Pure wholesale lender Homepoint will provide a $500 credit on appraisal costs for borrowers buying primary homes that are designated as Fannie Mae HomePath properties, the company announced on Monday.
This is the second initiative to be launched by the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company this year to reduce costs for borrowers. In August, Homepoint began offering a 75 basis point pricing bonus for conforming conventional loans in specified ZIP codes in 20 states where a high percentage of loans are originated to people below the area median income.
The new $500 credit initiative, which has no planned end-date, is available in all 50 states for conventional loans for primary residences that are owned and sold by Fannie Mae and are designated via the HomePath program. HomePath allows homebuyers to make offers and purchase homes before the properties are available to investors.
“The more opportunities that homebuyers have to save money is always a good thing, but especially in a higher rate environment like we’re currently in,” Phil Shoemaker, Homepoint president of originations, said in a statement.
The executive added that the credit is “a significant savings opportunity provided through mortgage brokers that can help prospective buyers feel more comfortable about purchasing a home now as opposed to waiting.”
Aside from offering initiatives to attract more borrowers, executives at Homepoint are also cutting costs amid the challenging mortgage market.
Homepoint CEO Willie Newman told HousingWire in a recent interview that the company had hit the “reset” button on its structure. For example, the lender went from about 4,000 workers in the summer of 2021 to about 1,000 in the fall of 2022.
Plus, more layoffs have occurred in the fourth quarter. Last week, HousingWire reported that Home Point Financial Corporation, the lender’s parent company, cut about 100 employees in four states – Texas, Michigan, Florida and Arizona – on November 17.
