Welcome to the December episode of Learn With A Lender with Joel Schaub of Guaranteed Rate!
In this episode Joel talks about the situation in the lending market at the moment. Joel and DJ emphasize the importance of educating your clients about the rates and what that means for their own finances. Joel describes what he and his team do to give back to their clients and how this has grown over the years. Joel also discusses how he built his team building and grew it.
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
On 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.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast a buy real estate agents and also for real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris. I’m your guide and host through the show. And today, once again is our monthly series titled 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 he’s got to that level because of what he does specifically for agents, which is he gives back part of his commission to the buyer on every transaction. Now last year alone, Joel gave back just under $300,000 In closing costs to buyers who worked with them. And that actually put Joe’s volume in the top 1/10 of 1% of all lenders nationwide. out of 400,000 loan officers in the United States. Joel is ranked number 137. Now last year, he closed 535 transactions, his highest amount ever for 195 million in loans this year, he smashed that record. So this is actually his biggest year ever. And it’s not over yet. But he’s already done here in December 590 transactions last year 535. This year 594 $238 million in loans. Now if you’re looking for a loan officer, we cannot highly more highly recommend Joel he’s the very best we’ve ever worked with. Joel can be reached at his email, which is Joel J oel@rate.com. Again joel@rate.com Or shoot him a text message or call him at his phone number which is 773-654-2049. Let’s say Hello once again to the biggest Cubs fan. I know Joel Schaub welcome.
Joel Schaub 2:35
Hey, thanks so much for having me on. And when I hear those accolades, and those numbers, none of it matters. I’m so happy to be here each and every month to just give back. These are some of the best times when you and I get together.
D.J. Paris 2:47
It is a lot of fun. And I know just how busy you are. And the fact that you can find time to talk to me when you’re doing more than one closing a day, on average. And if you do business days, it’s more probably more like two to trend two closings at least on average a day. So we know how busy you and your team are. So thank you for for taking a few minutes to chat with us. So I wanted to ask before we’ve sort of got started I. And again, it’s always funny to watch the news because you know, if you’ve, if all you did is read the news, you think, wow, everything is just doing, everything’s going going to pot or everything’s going in the wrong direction. Because that’s what people are interested in reading some negative stuff sells. And and I started seeing in the last couple of weeks, like mortgage rates are starting to climb, time to freak out and time to get scared and just wanted to get your take on on a lot of those news stories that agents and maybe even their clients might be seeing.
Joel Schaub 3:47
I’m glad you asked that right out of the gate DJ because when rates are going up, it’s just important to put it into perspective, right? When we hear braids have spiked, tenure, treasury yields are up over six months, where do we actually stand in terms of long term interest rates? And what does it truly mean for the buyer? Okay, so yes, on average rates right now are north of 3%. But they’re in the low threes. And there are definitely options to get rates below 3%. But just think about what we’re talking about here for a second. We just said rates are up to just over 3% in the business is what we’re getting at right?
D.J. Paris 4:32
Yeah, it’s a great time for rates to go up quite honestly, if they’re gonna go up. Let’s do it in an environment where they were at historic lows and like yeah, perspective, because when my parents got their first loan, they got lucky because they were able to to grab a loan that someone else or rather I’m sorry, they were able to get a loan at a low price but or low rate but other people were getting double digit. This is in like the late 70s early early 80s inflation was out of control was it was like 12%. And and now we’re at 3%.
Joel Schaub 5:05
Yeah, the loans today are not assumable. Right. So when parents were able to get that property, it was a real bargain because somebody that had the mortgage before went to a bank, and that
D.J. Paris 5:14
bank either made a mistake, yeah, they made a mistake.
Joel Schaub 5:18
So banks don’t make mistakes. These days, they learned from 2008 2009, that old mistake. But guys, there’s an opportunity right now when rates are going up. And I want to talk about the two things that I wouldn’t be doing if I were an agent. In this market, where rates are going up, it means that buyers are seeing it on social media, the news, etc. And it’s about having an honest conversation with the buyers that are already pre approved if they’re right at the edge of their limits. Okay. And what I mean by that DJ is, everybody thinks because I am closing two or three transactions every single day, right? That I must work with million dollar buyers left and right. And that’s just not the case. A good majority are just first time buyers, or move up buyers that need advice, speed, guidance, okay. And these are people buying ranges anywhere from $150,000. And up. And a lot of times, they aren’t big time transactions. The big thing here is that buyers are usually limited to how much they can afford. And if rates do go up. Now, instead of being able to go out and buy that $300,000 home, they might have to go and find a home that’s only 265,000. So as an agent, is to actually educate your clients right now that it is the time, if you can get out and find a property before rates really do go up in the next year or two, to get out and buy a property.
