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Why Giving Actually Gets You Everything • Learning With A Lender • Joel Schaub

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Welcome to the January episode of Learning With A Lender with Joel Schaub!

In this episode Joel Schaub talks about the importance of aligning yourself with a cause that you believe in. Not only is it the right thing to do, but you’ll see that over time clients want to work with brokers that give back. Next, Joel talks about joining groups (such as a college alumni program or an online neighborhood group) and providing value there and over time you’ll start to attract more clients! Last, Joel discusses how loan limits have changed and how borrowers can house-hack more easily than ever before!

Joel Schaub

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

Welcome to keeping it real the largest podcast in the country for real estate agents made by real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I am your host and what a year it’s been we have doubled our traffic and our listenership and we have now expanded nationwide with our guests and also with our listeners and we’re so excited to continue to bring you this kind of content today on the show. We have our monthly episode with Joel shop from guaranteed array called Learn with a lender if you are new to the show. Let me tell you about Joel Joel is vice president of lending at guaranteed rate. He has been doing loans at a high level since 2003. And has got to that level because of what he does directly for agents he gives back part of his commission to the buyer on every transaction every time. Last year alone, he gave back over $271,000 in closing costs to buyers who worked with him and that put Joel’s volume in the top 1/10 of 1% of loan officers nationwide. out of 380,000 loan officers nationwide Joel is ranked number 181 year to date, he has closed 317 transactions for just under 113 million in closings in the month of December alone, which is no closings happen. Joel has already done 10 million in closed transactions. And Joel can be reached at joel@rate.com. Or you can always call him directly at 773-354-2049. Let’s say hello to the biggest Cubs fan. I know Joel Schaub Good afternoon, sir.

Joel Schaub 2:39
Hey, DJ, thanks so much for having me on again. And the accolades and the numbers that you you know, you share with the listeners, they’re great, but I love this time to come on and give back and go through some of the things that I’ve seen other agents doing that can help them really, really grow their business, and not spend a lot of money. I’m gonna go through several things that I have seen other people doing and really give back here today. So I’m really excited to be on the show.

D.J. Paris 3:11
And, and thank you, we’re so excited. You’re a fan favorite. And we’re so appreciated by our audience. And I would like to tell the audience, just how dedicated Joel is. Joel is catching a flight tomorrow to go out of the country on safari, which is super exciting. And he does not have time to do this right now. And yet he’s doing it. That’s how dedicated he is. And we’re so grateful that you’re able to do this for us.

Joel Schaub 3:35
Well, I’ll do it again in January, if I make it back and I don’t get eaten by a lion, a tiger, whatever the other animals there are going to be and we’re excited. So yeah, my wife and I tomorrow we fly and we’re doing Christmas in the Seychelle islands. So we’re going to do six nights there before going to Cape Town, South Africa. And then that’s where we’re going to spend almost two weeks doing Africa stuff.

Unknown Speaker 4:02
We’ll be there. Well, I

Joel Schaub 4:03
hope miked up and

D.J. Paris 4:05
I hope my girlfriend isn’t listening because you’re now making me look bad because we’re she and I are just going to Florida. Not as exciting,

Joel Schaub 4:12
as warm but it’s a once in a lifetime thing. As a child, I always wanted to go. And I wanted to go to Egypt. Here’s the two things DJ I wanted to do. I wanted to be a major league baseball player and I wanted to go to Egypt and I was so bad at sports. Like I struck out at T ball. I wasn’t athletic at all. So that’s passed me by but at least I can take my beautiful wife and we’re gonna go spend some time there. We ended in Cairo. So we get back middle of January. So it’s gonna be a good three weeks plus warm to get away. And before we go, let’s go through some things that we can really do as real estate agents and professionals that are on the podcast today, to get ready for 2020 What are some of the things that we can do to put our minds in a mindset for growth? Okay, and the one thing I want focus on is just giving back data. How many times do I talk about this every single time? It’s truly what it is. People don’t care about how much you know, until they know how much you care, okay? And when you can literally grow your business based on giving back, not only do you sleep better, do you feel better, but the referrals that come to you are so much better. Okay? As agents are so many different agent options that are out there. So if you got a referral from somebody that was a friend, a family member, or a co worker, where you really were involved in the other person’s life, it’s a lot easier to work with that person, they’re less likely to say, Oh, I’m gonna go call five different real estate agents and see which one’s going to give me the lowest commission. That’s a race to the bottom, we don’t want that, what we want to do is build our people. So giving back a couple things that we can do be out there and actually pick a charity that you actually could get involved with and spend some time it doesn’t have to be a lot of money. But my wife and I have been part of the real estate to the rescue, we’ve been on the board of directors. And when you align yourself with something, naturally, you’re seeing people that see you as a giving person. And if everybody knows what you’re doing in real estate, you will get more deals from it. So it’s so simple, but it’s so many people fail to do this, go out next year, and find something that you’re passionate about, and asked to join on the board.

