Competition for home buyers is tougher than ever right now, as tightened housing stock supply continues to plague the housing market.

Acra Lending is doing what it can to help free up inventory. The company specializes in non-QM products, a sector that serves many borrowers who might not fit agency loans. By working with borrowers in unusual circumstances, Acra is helping create opportunities for inventory to open up.

3-month bank statement

For example, look at Acra’s 3-month bank statement loan program, said Keith Lind, executive chairman and president of Acra. For those who may have lost their job during the pandemic or who are self-employed, looking at the last three months of bank statements is, “more useful than looking at the last 12 or 24,” Lind said.

The 3-month bank statement program is ideal for borrowers with nontraditional income streams. Borrowers can qualify with their most recent personal or business account bank statements rather than going through an agency underwrite that requires more documentation.

Acra’s 3-month bank statement requirements are stringent, so no borrower is getting a loan they won’t be able to afford.

Using a 3-month bank statement program, borrowers who would not otherwise qualify due to lost or nontraditional income may be able to buy a new home and place their own on the market.

Jumbo products

In addition to low inventory, the massive competition in the market has led to an increase in home prices. According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, the average purchase price had risen to $384,000 as of May.

While that’s still below the $548,250 minimum price tag requiring a jumbo loan, the higher average indicates big increases across the board.

“With home prices increasing, a lot more loans fall out of agency guidelines and will fall into the jumbo prime product center,” Lind said.

Acra’s jumbo prime mortgage solution is designed to provide borrowers with the larger loan amounts needed to purchase a high-value property, with loan amounts up to $3 million.

The lender also offers a jumbo non-QM product, which allows borrowers to qualify with full doc or bank statements for loan amounts up to $4 million.

By providing jumbo loans, lenders like Acra are able to make those higher-priced homes available as an option for home buyers.

Fix’n’flip

The third way in which Acra is poised to help expand on housing inventory is through its upcoming fix n’ flip loan vertical.

Fix n’ flip loans are ideal for investors and developers looking to purchase a home and renovate it. Many fix’n’flippers look at older housing stock that isn’t immediately move-in ready, taking on needed updates and rehab to bring the home up to date with the current market’s living standards.

Once the newly updated home is ready, it can then go right back onto the market, much more appealing for standard home buyers than it might have previously been. Through these loans, developers and investors are able to bring new stock to the market that may have been previously overlooked or passed up.

“The fix’n’flip market should absolutely be beneficial to bring on more inventory,” Lind said. “We’re very excited to enter the fix’n’flip space. Our goal is to provide two loans there – we provide the fix’n’flip loan and then the permanent financing for the next person that’s going to get into that home and want to live there for a long time.”