Recently Closed - USDA Manual Underwriting in Bluff City, TN
What a month. After years of putting together a national footprint, relationships from coast to coast, and refusing to establish a "niche", my gameplan is all coming together. In no other month has it been as evident as this one. We were fortunate enough to close a $1.75M purchase in the hills north of San Francisco (Marin) with a Jumbo loan, and 
thousands of miles away, we were able to close a $135,000 purchase for first time buyers in Bluff City, TN using our manual underwriting platform with USDA.
I love working on files like our Tennessee first time home buyer's home purchase, because it allows me to use a program I know a lot of other lenders fail to offer - manual underwriting on government loans (FHA, USDA, and VA). Many lenders would decline these files because they can't get approval through automated underwriting for whatever reason (in this client's case, it was a lack of traditional credit history, FICO scores on the lower end of the spectrum, and a lack of assets), however when we actually have a real live person take a look at the file, compare the borrower's profile against guidelines, and come to the conclusion that they do, in fact, qualify as the guidelines are written, we can get people approved and into new homes despite what the computers have to say.
Many areas of Tennessee are eligible for USDA financing, and fortunately for home buyers in these areas, they're able to enjoy $0 down payment, low rates, low PMI (mortgage insurance) rates, and a fast loan process. The one additional step that USDA requires that other loans do not is a trip for the loan file to visit the regional USDA office for official USDA underwriting (they do additional checks on top of what our in-house underwriting does). Once they issue the stamp of approval the file is ready to close. For this reason, we suggest real estate agents and buyers negotiate at least a 30 day period between contract and closing.
The very best part of this transaction was that we got to work with young first time buyers who didn't think they could buy! We had help from a great Tennessee real estate agent, Darlene Graham, and worked with Gwen Pugh at Evergreen title, who does a fantastic job (we've had the pleasure of working with both Darlene and Gwen several times and highly recommend them!). The buyers went from unsure if they could purchase to calling themselves home owners in about a month's time. Here's what they had to say about the process:
"Mr. Meussner made the process as simple and straightforward as it could have been in my opinion. I liked that he communicated perfectly every step of the way and always answered all our questions and concerns quickly. We were never left waiting or wondering. Thank you again Mr. Meussner for all you hard work!" |
The goal of my team and I is always to make the buying process easy for our clients while making sure they're educated about the process, and always in the loop (along with their agent) as to where we are what what's going on. We want our clients to become home owners, but more importantly, happy homeowners confident in their mortgage and their lender!
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