Private Non-QM Lenders Have Dropped Their Rates

Most lenders will only extend Qualified Mortgages. A Qualified Mortgage (“QM”) is a kind of loan having more stringent pre-qualification requirements. QM lenders must show the regulators that they have determined, prior to closing, that you, as a borrower, have the ability to repay your mortgage. This is logical, and will continue to be the norm for conservative lenders. Since these conservative lenders in turn have conservative investors who ultimately purchase your mortgage, their investors also want nothing to do with non-QM loans.

But if I lend you money at 6% (say 2% higher than conventional rates because of some additional risk) – there is no doubt that I already have an investor for the loan I just gave you who is willing to pay me, say, 6.5% for the same loan. Why would an investor do that? Because in a large financial market, he too has someone else on the line willing to pay him something more – and so on, and the business is profitable all around.

The old 12-13% “hard money” loans were being advanced to people having unfavorable credit when standard mortgage interest rates were at 5-6%. Now these non-QM lenders have lowered their rates to 6-8%, when today’s 30-year conventional rates have only dropped to about 4%. It’s not a bad deal to pay slightly higher non-QM rates for a brief period until you have satisfied your lender’s seasoning period requirement – and then you can refinance with a conventional mortgage without a prepayment penalty.