This is the trade-up home buyer’s dilemma: in most cases, until his/her existing home actually sells, he cannot truly close on a new home.
Home sellers are increasingly wary of the standard contingency clause that gives a buyer an out if his/.her present home doesn’t sell.
Those sellers like all cash buyers.
What’s a trade-up home buyer to do?
Enter Calque, the trade-in mortgage company.
Calque, on its website, tells how its process works: “Fill out a 5-minute questionnaire on our website, and we will send you a purchase price guarantee (PPG) within 3-5 business days. The PPG assures you that if your house doesn’t sell on the open market within a specified timeframe (usually 120 days in most markets), Calque will buy it for a mutually agreed upon, fair price. Once you accept the PPG, a lending partner will pre-approve you for your new home loan.”
Here’s the end game: “Sell your original house on the open market for maximum value. If you aren’t able to sell and close on it within the specified time frame (usually 120 days in most markets), Calque will buy it for the PPG. Either way, you move forward with a conventional loan on your new home.”
Where do credit unions come in? Jeremy Foster, a Calque senior executive, explains that credit unions, which already have the trust of their members, can readily explain the admittedly innovative Calque process to their members.
Set up in the Calque system is fast and simple, no core interface required. A credit union would be up and running with Calque in two weeks to two months, says Foster.
Now about now you are probably wondering what kind of weird name is Calque. The good news is that is exactly what I ask Foster in the beginning of the show.
Know that a calque is also called a loan translation – here’s a link that explains what this linguistics mumbo jumbo means.
Claque is a brilliant play on words – but it also may be just the device for removing a big slice of friction and anxiety from the trade-up home-buying process of members.
