đŻ EQ is NOT more important than this! - The Letter X
Jan 25, 2021 7:22 pm
THE LETTER X
MONDAY IS FOR WINNERS
ISSUE #37
One thing that is ALWAYS talked about in our industry but never truly executed on is a concerted effort to focus on change and more importantly adaptability.
I believe that 2021 will be that year where the change agents in our industry will rule ( just like the OâDoyle clan).
For those that got the reference, you are my people.
Getting back on track⌠We see a lot on EQ, deservedly so, as being important in todayâs business world. But sticking with the focus on the change we should also have a focus on AQ.
What is this new âQâ? I am glad you asked. AQ stands for Adaptability Quotient and is the ability to absorb and adapt to new information along with being able to determine whatâs relevant, overcome struggles, and discard obsolete knowledge. In short, Relevance.
Harvard Business Review calls AQ the biggest competitive advantage that a business can have and FastCompany in 2018 called AQ the best predictor to success.
Would you like to learn more about AQ? That was rhetorical, of course, you do! You can check out my interview with James Robert Lay on the Mortgage X podcast where we discuss this in-depth.
Say Yes Every Day
Laura Brandao - President of AFR Wholesale
Say YES to believing in others. We all have a gift that can be shared and itâs our belief in others and the ability to lift them up even when they are not succeeding that truly makes a difference in their lives.
Mortgage Rate X
MBS X
Diana Bajramovic of MBS Highway
Glimmer of Hope for Homebuyers
There's a glimmer of hope for homebuyers struggling with low inventory around the country! Housing Starts were up 5.8% from November to December according to the latest data from the Commerce Department. Perhaps even more importantly, the number was even higher for starts on single-family homes, which are in such high demand from buyers looking for more space. Single-family Starts were up 12% from November to December and nearly 28% annually. Building Permits were also on the rise for single-family homes, up nearly 8% from November to December and 30.4% year over year.
The Median Home Price and Existing Home Sales
The Median Home Price came in up 12.9% and is now at $309,800. We can give Diana Olick credit for her report on this today as she explained that the reason for the rise is because sales for homes that are over $1M are up 90%. Sales on homes in the lower-priced end of the market were down 15% simply because there is little to no inventory, bidding the median home price higher. Existing Home Sales came in up 0.7% month over month, which was better than the expectations of down 2% and the year over year number was up 22%. The thing to remember is that inventory is down 23%. Inventory of existing homes on the market was at 1.28M homes, but dropped to 1.07M. This is a 1.9 month supply of homes on the market! Even though this number can be volatile, we are down in inventory at levels that weâve never seen before. This is a phenomenal opportunity to use tools like the Bid Over Asking Price tool on MBS Highway to help your clients win the bidding war.
Being able to clearly articulate market and economic news like this to your clients is critical to becoming an Advisor they trust to help them make the right decision for their family. MBS Highway can help!
// Have you signed up for TLX-M? TLX Masters is a new opt-in membership where you can receive more specialized content from me on a more frequent basis. If you would like to sign up for the new subscription you can do so here.
Just for the Xperts!
5 Real Estate Realities for 2021
- Sellerâs market will continue - Low inventory, high demand, and multiple offers
- Itâs not us, itâs you - The market wonât pay top dollar for overpriced or dated homes
- Digital domination - Transactions will become increasingly accelerated
- Art Vs Science - Appraised values may become increasingly challenging
- I liked their old stuff - Overcrowded and overvalued markets
You can read the full Inman Article Here (Paywall)
Bloomberg - The pandemic has probably boosted remote working permanently, according to Deloitteâs annual Readiness Report, which suggests a third of employees will work from home even after restrictions end. The survey of more than 2,000 managers and public-sector business leaders worldwide highlights how investments that allow home-working will be increasingly important. Just 22% of respondents said their organizations had the technologies they needed before the pandemic, 42% said they developed them out of necessity during the crisis.
Is your company scalable? Take the quiz to find out!
MBA Advocacy Update - Jan 25th, 2021
The Marketing Trench (Facebook) - Noah Kronfly. Noah is a sales funnel expert, conversion expert, and ads expert using Facebook, Google, and Youtube. Talking about what ads work, what ads don't, and more importantly how to set up your sales funnels so that your ad spend is an investment in your business and not an expense!
Optimism is running high in Fannie Mae's first Economic and Housing Outlook of the year. The company's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) team says expanding vaccination efforts, the potential of greater than previously expected fiscal stimulus, and the end of winter all "point to an economy ready to take off once COVID-19-related effects begin to subside."
Facebook and Amazon topped U.S. companies in federal lobbying expenditures last year, for the second time.
A slowdown in refinancing brought about a slight decline in mortgage applications for the week ending January 15, according to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
DACA News - HUD said it will permit individuals classified under the âDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivalsâ program (DACA) with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service and are legally permitted to work in the U.S. to apply for mortgages backed by FHA.
Covid-19 Homeowner Protections Will Expire Soon. What You Need To Know
Higher taxes are probably in the offing but not right now. Raising taxes while crawling out from Sars-Cov-2 is unwise. And, with razor thin majorities in both chambers and Republicans against higher taxes, the entire Democratic caucus in each chamber will have to agree. Moreover, waiting until 2022 is risky, as the party holding the White House usually loses seats in mid-terms. That probably means smaller tax hikes in fall.
