Next Level Agents: The Kevin & Fred Show - Interviews with the best and brightest minds in the real estate industry

MBA: Forbearance rate holds, but exits are slowing   After two weeks of slight increases, the U.S. forbearance rate, measuring the share of mortgages with suspended payments, remained unchanged from the week prior at 5.54%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA estimates there are still 2.8 million homeowners in some form of mortgage forbearance.   Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance gained for the first time in 25 weeks on Dec. 1, however, they fell once again last week to 3.34% – a 2-basis-point improvement. The GSE’s forbearance rate overall has improved immensely, now down by more than 50% since its peak in late May.   Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, noted that while new forbearance requests declined this week, exits slowed to a new low for the series       Sundae raises $36 million in Series B funding Company pairs sellers of distressed properties with potential buyers   Sellers go to Sundae’s marketplace to request an offer, then a member of the company sets up a brief home visit, or virtual walk-through, and makes an offer on the home. If the seller accepts the offer and an inspection is completed, Sundae offers a $10,000 cash advance prior to closing to help homeowners with moving costs and other expenses. The property is then offered on its marketplace for investors to bid on.   Sundae doesn’t charge closing costs or agent fees, but charges buyers in its investor marketplace a fee when it “assigns” them a property.   Residential real estate marketplace Sundae has announced it closed $36 million in Series B funding on Tuesday, led by QED Investors and with additional participation from Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, Navitas Capital, Prudence Holdings and General Global Capital.     FHA raises loan limit by nearly $25,000 for 2021   Given massive year-over-year gains in home prices, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is increasing its 2021 loan limit in most of the U.S. to $356,362, an increase of nearly $25,000 over 2020’s loan limit of $331,760.   That loan limit figure is determined as a percentage of the national conforming loan limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which is increasing in 2021 to $548,250.   FHA’s 2020 minimum national loan limit, or “floor,” of $356,362 is 65% of the national conforming loan limit of $548,250. This floor applies to low-cost areas, which are counties where 115% of the median home price is less than the floor limit.   In approximately 65 high-cost U.S. counties where the median home price far exceeds the FHA’s loan limit floor, the FHA is increasing its 2021 loan limit to $822,375, close to a whopping $57,000 increase over 2020’s total of $765,600.

In this episode, I’m joined by real estate investor, Katy Klesitz. This year alone, she bought 52 single family rental properties in two midwest markets all from her home out-of-state. She put a remote investing strategy in place, which allows her to grow her portfolio in great markets and use systems to run things at a high level. She’s a bad ass business owner and mom, building something amazing on her own terms.     Katy basically owns a we buy houses company that helps homeowners get a cash offer to sell their home quickly in Omaha and Waco. (her cash offers almost always include the cost of repairs and upkeep to bring the property inline with full market value).    She grew up in a real estate family and around the real estate world her whole life. She has taken her real estate knowledge and applied it to a business model that works for her and allows her to do something she cares about.    Many moms want to build really cool businesses, and it seems intimidating from outside looking in, but it is possible. We just have to start, keep going and let the results compound over time.    https://holdworkshop.paperform.co/   Website: Katy & Frank Home BuyersEmail: katyklesitz@gmail.comPhone: 402-802-9634

In this episode of the Kevin and Fred Show, I’m joined by Garrett Maroon, a real estate team leader who has built a highly successful business through systematic relationship-building and referrals. What makes him unique is that his business thrives on the intention of never working over 40 hours a week.   Garrett is an entrepreneur, coach, the President of Business By Referral LLC and owner of Maroon Group. Business By Referral LLC exists to help real estate agents work less, make more and have fun doing it. Garrett also runs a small, real estate team in Hampton Roads. They have finished in the top 3% out of 7200 agents three years in a row working almost exclusively by referral.    We don’t have to get pulled into a cookie-cutter model that doesn’t align with us or subscribe to so-called industry conventions. The beauty of real estate is that we have the power to decide and design the kind of business we want, and how it fits into our lives.    Guest Info   Garrett is an entrepreneur, coach, the President of Business By Referral LLC and owner of Maroon Group. Business By Referral LLC exists to help real estate agents work less, make more and have fun doing it. Garrett also runs a small, real estate team in Hampton Roads. They have finished in the top 3% out of 7200 agents three years in a row working almost exclusively by referral.    Guest Info: www.businessbyreferral.co https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-maroon-50b06135/

