The mortgage space is unique from a lot of other businesses in that the customer isn’t always right.
And special offers are typically few and far between. This is mostly because of the complexities involved with closing a home loan.
For example, it’s pretty easy to find a promo code when booking a hotel, or snag a sign-up bonus for opening a credit card.
But when it comes to a home loan, you typically aren’t offered much other than perhaps speedy service, or a money-back guarantee if things go wrong and it’s entirely their fault.
Price-matching is also pretty hard to come by, though Chase has just launched such a deal.
Get $200 If Chase Can’t Match or Do Better
In honor of National Homeownership Month, Chase has rolled out some new offerings in their home loan department.
This includes homebuyer education resources, a Closing Guarantee, and as mentioned, a price-matching pilot program.
The way it works is fairly straightforward – Chase will give home buyers $200 if they can’t match or beat a competing loan offer.
To be eligible, you need to complete an initial purchase loan application with Chase by September 30th, 2023.
And you must provide an official Loan Estimate (LE) from another licensed lender that includes the same loan term, purpose, product, and loan type.
Assuming Chase can’t match or beat it, they’ll provide you with $200 within 30 days of withdrawal of the Chase application.
At the moment, this is only available to customers purchasing properties in the states of Arizona and Ohio.
And the following counties in Texas: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.
It’s also only valid for customers who hold an active Chase personal deposit account opened on or before May 1st, 2023.
Your loan scenario has to be pretty vanilla, meaning no investment properties, 2-4 unit properties, second homes, home equity loans or second mortgages.
Chase $5,000 Closing Guarantee and Lock and Shop
Aside from the new price match offer, Chase has a Closing Guarantee that provides $5,000 if they’re unable to close a home purchase loan on time.
As always, you need to hold up your end of the bargain by getting income/asset documents and signed disclosures to Chase in a timely fashion.
And the contract closing date must be at least 21 calendar days after receipt of a completed home loan application for conventional loans (30+ for FHA/VA).
Of course, delays caused by third parties or due to force majeure events won’t result in compensation.
This is kind of one of those things where if you’re using Chase anyway, keep an eye on it as you might be compensated if they don’t close on time.
Additionally, Chase launched a new “Lock and Shop” option that lets you lock in your mortgage rate for 90 days before finding a home to buy.
That way you have assurances that your mortgage payment won’t go up if mortgage rates unexpectedly rise during the home search.
And there is no upfront fee for this option when using Chase Homebuyer Advantage, which is their conditional letter of approval you can obtain upfront.
You get 60 days to find a property to purchase, and a one-time float down option will be available if mortgage rates improve during that time.
This can be combined with the Closing Guarantee as well.
Chase Offering Grants of $2,500 and $5,000 in Select Areas Nationwide
Lastly, you can search for down payment assistance and other grants via Chase’s Homebuyer assistance finder.
Simply enter an address and it will show you matched programs that might be available.
In select areas, the Chase Homebuyer Grant provides $2,500 or $5,000 toward a new home purchase.
The company notes that a $5,000 grant is available to eligible home buyers purchasing a property in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods throughout the United States.
Chase was the fourth largest mortgage lender in the U.S. in 2022, per HMDA data. They funded about $99 billion in home loans last year.
Only three lenders originated more mortgages, including United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), Rocket Mortgage, and Wells Fargo.
As always, be sure to look at the big picture when comparing mortgage offers. This includes the interest rate, lender fees, and the company’s overall competency and service.