Here's How We Helped This First-Time Homebuyer Save $43,000

A first time homeowner saved a ton of money on his home loan by flexing some Own Up muscle with his original lender, and we feel pretty damn good about it.

Own Up exists to make sure homebuyers get the best deal on their mortgage as they navigate an industry tilted in favor of lenders, not consumers. And so sometimes it turns out that our favorite customer stories come from homebuyers who don’t actually end up using a lender in the Own Up network. And that’s the case with Max, a software engineer in Boston, MA that was buying his first home. Thanks to a competitive rate he received from Own Up, he was able to secure a loan with a significantly lower interest rate than the one he was offered by his original agent-recommended lender.

Here is Max’s story.

Max and his fiancé started the home buying process by making what they thought was a non-competitive offer on a first home. Four hours later and much to their surprise, their offer was accepted and they were suddenly in a rapid scramble for a lender, coordinating the search from two different states and time zones.

“This was the first house we put an offer on, and to be honest it wasn’t all that competitive considering the market and where we were looking at buying. We said ‘hey, what the hell, we’ll low ball it and if they take it they take it!’ And they did… Our offer was accepted within four hours of us putting it in and things went in motion way faster than we anticipated. We didn’t expect that it would even be considered.”

Throughout the following weeks that were filled with busy work schedules and a crash course in home buying, Max’s real estate agent recommended that he work with her preferred mortgage lender – a common occurrence for new homebuyers. After receiving the initial rate from the lender, a change in the market caused the rate to jump up, and Max was concerned he might not be getting the best rate. A co-worker recommended that Max take a look at Own Up.

“The rates had gone up before I was able to lock them in. I was a little bit surprised by how much they went up by – about a quarter a percent from what they were offering. I had inquired with co-workers to see where they thought I might be able to find a better offer and Own Up was the first recommendation I got.”

Max worked with Mike, a Home Advisor at Own Up, and was able to find a loan that was a half a percent better than his original lender’s offer. This new rate equated to more than $43,000 in savings!

“Talking with Mike was a game changer. My main concerns weren’t only that I would be saving money but that I would get the customer service that I needed. Having that conversation with Mike at the outset was the reason we could go down that path because I was able to tell my agent ‘listen you can talk to these people, it’s going to be fine, I know you’re concerned it’s a broker and you haven’t worked with them before but they’re great.’ The offer that I got from the bank that was offered through Own Up was dramatically better than my original offer.”

With a significantly better offer from Own Up, Max went back to his original lender with the leverage needed to negotiate better financial terms. In order to keep Max as a customer, the lender lowered their interest rate and decreased their closing costs. Because Max had already begun the process with that lender, and knowing that he was now getting fair terms, he decided to finish out the process with that lender.

“I was compelled to go back to my original lender and say ‘look guys, this isn’t going to cut it, a half a percent is a lot of money over the life of a loan, my agent is comfortable with you guys and you have great customer service but something has got to give here. If it weren’t for Own Up I wouldn’t have had the leverage to say you need to work with me or I’m going somewhere else.”

In an industry that is confusing and murky on its best days, we were able to tilt the balance of power to favor the homebuyer, not the lender. Even though Own Up ultimately didn’t get paid for our service to Max, we’re thrilled that we helped him save thousands of dollars and we’re confident that we have a customer for life.

“Own Up was extremely helpful in saving us in the long run. I really appreciate that I could get the best possible rate through Own Up. If we hadn’t thought of shopping around we wouldn’t have gotten such a wonderful rate.”

Best of luck to Max and his fiancé – we’re always here if you need us!

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