Monday, January 28, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
48 Hours...
...and it will be ours! Everything has moved along very well over the past week since finding out our loan had received final approval. We are scheduled for the walk through at 9am on Monday, followed by closing at 10am. All of the other details have fallen into place perfectly as well. The termite inspector was back out and satisfied with the treatment and all of the required repairs resulting from the inspection. All of the other work related to the home inspection has been completed and the seller even had the entire front porch repainted for us.
Yesterday, we obtained our cashiers check for the down payment and were pleasantly surprised after receiving the settlement statement last night that over $400 of it will be refunded to us due to the seller's contribution to settlement costs, the lender credit we received for locking in our interest rate at the time of loan application, and the funds we've already prepaid like our deposit and appraisal fee.
I remain astonished at this entire process. What I had envisioned in my head of how this would go couldn't have been farther from the reality of how it actually all went down. How we went from falling in love with this house online back in November, to closing on it two days from now, on the exact date we specified at the very beginning, without any problems, hassle, or last minute bumps just amazes me. Any worry or stress was strictly self inflicted out of fear that something negative would happen, not from anything that actually occurred.
We are just about all packed. This weekend we are doing a few last minute things and trying to do the nitty gritty cleaning for the apartment like bathrooms and the kitchen. My hope is to vacuum rooms as the movers empty them and be able to walk out of here Wednesday night, a day ahead of schedule, so that we can concentrate our efforts Thursday and Friday on unpacking and getting things set up at the house the way we want them.
I'm going to keep the blog going though as we discover the adventures that await us as homeowners and as we take on various projects. After seeing so much in the way of negative experiences on the internet, and after seeing how ours turned out, I hope that this can provide a sense of hope and what to expect to someone who is thinking about venturing down this road. I know it certainly would have helped me and perhaps given me some reassurance at the time when I had no idea whatsoever what awaited me as we started out on this endeavor.
Happy weekend to all!
Yesterday, we obtained our cashiers check for the down payment and were pleasantly surprised after receiving the settlement statement last night that over $400 of it will be refunded to us due to the seller's contribution to settlement costs, the lender credit we received for locking in our interest rate at the time of loan application, and the funds we've already prepaid like our deposit and appraisal fee.
I remain astonished at this entire process. What I had envisioned in my head of how this would go couldn't have been farther from the reality of how it actually all went down. How we went from falling in love with this house online back in November, to closing on it two days from now, on the exact date we specified at the very beginning, without any problems, hassle, or last minute bumps just amazes me. Any worry or stress was strictly self inflicted out of fear that something negative would happen, not from anything that actually occurred.
We are just about all packed. This weekend we are doing a few last minute things and trying to do the nitty gritty cleaning for the apartment like bathrooms and the kitchen. My hope is to vacuum rooms as the movers empty them and be able to walk out of here Wednesday night, a day ahead of schedule, so that we can concentrate our efforts Thursday and Friday on unpacking and getting things set up at the house the way we want them.
I'm going to keep the blog going though as we discover the adventures that await us as homeowners and as we take on various projects. After seeing so much in the way of negative experiences on the internet, and after seeing how ours turned out, I hope that this can provide a sense of hope and what to expect to someone who is thinking about venturing down this road. I know it certainly would have helped me and perhaps given me some reassurance at the time when I had no idea whatsoever what awaited me as we started out on this endeavor.
Happy weekend to all!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Patience is a Virtue
The waiting game is no fun! Since hearing that the appraisal came back ok, we have been in waiting mode. We've been keeping ourselves busy packing, which is starting to overwhelm me. Tuesday night of this week I packed things that were on shelves in our storage room and as I wandered the apartment, box in hand, looking for some open floor space to set it down, I nearly had my first meltdown. We've been living in a maze of boxes for over two weeks now. With all of the furniture still here plus the boxes everywhere you look, it just makes you feel like you're never going to get there. Every time I think I have a particular room all packed, I'll spot something else I forgot about. Looking around the apartment at everything sitting around, the fear of something going wrong struck again. I have no idea what we'd do. We have no contingency plan for temporary storage. We have no flexibility to stay beyond the 31st since the new tenants are ready to move as soon as we're out and we absolutely are not going to pay movers to move us twice. All we can do is keep moving forward and pray for the best.
I took another step this week to complicate things even further if the situation ends up turning bad by calling to transfer all of our utilities effective on our closing date, the 28th. Why not just toss that in there as well to cry about if something goes wrong.
