Rocket Fuel Newsletter – 06/24/23

close up of male hands with newspaper and coffee

Jerome Powell announced this week that June’s rate hike pause will likely be temporary and that two more hikes may be in our future by 2024.

How can your clients take advantage of the news?

Fuel Up! 🚀

Economic Calendar Roundup
It was a big week in economic news!

Housing starts skyrocketed 21.7% month-over-month in May, giving hope to a possible resurgence in the purchase market (see Caffeinated Trends for more!).
While housing starts rose substantially, existing home sales were sluggish, rising only 0.2% month-over-month, suggesting that buyers are more interested in new homes than existing homes.
The inflation fight “has a long way to go,” according to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Expect more rate hikes later this year!

Ireland Offering $90K To Own And Refurbish Island Homes
As part of an initiative to redevelop 20 of its islands, Ireland is offering interested parties just over $90K to own and refurbish an island home. Erin go bragh! 🍀

What Would You Do For A Free Beer?
After buying your place in Ireland, shoot on over to Scotland and visit the world’s most remote pub for your free beer! The only catch – a grueling 2-day, 15-mile hike to the Old Forge.

Tanya Cohn, Preferred Mortgage Source, LLC

Tell us about the beginning of your career. What got you started?
- I began this journey as a 19-year-old that was recruited by a family friend to telemarket leads for a mortgage lender. [It was] nerve-wracking at first, but I loved the thrill of the successes. I was surprisingly great at this and was encouraged to get my loan originators license quickly.
Tell us about some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned in your tenure.
- Always be honest, fair, and understanding. There is generally more to the story, and we need to dig in to help our clients as much as we can. We are only as good as the effort that we put in and the team we surround ourselves with. Another extremely important fact – ALWAYS look up current guidelines …. This may save you a loan, win a client or worst-case save a client a potential heartbreak.
What are some of your goals?
- Get more involved in my community. Do some outreach which will create success for families in my area. I would also like to add additional states and more loan originators to our team.
What’s your favorite thing about being in this industry?
- The roller coaster – the highs are amazing! The sense of satisfaction when we help someone into their new home or save them money doing a refinance …. It feels AWESOME to have happy clients.
  
  I love the big wins, like when we hear, “I didn’t think anyone could get me financed …,” or when the agents that I work with tell me, “I love you – you are the BEST” (and actually mean it).
What is something you are incredibly proud of within your business?
- I finally took the step a couple of years ago and opened my own shop. I love my team and am so grateful for all the support that I have from family, friends, clients and former co-workers (including previous bosses).
  
  We are 100% referral-based and still rocking it!!
Why Rocket Pro^℠ TPO?
- Rocket Pro TPO is a fast, efficient, tremendous team in all departments with great pricing and so many resources available to us, from guidelines to marketing and education.

With mortgage rates high (relative to recent years) and home prices on the rise, many Americans are holding off on buying a home for fear of locking in at the top. Meanwhile, potential sellers are holding on to their current mortgages at historically low rates, driving inventory down and prices even higher. As seen below, data from the National Association of REALTORS shows that while inventory increased in April, this increase hardly counters the downward trend over the last 15 years.

Last week, news from the Federal Reserve offered some relief to the housing market, as Chair Jerome Powell announced there would be no Federal Funds rate hike this month (currently at 5.0% – 5.25%). However, he has alluded to further rate increases throughout the remainder of the year as the Fed continues to attempt to bring inflation down to 2%. According to the most recent Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) the median participant anticipates Fed Funds rates to be 5.6% by the end of 2023, and down to 4.6% by the end of 2024.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offered more good news, reporting a 21.7% increase in housing starts in April.

Housing starts measure new residential construction, meaning a significant increase indicates home builders’ confidence in the housing market. Additionally, the resulting inventory could help offer relief for high prices.

While the good news is certainly welcome, it could take some time for the effects to take shape. In the meantime, ONE+ by Rocket Pro TPO can help clients by offering qualified buyers to purchase a home with a down payment as little as 1%!

Are you hearing a lot about ONE+ but confused how to use it for your client base? Not crafting an affordable product selling strategy could be costing you leads and referrals. Visit the Pro Performance Sales Training archive to watch the How To Open New Markets With ONE+ replay and master sales skills and referral engagement techniques to expand your affordable purchase market.

Not a Rocket Pro TPO partner? Sign up today to unlock crucial trainings like this!

It was nearly a photo finish, but in the end, Mark Goldstein edged out Ali by one second to win last week with a time of 32 seconds. Congrats to all 500+ solvers last who made last week’s puzzle one of Rocket Fuel’s most played!

This week’s puzzle gets 3 out of 5 Rockets. Click here to solve!