Enrolling
“The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise.”
How to Enroll?
Schedule a 20 minute call with our staff: here.
The call you schedule is not a sales call. It is an opportunity for you to ask questions about the implementation of the program into your benefits/perks ecosystem.
We have a 97% acceptance rate—if you want what we offer then we will provide you everything you need to begin offering ClosingGrants within a few days.
Anyone can schedule a call; you do not have to be senior management or the final decision-maker to speak with us.
Contracts? Liability?
There are no contracts to sign. There is no liability for you; we maintain all the proper insurance and licenses as needed. Your employees, members, alumni, etc. are engaging us; your organization is merely the conduit.
When you choose to offer this program a simple “explainer page” will be created. You simply add it to your online benefits portal. If your organization does not operate a specific benefits portal we have other solutions.
Who handles implementation and fulfillment?
We do all of that. Our staff answer questions and assist your people along the way to a closing. Your benefits staff will not be responsible for interpreting the program or process to anyone inside your organization. Your time spent on implementation will be very minimal. We also field all future inquiries and questions. The time burden on your staff is miniscule.
To engage ClosingGrants, completion of a short seven-question intake form is all that is necessary. One of our ClosingGrants staff will respond within a few business hours and answer any further questions. A 20-minute conference call can be scheduled with us by anyone from your organization.
What to expect when your people contact us
For those who intend to buy real estate:
An interested buyer will contact us and then be asked which city, county or zip codes the buyer prefers and we will supply a thoroughly vetted “in-network” real estate agent to assist.
All 3,000 real estate agents in our national network are interviewed, vetted, and are guaranteed to have experience in their region, price point, or property type. We guarantee a ClosingGrant that is equal to 20% off of their standard commission.
For sellers of real estate:
An interested seller will be introduced to a real estate agent that has been vetted by ClosingGrants staff. This agent will have experience listing and selling homes in that neighborhood or city. Each agent in our national network guarantees a 20% reduction in their own standard commission rate.
If their standard commission rate to list and sell a home is 3.5% of the sales price then a 20% reduction lowers the fee to 2.8%.
If the agent’s standard fee is 3% to represent a buyer then a 20% reduction lowers the fee to 2.4%. These are just two examples.
Note: Real estate agents in the US are independent contractors and each sets their own fee structure for their representation. ClosingGrants guarantees all agents in our network offer a 20% reduction in their standard commission to provide funds for a ClosingGrant. Federal law requires all ClosingGrant funds to be used to reduce total closing costs.
Is a ClosingGrant considered taxable income?
No. We specifically designed the funds transfer process to avoid triggering a taxable event. The funding is not made payable to the buyer or seller. ClosingGrants are applied to the total closing costs of a transaction and are considered either 1) a concession from the real estate agent, and/or 2) a closing credit by the mortgage loan officer.
ClosingGrants contribute to the total closing costs of a transaction; our grants often cover over 95% of the total closing costs, sometimes more, sometimes less. Every state and every county has their own formulas and calculations of costs due at closing.
Your Privacy
All transactions are kept confidential and we do not report back to the employer or sponsoring organization who in their organization has utilized the program. We make it clear to the end user—your employees, members, alumni, etc.—that the real estate activity they engage in is never reported back to the organization or institution. People appreciate their privacy and we guarantee it.
We Work to Expand Equity and Opportunity in Cities Across America
There’s a new form of philanthropy and it is about housing affordability. We make strategic philanthropic choices through grants and investments in people.
ClosingGrants leverages four elements:
- The 100+ combined years of benefits administration experience of our three female executive founders.
- The generosity of the real estate agents and mortgage loan originators that chose to participate in this grant program.
- The private foundations that saw our vision and chose to support it with long term commitments.
- Work to bolster the health outcomes of diverse communities, eliminate barriers to care, and bridge gaps in health services.
There is a long arch between bolstering healthy outcomes, wealth creation, and basic housing stability. But wealth creation—the end goal—doesn’t have a chance to take hold in a family’s life if basic housing stability isn’t achieved first.
Housing disparities in your workforce: you see it. Or you may at least perceive it. Some of your employees with the greatest accomplishments, potential to grow, and overall positive contributions to your organization may also simultaneously be struggling the most at home—renting, moving constantly due to rental increases, or just renting in undesirable neighborhoods with weak schools, a lack of parking, or a lack of peace and quiet after dark.
You want to see them in a better place, literally. But there’s little you can provide. Your benefits ecosystem is already providing what you believe to be the best benefits package in your industry, region, or for your size.
A home is the foundation for a family’s stability, current productivity, and future opportunities. We support ladders of opportunity.
We invest in people that are building America’s new future. The grants from ClosingGrants can be just the beginning. If your people respond to our surveys throughout their home buying process, we may discover that their work—and your work as the employer—is also worthy of investment.