I recently assisted a client facing the dual challenges of navigating a divorce and a consumer proposal. Amidst the divorce proceedings, they also had to deal with selling their family home. With two children and a dog, the client was struggling to find a new place to live, believing her financial situation and single income would make it impossible to own a home again. However, by leveraging the equity from the sale of her family home for a substantial down payment and addressing her credit issues, we successfully secured financing for a new home. This enabled her to begin a fresh chapter in her life, for which she expressed a lot gratitude for the outcome.
Every File is unique, with it's own set of circumstances. Working together with your referral partners to prep your clients for realistic expectations during their mortgage process ensures for a smoother transaction. Communication is the key in any obstacle in a file. A good example of an obstacle I navigated this past year was an insurer decline on a 20 year old client. The client had excellent credit and job tenor, 10% down payment of own resources, 2 lines of revolving credit for 2 years and paid cash for her vehicle asset (over $15,000) I called the insurer BDM directly to walk through the file and escalate it. Within an hour I received an approval. The lender was shocked when I called and asked them to refresh their screen and saw the approval. All the while, keeping my client & the realtor in the loop and letting them know I was making calls to discuss the file with the insurer and the lender. These calls ultimately resulting in a positive outcome for everyone.
It takes the right combination of tact, creativity, and a profound awareness of the uncommon struggles of the mortgage applicant to properly manage a tough loan application. One classic example pointed precisely to personalized attention and creative problem-solving. She had a credit problem because of a previous failure in finances. In turn, traditional lenders were unwilling about their risk-proof applicant. To clearly see the possibilities of having a homeowner and to know the subtleties of financial background, I made my choice in favor of a systematic solution. First, I conducted a candid and forthright interaction with the client. Knowing the complete details of their financial journey enabled me to paint a more detailed picture of how they planned on taking out a loan. This ‘de-corporate-ed’ the application, taking the interest away from credit score and putting it in an individual’s determination to overcome adversities. In overcoming the credit challenges, there was a process of cooperating with the applicant to solve pending debts and enhance their credit score. This was not a hurried category of event but a well -planned procedure which showed that the applicant was interested in financial discipline. The strategy was put on the foundation of creative financial instruments. Alternative paths that traditional lenders had ignored were revealed in the process of searching for nontraditional loan programs and down payment assistance options. The solution needed to be molded ahead of the standard mortgage playbook that would fit in perfectly with the applicant’s special conditions. Establishing a convincing case was about mapping the details carefully and communicating them systematically. All the decisions concerning finances made by the applicant were used to present as a form of evidence for their desire to act responsibly towards homeownership. However, after all the ordeal, the difficult mortgage application was a success. It reinforced the fact that every applicant is an individual with a unique history on his own finances and this customized approach often fails. A bespoke approach to the situation coupled with an innovative line of thought and a real passion for helping the applicant achieve their goals can turn what seems to be a dead end into getting a house.