by mallen.9773 » Tue Jul 18, 2017 2:57 pm
I work for a large BHPH dealer, retailing roughly 1500 per year. Similarly intrigued by the question you posed, I went back through five years of our records, roughly 7000 deals looking for patterns that might indicate who the good buyers would be. I evaluated many factors (down payment, ACV, payment amount, etc) fully expecting to see a trend as to what might make a deal inclined to become a repo...it didn't happen. I was particularly expecting to find down payment as the main culprit, but similar repo percentages were noted whether the down payment was $500 or $5000.
I agree with an above poster who feels that the more true "skin in the game" a customer has, the better likelihood the loan will succeed. Unfortunately, my data couldn't distinguish whether a customer's down payment came in the form of a tax check, or through hard-earned savings.