HUD report shows that you are missing the boat if you aren't partnering with a lender who can help your clients take advantage of the FHA 203(k) Streamline loan

If you haven't found a good lender who offers the FHA 203(k) Streamline loan, then you are missing out on a fantastic niche.  You may have read a recent post I wrote about two FHA 203(k) Streamline closings I had last Friday.  I closed one in 25 days and the other in 21 days - the latest 203(k) Streamline was closed in 29 days (the holidays slowed everyone down).  This is very fast for any loan but especially for the FHA 203(k) Streamline.  More importantly is how excited all of the clients are, especially when they move into their "new" home.  Most people are generally excited about closing on their home and moving in but these clients are so much more excited - I attend all of my closings and can tell a dramatic difference between the level of enthusiasm from the clients who are getting ready to have their new house renovated and customized to their specifications as opposed to those clients who are just buying a house.

As a "for instance," would you rather sell your client this home which is functional:


Or do you think your clients would be just a bit more excited if you helped them get the same great house but remodeled to their tastes like:

I would venture to say that we will all get more referrals from these clients than from the regular clients.  Additionally, we plan to help these clients throw an open house for their friends when the homes are finished and what a great marketing tool to share the experience of helping the clients show off their new home; what lender and Realtor does that?  We are going to also start pushing the Energy Efficient Mortgage which with some reasonable modifications will help clients save 20-40% on their energy bills.  If the budget allows for photovoltaic cells on the roof, the client might be in a situation where they pay little to nothing for their energy.  How cool (no pun intended) would that be to be able to call the client every month after they have received their energy bill to see how much it was - this will be a great reminder of what we did to help them and a great time to ask for referrals.
Any niche that allows you to stand out from your competition is a great thing.  There aren't a whole lot of Realtors taking advantage of this as evidenced by the statistics from HUD's website below.  Help rebuild your community one FHA 203(k) Streamline at a time and you will have happier clients, more referrals, and you will be helping to restore the value and pride of ownership in homes while being able to keep those in the building industry employed.  It's a winning situation for everyone.

This is a very under-utilized loan in the Vegas market the HUD report shows what great opportunity we have if we embrace this, market it, and educate our clients about this great opportunity for them:

 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 
  REPORT DATE: DEC 31, 2011 

203K ENDORSEMENT SUMMARY REPORT 
  DEC 01,2011 TO DEC 31,2011 

 ANCHORAGE                                       2                3   
   BOISE                                           8               26   
   FRESNO                                         22               80   
   HONOLULU                                        7               15   
   LAS VEGAS                                       9               38   
   LOS ANGELES                                    45              146   
   PHOENIX                                        42              125   
   PORTLAND                                       29               85   
   RENO                                            2               15   
   SACRAMENTO                                     27              113   
   SAN DIEGO                                      13               38   
   SAN FRANCISCO                                  42              115   
   SANTA ANA                                      32               83   
   SEATTLE                                        62              182   
   SPOKANE                                        11               24   
   TUCSON                                          4               18   
            HOC: SANTA ANA                       357            1,106 

Las Vegas did 9 of these loans in December - Seattle did 62.  We are missing the boat and a great opportunity. 

Call me to learn more about marketing strategies and how to really help your clients:  Jed Wunderli - 702-812-1214.