D.J. Paris 6:30
I do this. For me, it’s miserable Cordia here a local place in Chicago. And it is not only has it helped me, business wise, which is not why I do it. Same with you with real real estate to the rescue. But it is something we both care about. And I will tell you, it just transformed my life. When I started getting involved.

Joel Schaub 6:51
It is and then you’re actually connecting with people that are like minded. And it’s surprising to me how many people say they will do it and not do it. So just the first step, find a charity, find something that you’re passionate about, and then give back and then let every single person know this, you know, it’s a little self serving, but let them know I’m in real estate. I want to be the person that helps you on the next transaction. And people want to help people that are helping others. Okay. Okay, so that’s charities, the next one is groups, whether it’s a mommy daddy group, a school group, or some kind of former college athletic or university connection, join groups, okay? And make sure that you’re doing the exact same thing you’re giving back, you’re being present, and you’re helping some organization or cause grow. It doesn’t have to be a charity, the one that I really love is just where did you go to school? Right. Lastly, online neighborhood groups, okay, if I was a new agent, and I didn’t have a lot of money, I literally would be doing five or six hours a day just on the group’s Okay, that seems crazy. But literally five or six hours a day, just answering questions chiming in, being that person that knows about real estate, okay, and it will take time. But if you don’t have a lot of money, to go out and do big time, advertisements, and budgets and parties, being on these neighborhood groups, as the professional that is in your community. It’s a long game. But it’s one of the most cost effective ways that you can be an expert.

D.J. Paris 8:33
And so what Joel is talking about, and this is a great thing, because I’ve interviewed people for the show that have built these groups, if there isn’t one for your neighborhood or your suburb is go on Facebook and do a search for it. For example, if you’re a mother, guess what other mothers in your community want to know about all the kids stuff that’s going on in that community. And you can start posting here, all the events coming up. And then as you start to do that you become a fixture in that Facebook group or other social group, you’ll start people start going well, what is it that you do and all of a sudden, you’ve added so much value, that you start getting clients as a result? You’re exactly

Joel Schaub 9:09
right. This is not an opportunity to sell. You are literally providing value and giving answers and actually being a resource that naturally does come to you people make the mistake of going on, and blasting advertisements and I see it and I would never call that person. Right? Yes, it does call somebody that’s actually providing value that’s helping that’s giving answers that are spending time and writing a reply. Whenever somebody needs a plumber or needs a roofer or needs a handyman, if you can be the person that’s referring people out, you become that neighborhood expert in Facebook groups is a great way to go out and grow your real estate business.

D.J. Paris 9:51
Wonderful. I couldn’t agree more.

Joel Schaub 9:53
So you’re talking off air. You’re seeing a lot of different things that people are doing for advertising. What’s going on? What are you seeing

