Mortgage Committment date

[hopeful5]

If our Purchase Agreement with Seller says a mortgage committment date by Dec 10 and approx. close date of on or before Jan 4th, does the bank take these dates into consideration when file is in underwriting review (approved AU, appraisal done, home inspection done, lawyers done with contract, paid $1000 deposit, our contract requires 10 days after Attorney Review is complete we pay DP $16,975 - which is Dec 5th to be put into Trust Account). 

We have not heard anything from underwriting, except one phone call doing employee verification from bank.  LO was out of the office having surgery day before Thanksgiving, he did check in with me yesterday to say he will find out status and get back to me, but nothing yet today. 

He has been very good to this point with answering my questions and staying in touch, I am just getting very anxious.  Any in sight from anyone, or just good thoughts to settle me down! lol 

[hawkeye33]

Well, UW certainly has the sales agreement at their disposal, so they know the contingency date (12/10) stipulated within it. That's not to say that they're going to 'guarantee' that their review/approval is going to meet that date, but I'm sure they probably try to make those happen within the dates set forth in any contingencies. Talk to your LO here in a couple of days if you still haven't heard anything back. In most cases, you can get an extension on the contingency. Sellers typically don't want to go back and have to start all over again with a new buyer, so there's usually motivation to make the current sale happen.

[hopeful5]

Thanks for responding, I was thinking that was probably what I would hear.  I am just praying for a happy ending here.  Thanks!

[hawkeye33]

Well, it would seem you have some things working in your favor. You were approved through AU, so that is a good indication. And, if the employment verification was initiated by UW, then it would appear as though your file is actively being reviewed (as opposed to sitting at the bottom of some stack of files). Since the employment verification is the only thing you've heard from UW, I would be encouraged. Good luck.

[hopeful5]

Thanks for the encouraging word!  As you can imagine, I can't concentrate on anything else at this point till I know for sure.  There are just so many loose ends to take care of but not sure when to do them (kids change schools, packing, notifying landlord).  I think we will have to do some of these things this week and keep our fingers crossed it all works out.

[hopeful5]

Well, I was stunned to find out last night via an email from my LO that the bank he works for does not have a location in NJ and so FHA rules do not allow them to do a loan for us.  Wow!  I guess what Dallas has said "your pre-approval is only as good as your LO" is so true.  

The LO offered two options, go with conventional (which for so many reasons is not really an option) or the second option, finding a bank in NJ that will do the FHA for us.  As of this morning my DH is making some calls.

I think I am just posting this news this morning so if anyone is reading, they learn by my HUGE mistake.  When you think you have asked every question, ask some more!  I asked if they were licensed in NJ but never asked if it would be an issue for FHA.

After crying my eyes out this morning (DH let me sleep last night before breaking the news to me this morning), I am ready to get back to work and make this house happen for my family.

Thanks for letting me vent (again)!!

[hawkeye33]

Hang in there. Was that an automated approval or was that a pre-approval after speaking to the LO? If you actually got to speak to the LO and the issue/question of what type of mortgage loan you were looking for never came up, that seems like a pretty elementary LO mistake to me. If the pre-approval was based on automated underwriting, well, I guess that's another bad think about AU. When you don't get to speak to someone, you're at the mercy of the system and the amount of information it allows you to specify.

good luck!

[hopeful5]

He knew from day one that we were looking for an FHA and that we were located in NJ.  I am not trying to cast blame, I just wish that this had not happened.  My husband has a friend that is a mortgage consultant with a local bank, we are going to speak to him this afternoon.  Probably should have gone that route first. 

[hopeful5]

Well back on track again, I hope, with new bank.  Met on Saturday, preapproval done, getting FHA case number transferred hopefully today.  It was not a nice thing to happen but I guess this process makes you really appreciate your home when it all comes together!  At least my mid-score was 20pts higher than a month ago so we are in a better position score-wise. 

[hopeful5]

New appraisal being done tomorrow at 1pm, Seller's okayed extention for loan commitment and they asked for Closing to be moved from Jan 4 to Jan 15.