HOW WE MAKE THE STARS ALIGN FOR OUR CLIENTS
Unlike traditional lenders, we will provide you with FREE one-on-one financial coaching to get you pre-qualified regardless of how long it takes. Plus, we have removed barriers to homeownership through offering low down payment mortgages (most of our clients only put 2% down), making closing costs part of our loans, and removing monthly mortgage insurance. Our financial coaches also research all assistance programs your household may be eligible for and can create a ‘stack’ of funds from multiple programs to help you get into a home of your own much sooner than you might think.
This all sounds great (even too good to be true), but you are likely left with questions that all come down to, “how does Homewise make this happen?” While each client’s financial situation is unique, we are going to share an example to help paint the picture of what working with us is like.
MARISOL
Homewise Start Date: 2014
Age: 30
Occupation: Restaurant Manager
Income: $80,000 a Year
Number of Kids: 4
Location: Santa Fe, NM
Meet Marisol—she is a 30-year-old bilingual working mother with 4 kids making $80K per year as a manager of a popular restaurant in Santa Fe. She is a fifth generation Santa Fean who dreamed of owning a home, so that her kids would have a stable place to grow up.
STEP 1: FREE 1:1 FINANCIAL COACHING
Rachael, Home Purchase Advisor Manager
- Has Been with Homewise for 10 Years
- 64 Pre-Qualified Clients in the Last 7 Years
“I love working at Homewise because I get to be part of the team making a positive impact on our client’s lives and our community. I am humbled by the privilege and grateful to be a part of these journeys.”
When Marisol first came to us in 2014, her and her partner had $20K in credit card debt, $3K remaining for one of their auto loans, and they only had $1K in savings. Rachael created an action plan that gave them concrete steps they needed to take to get pre-qualified. This included paying down $8K of their high interest credit cards, paying off their $3K auto loan, and setting aside around $270 per month for their savings. They also took our FREE financial fitness and homebuyer education classes, so that they could have as much knowledge as possible as they worked towards their goal.
After 3 years of hard work—Rachael was able to pre-qualify them because they had followed their action plan and had reduced their debt by $11K. Plus, they had saved $10K.
Preparing your finances is something we have been taught to do before buying a house, but we want to change that! Regardless of where your finances are today, we encourage you to come in and let one of our financial coaches help you to ensure that you are focusing on the right things to get you pre-qualified.
But then, life happened. Marisol and her partner decided to part ways. Marisol and her little ones needed some time to adjust to this big change, so she hit pause on working towards her goal of homeownership.
Six years later, Marisol reached out to Rachael. She was more determined than ever to buy a home and had really taken to heart everything Rachael taught her the last time they worked together. We were able to pre-qualify her in just 9 months after she paid off $4K in debt.
When it comes to buying a house, many people just focus on increasing their savings. While this is important, it is equally important, depending on your financial situation, to focus on debt reduction to help increase purchasing power and improve your credit.
STEP 2: HOME SEARCH
Gloria, Associate Broker
- Has Been with Homewise for 8 Years
- Helped 400 Clients Buy a Home in the Last 7 Years
“I work at Homewise because I believe my work has an impact on our community. I enjoy being able to help families find a home of their own.”
After getting pre-qualified, Marisol met with Rachael and her Homewise salary-based Realtor®, Gloria. During this meeting, Marisol shared with Gloria that she really wanted a 3–4-bedroom house with enough outdoor space for her kids to play and to entertain guests. Rachael let Gloria know that Marisol’s budget for a house was $270 – 280K, which is a tricky price point to find a 3-4-bedroom house in Santa Fe for.
After their meeting, Gloria added Marisol to the list of people looking for high-quality affordable homes in Santa Fe. This list has a lengthy wait period given that the supply of affordable housing is limited, so Gloria and Marisol still looked on the open market for homes that met her criteria and budget.
Some of the homes they toured required a lot more work than what Marisol had the budget for, while others that were in better condition didn’t have enough bedrooms or outdoor space.
Marisol was beginning to feel hopeless. Enter Ashley!
STEP 3: HOME MATCH
Ashley, Real Estate Sales Associate Broker
- Has Been with Homewise for 5 Years
- Helped 48 Clients Sell a Home in the Last 5 Years
“I work at Homewise because I believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to buy a home, and we are here to help people do just that. Homewise helped me buy my first home before I worked here, and I love being a part of that journey to make someone else’s dreams come true.”
Ashley is Homewise salary-based Realtor® who exclusively helps clients looking to sell their home. Ashley began working with a client in our Listing Program to sell their 3-bedroom home, but prior to putting it on the open market, she reached out to the Homewise coaching team to see if any of their clients might be a fit for the house.
Rachael immediately thought about Marisol since the home Ashley was selling had $112K of assistance for qualifying buyers. Rachael then reached out to Gloria who worked with Ashley to set up a showing! Marisol loved the house and wanted to make an offer.
STEP 4A: FINANCING
Anna, Senior Mortgage Loan Officer
- Has Been with Homewise for 9 Years
- Helped 762 Clients Close on their Home in the Last 5 Years
“I work at Homewise because I want to play a part in helping our clients realize the dream of homeownership and understand how important it is to have the benefits and support of their surrounding community. It is important for families to have a stable home environment to raise their children and owning a home will give them confidence to be able to overcome other challenges they may face.”
Gloria worked with Rachael and Anna to run the numbers. Even with the assistance, the house was $26K out of budget for Marisol.
Market Value | $440,000 |
Assistance | – $112,000 |
Down Payment | – $22,000 |
Total Financed | $306,000 |
Marisol’s Budget | $270,000 – $280,000 |
This is where Rachael, Anna, and Gloria had to get creative to see what other types of assistance Marisol qualified for to make up that $26K gap. After looking at various sources and scenarios, they landed on applying for $26K worth of down payment assistance on behalf of Marisol from the City of Santa Fe’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Our financial coaches and lenders aim to explore all scenarios to ensure that our clients are getting the best financial package possible.
One of the main benefits of working with us instead of a traditional lender, is that we research all assistance programs your household may be eligible for and can create a ‘stack’ of funds from multiple programs to help you get into a home of your own sooner than you may think.
Market Value | $440,000 |
Assistance | – $112,000 |
Affordable Housing Trust Fund Down Payment Assistance | – $26,000 |
Down Payment | – $22,000 |
Total Financed | $280,000 |
Marisol’s Budget | $270,000 – $280,000 |
Marisol’s application was approved for down payment assistance and her offer was accepted on the house.
STEP 4B: CLOSING
Once Marisol’s offer was accepted, Anna called Marisol to congratulate her and walk her through next steps, which include depositing her earnest money, sharing her most recent pay stubs with Anna, and encouraging Marisol to begin shopping homeowners insurance.
As her closing day approached, Anna called Marisol again to walk her through her closing disclosures for her loans, which outlines the final terms of the mortgage loans including interest rates, closing costs, and monthly payments. After closing, Anna gives Marisol a call to make sure everything went well and that she knows how to set up automatic payments if she wants to.
All of Marisol’s payments will be made directly to Homewise until her home is paid off.
Unlike traditional lenders, we keep the servicing of our loans in house. This means that if life happens and our clients are going through something we have the ability to work with them to ensure that they don’t lose their home.
If you are interested in buying a home, the sooner you start working with us, the better!
Not ready to fill out the form? Give us a call at 505-243-6566.
P.S. Want to check out more client stories? Head over to our blog.
