Mortgage banker guarantees a 21-day closing on Bethel home

Mortgage banker: Dave Stambone

Home value: $365,500

Property type: Single-family purchase in Bethel

Loan amount: $328,950

Loan terms: Conventional, 30-year fixed at 4.75 percent, no points.

Backstory: A buyer lost a bidding war on a potential home purchase. He was pre-approved by his bank and had been looking for the perfect home with his Realtor for months.

To his dismay, he lost the bidding war to a cash offer less than his. The seller was attracted to the certainty of a cash buyer, a timely closing and not taking the chance a buyer’s mortgage may be declined.

Consequently, most banks and lenders will simply screen a buyer to ensure their credibility by preapproving them. The purpose of becoming pre-approved is to determine an individual’s maximum buying power in order to purchase a home.

This is a necessary piece that must be done prior to viewing homes with a real estate agent. Additionally, a pre-approval letter from a mortgage professional is required by the real estate agent listing a home when accepting offers on behalf of a seller.

While the letter limits the risk of a deal falling through and increases a buyer’s credibility, it does not guarantee financing.

Apre-approval only provides a buyer with an idea of how much financing he may be approved for and is not a commitment to lend. It uses unverified financial documentation, may use an unverified credit score, does not give an in- terest rate quote or reduce the overall loan process.

The buyer’s Realtor highly recommended that he have a conversation with Stambone to prevent the situation from happening again. Although the buyer did not have the liquid funds to compete with cash; Stambone and his bank offered an attractive alternative called a Green Light approval.

Unlike a pre-approval, the Green Light approval tells a buyer exactly how much financing they may be approved for, verifies income, assets, and debts ahead of time, uses a buyer’s real credit score and can provide a lockable interest rate before shopping for a home.

Most importantly, the Green Light program cuts the mortgage process down to 21 days and guarantees financing only subject to an appraisal and title work from a buyer’s attorney.

Stambone met with the buyer and generated the Green Light loan approval within 24 hours.

The buyer entered the market days later armed with the approval, which set him apart from competing buyers. Naturally, a multiple offer situation occurred once again. The buyer finally obtained an accepted offer based on the credibility of having a loan commitment compared to a pre-approval and closed 21 days later.