Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Shay Jenkins and Sarah Alberts, Branch Manager and Loan Officer with S&S Mortgage Team

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

S&S Mortgage Team is a full-service mortgage lender that provides financing for homeowners and home buyers throughout the country. We are now licensed in 32 states, so we can serve the greater majority of the United States.The leaders of the team, Sarah and Shay, met in college in 2008 and instantly clicked. They both have been in the mortgage industry for several years and decided to join forces in 2021 to start the power group behind S&S Mortgage Team.The S&S Mortgage Team is dedicated to our client’s success. It is this driving mission that keeps our team constantly learning and pushing beyond our boundaries. We make a commitment to each borrower, fulfilling it with hard work, constant communication, and creative problem-solving.Learn more:https://www.ssmortgageteam.comElite Real Estate Leaders Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/elite-real-estate-leaders-podcastSource: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-shay-jenkins-and-sarah-alberts-branch-manager-and-loan-officer-with-ss-mortgage-team

Welcome to the Elite Real Estate Leaders Podcast, brought to you by Trailstone Insurance Group, bringing you interviews with the best real estate and mortgage professionals, empowering you to understand the current trends in the housing market so that you make the American dream your reality. Enjoy today's episode. Welcome to the Elite Real Estate Leaders podcast. Today we have with the Shea Jenkins and Sarah Alberts, whose branch manager and loan officer with S&S mortgage team. Shay and Sarah, welcome to the program.

Thank you. Thank you for having us. We're happy to be here, guys. Yeah, so tongue twister, I'm going to be saying, Shea and Sarah, so I'm just going to just talk. And so we'll just have a great conversation, but we want to dive into what you do and how you do it and how you serve your community and your clients, but get us started first with your stories.

What is your background and how did you get into the real estate industry? There you go for it. You started me off in this industry. I got you. I got you. So, Shea and I actually, we met in college back, I want to say, it was probably around 2007, 2008. We went to Metro State here in Denver, but we met in college and instantly became best friend. And so, I don't know, we just kind of followed each other and kind of helped each other throughout our lives and just, you know, got each other up off the ground after college. But I've been in the business for 12 years, I think going on 13. And then I helped. She get into the business about six years ago, maybe seven. Seven years ago. Yeah.

So we were kind of both doing our own things. I worked with correspondent lenders and then I went to a big bank, U.S. Bank, and Shay kind of was doing the same thing. She was an assistant. But yeah, we kind of went to Napa one year together just on a friend's trip and just kind of were like, let's throw in the towel and let's team up and create this kind of many power women power team. So we started SNF mortgage team in 2021, correct, Shea? Yeah, but there's more to that story. There's more to that story. But wait, there's more. No, no, no.

She just tells the cut in drivers. And so pretty much she was taken butt in the in the mortgage field for a long time. You know, I was in a lot of like oddball sales jobs. And one day we were at a Selena Gomez concert and I was just, I hated what I did. I just absolutely despised it. You know, I wasn't helping anybody in what I was doing. And she's like, well, you just should probably shush and go get your mortgage license. So that's exactly what I did. Nobody would hire me. Okay, nobody would hire me because I didn't have any experience. So I actually started off with a Spanish-speaking loan officer only. And I did not speak Spanish. So I learned mortgages with Google Translate right?

Wow. Learned them that way, went under a pretty big, heavy hitter. And I was, you know, I was just being an assistant for about, I don't know, I would say five years, four and a half years. And then Sarah and I, like she said, we went to Napa. You know, what happens to Napa? You drink some wine, right? So the juices were flowing. The ideas were flowing.

And, you know, she was going to walk away from the big bank, you know, because she was at a big bank where it's different. It's because if you're doing what we're doing now, like our job is to go out there and get agents, right? That is our job. And with big banks, they really, you know, the deals come into you and then me being an assistant, we were just like, you know what? We have had enough. So we kind of both walked away. And like Sarah said, we threw in the towel.

And we started at New American funding in June of 2021. It's crazy because our VP asked us like, hey, girls. what are your three-year goals? And we said, you know, we want to own our own branch in three years. We think that would be great. And then within five months, we had enough production. And he's like, do you guys want your own Denver branch? And we said, absolutely.

And here we are now, trying to, you know, just trying to, try to navigate through these, this fun, fun market, you know? You know, there's an observation that I'll make with that revised, you know, deeper story, which is, you know, you don't like an industry. So let's get in mortgages, which means you got to get tested and licensed because back in the day, you just said, oh, I'm going to do it. And then you're doing it. So these days, it's rigorous. So A, then B, you couldn't find a job.

Then C, you found one with a top producer who is high volume, I'm sure, like you said. And you couldn't speak the language. So how easy would it have been to have just bounced and said, nice try, peace out. I'm gone. So you persevered. something was in your belly, the firing your belly to perspere in that industry. I would ask this question because of that. What was it that made you go, I can do this?

