Welcome to the May episode of our Learn With A Lender series with Joel Schaub from Guaranteed Rate!
In this episode Joel talks passionately how much he is attempting to give back to the community during this challenging time. He emphasizes how important it is to take care of clients and local businesses by spreading positive vibes. Joel also shares information on jumbo loans and how some of the larger banks have restricted lower down payment options and how Guaranteed Rate has decided to still keep steady at 10%.
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 made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris. I am your guide and host through the show and today is our monthly learn with a lender with Joel shop from guaranteed rate. Now, if you’re new to the show, and haven’t yet listened to Joel before, let me tell you a little bit about him and why we’ve partnered with him for these episodes. And he’s the only lender that we partner with and very for very good reasons. Let me tell you about Joel Joel is the vice president of lending at guaranteed rate, he has been doing loans at a high level since 2003. And he’s got to that level because of what he does directly for agents and their clients, and which is that he gives back part of his commission every time to the buyer on each transaction. So last year alone, just to give you some numbers here, Joel gave back almost $300,000 in closing costs to buyers who worked with them. And that put Jolles volume in the top 1/10 of 1% nationwide. And just to tell you give you more. Drill down a bit on that number out of 400,000 loan officers in the country. Joel is ranked number 137,400,000 loan officers Joel’s in the top 150, which is incredible year to date, he has done 115 transactions for just under 44 million in closing in April alone during the stay at home, which we of course are still dealing with Joel did 48 closings in 30 days, it had his best month ever in his professional career. So congratulations. Joel, by the way, can be reached directly at his email joel@rate.com. Again, joel@rate.com. Or you can call him on his phone, which is 773-654-2049. Let’s say hello to the biggest Cubs fan. I know Joel Shaw, welcome.
Joel Schaub 2:52
Hey, DJ, thanks so much for having me. And numbers and all that are great. But we really want to give back. I mean, that’s what the focus is here is to teach agents how to get to that level, I’ve had a lot of months where we’re near that 48 number of closings. But what was special last month was that we were all locked in home. I mean, for the most part, we were literally sitting at home and having your staff handle these types of transaction volume. So business is happening. If you’re an agent, and you’re standing around and talking to people that are saying, oh, there’s a, you know, this is tough, change the people that you’re talking to go out and stay positive about this market. So that once things start to ease up, you’re going to be the people that they call businesses happening. We’re closing transactions. And the focus today is just staying positive.
D.J. Paris 3:42
Yeah, it’s funny, we’ve been interviewing more people than ever during the stay at home pandemic. And all top producers from all over the country. And all of them are as busy as they usually are. They’re just maybe busy in a bit of a different way. You know, obviously doing showings and in some states is more difficult or impossible. But they’re still staying busy. They’re still staying positive and they’re still closing deals. So it’s it’s incredible.
Joel Schaub 4:08
DJ, I’m glad you’re saying that because there are the agents that are still closing deals. And even if you’re not closing transactions right now our focus is so that we can be the contact person once things start to ease up. What are the things that we can put in place right now as an agent, so that you are the person that the people in your phone call? Okay, so if you go through all the people that know you and know that you’re in real estate, 90% of them say they’re going to use you. The sad fact of the matter is statistically only 10% of those people actually use you and you see it and it happens to me too. So right now what I’d be doing is just doubling down on the connections. Okay, the the top salespeople that I know and the people that are the most successful and earn the most money don’t have a secret sale. Doing the right thing at the right time, they’re just good at connecting with people and making people feel good. And that’s what I’ve seen on all of the podcasts that you have done. You’ve highlighted so many people, they didn’t have like the best sales tactics. They had people tactics, they knew how to connect with people. And that’s what you need to be doing right now is putting plans in place when you’re sitting at home. You don’t have time, right? more time than ever. So make sure that you’re making the phone calls to everybody that’s in your database and saying something positive. Okay, letting them know, and just checking in and seeing how they’re doing. Right. isn’t that important right now?
