Client Wins

Every week we share three stories about how homebuyers and homeowners are achieving their goals with AEM as their partner. Click below to read more.

Already in contract and ready to move to a new neighborhood, our client and his family were referred to us to assist with their home financing. School was already in session and our buyer needed to close on his new home within 30 days to make the enrollment cutoff. Understanding the need for speed, we quickly reviewed his financials and packaged his loan to our underwriter a day after meeting. His previous lending experiences had taken at least 45 days, so when we told him we were on track to close in 15 days, he was in disbelief. By exceeding expectations and closing ahead of our deadline, we made sure our buyer and his family were settled in their home in plenty of time to get the children ready for their new school.

A longtime client of ours came back to purchase yet another property for her growing investment portfolio. Though she had the cash available from an equity line on her primary residence, she wanted to preserve those funds for necessary repairs on the new purchase. But, because she had purchased and renovated multiple investment homes the year prior and hadn’t yet collected enough rental income, her debt-to-income ratio was too high. Working closely with our in-house underwriter, we were able to use the renovation invoices to lower her debt, show positive cash flow and qualify her for the loan. She didn’t have to touch her equity line for the down payment and is now happily working on her newest renovation project.

A client came to us wanting to stop paying rent, plant roots in his community and buy his first home. We laid out a game plan that included Advance Approval®, our program for full underwriting pre-approval that allows buyers to close quickly. After a month of searching, he found the home he wanted but was up against two challenges. First, it was priced close to the FHA county limit so to get the loan, he needed a 10% down payment. Fortunately, his brother stepped up and helped him with a gift. But he was also up against several other offers. So we called the listing agent to explain how, with Advance Approval®, we could close in as little as 21 days. That did the trick. Our client’s offer was accepted and our in-house underwriting team jumped through every hoop imaginable to close in only nine days!

When our clients called us for a second opinion, we learned that they were a month away from moving their family across the state and into a newly built home. They had been pre-approved by the builder’s preferred lender months earlier and, without indication of a potential issue, their loan was denied without explanation. Once we started looking into it we were able to identify the problem, but recognized that the family had several alternative options. They decided that getting a co-signer on the loan would work best for them, so we moved forward and were able to close the deal as scheduled. Between the stress of moving and starting their three daughters in a new school, our clients were relieved to still be able to move in to their home on time.

A client was referred to us by her attorney because she was going through a lengthy divorce with many moving parts. The court had given her 90 days to either sell her family home or refinance and remove her husband from the loan. Knowing she had nowhere to go if she were to sell, her only option was to do a cash-out refi. But she was a stay-at-home mom and hadn’t been receiving alimony long enough to use it as income to qualify. With only days to spare, we found that by adding a non-occupant co-borrower and using the last six months of mortgage payments for the home to boost her income, we could get her qualified. In the end, our client was able to satisfy the court, pay off some high interest debt and, most importantly, stay in her home.

Our clients found a perfect HUD-owned property in need of repair and planned to use an FHA 203k loan to cover their mortgage and the cost of renovations. But, once we started digging into the home’s history, we learned that the previous owner had not received a certificate of occupancy, a requirement for our clients to be able to use the loan they wanted. They needed to either choose a different type of loan that didn’t work as well for them, or walk away from the deal. We got our in-house team of experts involved and negotiated a certification that replaced the certificate of occupancy. The city and FHA approved – giving our clients the green light. They got the home and are now busy getting it ready to move in.

Pre-approved by another lender, our clients were searching for the perfect investment property to add to their portfolio. They felt confident that they’d get fully approved so, once they found a home that checked all the right boxes, they submitted a strong non-contingent offer and put down a $30,000 deposit. But the couple was denied two weeks into the deal because their debts were too high to qualify for the jumbo loan they needed. They went back and forth with the lender to try to find a solution but, with their deposit on the line, ultimately decided to give us a call. We immediately recognized that we had a niche product loan would allow us to work outside the box to get them their home. Less than three weeks after coming to us for help, our clients were ecstatic to close on their investment property and continue their pursuit of financial freedom.

Our recent borrower is a successful REALTOR® in her market and spends her time helping others find the perfect home. So when it came time to buy a home for herself, she knew how the process should go. She had good credit and income, but is self-employed which made it difficult for her to get pre-approved. Once she finally found a lender, she was promised they would close the deal no matter what. So our client started house-hunting and within a couple months, was in contract. She started getting suspicious when, three weeks in, the title company still hadn’t heard from the lender. When she finally got a hold of them, she was continually told to sit tight and that they were working on it. She knew something was not right. Sure enough, two months and two extensions later, her loan fell apart. Deflated, she was about to pull out of the deal when the listing agent encouraged her to give us a call. We met, studied her file, asked a lot of questions and got to work. We had her loan wrapped up quickly and in just over a week, she landed the keys to her new home.

As the sole caretaker of two special needs children, our client was looking for a larger, more comfortable home in a better part of town. She was thrilled when she found her ideal property, made an offer and it was accepted. But a week into contract, another lender told her that she had too much debt and couldn’t qualify for the loan that she was previously quoted. In tears, she called us for help. We sprang into action, reviewed her documents and developed a plan. Our priority was to match her with a down payment assistance program that allowed her to use the cash she had saved to pay off her debt instead. Combined with an FHA loan, it was exactly what we needed to make it work. Our client is now the proud owner of a home that is perfect for her and her two boys.

After Hurricane Harvey destroyed her home and business, our client was forced to move in with friends in another state while she figured out her next move. She eventually fell in love with the area, found a job and decided that buying a home would be the perfect way to plant roots in her new community. But when it came time to apply for a home loan, she couldn’t get approved due to an eight month gap in employment. Understanding there is sometimes more to a story than paperwork shows, we sat down together and learned of her amazing perseverance. We knew we could make it work and asked her for a copy of the offer letter from her new employer and a letter explaining the break in work history. Within 40 days of getting pre-approved, our client became a homeowner. She is now well on her way to rebuilding her new life.

Referred to us by their close friends, our recent borrowers were upset about being denied by their previous lender two weeks before closing – costing them the house and their deposit. When we met, we learned that the other lender denied the couple for a VA loan due to eligibility requirements and a short employment history. What the lender didn’t seem to know was that there had been recent changes in eligibility limits, which allowed them to qualify. In addition, though the husband had retired from his job of 20 years, he had recently taken a new position with nearly all the same responsibilities. So his time with his new employer was short, but he showed a long history of employment in the same type of work. Overcoming that last hurdle, the couple moved forward with making an offer on a home they liked even more than the first one, and we closed their loan without a hitch.

A couple was making a move across the country and planned to use an FHA loan to purchase a new home. They wanted to leave the husband off the mortgage due to his low credit score and commission-based income, which would be difficult to verify. Still, because it was a community property state, we were required to measure his debts against his wife’s income, which ended up putting her over the ratio limit and threatened to disqualify her for the loan. Thankfully, due to the quick thinking of our team, we found a solution. We lowered the couple’s down payment from 12% to the FHA minimum of 3.5%, freeing up a considerable amount of cash that they then used to pay off their car loan. This not only bettered their debt-to-income ratio, but lowered their monthly expenses. We got the deal closed and the couple is now enjoying life in their new home and community.

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