3 Ways Lenders Can Earn the Business of Sidelined Home Buyers
The housing market moves in perpetual cycles—but today’s conditions are unique. A perfect storm created by stubborn, high interest rates; a lock-in effect that stifled available inventory; and a long-simmering affordable housing crisis have sidelined buyers like never before. Our recent Sidelined Home Buyer Report digs into the challenges experienced by this group, along with plans to buy in the coming year and ways lenders can help these would-be buyers achieve homeownership. As conditions alleviate, lenders have the remarkable opportunity to facilitate the home-buying journey for this highly motivated group.
Lead with support & education
Affordability challenges have colored the home-buying experience for the majority of sidelined buyers. While lenders may not be able to directly impact the supply of affordable housing, they can alleviate some of the financial burden through low-money-down loan options, down payment assistance, and more. A third of would-be buyers report they want more information on these topics. This major segment gives lenders the chance to offer education and support that can translate into active, healthy pipeline activity.
Lean into borrower experience
Borrower experience has long been touted as essential to earning and keeping home buyer business. That premise rings especially true with today’s segment of sidelined home buyers. With much of this group waiting multiple years to achieve homeownership, the last thing they’ll want from the lending process is a confusing, document-heavy experience elongated by opaque requests.
Lenders should use this time to fine-tune the borrower experience they offer by revisiting the technology they use and ensuring it includes modern features such as eClosing, Spanish-language functionality, robust integrations, and more. These functionalities will go a long way to ensuring borrower satisfaction and positioning lenders as a go-to resource for sidelined home buyers in the communities they serve.
Be prepared with highly efficient operations
Once rates descend to 5.5%—the threshold many borrowers cite as a point at which they intend to buy—it will be too late for lenders to optimize their back-end operations. As soon as sidelined home buyers begin to flood the market, lenders need to be prepared for an uptick in loan volume, ready to speed loans through the process with a competitive time to close and minimized loan costs.
Right now, it’s vital for lenders to connect with a provider that streamlines the entire mortgage process, acting as a partner to ensure maximum ROI and the ability to capture market share as it arises. Only by connecting with the right partner can lenders best position themselves to win the growing business of sidelined home buyers.
Learn more in our Sidelined Home Buyer Report
Download the full report to get exclusive data on sidelined home buyers, including:
- How financial qualifications impede home-buying, with over 43% of sidelined home buyers saying low credit score, high debt-to-income ratio, or lack of down payment funds keep them from qualifying for a loan
- Ways that the inability to buy a home has affected major life choices; for instance, over half say the housing market has caused them to consider relocating to a different city and/or state to find a viable option
- Why two-thirds (66%) say housing-related policy is important in who they vote for in November’s election
Get your free copy of Maxwell’s Sidelined Home Buyer Report
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