For the year ending 7/1/20, the US population grew just 0.35%, the slowest rate since at least 1900! Part of the reason is Covid-19 related, but the entire decade was a demographic bust due to an aging population and limited immigration. At 6.6% the decade ending 2020 will probably exhibit the slowest growth rate since the first census was conducted in 1790, even lower than the 1930s rate of 7.3%.
Initial weekly jobless claims, a proxy for job losses, rose by 181,000, its biggest rise since 8/22/20, almost five months ago. Moreover, retail sales fell for the third straight month, consumer confidence slipped slightly, and inflation be it the CPI, or producer prices, remains well in check. The Fed will not raise rates before 2023 and will not taper their purchases of treasuries or MBS before 2022. The economyâs sputtering.
Have you joined the Mortgage X Mastermind yet? It is our FREE Facebook Group.
The Vieaux
Brian Vieaux - President of FinLocker
Organizing Your Pipeline To Filter Down Mortgage Ready Homebuyers
As youâve no doubt gathered from the proliferation of storage solutions on sale, January is known as âGet Organized Month.â For many millennials with a New Yearâs resolution to buy a home, itâs also time to start getting organized to become mortgage ready.
Mortgage industry marketers create blogs filled with tips, such as viewing their credit score and credit report. Still, one of the points these lists cannot overcome is the real hurdle many first-time homebuyers struggle to overcome: saving for a down payment.
In 2021, a significant wave of millennials will be 30-35, the prime homebuying age for first-time buyers. Yet, student loans, car loans, credit card debt, and increasing rents make it difficult for most prospective homebuyers to save a 3.5% down payment for an FHA loan. On a $250,000 home, thatâs about $8,750, and when you factor in $10,000 closing costs, they are looking at $18,750.
Itâs not surprising then that debt delays 75% of buyers aged 22 to 29 from saving for a down payment or buying a home for 1-3 years, and 48% of buyers aged 30 to 39 years are delayed for 5 or more years. Yet, the National Association of REALTORSÂŽ â2020 NAR Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trendsâ reported that savings are the primary source for their down payment for 85% of buyers aged 22 to 29 and 72% of buyers aged 30 to 39.
Before they can start saving, millennials first need to track their spending and learn how to manage their debts. FinLocker empowers first-time homebuyers with practical tools to organize their finances. When a consumer enrolls their bank accounts and debts, the app will analyze each transaction. Seeing exactly where they spend each paycheck, they can then use the Detail Budget tool or create custom budgets and set up a Down Payment goal. Each time they sign in to their FinLocker app, the user can see if they are on track or off track with their budgets and saving enough from each paycheck to reach their goal. We also send encouraging emails and push notifications via the app.
With starter home prices rapidly increasing in most cities, many first-time homebuyers donât have the time to save a 20% down payment before they get priced out of the market. Suppose you can help your prospects get out of the rental rut with a financial assistant tool to help them save a 3.5% down payment? With little effort, youâll be building your 2021 pipeline with prospects that will return to you later in the year mortgage ready and likely with a loan application that is much easier to process and close on time. Now thatâs being organized!
Lending, Leadership and Life Quotes
Eddy Perez â President & CEO of EPM
Industry Professional to Watch!
Shant Banosian - #1 MLO in the US at Guaranteed Rate
Make sure you tell Shant that you saw him in The Letter X!
Beyond The Numbers
Fobby Naghmi, EVP, National Sales Mgr. of First Option Mortgage
The âGame Winning Shotâ as defined by the NBA is when there are 24 seconds or less left in a game, the team that is either tied or down by 1-2 points has possession of the ball and in the final 24 seconds is able to take the shot to either tie or win the game. Just writing that sentence filled me up with stress and tension. A strange thing occurred as I dug into this topic though, I found there were a lot of ways to define this game winning shot and a lot of people claiming to be number one.
But who missed the most game winning shots in the NBA history? Well that was not so hard to get an answer forâŚKobe Bryant.
At first, I was shocked to read that name. But then I remembered how fearless Kobe was. The overwhelming desire he had always displayed to win. His fierce, competitive nature. So of course if Kobe had the chance to take the winning shot, he would say yes!
Too often in sales I see people passing up opportunities that would launch them to the next level of their career. They always have just the right excuse, âIâm _________â (Fill in the blank). Donât do that. Be fierce! Be bold!
Itâs ok to miss in front of all of us. Any of us who have survived in the sales world have had enough misses to fill a room with. Itâs all part of our story. So to quote my friend Laura Brandao âSay Yes Every Day!â
Mortgage X Marketing Manifesto
Personalization in Marketing is More Important Than Ever
With an ever-increasing number of competitors pitching the same products
and services, creating personalized experiences for your clients and prospects
is more important than ever in helping make sure you stand out from the crowd.
A time-consuming but worthwhile task is to organize/segment your database, and
create buyer/client personas to help you market more effectively.
Google the phrase "buyer persona worksheet" to find some great resources
and templates on this topic.
The goal is to be strategic with marketing and communications -- whether it's new
clients/cold traffic, or you're marketing to your existing database -- you want your
messaging to be relevant to people that fall into the different segments vs a
one-size-fits-all approach.
Usually, when you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to nobody, so
identify a niche or 2 that you're good at/see opportunity in, and build from there.
Thanks, and I'll catch you on next week's The Letter X!
MEME of the Week!
I hope you enjoyed TLX #37! Now go crush this week!
