A young couple relaxes with a cool beverage while sitting in a room full of boxes. They are packing for their move after being pre-approved for a new purchase they bought with the gift of equity from a relative.

JVM formally pre-approved 268 borrowers for the purchase of a home in June.

This was an all-time record for us and up over 100% from last June, when we only pre-approved 124 borrowers.

I share this b/c agents ask all the time if our pre-approval numbers are up year over year, and the answer is a pretty emphatic “yes.” 😊

Needless to say, our Texas and Bay Area markets are hot!

GIFT OF EQUITY IN LIEU OF A DOWN PAYMENT

This is a reminder that sellers can “gift” equity to cash-starved buyers who can’t come up with down payments.

If sellers gift a full 20% of the purchase price, buyers don’t need to put any cash down at all.

Sellers need to be a relative in most cases, but “relative” is a pretty loose term and lenders don’t verify relationships – so there is room for a bit of creativity on occasion.

I bring this up again b/c an agent recently asked me about a landlord selling to a friendly tenant with a “gift of equity.”

I blogged about Gifts of Equity with more detail in February.

Jay Voorhees
Founder/Broker | JVM Lending
(855) 855-4491 | DRE# 1197176, NMLS# 310167

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