D.J. Paris 6:47
I think that’s really important. Because we see, you know, I also just think the average consumer doesn’t, it doesn’t really know what when rates are when they say rates are going up, they’re not able to translate that into easily into real dollars unless they do an online calculation of sorts. And so that’s where I think you’re right. And as an agent, or any loan officers who might be listening, you can provide a lot of value by, you know, resetting that expectation and understanding of what the news actually is, and gives you a great reason to call your clients and say, hey, just so you know, you might have seen some some new stuff, you know, I don’t want you to freak out, but let it let’s talk about your next move. And what you know, what are you in, we also we also know that pricing for homes is has, you know, obviously gone up. And it’s starting to sort of settle a bit, I guess, but but still great time to have a conversation and just let people know, here’s where we’re at. And, you know, if it’s time to start looking. You know, it’s always a good time.
Joel Schaub 7:46
Guys, here’s the point, if a borrower is right now able to go up to 300,000, because rates are about 3%, that exact same borrower might only be able to afford 250 or 265, in a year or two when rates are at four and a half percent. So it doesn’t seem like a major difference from low threes to four and a half percent. But it really is it lowers their purchasing power by quite a bit. And for those borrowers that are first time or on a fixed income, every dollar counts and making sure that they lock into historically low rates is one of your big keys about teaching and educating the clients that you’re working with.
D.J. Paris 8:25
Yeah, it’s a great, a great time to reach out. And wish somebody a happy December holidays, if they celebrate those holidays for your clients. That’s another great reason to pick up the phone and and say hi, before the end of the year, wish them happy new year. And oh, by the way, you know, what are the plans next year? And are you thinking about upgrading or maybe moving from renting to buying or you know, investing even in another property? I would love to talk because this is one thing that I think you do so incredibly well. Maybe better than certainly better than any other loan officer I’ve ever met. But maybe even better than just about anyone I’ve ever met in any industry, which is your generosity. And I know this is gonna sound like I’m just giving you platitudes and trying to go and compliment. But but it is it is actually I think, a learning point for our agents or for our listeners rather who most of them are agents to talk about what you do for the people in your sphere of influence, which I think could be similar thing can be done for all of our with our all of our listeners as well. But can you talk a little bit about sort of gifting and why that’s important to you in your business?
Joel Schaub 9:37
I wanted to be different, right? I realized that givers gain and the more you give, the more you’re going to get in as hokey as it sounds. It’s really paid dividends for me. It started with really small things right? But this time recently this year for Thanksgiving, I’ll just tell you what we did. Next year whoever’s listening copied, just copied. We did to hundreds of hand packed boxes, and it was movie night. So I created custom pieces and filled an entire box one with a large, really nice blanket. Who doesn’t love a blank? We all have blankets, but you wash it once or twice they get dingy, right? Yep, I went and bought the nicest blankets that we could afford for the box budget, then we also filled it with a homemade cookie mix so that people could cook in their homes right along with a spatula, and a hot pad. And it was one of these things where we’re all staying at home more and more. So we did hundreds of boxes, and we filled up an entire FedEx truck and just ship them to past clients, referral partners, and people in our community just to put joy in their faces. And yeah, we spent money on it. But each and every year, it comes back to us.
