Home Partners of America provides a new path to homeownership
For many consumers, homeownership seems out of reach, often due to burdensome financial constraints such as holding an inordinate amount of student loan debt or being unable to save enough for a down payment.
Chad Dixon, associate broker and team leader of 651 Sell Now at RE/MAX Results, however, sees beyond these challenges to the potential, and works together with Home Partners of America—a lease purchase company that has served over 10,000 households—to transform homeownership dreams into a reality for clients across Minnesota.
“My niche was alternative financing for people who couldn’t get approved for a home loan,” says Dixon of his initial dive into real estate in 2003 after serving in the Army from 1997 through 2001. “I did a lot of lease purchase marketing, fixing up our houses and selling them on lease purchase programs.”
Since then, Dixon has committed himself to bridging the gap between renting and homeownership, especially for consumers who aren’t aware that it’s even an option. With prior lease purchase experience under his belt, Dixon collaborated with Home Partners of America after a lender he was working with brought them together.
“The funny thing is, when Home Partners of America reached out to me, I didn’t call them back,” says Dixon. “But when I was working with a lender who said she had an experience with them that went well, I was reintroduced to them and the rest is history.”
A common thread uniting the two centers around core values that align and a central goal of catering to a group of people who are largely being ignored or improperly served.
“I think the biggest benefit is serving a really large segment of the market that’s underserved—those in between renting and owning a home,” says Dixon. “Most real estate agents don’t have the proper toolkit for assisting this segment of the population.”
Dixon and Home Partners of America are working toward reworking the perceived notion that some renters cannot become homeowners. The difficulty lies in educating consumers who haven’t yet attempted to obtain a home loan, as most lease purchase customers are already emotionally invested in purchasing a home, having contacted a lender only to find out it’s not currently financially feasible at that time.
“One category of people is typically better organized, as they already come from mortgage lenders. The other categories—people who come from digital marketing and referrals—struggle a little more because they still think like renters,” says Dixon. “We’re working to reframe that.”
Who benefits the most from the Home Partners of America Lease Purchase Program? Dixon believes millennials and any other tech-savvy individuals are best suited, as the service is largely tech-driven. This is typically the segment of the population that’s also having more difficulty achieving their homeownership dream, citing debt and other roadblocks as threatening their financial security.
“I feel like real estate brokers are focusing on 50 percent of the population and ignoring the other 50 percent, the latter of which are the consumers that Home Partners of America are servicing, giving us access to a segment of the population that isn’t yet ready for homeownership, but will be with the right tools,” Dixon says.
As far as feedback, Dixon’s clients have shown their appreciation by sending over continuous referral business.
“Our customers have a really good experience,” says Dixon, who states that his clients enjoy getting approved for lease purchase, as it’s a little bit like having a blank check and being able to spend that money with a new perspective on the market as inventory is wide open, especially compared to the availability they’d have if they were simply renting.
For more information, please visit www.homepartners.com.
The Lease Purchase Program (“Program”) is offered and administered by Home Partners of America, Inc. Resident and property must meet eligibility requirements, which are subject to change. Resident must qualify for a mortgage from a third party lender or pay the purchase price in cash to exercise the right to purchase a home. Home Partners does not provide financing for the resident to purchase a home. Home Partners’ approval for the resident to lease a home does not mean that the resident will later qualify for a mortgage. ©2018 Home Partners of America, Inc. All rights reserved. Home Partners, the Home Partners of America, Inc. logo and “A New Path to Homeownership” are pending or registered trademarks and service marks of Home Partners of America, Inc. or its affiliates.
Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s associate content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at ldominguez@rismedia.com. For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
