Good call on the pool inspection, with everything going on, I didn't even consider that! As far as the extra insurance, I'm already prepared for that, I'll be putting about 15500 down on the house, so I'll only be borrowing about 40k. My payment would be less than $200 for P/I.
The bank I'll be working with regarding the first time home buyer assistance program has no requirement against pools, so all should be ok there. I won't be moving in until I can get a gate installed anyways, so if it's required, the sooner the better.
Sorry I haven't been able to respond, my internet service provider had some "faulty" equipment or what not and my area went into an outage. Feels good to be back online!
Yesterday was a day full of frustration and disappointment 
I met with Citi Bank to begin the loan process because it is the only lender available through the first time home buyer assistance program I was planning on using. My appointment was at 9am and had to sit and wait until about 10:15am (with my 4 year old) when the lady decided to show up. Aside from the wait, she wasn't really "rude" but it just seemed as if there were other things she would rather be doing. The 2 guys "assisting" her seemed overly pushy and friendly, even trying to sell me on a checking account with them before I left. I was told that my tax transcripts would be good enough for 2008-2010, and she said no, that they need the originals (at $57/year). I also felt more like a charity case because of how I was treated regarding the assistance program. It was as if they assumed I was some homeless welfare mom and NEEDED them in order to "get on my feet". It was pretty disrespectful.
I was then told that someone would be calling me at 1pm to begin the application process over the phone... he didn't call until 5:30pm, was on the phone with me for less than 2 minutes. He said that because I had been unemployed (due to company closure) from Jan of 2010 to June of 2010 and have only been at my current employer since June of 2011 (was employed, left and took a position for the state, was laid off after cutbacks and began working for my current company a week later) I now have to wait 3 more months.
I'm going to make some calls Monday and see what other programs there are because as unorganized as Citi Bank is, I don't know if I want to wait 3 months to have them handle a mortgage... scary thought.
I was also notified last night that my bid on the house with the pool was rejected, still haven't heard anything about the offer on the newer house... of course without being funded by Citi Bank, I won't be able to do the program that would allow me to purchase the home at the offer I submitted. I'll be about 2k shy.
I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
LondonMassey - I am sorry to hear that. I didn't close on the two houses I had really, really wanted. Then about 2 weeks ago, a VERY distressed property FELL into my lap. I started negotiations on it, but refused to be pressured into it. The realtors were saying buy it now (it was beach front property - literrally ON THE BEACH) and then rent it out to make the payments. I asked for a little good faith on their "fail proof" rental program that was guaranteed to make/generate ALL of the purchase price money in the first year and then some....show me step one or step twelve - I didn't care which step it was, just show me something. Or put something to paper or to email.
That was the last time I heard from them. That was a week ago.
So since October 2011, I feel like I have "lost" 3 properties that were really desirable. I know I didn't really loose them becuase they werent' mine to begin with. So I sit back and wait. When the time is right, things will fall into place. This whole house thing is God's schedule, not mine. So I will try really, really hard to be patient. 
I know three months may seem like forever for you...but hang in there. And definitely call around for other lenders.
I, too, feel that whenever God deems the time, that everything will fall into place.
I was already pre-approved by a different lender. The only reason I was going to go with Citi Bank was for the funding assistance, but it seems already that it'll be nothing but a headache - $157 for tax returns with no guarantee of being funded, employment since Oct 2010, but only switching employers so now I have to wait 3 more months to even attempt the application process. It was as if I had a disease and they had no itentions on lending to me. Why even be a part of an assistance program if you're holding the income based participants up to a standard of a conventional loan?? Then the lady told me that I HAVE to have 4 (FOUR!) open lines of credit and that I will have to call the CA and have my rental history and utility payments added to my credit. I thought that was only allowed IF the landlord and companies allowed them to do it, but why do I have to have it put ON my credit? Why can't they just take my payment history print outs and letter I received stating I have had ZERO lates, ZERO issues, etc for at least the past 12 months (more like over the past 48 months). It's just one headache after another and I don't feel like dealing with it. Even if it means that I won't
be getting the most assistance. My sanity means so much more to me.
Got some good news today!! We will see if it ends up being GREAT news, hopefully, by tomorrow!
First off, I contacted the assistance program and there is another program that I can do where they pay half of the down payment and then all closing costs. Yay!
Even better news: The lender I was initially pre-approved by is in the program, so I can stay with them!
Even better news than that: My realtor received a call about the offer we put on the other house, the newer one - built in 2007. They wanted to know if I was still interested. It looks as if they're deciding between my offer and a cash offer that was close to, but not as high.
Better than that? The lender I've been working with had pre-approved me for 60k. I had thought that was my limit, but after talking to my realtor yesterday, I gave him a call and what do you know?? He gave me the 60k limit because that's the range I had told him I wanted. He said I actually can qualify for roughly 75k.
So, there's no guarantee that I have the house, but we should know tomorrow. Also, there's no guarantee that I'll 100% receive the assistance, but it seems like a good shot.
I guess we'll find out soon enough, but it's a lot better position than I was in on Friday.
