Real Estate Agents Want Easier Access Loan Programs

These days, the ability to achieve the dream of most Americans, home ownership, is fast becoming less and less of a right and more a privilege; one would say, in fact, an outright luxury given the current state of the U.S. economy and job market in recent years. And with little hope of bouncing back anytime soon – and even less of a chance of ever returning to the heyday of the 1980’s – Americans needs every bit of help they can get if many of them ever see the day they have a homestead to call their very own.

Members of the professional real estate market know this all too well, given the fact that their very livelihood depends upon their ability to sell homes; if they don’t sell, not only have they failed their clients, but they’ve failed themselves as well, since they won’t get paid. It’s a circular business and when a real estate agent comes through for a client, it’s a win-win situation for them both. This is why, in recent months, a growing influx of real estate professionals have been calling upon easier access to lending programs designed to get people in homes, according to Nationalmortgageprofessional.com.

“According to a recent survey of residential real estate agents, nearly 70 percent of the agents polled responded that lenders should provide easier access to loan programs designed to help make homeownership more affordable,” they said. “The survey, which polled more than 150 real estate agents in the U.S., will help lenders understand agents’ perspectives surrounding the current housing environment and offer insight into Realtors’ interaction with buyers throughout the process.”

Essentially, the real estate community is of the mind that lenders – i.e. banks – should be far more transparent and forthcoming with the services and loan programs they offer (such as down payment loans and grants), as a majority of the time most prospective loan applicants (at least 80 percent) are completely unaware of what forms of assistance are available to them, said Realtrends.com.

“Real estate professionals felt that lenders should offer more information on affordability programs. While most were familiar with such loans, they reported that only 20 percent of their buyers are aware of affordability programs,” they said. “Two in five real estate professionals think there is a low inventory of properties for sale, and that it is harder than ever for buyers to secure a loan. Moreover, more than half of those believe buyers are compromising their wants simply to buy a home due to the low inventory.”

However, Findmywayhome.com reports that there may be a reason (several, in fact) as to why most lenders aren’t exactly being as aggressive as they could be when it comes to informing the public of programs that could help put them in a house that much easier; and, they said, it generally comes down to two elements- money and ignorance.

“Now, I know from experience that there are not many lenders out there that want to be bothered with first time homebuyers, and they don’t like to take the pay-cut that is often associated with offering buyer assistance loans and grants,” the author said. “I also know from experience, that when a lender does feel like they need to use a buyer assistance program to ‘get the business’, that even they don’t fully understand who qualifies, and why.”

In light of the reluctance of many lenders to provide easy access to their loan programs, despite the requests of many for them to do so, Findmywayhome.com recommends you seek out a reputable real estate agent that makes it his or her business to keep up to date with all the latest information on the options available to buyers eager to plunk down their hard-earned dough on the home of their dreams; however, just make sure your agent actually knows their stuff, they warn. Most loans have very specific eligibility requirements, such as FHA loans. An agent must keep themselves educated in the many changes to these specific programs otherwise they may as well just refer the questions out to someone who better prepared to answer them.

“If you are asking your real estate agent questions about loans, assistance, or the loan process, and they are giving you answers? You have to assume that since they are giving you answers, that the answer is accurate,” they said. “Turns out that more often than not, this isn’t the case. I run into real estate agents every day that are willing to have discussions about financing, or the loan approval process, that do not have the first clue about how the process works and what’s required to get you approved to purchase a home.”

As you can see, there are a variety of programs offered by lenders that can ease the difficult home buying process faced by many hard-working Americans; however, if said buyer doesn’t know about these programs, how can they utilize them? Real Estate agents are calling for more open lines of communication between buyers and lenders when it comes to loan programs, but in the meantime, it’s probably in your best interest to find an agent who makes it their business to stay abreast of the info the banks should be giving you themselves.