D.J. Paris 9:59
So this is this is just funny, fortunate timing. And it’s going to sound like I’m doing a commercial for guarantee rate, which I would always do a commercial guaranteed rate because I loved guaranteed rate. But this really happened two nights ago. So I got home, I live in a high rise downtown and in River North, and I in my, my mailbox was a an eight and a half by 11. Color, you know, basically front and back. And it was from a very successful realtor who’s actually been on our show, and I won’t mention it just in case he doesn’t want me to. But what here’s what was great about it, it was on the front, it had all of the current listings for my building that were on the market. And it showed in the past, I think 30 or 60 days, what has closed. So I could look at this very quickly and say, Okay, here’s what the places in my building are going for. Here’s what they’re selling for. And guess what, it was co branded by who else guaranteed rate? Yeah. And I handed it to my girlfriend, and I said, look at how brilliant this marketing is. Because is it providing value? Yes. Right? Like that is exactly what everybody who lives in a building wants to know is what are other things going for, because maybe I want to sell or maybe I maybe I want to buy another property in my own building, right? I just want to know what’s going on and most time and I’m in the business, and I don’t know what’s going on in my own building. And I said, this is brilliant. And I said, Oh, how funny is it? Because I’m gonna have Joelle on in a few days, I need to really talk about how I’m not kidding, I get a ton of I get a ton of advertisements from other realtors who partner with other lenders, and it’s just, hey, use me I’m great. And all that’s fine. But I thought wow, this is a piece of, of advertising that is hyper targeted. And I go, how great is this, that, you know, they’re partnered with guaranteed rate because we’re about to come on the show. So really, I couldn’t have been more impressed. And within a minute, I looked at this, I knew what was going on in my building, and I got value. And I and I remembered it. So I you know, this is the kind of things that as agents, we want these kinds of partnerships, right, we want partners that can provide and help us with our marketing efforts. And Joel is exactly the kind of person that can do this with

Joel Schaub 12:11
you. And that’s the nice thing right there too, is that you actually hit the nail on the head, I love that you said a partnership, because there’s a lot of great lenders, there’s definitely people at all different banks and brokers that do it right that know how to do the process. But are they actually partnering with you to help you get more transactions, and you hit the nail on the head, doing the marketing dollars and CO advertising is how I got to having over 100 good real estate agents in the city of Chicago, that say just called Joel. And so I give a closing cost credit back to every buyer that comes over from that agent. So I do a $1,500 credit out of my commission, it goes right on the closing settlement statement. And that helps the buyer bring less to the closing table. And it also gets the listing agent, or the agent that was referring the person over to me more deals because that buyer then is so happy that they got somebody that was at our level, but also giving back.

D.J. Paris 13:17
Yeah, and guys, this is not just a marketing gimmick, this giving back, this is huge. Most lenders do not do this, this isn’t an option at a lot of places Joel does this himself. It’s how he’s built his business. And everybody here locally in Chicago knows Joe and there are probably 1000s of different lenders. And Joel might be the most well known because of his ability to give back. And he doesn’t just give back financially, although How great is that you get to bring that to your client, hey, I’ve got a great lender for you. Not only will you close quickly, with a great rate, but also my lender is going to credit you back, you know, up to X amount. And I think that’s so huge. So you’re providing value, Joel is providing value, and everybody wins.

Joel Schaub 14:04
Yeah. So if you’re an agent that’s on the podcast here today, in 2020, I am definitely looking to expand and have some additional agents come on. And so you can just do a quick email now. joel@rate.com. So it’s j o el@rate.com. And then just in the subject line write marketing, and then I’ll give you a follow up. And we’ll schedule some time to see how we can actually help you through the CO branded marketing the flyers through the credits back, help you grow and in 2020 So I’m happy to happy to throw that out there to somebody that really wants to expand and grow their business.

D.J. Paris 14:42
And to all the listeners look we have 1000s and 1000s of listeners do not delay on this there is a finite amount of people that Joelle can partner with and if you really are serious and looking for a partner immediately as soon as you’re done listening to this, shoot that email out to them so you can have that conversation because at some point he’s going to get fit The emails, and that is going to be hard for him to manage all that. So be one of the first people that reaches out because he is. I mean, here in Chicago, he is a legend. If you’re outside the Chicagoland area, he will, he’d love to still work with you. But definitely reach out because he is a busy man and gets a lot of requests. So shoot that over to him immediately. So you guys can work on your 2020 business plan together.

