CMG Home Loans in Hawaii is now offering a crowd-funding platform that aims to help homebuyers raise money for their down payments.
According to an announcement from the organization, homebuyers can set up a personalized campaign through an exclusive app called HomeFundIt, share it on social media and collect money contributions from anyone with a credit or debit card.
"Unlike traditional down payment gifting, HomeFundIt does not require that contributors be related to the buyer," the announcement noted. "It also avoids the hassle of offline paperwork, fees and taxes that come with traditional down payment gifts."
“As a millennial, I’ve noticed that the biggest hurdle my peers face is coming up with the down payment to purchase a home,” CMG Loan Officer Preston Sims said in a statement. “HomeFundIt allows you to build a down payment with just a few clicks. This will be life-changing for those graduating college or getting married or anyone else who can leverage these life milestones to help them purchase a home.”
According to the announcement, as home prices continue to increase, down payments continue to get more costly. "Even a lower down payment can still be thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, which can be hard to wrangle up for many buyers," it noted.
Even for those who do have the money, building a larger down payment can help reduce monthly mortgage payments, improve buying power, allow buyers to purchase more expensive homes, and even avoid mortgage insurance payments if large enough, the announcement read.
Borrowers can run their HomeFundIt campaign for as long as they want and funds raised never expire.
The platform also has an “UpIt” feature, which enables family and friends to shop online at more than 1,000 retailers to earn a rebate from the purchase, according to the announcement.
"Not only is CMG the only lender to offer a program like this, but it will give $2 for every $1 raised via online down payment gifting on the HomeFundIt platform or via shopping rebates earned using UpIt, or $10 for every social share — up to the lesser for 1% of the purchase price or $2,000," the announcement said.
Visit homefundit.com for more information.