D.J. Paris 5:38
It’s it’s everything. I was just, I was just telling Joel offline that I, we just interviewed one of the top, maybe the very top agent in New York City, his name is Elon Brock. And the episode just went live a few minutes before Joel and I started recording. And I was telling jobs like, this is really exciting for us. Because number one real estate market in the country, we got the number one guy, and he couldn’t have been nicer. And he said, I we asked him I said, Ilan, you know, you’ve done 3 trillion in transactions over your 20 year career. You know, what’s the secret? And he goes, I stay in contact with everybody. And I’m just, you know, he just loves connecting with people. And I said, Well, obviously, there’s more to it than he’s like, man, that yes, there is. But that’s the main thing. And what you know, what a great message from, from somebody who’s at the very top of the food chain in real estate to tell everyone else who’s going well, maybe I’m I haven’t done 3 trillion in transactions, but how often? Are you staying in touch with your clients? How often are you contacting them on a random week just to see how they’re doing. And you know, I was just to jump around a bit before Joel, we get more into Joel stuff at I was at, I was at a I was moderating a panel of top producers a few months ago here in Chicago, and somebody raised their hand in the audience. And they, they were asking, there’s three very, very big producers on the panel. And this person raised their hand and they said, I’m really upset, one of my best friends decided not to use me as an agent. And the whole room erupted in laughter. And this poor woman was not trying to be funny. And she’s like, looked around and probably looked like, she looked like she’s about ready to cry, because they thought everyone was laughing at her. And I just raised my hand and I said, How many people in the audience have had it where a friend has not utilized them? And every single person, including the top producer panel, you know, raise their hand. So she I said, you’re not alone? And Julia as well. So so this is a great lesson is that you know, do how often are we reaching out to our, our contacts our sphere of influence to remind them, hey, by the way, this is what I do? And what kind of value can you still provide? Even if they’re not looking to buy or sell a home in the next several years? Can you still provide value? And the answer is yes.
Joel Schaub 7:54
I’m really glad that you said that. Because right now, a lot of people aren’t going to be putting their house on the market. And there’s going to be a lot of people that aren’t venturing out to buy a house. But when they do, if you can be the one right now that is staying positive on social media, staying positive with phone calls, and actually being the connector, they’re going to remember you. So I encourage you, if you’re watching the number one thing or you’re listening, what you need to do is be in contact with the people that know you. This is not a time to go out and try to get brand new people, okay? You can go down that path and buy leads and go through those different avenues to grow your business. But I’m telling you the number one way in the next six months to 18 months, is the people that already know you, that will be making a move need to see that you’re positive, that business is still continuing as usual, as usual, as it can in these trying times, and making sure that when the time comes that you’re the point of contact, they’ll remember, oh, yeah, my friend, even when things were bad, seemed like things were going pretty well for her. Let’s I’m going to connect you with her. Okay. And that’s what you need to do. That’s how recently we did 48 transactions in the entire month of April was when things weren’t that great years ago, I was still there making the phone calls on Saturdays connecting being the point of contact, and just being the ray of light that I am. There’s, there’s no magic and
D.J. Paris 9:25
we’ll share it. And I think a lot of people listening might think, Well, Joe must always have the lowest rate, which is why he’s utilized. And the reality of it is there’s always a lower rate, there’s always a higher rate. There’s a million options when it comes to the numbers of lending. But the idea of working for with somebody who can get your transaction closed, somebody that’s proven and trusted, whether they’re the lowest rate or not. And Joe, you were saying this, I believe last month that some of the lenders because the rates are so low and refires are so so big right now heartache taking months and months to close transactions. And you know, that’s not worth it for a few extra bases, you know, hundreds of tenths of a basis point, just to save a few dollars if you can’t get it closed.