D.J. Paris 11:00
i It’s funny, I It’s funny, because i we i was lucky enough to be on the list and I got the same package Joel and, and boy, you know, I don’t, I really don’t get many gifts outside of friends and family, I really get nine other than I think from you. And it really was, was was a great gift. Because all of those things are usable. And in your right. Like we are able to create a movie night out of it or, or just a night alone or romantic night. And I think it’s funny too, because they’re all things that that are usable, and especially the blankets is such a great gift. But I was talking to an agent on my show not too long ago, and and he said when he would first started out, and he had no money or very little money to spend to give, you know, give back to his clients what he did. And so, you know, of course, you can put together these amazing gifts, like what Joel does, what this guy did is he just bought one box of Girl Scout cookies for each one of his clients. And he hand delivered it for dollars, or whatever it is $5 may be a box which, you know, you’re supporting the Girl Scouts, which is a good thing. And, you know, you show up with about who doesn’t like a box of Girl Scout cookies. So if you’re listening and thinking, Well, geez, you know, I have a lot of people my database, but maybe I don’t have as much income to build something, you know, create something really, you know, extravagant. It’s like, Girl Scout cookies are a perfectly wonderful gift too. And, you know, that’s a that’s just as valid. So, so whatever your economic situation is, I think, you know, doing something for your client. And if you can’t afford that, given somebody a call and saying I’m thinking about you, I hope you have a great holiday is that’s a great thing to do, too. There’s lots of ways you can give. And Joel does it in a lot of different ways. Joel is very generous, and he’s very involved in the community as well. Especially with with charity and, and just different organizations that he supports. And, and I think that is it. You know, everybody knows that about you hear in the local Chicago community. And I think, Boy, that’s that is a great thing to be known for. And I know that’s not the reason you do it, you do it because you want to and you feel like that’s, you know, you’re obligated to support the community. And I think that’s a wonderful thing to do. But it’s also a nice thing to be known for doing. And the only way anyone’s ever going to think that way about you is if you if you get get involved, right.
Joel Schaub 13:25
You got to get involved and one of the keys is just doing them off holidays, everybody gets a birthday gift. So sending out somebody a birthday gift or a $5 Starbucks on their birthday. Not special. Right? Honestly, I’m telling you now, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s not special. Doing it on a day where nobody else is getting anything. Right. Nobody sends out Thanksgiving gifts. Right? That’s unique and different. I do St Patrick’s Day gifts. And I’ve even gotten in trouble doing Valentine’s Day gifts because my gifts are better than the husband’s gifts sometimes.
D.J. Paris 14:00
Yeah, don’t put me on the Valentine’s Day list because I usually set the scramble for that one, or I could take your gift and then you know, repurpose it and claim that it was my own and remove any branding that might be there. But But But seriously, it is really a nice thing for to receive that unexpected on an off holiday like obviously Thanksgiving and and it just it’s just whatever the gift that you want to provide to your clients. You know, regardless of the expense like figure out a way to to give back and say thank you and and boy it just brings a lot of holiday cheer. There’s there’s really no downside except a little hit to your pocketbook, I guess would you do it? But you know, that just keeps keeps the the good, the good vibes flowing and certainly hopefully would result in more and more transactions down the road. I would also like to also ask you about you have exploded this while you’ve exploded basically Every year you’ve been practicing, but the last couple years have really been outstanding in your production. And I know you’ve added a lot of team members in the last year or two. Can you talk a little bit about how that how that works for you and how that’s structured?
Joel Schaub 15:14
Well, it’s a fallacy, right? So many people look at somebody ahead of them and say, well, he must just have a bunch of loan officers that work for him. There’s no way that he’s doing all that business. And I am, it’s literally the staff that I’ve created, supports the brand and the business. Okay. So right now, we’re at 17 members on the staff. And the big thing that really made the jump I was talking to you before the show about this was bringing in my wonderful wife, Christine. And I know there’s a lot of people that have husband and wife teams, but she’s literally blown it out of the park in terms of the marketing, and growing, okay, because I’m a numbers guy, you know, I’m actually kind of shy, you wouldn’t notice this, right. But she’s the one that makes these connections for me, and I ended up out working on the actual day to day of the business. And what we’ve done is we’ve grown from just having three people on the job shop team, to a staff of 17, that helps with marketing, gift giving for realtors, okay, so we partner with agents all across the United States, and teach them in detail the things that we talk about here, how to go out and duplicate what we’re doing for their database, they get a list of friends, family members, and co workers, and create unique things that are perfect for them. And we help with the costs.
