For Mortgage Professionals

The goal for our Lease Option Program is to take clients who don’t qualify for a mortgage yet, and make them home owners. 

They pick a house, we buy it, they rent it from us. This gives candidates the opportunity to live in a home they want to own, while they simultaneously take the necessary steps to qualify for their mortgage.

As a mortgage broker/specialist you are a key member of our team. The successful completion of our program happens the moment you get our clients their mortgage, officially making them home owners.

 

At what point does a client qualify for the Lease Option Program?

Simple answer: if it is possible they can qualify for a mortgage in the next 3-4 years or less, then they are a candidate.

Qualification criteria:

1. Income

   • They must have an income. Their maximum mortgage amount is based on their current income. 

2. Credit

   • If they are unable to qualify for a mortgage with their existing credit, then it must be possible for their credit to be repaired/established in 3-4 years or less.

3. Some savings

   • They need some savings to begin the program with. If they don’t currently have enough capital for a full down payment, the minimum amount of savings they will need is dependent on their situation and the monthly payment they can afford. ～3% of the purchase price is often an acceptable amount to qualify for the Lease Option Program.

You have a client that you think qualifies as a candidate, what do you do?

If you haven’t already, simply conduct a normal mortgage pre-qualification!

Once you have collected their financial information, pulled their credit, and are able to give your client the guidance they need to qualify for a mortgage, you have already done everything needed to qualify them for the Lease Option Program. If they have the income for a mortgage,  but are short credit and/or funds for a downpayment as described above, then they are a candidate.

What to do with your Lease Option candidate:

1. Approach the client with the opportunity.
   Use our Lease Option Brochure to introduce the program to your client. Click the image for a copy to print. You can read our suggestions on how to use the brochure here.
   

   Click & Print

   If they wish to pursue the opportunity go to step two.

2. Have them sign the Authorization to Disclose Personal Information Form.
   We provide an Authorization to Disclose Form, click the image for a copy to print. Have your client sign it, and upload a copy of it with the application. If you already have your own disclosure form that allows us share the client’s personal information with our team, you can upload a copy of that instead.
   

   Click, Print & Sign

3. Submit a Qualified Tenant Buyer Form.
   Enter your client’s details into our secure Qualified Tenant Buyer Form, attach a copy of the  disclosure form, and submit. We will be in touch!

Submit a Qualified Tenant Buyer

What happens next?

We contact you and your client to conduct a secondary tenant screening process, following up with the client’s references, previous landlords, employers, and carry out a final review/consultation to determine that the program is suitable for the client’s circumstances and needs. If the references and final review come back positive, the candidates will be accepted into the program and will get to go house shopping!

When they find a house they love, we will buy it and rent it to them. The recommendations you made/make for the client so they can qualify for their mortgage are included in the program as steps for them to implement. We ask that you follow up with them once or twice a year to help them stay on track. With that, they should be qualified for their mortgage by the end of the Lease Option term, and can officially become the owners of their home if they still wish to buy.

As a mortgage professional why should you offer this program to your clients?

[showhide type=”links” more_text=”Read More” less_text=”Read Less”]The program is an alternative solution that gives your clients a “hand up” into the real estate market and enhances your business’s productivity.

Conventionally you don’t get paid for the work you do helping unqualified clients until after they get a mortgage. And once they walk out of your office, it is difficult to maintain a relationship with them so as to keep their business.

By offering this opportunity:

1. You get paid now, for clients that aren’t qualified yet.
   When we buy a house for the client, we get our financing through you if possible**. So you get paid right away and will already be compensated as you guide the client towards qualifying for their own mortgage.
2. You help more clients.
   It’s one more tool in your toolbox that helps create satisfied clients who are happy to be getting what they came to you for, a home! And happy customers are great for referrals!
3. You have a higher chance of keeping their business.
   Once your client is in the program, they are financially invested in qualifying for the mortgage. This would cause them to actively seek your guidance and increase the probability of them implementing your recommendations. Opening up the opportunity for you to cultivate a good relationship with them, and almost eliminating the chances they will get their mortgage through anyone else.

 

Without the Lease Option Program:

1. Your client has no options available to them and is disappointed.
2. You likely aren’t getting paid for the work you’ve done.

With the Lease Option Program:

1. Your client is getting out of a rental and is excited to be on a clear path towards becoming a home owner!
2. You are getting paid not just for one mortgage, but likely two!

**If you don’t work with investors, be sure to ask us about our Finder’s Compensation Program instead.[/showhide]