Lennar Offering to Repay Student Loans to Attract Young Buyers
You can add homebuilders to the list of companies looking to attract millennials by repaying their student debt, per The Real Deal.
Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corp. is reportedly offering to pay as much as three percent of the purchase price, or up to $13,000, towards buyers’ student loan obligations, per the Wall Street Journal. Lennar adds that this program will not increase homes’ purchase price or add to mortgage balances. In recent years some employers, such as consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, have begun offering student loan repayment as a way to lure millennials.
According to a nonprofit organization that promotes access to homeownership cited in the report, a quarter of millennials delay buying a home due to student loans. Half of millennials report that they worry about loans all or most of the time.
Experts were divided on their reaction to the plan. Some said it may create a precedent and increase the number of first-time buyers while others said, based on the experience of similar types of incentive programs, it may end up increasing home prices.
Mortgage company Fannie Mae will be backing Lennar’s loans. It’s also backing loans with down payment assistance from Loftium, a Seattle-based company that is offering up to $50,000 in down payment assistance to buyers agreeing to continuously rent out a room in their home on Airbnb for one to three years.