Tag Archives: homeownership

Homeownership Can Boost Your Approval Rate

Regardless of the loan type you are applying for, you can get a boost on your approval rate if you are a homeowner. Homeowners have better chances of getting approved for home loans, home equity loans but also for unsecured personal loans, student loans, car loans, business loans and many other loan types.

The reasons for this can be explained analyzing the effects that homeownership has on the loan terms and requirements for approval. There is a variable that is greatly modified by homeownership which has important incidences on all loan terms and requirements: the risk of default for the lender in the financial transaction.

Risk Of Default And Approval

The approval process is ruled by the lenders fear of default: The higher the risk of default, the lower the chances of getting approved. In the event of default, the lender is actually loosing his investment because there are little chances of recovering the money unless the lender has sufficient assets to compensate for the loses.

The risk of default and approval are thus, greatly related. If the applicant can provide any aid to reduce the risk of default, the lender will be significantly more comfortable at lending the money that the borrower needs. Thus, it is important to know which modifiers can reduce the risk of default and boost the chances of getting approved.

Consequences of Homeownership

Along these modifiers we can analyze various options: collateral, simple homeownership, down payments and a co-signer. Collateral provides the best form of guarantee as it is a particular asset that is used for security of a loan and the lender can take legal action of repossession in the event that the borrower defaults on the loan.

A down payment is useful for certain secured loans that already have collateral but the risk of default is still high. Then, the borrower offers a certain amount of money that has already been set aside by him, so as to reduce the amount of money needed to purchase the home or the car and thus, leaving the property with a higher amount of equity left. The property guaranteeing the loan is then worth more than the debt it is guaranteeing.

A co-signer is obliged to repay the loan along with the main applicant and thus provides an additional guarantee for repayment. This is also associated with homeownership. If both the applicant and the co-signer are homeowners, chances of getting approved are greater as the lender has additional properties to obtain repayment from in the event of default.

Finally, we have reached the modifier that can provide a great risk reduction without too many hassles. Simple homeownership provides a reduction on the risk involved in any financial transaction regardless if the property or properties are used as collateral for the loan. This is due to the fact that all of the applicant’s assets guarantee in a way the repayment of the loan. All the assets legally guarantee any debt that the owner may have and that’s the reason why a co-signer who is also a homeowner provides an additional guarantee and lowers the risk even more: He does not only provide an additional income but also, an additional real estate guarantee or guarantees.

Homeowner? Get Higher Loan Amounts On Any Loan Type

If you are a homeowner you can easily get loans that require collateral and thus obtain advantageous terms on your loans. However, not everybody knows that being a homeowner will also guarantee you better loan terms on other loan types including unsecured personal loans. But most importantly, whether you want a secured or unsecured loan, you will be able to get significantly higher loan amounts thanks to home ownership.

Homeownership represents a significant risk reduction for the lender even if the assets are not used as collateral for the loan. Thus, anyone who is a homeowner will find in lenders a better disposition to negotiate loan terms and will be able to obtain more advantageous terms on loans including higher loan amounts without having to overpay for them.

Homeownership and Risk

Homeownership and risk are two concepts that are related. The risk implied in any financial transaction will depend on the applicant’s creditworthiness and on other factors too. One on these factors is the applicant’s ability to repay the loan which is determined by the income and all the applicant’s assets that can be eventually sold to use the money to repay the loan.

Thus, being a homeowner greatly reduces the risk involved in any financial transaction, even if the property or properties are not used as collateral for that particular loan. This is due to the fact that regardless of the use of the properties, they are still unofficially guaranteeing repayment of any applicant’s obligations because there are legal processes other than repossession that can force the borrower to sell the property to repay the loan in the event of default.

Risk And Loan Amount

We have analyzed the fact that homeownership and risk are related, now we will go a step forward to see how risk and loan amount are related. Actually the risk involved in the financial transaction determines most of the loan terms. The loan amount is definitely not the exception. If the risk is higher, the lender will prefer to lend the least money possible in order not to risk too much on the financial transaction.

Thus, a lower risk will imply that the lender will be willing to lend a higher loan amount as this will increase his profits without too much risk of default. Since the risk can be pondered in terms of money, the higher the loan amount lent, the higher the risk. But the opposite is also true: the lower the risk implied (due to other factors like homeownership) the higher the loan amount that can be lent.

Conclusion

From the above two considerations, one can infer that homeownership implies a lower risk in any financial transaction regardless of the use of the property as collateral of the loan or not and that this risk reduction affects the loan terms in a positive way. Thus, due to the risk reduction produced by homeownership, the applicant can get lower interest rates, longer repayment programs, lower monthly payments and higher loan amounts. This last consideration is the logical consequence of the whole analysis and explains the reasons of the article’s title.