Buyers Wishy Washy About Getting Loan Help

Buyers Wishy Washy About Getting Loan Help

But originators can get a “win-win” by being persuasive

BY PAMELA M. MARRON | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

The four problem areas that commonly prevent prospective homebuyers from purchasing a home… credit, student loan debt relief, need for down payment, and home budgeting help… have HUD Housing Counseling Agency (HCA) resources and other services for prospective homebuyers now listed at Clients2Homeowners.com. For credit, Homebuyercred.org can handle issues that can take three months to five years to resolve. For student loans, Consumer Debt Counselors provides refinancing whether loans are current or in default. And DownPaymentResource.com, a national website for U.S. down payment assistance programs, provides a connection for prospective purchasers to see what DPA programs they might be eligible for. In addition, this site offers another portal, Down Payment Connect, that provides extensive detail and availability of all DPA programs for loan originators, real estate agents, lenders and housing finance agencies to use. And home budgeting, a service especially helpful to millennials, can be provided by all HUD HCA’s.

HOMEBUYER PROSPECTS

But do homebuyers want to take advantage of these? Reactions from potential clients vary. Some provide a flat out “No” right up front but most are willing to receive help. HUD housing counseling agencies provide services for free or on a sliding scale basis for Low to Moderate Income (LMI) clients, but many mortgage clients seeking a home are above LMI income levels and a “Fee for Service” is often required. A tip that helps… offer to provide a credit towards mortgage closing costs for the upfront HCA fee paid by your client, or sometimes loan originators have the funds to pay for services themselves. The credit towards closing costs on the future mortgage or your agreement to pay upfront can be documented in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that details services and cost.

LOAN ORIGINATORS

Here’s how these services provide a win-win for the loan originator. A HUD counselor trained to get your client ready for a mortgage does the tedious work with the client. You are updated by the HUD counselor with the client’s progress and notified when that client is ready for a mortgage. You keep communication open with the referring realtor who sees that you are working to get their prospective homebuyer ready to purchase. What realtor is not going to take your call on the progress of a referred client? Loan originators usually have one of two reactions:

1. On board once options clearly understood

2. Prefer to refer these clients to another loan originator that desires to handle these clients

The 2nd option was surprising to me. More than once, I have had loan originators tell me they’d rather give clients who need more time to “get ready” for a mortgage to someone else. But we are now in a market when mortgage activity is increasingly being driven by need rather than desire for a home. Having this tool in your toolbox can provide consistency in your business in leaner times and keep you connected with realtors.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Real estate agents are NOT hesitating on checking into these services! Since the May 2020 NMP webinar helped introduce Clients2Homeowners.com as a resource for “not yet ready” clients, most of the email response for these services has come from real estate agents who are highly creative when it comes to assets they can add to cultivate more business.

EXPERIENCE SO FAR

DownPaymentResource.com was the first service I linked to my website with a provided icon that invites prospective homebuyers to see what DPA programs they might be eligible for. But the real value of this resource to me as a loan originator is through the Down Payment Connect portal where I can select the DPA programs I can offer and only those programs show up for clients on my personal DownpaymentResource.com landing page connected to my website. Further, wholesaler DPA as well as proprietary DPA Community 2nds have been added. Even when state, city and County SHIP programs are suspended, there are still programs on the wholesaler side available. And recently, my first prospective homebuyer signed up with Homebuyercred.org and I’ve already received a detailed Plan of Action for their path to a mortgage. Two more are signing up. Stay tuned.

Pamela M. Marron is a senior loan originator with Innovative Mortgage Services Inc.