D.J. Paris 16:42
I love that. And I am always surprised at how little of that, as a homeowner in Chicago hear that I receive from other loan officers, I get none of it, quite honestly. And I’m in a newer building a brand new building really. And so maybe we’re not on everyone’s address list yet. But I don’t think there’s a whole lot of competition in that space, like this is a great time to partner with a loan officer and say, hey, I want to start doing some, you know, whether it’s mailers, or flyers or brochures or whatever, and being able to really create, and I’m almost wondering if loan officers have just been so busy this last year that they’re like, I don’t need to do a lot of that right now. Because I’m so busy. But I know you do a lot of it you partner with agents and you say how can we both work together to build your business? The agent? And then of course, that ultimately ends up helping your business too. But I don’t I don’t receive a lot of that. I don’t It’s funny, I you think you would with the number of loan officers out there. So the road is not that well traveled. And it’s a great opportunity to choose somebody like Joel to to build a relationship with and say, Hey, it’s 2022, almost what can we do together to really knock this thing out of the park. And, and a lot of loan officers are very hungry. Still, Joel obviously, is still super engaged, that I just wanted to go back to something very quickly that you had said about, you know, now that you have the staff of 17, you know, it would be not unnatural to think Oh, Joe gets to now wake up at 1010 in the morning, and he’s done by two and and that is not your life at all, you were working just as hard as you ever have. And that’s the secret to your success. It’s it’s, it doesn’t necessarily get easier or less time, right? It’s just you now have more help. So that you can do more in that same time.
Joel Schaub 18:37
We got to be very forward thinking in this business. And if you’re a realtor, you get loan officers left and right reaching out to you saying our rates are so low us us, right? What are they doing for you? Right? So take some of these people. And I know I’m gonna get flack in the lending community for saying this. But if you’re a realtor, right now reach back out to these agents that are these mortgage agents that are reaching out to you asking you for business and saying what are you going to do for me? Right, good loan officers will through RESPA compliant ways, give funds up to 50% for marketing events and giving Okay, and partner with somebody that you like, okay, that’s going to actually take care of your clients that has the behind the scenes, similar to what we have to actually close transactions in a fast amount of time. Because the secret is, most banks out there have the same rates DJ, everybody thinks that there might be some secret someplace if they search the dark web to find this lowest interest rate. That’s not the case, go with somebody that you know, like and trust, okay, and work with them and see if you’re an agent, which loan officer is actually going to help you grow your business. Okay, and that’s what’s the focus right now, going into 2022. There’s going to be a lot of lenders as rates do start to go up that are just going to be calling and we’re way ahead of the game on all of that. This is year round for We are reaching out, we don’t reach out, just when times get slow. Yes, everybody is busy. Every single week, we’re scheduling appointments, and you just wait when rates do go out, but there’s going to be a lot of people leaving the business because they didn’t do the planning. So if you’re on this call here today, or you’re listening or watching, I know, we’ve reviewed some of this before, but it’s another action step to take steps forward to just do gift giving, create your database and start giving back.
D.J. Paris 20:29
Yeah, and start talking to lenders, if you’re one of our listeners, who is things are slowing down, it’s the end of the year, you got clients that are not as present, because they’re, you know, dealing with holiday stuff. Great time to start talking to lenders, lenders are probably slightly less busy as well, or the loan officers, you know, probably winding down a bit. Except for Joel, which is still you’re cranking it out just like you always do, but there’s a lot of loan officers that are probably have a little bit more time right now. And if you, you know, wanted to partner with somebody in your local community, reach out to three or four of them and say, hey, I want to talk I here’s what here’s what I want to do next year, can you can you help me, you know, what can you do. And of course, if anyone out there does not have a great relationship with a loan officer, we would encourage you to reach out to Joel. Joel is an amazing partner. I know of many, many agents for many firms who Joel works with here in the Chicagoland area. But guaranteed rate is licensed, of course, in all 50 states, they have incredible agents, credible loan officers, and but Joel, if somebody did want to reach out to you specifically to talk about, you know, helping them with their 2022, or even just general questions, or maybe you could help point them in the right direction. What’s the best way they should reach out to you
Joel Schaub 21:41
invariably, after these podcasts, I get north of a dozen phone calls or emails, somebody just saying I really was inspired by what you said here? Do you have a few minutes and I actually take the time to answer the phone. And I do reply to emails personally. So test me, okay. Joel JO el@rate.com. It’s the short email for guaranteed rate, and then 773-654-2049. And it would be one of the things where if you are an agent, and you are spending on something, we’re happy to contribute, we really want to partner with agents that are investing in themselves, okay. And on the higher end, I know not everyone can be at this level. But if you are an agent that’s spending over $10,000 a year on something that you are doing for marketing and advertising, reach out to me, I absolutely have ways in 2022, that you could get the freight costs on those types of things in real RESPA compliant ways. So let’s have a conversation.
