Mortgage Magic, Wand Not Necessary

Back in 2000, a little-known Irish quartet had a sleeper hit on the airwaves here in the United States called “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.” (Check it out on YouTube, if you’re curious.) It’s a catchy tune about one friend trying to tell another that just dwelling on something isn’t going to get him anywhere. Near the beginning of the song, there are these lines: “I never thought you were a fool, but, darling, look at you. You gotta stand up straight, carry your own weight. The tears are going nowhere.” While this song is 17 years old, its message couldn’t be more applicable to this very moment in time when we have very low inventory of homes and an ever-increasing pool of potential buyers.

If you or someone you know is currently “stuck in a moment” (i.e. renting) because they’re just not SURE of what to do about buying a home, raise your hand. Wow, that’s A LOT of hands! If you or someone you know is waiting on a visit from the Mortgage Fairy to sprinkle pixie dust and go *boop* with her magic wand before making a decision, let’s just say she’s on vacation, and she’s asked me to fill in for her – and I’m all you need.

There are as many reasons for inaction as there are people, but they ALL start with “I don’t think I qualify because . . .” Stop me when I get to yours: “I don’t think I qualify because . . . I have bad credit . . . I’m self employed . . . I don’t have a normal W2 job . . . I have student loan debt.” These are all viable reasons for being UNSURE about your ability to qualify, but they’re NOT ABSOLUTE FACTS. However, not being sure causes so many just to stay stuck in a moment – and it doesn’t help when you hear the news stories about how there are bidding wars for homes because of this low inventory. When that happens, you just sit there and say, “Well now there’s NO WAY I can get into a house!” Since I don’t have a magic wand, I’ll take a more direct approach.

If you feel stuck in a moment, I have one thing to say to you: DON’T go look at another house either online or on a Sunday drive – you’re only torturing yourself. Instead of looking at houses – yes, that’s the fun part, we’ll grant you – give us a call or come see us in person. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the mortgage world will ask you six questions and tell you you’re “prequalified” – but it’s still a crap shoot, and they could be setting you up for failure again. A brief meeting or conversation with us will help you avoid that failure.

We’ll address, up front, whatever your reason may be that you think will disqualify you for a loan – and as we help you address that reason, we’ll be taking you through the entire underwriting process to get you FULLY APPROVED up to a certain dollar amount. The entire process could take a few weeks or a few months – or longer – but whatever the time period, when you’ve completed the process with us, you’ll be able to stand toe to toe with fellow buyers and have a MUCH STRONGER position of negotiation than 95% of them because your FULLY UNDERWRITTEN APPROVAL will be like cold, hard cash to a seller – all the others still have to make an offer, get it accepted, and THEN go through the underwriting approval process. This also means you can close sooner – something else sellers LOVE!

Side note to agents: I would STRONGLY encourage you to go through your database of past clients who have previously been denied a loan for whatever reason and reach out to them TODAY. Depending on the size of your database, you could have five, ten, fifteen (or more) transactions just waiting to be developed by us FOR YOU – you won’t know until you try.

Let us give you the edge – you, too, can be a homeowner. It may not feel like it’s possible, so let me close with the final lines from the one-hit wonder I mentioned in the beginning: “It’s just a moment. This time will pass.”