Easing Worried Homebuyers with Lender Optionality
November 7, 2022

Easing Worried Homebuyers with Lender Optionality
It comes as no surprise to anyone in touch with the current state of the housing market to say that rates are concerning to the average home buyer. These rates have a significant trickle-down effect on every other facet of real estate; housing market demand has seen a sharp decline with prospective home buyers worried about market volatility and a speculated housing market crash.
Although the majority of prospective home buyers remain hesitant to engage with the housing market in its current state, UMortgage Loan Originators have been able to ease worried home buyers with access to a broad portfolio of different lenders and the loan products at their fingertips.
Options like the 2-1 temporary rate buydown, non-QM loans, and Down Payment Assistance programs are helping UMortgage Loan Originators combat off-putting and erratic mortgage rates to help create the life-changing opportunities that come with homeownership. With the help of UMortgage’s Capital Markets team that is constantly sourcing for competitive products and partners offering their loan originators creative solutions, UMortgage recorded back-to-back record weeks for loans locked in the final two weeks of September.
“The optionality that I get at UMortgage helps my business tremendously,” claims Daniel De La Torre Roffe, Branch Manager of Ultimate Mortgage Team Powered by UMortgage. “We have many different ways that we can structure a transaction. If pricing is better on a particular lender, then we can send our loan to them versus another lender. Additionally, the loan programs available to us give us more control over the transaction as a whole and provide our referral partners and borrowers with an experience which I couldn’t provide before joining this platform.”
Products like the 2-1 buydown are creating a more manageable path towards homeownership for qualified borrowers by buying down the prospective home buyer’s rate by two points for the first year of the mortgage and one point for the second year.
“The 2-1 Buydown Loan was a great tool to help my clients get into a home, afford the payment, and not stretch so much in the first couple of years,” said Todd Davidson, a UMortgage Loan Originator based in Oregon. “As the payment increases each of the following two years, so should the buyer’s increased payment. If rates go down, as expected, they can refinance to make that payment more affordable for them.”
With the wide scope of products available and the nuances of the mortgage process, home buyer education has become a cornerstone of success for many Loan Originators. Brian Barkowski, Branch Manager of Ironbank Mortgage Powered by UMortgage, has leveraged his platform on social media to share his knowledge of the housing market and the benefits of homeownership with prospective home buyers. But having access to a library of loan products is only half the battle, UMortgage Loan Originators lead with expert advice winning over more clients by educating them on the importance of homeownership, regardless of market conditions.
“We’re not just closing loans and getting people mortgages, we are actually helping them realize what that home does for them in the long run,” said Barkowski. “Owning a home is so much more than just providing a roof over your head. The equity that you’re building is one of the greatest avenues to achieve generational wealth. By providing these facts and putting client education at the forefront of everything we do really helps us stand out from the crowd.”
Through holistic client education on the mortgage process, Barkowski aims to keep homebuyers optimistic in regards to the housing market. By emphasizing the benefits of building equity and opportunities to refinance, Loan Originators can make an effort to change the narrative that it’s a bad time to buy a home.
The statistics don’t lie, though. In September, Fannie Mae’s latest Home Purchase Sentiment Index indicated that 75% of consumers believe that it’s a bad time to buy. This downtick in home buying demand has led many mortgage companies to cut costs and lay-off large portions of their staff.
UMortgage is doing the opposite, having hired 112 Loan Originators in Q3 of 2022. By utilizing creative solutions to combat the volatile market, the Philadelphia-based mortgage platform had +40% Lock Volume Growth Quarter-Over-Quarter from Q2 to Q3 (99% Purchase). With proper education and a full suite of competitive loan products, buying a home can become a much less daunting process for many prospective home buyers.