I want to do this. And man, this is, this is now my new normal. Sarah, probably, honestly. Yeah. Yeah, I just, I mean, me personally, I knew I was really good at this right, pretty quick right away. And I really enjoyed, I really enjoyed it. I am a very analytical person. But I think also, Shea and I share the fact that we just really enjoy and strive to help families, you know, have the American dream and get into homes and they think they couldn't.

But, I mean, I've always just been, you know, a numbers person. So I just, it just came, it came pretty natural for me. And I think, Shay, it didn't take you long either. Well, yeah, I mean, Sarah's just a complete gangster at what she does. So like a lot of people, a lot of agents come to us with save the day deals. Now, is it our favorite thing to do? Probably not, right? But it's so, it's so amazing how Sarah and I work together.

Like, if I were to just be out here doing it on my own, I honestly don't know where I would be or what would make me persevere. But Sarah's so good at what she does. She like reads guidelines books to go to bed, right? She's crazy. And we're pretty much yin and yang. Like I'm, I'm more out there. I'm more salesy and more getting the agents,

bringing in the deals and Sarah freaking closes them in a blink of an eye. Right. So I think what's really made us persevere is just honestly the fact that we have each other, you know, is the number one thing. And we keep each other motivated. And like I want to do good because I want to do good for Sarah. And I don't know if that's the same way.

Yeah. But it's like, you know, we're in this together. We're 50, 50 together. And we share the same goals. And I mean, our goals are a little bit different. Like she could speak on her goals. But my goal, my goals are to like support the loved ones around me and the people who've had my back through through day one.

And I know she's a single mom. And it's like if we respect one another, if we have that respect for one another, like we won't let each other fail if that makes sense. Yeah. Total sense. Like the personal is like having a workout partner. You don't feel like working out, but doggone and she's going to get me out of the bed at five in the morning or whatever. So it's that accountability.

That's really awesome. Or on the golf course, if you're Sarah and Shay. I love that you guys bring these two different sides together. And that's how you close your deals as a team. It sounds like if you're familiar with desk and you know I'm a desk practitioner, I'm always all about the disc. So I think Sarah really brings that high C, the detail and, you know, the guidelines and then shays that D.I really out there talking with people, getting the agents. So I feel like you guys really complete each other from a disc standpoint, which is what I

absolutely love hearing. But what I want to know from you guys is what are you doing differently to make it work right now? Because like you said, we are in a really hard market. Things are difficult. So what are you doing? Yeah. I'll start. Sarah, you, oh, you want to go? No, go for it. Go for it. We just talk. I mean, like, what we do differently is I think that we're honestly just ourselves and we're honest.

We're not trying to be anybody that we're not. If anybody knows me, they know that I'm a little crazy, that I can say some off-the-wall things. But we are authentic. You know, I try to be as authentic as possible. So when I'm speaking to an agent, I'm just completely. coming from the heart. I do not come from any type of sales tactic at all. So if it's like we sent down with an agent, it's more of like a friendship vibe to start first, right? And if you like us,

great. If you don't, then there's a million other lenders out there that you can connect well with. But I really think that our strong part is definitely just being authentic, being us. And like, honestly, you guys in this market, what it comes down to is work. Like, you just need to work. You just need to work. You need to try. You need to put in the effort. You need to approach things from all different avenues, all different angles, all different sides. And, you know, we see some people in the industry who are like, well, why am I not getting a deal? And it's like, well, I don't see you out and about, you know, and we're always there to help and guide when we can.

It's like it comes down to, man, you got to put in the work. You got to wake up. You're going to say, what can I do today? What agent can I call today? Who can I take out to lunch today? What can I post on social media today? you know, like you just got to be out there. You got to be working.

You got to be grinding. I don't know. Sarah, what do you think? Yeah, I'll piggyback off of that. And I think, you know, Shay and I do focus on being in the community as much as we can. So like she said, we're, you know, we're constantly doing events, going and doing things and just trying to really give back to the real estate community as well. You know, like, how can we help you as an agent succeed? But I think just, I think just being out in the community, we have two amazing.

