Internet Grapes

Knowing, We Think

Thanks for your good wishes about the loan approval - apparently, Ryan the Loan Guy met with Head Underwriter Guy last Friday afternoon, and on that same day - on Friday afternoon - the Head Underwriter Guy approved our loan.  It would have been too much to expect Ryan to call us that day or at any time over the weekend - or, let's face it, at ALL - wouldn't it?  When Geoff called Ryan this week, though, Ryan told us that all of that was resolved.

So once that was done, all that remained was for both Geoff and I to read this 100 plus page "booklet" called The Road to Home Ownership and then pass a quiz about the contents.  On Wednesday, I called to try to take the quiz, but the man I talked to actually chuckled a little bit.  "Oh, no no, we don't have time for you to do that today," he said.  "The soonest appointment we have is Friday at 9:30 your time."

How hard could this quiz possibly be?  The questions were going to be on topics as complex as "what is a mortgage?" "what is a budget and what is its purpose?" "what is the difference between a fixed rate and adjustable rate mortgage?" and "what do you expect to see on a HUD-1 Settlement Statement."  If you don't know that I work at a title insurance company in claims, where I look at and analyze documents from real estate closings every single day, maybe you don't realize how familiar I am with all of this. 

And yet we were surprised to find ourselves very nervous yesterday morning before they called.  I took the first half, then passed the phone to Geoff so he could take the second "half" (it was really much shorter than the first part).  You will be pleased to know that Mrs. Sanchez prounounced our answers "fantastic" and "very good," and said that we had passed. 

If we hadn't passed, we would have been allowed to make future appointments to take it again (or again and again) until we passed. 

As of next Friday (less than a week!), we just might be homeowners. 

Which means that soon, we will get to one of the things I'm looking forward to most about all of this.  PICKING OUT PAINT!  (Maybe sad, but true.) 

Not Knowing

The condo did not get approved by the FHA, but three weeks ago Ryan the loan guy tells us that he has found a "little-used" loan program for which we qualify, and he has calculated the payments, and he thinks they will work. We will have to pay a little more each month than if we'd gotten an FHA loan, but it will still be within our budget. We sigh and tell him ok, go ahead with that.

It's not until yesterday, 16 days before our scheduled closing, that we find out that maybe we don't qualify for this "little-used" loan program at all. Ryan calls me up to ask me for the balance in our bank account. He is trying to "pump up our numbers" so that when he meets with the head underwriter, he can put everything in the most positive light. Apparently this loan program has an income cap. The problem here, then, is that we make too much money.  (You could have fooled us.)  However, when you live in Chicago, because of its relatively high cost of living, you qualify for some sort of waiver, Ryan tells me.  The problem with that, though, is that in order to get that waiver, you need to be putting down 5% of your own money.  Our 5% is a gift from Geoff's sister Stephanie. 

He is fending off calls from both attorneys and the listing realtor, he tells me, chuckling.  He doesn't want anybody to panic.  He's taking this straight to the head underwriter (he says this more than once), and he wants to make our case as strong as possible.  When I tell him we have less money in our checking account now than we did as of the last statement (which was generated right after payday but before bills were paid), he says ok, then he will just go with our previous statement. 

As I'm talking to him, I feel like my stomach is floating around somewhere near my head.  After I get off the phone with him, my stomach sinks back down and ends up somewhere around my ankles.

I realize how much I hate the not knowing.

Moving Pains

When we last saw our heroine, she was in the midst of a discouraging house hunt that seemed as though it would never end. She thought she and her family might never find a home to buy that would not make them very sad. The places they could afford were often depressing; the places that weren't depressing they often couldn't afford. Would they ever find a home???

We're (hopefully) buying a condo!  New post up at DotMoms. 

Get Out

I'm struggling a little bit lately with something that's not pervasive or powerful enough to be called depression.  I don't know exactly why, although when I start to think about it, I guess I can come up with a bunch of reasons.

My weight is near its highest, my face has been breaking out lately, and I don't have any cute (and comfy and springy) shoes or new clothes (God forbid!), so I'm not feeling too good about myself physically.

We are under contract to buy a place, but I'm still pretty nervous about everything - before we found this place, we are pre-approved for our loan, but we haven't actually been approved to buy this particular place yet. We still have to turn over copies of various documents (pay stubs and W-2's and investment statements), and Geoff still has to get some documents from his loan providers showing that his loans are in forbearance. We are also buying the condo with an FHA loan even though the place was not already FHA approved, which means that the FHA has to approve the condo association now. We don't have too much control over either of these things, which maybe explains why I'm a little worried about them. I'm afraid to get too excited, too, in case everything falls through.  (I think I might be bringing myself down and wearing myself out, what with my frequent internal reminders that something bad could  happen.) 

New Home

Yesterday we had our inspection on the condo we're planning to buy.  It went well - no major issues.  We both still like the place as much as we liked it the first time.  Katie even played happily with the listing realtor (who she'd only met once before) while Geoff and I went down into the basement, then out into the backyard and into the garage.  I kept coming back upstairs to check on her, and each time as I climbed the stairs I expected to hear crying coming from above me, but each time it was quietly, cheerfully silent except for the sound of the realtor's voice saying things like "There you go!" 

The light was everywhere, bouncing off of honey wooden floors and in through windows on all four sides.  The room felt yellow and warm, and it occurred to me that maybe this place really is the place that's meant to be our new home. 

Nice family in search of good home

Easter Portrait
Originally uploaded by jessamynnorth.

"We have seen quite a few condos by now, and most of them aren't what we're looking for. Many are tiny or dirty or ugly. Some are in bad or faraway neighborhoods. Some are beautiful but out of our price range (our realtor doesn't take us to those, but we can't help ourselves from looking at listings online). Some are nowhere near an el stop, or don't allow dogs, or have no parking. Some are OK, but nothing special, and we have started asking ourselves, sadly, is special too much to ask?"

New entry up at DotMoms.

I wrote the piece on March 21st. Later that day, we made an offer on another unit, and I thought to myself that by the time the piece was published at DotMoms, our home-hunting saga would be over. Our offer was rejected that afternoon. The search continues. (Sigh.)