On today’s episode of The Real Word, Byron Lazine and Nicole White discuss PPP loans, unprecedented home equity gains, and Yellowstone, the addictive Paramount series Montana residents love to hate.
Billions in PPP Money for Real Estate Agents
Inman reports, “More than $3.9 billion in pandemic relief loans went to single employee real estate entities. Nearly 80% of that amount was forgiven.”
For the sake of transparency, Byron admits he’s received PPP money. So did Nicole. Back in March of 2020 – when the NBA canceled their season – those two and a half to three months were rough. BAM was slashing some expenses and pausing others.
But one thing Byron was unwilling to do was to lay off a single employee. Taking care of his people was top priority. Another priority was supporting local businesses. PPP loans helped with that. And if Byron, Nicole, and other agents hadn’t taken advantage of the offered funds, that money would likely have been wasted on programs that accomplished far less.
One thing our government doesn’t know how to do – and this is equally true of both sides of the aisle – is how to spend our money.
“Put the money into the hands of the entrepreneurs, so they can employ more people… What I’m proud of is many of us kept our employees going, didn’t miss a paycheck, came back, and built strong businesses that help our communities way more than our government ever could.”
If you’ve taken PPP funds, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Unprecedented rise in home equity
Next up is a CNBC article, “Housing wealth gains a record $1.2 trillion, but there are signs the market is cooling.”
The amount of money mortgage holders could pull out of their homes while still retaining 20% of their equity went up by $1.2 trillion in the first quarter of 2022.
The nation’s total tappable equity stood at $11 trillion — twice the previous peak in 2006. That works out to an average of roughly $207,000 in tappable equity per homeowner.
This is why homeowners have so much more wealth than renters. And that begs the question: What are you doing as an agent to educate your clients about their equity and how to use it to their advantage?
As Byron pointed out, there’s only one good reason to tap into equity, and that’s to buy more real estate.
Renters who are able to buy a home shouldn’t wait for housing prices to go down.
Marketeer of the Week: Yellowstone
The marketeer of the week is a show Byron is proud to promote. As CNBC reports, “Yellowstone boom pits lifetime Montana residents against wealthy newcomers.”
If you live anywhere but Montana, it’s easy to get caught up in this series. That said, Montana residents hate the show (so much murder). And they don’t appreciate that the show has motivated more people to visit and even to move there.
From 2010 to 2020, Montana’s population grew 9.6% – a fact that doesn’t spark joy for many Montana natives. Now, with the popularity of this series, more city-dwellers are showing an interest in Montana ranch life.
It’s worth pointing out that Yellowstone doesn’t reflect present-day life in Montana. It’s not meant to.
“It’s like Goodfellas, but they’re out on a ranch.”
Watch the full episode for more.
The Real Word is brought to you every week by Tomo. Help your clients close their purchase loans on time. Tomo closes 98% of their loans on time, while the industry average is 40%.
