Apr 05 2022

City Lending Can Help You Sell More Homes

If you are a real estate agent who is helping homebuyers navigate today’s fast-moving housing market, you could probably use a trusted and reliable lender on your side. And City Lending could be the right preferred lender for you

If you are a real estate agent who is helping homebuyers navigate today’s fast-moving housing market, you could probably use a trusted and reliable lender on your side. And City Lending could be the right preferred lender for you, for a whole host of reasons. Let’s delve into a few of these reasons and look at how they can help you sell more homes. 

The Importance of Pre-Approval 

As you surely know, we’re in a seller’s market — and a red-hot one at that. Most homes for sale get multiple offers these days and bidding wars are all too common. You’ve been in a few yourself and faced off against a selling agent who has ignited a bidding war. So, you understand the importance of a buyer having a pre-approved mortgage in getting a home deal done. We do too. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing a swift and smooth pre-approval process to make home-buying easier for both you and your clients. 

Loan Products for Every Homebuyer 

As homebuyers are as unique as the homes they seek, we have a wide-ranging selection of loan products to meet a variety of needs. Here are a few you can suggest to your clients. 

FHA Loans. These can be perfect for first-time buyers or for those borrowers who might not qualify for conventional loans. Less money down is a big plus with an FHA loan, often requiring as little as a 3.5% down payment for borrowers with credit scores of 640 and higher. All your client needs to do is to show two years of W-2s and pay stubs going back 20 days. And City Lending doesn’t add overlays; we underwrite using FHA guidelines. 
 

ITIN Loans. Chances are you’ve come across a potential client with worries that their immigration status will prevent them from getting a mortgage. But that’s not necessarily the case. Not if they choose an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) Loan Product. Foreign-born people who lack social security numbers may still quality for home financing if they are legally allowed to work in the U.S. Two years of tax returns and two months of bank statements is all it takes to get the approval process started. 

 
Bank Statement Loans. Your roster of clients almost surely includes some people who work for themselves, from small business owners to workers who are a part of the ever-growing gig economy. So, you know the difficulty they can face trying to meet the financial documentation requirements of conventional mortgages. Enter Bank Statement Loans, which use a potential borrower’s bank deposits in determining their eligibility for a loan. With lenient requirements — people with credit scores as low as 620 and debt-to-income ratios as high as 50% can qualify. 

VA Loans. If you’re showing listings to veterans or active members of the armed services, they’re likely to be interested in VA loans. These government-backed products have some serious selling points: the possibility of putting no money down, no need for mortgage insurance, eligibility for those with credit scores as low as 600, and more. All with a reasonable interest rate and possible for amounts up to 1 million dollars. 

FHA 203k. Whether you have a client who is looking for a fixer-upper or one who just wants to make their new dream home a little dreamier, the FHA 203k Rehabilitation Loan Product might be right. This loan, insured by the Federal Housing Administration, allows homebuyers to finance their renovations — perfect for first-time homebuyers who may go the more economical route of buying a home that needs some work. 

Rely on the Support of City Lending 

You might not have heard of City Lending in 2014 when we were getting started with a small, but dedicated team. We’ve since grown to have over 200 employees, a success story that’s founded on our dedication to our clients, our investor relationships, and the ever-growing City Lending in-house team. Should you choose to work with us, you’ll be able to take advantage of our considerable resources.  
 

With a dedicated staff of loan processors and assistants, our loan originators are never bogged down with paperwork, leaving those important but often cumbersome details to a team of pros. Who do it quickly. Our compliance team reviews content for turnarounds in 48 hours or less. For you, that means you can count on some of the fastest loan processing times in the lending business. We move so swiftly because we don’t outsource our work, handling everything from processing and underwriting to managing an appraisal roster in-house.  

There may be no real estate agent on earth who hasn’t fielded calls from impatient homebuyers, fretting while they wait for the underwriting process to complete. While we can’t make underwriting time go away, we do have the high-tech tools to make it as expedient as possible. These include Optimal Blue, LoanBeam software, the ability to track the mortgage process with SimpleNexus, and access to fast financial verification through Birchwood services.  

