By Jayson Stebbins Mortgage Professional

Jayson Stebbins is a 25 year veteran of the Mortgage Banking industry and an Accredited Mortgage Professional through the Mortgage Bankers Association. He grew up in Morgan Hill and currently lives in Gilroy. He is the local Branch Manager of Guild Mortgage, a 58 year old Mortgage Banking firm. His office is in Morgan Hill and serves all of Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey counties. You can reach Jayson and his Team at 408-825-0220 or at jstebbins @ guildmortgage. net

he Spring and Summer buying season is well underway. Homes are selling quickly, many times over the asking price with multiple offers. So how do you make your offer more attractive to the seller when they control the market?

Many clients have been struggling with the idea of selling, knowing that they may not have a place to go or get their next purchase lined up in time due to low inventory. So what do they do? Contingent offers( an offer to buy a home that requires a sale or some other conditions first) are not in vogue right now, so what can you do?

FULL APPROVAL: We all know that preapprovals are a must before you even shop or engage a Realtor, but what is a“ full approval”? This is when your loan, even without a property identified, is fully approved and underwritten by the Lender and ready to go once a property has been identified. This will minimize the number of contingencies on your offer to purchase. Many Lenders will allow you to get fully approved to strengthen your offer.

BRIDGE LOANS: If your current home has the equity you need to buy the new home, sometimes you can access that through a“ bridge” loan, which acts just as it sounds, borrowing as a temporary bridge to help you avoid a contingent offer. Once your home sells, you pay off the bridge, but you are not subject to that for the new loan. Bridge loans are tricky; they can be expensive as well so be sure to do your research with a trusted lending source. You can also

try to qualify with both payments, by reducing the down payment on the new home and carrying both loans for qualifying.

UNIQUE LOAN PROGRAMS: There are loan programs out there that might help as you try and get creative. Some fall under traditional lending, some are more“ portfolio” in nature and may cost money up front or come with a higher interest rate. These include options like excluding the departing residence debt if the home is listed for sale and you have an executed purchase contract. There are also loans that will allow for much higher qualifying ratios in the short term to facilitate the transaction but require points( costs) upfront.

LETTER FROM THE HEART: There are very lovely stories of sellers taking slightly lower offers to accommodate a sale to a first-time buyer family, a single parent, or a veteran. Tell your story! Have your kids draw pictures and include family photos and tell your story to the seller. They may be willing to accept a contingent offer if they know that the home will go to wonderful family like yours. Shameless self-promotion is a good attribute in this market.

LOCAL PROFESSIONALS: I have mentioned this many times, but use local professionals. Use a local Realtor and Lender. The listing agents like to see local names on the pre-approval letters and may be more likely to take an offer with local representation than a national call center or Bank. Good luck out there!

Jayson Stebbins is a licensed mortgage agent in CA for Guild Mortgage Company NMLS # 38463; Licensed by CA Disclosure: Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act. NMLS Company Unique ID 3274; Branch Unique ID 38480. The postings on this editorial don ' t necessarily represent the positions, strategies or opinions of Guild Mortgage Company or its affiliates. This information is not guaranteed to be accurate and shall not be construed as a guarantee of loan approval. All loans are subject to underwriter approval, and are subject to change without notice. Equal Housing Lender.

GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN JUNE / JULY 2018 gmhtoday. com

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