Chenoa Fund Blog

Everyone’s path to homeownership looks different, but most people will encounter a few roadblocks along the way. That’s certainly more likely these days, as higher interest rates and low housing inventory are placing additional obstacles on the path to buying a home.   Fortunately, Chenoa Fund, CBC Mortgage Agency’s down payment assistance program (DPA), is helping … Continue reading "How to Overcome Homeownership Roadblocks with Chenoa Fund"

Many Americans spend years saving up enough money for a down payment on a home. Under normal circumstances, the endeavor is a major struggle that takes hard work, diligence and sacrifice. But over the past year, the struggle has gotten harder than ever. Thanks to inflation and the lingering impacts of the Covid pandemic, a … Continue reading "The Case of the Disappearing Down Payment—And How to Solve It"

Housing markets are always evolving, although today’s market looks starkly different than it did one year ago. Not only have interest rates roughly doubled over the past year, but housing prices are lower, too. In fact, 2023 could see the first year-over-year decline in prices since the Great Recession. As 2023 gets under way, many … Continue reading "How Softening Home Prices Impact New Originations"

What would you do if one-third of the loans that you worked on could be saved? How many families would you help become homeowners? How much would it grow your income? A recent Down Payment Resource (DPR) study found that 33% of declined mortgage files were eligible for down payment assistance—down payment assistance that could … Continue reading "How to Save Up to One-third of Denied Mortgages"

Minority homeownership has been a trending topic in the mortgage industry for some time now. Two factors play a large role in this: wealth inequality and intergenerational wealth. These topics rise to the top because it is generally believed that improving homeownership rates will help to reduce wealth inequality between racial groups and grow intergenerational … Continue reading "How Lenders and Realtors Can Increase Minority Homeownership"

Rates are rising. Home prices are skyrocketing. Rent is blowing up. Inflation is tightening the budget of nearly everyone in the USA. Homebuyers are still out there, looking for a great deal, but the deluge of yesteryear has come and gone, leaving some lenders and realtors scrambling to snap up the buyers on the market. … Continue reading "Tips for Lenders and Realtors to Discover New Homebuyer Opportunities"

“Transitory inflation” has proven to have much more staying power than the word transitory might suggest, and as a result many borrowers are seeing the purchase of a home grow ever more difficult—specifically, more expensive. For borrowers familiar with the unprecedentedly low rates of yesteryear, this can be extremely frustrating, or even feel unfair. However, … Continue reading "How Inflation May Impact Lenders"

There are a variety of reasons that future homebuyers across the nation are looking into down payment and closing cost assistance programs right now. With the recent rise in interest rates, along with home prices that have been rising for a while, many borrowers need down payment assistance (DPA) just to afford the home in … Continue reading "Guide to Qualifying for Down Payment Assistance"

With the unpredictable housing market many lenders and real estate agents are looking for additional ways to grow their business. Buyers are still turning out in droves to get a new home making the home buying market extremely competitive. For lenders and real estate agents, this could lead to opportunity within the market if you’re … Continue reading "Tips for Lenders and Real Estate Agents to Grow Business with Chenoa Fund Down Payment Assistance"

The refinance market has been extremely hot during recent years. Specifically, not long after COVID lockdowns started many lenders found themselves doing so many refinances that it became difficult to make the time to originate a mortgage, much to the frustration of some borrowers looking to take advantage of low rates. But in recent months … Continue reading "Why Mortgage Lenders are Pivoting to Home Purchases Rather Than Refinances"