I thought this story was so great that I wanted to be sure my agent/owners at AgentOwned Realty saw it. Therefore, I am re-blogging so that they have a better chance of reading it.
About two weeks ago, I got a call from a potential client that wanted to buy their first home in Beaverton, Oregon. They were willing to meet at my office, or in their home, with me and one of my mortgage brokers (Of their choice), which is one of my requirements prior to going and looking at homes. (You need to be able to qualify so we know what you can afford so you are not disappointed that you can’t afford a certain property.)
After the hour or so meeting everything was looking good, their credit was good, job history was good, the only thing missing was a down payment. We thought maybe if they were willing to look in certain areas where there are still 100% loans available, we could get them in a home. or they would just have to save and call me when they had the down payment in hand.
Well, yesterday evening, they called and said they were ready to start looking, they had a down payment.
“HUH? How did you get your down payment? You thought it was going to take you six months of hard savings and you got it in less than 2 weeks? How? Or do I want to know?”He laughed and said, “We thought long and hard about it and with prices and interest rates what they are, we didn’t want to lose out on this opportunity to buy a house and still get the $8,000 tax credit, so we figured out how to get the money” I then said, “Well, do tell”
He said, “We looked at all the stuff we had. If we bought a house, would we really want to move all this stuff? So we decided since it was supposed to be 70 degrees out last weekend, that we would have a garage sale and see what it would get us on our way to start saving for our down payment. Well, that one weekend put $12,000 in our pocket! Who knew our crap that we didn’t want to move was worth so much?”
I was really impressed and happy for them and I warned him that I was going to be posting about their story as a very creative way to come up with the money. He just laughed and said, “You do that. It was someone else’s story that you wrote about that got us to call you, so hopefully our story will help someone else.”
So congratulations! Here is the post that I told you I would write. I can’t wait to write the story of the day you unlock the door for the first time after closing. If you are looking to buy a home and don’t have a down payment, be creative like this couple was, and the dream of owning that first home maybe closer than you realize.
Todd Clark - Broker / Sales Coach
Palazzo Realty Group
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
©2009 Todd Clark - How one client went from no down payment to 5% down payment in a little less than 2 weeks and you can too!
Interesting...the money from garagesale will need to be seasoned for at least 2 months OR the buyer will need to provide proof of ownership of the items sold, proof of value of items such as appraisal certificates and each Bill Of Sale. Money that appears out of no where needs to be carefully documents or it can't be used for the down payment. Remember -no more stated income or assets currently. It's always best to check with your Lender prior to selling items or "borrowing" your down payment money.
Liz - That's a great story! They sound like a determined couple...Good for them! :)
Liz: A great one to repost. If buyers are motivated enough, they can come up with the money. Ebay. Garage sales. Saving money. Liquidating some 401K money. Heck! Why not? It's down, the housing market is down. One way or the other, the money will appreciate. Why not put it in the home?
Liz - I thought Melissa Breeland's comment was interesting from the point of view of the mortgage broker! Unfortunately, what Melissa is saying is true even though it does dampen the creativity of Todd's clients as told in his story. I guess if you sold a car to get a down payment, you would have to present proof of purchase and documents of sale to the bank to prove where the money came from. There's nothing easy in this day and time!
Mary
Melissa --- thanks for your comment --- hope they can show proof of everything --- I would hate for them not to get the home.
Debi ---thanks for your comments.
Chris Ann --- thanks for stopping by and for your comments.
Mary --- I agree with you --- Melissa's comments kinda took the fun out of the story --- sad, but true.
Thanks Liz, I'm glad you enjoyed and I hope you get some more buyers from this idea. Money isn't hard to find if you know where to find it.