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.
No comments:
Post a Comment