'The Rent Busters' brings new buyers home
Montalbano Homes has been one of renting's sworn enemies.
Pete Balistreri, the regional builder's division president, has argued again and again that homebuying trumps renting even in today's struggling economy. He and his sales managers have pointed to the still historically low interest rates and the moderating home prices as major factors in homebuying's favor. And they've never failed to remind consumers that, even now, while you can build equity as a homeowner, all you can do as a renter is to keep paying money out each month with nothing to show for it but lots of cancelled checks.
However, fearing that talk isn't enough, Montalbano is taking the fight against renting to greater, more tangible lengths. Balistreri announced that Montalbano is teaming with giant lender Wells Fargo and not-for-profit homebuyer advocate AmeriDream to create "The Rent Busters," a program that will create favorable opportunities for consumers to buy a home in one of the builder's eleven Chicago-area developments.
"We feel that The Rent Busters will make the homebuying option more real for potential homebuyers, particularly first-timers and people with troubled credit," said Balistreri. "We feel that we have the perfect team with which to pull that off. We're a 33-year-old company with a passion for building high-quality, reasonably priced homes, Wells Fargo is a AAA bank with some of the easiest loan qualifying terms in the country, and AmeriDream is a charitable organization that has been the gold standard for helping families achieve the American Dream of home ownership. Against that lineup, renting doesn't have a chance."
The Rent Busters will kick off with a Web site offering homebuying information and advice. TheRentBusters.net will also detail and describe the tremendous rent busting assistance the program offers for people who want to buy a home but lack a down payment and/or have had major credit problems in the past.
Indeed, relying on the gift-giving experience and expertise of AmeriDream, Montalbano will provide qualifying buyers with a down payment that doesn't have to be repaid.
"That grant will solve the biggest problem faced by many consumers ... where to find the upfront money," said Brian O'Day, sales manager for Wells Fargo and a key member of The Rent Busters team.
The program will also extend below-market interest rates, subsidized by Montalbano and Wells Fargo. Buyers can get interest rates as low as 5 percent on a 30-year fixed loan. Or they can opt for a rate buy-down plan whose interest starts out as low as 3 percent and then later tops out at 6 percent. They can thus buy more home for whatever monthly payment they can afford. Once a loan is approved, the rate is locked in while the buyer waits for the home to be built; the rate changes only if the general rate drops.
"Many builders offer rebates or special financing. What's interesting and appealing about The Rent Busters is that it provides both a down payment rebate gift and lower interest rates," said O'Day.
But, in the end, what may be most appealing about The Rent Busters program is what buyers will be getting for their money. They can choose from among beautiful and often spacious homes in eleven different Montalbano locations throughout the Chicago area: Beecher (Nantucket Cove), Bourbonnais (The Fields at Stone Mill Farms), Cortland (Chestnut Grove), Harvard (Huntington Ridge), Joliet (Windsor Ridge), Lakewood (Highlands at Red Tail), Lynwood (Wellington Court), Matteson (The Point at Gleneagle), Plainfield (Impressions at the Streams), Poplar Grove (Bridlewood Glen), and University Park (Fairway Club Estates). "There are so many different and flexible floor plans in those communities that there's bound to be something irresistible to just about every buyer, especially given the unusually favorable financial terms of the program. We believe that consumers will embrace The Rent Busters program, and that will strike a blow against renting," said Balistreri.
For more information about The Rent Busters, call 888-894-9497 or click on www.TheRentBusters.net. Montalbano Homes