By Living Room Realty, October 21, 2020
There are lots of great programs out there to help buyers become home owners with a variety of down payment options. A lender colleague of mine sent me a couple who were using the 0% down program. It’s a great tool for people who can clearly make a mortgage payment but don’t have a huge savings, so basically MOST people. The hard part in the Portland market is that you’re competing with multiple offers who usually have large down payments. The reason why it puts the buyer at a disadvantage is because there are several components to an offer that make it strong. There’s price, down payment, earnest money deposit, inspection period, closing costs, etc….
From a seller’s perspective, a 0% down payment means that the bank is 100% responsible for the loan if the buyers should stop making their payments. In a real estate deal, when it’s time for the appraisal they will be looking hard at the house to make sure there’s nothing that might put the bank at risk for taking on 100% of the loan. What that can translate to is the seller having to make repairs in order for the buyer to get their loan. Most often a seller will go with not just the highest price but the strongest down payment because it puts them at less of risk.
All that said, it’s a challenge to find a house without multiple offers. These clients were very specific about what they wanted. It had to be a 3 bedroom in Kenton or Portsmouth. We looked at all the old inventory to see if there were any overlooked gems but there wasn’t too much sitting there. It didn’t take long before a house popped up directly across from my old house in Kenton where my kids live half the time with their other mom. I happened to know the seller because he was my neighbor for 10 years. The buyers loved the house and location so we wasted no time getting our offer in. Miraculously, they accepted it the same day.
The rest was smooth sailing because the hardest part was finding the right house and finding a seller who was willing to work with us. I thought this process might take months but we were able to find it in a matter of weeks. Now we have some awesome new queer neighbors and kids across the street. Congrats Jean and Sarah!!! Come borrow eggs or butter anytime!
