Well, today we hear from the lender. This is pretty much it; we only have tomorrow left before the offer expires and the seller can back out. (He might not... but I don't imagine he wants to wait *another* month for us to try to get financing.)
The thing that sucks about this is that I make exactly as much as I did before I had a baby... but half of it comes from my bead income, and I just started selling professionally in August. They're not very interested in such a new source of income! I'm cheesed because they
*knew* I was on maternity leave when they did the pre-approval, but still based it on my income and not Moxley's as the primary, which would have spared us all this run-around. Moxley makes more than I do... but he's self-employed, and they hate that, and he's only made a profit for two years, and they aren't keen on that either.
We've given them every single thing they've asked for, and then some! I can't stand this waiting.
Please spare a thought for me, if you can. I appreciate it!
Good house vibes go to you, Kalera. I have a little knowledge in RE transactions... is there any way you can get "gift money" from your family? Sometimes that's all it takes - a little bit more of a downpayment (2-3K) to reduce your initial debt. And seeing as how the money is "gifted", the lender doesn't include it as a real "loan" in your paperwork; although morally, I'm sure you would work something out with whoever loans you the money in order to pay it back fast. Ask your lender if that would make a difference. :)
On Thu, 2 Oct 2003 20:00:34 -0400, Carol in SLC wrote (in message ):
Okay... who here has bought a home and _didn't_ get beat up by the bank? Look around... see any hands? When we bought our first home, I kinda understood why they made us jump through all the hoops: we were kids, using all our wedding present and second job money and had little credit history. At the time, school loans counted only if they had negative information, and American Express didn't count at all. Of course, those were our major sources of credit. Still we had plenty of money, the mortgage was going to be less than what we were paying in rent, and we had stable employment histories. (Well, Bob did. I am always looking for a bigger and better job. I get promoted a lot, and headhunters occasionally tempt me with companies who are willing to "cross my palms with silver." It looks like a lot of jobs, but they're all upward moves, and I always make substantially more for taking the next job.
True exchange: Ms. Nicklas, we see you moved from Corp. X as a sales administrator to Corp Y as a Regional Sales Manager to Corp. Z as a Sales and Marketing Director. Why did you do so much job hopping? After I stopped laughing, I pointed out the salary level at each job, and how I increased my salary from (say) $20K to $45K to $75K in the course of a year. No, it would have shown much more intelligence to stay in the first job for a whole year and accept my $20K salary with dignity, knowing that my bank would be happy with my job stability. (And the loan was for less than I made in a year. If worst came to worst, I could be a slave for them for a year or two and pay off the debt.)
They did their torment, finding wierd fees that had to be paid by us right up until the closing. At the closing, I joked that the lawyers still hadn't given us the application for the "Commonwealth of Massachusetts Home Buyer Coinage Fee." The rooted through the papers before asking what that fee was supposed to be. I said that it involved rooting through the new buyers' pockets and purse for loose change, and if any is found, confiscating it.
When we bought our second house, we expected it to go through slicker than a mackerel. We were buying from Bob's folks, putting down a huge sum of money on the place, and getting the deal of the century on price. Either one of the salaries alone would easily qualify for the mortgage, and real estate prices in Massachusetts have gone no where but up for the longest time. Inspections of any type were not necessary in this transaction, since we know the house better than any inspector, and were prepared to pour money into this beast.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The bank, having found out that I had been on a short medical leave two years prior at work, wanted a written statement from my doctor that my health would hold, enabling me to pay off their crappy mortgage! They looked askance at my unusual American Express bills, which were much higher than my stated income. Duh. I was a traveling employee, and I paid for everything and got reiumbursed. They've never seen a corporate employee before? Bah!
When we move in a few years, we're paying cash for our new home. I wonder what baloney we'll have to go through to write a darned check! Prove where we go it, at least. I guess I'll have to tell them about the kilos I've bought and sold for great profit and to feed my addiction. Wait until they find out that they're only kilos of beads!
Kalera, hold tough. Mortgage bankers are the school yard bullies of our youth. The ones with poor parents become convicts, and the ones with rich parents became mortgage bankers and administrators for the DMV. I'll send all the anti-bully, anti-bullsh*t vibes I possibly can.
Buying a house is so traumatic at times. I hate all the paperwork, the time at the mortgage company, the whole thing. If I could trust hubby with the contract negotiation, he would do it all. However, I'm the contracts manager and I have a fine tooth comb.
Thanks you guys! Margie, I snagged a few of the good vibes from your other post!
UPDATE: The lender called our realtors and said they were faxing the paperwork to the escrow office today or tomorrow!!! So it's really happening... I think. I'm still terrified about some last-minute call that calls it all off! We signed a seven-day extension on the offer just in case... 'cause if it doesn't happen tomorrow like everyone thinks it will, we don't want to lose the house on a technicality.
Karen, I am so all over sending you housebuying vibes! Let the magic work for all of us!
I'll update y'all again tomorrow... my husband is going to have to sedate me if we don't hear, I don't think I can make it through the weekend without tranquilizers if I'm still on the edge of my seat like this! Normally I like to torch when I'm wound up like this, but the baby won't sleep noway nohow, been awake 18 hours and the second I try to put her down she screams! No torching since last week and I'm going crazy here.
If I smoked pot I would do it now, I am such a little ball of nerves!
Remember at this last stage of the game, no news is good news. I've bought two homes and have gone through countless refinances and have never had one smooth deal. It's the nature of the animal for some reason. BUT all have happened and all went through after much hand wringing. It'll happen for you too!
As for baby girl? She'll settle down when you do, babies are amazing that way.
Thank you ALL! (Kathy, your story was hilarious!) Guess what? The loan went through! They faxed the paperwork; all we're waiting for is an appointment with the title company so we can sign!
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