Joel Schaub 10:14
rates are low everywhere. Yeah, the people that are calling three and four banks and saying, Hi, what are your rates? And what are your rates, they’re doing it wrong, because the person that’s the lowest typically then has the longest term times, right? There’s only one lowest plumber, there’s only one lowest dentist, right? There’s only one lowest of anything. And that’s not what we strive for. And I don’t think that’s what the client actually strives for either. They just don’t really know what else to compare, the first thing they think of is, well, I want the lowest rate. And you do but all banks really relatively right now have about the same rate, the only way that they’re going to be lower is if the clients getting charged what are called points. And in this market, I’m not a fan of buying points at all rates are so low, you can get rates in the low threes without buying points. And so the idea is, if you’re an agent, you just want to work with people that will actually close the transaction that you can actually pick up the phone and have communication with. And a lot of times have brick and mortar banks just aren’t doing that. So it’s the partnership that I have with so many agents, they know we have competitive rates, but we’re going to close the deal every time. If something goes wrong, I pick up the phone. And that’s the times where you really shine is when things don’t go right. Right. You don’t shy away from it. You step right up, you deliver bad news, hey, they lost their job, I’ve had to make these calls, we are no longer able to close the transaction, they were furloughed, there is no longer income. And those types of things are happening now. And you’d rather tell them right up front. Okay, so many bankers are trying to find ways around just to close a deal. And it’s fraudulent. If you don’t have income, the day of closing, you’re signing docs that are not correct. So you want to be upfront, honest and deliver bad news quickly when you have to, that solves a lot of problems and creates a trust, a lot more than getting to the closing and not being able to close. Well, and
D.J. Paris 12:11
also as an agent, you don’t want to worry about your loan officer or your lending, you know, partner, you don’t want to worry, are they going to take care of my client, you’ve got enough to worry about just handling the real estate side of it the the physical space that they’re either buying or selling, that’s your job. And then to have to worry that well, this loan officer is a little cheaper. They’re not super proven to me. I don’t know them all that well. But yeah, let’s take a chance. Boy, that’s that’s a big gamble.
Joel Schaub 12:41
Yeah. And in almost any other time, sometimes I even advise, go try that option. They do seem to have a right, that’s too good to be true. But when it comes to buying a house in this market, right now, you just want to go with people that will actually close the transaction, get the deals done, you can always refinance down the line, what you want to do is make sure the deals close and get them in. So we could go into that for a while. But I want to actually deliver some value. Let’s do some market updates here and go through what’s happening in real estate, as far as some of the slowdown, some of the things that have been restricted on the mortgage side. And a lot of it is on the higher end jumbo loans. And so you hear it a lot the brick and mortar bank, some of the big ones have restricted the lower down payment options. Right, right. So some of the larger banks are saying no matter what your credit score is, and no matter how much money you have in the bank, we’re no longer doing jumbo transactions unless you have 20%. Down, Right. We saw that across the board on a couple of these banks. So the company I work for still doing 10% down Jumbos, which allows because you’re a private mortgage bank to actually shop it around to several different places, which helps, especially in this market, if you’re stuck with just whatever the guidelines are at ABC bank, and they change, you have to start the process all over again somewhere else. So we have a little bit of flexibility there. And I’ve gotten phone calls saying my file is perfect. I was with ABC bank, nation, everyone knows that they’ve put it to 20% down. I hear you still have 10% down let’s go. So that’s what we’re doing a lot of right now is providing outlets for otherwise great transactions when banks elsewhere. Put the rains in and it won’t last for that. Let’s that are not just the brick and mortar options. Sure. So that’s Jumbo. Okay, so if you’re out there and you have buyers, I know you know what I’m talking about. You have 20% down at a bank changing when you only had $100,000 purchase with 10% down and everything else was going fine. The guidelines changed you can read chat, we’ll make sure those deals close for you. Okay, so all 50 states, yeah, that’s
D.J. Paris 15:04
a huge thing. So if anyone’s got buyers that are doing jumbo that you know, want to explore, you know, a lower down payment option, Joe’s the guy.
Joel Schaub 15:14
So we’ll work through those. Okay, and then let’s talk about just the other end of the spectrum too. So a big majority of the stuff that I do is the $500,000. And above, which is the jumbo space. But I do a lot of first time buyers because of the education and the teaching. And first time buyers very often use FHA. Sure. So here’s one of the things that a lot of people I’ve heard, FHA just changed their guidelines. Not true. FHA didn’t change anything, the banks out there that were delivering loans, FHA put in loan level adjustments, and then they also put in different things, which would be like bank overlays, saying, even though the guidelines are this, we’re gonna raise the credit score requirement to be safer, we’re going to require more of a downpayment, we’re going to require more in reserves. So if you’re talking to somebody and they say, No, the FHA changed their guidelines, it’s not true. The banks are the ones that have changed the guidelines. And it really only affected kind of the smaller end, okay, FHA would go down to 580, on the credit scores, and a lot of banks said, we’re raising that up to 626 40, etc. But they’ll still allow for three and a half percent down. So double check that guys, there’s a lot of great FHA lenders out there, whoever you’re working with, make sure that you know, especially if you have a listing, and the buyer came across FHA, call that loan officer and just say, what are your What are your requirements at your bank? It’s just good double check. Okay, making sure that if I have a listing, I want to know what’s going on with the buyer, especially in these uncertain times?
