Welcome to the December episode of Learn With A Lender with Joel Schaub of Guaranteed Rate!
At the beginning of the episode, Joel talks about rates and what they mean today for buyers and sellers. He also discusses how an agent can discover their niche and from there shares how to add value. Joel also discusses client gifts and how to show appreciation so that you’ll be remembered. Last, Joel emphasizes the importance of market education so you can be perceived as the industry expert.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Joel can be reached at joel@rate.com and 773.654.2049.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by Joel Schaub at guaranteed rate. As a realtor it’s important to partner with only the most trusted name in mortgage lending. Joel has 1000s of satisfied clients and gives $1,500 of his commission back to your buyers on every closing. He is known for his ability to close even complex deals start to finish in only 14 days to learn what 1000s of others already know. Make a note to call Joel at 773-654-2049 or email joel@rate.com Guaranteed Rate is an equal housing lender licensed in all 50 States Consumer Access Number 2611 And now on with the show.
Hi, welcome to another episode of Keeping it real, the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris, I am your guide and host through the show and today, once again is our monthly series called Learn with a lender with Joel shop from guaranteed rate. Now Joel is the vice president of lending at guaranteed rate. He’s been doing loans at a high level since 2003. And his got to that level because of what he does specifically for agents, which is he gives part of his commission back to the buyer on every single transaction. Last year alone, Joel gave back over $291,000 in closing costs back to the buyers who worked with him. And that put Joel’s value in the top 1/10 of 1% of all lenders nationwide. out of 400,000 lenders in this loan officers in this country, Joel is ranked number one 137. This year to date, he has done 484 closed transactions, which is his highest amount that he’s ever done. And in his whole career for just under 177 million, and he’s on pace to close out the year with over 500 closed transactions. Now if you’re looking for a loan officer, we cannot more highly recommend Joel, he’s the very best we’ve ever worked with. He is actually doing my transaction right now. That is how much I believe in Joel that he is my guy too. So he should be yours as well. Joel can be reached directly on his email, which is joel@rate.com. Again, joel@rate.com. Or you can shoot him a text message or call him at 773-654-2049. Once again, let’s say hello to the biggest Cubs fan. I know Joel Schaub welcome. Hey,
Joel Schaub 2:39
thanks so much for having me. The numbers and all of that are great. But what really matters is this kind of communication that we have so often, you know, I like to give back. And you know, I like this kind of communication where we’re helping agents and no matter where we’re at in the world. We’re here to do it. So I’m happy to be here today.
D.J. Paris 2:59
Happy to have you. So let’s talk about so we are wrapping up the year. It is we’re in December, you’re closing out the year, your strongest year ever. So congratulations there. And I know you had some thoughts about what agents can do to prepare. Oh, I’m sorry, before we get to that, let’s talk we never talked about mortgage rates. So let’s first talk about mortgage and find out what’s going on there. And then we’ll talk about you know, next year sorry about that.
Joel Schaub 3:25
Well, it’s true that rates are low right now. And we see that but what so often happens is we hear that things are low, but what does it actually mean for the buyer. So let’s just have a talk about mortgages, so that we know where we’re at, we can if we’re an agent, share some of this information so that it can be relevant to buyers and even sellers because right now, with rates being low, there’s going to be a lot more buyers that are out in the market. So 30 year fixed mortgages. It’s crazy, right? We know that they’re below 3%. So on average, these mortgage rates have fluctuated anywhere from two and a half percent, up to 275, or 3%. And those are rates that just never happened before. I would have lost a bet, right DJ thinking rates would be in threes this year. And now they’re below three. And you know that very well.
D.J. Paris 4:17
Yeah. And inflation tends to average out over years at about 3%. So whatever you see mortgage rates that are beating inflation that is in I mean, that is a really amazing thing that agents could now take to their clients, even past clients and say, hey, you know, I don’t know about your current mortgage situation. Obviously, I’m not I’m not, you know, getting your statements once a month, but it might be time to consider refinancing or maybe even you might have some additional purchasing power now because rates are so low and maybe now’s the time to consider upgrading your home or moving or that kind of thing.
