Recent industry news indicates that home buying in our backyard of Clay County should be a good thing to do right now. Interest rates are at their lowest in a long time – longer than most of our homebuyers can recall. This is good news if you’re shopping for your next mortgage.  While it has become harder to qualify for a mortgage, it is not impossible. One step to take to improve your chances is to maintain multiple relationships with a borrower – tapping into the Loyalty Factor. You recognize the importance lenders see in building loyalty by the vast number of advertising messages you see every day from lenders asking for your business, especially when you’re home shopping for your new Clay County home.  

Studies show the loyalty factor is a dramatic contributing factor in mitigating the concerns held by lenders, and therefore the probability of obtaining credit for buyers. As the economy continues to recover and lenders return to more active customer acquisition activities, the opportunities to establish yourself with your preferred lender in this somewhat traditional sense will be advantageous. While the Loyalty Factor does not show up in credit scores, studies show that when a customer has multiple relationships with the same lender, it’s a mutual win.

 Customers with multiple relationships have a history of lower than average delinquency rates making it attractive to lenders; and by establishing yourself with a lender and maintaining a good record you improve your odds for them extending credit to you. Multiple relationships provide an avenue for extending credit to consumers who traditionally have constrained credit access but can yield quite profitable relationships for lenders.  Loyalty is built in tough times more so than in good times because people remember and return to those who helped them overcome a short-term liquidity crisis, or extended credit when others wouldn’t.

 So, while you’re shopping for your next home across Clay County, take a look at your lenders here in Orange Park, Middleburg, Fleming Island and Green Cove Springs and see who you like best. Then, tap into the Loyalty Factor.