I need to have my roof done and finally got my roofer to send me their quote. It was a lot higher than I was expecting, but prices have risen a lot since 2018 when I last had a roof done. The issue is that I was hoping to pay cash for the new roof, but at the quoted price it would take all my cash. I’m not comfortable with that.
So I applied for a 10 year HEL from NFCU for $50k. The application process online was simple, the HomeSquad portal made uploading specified documents easy. The disclosures through the portal were a little less simple, the application form has errors on it and I can’t find a way to fix them so I haven’t signed that document. I uploaded what was aked for and signed the disclosures when the HomeSquad portal became available to me the next day. When i speaking with my Loan Officer on the phone she ran me through disclosures and the application and didn’t seem concerned about the HomeSquad application form.
It took a couple days from applying on line for her to call me initially. I called her back the next morning and we went through everything. I asked her about submitting bank account/brokerage statements since the application form on the portal asked to have all those. She told me she just needed my income documents (Paystubs for the last month (with YTD info), benefit letters from my pension and the VA and my NFCU checking/savings statements), Mortgage Statement and Home Owner's Insurance renewal statement. I don't have an HOA so she didn't need anything about that.
This was less than the “Rec for Equity Doc” letter and the HomeSquad portal asked for, so there is some lack of coordination between the process and the portal.
She initiated the appraisal process while we were talking and informed me that the automated appraisal system had spit out an appraisal for 198k. She asked me if I was satisfied with that number and since I had guessed a value of 200k on my application I said I was. I hope underwriting is happy with it, because I was dreading dealing with scheduling an appraiser, having to take time off from work to meet with them, etc.
We finished going through my information and she said it looked good and would go to underwriting that day. I received a new Loan Estimate in the HomeSquad portal shortly after and I esigned it. That was Thursday.
Strangely, I got a text message later that day from an unfamiliar number:
“Hi Have1, this is Nancy with Mayline, Following up on loan request. Can I call now? Call (855) 417-7888 or reply with a time. STOP to End”
I did a quick internet search and found a company called Mayline USA which does “Smart Financial Solutions” (As opposed to “Dumb Financial Solutions?). I called NFCU and asked the rep there about this. He said they don’t farm out their underwriting, I can safely ignore the message. I also left a message with my Loan Officer letting her know about it. I do not get very many scam texts, or calls, the timing of this is… freaky. Further searching shows a lot of mentions of the text message on the BBB Scam Tracker. Stay vigilant, friends.
So, now I sit and wait to hear what underwriting has to say. I'll update when they have finished their part.
DPs:
Appraisal $198,000
Existing Mortgage $78,000
HEL Amount $50,000
Rate 7.65%
Closing Costs $94 (Basically the prepaid interest. Closing costs were covered by an offer)
DTI (Mort/New HEL) 15%
DTI (all debts) 17.8%
Credit Bureau and Score:
Equifax FICO 10 839
I am guessing that the spam text was coincidental. NFCU does have some information sharing going on (I have told them to stop bugging me about life insurance), but all their lending is in house.
Update on my loan:
After having submitted all the originally requested documents Income, HOA info, Home Owner's Policy, Mortgage Statement and a release for a Transcript of my Tax Return, the Residential Lending Processor wanted my Mortgage Statement covering January of this year. I'm not sure why, but I guess it may be because January's Payment was paid in December due to the New Year Holiday...
NFCU had a contractor come by the house and take a couple pictures of the outside of the house and complete a Property Valuation for the property (They had used the automated appraisal tool and came up within a couple thousand of the $200k I had estimated, so no formal appraisal was required). He called and left a message I called him back. He said he just needed to take a few pictures of the outside of the house and would be there in a couple hours. He showed up after I went to bed and DW said she hadn't noticed whether he had been by. Looking at the pictures in AVM package, he took them from about halfway into the yard and just from the front of the house (Which is fair, the front of the house is about 200' from the road and there are lots of trees). Two pictures of the front of the house, none of the separate garage. One of the pictures was of the mailbox, two were looking up the road in front in both directions and one was of the street sign at the nearest intersection.
Then I recieved an email from the Processor that she wanted DW's email address as she will have to sign papers at closing and is not on the loan. And, she said I needed to tell my Home Owner's Insurance Co to add NFCU as a second Lienholder to the policy. I gave her DW's email address and emailed my agent who responded immediately with an attachment of the updated policy declaration that had been faxed earlier that day to NFCU. So I forwarded that to NFCU.
In a few minutes I was advised by email that my file was being submitted "for clear to close review" 6/11.
So now I wait.
I do have a question that maybe some of you can answer for me: Once it looked like the HEL would be approved, I called my roofer and he said he would be able to do the work in October/November. This leaves me with a few months where I will have the loan proceeds sitting in limbo. Though, the roofer could have a job fall through and he could show up tomorrow... How does this work? I have never had a HEL before.
@RASULL12 wrote:I am about 2 weeks into this process. It seems they take their time. Have you officially closed yet?
A notary is supposed to stop by today to sign the closing docs. I applied on May 16 and today is June 27. There weren't any individual long delays, but the total process is time consuming.
@cashorcharge wrote:Unlock a HELOC, with an HEL, you get the proceeds and then 30 days later, you're making the payment as you would have received the funds. With a HELOC, you have a draw period and aren't making any payments until you actually spend the funds.
So there is no reason why the roofer can't start once it's closed and the funds have been deposited into an account for you to spend.
I understand that the funds will be put in my account and I will start making payments, but I will have to wait until the roofer is available to do the work. Which sounds like it's going to be October/November.
My question is: Will it bother NFCU if I move the funds to my Fidelity account (where it will get about 3.29% while I wait) instead of letting it sit in my NFCU checking (.01%) or savings (.25%)? The time frame is too short to do a CD, and the roofer could show up early if another job falls off their schedule. I don't want NFCU going into a panic if I move the money as opposed to writing a check to the roofer.