Joel Schaub 4:53
You’re providing value if you’re an agent or reaching out explaining this and not just saying hey, did you hear rates are low but encouraging them to go back and work with the lender that helps them write and say, remember how Tom was so great on that transaction, you should reach out to Tom the lender, and make sure that he gives you a quote to see if you could save some money and find out what the costs are. And then just do a simple math equation, if I’m saving $100 a month, and it cost me $1,500 In total fees. Okay, I’m going to break even in 15 months, will I be in the house for 15 months or not? Right.
D.J. Paris 5:31
And also a good opportunity, like you were saying, you mentioned sellers, this is a great time to talk to sellers, or rather home owners who might not even be wanting to sell at this moment and say, you know, right now, there’s, you know, people have more purchasing power than they’ve ever had, or at least in a long, long, long time, unless they’re paying exclusively with cash. And now you have an opportunity to possibly you won’t come into a higher bidding situation, because there’s more buyers out there due to rates being so low, so great opportunity to talk to both sides.
Joel Schaub 6:02
DJ, I’m glad you said that, because all summer long, that’s exactly what we saw were in Chicago. And what we saw in that market was buyers that were paying a lot of money in rent, were willing to pay more very often than a house was worth because they still got a total payment that was less than their rent, even if they paid five grand, or 10 grand more than the asking price. And for a seller, it’s really great news, they wouldn’t expect that they could get this much. So now going forward, especially coming up, we’re planning for the future. So the spring market already 2021 Is what I’m talking to agents about, and making sure that they can get new listings, from people that weren’t even expecting to sell, but they can get so much money, especially on an investment property. Okay, so here’s one of the tips, you have sellers, or owners that have properties, and they’re collecting good rents. But now they could sell it for more than they ever could have in the past. Because there’s a lot of buyers that want to get a mortgage and stop paying rent. So those are the things that you can do. Right, you see how that would work and in an agent’s favor.
D.J. Paris 7:13
Yeah, for sure. I mean, this is a great opportunity to talk to your clients about House hacking. This is what the your clients are reading about online. It’s a very in vogue thing right now for for consumers. And if you you know, you need to educate yourself as the agent about just basic how house hacking works, how do I find a three or four flat or even a two flat and make it work so that I’m no longer paying the mortgage or rent because my tenants are doing that. And you know, this is just a great good talking about value. This is how you bring value to your clients.
Joel Schaub 7:45
And that’s the second thing that I wanted to share. I’m glad that you said that. What are the programs that allow you to still buy without a big downpayment and buy a two, three or four unit building. So very often right now the buyers that are first time buyers can put down three and a half percent, get a 30 year fixed rate in the TOS, and buy a two, three or four unit building as long as they live in it. Okay, so very often you’re finding the rents cover the entire mortgage taxes and insurance, if you’re out there doing the right research and finding the right places.
D.J. Paris 8:23
Yeah, it’s such an amazing opportunity. And, you know, if you’re an agent, and you’re not as familiar with real estate investment, sort of strategy, then this is the time to learn as as the year is winding down, educate yourself, you know, talk to other investors and find out how they run their metrics so that you can then present that to other you know, other clients who might not be thinking about investment property at this time. And this is a great, great opportunity to as Joel said, always to think about what what additional value can I provide, you know, you could think you could do a zoom seminar, you can invite every single client you have and do a 1520 minute presentation and, and bring on a couple of guests like Joel as a lender or other types of, you know, an attorney, a title company, where they can sit and talk specifically about this and educate your clients, you’ll be a hero, if you can do things like that.
Joel Schaub 9:14
You need to differentiate yourself from every other agent, okay? And it doesn’t matter if you’ve been in the business six months or six years, you need to find out what your niche is and what can you speak to authentically where you can help buyers and sellers. Because it can’t just be your sphere. You need to be able to close people that you’ve never met before. And so three times a month I’m doing seminars with realtors to help them do first time homebuyer education, do the pre approvals for those clients and then send those leads right back to the agents to go out and do house hunting in the winter months coming up. When there’s not a lot of buyers out when it gets cold. There’s opportunities for lower prices and to be up Want to buy places? On sale?
