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With home prices rising, a limited inventory, and increased mortgage rates more home buyers are making offers on properties sight-unseen.
Home inventories are shrinking and buyer demand increasing makes it more difficult for buyers to find a home. Nearly 20% of the homes recently sold were above their asking price. This trend is expected to continue with the number increasing. This presents another opportunity for lenders.
Both buyers and Realtors need to act fast when homes go up for sale. There’s no time to waste trying to qualify a potential buyer after the fact. There are too many offers to consider.
The buyers that are pre-qualified for their financing before they make their offer are the ones who will have the best shot at getting the house.
You need to get the word out to consumers that they need to be pre-qualified for a loan and explain why it will help them leapfrog their competition. How can this be done?
Going the traditional route of calling on Realtors for business might not work. By the time they get the consumer – it may be too late. They too want to get qualified buyers, so their offers move to the top of the list.
Traditional print and media advertising can get expensive and may not necessarily hit your target audience. What’s the answer? Social media. Are you there?
Advertising and posting information about your company and products on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snap Chat will let consumers see and hear your message.
Let’s face it, they’re shopping for homes online, and buying them sight unseen, wouldn’t they do the same for their mortgage financing?
You want to be there. You need to be there with your message of why it is important to be prequalified for a mortgage before shopping for a home.
They need to be aware of the benefits of knowing exactly how much home they can afford, with the peace of mind of knowing their financing is already in place.
Go right to the head of the class by giving the seller and the Realtor the confidence of a solid offer, from a qualified buyer, ready to close the deal. No need to wait and hope for a loan approval.
If you’re not doing so now, you may want to consider modifying your business model to offer “pre-quals” online.
You should also offer this service to Realtors who have buyers in their pipelines or who are ready to make an offer.
Don’t end up under the gun, needing to provide a quick approval with an offer is pending. The pre-qualification process will also allow you to carefully analyze and approve these potential home buyers, ensuring a quality, compliant loan to a solid buyer who can afford and maintain the property.
“Now, boys don’t get caught watchin’ the paint dry.” Be proactive!
Times are changing, buyers are changing, and how they shop for and buy homes is changing. You may need to change as well.
As we say at Loanlogics, the game has changed. Play different.
NOTE: The quote “Now boys don’t get caught watchin’ the paint dry” was spoken by assistant coach Shooter in the 1986 movie Hoosiers.