I learned on Wednesday night of this week that our file had been in underwriting for four business days. What? Everything I've read has indicated that underwriting should only take about 24 hours. This can't be good. What is the hold up? Do they need more information? Are they questioning something? I still hadn't heard whether the appraisal had listed anything negative about the house that would have to be addressed before approval and closing, so could this be it? The loan officer said that she would check in with the underwriters in the morning and let me know what's going on.
By Thursday afternoon, I hadn't heard anything and began to worry. We're only a little more than a week out from closing and being "homeless". I've become "that" person in the sense that I set up the loan officer and the real estate agent in my VIP list for emails so that when I received communication from them, my phone would light up like a Christmas tree. So, when the bells and whistles started going off just before leaving work Thursday night, I nearly tripped over my own feet to grab it off of my desk. While my loan had been in underwriting all this time, it was just being worked for the first time that afternoon. While I was relieved that some number cruncher hadn't been stewing over it and debating nearly all week whether to give me the loan or not, I still wanted an answer and wanted it now. I likely wouldn't hear until sometime on Friday.
Shortly after lunch on Friday, I received the appraisal from one of my loan officer's assistants. I sent back the acknowledgement of receipt and began reading over it. I was thrilled to see all of the positive things he listed about the house and what great shape it was in. I was even more happy to see that there were no FHA/HUD contingencies that required addressing before loan approval and closing.
Shortly after reading through the appraisal, my phone began to dance across my desk. There it was, an email from the loan officer. Hands shaking and knees wobbling, I picked it up. All I had to do was read the subject line. That alone told me exactly how this story ends. APPROVED!! in big bold letters!! Holy crap! We had done it! In this age of nightmares and horror stories about home buying experiences, we had received a clean approval, with no further conditions attached. I made one and only one trip to the mortgage company to turn over my initial collection of documentation and sign the loan application papers. There was no running back and forth. There was no gathering additional documentation. And as it turns out, there was no reason to stress out as much as I did. We were approved over a week prior to our scheduled closing date and all signs pointed to an on time closing. Wow!
In the approval email, the loan officer made a point to mention the manner in which I submitted all of my backup documentation and my ability to "get" how a paper trail needed to be followed. This will my biggest piece of advice to anyone thinking of going into this process. I did my homework ahead of time, provided probably more than they required, and got a clean approval without the constant back and forth that so many friends have described from their own experiences. In the end, it was so worth the extra upfront effort!
So we are now 9 days away from closing. We are still packing and are down to probably two rooms left to get boxed up. I'll probably update again next weekend just before closing and then again shortly afterward. It's all coming together and we couldn't be happier!
I took another step this week to complicate things even further if the situation ends up turning bad by calling to transfer all of our utilities effective on our closing date, the 28th. Why not just toss that in there as well to cry about if something goes wrong.
I learned on Wednesday night of this week that our file had been in underwriting for four business days. What? Everything I've read has indicated that underwriting should only take about 24 hours. This can't be good. What is the hold up? Do they need more information? Are they questioning something? I still hadn't heard whether the appraisal had listed anything negative about the house that would have to be addressed before approval and closing, so could this be it? The loan officer said that she would check in with the underwriters in the morning and let me know what's going on.
By Thursday afternoon, I hadn't heard anything and began to worry. We're only a little more than a week out from closing and being "homeless". I've become "that" person in the sense that I set up the loan officer and the real estate agent in my VIP list for emails so that when I received communication from them, my phone would light up like a Christmas tree. So, when the bells and whistles started going off just before leaving work Thursday night, I nearly tripped over my own feet to grab it off of my desk. While my loan had been in underwriting all this time, it was just being worked for the first time that afternoon. While I was relieved that some number cruncher hadn't been stewing over it and debating nearly all week whether to give me the loan or not, I still wanted an answer and wanted it now. I likely wouldn't hear until sometime on Friday.
Shortly after lunch on Friday, I received the appraisal from one of my loan officer's assistants. I sent back the acknowledgement of receipt and began reading over it. I was thrilled to see all of the positive things he listed about the house and what great shape it was in. I was even more happy to see that there were no FHA/HUD contingencies that required addressing before loan approval and closing.