D.J. Paris 10:02
Yeah, makes sense. So speaking of the winter months, we’re coming up to the end of the year. And 2021 is really it’ll be here before we know it. So I know you had some thoughts about, you know how to plan for next year, and maybe some ideas of things to do and maybe things not to do to differentiate yourself this month and all through next year.
Joel Schaub 10:23
Everyone says, Send out a holiday gift, right? Or send out a holiday card. I’m okay with cards, but I’m going to say something that a lot of people won’t say, Don’t send out a Christmas gift this year. Okay, don’t send out a Hanukkah or New Year’s gift this year. What is he talking about? Why would I not do something like that? If you send it out, when everybody else is sending things, you kind of get lost in the shuffle. So one of the tips that I’ve done is I just got done doing 230 Thanksgiving gifts. Have you ever gotten a Thanksgiving gift,
D.J. Paris 10:55
never really just for me, just from you, you’re the only one
Joel Schaub 10:59
right or a Valentine’s Day gift, right? Or a St. Patrick’s Day gift, something that’s off, and it makes you stand out. So it’s one of those things where this year I boxed up over 230, blankets, custom coffee, and a yeti like a mug that keeps things hot and cold. And said now’s the time to relax, cuddle up and enjoy the winter months. And it was just something that was like a Thanksgiving where I said I’m so thankful for clients like you. So, again, contrary to what most people would say, but if you can find something that’s off calendar at a different time, you’re going to stand out. And that’s what you need, you want to be somebody that’s not doing the same thing as everybody else.
D.J. Paris 11:45
Yeah, and example to for previous clients, if for all the agents that are watching and listening is of course to think about their their closing anniversary, that’s a you know, another sort of holiday that most people won’t know, even they themselves probably won’t remember what day they closed on. But you can remember and you can go back and say, hey, it’s been three years that you’re now in your new home, here’s a little gift as a reminder for how appreciative I was to work with you back then and hope to work with you again. And you know, those kinds of ideas or, or if you can find out someone’s you know, work anniversary, or or you just decide, you know, it’s Arbor Day, and I want to do something fun with trees and send everyone a plant. Again, I think Joel’s got a great idea. There’s picking off, you know, holiday that is not as popular with gifts. And you know, you can have a lot of fun with that. And again, it’s going to be completely unexpected. Or you can just do Hey, it’s a random Wednesday, and I thought about you and I can even just choose any day, really. But yeah, I think that’s a great idea. Because every year I get flooded with cards from every service provider that I use, and they’re usually not even really personalized at all, you know, and I just get, you know, card from my insurance person in my accountant, and a lot and I appreciate all of it. But you’re right, I would definitely notice that if things get lost. I don’t remember one card from the next or what anyone’s written. But if it was off at a different time of the year, I would be like, Wow, that was really thoughtful and I wouldn’t have been expecting it. So great idea there.
Joel Schaub 13:14
And as agents, that’s what you want. You want to be remembered, and you want to be the person that people come to. And so this is what I do. I’ve talked to so many top agents on what they’re doing. And we’re not recreating the wheel, we’re just coming up with great ideas that make sense that you can duplicate. And that’s why we tune in to the podcast. I mean, you have interviewed so many great people. And every time I listen, I get something new too. So bravo to you on that.
D.J. Paris 13:42
Thanks. We actually just pushed an episode out, well, actually, I’m pushing it out. By the time this is done, it will already be pushed out. But for those listening live later today, we’ll be pushing out an episode with an Olympic athlete who was on the rowing team in 2016. And now he’s a top Keller Williams agent just four years later. And you know, so I’m always interested in like, How does somebody make that transition? And he’s like, Oh, it’s basically the exact same principles. What got me to the to the Olympic rowing team is exactly what the same thing that you’ve always said, you know, the daily disciplines are ultimately what long term win the game.
