There isn’t a single day that’s gone by where I haven’t had to email or fax statements, transactions, and responses to questions from the real estate team, the mortgage team, the insurance team, and the title company. I’m convinced that you have to work a day job and be available online with access to all of your financial accounts to get this thing closed. It has been insane.
Here’s an example of one of the many items that the underwriter dug into.
Underwriter: We need you to verify payment of your rent for the past year.
Me: Sure, here’s our landlord’s home phone and cell phone number.
Underwriter: We can’t verify the information since he’s an individual and not an official rental property management company.
Me: So what do you want me to do? He’s the one who owns the building.
Underwriter: We need you to prove that you paid rent every month.
Me: Here are my checking account transactions.
Underwriter: Why do you pay your rent in cash?
Me: That’s something you should ask the landlord.
Underwriter: How come sometimes you withdrew $1720 and sometimes $1740. I thought you said your rent was $1700.
Me: The rent is $1700! Sometimes we withdrew extra cash. What does it matter to you?!
Underwriter: We’re going to need you to sign a statement saying that your rent is $1700.
As background, I work for the company that I’m getting the loan from. They know how much I get paid every two weeks, what my annual bonuses have been, my stock allotment, and how much sits in my 401k account. What does it matter what my historical rent history has been? All that matters is that I make enough to be able to pay the mortgage on my own, and that doesn’t even include my husband’s compensation. So what is the big deal. So stressful and frustrating!
For those of you wanting to buy a home and thinking that saving enough for the down payment is enough, it’s not. You need to have a large excess amount of money on reserve even after your down payment and the fees are accounted for.
Welcome to home ownership! And I thought having the winning offer was the hard part.