Shortly after reading through the appraisal, my phone began to dance across my desk. There it was, an email from the loan officer. Hands shaking and knees wobbling, I picked it up. All I had to do was read the subject line. That alone told me exactly how this story ends. APPROVED!! in big bold letters!! Holy crap! We had done it! In this age of nightmares and horror stories about home buying experiences, we had received a clean approval, with no further conditions attached. I made one and only one trip to the mortgage company to turn over my initial collection of documentation and sign the loan application papers. There was no running back and forth. There was no gathering additional documentation. And as it turns out, there was no reason to stress out as much as I did. We were approved over a week prior to our scheduled closing date and all signs pointed to an on time closing. Wow!
In the approval email, the loan officer made a point to mention the manner in which I submitted all of my backup documentation and my ability to "get" how a paper trail needed to be followed. This will my biggest piece of advice to anyone thinking of going into this process. I did my homework ahead of time, provided probably more than they required, and got a clean approval without the constant back and forth that so many friends have described from their own experiences. In the end, it was so worth the extra upfront effort!
So we are now 9 days away from closing. We are still packing and are down to probably two rooms left to get boxed up. I'll probably update again next weekend just before closing and then again shortly afterward. It's all coming together and we couldn't be happier!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
As Good As It Gets...
So here we are at January 12th. It has been a couple of weeks since I've posted an update, so let me get started catching up on everything.
First off, the appointment with the loan officer. I was so nervous that morning. I felt like I was prepared, but my stomach stayed in knots all morning until I left work to head to my appointment. I found the office with no problem and walked in to a sign on the front desk welcoming me. I'm pretty sure the receptionist thought I had to pee or something the way I was rocking back and forth on the waiting area couch, but that's just me when my nerves are shot. The loan officer came out to greet me and suddenly I felt incredibly at ease. She could not have made me feel more welcome and comfortable. The first thing she asked me was if I had any objection to her new assistant sitting in on our meeting. It was his first day and his first opportunity to observe such a meeting. I was totally ok with it, so the three of us settled into her office and started reviewing what looked like a mountain of paperwork on her desk. We talked about whether to lock in at that day's interest rate, we went over my credit report, FHA and HUD forms, good faith estimates, and a variety of other things that I tried to understand before signing. Being just a few days away from the fiscal cliff resolution in D.C. and not knowing what the outcome would be, I opted to lock in at my 3.25% that day. There was some chance the interest rates would drop even more before closing, but I wanted to walk out of there somewhat assured that the ball was rolling as fast as it could be at that point.
After we reviewed and signed all of the necessary documents, she asked for the documentation that I brought in order to verify all of my information we had gone over during our initial conversation a couple of weeks prior. I broke out the folders I had put so much time into preparing and gave her the choice between originals or copies. At that point, I had my first indication that the preparation would be worth it. She smiled and indicated the folder of copies would be sufficient. I went over each pocket folder, indicating what I had included, how I had everything labeled, and that I had even included a few things beyond what she had asked for. I felt great after I handed it over and she looked at her new assistant and told him not to set the expectation for future clients based on how I presented my information. In all, it took about an hour and a half to complete everything we needed to do that day. I wrote the check for the appraisal, which would be ordered the next day and we wrapped things up. On my way out, we stopped so that she could make a copy of my drivers license. At that point she indicated that she may need me to bring my social security card in so they could make a copy of that as well. After doing some research online and learning that this was sometimes required, I pulled it out of my wallet and handed it over right then. That would be the moment she asked if I would ever consider teaching a session on how to prepare for a loan application if they ever offered a new home buyers workshop. What a great way to end a meeting that I had been stressing out about for several days.
That night, I received an email from her to let me know that she had been putting my file together and how easy it was due to the way I had presented my documentation. She said that when I left, her assistant pointed to my folder and asked if that was as good as it ever gets, to which she replied, yes....yes it is.
So what has happened over the past two week since then? Well, last week I secured our homeowner's insurance. It just so happens that the company I went with could offer me a 30% discount if I had multiple policies with them and offered me a premium on my car insurance that was 50% less than I was currently paying. Seeing as my current insurance company never bothered to return my call when I contacted them for a homeowners quote, I promptly fired them and switched my auto insurance over. I went from paying $1200 a year to $600, paid the premium in full for six month, so I'll now not have that monthly expense until August. That worked out great!!
The appraisal has had me a bit nervous. Yesterday was two weeks since it had been ordered and I had not heard anything back yet. With our closing date just barely two weeks away, I was starting to panic since we have to be out of our apartment by February 1st. While emailing our agent last night though, she let us know that it had come back yesterday and it came in more than we were financing, so that was a huge relief. She also informed us that most of the items from the home inspection were complete and the seller was just waiting on one more estimate for one of the things that had to be addressed.