D.J. Paris 16:52
Yeah, absolutely. That’s really important. And I something I didn’t know, I didn’t know, I thought FHA, you know, requirements were universal across the board, with lenders, apparently not.
Joel Schaub 17:02
Yeah. So those are the things right now. It’s just about communication, staying open and keeping that dialogue right now, we will get through it, there’s a lot of positivity to be had out there. There’s a lot of things that really can help you grow your business. And it’s partnering with the right people. And it’s just staying positive. There’s just so many things out there right now that can keep you down. And it seems silly, but just thinking positively will help you grow. And it will be this law of attraction that will get people to come to your side that want to do business with you. And it’s a good way to go to sleep at night, knowing that you’ve helped people,
D.J. Paris 17:42
it’s the best best way to go to sleep is is giving and Joe, you’ve said that since our very first episode is giving, giving actually results in in getting, which is not the reason to give. But it’s a nice side side effect of giving as you you tend to attract a lot of really nice people who want to work with you. And of course, that’s, that’s the name of the game ultimately. But it all starts with with giving. And basically every interview we’ve ever done, people who are at the top are givers. And this is a great opportunity, I think for everyone listening to reevaluate what they’re giving to, to their clients to their community. Especially right now there’s so many, you know, it’s funny, I was in, I was in the sorry, a dry cleaner. Yeah. Saturday, I had to walk in to drop off some jeans, you know, whatever, it doesn’t matter, I was going to get something done. And they have, you know, I kind of forgot that the dry cleaner. Also men’s things because they weren’t going to mend something for me. And I noticed all their spools of thread. And I just kind of looked over and I said, Wow, I kind of never really noticed that they do all this work. Because I just really mostly use them for dry cleaning. So and and I said how are you guys doing? How’s business? You know, because I was just concerned there a local dry cleaner. I was you know, people aren’t going to work. Maybe they’re not dry cleaning as much I didn’t know. And they said, well, that part of our business is down but they said you know what’s been kind of nice is and it’s a husband and wife they go we’re making a lot of masks, and we’re donating them. And we have some extra time and it doesn’t really cost us anything to do it is no big deal. And and you know, and she said the funniest thing. She goes, we donated like a couple 100 masks, we make them ourselves, and we’re giving them to first responders. And she goes, our business is actually growing. And she goes but that’s not why we did it. But people are now starting to utilize us because they know that we’re donating and making these masks and I and they go this is really actually been nice for us because otherwise our business would be struggling. And I thought what a perfect example of everything you say give first and and the universe will reward you.
Joel Schaub 19:44
Yeah, I live by the givers gain mentality and motto and it really is true. So if you’re an agent right now you can feel this idea. Okay. I just did a Joel Gibbs back campaign. And it literally helped us Small businesses and restaurants in our community, which is Chicago, we did it for 30 days, you can literally do it for a week. And every single day, we featured a restaurant or small business, we bought a $100 gift card to that small business or restaurant. And then we did a fun little trivia on our social media page, so that your followers, your clients would register, and then they would win $100 gift card to that restaurant. So it’s helping to fold. And we did over $3,000, in just the last 30 days, this ended four or five days ago. So we did a big 30 Day campaign. And even if you just did one day, people want to see you being charitable. And if you could just say, here’s one of my favorite restaurants, I just bought $100 gift card, and then do some good by giving back even in times where you might be tight on the pocketbook, giving literally you don’t know where, but somewhere down the line that will come back to you. I believe it, I’ve seen it. So many times, the most successful people are trying to figure out how they can give right now. And that’s just one of the things that we’re doing. Coming up next week, we’re going to be doing it again for fire houses. And for the first responders, we bought lunch over the last couple of weeks, and just shared that positivity on our social media page. So the more that you give, the more that you’ll get back. And it doesn’t have to be something that’s 1000s of dollars, it could be 2550 or $100. The point is, everyone thinks it’s got to be perfect. It’s just got to be something just do it right. Same thing that you and I talked about all the time. I’m far from perfect. But we’re just so damn consistent. We’re doing it all the time. And that’s what brings the business in, I didn’t overnight get to a point where we’re going to do $150 million in one year, we did it by staying consistent, being out there. And just being known as people that get it done and that are helping.
