How To Talk About Lending Rates Right Now • Learning With A Lender • Joel Schaub

Keeping It Real Podcast • Secrets Of Top 1% REALTORS ® • Interviews With Real Estate Brokers & Agents

Welcome to the January episode of Learn With A Lender with Joel Schaub of Guaranteed Rate!

In this episode Joel talks about rates and the importance of understanding of where the rates were, where they are and where they’re going. Joel also discusses how agents should talk to their buyers about rates and where should agents go to get information on the lending world. Last, Joel and DJ discuss the weekly newsletter Joel sends out and how you can also do something similar.

If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!

Joel can be reached at [e-mail] and 773.654.2049.

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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 [e-mail] Guaranteed Rate is an equal housing lender licensed in all 50 States Consumer Access Number 2611. And now on with the show.

Welcome to another episode of the largest podcast they buy real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I am your guide and host through the show today once again, is our monthly series called Learn with a lender with our favorite lender, Joel Schaub with guaranteed rate. Now Joel is the vice president of lending at guaranteed rate. He’s been doing loans at a very high level since 2003. And he’s got to that level because of what he does specifically for agents, which is that he gives back part of his commission to the buyer on every transaction now last year alone, and then we’re now in 2022. So in 2021, Joe gave back over $400,000 in closing costs to buyers who worked with him and that put Joe’s volume in the top 1/10 of 1% of lenders nationwide. out of 400,000 loan officers in the country. Joel is ranked number 137. Last year he did 611 transactions, just to let you know what a jump that was the year prior he did 535. So he did 611 transactions last year help that many families his highest amount ever for one year and it was just shy of $250 million. 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. Joel can be reached at his email, which is Joel J [e-mail]. So [e-mail] Or you can shoot him a text message or call him at 773-654-2049. Also, as a reminder, guaranteed rate is licensed in all 50 states they can help you no matter where your your client is, let’s say hello to the biggest Cubs fan. I know Joel shop. Hey, Joel. Hey,

Joel Schaub 2:41
thanks so much DJ, when I hear those numbers. It even surprises me but none of the accolades really matter. I really like coming on giving back and really having a good conversation with you and helping agents all across the country, understand mortgages and understand what their clients are going through, when they go speak to their banks, and how they can help them just get one transaction done easier.

D.J. Paris 3:06
It is it is such an important part of the job. And I think real estate agents, lenders or loan officers. You know, all of this can be done without talking to a human, right, there are real estate companies where you can buy real estate without ever talking to an agent, or you can certainly get loans without ever talking to an actual person. But it’s such a complicated and complex process, especially emotionally. So intellectually, there’s a lot to know. But then emotionally, there’s just a lot to navigate. And so, you know, I think what separates you from from all the other loan officers that I’ve had experience with in the past is you really take the time to to educate the client to make sure that the agent knows what’s going on. And, and again, I’m sure that if coming on this show, you’re now doing it nationwide to you know, 10s of 1000s of people are going to hear this. So I really love the fact that you come on because anyone can go look up rates, anyone could go look up real estate, but to talk to somebody who’s knowledgeable that can educate you is more rare than it should be. But it is really, really important. So we appreciate it.

Joel Schaub 4:16
A lot of buyers you’re exactly right. I’m glad you said that. They go online and they can shop around and most buyers DJ, they think, you know, 90% of buyers think they fit right into the box, they have a good job and their income is right. So they can go to an all online mortgage lender. Right? When in fact 90% of files don’t fit in the box. Okay. 90% of them actually need a human touching somebody to actually teach help and educate them so that it does go smooth, because when it is all online and it is all technologically driven. There’s nobody there on the other end so agents know this, the letters that are being presented with somebody who’s actually local in their market. It really works a lot better for an Office perspective, than if it’s just a big mega bank from somebody out in state. And buyers feel the same way

D.J. Paris 5:09
too. Yeah, it is, it is interesting. I know I’ve even over the years when I’ve owned property, whenever I thought to refinance, I would sometimes fill out some of those online forms, just to sort of see what would come back. And rarely did I get a phone call, sometimes, you know, I would get emails and maybe one phone call, but But it was amazing how hard it was sometimes to to even get to a human. So I really I know that your clients appreciate how accessible you are, and and how you can really help guide somebody you guided me through through my loan, which was amazing and really helped me understand. And I’m in the industry, and I needed help. And so I imagine all of the all of the rest of us who have clients need that exact same help. So let’s let’s talk about, we don’t talk a lot about rates, which is really interesting, because of course, when I first when we first started working together, I thought, Oh, we’re going to have this conversation always about rates, which of course, is interesting. But you tend to focus on more business building activities, which I think is is probably even more valuable. But today, we do want to talk about rates specifically, because we have seen a slight uptick in the in the average 30 year rate. So can you talk a little bit about what’s going on in the market, what agents need to know and maybe what they need to talk to their buyers and maybe even sellers about

