Mortgage banker spends five years helping couple buy a home

Mortgage banker: Patricia Leary

Property type: Single-family home in Hamden

Purchase price: $194,000

Loan amount: $187,210

Appraised value: $202,000.

Loan type: Federal Housing Administration loan.

Backstory: Leary often works with first-time home buyers getting them ready to purchase a home.

Leary received a call from a woman on 10-18-2013 referred to Leary by the woman’s landlord, a client of hers. The woman and her husband wanted to meet with Leary to see if they could get qualified for a mortgage to buy their first home. They were spending $1,300 a month in rent.

Leary set up an appointment with the couple and at that time, she looked at their credit and income. Leary went over their credit report with them and informed them that they needed to increase their scores to be able to qualify for a mortgage. Leary then went over their income and job histories. The husband had multiple jobs and collected unemployment the previous year.

The couple started to work on their credit, paying off collections as well as paying down credit card debt.

It took them until 09-12-2017 to obtain the credit scores needed to purchase with an FHA mortgage, which would require a 3.5 percent down payment. Unfortunately, at this time, the husband was laid off from his job. Leary told them to contact her once the husband was employed again.

Leary received a call at the beginning of 2018 and learned the borrower had started a new position.

Leary went over his position with him and the hours he was working per week. She told him that he would have to be at that position for at least six months to qualify.

In July, Leary looked at their credit and income again and came up with the amount they qualified for.

They were issued a pre-qualification letter and started looking with their Realtor. They located a property at the end of September and came to contract.

Leary then learned they had leased a new vehicle. This made a big difference in their debt-toincome ratio. Leary informed them they needed to pay down credit cards to zero to obtain their mortgage commitment.

The couple closed at the end of October 2018 on their purchase. They were very thankful to Leary for all of the work she put into helping them buy their first home.

This buyer gave Leary all 10’s when filling out the Atlantic Home Loans Customer Feedback and stated, “We are very pleased we found you guys, the help and effort from your team was incredible. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity of us owning this home.”

Pat Leary, Atlantic Home Loans, (203) 645-1037