assistance that we couldn't do without, you know, they're back here at the office, making sure everything is running fine while we're out trying to get new business and really just, you know, show face to a lot of places. You know, we mentioned the market that we're in, which, you know, you pick a month and a year and rates are great, not so great, up, down, and all around. So rates always move around. So that's whatever market, it doesn't matter. But given the kind of special market we're in, are there unique programs that you find

yourself gravitating to that open up opportunities for your borrowers? For sure. Yeah. Shea, you can speak on this one. Oh, I mean, yeah, I mean, 100%, you know, and what the standpoint, before we pitch any type of product, what we do is we educate our buyers. We educate them, you know, we don't have a crystal ball on exactly what's going to happen. We can just really follow the experts and do and educate ourselves as much as possible, so we can educate our clients as much as possible. So we come from, to them, again, not in a very salesy way, but we come to them with education. Here's where the market stands. This is what we think will happen next year, right? There's no promises made and kind of

educate them on, is it smart to buy now? Is it smart to buy later? And just give them the facts that we currently have. And if they feel like it is, you know, a good time for them to buy now, what we are really, I mean, we have two huge programs that are great right now. One of them, It's just with new American funding only. It's called NAF cash. So it makes our buyers all cash buyers, right? So if you have a contingent home to sell and a lot of people don't like accepting contingent offers right now, then you do not have to, you don't have to do a contingent

offer, right? Because you're an all cash buyer. So that's huge. We're using this probably on 40% of our deals if they are contingent buyers. Wow. And then another thing that we're. Yeah, yeah. And then another thing that we are pitching, of course, and I'm sure everybody in their mom has heard about this one, but it's either a one-o-buy-down or a two-one buy-down because in this market right now, you know, there's not a lot of people overbidding on houses or getting into bidding wars or appraisal gaps. And so this is the market currently where we are seeing a ton of seller concessions. And what we could do with those seller concessions is, of course, do a 100 buy-down where like, let's say your rate is at seven today, your first year would be six, or if we get enough, we could do a two one buy down, where your first year

would be a 5%. Right. And before that rate goes up, if we're predicting the market to go in the way that we think and there's obviously no guarantees, then we say, you know, we could just refinance you into a more permanent rate and you could skip out on the bidding wars and the appraisal gaps, you know, when or if rates do drop. So education first, but yes, there's a ton of programs out there that are helping buyers. And then we also have like a hero's loan program for our teachers out there, our firefighters, you know, police officers, paramedics, anybody who really is out there in the community, you know, doing amazing work. Then we also give a portion of our commissions to help either buy down rate or gross closing costs. So yeah, there's a lot of ways to

navigate through this market. I don't know, Sarah, did I miss anything? No, I think, yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. You know, also I was thinking while you were mentioning those, the kind of borrowers that you work with. Obviously, you know, first-time homebuyers or I'm getting ready to move into a bigger house or downsize. What about investors? Do you find that the appetite these days for investors is good in this sense that, yeah, the numbers might be a little different than it used to be. But if you buy right and structure it right, you still have a real. really good cash flow. Is that something that you're seeing working with your clients?

Yeah, for Sarah all day every day. I was to say, yeah, I mean, we all know that changes with investment properties in second homes, you know, happened a few years ago or maybe a year and a half ago that kind of deterred them from purchasing. They made it a little bit more expensive. But I don't think that that's really affecting a lot of our investors. Shea and I are licensed in 38 dates, I want to say, throughout the U.S. So we have a ton of clients who are purchasing investment properties, you know, where it does make sense and the numbers do fall into line. So I think, I don't think it's changed. If an investor has a mindset of purchasing as an investment property, then the numbers just have to make sense to them.

And you would still do what you mentioned before with maybe some buy downs to kind of weather out the rates. And then if, you know, a couple three years down the road, rates start, you know, looking differently, you still can refinance and increase that cash flow. But I think that's really huge as is you can't look backwards a year or two years ago. You have to go, here's where I'm right now. And if you're relocating and you have to buy, you know, if it's smart to buy a house, then you just make the best decision. If you're looking for an investment property and you want this cash flow and the equity growth and the tax write up make the best decision. So, you know, yes, you know, the rates are. a little bit, you know, up or down or all around. But at the end of the day, if it's a good deal with

real estate and we know over hundreds of years, real estate's a good deal. So just make the best decision. And I love the word that you guys used, which is educate. We're not going to throw you in this, that, or the other. We're going to teach you and assess and figure out what's best for you. Right. What I'm the saying? That's another, you know, I mean, if you think about it, real estate's not going anywhere, right? And it's the number one way to build generation. wealth. So if you can, you know, if you can just really sit down and hone down the numbers on any specific property, I know the numbers will make sense maybe eventually. Do they make the most sense now? You know, yes or no. But, you know, you got to look in the future and look at the bigger