Joel Schaub 14:16
So let’s end with something that will actually be helpful for agents in terms of mortgages so that we can teach our upcoming buyers what programs are still available because of all the influx with COVID. Great, there’s so many changes. It seemed like in March and April, they were changing weekly, daily, and even by the hour what underwriting guidelines would come up so you needed an expert to actually get you to the closing table and now things have finally started to settle down. Okay. We still see a lot of first time homebuyers that are doing three and a half percent down 5% and 10% down. Okay, all of those programs are still available and So the idea here is anytime you’re talking to somebody that is paying these crazy amount of rent, let’s figure out how they can go buy something without the big downpayment. And I’d be surprised that I still am. I thought by now most people would know that you don’t need to have 20% down, but that myth still lingers out there, right? Don’t you see that still? Absolutely. It’s not the case, it might be that if you got the 20%, down, you might be at that two and a half, or 275 range. And if you’re only putting down five or 10%, you might still be at 2875, or 2.99%, on a 30 year loan. So there might be a small difference in the rate. But the idea is that there’s not this crazy spread that there used to be, and the mortgage insurance, everyone always says that, oh, my gosh, I don’t want to have to pay a insurance on a mortgage, if I don’t have the 20% down. And that’s valid. However, with the rates being so low, these rates with the mortgage insurance are still less than what they have been at any time in history. And so you can borrow that money now, with a low downpayment much faster than you’ll ever saved the 20% so that you don’t have the mortgage insurance, that
D.J. Paris 16:21
I remember when I bought my first condo in, I think it was 2005. And I remember back then, as as you were working that as well, though, I was not working with Joel, unfortunately, then. And I remember you the idea of not putting up 20% was like this, I’ve done something wrong. I was I was only able to afford to put 10% down so I was I was paying up privatized mortgage insurance PMI it was it was small wasn’t a big deal. But it felt like I was doing something wrong. And I remember that that myth is you said the myth of 20%. Even now, 15 years later, I you know, and I’m in the process of buying a home. And I was like, I have to get to 20%, even though I know better, you know, your clients are thinking the same thing. So this is a great opportunity to re educate them and re re set their expectations. So that if somebody’s thinking like I was, oh, well, if I don’t have 20, what can I do? Well, then there are other options that aren’t necessarily, you know, with with huge penalties, because rates are so incredibly attractive right now. Now’s the time,
Joel Schaub 17:26
I’ve been seeing a lot of mortgage insurance for most places under $100 a month. So I got to put it down. Yeah, I can put down 20 grand on a $400,000 home. Or I could wait to somehow save $80,000 just to avoid this little bit of insurance that will eventually go away. It’s not the end of the world. So if you can learn a few of these types of things. As an agent, you can spread the information, you’re providing knowledge. So low down payments, rates are still good. And the big thing is that rates will not spike, the Federal Reserve is indicated that they’re going to keep rates low through 2024. And I hear all of these mortgage guys out there saying things like you better hurry up, because rates are gonna go up. And what they said before was You better hurry up. And it’s a sales pitch. And I don’t like it. I like to educate and teach and help. And what I heard before the election was You better hurry up and lock in because rates are gonna go up after the election didn’t happen. You better hurry up and lock in because rates are going up next year, won’t happen. If they move up a little bit, that’s okay. But there’s not going to be a spike in rates because the Federal Reserve is indicated they will keep conforming loan rates low for at least the end of the year of 2021. And most of the economists are thinking to 2024 You heard it here first.
D.J. Paris 18:51
Wonderful. And we should also mention to as agents as everyone listening and watching, this is the time of the year to reassess your real estate business. And start to think about your real estate partners, the people that are ancillary to your your being a realtor. And you know, now’s the time to think about the relationships you have with your with your loan officers, your lenders, are they giving you this kind of education? And if not, what a great opportunity now to find a new lending partner and somebody like Joel, for example. So Joel, if there’s an agent out there who has clients that they they want to speak to you or if they themselves are looking to find a strategic partner that can help them, educate their clients help them possibly grow their business as well. You know, and they want to talk to you directly or your team, what’s the best way they should reach out?