Joel Schaub 6:27
headlines, if you look at it right now, say mortgage rates have surged, using the word surge right there saying that mortgage rates have jumped, mortgage rates have skyrocketed all these terms, right that you’re seeing when you go to CNBC and CNN and they’re not wrong, but we need to take a step back and get an understanding of where they were, where they are, and where they’re going. Okay, in terms of rates, so on average, right now, your 30 year fixed rate is hovering around three and a half percent, for a great client putting down a good sized downpayment, or they’re still rates below 3%. Of course, they come with shorter terms or adjustable rate periods, of course, in the future will rate to be above this most likely. Okay, so let’s just get an idea right now as to where they were, so that we know where we are. And if I’m an agent, I can speak with some confidence, right? Last year, we know that mortgage rates were in the twos It was great. Okay. Now that the New Year is here, what we’ve seen is mortgage rates move up to that three and a half percent range. And agents are asking me, they said, well, the Feds haven’t raised rates yet. Wire rates up already. Right? You’ve seen agents ask this. Yep. And it’s not when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates? Do they call all the mortgage companies and say, Hey, reminder, raise your rates today, we just raised ours. When the Fed speaks, and they say that they’re going to raise rates, the markets react right away. And that’s what we saw this year, DJ in the beginning of the year, we saw six consecutive days where the mortgage rates grinded higher, from just over 3.1 to five to almost three and a half percent.

D.J. Paris 8:17
But keeping in perspective, it’s still I mean, the idea of even having a three and a half percent loan is incredible, in credible still, and something to keep in perspective, because inflation, the most recent numbers was that, you know, inflation rose about 7%. Last year, which is amazing. I mean, that is a huge number that is a big number. But to go from three to three and a half is still pretty, pretty reasonable for for buyers, correct.

Joel Schaub 8:51
For most payments that we’re looking at, on your average, maybe it changes the payment on a $300,000 place by $60, or $70. Once you start getting up into the clients that are borrowing north of a million dollars, yes, this will have an impact of 100 or $200, every single month. But if 100 or $200, makes or breaks you you shouldn’t be buying a $1.8 billion home. Okay, where are rates gonna go? So we know where we were, we know where we’re at. And this is the takeaway right now, for agents. The biggest increases are already here. Okay, we’ve seen the big run up. So for the rest of the year, on average, this is about where we’re going to be. Maybe it goes a little bit higher. But I’ll tell you right now, mark my words, we won’t see rates go up as much as they already have later this year. Okay, so we’ve seen almost a half a point increase for almost the entire year. Our prediction on the floor here is that rates are going to be in the threes and we don’t have a big risk that rates get to four, four and quarter, four and a half percent. But there is some fear. Buyers are seeing this right. And so what are we seeing right now DJ buyers flocking to the market to go buy something before rates do hit those numbers that other people are telling them about?

D.J. Paris 10:15
Sure. So what would you recommend to a an agent who has a buyer who said, wow, I’ve seen the rates go up half a half, you know, half a percentage in the last month? What should I be doing? You know, and again, you just sort of explained why that why that matters, but also keeping it in perspective of how much it matters. But what what should an agent be telling their buyers right now,

Joel Schaub 10:44
it should be confident and you should be educating them and you should not be selling fear. They are not just talking to one agent, we know this, a lot of times a buyer is talking to multiple agents. And those other agents are the ones that are hungry for a commission, and they’re pushing these buyers and saying You better hurry up because rates are gonna skyrocket. Don’t be that agent. Don’t be the person that’s so focused on getting a commission just lead with education and honesty, okay, rates aren’t going to spike up to four or 5%. So when the other agent is selling fear, and you can be the voice of reason and teach them and help them. Not only are you going to win the business, but you’re going to win repeat business. Okay. So a lot of people out there trying to sell fear. And that’s not the way we as a good agents want to go out and approach the business.

D.J. Paris 11:39
I’m curious too, because I’ve always heard that sales people should be reading what their clients read. And we know that that buyers aren’t probably going to mortgage news daily.com. They’re not that invested in lending rates. But they are seeing some of these stories, as you mentioned by the traditional big media outlets, you know, the CNBC is of the world. So how should an agent B, because there’s probably you know, there are listeners of ours who are hearing you talk about rates right now and are thinking, Gosh, I, I really didn’t even know rates went up. And and that’s a bit of a problem. Because if you’re an agent, you don’t need to know as much as Joel knows about about lending and where things are day to day. But you need to have a pretty good idea of what your clients know. So that you can of course provide, you know, a reasonable answer to a reasonable question, which is, Hey, I saw rates going up. Is there any news that sort of news services or just, you know, anything that you recommend, so that agents can just stay abreast of what’s going on in the lending world so that they’re not caught off guard? If a client asks them a question, and they’re like, Oh, I didn’t realize that was happening?

