Financed buyers now have a way to compete with cash offers.

Plus what actually happened with rates last week

Current Rates

National averages sourced from MBS Live. Actual rates vary based on borrower profile, loan structure, and market timing.

What actually happened last week

Rates moved lower by the end of the week.

It started with bond market volatility pushing rates to their highest levels since last summer. But by Friday markets had stabilized. Reports of constructive movement in Iran peace negotiations helped bond yields recover and mortgage rates followed.

The one thing your buyers need to hear

The weekly surveys making headlines right now use lagging data. By the time an article publishes, the rate it references may already be history. Real time pricing moves faster than the news cycle. Buyers making decisions based on headlines alone may be reacting to a moment that has already passed.

What's coming up in the market right now

The problem

Financed buyers keep losing to cash offers in WNY even when their price is higher.

When a seller sees a cash offer next to a financed offer, the financed offer carries more uncertainty. Not because the buyer isn't qualified, but because sellers and their agents have seen financed deals fall apart at contingencies before. That uncertainty shows up as a lower offer ranking even when the financed price is higher.

The tool

A cash closing guarantee changes that dynamic.

When a buyer goes through a full underwritten pre-approval, not just a standard pre-qualification but a complete review of income, assets, and credit, certain lenders can back that offer with a cash closing commitment. If traditional financing falls through for reasons outside the buyer's control, the lender steps in and closes the loan. The seller gets the certainty of cash. The buyer gets to compete.

Some lenders now back these commitments with a seller guarantee. If the loan is declined for reasons within the lender's control, the seller receives a cash payment. It's a meaningful signal of confidence in the underwriting process and directly addresses one of the biggest concerns sellers have about financed offers.

The distinction

This is not the same as a standard pre-approval letter.

It requires a deeper level of verification upfront and not every lender offers it. It is worth a conversation with your loan officer before the next offer goes in.

That's exactly the kind of call worth making before the next offer goes in.

One way to frame the conversation

When a buyer loses a deal to a cash offer or is worried they will, here's one way to keep things moving:

The conversation that protects your deal

When a seller sees a financed offer, there is always a question in the background. Will this actually close? That question exists regardless of how qualified the buyer is, because financing contingencies introduce a layer of uncertainty that cash removes entirely.

The earlier the financing structure is discussed, before the offer not after, the more options there are to address it. A loan officer who understands how to position a financed offer competitively is a different kind of resource than one who just quotes rates.

Agent Spotlight  ·  Western New York

Trudi Moag - HUNT Real Estate