Milo Mortgage Review 2023: Pricing, Plans, and Features

Milo Finance is a revolutionary mortgage provider competing with traditional banks by allowing customers to use their crypto assets as backing and collateral. Moreover, the platform offers mortgage products to both US and foreign investors looking to purchase property in the United States.

The company was founded in 2018 in Miami but has established itself as a leader in international crypto mortgage services. The Milo team prides itself on allowing investors globally to set foot in the American property market.

You will learn more about the services Milo offers later in this article, but here is a list of their main mortgage products and rates:

While traditional banking has been offering mortgage and property loans for centuries, Milo Finance revolutionizes this financial tool by incorporating cryptocurrency. The platform accepts traditional fiat currencies as backing for their mortgage loans but allows users to use crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and USDC as well.

Additionally, Milo Finance offers an entirely online application and approval process. This allows international investors to quickly enter the US property market without having to travel and apply for visa documents.

Milo Finance has reinvented the mortgage as a lending tool for the rising crypto economy. The platform allows users to pledge their crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and USDC as a backing for their mortgage loans. The company has also introduced a revolutionary concept by allowing foreign nationals to quickly and securely invest in property in the United States.

For the moment, Milo Finance only allows investors to purchase properties in certain states, depending on the property's utility. Still, the platform gives users access to a novel investment opportunity, allowing them to utilize their crypto assets for property purchases. The way crypto mortgages work is similar to what traditional banks do with fiat-backed mortgage loans.

A user that wishes to purchase a new property would go through the approval process. Milo Finance will look at the investor’s crypto holdings and wallets, verifying their origin and value. Following the successful pass of these checks, the platform will offer the investor mortgage loan terms based on these crypto holdings.

While Milo does allow foreign investors to participate in the US market, they should still move cautiously, advises our expert, Jeffrey Beal, president of Real Estate Solutions and real estate professor.

"Foreign nationals should consult a US tax attorney as to how the property should be held or 'titled'. A lack of planning can result in unpleasant tax surprises when they sell," Beal said.

Once the mortgage is approved, the user will get fiat assets credited to their account for purchasing their new property. Importantly, repayment of monthly installments on the loan happens online, without the need to travel or physically sign any documents.

A Note: Keep in mind that if your crypto assets and home fall in value significantly, your lender may require you to pledge more crypto assets as collateral. If you don’t, the lender will be able to sell your existing assets to make up for the shortfall.

"This is just like a traditional margin call, so it's best to have a free reserve to cover this contingency. You don't want to be sold out to cover what may turn out to be only a temporary paper loss," says our expert, Jeffrey Beal.

Milo Crypto Mortgage Example

Imagine you were looking to borrow $500,000 for a property through Milo Finance with a 1:1 crypto pledge ratio. This would mean you would need to put up $500,000 worth of ETH, BTC, or USDC as your collateral, with no down payment required. For a loan term of 30 years, with the standard 8.95% interest rate on Milo crypto mortgages, you will need to repay a monthly installment of $4,005 for 30 years. That would take the total value of your repayments, including the interest, to $1,441,800. This is similar to the traditional ratio in conventional mortgages of $1  borrowed to $3 repaid.

Eligibility

Milo’s eligibility terms for securing a loan include:

• A valid passport or driver's license for identification purposes.

• When pledging a mix of ETH, BTC, and USDC, a person must have at least $200,000 in crypto assets.

• When using only USDC as collateral, a person must have at least $80,000.

"The $120,000 difference in crypto vs. USDC is due to crypto volatility and liquidity issues," notes our expert Jeffrey Beal. "Nevertheless, it's a way of using your crypto without liquidating it."

Milo Finance offers the full suite of crypto and fiat-backed mortgage products for both US nationals and foreign investors. Check out the complete list of products below:

Crypto Purchase Mortgage

If you are looking to back your mortgage with crypto, Milo has you covered. The Crypto Purchase mortgage allows you to use your crypto assets as a downpayment instead of converting them to fiat and potentially generating more taxes for your end-of-year reports.

This amounts to a carefully-placed bet that depends on your crypto and real assets both rising in value, and works in part because of the tax deferral benefits involved, says our expert Jeffrey Beal at Real Estate Solutions.

"This strategy will only work if the appreciation and or the inflation over the holding period is greater than the interest rate you are paying on the mortgage. If that is the case, you will have deferred taxes on your crypto gain, deducted (to the permissible extent) the mortgage interest, and paid back the loan with less valuable dollars," Beal said. "In short, the value of the assets goes up, the value of the debt goes down, and no taxes are due until you sell. An astute investor might even defer the taxes further through a 1031 exchange."

Crypto Refinance Mortgage

Refinancing a mortgage on a property you already own is another great way to get funding for new investments. Milo Finance allows you to back a mortgage refinance with crypto assets. With a Crypto refinance mortgage, users can cash out up to 100% of their property’s value depending on their crypto pledge.

