Monday, August 27, 2012

Refinancing Our Home

We bought our first home almost 7 years ago. I wish we would have had an attorney, or somebody who knew what in the world was going on with our mortgage, the house, the appraisal (that ended up being not a real appraisal), and an incompetent real estate agent. But, we fell in love with the place, and just had to have it. Plus, we were trying our best to get a little further from the city and to get our children in a smaller town with a smaller school. So, we kind of just signed everything without really reading all of the pages. Actually, I started to read everything, cause I'm notorious for having to know everything that's going on, but it was taking hours, and everybody was trying to hurry this along.
Right before we left to close the deal, the mortgage company called and said they were calling it all off. Our new home has a coal furnace, a fairly newer model coal furnace, but apparently, some parts of the country have no idea what a coal furnace is, and when they think of a coal furnace, they are picturing a coal stove. Which is not what we have inside our home. There is one in our garage, which is where we believe they got confused, but even after calling our real estate agent, who I assumed would help in this dilemma, the mortgage company had called it quits.
I was hysterical, I couldn't let anything happen to our dream home, no matter how many repairs it may need, the price was better then perfect, and the location was our top choice. Of course when something terrible happens, I always end up resorting to doing whatever it takes in order to make something happen. So, I found a mortgage company who swore they could help us still get into our dream home, that week.
Well, our first mortgage was a super low fixed rate, and we were very pleased with the terms and conditions. Our second choice, (since we were intent on closing right now), was a bit crazy.
I have always been a bartender, and my husband and I have our own business. So, it has always been a slight issue trying to get good, decent financing with the way our income and taxes are recorded. It usually at least takes a bit longer, and they often demand more tax returns, bank statements, and things like that from us. So, I was trying to hurry to get everything together, and sure enough they said ok, sure, but it'll be a variable rate, and we don't often lend to couples with self employment income, nor do we lend to couples purchasing homes with coal furnaces. (They still didn't understand this was a self fed coal furnace, and the company is in Pittsburg, PA, which really irked me since, I know they know about coal!!)
Well, I figured, before the interest rate gets out of hand, we can check out other banks and get approved for a good deal, like the original mortgage offer we had. So, we signed it all, and closed the deal, and drove home super anxious to start packing!
We did have a very rough time getting refinanced, due to self employment income, and of course, the whole banking and mortgage industry that ended up so corrupt and taking such a big hit. But, we made it. Part of the issue was that the "appraiser" wasn't really an appraiser at all, but a friend of the mother daughter real estate team that sold us the house. We have yet to find anybody to properly appraise our home, since it is set up a little odd, and not like a typical home is set up.
I wish I had checked into the whole deal more then what I did, we were just way to happy just to have found this house, and never bothered to check into the tiny details, or question the agents, and sellers.
I would also recommend definitely, before you re finance, please check up on refinance guidelines, and know what you are doing before you sign! Not all stories end up with a happy ending:)

No comments:

Post a Comment