In today’s episode of the Kevin and Fred show, Gary Vee returns for another great conversation. Today, we talk about the lessons we should be learning from what’s going on right now. It’s clear that our world is never going back to the way it was, and that is the new normal.    Many people are unhappy, and could use this time to make a change, but they don’t because they are too invested in where they are right now. This sunk cost fallacy isn’t only false, it’s also a recipe for unhappiness and regret.    Gary Vee’s message: choose happiness over money and status, and have the humility to take a strategic step backwards to create the life you want. A house, car or social status is not worth dying inside.    Gary Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, a modern-day media and communications holding company and the active CEO of VaynerMedia, a full-service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients across the company’s 4 locations.   In addition to VaynerMedia, VaynerX also includes Gallery Media Group, which houses women’s lifestyle brand PureWow and men's lifestyle brand ONE37pm. In addition to running VaynerMedia, Gary also serves as a partner in the athlete representation agency VaynerSports, cannabis-focused branding and marketing agency Green Street and restaurant reservations app Resy.   Gary is a highly sought after public speaker, a 5-time New York Times bestselling author, as well as a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, and Uber. Guest Info   Gary Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, a modern-day media and communications holding company and the active CEO of VaynerMedia, a full-service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients across the company’s 4 locations.   In addition to VaynerMedia, VaynerX also includes Gallery Media Group, which houses women’s lifestyle brand PureWow and men's lifestyle brand ONE37pm. In addition to running VaynerMedia, Gary also serves as a partner in the athlete representation agency VaynerSports, cannabis-focused branding and marketing agency Green Street and restaurant reservations app Resy.   Gary is a highly sought after public speaker, a 5-time New York Times bestselling author, as well as a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, and Uber.

Kleard launches self-touring tech for rentals Kleard's third app for both iOS and Android clears the way for landlords to allow aspiring tenants to tour rental listings unaccompanied   Kleard is a personal identification software app that ensures prospective buyers are who they say they are before being granted access to a home for sale or meeting an agent for the first time. It’s also used for open houses. When partnered with a smart lock, the Kleard Now version of the technology allows people to tour homes without an agent present. After verification, the individual is given the lock code. The company does not, in any way, cut out agents. In December, Kleard will be launching a new app, Kleard Rentals, for the rental market. According to an email to Inman from company founder, Jonathan Martis, the new software “is the app landlords and property managers will use to manage their properties for self tours. The difference will be the questions landlords and property managers care about.”     Realogy's franchise group names first female CEO Susan Yannaccone was appointed president and CEO of Realogy's franchise business Tuesday, as outgoing CEO John Peyton is named chief executive of Dine Brands Global In the new role, Yannaccone will oversee franchise operations of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21 and ERA, as well as the franchise and company-owned operations of Sotheby’s International Realty and Corcoran. She will report directly to Realogy CEO and President Ryan Schneider.

Q3 Financial Highlights

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Chris Sauerzopf, an entrepreneur who is tackling a very urgent and serious problem our industry is facing, wire fraud. His wire fraud elimination tool is going to MAJORLY change our industry for the better. About 1 in 450 real estate transactions reported a wire fraud activity or loss, with a whopping $221 million of consumers’ money lost to fraudsters. Trust is the backbone of our relationship with consumers as real estate professionals. The risk of wire fraud could make them completely lose confidence in what we do with their money as an industry .    Chris is the co-founder and creator of SafeWire. As a licensed title agent and co-owner of World Class Title, Chris recognized the potential threat of real estate wire fraud. Chris has been in real estate since 2004 and has a degree in Industrial Design from the Columbus College of Art & Design. He has been a licensed real estate agent, notary and is currently a licensed title agent. World Class Title has used SafeWire successfully to protect millions of dollars in settlement funds.    SafeWire exists to ensure every real estate transaction is fraud-free. Unlike other fraud prevention products, SafeWire begins at day 1 of the listing. SafeWire is the only product available that reaches across multiple segments of the transaction from real estate brokers to title agents. SafeWire and SafeWire Assurance guarantees proceeds up to $1Million. In addition to World Class Title and SafeWire, Chris enjoys spending time with his daughter and loves being in the woods.   Wire fraud is a HUGE issue for everyone involved in a real estate transaction. It’s a pressing issue for our entire industry that will hurt our clients and the integrity of the real estate transaction. Every aspect of the business of buying and selling homes is vulnerable to wire fraud. Knowing how it’s done and how we can protect ourselves is vital to us maintaining the trust and confidence of consumers.    Website: Safewire.com  Email chris@safewire.com.   Guest Info   Chris is the co-founder and creator of SafeWire. As a licensed title agent and co-owner of World Class Title, Chris recognized the potential threat of real estate wire fraud. Chris has been in real estate since 2004 and has a degree in Industrial Design from the Columbus College of Art & Design. He has been a licensed real estate agent, notary and is currently a licensed title agent. World Class Title has used SafeWire successfully to protect millions of dollars in settlement funds.    SafeWire exists to ensure every real estate transaction is fraud free. Unlike other fraud prevention products, SafeWire begins at day 1 of the listing. SafeWire is the only product available that reaches across multiple segments of the transaction from real estate brokers to title agents. SafeWire and SafeWire Assurance guarantees proceeds up to $1Million. In addition to World Class Title and SafeWire, Chris enjoys spending time with his daughter and loves being in the woods.   For more information, visit Safewire.com and email chris@safewire.com.  

