June 6th, 2019

There’s a reason Mortgage Champions constantly emphasizes education and advocacy in sales, and that reason is because even with all of the resources consumers have access to today, there are still a ton of misconceptions consumers have about mortgages. Fannie Mae just conducted a survey of 3,647 people in hopes to get a feel for how educated consumers are on mortgages, and here’s what they found:

• Many consumers think they need a higher credit score to qualify for a mortgage than they actually do. 53% of respondents thought a score of 650 or higher was required, even though 640 has generally been the marker, and many programs today go down to 580

• 40% of respondents didn’t know how much money was required for a down payment, and the majority who thought they knew the answer believed 10% was required.

• Out of all respondents, only 23% knew about low down payment programs

• 61% didn’t know what the max qualifying DTI ratio was, and respondents who did provide an answer thought 40% was the requirement, whereas nowadays many lenders go up to 50%

Overall, the survey found that there is still much consumer confusion when it comes to mortgage requirements. However, as a loan officer, this provides you with great opportunities to differentiate yourself from your competition by truly educating your customers in order to be a trustworthy advocate for them. That requires spending more time on applications, providing valuable insights and relevant information, building relationship, and putting together multiple options to meet their financial needs and wants.