D.J. Paris 22:06
Yeah, and for those of you who aren’t in the local Chicago market, and which is obviously a large real estate market, I think we’re the second or third largest in the country. Joel is one of the very top, you know, loan officers here locally, he of course, also is able to assist in all 50 states. But Joel is known in this community for being a giver. And it might just be coincidence that he’s also one of the top loan officers. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. What it would be the most amazing coincidence ever. It is it is well earned. And and being in the reason Joel is on the show is he came up to me says, Can I be on your show I want to give. And this is back when we had no listeners. And Joel probably had better things to do with his time. In fact, I know he had better things to do with his time. And he still made time he’s giving here he gives to his to agents, he partners with them locally or even across state state lines really anywhere. And he’s also going to give to your clients and also to his community. So Joel, speaking of if there are agents out there listening, or if there are, you know, consumers that are looking to work with you directly, what’s the best way they should reach out?
Joel Schaub 23:13
Yeah, everyone can reach me at 773-654-2049. That’s a direct line, it literally will come to me. And then they could also email joel@rate.com. So it’s J oel@rate.com. And I like this connection. I like to know people, I want agents and other cities and states to know that they could have a top 150 lender that will actually pick up the phone and talk to him. Even if we don’t end up doing business. I could give some tips and tricks for what they’re doing in their market that could help them. Yeah, I work nights and weekends. So we’re always happy to give back. And I may regret that I just gave my phone number out like that. But but we’ll see. You know, it cannot hurt. The more you put out into the world that’s good, the more you’re gonna get back. And I know I say it a lot. But I truly I’ve seen it so many times it works. So if you’re an agent listening, try this trick, figure out what it is that’s authentic to you. And make a social media post where you’re giving something away. And it’s nothing to say now call me for business. That’s the opposite. We’re not trying to say send business my way. It’s doing good for the sake of doing good, you’ll feel good. And just somehow it truly will result in more business.
D.J. Paris 24:31
Well, perfectly said even though you say you’re not perfect. That was perfectly said. So with that. I can’t I can’t top that. So I think that is a great way to to, to end this particular episode. Be a giver and also partner with professionals that are givers. You know, people that are not just looking especially if you’re an agent, you know, interview a bunch of loan officers to find out who you think is going to take the best care of not only your clients but View. And this is something Joel does he partners not only with with clients, but directly with agents to help them grow their business. And that’s the kind of partner you want. You want an attorney that does the same thing. You want a title company, you want a loan officer you want, you want a contractor who’s going to help you do that all of these things that that are ancillary and important to your business, because you’re going to need these people. So this is the time now that we have extra time to really go about going through our list who is who’s on our team. Let’s let’s make some phone calls and find out who’s going to whose vision is aligned with mine. So I said I couldn’t talk then I didn’t just stop it. But no, I I appreciate everyone for listening. And also for Joel for participating. We want to thank Joel on behalf of our listeners for coming on month after month, year after year, consistently to help our listeners learn more about not only just what’s going on in the lending world, but also how to grow your business through giving and, and through other strategies. So on behalf of the listeners, thank you, Joel. And on behalf of Joel and myself, we want to thank the listeners for continuing to support our show two quick things. If you could just tell one friend think of one other real estate professional that could benefit from listening to this interview or any of the interviews we do send them over to our websites keeping it real pod.com Or just have them pull up a podcast app on their phone. Look for keeping it real. It’ll show right up second, please follow us on Facebook right now you might be listening to this, but we had already streamed it live, you probably are watching it live if you’re on part of our Facebook group, because we stream it live when we record it. But you can only find that on Facebook. So find us@facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And please reach out to Joel he’s never too busy to work with you and your clients. So Joel, thanks again and we will see you next month.
Joel Schaub 26:52
Thanks for having me on guys. We’ll see you soon. Stay positive. All right.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
