
21:42
someone come come to you and say hey
21:44
let's see where we're at and then you
21:46
can let's say you run it and maybe
21:48
they're not in a great position to get
21:50
much of a good rate but you can kind of
21:51
coach them up a little bit to say hey
21:53
let's get this one credit card paid down
21:55
under 20% or and it'll boost your score
21:58
up tremendously that sort of thing is
22:00
that is that something you typically
22:02
work with people on them yeah right very
22:04
regularly I love it a little yeah I
22:06
really enjoy helping people do that
22:08
because it can help them not only
22:10
qualify where they previously couldn't
22:12
but also I do it to help them get the
22:15
very best terms that they can right and
22:17
so we have a simulator that we use and
22:20
it's just very helpful I can give you
22:23
like the the 101 on credit repair real
22:26
quick if you'd like okay so some of the
22:28
things that people can do to help
22:30
improve their credit scores so one is
22:33
avoid increase to their credit next is
22:36
to make sure they're not charging up a
22:38
lot of debt on their credit cards and on
22:41
their revolving credit cards that they
22:43
do have ideally if they can keep their
22:45
balances less than 10% of the credit
22:47
limit that's gonna help to get them the
22:49
very best credit scores possible and if
22:52
they want to pay those credit cards off
22:53
every month that's fine just continue to
22:55
use them keep them active and open and
22:57
charge on them again keeping the balance
23:00
less than 10% and if they do pay
23:02
something off they just need to make
23:03
sure not to close it because closing the
23:05
account down I'll actually have a
23:07
negative impact on their credit because
23:08
they're eliminating that great credit
23:10
history that they've built up over the
23:11
years so paying everything on time
23:15
actively using their predators less than
23:18
10% minimizing inquiries paying
23:22
everything on time well so moral of the
23:26
story is you know don't be afraid about
23:28
the credit and all that kind of stuff
23:29
just reach out to a professional you
23:32
know and you can give them some good
23:33
feedback some good advice and and maybe
23:35
get them on the path towards getting
23:37
better rates and
23:39
get those scores up over 700 so just
23:42
kind of a random thought I thought about
23:44
there that you know a lot of people
23:45
might wolves it's good for some people
23:48
you know to know that stuff but you know
23:50
Tammy can get you on the path you know
23:53
to getting the best scores possible and
23:57
and helping you accomplish your
23:59
financial goals when it comes to your
24:00
real estate so well awesome Tammy and
24:03
and thank you for joining us today I
24:05
know this was early I'm on my fourth cup
24:08
of coffee to warm up my brain hopefully
24:11
we didn't bore you no no I don't know
24:13
hopefully I did and I know Tammy didn't
24:15
so thank you so much for joining us and
24:17
hopefully this added value to everybody
24:19
out there and we'll see you next time
24:21
Thanks
24:23
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