Mortgage Tips: Go Conventional and Out-of-House

Well, it turns out reading books to help you with buying a house only gets you so far. If anyone is thinking about buying a home, hopefully you read this first. I'm learning how big of a pain in the ass all of this can be, and hoping that it gets resolved before I lose my first home before I close.

1. NEVER TRUST A MORTGAGE REP THAT DOESN'T ANTICIPATE ISSUES: There are issues with every loan. There were quite a few documents that my loan officer told me I didn't need, and two weeks later ended up having two days to track down everly last damn one of them. Now my first loan commitment date has been passed up, and I had to have the seller agree to a later one. He could have taken my $1000 earnest money and ran. Just because everything was "no big deal" or "not a problem."





2. GO CONVENTIONAL: Now that everyone and their mother got foreclosed on, FHA loans have become increasingly demanding. If I had been informed properly, I would have gone Conventional. But since the closing costs and monthly payment were slightly lower on the FHA, I did that. But now the FHA won't approve you without confirming everything. I have astronomical credit, as I've manicured it since I was 18, and I had every dime needed to close, but I wanted the lower closing costs. It's a headache and the rate is typically higher. Save up for a 5% down payment and go Conventional.





3. GO OUT-OF-HOUSE: Do not use your current bank. It seems easier than going to get all of your bank statements on your own, but it leads to a point where they have TMI. Due to their knowing everything about my accounts, I can't use any money from my wife and I's joint account, even though I am the one who transferred the money there. That's because she's the secondary and I'm the primary. Also, the $1000 earnest money that we wrote from her account out of pure convenience now cannot count toward the money I need to close. Now all of a sudden were $3000 short, even though every dime we need is in the accounts (and $1000 already paid). If they didn't have this access, these issues would not have arisen. So go to someone who doesn't have access to your accounts, so you can choose what they see and what they don't. I got royally screwed by this.

As of this time, I'm $3000 short, and they can't even continue processing until I get it in my account. But I can't take it from Kassie's account, at the same bank. Plus my new loan commitment date is July 8th. I get paid Friday, but it is definitely ulcer time.

Listening to: Neil Boortz, Libertarian Talk-Show Host