RISMEDIA, Feb. 8, 2007-Chase, one of the nation's leading residential housing lenders, has announced it has expanded the Chase Premier Builder Program to include far more builders and ultimately benefit many more consumers.
"The enhancements are designed to help builders expedite the sale of standing inventory, mitigate the rising level of cancellations, boost potential homebuyer traffic in communities and increase the pool of qualified buyers," said Desmond Smith, senior vice president for Business Development at Chase.
Chase Premier Builder was designed to make mortgage financing easier for qualified consumers who buy homes from builders who are Chase Premier Builders.
The new builder qualification criteria expansions include:
• A three-year experience level for builders that maintain at least 20% of annual sales in affordable units
• No stated net worth or annual home sales requirement for builders
"The enhanced program also allows a builder to offer mortgage payment funds for qualifying home buyers for the first six months after purchase," said Smith. "In addition, qualified buyers can elect to waive the final inspection in many areas, which saves them money, and are eligible to extend life-of-credit documents for up to one year."
Benefits for qualified Premier Builder home buyers include:
• Expanded seller contributions up to 5% for Loan-To-Values greater than 90%. Allowable seller contributions include up to six months Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance payments, origination fees up to 1%, discount points, closing costs, prepaids normally paid by the borrower, homeowner association dues and temporary buy downs
• Completion escrows may be waived if the incomplete items do not affect livability and do not exceed 2% of the cost of the home
• Gift funds as down payment are allowed on Loan-To-Values greater than 80% for avoiding liquidation of buyer assets
"Chase increased its volume of new build and construction originations more than 25% last year," said Smith. "These enhancements point to Chase's continued commitment to form successful relationships with the builder community and to assist consumers buying new-construction homes."
To support this growing segment of the business, Chase recently appointed Vito "Bill" Giandurco and William Hendricks to head-up its Single-Family Builder segment. The growing Multi-Family Builder segment is led by Andrew Leff and Drew Matheson. Finally, Amy Marcussen leads the Construction Lending segment with the National Construction Sales team being managed by Thomas Cavagnaro.
Chase made these announcements at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, where it is exhibiting in booth W3843 with more information about the Chase Premier Builder program along with financing programs to support builders in the new-home industry.
For more information, visit www.chase.com.