Joel Schaub 19:41
Whether they reach out to me or another lender, what they really need to do is partner with somebody that they can get along with that they could call on Friday night, call on Saturday night and somebody that wants to contribute to them. Okay lenders want good agents and good agents should go after these lenders. doesn’t say what can you contribute? That is RESPA compliant, to help me grow my business. So last year, I spent a six figure dollar amount RESPA compliant to help agents grow their business, doing first time homebuyer seminars, doing leads, doing marketing, doing postcards, doing it all. So find somebody that wants to help contribute to your bottom line and build a relationship, a good lender should want to contribute not just time, and lenders aren’t gonna like me saying this, but they should want to contribute money, they should help you grow your business. And if you have somebody that’s just saying, Send me your buyers, go find another lender that wants to give you help you, and then you’ll be able to grow.
D.J. Paris 20:48
And one of the ways you could do that, too, is if you’re saying, Well, I don’t know any good lenders, obviously, we’ll always recommend reaching out to Joel and his team, but you can also talk to the other successful agents in in your community and ask them who is that aid? And how does that that lender who is that loan officer that will be there to not only when I need support, but also could be there to actually strategically helped me kind of grow my business and be there as a partner to because you know, it’s all it can be a win win relationship. But you know, there’s a lot of lenders and, and you should, you know, get to know a bunch and figure out which one’s the best fit. And if you want to get to know Joel, shoot him an email, send him a send him a text message or give him a call. And he and his team will will take great care of you I will tell you just as a little testimonial for for Joel is he is helping me on my transaction, which he actually helped move the ball very far down the field in ways that that other people were unable to. And I won’t get into details, because it’s not that it would be boring for the listeners. But he actually did did a bunch of things that I’ve never had a lender do for me and also things that even other people on my own team were unable to accomplish. So that’s the kind of lender you want. And that’s why we always recommend Joel because he’s he takes care of all of his clients, which of course, is why he’s so successful. So and also, we appreciate him being on the show every single month providing these kinds of valuable content to our listeners. So to wrap out the year of wrap up the year rather, Joel, I think it’s a great opportunity to to remind everyone to, to give back as much as you can this holiday season. Also to plan for the future and find those strategic partners think about how to best educate your customers, your clients over the next year. And we’ll keep coming to with you every month and giving you great ideas from the from the lending perspective of how to continue to grow your business. So on B, go ahead, Joe, I’m sorry,
Joel Schaub 22:39
I’m so happy to be on every single month. And the idea is giving back and finding ways that you can continue as agents to grow. And you guys are providing so much detail and so many great guests every single month. So bravo, the second time to you, you’re knocking it out of the park. And we’re happy to be here. So it’s going to be another great year next year. And we’re so excited to be on. So thanks again for having me.
D.J. Paris 23:03
You’re welcome. And thanks to all of our listeners and our viewers for continuing to support our little show here. It’s not so little anymore, but we still think of it as a little thing that we put together years ago and people like Joel who continue to contribute and all of our other wonderful guests and guess hosts that we have. We have some big things planned ourselves for 2021 here with the podcast. So stay tuned for some announcements there. But we want to thank everyone for continuing to support and listen and watch our show. Also, please tell a friend think of one other agent that you know that could benefit from listening to this great conversation with Joel and send them a link to the episode. Easiest way to do that. Find us on our website, which is keeping it real pod.com Every episode we’ve ever done is there you can just listen right through the browser in case somebody isn’t a podcast person. And also follow us on Facebook facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod again facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod. Joel, thank you. Enjoy your holiday. I know you’re you’re going to be working through it because you always are working. But hopefully you can take some time off as well.
Joel Schaub 24:09
Yeah, we took a small little vacation here we’re down in Florida for just a week or two. We drove the mobile mortgage machine. We took an RV down so we’re just spending a little bit of quality time outside where it’s a little bit warmer, but we’re working every day and it was great to be on so we’ll see you again next time.
D.J. Paris 24:26
Awesome. All right. We’ll see you next time. Bye bye
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