Welcome to the Agave Home Loans Newsletter!

March Madness perfectly describes how the market shaped up to be last month. From bank crises to major interest rate fluctuations, we have seen it all and everything in between. Despite the madness, our team kept trucking along having a record month, helping clients turn their madness into successes

Performance Stats

• $26,641,200 in closed loans

• 79 closings

• 14 Veterans helped

• 22 Homes Purchased

Pat’s Run 🏃

Every year since we started, Agave works hard to be a top fundraiser for the annual Pat’s Run that takes place in Tempe, Arizona. The last 2 years we finished Top 3 of all fundraising teams. The Pat Tillman Foundation helps send military veterans to school and has evolved into a world-class community of military service members, veterans, and spouses, selecting applicants exclusively on merit and potential for impact.

I grew up in Tempe and watched Pat as a star Arizona State University football player who later went on to play professionally for the local Arizona Cardinals. In the spring of 2002, Pat married his high school love, Marie, and upon his return from their honeymoon, announced to the Cardinals he had decided to place his NFL career on hold to enlist in the U.S. Army with his brother, Kevin. The decision shocked many and garnered national media attention despite his refusal to speak publicly about the choice.

He exemplified modesty, bravery, and selflessness. His heroic efforts overseas while providing cover for fellow soldiers as they escaped from a canyon led to his untimely and tragic death via fratricide in eastern Afghanistan.

If you are able, please consider a donation at https://runsignup.com/agavehomeloans-2023 and/or consider signing up for the run if you’re in Arizona. Either way, our team would appreciate sharing the link, tag us on social media and multiply the message to help raise money in Pat’s honor.

- Marshall Gottlieb

Too Big, To Fail….

Some of our favorite pastimes to rest during our busy work lives are taking a load off and watching a good show or movie. Who doesn’t like a good film right? While scrolling the depths of Hulu, we came across a classic hit “Too Big to Fail” which really resonated with current events. This movie was a great reminder of how fragile our financial ecosystem was and had spooky similarities to what happened with SVB and Signature bank recently. More about that in a moment…

"Too Big to Fail" is a movie that depicts the 2008 financial crisis and the efforts made by the US government and finance industry to prevent the collapse of major banks and stabilize the economy. The movie portrays the complex negotiations between government officials, regulators, and bank executives, and the challenges and uncertainties they faced. Overall, the movie provides a gripping account of a pivotal moment in US history and highlights the importance of collaboration and decisive action during times of crisis.

👉 Great recommendation to watch one Saturday over pizza!

This month, we saw the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which was a large bank that primarily dealt with savvy investments and tech startups companies. As the tech industry boomed, SVB funneled large amounts of its surging deposits into diversified investments such as U.S. Treasury bonds, which are safe investments assets over a 10 year period but paid out low interest rates at the time.

As the Federal Reserve began raising rates last year, venture capital dried up, leading startups to burn cash reserves. To meet accelerating bank withdrawals, SVB was forced to sell off some of its government bonds at steep losses as yields on new bonds were much higher. This created a cascading effect, driving fear into SVB account holders and everyday citizens wanting to withdraw their cash all at once.

Much like the movie, although not nearly as bad as 2008, we saw the collaboration of government officials working together with these large banks to prevent a massive bank run from occurring. The FDIC insured depositors that their funds would be safe, relieving high tensions on the banks. According to New York Times, the effects of FDIC taking control of SVB resulted in regulators taking control over Signature Bank to avoid risks to the broader financial system. The government also slowed down the speed at which they were increasing interest rates to combat inflation. This helped further calm the market but also had positive affects on the mortgage market. Overall, these events led to lower interest rates in March which is great for those who took advantage of that opportunity. We will be monitoring the ripple effects within the mortgage space and will provide updates as the year continues.

A major take away and financial tip is to not have all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your assets over multiple avenues. Open a few bank accounts across various banks, diversify your investment portfolio, and most importantly use multiple lenders when shopping for mortgages!

Home Buying STARTS with Financing

Buying a home is one of the most exciting experiences you can have, but it can also be one of the most stressful. One of the first steps in the home buying process is securing financing. This might not seem like the most glamorous part of buying a home, but it's crucial to make sure that you're able to afford the home you want.

