Everyone who gets a conventional loan is under the same impression that I
was when I was first approved for this more difficult to obtain loan. I
knew the nightmares associated with an FHA loan, and how strict they
are on their inspection process. I also knew an FHA loan would take a
heck of a lot longer to close on.
I jumped for joy when I learned that indeed my good credit score
helped land me a conventional loan! Yippie! I sore in the air and click
my heels together.
All was gouing well. I found my dream house, everything looked peachy;
that is, until a rougue heat wave came into town causing the basement
to literally spore out in mold without anyone's knowledge.
The appraiser was set to come out to appraise the home, and this was
when the mold spores in the basement were discovered. There was no
denying this was an issue, but I figured no big deal? I have me a
conventional loan, all should be well, things go easier with a
conventional loan right? I have nothing to worry about right?
Wrong!
Once the underwriter got the appraisal in hand and noticed that the
appraiser had suggested that the mold be tested that was when my home
buying process went from easy to plopping me into the stress test
treadmill.
My lender passes the information on to me. This information is then
passed on to the attorney. Who then passes it on to the sellers
attorney, who then passes it on to the seller.
Thankfully the seller agrees to conduct this test.
Can you guess what happens next?
They find mold! Well duh! The mold thankfully is not the toxic kind, but due to the spore count it now needs remediation!
What the heck is that?
Oh, OK. You basically want me to hire someone to rip up sheet rock and
spray chemicals onto the walls. I get it, but dang, how irritating
because it was something we planned on doing anyway, after we closed on
the loan.
Sadly, unless it is done, there will be no loan!
Now we must once again, call our attorney, pass him this information, so he can get it on over to the seller.
$3,000 later we have come to an agreement to split the costs. How
terrific, paying into a home that is not even mine yet. Then we throw
into the mix that our interest rate lock is about to expire.
How triple terrific!
The whole ordeal was an absolute nightmare.
So to answer the question, can mold on an appraisal on a conventional loan cost you a deal?
Absolutely.
Conventional loans will overlook some things, but not mold. Take it from me!
-My article also on Yahoo
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
What Happens If My Interest Rate Lock Expries Before I Close On The House I Am Buying?
My article is also on Yahoo. Melanie Dee.
I am in the process of buying my first home. How ironic for me, I am a real estate agent who does this sort of stuff for a living. I can sling houses out in 30 days so long as my client has a standard Conventional Loan.
However due to a mold issue that my bank wanted fixed, time suddenly became my enemy. My interest rate lock and mortgage commitment expiration date was 30 days away, and the bank was not rushing anything, even though I was.
The mold issues were fixed in nearly an instant, however my bank was literally kicking stones when it came to getting their end of things finished up. I watched as my mortgage commitment letter expired, only to have to re-submit paperwork in order to get a new mortgage commitment letter.
After that expired though, the most important thing was about to expire, my interest rate lock, and this worried me. I felt as if the bank was moving slow on purpose just to slap me with a higher interest rate, and with rates hiking upward, I was really under pressure and angry.
But enough about me, you are here because you are wondering exactly what happens if your interest rate lock expires before you close on your loan.
Well many things can happen, however if it is due to the bank itself, and something out of your control you can fight them on it. For me, I had grounds to fight because the moment the bank required that the mold be tested, I hired a company to get it done in 24 hours.
The bank literally took 2 weeks doing nothing to determine if the test was OK.
In the very beginning they also wasted 2 weeks doing nothing, when finally they decided to ask for my income verification. That added up was literally a month long where they could have been working and asking me for the proper papers to be signed way ahead of time, and instead they kicked stones and didn't. They waited till the very end, and therefore I had grounds to stand on.
If you were the cause of the rate expiring, you may not have much ground to stand on, and you may have to pay a hefty fee to extend your lock by 7-15 days.
Now some lenders will issue you a free extension, but trust me when I say- before you take on any loan with a lender find out in advance what their policy is on interest rate lock expiration.
All in all, so long as it in not your fault that the loan did not close in time, and it was indeed the lenders fault, argue till the grave. Odds are they will allow an extension because they do not want to lose you as a client.
