December closings?

[Scope27]

I preapp'd for USDA Guaranteed on 11/4 and the first house I saw was 1300 sq ft and a .25 acre lot.  It was perfect for my two dogs that love to run around and chase falling leaves (they have serious issues).  I put in a bid for full asking on 11/11 and the selling agent never notified my agent until a 15 mins until my contract expired (11/17) all to say they accepted an offer 4 business days prior to my offer and never updated a listing.  That upset me because I patiently waited almost a week to get that news.  I then looked at 3 other houses in the area and found another for 85k in an area that the current medium value is 130k.  I put in a full price offer again on 11/21 with a shorter contract expiration this time and the selling agent told me that the people selling the house are in town and are only going to be unavailable on thanksgiving. So my expiration was the day after.  My agent called me at 130pm on the final day to tell me more bad news.  This house sat on a .25 acre lot and has a 2 car garage, 1600 sq ft, large master and a bathroom to die for (jacuzzi tub and separate shower).  Come to find out the house was sold to someone trying to flip the property (it was a preforeclosure) as fast as they can and listed it the day after they had closed on it.  That meant no title recorded and in the listing they put in all caps that the USDA would approve of it.  That same day, they raised the price of the house by 4 grand and gave no notification to me concerning my contract. After numerous emails from my agent to the selling agent, my agent discovered that the house wont be available until a whole 90 days because it was in the process of getting the title and deed recorded and they selling agent advertised it by saying the USDA will finance it when in fact they wont touch it until the deed clears.  Now this time I was getting frustrated with the whole home search.  So I gathered a listed of 12 houses that saturday morning and my agent took me to look at every last one of them.  The very last house I knew it was my diamond in the rough.  A 2000 sq foot house built in 2007 which has a .20 acre lot, 1 car garage, Master bedroom that is 20x20 and the master bathroom is 15x12.  It was previously appraised 2 years ago at 146k and asking was 99.9k.  An elderly person bought it and passed away last Jan so it's an estate sale and the family of this person didnt want to keep it and opted to sell it for the amount that's owed on it.  They had accepted my offer yesterday and I am schedule to close on 12/30. I have my inspection coming up on saturday and hopefully the appraisal will be sometime within the next two weeks.  My loan officer told me that my credit scores should be up from next month since I had a high cc utilization (which is paid down to 3% now) and most of the USDA waivers will be applied to me due to my score already being a few points away from 660 when he pulled at the beginning of the month before my credit cards reported the updated balances. They pulled TU04 and my score was surprisingly at 655 and my Exp was 651.  I cant wait to see what they are when he pulls again after reviewing my app.  After 6 long months of rebuild and seeing almost a 100 point increase from may til now, Im ecstatic....GOOD LUCK TO ALL CLOSING IN DECEMBER!!!!

[Anonymous]

That's awesome Scope27!! A few bad apples at first, but sounds like you will soon have your dream home .  We have worked for nearly 6 months on our scores and WF went by my mid score of 646.  We first were considering a new build and spent a couple months looking at model and spec homes, then decided that since we are both in school and I have cut down on my work schedule, that we would drastically drop the price range in which we were looking--I would rather play it safe than sorry! But honestly, with all that we have been through, and it has been a LONG journey, it is amazing to me to even be in serious consideration for a home purchase.  Update on what your score bumps up to and on your closing.  All the best to you.

[Anonymous]

We started the home buying process in May.  Started with a USDA direct loan.  Turned our application in at the end of May and didnt get an approval until August.  Immediately started looking for homes.  Found my dream home and got into contract.  Then my husband lost his job.    Well, USDA then did the loan just under my name & approved me for the same amount.  We had a USDA appraisal where the appraiser couldnt pass the house b/c of the old barn it has.  Its a fairly new rule that the property cant have any farm service buildings at all.  Then USDA's fiscal year was over and out of funds.