Joel Schaub 12:54
Well, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, do a weekly survey. And so these are the rates that are usually posted, they do say where the average 30 year fixed rate, excuse me where they’re at on a weekly basis. And those are on all the news outlets, right. But you mentioned a site. And if I’m an agent, right now, I’m taking this down, and it’s called mortgage News Daily. And it’s an insider publication that literally, without the sales pitches, explains right what’s going on to the fact in terms of on a day to day basis where the mortgage rates move to so this is, this is one of those things where there’s a reason why on a Monday, this week, I got nine signed contracts on one day on a Monday, early in January. buyers know this. If you’re getting ready to buy a home, buyers know where rates are at, and they’ve seen rates move up, and they’re afraid they’re gonna continue to move up. So I’m here to say for the entire year, we’re going to be at rates in the threes the biggest move up has already happened. It’s not when the Feds raise rates, that rates go up for mortgages. It’s the anticipation that they’re going to do it. And it’s well choreographed, nothing the Fed does is a surprise to the markets. They timed this. They put out briefings, they explained well in advance. And so that’s why this start of the year, we’ve seen rates move up consistently from the low threes or below to that mid three range. That’s where we’re going to be for the next six to nine months.

D.J. Paris 14:29
Yeah, I think that’s reasonable. So right now you just got an education, all of our listeners and viewers about what to say to your clients just you know, borrow some of Joe’s language there in and educate your customers before they find themselves at you know, CNBC or maybe they stumble across mortgage news daily.com And they asked you a question and you don’t want to be blindsided by that and I also want to put a feather in Joel’s cap. I didn’t mention this to Joel ahead of time, so it’d be a little bit of a surprise, but I was thinking about Gosh, if I were an agent, maybe what news sources would I read other than mortgage News Daily. And I thought, Oh, I don’t have to do that, because Joel and his team send a market update to and I don’t know who all is on your list if it’s just agents or who. But Joel sends out a concise email once a week, exactly about what’s going on in the mortgage world in the lending world. And I think that is a hallmark. By the way, it is the only newsletter, it’s not even a newsletter, Joel and his team put it together specifically, and they email it out. It’s the only one I receive. And a lot of because we have about 800 realtors that are at the company I work at here in Chicago, we get a lot of phone calls, especially to me, because I’m the marketing guy who’s from lenders going, I want to get in front of your agents. And none of them send me a month, a weekly market update our monthly market update or any market update, Joel and his team are the only ones that do that. And so I think that is another great way to find a loan officer in your area that can and will is wanting to help you in your business, because that gives me all the bullet points, I need to be able to then have conversations with clients. So really consider if you don’t have an elbow, a loan officer in your area that is able to provide that sort of assistance to maybe consider exploring, you know, other ellos to see who can provide that because I just remember Joel that you do that every week. And it is so valuable. I read it every time. In fact, I think you just sent it out yesterday. So it’s amazing. And something that really consider for all the agents out there going well, gosh, I don’t I don’t want to read mortgage News Daily, that’s really difficult, I got a million other things to do. It’s like fine Anello that’ll keep you in the loop.

Joel Schaub 16:46
Our team helps agents close more deals, we teach them, we educate them. And we give them those few talking points so that when they are up against another realtor in their market, they know what the hell’s going on. Okay, you don’t need to know everything, you don’t need to spend hours. So what we do on a weekly basis, is digested in real talking points so that you understand what’s going on. And I have agents all the time, say I actually print this out and I share it with all the agents in my office. Yep, I’m so happy that you do this. And those are one of the things that I love to see when somebody says they’ve gotten a new buyer under contract because of something our team helped with. So testimony right now, if you’re listening, you can make a note in a reminder, to email us just [e-mail] it’s, it’s that easy. And simply say, add me to your list. You can unsubscribe at any time, but it’ll allow you to see what we’re doing for our agents. And maybe you’ll just get one more deal because of

D.J. Paris 17:50
it. Yeah, and it’s all about getting one more deal, right, always getting one more deal. And there are ways to do that. But you have to work smarter and efficient. And that’s where you need a good partner. And Joel has proven himself to everyone that I’ve ever referred to him as a buyer. He’s, he’s proven it to me as a client of his. And he is production speaks for itself. It doesn’t happen by accident, which is really the message of this entire show that we do here at keeping it real is that and basically everyone we’ve ever interviewed, while pretty much has always said to me privately, anybody could do this, if they just do the work. And they and they build partnerships with with you know, these ancillary partners, like a loan officer, like Joel. So it’s one of those things that this is we are hammering this message over and over again, is you need somebody like Joel in your life, if you’re an agent, you need somebody like him. And if it’s not him, find somebody just like him, who can help you educate your clients and who can help you more importantly, get that next transaction. So like Joel said, if you want to be on his mailing list, just reach out [e-mail]. Also, Joel, if anyone out there is looking for an elbow that maybe they’re not getting the service they need from from the the loan officers in their immediate area, or they’re just want to see what else is out there. What’s What’s another way that they can reach you for your telephone number, for example?

