Adriana Bates & Clear Mortgage The Personal Touch Blended Seamlessly with Technology

In today’s competitive world of finance, it takes experience, originality, perseverance and understanding, all of which Adriana Bates and her life and business partner, Sean Finn, have in abundance. Both played basketball competitively during their college years, and they’re familiar with the teamwork required to succeed on the court, in business and in life.

Adriana grew up in upstate New York. She played collegiate basketball at Brown University, where she earned her BA in human biology and completed pre-med requirements. After realizing her passion wasn’t medicine, she pursued a dual MA program at Washington University and Saint Louis University in real estate finance and urban planning in 2010.

Partnership Continued
“At the time I graduated, the economy was not the best. I was subsequently recruited into the mortgage industry,” she noted. “Finance is primarily a male-dominated field, yet I moved up quickly and started Clear Mortgage with Sean. He was done playing professional basketball in Europe, where he played for 12 years. Prior to that, he played at the University of Dayton and had a short stint in the NBA. He decided to help Clear Mortgage buy out its financial backers.” 

Clear Mortgage, 325 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri, has experienced exponential growth in the last three years, staying primarily focused on talent. Their home base is in the Kansas City metro, which includes both Kansas and Missouri, and the company has expanded into Colorado, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina. “Future expansion really depends on where we find smart, eager and hardworking individuals who believe in our values and mission,” Adriana smiled.

“Clear Mortgage blends the advancements of technology with the personal touch of a locally owned business,” Adriana explained. “We understand that there are many choices when it comes to home financing, and unless you have had a bad experience people typically won’t understand the importance of great communication, low rates and low fees. We are small, comparatively, so we can close a loan quickly and we have built a reputation of being nimble, which is important in a competitive real estate market like we’re in now.”

Excellent Advice
Adriana believes 2022 will bring the same real estate market the country currently is experiencing, with low inventory paired with aggressive and historically low rates, which means continued craziness for buyers as a whole. “This is a great time to sell,” she notes. “But at the same time, remember that when you sell high, you are typically buying high, too.

“The industry has recognized home appreciation, and maximum conventional loan limits have increased to $647,200.00, which is the maximum loan before you are in the jumbo loan product,” she reiterated. “Money is cheap; if you have equity in your home, tap into it now. In many cases you can consolidate debt or finance a home renovation project while lowering your rate and keeping your payment low. You could also get rid of your private mortgage insurance. If you’re paying PMI at all, you definitely need to reach out for an appraisal estimate.”

Sporting Family
Adriana and Sean run Clear Mortgage as a team in addition to their family team. “We have three boys; Sebastian, 7; Sawyer, 5; and Spencer, 2. If we’re not working to build the business or with the kiddos, we are at the art gallery, Lemonade, which we own in the Crossroads or golfing!” The couple hopes all their boys will love the sport of basketball as they did. She noted that their oldest son is into football and baseball right now, and all three are athletic, and, to no surprise, very tall! 

She was thrilled to have the opportunity to host The American Dream, a television show focused on lifestyle, culture and real estate in cities across the United States. The show has now been picked up by CNBC, Travel Channel, Fox Business and Bloomberg News. Her hope is to bring Selling Kansas City to a network, although there are no commitments quite yet. 

As the Kansas City real estate market is competitive, she recommends buyers and sellers work with an agent who is well connected. “If you’re looking for a deal right now, an agent is going to be the one to find it,” she asserted. “Once a home hits the Multiple Listing Service, it’s pretty much gone. We’ve built our business on great relationships within the industry and we would be happy to connect you with agents that we know, like and trust.”

For more information, visit clearkc.com or call 913-205-3654.