We moved on over to a FHA loan and went after the same house.  Thats where we stand now.  We just had the appraisal done a week & a half ago.  Only thing on his list originally was a deck railing.  Well, our home inspector told us the house needs a new roof, but the appraiser thought it still had 5-10 yrs of life left.  Our realtor told the appraiser what our inspector said and sent him our inspection report.  The appraiser since made a longer list of repairs including the roof 

Now we are waiting to hear if the sellers will pay for a new roof (they are already giving us $7k in closing costs).  If they wont, Im pretty sure we lose the house.  In the meantime we have to move in 2 weeks.  I put in my 30 day notice Nov. 1st b/c we were suppose to close Nov. 15th! 

I will never ever buy a house again after this.  I have never been so stressed in my life.   I dont know what the hell my realtor was thinking.

[JennyMominRI]

We are supposed to close Dec 19.. Contract was signed Nov 16. 4 BR 2500 sq foot in FL. It's a VA loan. We were preaproved and had already sent in all paperwork, credit check, proof of income, bank statements etc  The appraisal was yesterday and there are some concerns it might be low. We are packing up and moving 1000 miles. We are in underwriting and I'm terrified it will fall through even with the solid preapproval

[Anonymous]

OMG VintageGal!! What a story.  I would be so angry at my realtor, I cannot imagine what s/he was thinking either!  I truly hope you can get a resolution without losing the house.  Do you have someplace to move temporarily since you have to move from your current home?  If nothing else, I'm learning more everyday through this to look at the stuff that I can control.  Take each hurdle one at a time and, although it is the hardest thing to do, try not to worry about all the "what ifs."  It takes too much energy and causes too much stress to worry about scenarios that may not even materialize.  You have my support and I'm pulling for you on this

[Anonymous]

Hi JennyMominRI.  When will you find out the exact amount of the appraisal?  I moved almost cross country six years ago, albeit we were not buying a house, so I know how stressful a move like that is without a mortgage in the mix.  I wouldn't worry about the UW part of it right now.  What will you do if the appraisal is low? 

[Anonymous]

My LO called today and I found out that the appraisal had not been ordered--seriously?!!  He mentioned that we have to pay upfront for it but then he asked me if I wanted to have my file go to UW first, which "should take a couple days," and then order the appraisal next week.  He said that he was finishing up with our file. I'm supposed to call him tomorrow.  At this point I don't know if I'm coming or going.  I can see on the one hand that it would be nice to get a conditional UW approval before spending $515 for an appraisal (Is that a standard amount for FHA appraisal? Seems a bit steep to me.).  Hubs thinks having the UW done first is the best idea and then ordering the appraisal next week.  I'm going to ask my LO tomorrow what he thinks is the best approach.

[JennyMominRI]

ShanFran. If the apraisal is somewhat low the sellers will work with us. If it's really low, the deal is dead. I think we should get  the appraisal results soon. I'm also worried about  underwriting because we have a few NSF charges on my bank account. MY husband had emergency open heart surgery, sent too long on bypass and has some memory issues. He will occasionally forget  which account he is supposed to use.. It wasn't a big deal too me until I realized it could be a mortgage issues.I told my broker about it right away and he doesn't and he doesn't think it will be an issue but I'm worried. Credit is good though

  If the house falls through we will rent for 6-12 months and maybe look  at a new build. I really want this house though.The mortgage would be $400 less than my rent in New England

[Anonymous]

JennyMominRI it is a plus that you know you have some wiggle room if the appraisal is low, knowing that the sellers will work with you a bit.  It doesn't sound like the NSFs will be a dealbreaker especially since your credit is good.  You might have to write a letter of explanation, but it doesn't sound like it would be a big deal.  You seem to have a good backup plan in case things don't work out.  Let's hope you won't need the backup plan!!

[YHWHUDAH]

Hey, JennyMoninRI:

You should not be so worried about NSF charges unless your file is borderline. I have a couple on my statement as well. You would have to write a LOE. Just be honest and tell the about the emergency and document for back up. Underwriters are human to and at times LOE will push that human button in them. It might be to your advantage to go ahead and write one to be on the safe side.