Purchase Mortgage

Purchase mortgages allow Milo Finance users to take advantage of a completely cash-backed loan. Unlike banks, Milo allows users to complete the application and repayment process exclusively online. Additionally, the approval process takes only about a month, while traditional banking institutions usually require more time to process mortgage applications.

Refinance Mortgage

Just like the crypto refinance mortgage, the fiat-backed refinance mortgages on Milo Finance allow users to build up liquidity backed by properties they already own. Offering much faster processing times than traditional banks, Milo Finance is a great way for both US and non-US citizens to cash out on their property and get liquidity.

Prequalification

Aside from actual mortgage products, Milo Finance offers a comprehensive prequalification process. This product allows users to complete an online questionnaire that can give them actual information about the mortgage products they can take advantage of, including specific interest rates, loan terms, and costs. The prequalification also speeds up a future mortgage application, allowing users to take advantage of Milo Finance’s full suite of products in a matter of hours.

Milo is licensed to operate in most of the United States territories. However, depending on the type of investment you are looking to make, your options might be limited. Check the table below for more information.

Step 1: Visit milo.io and click on the “Sign In” button at the top right corner.

Step 2: Choose whether you want to sign in with a Google profile or create a new local profile. For this example, we will create a new Milo profile by clicking on “Create an account” at the bottom of the page.

Step 3: Fill in a preferred email and password and click on “Create account”.

Step 4: You are now logged in to Milo. On your homepage, you will see your dashboard and an application page. Click on “Apply” to start a new mortgage application.

Step 5: Select whether you are a first-time buyer or you already have a mortgage and want to refinance. For this example, we will choose the first-time buyer option on the left of the screen

Step 6: Select the first option if you’ve already started the process and have a purchase contract. If you’re just starting out, select the “I need a pre-qualification letter” option at the bottom of the next screen.

Step 7: Start the pre-qualification process.

Step 8: Select the time frame in which you are looking to purchase your new home. We’ll select the “3-6 months” period for this example.

Step 9: Select the reason for purchasing the property.

Step 10: Select the state you’re looking to purchase property in.

Step 11: Fill in your personal information. Start with your full legal name.

Step 12: Fill in your mobile number with the correct country code.

Step 13: Fill in your residential information.

Step 14: Select the type of property you are looking to purchase.

Step 15: Select how you want to apply for a mortgage - are you a single applicant, or applying with a spouse, co-owner, or through a corporation?

Step 16: Select whether you own any other properties.

Step 17: Select your nationality.

Step 18: Select your US immigration status.

Step 19: Select your Visa status if needed.

Step 20: Select your FICO credit score band if you have one.

Step 21: Fill in your yearly income.

Step 22: Select the type of assets you currently own.

Step 23: State whether you hold any cryptocurrency.

Step 24: Detail your crypto holdings - what is your wallet provider, and how many tokens do you hold in your account?

Step 25: Wait for the platform to verify your information.

Step 26: Once your information has been checked, you will receive an email confirmation of Milo’s decision. You could contact the Milo customer support team if you did not qualify for a letter.

Step 27: If you got your pre-qualification letter, you can now check the mortgage terms and conditions you will get depending on the amount of money you’d like to borrow from Milo.

KYC (Know-Your-Customer)

KYC checks are performed on all applicants, ensuring that there is no identity fraud and that applicants are filling out the forms under their own names. This is a critical feature securing both Milo’s integrity as a mortgage provider and your personal information.

AML (Anti-Money Laundering)

All crypto funds declared by applicants are checked through rigid anti-money laundering verifications. This important security feature guarantees that Milo and its customers are not involved in illicit or illegal activity.

KYT (Know-Your-Transaction)

Combined with anti-money laundering checks, Milo also performs know-your-transaction checks for wallet addresses provided by its client. This is an additional security feature ensuring the origin of crypto assets and bolstering the anti-money laundering policies on the platform.

Liquid asset validation

For customers who wish to back their loans with liquid fiat assets, Milo performs liquid asset validation checks with banks. This is done to ensure that all mortgages Milo offers can be repaid, protecting the company and its customers alike.

Read our full crypto mortgage article.

• What is Milo Finance’s valuation?

  Expand to learn more

  In March 2022, Milo Finance secured a Series A investment round worth $17 million, while in 2021, the platform processed mortgage applications for over $400 million.

• Can you use crypto to qualify for a mortgage?

  Expand to learn more

  Yes, Milo considers both fiat and crypto savings when users apply for a mortgage.

• What are the current Milo Crypto mortgage rates?

  Expand to learn more

  At the time of writing, Milo offers a variable interest rate between 6% and 9.25%, depending on the type of mortgage product.