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Welcome to the latest edition of the Agave Home Loans newsletter. Here's a recap of how our August finished up: 

• We set a company record for the third month in a row with 114 loans submitted into underwriting.

• We set a company record for the third month in a row helping 83 clients close home loans on purchase and refinances.

• We closed $26,870,878 in total loan volume.

• We hit 300 5-star Google reviews. 

• Our average turn-time improved to 17.04 days on all closings which included purchases and loans requiring appraisals.

Being Probably Right...

      NFL season is here and it's a true pleasure to see fans back in the stadiums. I just watched Justin Tucker hit an NFL record 66-yard field goal to beat the Detroit Lions in a quintessential Lions way. Aaron Rodgers leads a classic Aaron Rodgers comeback against the 49ers and it seems the world is slowly going back to normal.     I love fantasy football. It sort of reminds me of the stock market. You study the stocks you like, you invest in them, and then you get to watch in real time as they either perform or don't. Fantasy football, like the stock market, is the perfect example of probabilistic decision making.    The world is not black and white like we sometimes think it is. The right decisions in many cases don't always lead to the right outcomes. Last week, Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys was projected to be the highest-performing quarterback against the Los Angeles Chargers. The game was projecting to be a high-scoring shootout and Dak had several star supporting cast players in CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper. Dak threw for a measly 237 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception. If you played Dak in your fantasy football matchup, did you make the wrong decision? No! Of course not. You made the right decision and got the wrong outcome. Dak was "probably" going to have a big week. You could even quantify the decision in projecting that Dak's median outcome was likely to be X amount of performance and that there was an 11.6% chance that his outcome was similar to the true result.    Annie Duke is a professional poker player. She was dubbed the Duchess of Poker and went on to write several books about probabilistic decision making, including How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices.     She talks about making decisions thinking through the lens of probabilities. Try asking yourself the question, "What would increase the probability of success?" I.e., Say you want to start going to the gym or working out. If you fail to go to the gym tomorrow morning, you aren't a failure. You simply fell into the 18.2% chance that you were going to hit snooze and sleep in. For me, the odds of hitting snooze would've been 67.3%. What could help you increase your likelihood of waking up? Moving your alarm clock. Setting your gym clothes out nicely next to your bed. Creating a highly visible calendar near your front door that tracks progress.    Life is made up of millions of decisions we make every day. What we eat, who we hang out with, what we do for work and much more makes up our health, happiness and wealth. You don't have to go from 0 to 100. You just have to continually increase the odds that your decisions will pay off positively over time!    Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for thoughts on business, financial tips and ways to get ahead! 

- Marshall Gottlieb, CEO

Analysis shows U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63% of all properties) have seen their equity increase by a total of nearly $2.9 trillion since the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 29.3% year over year. In the second quarter of 2021, the average homeowner gained approximately $51,500 in equity year-over-year. 

California, Washington and Idaho experienced the largest average equity gains, at $116,300, $102,900 and $97,000 respectively. Meanwhile, North Dakota experienced the lowest average equity gain in the second quarter of 2021 at $10,600. The total number of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity decreased by 12% from the first quarter of 2021 to 1.2 million homes, or 2.3% of all mortgaged properties. On a year-over-year basis, negative equity fell by 30% from 1.8 million homes, or 3.3% of all mortgaged properties.

The U.S. government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,615,000, which is 3.9% higher than July’s revised number. In addition, this figure is 17.4% higher than one year ago. 

Source: Rocket Fuel 

Best part about working in mortgages:

Opportunity to help customers find and finance a dream home or helping people save money on a refinance. 

Favorite restaurant: Mongolian BBQ

Favorite movie:  Jaws

Favorite musician: Dave Matthews Band

Favorite hobby or pastime: Playing guitar

Favorite quote: "Living the dream" - Jay Pewtress (Matt's grandfather)

Hometown or where you’re from:  Farmington Hills, Michigan

Fun fact: Actively serving in the Air Force for over 11 years.

AGAVE HOME LOANS

MORTGAGE BROKERAGE

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