Fast Closings and Communication 

What does all this tech and support staff mean for you? Fast closings, for one. We don’t want financing to linger in limbo any more than you or your clients do. So, we’ve assembled a team of highly skilled professionals and created an unrivaled system to streamline the process. As you probably know, there are lots of things that can spoil a real estate deal. We strive to make sure that financing isn’t one of them.  

As with most relationships, communication is fundamental to maintaining a good lender-agent relationship. It’s why we put considerable attention and resources toward promptly answering every call, email, and text from agents. We know that in today’s market, homes sell fast. You need answers fast, to sell that current home and to move on to selling the next one. 

Are you ready to consider selecting City Lending as your lender of choice? If so, we’d love to have a chat. Contact us today. 

These days, more and more people are looking to buy their dream homes, especially as remote work and work-from-home setups have become an enduring trend. A 15 point increase in requests for home tours and other home-buying services, along with a 11% rise in Google searches for homes, indicate an uptick in demand to buy houses in the country. However, there is a definite worry about affordability when it comes to housing, especially as hefty price tags on available residences have kept the market just as competitive as before, if not more.

According to the latest reports from analysts, it’s not all bad for existing homebuyers and aspiring house hunters. As previous data shows, timing matters in the housing market, and working on different approaches to home buying – like through a reliable lender – can help advance you towards more affordable housing goals. Below, we discuss whether house hunters should buy now or wait, and why.

 

What is your financial situation?


Counter to the rise in home demand, there is a considerable lack of supply. Along with rising prices and interest rates, the housing market may seem like a highly competitive space with wealthy homeowners fighting for what little property is left. It can be overwhelming, but knowing where you stand financially can help you better strategize your home buying journey. Following the four key components of affordability, ask yourself:

  • How much do you have saved for a down payment?

  • How much does your household earn?

  • What debts do you carry?

  • What is your credit score?

 

Familiarizing yourself with these components will help inform your decision on whether or not to wait. For example, taking the time to improve your credit scores before committing can save you from higher interest rates in terms of your monthly mortgage payments. Alternatively, many young homebuyers are compromising by living with family for a significant amount time to save up for a down payment. Getting this out of the way when you’re able to can help you get better loans to buy sooner than later in case interest rates end up increasing.

What kind of home is best for you?

Buying a home is a huge purchase and a big commitment. With shifts to digital and remote ways of working taking place in recent years, this has provided homebuyers with opportunities to be more flexible when buying homes. Homes in areas away from busy cities and urban hubs, for example, are considerably cheaper. This makes them a perfect option for buyers who work from home, or aren’t required to be present in the office on a consistent basis.

The lifestyle you expect to live is as much a factor to consider as money. Condos and townhouses offer lower maintenance costs in the long run, and are perfect for smaller households when compared to single-family homes. If the household grows, homebuyers looking for a side income can even invest in renting out purchased properties to passively earn back what they spent and look into bigger properties for family use.

What does the future look like?


In a previous post, we talked about the rising mortgage and interest rates. While the market may seem bleak or intimidating in its current condition, housing experts also believe factors such as supply have a high chance of returning to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024. If you are financially able, buying now while others may be intimidated by the prices can give you an edge. Conversely, taking some time to get your finances in order can benefit you when it comes to securing better loans and lower interest rates.

Working with experts can help you make better decisions for the loans you need, making sure you don’t get trapped with high interest rates or hidden charges. The future of fintech suggests that big data is the future of loans, as more online lenders are now using algorithms, which predict potential defaults better than FICO scores do. Data is also leveraged precisely to identify customers who fit various products well — which can give you peace of mind, as an aspiring borrower. Here at City Lending for example, we find the right programs to fit your needs and profile, making sure you get some of the lowest down payments and interest rates along with a premium service.

And if you’re still unsure, it’s worth considering that waiting it out in the market’s current wild conditions could result in even higher interest rates in the future. At the end of the day, buying a house is ultimately a huge investment, which comes with benefits such as privacy and a financial investment that for the most part will weather most economic storms.

Find out if this is the right time for you to get a house by contacting one of our loan officers today.

 

Content intended only for the use of citylendinginc.com

Written by Alicia Christopher

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