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turtleshope

We just closed ...

turtleshope
11 years ago

...after months of looking (well nothing much came up in the summer), and several offers put in on other places.
Most everyone seems to have a problem somewhere on the road to the mortgage. We hit our bump when the underwriter rejected the bank's appraisal. This was about a week before our originally scheduled close, and we were out of the mortgage contingency period. The new appraisal by the underwriters was 10% less than the original one.
We went to a mortgage broker and got a mortgage in 2 weeks, with the house appraised at the original level. (A house around the corner, same size, age, etc but without a garage, went for the same price a few months ago, so we're pretty confident on the value; our area is in a city where if you wander a few blocks in the wrong direction, prices fall off the cliff.)

Anyway, it seemed like everyone we talked to who had recently purchased had a wacky story about their mortgage or close. Here are a few summaries:
-- super low appraisals by the bank (they borrowed the difference from parents)
-- at the close, the bank called and asked for more documentation, like pay stubs
-- at the close, the seller's lawyer reneged on agreements to pay for needed repairs (and told the bank, jeopardizing the loan)

It's a wonder anyone can get a mortgage these days!

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