Bridge loan helps borrowers as they pursue graduate degrees

Mortgage adviser: Brenda Wyatt. Property type: Single-family residence in Albany. Loan amount: $957,300. Loan type: 7/1 ARM. Rate: 3.625 percent. Backstory: A couple found their dream home close to their employers and were working with another lender on their $1.3 million VA purchase.

The sellers wanted to accept the offer but were concerned about the VA financing with an online lender who was unresponsive to the listing agent’s calls. The Realtor advised the couple that if they could find a local lender who could preapprove them with conventional financing, their offer would be accepted.

The couple’s agent recommended Brenda Wyatt, a top producer at All California Mortgage. Wyatt quickly worked with the clients through the weekend to analyze their profile and package their complex file.

During the file review, Wyatt swiftly identified that one borrower was taking time off without pay regularly, and the other was self-employed for less than two years.

Wyatt held a video conference with the couple to clarify the structure of the file and learned that both clients were pursuing their graduate degrees and took time off work to attend classes. In addition, the coborrower had recently received an employment offer for a salaried position.

Armed with a letter from the borrower’s university stating that he would complete the program within two months, Wyatt was able to use his full gross salary. And using the offer letter for full-time employment, Wyatt could use the coborrower’s full future income as stated in the letter.

Wyatt was also able to obtain the client’s a bridge loan: a short-term loan on their current residence to be used as partial down payment for the new purchase, so that the couple did not have to sell their existing property before closing on the new home.

Wyatt fast-tracked the approval of the purchase and the bridge loan, saving the deal for the buyer.