We've been packing up the apartment slowly but surely and we have movers coming today to give us an estimate on moving everything.
Oh, and the best part? At least so far, all of the horror stories I've read about and heard about from friends regarding the mortgage process have not come to fruition. Outside of emailing me forms to sign and fax back, I've not had to make one trip back to the mortgage company and all indications as of this week is that everything is moving along just fine and we are still on schedule to close on time.
I just can't believe how this has all come together. It just goes to show that if you can imagine it, you can achieve it. Somehow, you always find a way.
First off, the appointment with the loan officer. I was so nervous that morning. I felt like I was prepared, but my stomach stayed in knots all morning until I left work to head to my appointment. I found the office with no problem and walked in to a sign on the front desk welcoming me. I'm pretty sure the receptionist thought I had to pee or something the way I was rocking back and forth on the waiting area couch, but that's just me when my nerves are shot. The loan officer came out to greet me and suddenly I felt incredibly at ease. She could not have made me feel more welcome and comfortable. The first thing she asked me was if I had any objection to her new assistant sitting in on our meeting. It was his first day and his first opportunity to observe such a meeting. I was totally ok with it, so the three of us settled into her office and started reviewing what looked like a mountain of paperwork on her desk. We talked about whether to lock in at that day's interest rate, we went over my credit report, FHA and HUD forms, good faith estimates, and a variety of other things that I tried to understand before signing. Being just a few days away from the fiscal cliff resolution in D.C. and not knowing what the outcome would be, I opted to lock in at my 3.25% that day. There was some chance the interest rates would drop even more before closing, but I wanted to walk out of there somewhat assured that the ball was rolling as fast as it could be at that point.
After we reviewed and signed all of the necessary documents, she asked for the documentation that I brought in order to verify all of my information we had gone over during our initial conversation a couple of weeks prior. I broke out the folders I had put so much time into preparing and gave her the choice between originals or copies. At that point, I had my first indication that the preparation would be worth it. She smiled and indicated the folder of copies would be sufficient. I went over each pocket folder, indicating what I had included, how I had everything labeled, and that I had even included a few things beyond what she had asked for. I felt great after I handed it over and she looked at her new assistant and told him not to set the expectation for future clients based on how I presented my information. In all, it took about an hour and a half to complete everything we needed to do that day. I wrote the check for the appraisal, which would be ordered the next day and we wrapped things up. On my way out, we stopped so that she could make a copy of my drivers license. At that point she indicated that she may need me to bring my social security card in so they could make a copy of that as well. After doing some research online and learning that this was sometimes required, I pulled it out of my wallet and handed it over right then. That would be the moment she asked if I would ever consider teaching a session on how to prepare for a loan application if they ever offered a new home buyers workshop. What a great way to end a meeting that I had been stressing out about for several days.
That night, I received an email from her to let me know that she had been putting my file together and how easy it was due to the way I had presented my documentation. She said that when I left, her assistant pointed to my folder and asked if that was as good as it ever gets, to which she replied, yes....yes it is.
So what has happened over the past two week since then? Well, last week I secured our homeowner's insurance. It just so happens that the company I went with could offer me a 30% discount if I had multiple policies with them and offered me a premium on my car insurance that was 50% less than I was currently paying. Seeing as my current insurance company never bothered to return my call when I contacted them for a homeowners quote, I promptly fired them and switched my auto insurance over. I went from paying $1200 a year to $600, paid the premium in full for six month, so I'll now not have that monthly expense until August. That worked out great!!
The appraisal has had me a bit nervous. Yesterday was two weeks since it had been ordered and I had not heard anything back yet. With our closing date just barely two weeks away, I was starting to panic since we have to be out of our apartment by February 1st. While emailing our agent last night though, she let us know that it had come back yesterday and it came in more than we were financing, so that was a huge relief. She also informed us that most of the items from the home inspection were complete and the seller was just waiting on one more estimate for one of the things that had to be addressed.
We've been packing up the apartment slowly but surely and we have movers coming today to give us an estimate on moving everything.
Oh, and the best part? At least so far, all of the horror stories I've read about and heard about from friends regarding the mortgage process have not come to fruition. Outside of emailing me forms to sign and fax back, I've not had to make one trip back to the mortgage company and all indications as of this week is that everything is moving along just fine and we are still on schedule to close on time.
I just can't believe how this has all come together. It just goes to show that if you can imagine it, you can achieve it. Somehow, you always find a way.
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