Rate lock data suggests $4 trillion in 2020 mortgage origination volume   New rate lock data suggests 2020 will end with over $4 trillion in mortgage origination volume, easily a record.   The data, from Black Knight’s “Mortgage Monitor” report, shows that rate lock activity in the first half of October was up 4% from September, with purchase locks up 6% and refinance locks up 3%. Add low mortgage rates to the recipe and quarterly mortgage origination volume is expected to reach record levels across both purchase and refi.     Mortgages in forbearance fall across all loan types     The U.S. forbearance rate measuring the share of mortgages with suspended payments fell seven basis points to 5.83% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.   “With more borrowers exiting forbearance in the prior week, the share of loans in forbearance declined across all loan types. Almost half of forbearance exits to date have been from borrowers who remained current while in forbearance, or who were reinstated by paying back past-due amounts,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist.   The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance fell 6 basis points last week to 3.66% – marking the 21st week in a row the GSEs’ forbearance rate has dropped.   Though the rate for Ginnie Mae loans, which include loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, rose slightly the week prior, last week’s rate leveled off after falling 4 basis points to 8.13%.   Core Logic - A Joke (Fred’s headline)   November 3 - Like King Canute (Cnut) ineffectively commanding the ocean tide to recede, CoreLogic continues to command home prices to stop rising, and with similar effect.   Last month they forecast that month-over-month prices for September would increase by 0.1% over August. Today they report that the actual increase was 1.1%, 11 times greater than their forecast. One month is not difficult to forecast, especially as they are forecasting for a month that has already ended. However they still manage to get it wildly wrong again and again. They are forecasting a month over month increase for October of 0.2%. In Greater Phoenix we have already measured 4.8%, for October. I am going to go out on a limb here are predict that their forecast for October will be extremely low again.   Their longer term forecast is for US home prices to rise by 0.2% between September 2020 and September 2021. This is likely to prove even more incorrect than their short-term forecast, but I do admit that long term forecasting is a fool's game in which the Cromford® Report does not participate. We make no price forecast at all for September 2021, but we do know a silly forecast when we see one.

In this episode, I’m joined by our good friend and partner Andrew Franklin. The Franklin Team has found massive success with their core business, with a volume of 1500 transactions and $500 million. They’ve created partnerships with production builders which now provide a huge chunk of their deals; and they also have a title company and a hard money lending business. They’ve found the perfect vehicle to scale their business.    By building relationships with production builders and creating a highly scalable system for builder business, The Franklin Team is multiplying their effectiveness and profitability with every single deal. There are so many lessons we can learn from how Andrew and his team does real estate.    Andrew is owner and partner on The Franklin Team. He has been around residential real estate since he was a kid and learned early that putting clients' needs first is always smart business. The Franklin Team’s main objective is to efficiently deliver world class service with accuracy, integrity and professionalism.    The level of success and expansion Andrew’s team has achieved doesn’t happen by accident. They really had to dig in and build the real estate part first in order for them to nurture the relationships that led to the opportunity for the new business. The lesson we learn is that we need to build up the core of our business before we move into something else. We have to dig deep to strengthen it and truly dial it in for us to be primed for growth and expansion.    Guest Info   Andrew is owner and partner on The Franklin Team. He has been around residential real estate since he was a kid and learned early that putting clients' needs first is always smart business. The Franklin Team’s main objective is to efficiently deliver world class service with accuracy, integrity and professionalism.  Website: www.thefranklinteaminc.com/ Social media: https://www.facebook.com/thefranklinteamhouston/