Joel Schaub 15:23
Okay, got one more thing. I’m all about providing value. So if you are in the real estate space, you’ve heard about this. You’ve seen other mortgage guys or agents talking about the loan limits getting increased? Did you hear anything about this? Like, one day there was 15 posts, and everyone was just saying 510,005 10? They’re just saying this number that now the loan limit is up. But what the hell does that even mean? Right? If you’re outside of the industry, and you’re just buying for the first time? Why does this matter? Right? What does it mean? So let’s actually talk about what that loan limit was because you could always borrow above the old limit, right? There wasn’t a limit on what you could borrow, right? You could borrow $1,000,000.08 100,700. So what this is, is the limit got increased from the cutoff point for a conforming mortgage to a jumbo loan. Okay, and all it means is that now, first time buyers in those without a large downpayment, can borrow more on the lowest downpayment, options, 3%, down and 5%, down all the way up to $510,400. So as an agent, what this means is, it’s good to know that it’s on that number for a one unit property. But my focus here is, there isn’t just one loan limit, there are loan limits for two units, three units and four units. Okay. And so, right now, there’s a really big opportunity for borrowers to go out and buy a two to four flat building. Okay, so if you’re an agent, why go help somebody buy a $280,000 condo, and you can help them buy a $590,000.02 unit or a $700,000.03 unit building? Okay? They can how’s that one of the units? Yeah, well, you could live in one and you could literally collect rents that cover the entire mortgage payment if you get a good agent that can find some of these diamonds in the rough. Okay, so a four unit limit. This is not jumbo, the four unit limit on Fannie Mae now is $981,700. Yeah, a four unit building, and there’s tons of them. Okay. And for most people, if you’re just a regular salaried person $900,000 Seems like a complete pipe dream, how can I ever get a bank to approve me for this type of loan? Well, if you’re buying in a building that has three other rents, your person that’s just maybe making 80 grand a year as a teacher, very easily could go buy a four unit building, if they’ve never bought a place before. They could buy it with 5% down and have the rents cover the mortgage. So those are some of the tips that I wanted to focus on. And give a little context in color to this number that you keep seeing on social media 510 510. That’s one thing. But these two to foreign unit loans have increased as well. And there’s a real opportunity to go to your database, and start having these buyers that maybe are renting, move into a multifamily purchase.

D.J. Paris 18:37
And guys, you don’t have to have these conversations alone. This is why you partner with someone like troll, he can talk to your clients and have those conversations about what we call house hacking, this ability to buy a multi unit living in one and then have you know, the the more of the rent mortgage is paid by the rents in the other. So definitely, let’s let’s continue to reach out to Joel, he is your great, greatest resource to helping your clients get to that next level. They’re not just homeowners, now they’re investors as well.

Joel Schaub 19:10
And now we’ll refer you more business when you genuinely put these people first and not just look at as a commission, you will get more deals. And I’ve seen this for year after year with agents where I’ve taught them and teach them how they can actually take a small group of buyers, and year after year get more referrals from them by putting them first just it feels good. It’s the right way to do business.

D.J. Paris 19:33
That will And that does it for the end of the year. Joel is on his way to Africa and he’s actually got a conference call in two minutes. So we’re going to sign off and we’re going to first thank you Joel for the entire year all the hard work you’ve done on this podcast. Joel does not get paid to do this. He does this because he truly wants to give back. And if if I could ask all of our listeners, our Realtors, our listeners who might be buyers sellers, use Joel reach out to Joel He is honored to earn your business and he wants to earn your business. So Joe, what’s the best way that an agent or a buyer can reach out to you

Joel Schaub 20:09
joel@rate.com J OEL at r a t e.com 773-654-2049. And before I go, just big shout out to you, DJ and everybody that it takes to put this together. You’ve grown so much. We really love what you’re doing. And we’re really excited to partner with you in 2020.

D.J. Paris 20:32
Well, we’re excited, the honor is all ours and so have a great holiday season, Joel, have a great safari with your lovely wife, who I adore. And also we’ll see in January, when you guys get back, we’ll keep doing these episodes. And to all the listeners, thank you for continuing to support the show. And the best way to support the show, aside from telling a friend is support Joel, you reach out to him he is your resource, he will help you make more money as a real estate agent, and I’ll help your clients save money on their their lending. So please, please reach out to him. You know, we’re so honored to have him a part of the show. So, Joel, thank you so much and have a great time in Africa.

Joel Schaub 21:11
I appreciate it. Thank you, everyone.

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