Financing is important for several reasons. First, it helps you determine your budget. Without knowing how much you can afford, you may end up wasting time looking at homes that are out of your price range. Second, it shows sellers that you're serious. If you're pre-approved for a mortgage, realtors will take you more seriously and see you as a reliable buyer.

When you work with a mortgage broker like Agave Home Loans, we will work with you to gather your financial information and help you understand your budget. We will also assist you to get pre-approved for a mortgage. Unlike a lender who only offers their own products, we can help you compare options from different lenders to find the best fit for your needs. Oftentimes, we see people work with one lender or a bank and either don’t qualify because they have higher restrictions for borrowers or they charge higher rates to offset their marketing costs.

Realtors are also busy people, and they want to maximize spending their time with the right types of clients, aka those that are ready to take the first steps to buy. By showing that you're pre-approved, you're demonstrating that you've done your homework and are ready to make an offer at some point in the future. This makes their job easier as they can pinpoint homes that fit your budget and save time by looking at homes that make sense. Furthermore, it increases the chances of them taking you on as a client and being more communicative throughout the process. If you are really thinking about buying a home or investment property, start by getting pre-approved!

So how do you get pre-approved? The first step is to talk to a lender or a broker. In fact, you can visit us here and we can get you pre-approved today! We'll look at your goals, income, and other factors to determine how much you can afford to borrow. Once you're pre-approved, you'll receive a letter that you can show to realtors and sellers to prove that you're a serious buyer. Then off to a home shopping spree you go!

Financing may not be the most exciting part of the home buying process, but it's essential. It helps you determine your budget, shows sellers that you're serious, and makes the home buying process smoother and more enjoyable. So, if you're thinking about buying a home, take the time to get pre-approved. It's a small step that can make a big difference!

Increase your odds

We have a saying that we preach to our Agave family and that’s “increase your odds”. In everything we strive for, we want to maximize the opportunity for success in as many ways as possible. Same is true for outside of work. If you want to gain muscle and become fit, you need to increase your odds by going to the gym, eating right, maintaining a consistent schedule, etc

Well, the same is true if you’re wanting to purchase or refinance your home. INCREASE YOUR ODDS!

All too often, we speak with clients that work with a bank or a lender, get discouraged and ultimately give up when they get denied for some particular reason. Working with a broker SIGNIFICANTLY increases your odds by 50x as we can shop around for you with multiple lenders all with different qualifying requirements. This includes various credit scores, debt-to-income ratios, loan products and much more.

With the uncertainty of certain banks in this market, the ability to get funding to buy a property may be drastically different for some borrowers. If your local bank increases the restrictions on their mortgage lending processes, this may make it more difficult for you to get the home you dream of. If a lender's restrictions or underwriting guidelines become stricter, you might have more difficulty qualifying for a loan or it may come at a higher interest rate or closing costs.

Availability of capital may be different than it is now. Banks may possibly have less liquidity than they normally would to service loans to offset their portfolios. Maybe liquidity isn't an issue but the loans you now qualify for have higher interest rates then they would have a few months ago. There are limitations on using one loan provider and sometimes you need to open your eyes to other possibilities.

Brokers work with several lenders so we are not tied to any one lender. If one lender decides to increase their lending guidelines or if something were to happen to that lender (go’s out of business), we can utilize our other tools and lenders to help. Point being, don’t limit your opportunities for success and increase your odds!

AGAVE HOME LOANS

MORTGAGE BROKERAGE

PHONE 888.300.3440
EMAIL [email protected]
WEB www.agavehomeloans.com
AGAVE NMLS #1951574

LICENSES: 
Arizona - 1007729
California DFPI - 60DBO-112121
Colorado - 100517095
Florida - MBR4543
Georgia - 71608
Michigan - FL0023996
Montana - 1951574
North Carolina - L-221352
Oregon -1951574
Pennsylvania - 81635
South Carolina - DCA-1951574
Tennessee - 1951574
Virginia - MC - 7701
Washington - CL-1951574
New Jersey - 1951574
Alabama - 1951574

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn for finance tips, positive news stories, giveaways, and so much more!