picture of everything. Yep. And what's the saying five years ago and today are the best times to buy? Haven't we all heard that? Unfortunately, unfortunately. Exactly. I mean, one thing that Sarah's taught me is like every mortgage is like a puzzle, right? Her brain is like a puzzle and everybody's situation is different, right? Like do you have a portfolio of investments? Do you have a portfolio of real estate? And, you know, and she's kind of the expert when it comes down to that and crunching the numbers and she will sit down with clients and literally help them crunch numbers. And so it's like everybody's different, you know, so we're here to sit down and educate and talk to anybody and, you know, make sure it makes sense for you before pulling the trigger. But yeah, there's, I mean, real estate isn't going anywhere. Colorado, real estate isn't going anywhere. Absolutely. Now, if we had a CPA on this interview with us, we could ask this question. So I'll, I'll preface it to say, this is just a concept. So talk to your CPA. But I would wonder if you guys would recommend to someone that's going, oh, man, the rates are a touch higher. Could you work with your CPA and say, okay, with the tax deductibility, how much? could I go back to my employer and adjust my W-4 so that I get more in my paycheck, that that whole strategy. So, you know, we don't need to mention numbers or viability of that, but I think that you guys would bring in experts and say, here's an option to consider if it's good for you, but that would help close some of that gap.

Totally. Yep. And I know, I mean, I've worked with financial planners in the past who can put together, you know, charts, these spreadsheets and all these graphs for you to visually understand the numbers that I'm presenting you, you know. So I think, I think when it comes down to anybody's finances, if you, you know, if you can just see the bigger picture and say, okay, this, you know, I'm going to have to invest this amount of money right now to grow X amount of money in the next few years. And, you know, yeah, I mean, it's, it's kind of a team effort between mortgage and CPAs and financial advisors and, you know, even insurance agents at that nature, too. Yeah, exactly. Hey, so you mentioned at the very beginning of your, you know, kind of time with that company, your boss coming in going,

where do you see yourself in three years? Let's now reassess that and say, what do you see your future goals moving forward? I want to take over the freaking world. What does that look like? Yeah, I know, I know. I know. You know, I kind of just, we're putting our hands in a lot of pots right now. Like my biggest goal, it might be a little bit different from Sarah's, but, you know, I want to grow our Denver branch, right? Like, we are hiring loan officers right now. We are picky who with, you know, with who we hire because we want to make sure, you know, work ethic is there. But I would definitely love to grow our Denver branch. I'm not sure how big. We still kind of like our boutique feel that we have right now. But I just, me personally, like, I want to be known for being the best

at what I do. I want to be known for being the best in Denver, Colorado for what I do in lending and being an amazing human being while doing it and help as many families as we can. You know, and I have my little pause and other ventures here and there. But yeah, I mean, my, I want to take over Denver. I want to take over Denver lending and, you know, to be the best I possibly can with hopefully with Sarah by my side. If it feels the same way. I think we reach goals and we make new ones for each other and for ourselves constantly. I mean, the first year that we were teamed up, we made the presidents club. So we were top producers of the company.

And then this year we're on pace to do the same. So I think just really, you know, just realizing the goals that we've accomplished and just creating new ones from there is what's going to keep us consistently going. you know, I think that's a huge piece that you bring up, which is you always have something to look forward to because if you set a goal of X, whatever X is, and you meet it, then it's kind of like, oh, so you need to have that goal and then be working toward that next goal and the next goal. And it might be, you know, moving from, you know, survival to thriving to then giving back. So it may be the, you know, yeah, yeah, we've taken over the world. Now we're going to give it back, you know, whatever that looks like. Great. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. We're just getting started, guys. We're really just getting started. We've only been doing this two and a half years. And I think we've made. I mean, I'm extremely proud of us. But like I said, we're just getting started. I see girls on social. You work so hard. I really admire you. I think you guys do a great job. And I think I think what makes us unique to and just a little bit different is we have fun doing it. You know, like, it's just I, I really truly enjoy getting up every day and knowing that I have shape by my side and can, can just do this together, like, in a, in a fun way.

So, yes, it's work, but we also just enjoy, enjoy it, you know, every day. I love you. I think that is awesome. I love you guys as energy. That is obvious. So what I would say is if someone is listening to this going, love the energy, I want to tap into that. what's the best way they can learn more about your team and reach out and connect with you?

Yeah, I mean, we have a website, www.s.smortgage team.com. But really, we just, we're all over social media. So anything, SS Mortgage Team, you know, Instagram, Facebook, our personal socials, I mean, we're pretty easy to find. I'm more than willing to give up my personal number, you know, call, text, email, whatever, whatever is best for anybody. but we're always here to help. My number is 303-507-6794, and the team email is SSMortgage Team at N-A-F-I-NC.com for NAF-Nc.com. Yep, and myself, yeah, I mean, all my clients have my personal cell. Mine is 720-366-9200.

Awesome, guys. Well, thank you so much for coming on today. It's been a real pleasure talking with you. Yeah, we appreciate you. Thanks for having us. Thanks, ladies. Golf soon. If anybody wants to golf, you can also hit us up that way. Thank you for listening to the Elite Real Estate Leaders podcast, brought to you by Trailstone Insurance Group. To learn more about the topics mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, visit www.org.org.com.