D.J. Paris 22:41
And you know, we’re starting to see there was some news earlier this week for an online lending institution that that had to do a massive number of layoffs. And I really think if you, if anyone you know is paying attention to those sorts of news, that that is a great reason to have a conversation with your clients about lenders. And why you have that you would, you know, I don’t wanna use the word steer, but that you would suggest to your clients, I’ve got a great relationship with someone, I would like you to talk to them, because some of these online mortgage lending institutions, which doesn’t, doesn’t really have the ability to have a personal one on one interaction between the client and the loan officer, some of them just are starting to crumble a bit, I think, and, you know, these relationships, these one to one relationships are just so critical. And like you said, rates are not that important, because everyone’s really got the same rates, but the relationship is because I know that if I refer someone to draw, it’s gonna get closed, I don’t have to think about that. And that is a real nice thing to be able to say to a client is, you know, let’s, let’s go, let’s try my my person. And so let’s good time to develop those relationships. And again, it’s your fiduciary to your clients, not Joel, of course, I’m talking to directly to our audience, you are a fiduciary, you have a financial obligation to give them good advice. And, you know, building a relationship with a loan officer in 2022, if you don’t have one, is a good opportunity to really be able to provide more value to your customers and say, Oh, no, you know, not that you don’t shouldn’t go here. But here’s somebody else that we really want you to talk to, and, and the level of experience is just different. I know, when I was recently purchasing a home, and I actually went with Joel, of course, and I tried a couple of these online things just to sort of see what would happen. I was curious the experience I would get, and it was very poor. And immediately, you know, I wasn’t really going to go with him anyway. But I was shocked at the level that the really difference. Whereas Joel, got on the phone with me had a great conversation that was quite quite lengthy about I want to educate you on the process, you know what you’re doing, and none of the other places were I mean, they didn’t even call me back really, which was surprising. So this is a great opportunity. Need to build these relationships with really good loan officers like Joel and and really, you know, help get your clients the help they need so that they’re not stressed about this large, sometimes largest financial decision they may ever make.
Joel Schaub 25:14
I’m glad that you said that, because it’s really true. It’s about having that relationship. And if you’re a realtor, it doesn’t have to be me go back to the lenders that you absolutely know and see if they’re open to helping you on any of those types of things. Because good lenders absolutely would welcome that phone call. Why wouldn’t they, you’re referring them transactions. And you want to make sure that you’re working with somebody who has a team behind them, the online lenders, they might somehow be a little bit cheaper on the surface, it looks to be that way. It’s hard to get offers accepted when you’re working with somebody like that. So there’s some pros and cons to everything, find out what’s best for you, but no, coming right from the horse’s mouth here that loan officers that are successful want to partner with you and spend money, so don’t be afraid to ask.
D.J. Paris 26:04
Yeah, it’s a great opera, great opportunity here for the end of the year for our listeners. And of course, reach out to Joel, if you would like to see what he could do with you. He would love to have that conversation with you. And Joel, we wish you a happy December holiday season, as well as the Happy New Year that is coming up and excited to have you back again for another year here on the show. And, of course, as always, on behalf of the audience, we thank you for your time, you’re always have great wisdom. And it is exactly the same steps you do with your own business. So it isn’t even unique specifically to real estate, it obviously applies to to a lot of different occupations, and you’re doing the same thing that you’re telling our audience to do. So walking, the talk is so, so rare these days. And it’s wonderful to have somebody on the show who really does that. So thank you. And then of course, on behalf of Joel and myself, we want to thank the audience, you know, you guys have been with us some of you since the very beginning, which was four or five years ago. And we appreciate it we’re I don’t know 300 And maybe 30 episodes in now. And so we are grateful wouldn’t wouldn’t be able to keep making these without the support from our, our listeners and our viewers. So please help us continue to grow. Just tell one friend, think of one other agent that could benefit from hearing this great conversation with Joel and send him a link to our our website, which is keeping it real pod.com We have links to all the different podcasts apps on there, or just have them pull up a podcast app search for keeping it real, hit the subscribe button. And also, please leave us a review if you’re specifically if you’re whatever app you might be using to listen to our show, whether it’s Apple podcasts or Google Play, or Spotify or wherever. Leave us a review. Let us know what you think of the show. It helps us get more visibility and also helps lets us know what we’re doing right and how we can also improve. So please also do that, Joel, thank you once again. Wow, amazing year you’ve had and also you’ve never missed one of our shows. That’s how impressed that’s even more impressive that would I know how busy you are. So thank you on behalf of all of us at the show. And we will see everybody we’ll see Joel and 2022 and we’ll see everyone else on the next episode. So thanks, Joel. Thank you, DJ
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