Joel Schaub 19:21
Well, directly and this happens a lot DJ, we’ve done this for a couple of years now. And each week after the show, there are a dozen or more people that either reach out they say they’ve heard me and I schedule actual calls. So try me. Everyone thinks there’s probably like 10 of me but it’s just me and it’s just staying consistent and doing it and it’s 773-654-2049 that’ll get me direct and either all answer you’ll give a voicemail and we’ll return the phone call and set up a time to talk but you bring home a good point. If you’re a realtor out there right now that partnerships this year are going to matter. Okay. And it’s not just me, there are hundreds of really good loan officers that focus on education, okay. And there’s a lot of loan officers that focus on rates and being the cheapest, okay? We don’t want those, you don’t want to be the cheapest realtor out there. You want somebody that can teach and educate, that knows what they’re doing. And that wants to contribute money. So this is where it gets, I get all the loan officers hating me for this, and I love this, okay? If you’re a realtor right now, and you have all these lenders that kind of know you, and ask them to partner with you, ask them to put their money where their mouth is, and say, Hey, I’m doing an event coming up? Would you like to co sponsor it, and see which agents to which loan officers, I should say, if you’re an agent, want to spend the money to actually mark it with you? Those are the people that I send my clients to, if I’m a realtor, do I want to send it to the mortgage guy that calls me all the time asking, or the mortgage guy all the time that’s giving to find the people that want to give partner with those people, and you’ll get up to the numbers like I’m doing where every single month we’re closing 50 or 60 families, because we sit there and we’re finding ways to give back to the agents and those agents know it. And those are the agents that have seen a real value by partnering with a loan officer. So that’s my challenge to you, sorry, loan officers that want to be cheap out there. There are there are a lot of lenders that are going to be calling you now saying, Hey, do you want to sponsor something with me, and I love that DJ, let’s do it.

D.J. Paris 21:37
Yeah, and it’s it’s really everyone wins when you find someone to partner with who is wanting to grow your business, because of course, that’ll help grow their business. So everyone wins. And that’s the it’s the win win win. They call it the Win Win Win is what you’re searching for. And so with a with a loan officer that can take good care of you, you’ll hit that that triple win. So wins for you wins for the loan officer and of course, your client. So reach out to Joel he would be a great partner. I know he’s a great partner because I have seen it in action. And everyone here in Chicago knows Joel we have 40 some 1000 Real estate agents in the Chicagoland area. Probably most of them have heard of Joel and by the way, there’s 1000s of loan officers in Chicago. So Joel has gone out of his way to and he says this a lot on our show is givers get, he is a giver. He doesn’t have time to do these podcasts, quite honestly. But he’s very nice. And he finds time to do it. And as a result, his numbers keep going up. And not just because of our show, of course, it’s a very tiny part of what Joel does, it is entire life. It’s this little tiny percentage of the time, but his time is very valuable, and he still spends it with us to give. So we honor Joel for continuing to be on our show. We thank him on behalf of the audience. And on behalf of Joel and myself, we thank you, the listeners and the viewers for continuing to support our show. It’s now 2020 to another year of podcasts, our numbers keep growing Joel’s numbers keep growing. Hopefully everyone out there who’s listening. Their numbers keep growing as well. Keep listening to our show. Keep supporting us by telling another realtor or anyone else who could benefit from hearing this great conversation with Joel tell them about our show, send him over to our website, which is keeping it real pod.com Every episode we’ve ever done can be streamed there, or just pull up a podcast app and make sure you’ve hit the subscribe button to our show. And also please leave us a review whatever sort of podcast platform you might be listening to us on whether it’s iTunes, Google Play Spotify, Pandora, oh, gosh, there’s so many leave us a review. Tell us what you like about the show and tell us what you don’t like we want to keep improving. So anyway, on behalf of everyone, Joel, thank you so much for being on the show yet again. You’ve been an amazing partner to us. We’re honored to have you. And so, so proud that you had another amazing year, no surprise to us with the amount that you give back. And we will see everybody on the next next episode. Thanks, Joel.

Joel Schaub 24:00
So literally before I go remember, if you’re an agent right now, the best thing we can do is just educate our clients that with this move up in rates. We’re okay. Okay. If you’re renting a home right now you’re paying a lot more in interest than where the interest rates are at. So this will help people get off the fence, lead with education. And this is going to be a big year. There’s a lot of opportunities. So thanks for having me on again.