I said in part one that house shopping sucked... well, getting the loan sucked just as much (if not more).
At the very beginning of our home buying adventure Jacob and I met with two different lenders to get "pre-approved". We had to take in a variety of documents (bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, etc.). We had credit checks done and answered several questions about our debts and our incomes. We were asked what we were thinking in terms of home purchase price. We gave them our highball number, and both lenders gave us documents stating that we were "pre-approved" for up to that purchase price. This step was super easy... took about an hour or so for each (still not really sure why we went to two different people, but Jacob thought it was a good idea, so I went with it).
Then, when there was a house in the picture and a purchase price determined is where all the fun started. We went in again to meet with our chosen mortgage broker, signed some more documents, brought in more recently pay stubs and bank statements and then (I thought) we were set to wait for the loan to be approved. We were told that it would take several weeks, though our agent put a "rush" on it so that we could have the money by our closing date which was about 4 weeks away.
We did NOT just sit there and wait. Every other day, it seems, we were getting requests for copies of different documents. Pages of bank statements that were missing (you know that page at the very end that is just a work sheet for balancing your checkbook? Apparently you need to submit that as well), missing tax documents, explanations from our parents as to why their names were on our bank accounts (because I've had my account since I was, like, 10 and my dad opened it for me). At one point it was discovered that my name and birth date was used in a credit check with a different social security number... so we needed to provide a written explanation of why this was. Our explanation? "I have no idea". lol
Our closing date was pushed back several times because the loan had not yet been approved (because they kept requesting more stuff!). I was told that we would have some kind of notice when it was finally time to sign papers (as we would both need to get off work in order to do so)... but it definitely did not turn out that way. We were "on-call" for about a week never really knowing if "today would be the day".
Finally, on the afternoon of December 22nd we got word that the papers would be ready for us to sign on the 23rd and that, if we wanted our keys before the Christmas holiday, that the papers needed to be signed and faxed by noon that day so that the money could be released to the sellers (see what I mean about "notice"?). Jacob and I both let our bosses know that we would be late in to work, and scheduled an 8:00 am appointment with the escrow agent to go sign the paperwork.
The next morning I was so relieved that everything was over! We signed the papers quickly (it didn't take as long as I was under the impression that it would) and we were out of there by about 9:00 with directions on how to wire our down payment to the escrow account, which we then set off to do.
We got to our bank, sat down with a banker and set up the wire. When we asked how long it would take, he said that it would be there by the following day. My relief suddenly vanished. If you remember, we had a noon THAT DAY deadline or we were going to have to wait several more days for the holiday weekend to be over in order to get the keys (we were already a week passed our initial closing date, and only had a week left before we had to be out of our apartment). We expressed our need for it to go quickly to the banker. He spoke to his supervisor, and they said that they would make it happen in time (phew).
We left the bank, got in the car and were just about to head home when our mortgage broker called... telling us that they needed another document from us.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had JUST signed the paperwork. And had less than THREE hours before our deadline! I was NOT happy. But, apparently they needed a document stating how much my monthly payments for my student loan would be. I am currently still in my "grace period" for that, and did not have those documents at home. So, Jacob and I head (quickly) to the bank from which I took out my loans... they were not open until 10:00.
We waited... disgruntled.
When they finally opened, we went in, sat down with a banker, and was quickly told that they bank no longer deals in student loans, and that someone else should now have my loan. Argh. She then pulled up the federal student aid website and showed me where I needed to go to figure out who currently held my loan. Guess what? The website said that THEY did. The banker had no idea why it said that their bank did, and they were not able to give me any information about my student loan.
I was a little more than frustrated.
By this point it was about 10:30. I had Jacob take me home, and he headed to work. I told everyone (escrow, mortgage, agent) that I would be at home and available until the noon deadline if anything else needed to be done. I sat at home for an hour and a half, without hearing anything... so, with my fingers crossed, I went to work.
We didn't hear anything all day... positive or negative. We had an appointment to meet our agent at the house that night, so, with fingers crossed we drove out there after work. They were both there (our primary agent and her partner, Jacob's college friend), with a bottle of wine, a gift card to Home Depot, and our keys.Definitely one hell of a Christmas present... but something I definitely don't want to do again for a very long time!
1 comment:
I've enjoyed reading your house buying posts. We're in the process of purchasing our first townhouse so I can definitely relate!
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