seattle

• BECU HLPR loan - possibly best loan for a first time buyer?
  Rich
  Jul 09 2007
  

  This is a very interesting loan product from BECU and has the potential of being one of the best 1st time mortgages for buyers that qualify.

  It is called the "Helper" (HLPR) loan. Basically, it's aimed at 1st time buyers buying their first home, but it should also be useful for people who have already sold their homes and are looking for another.

  There are income restrictions, credit restrictions and other guidelines, but this particular HLPR product (there are several others, see BECU's site) purports to have an ARM rate that is about 1% lower than the "going" rate. Based on my experience, their fees are also lower than most of the major banks.

  This type of loan is great for someone that is looking at short-term ownership of a property. I spoke with several industry pros and they all believe that BECU is probably not making any money - perhaps even losing money - on this loan, but may be using it to bring borrowers into other BECU products that may be profitable.

  BECU has had a reputation of being difficult to work with in the past and very slow to respond. It seems that now, though, they've cleaned up their act. They've got 24-hour mortgage reps and a lot of the process has been stream-lined and placed online. This loan is not for everyone, though, and it may not apply to every purchase. In particular, borrowers may have difficulty obtaining loans on new or conversion condos that are not FNMA approved. I spoke with several BECU reps and their answers were all over the board about this.

  More info on the site.

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