In order to avoid this mess though, always ask prior what the interest rate expiration policy is. If you do not like what you hear, find another lender. There are plenty of them out there willing to work with you.
I am in the process of buying my first home. How ironic for me, I am a real estate agent who does this sort of stuff for a living. I can sling houses out in 30 days so long as my client has a standard Conventional Loan.
However due to a mold issue that my bank wanted fixed, time suddenly became my enemy. My interest rate lock and mortgage commitment expiration date was 30 days away, and the bank was not rushing anything, even though I was.
The mold issues were fixed in nearly an instant, however my bank was literally kicking stones when it came to getting their end of things finished up. I watched as my mortgage commitment letter expired, only to have to re-submit paperwork in order to get a new mortgage commitment letter.
After that expired though, the most important thing was about to expire, my interest rate lock, and this worried me. I felt as if the bank was moving slow on purpose just to slap me with a higher interest rate, and with rates hiking upward, I was really under pressure and angry.
But enough about me, you are here because you are wondering exactly what happens if your interest rate lock expires before you close on your loan.
Well many things can happen, however if it is due to the bank itself, and something out of your control you can fight them on it. For me, I had grounds to fight because the moment the bank required that the mold be tested, I hired a company to get it done in 24 hours.
The bank literally took 2 weeks doing nothing to determine if the test was OK.
In the very beginning they also wasted 2 weeks doing nothing, when finally they decided to ask for my income verification. That added up was literally a month long where they could have been working and asking me for the proper papers to be signed way ahead of time, and instead they kicked stones and didn't. They waited till the very end, and therefore I had grounds to stand on.
If you were the cause of the rate expiring, you may not have much ground to stand on, and you may have to pay a hefty fee to extend your lock by 7-15 days.
Now some lenders will issue you a free extension, but trust me when I say- before you take on any loan with a lender find out in advance what their policy is on interest rate lock expiration.
All in all, so long as it in not your fault that the loan did not close in time, and it was indeed the lenders fault, argue till the grave. Odds are they will allow an extension because they do not want to lose you as a client.
In order to avoid this mess though, always ask prior what the interest rate expiration policy is. If you do not like what you hear, find another lender. There are plenty of them out there willing to work with you.
What Happens If My Mortgage Commitment Expires Before I Close On The House I am Buying?
I wrote this piece on Yahoo awhile back, during my home purchasing process, and I am sure a ton of folks out there have been asking the same question, so I decided to get this one out there and share it with my blogger audience as well... here is one huge question that came up during our process.
Read and find out:
What Happens If My Mortgage Commitment Expires Before I Close On The House I am Buying?!
Buying a home for the first time is supposed to be one of the happiest times of ones life. However there are tons of pitfalls and nightmares that can occur during the long ordeal that literally turns this exciting time into one so stressful that you end up loosing sleep at night.
I am a real estate agent, buying my first house. I have sold homes extremely quickly, with clients in the same position I am now in. Only there was one ironic difference.
Instead of an easy 30 day turn around, contracts, closing, and keys, my experience was nothing but a nightmare.
During my appraisal, the appraiser noted mold in the basement. Who knew this little word could end up costing me so much money, time and stress!? Well now I know. I learn something new in this industry everyday now.
The lender of course took note of this mark the appraiser so quickly made, and required a clearance. This meant they wanted the mold tested, they wanted it remediation, and $3,5000 later they were satisfied.
Only one small problem.
Even though the work was done and complete in just 4 days total, it took the bank 2 weeks to say that it was OK. Time wasted as far as I was concerned. Why it took 2 weeks to just OK the work was beyoind me. More so considering the fact that this was a conventional loan, and not some FHA 203K loan.
After that hurdle, the survey that the owner had on hand was certified only to him, so naturally the lender decided it was not good, and they wanted a new one.
Great.
They tell me this literally 60 days into the process. Never will I in my career ever in my life recommend to any of my clients to use big banks to process their loan. I have ever experienced such slow underwriting, and such a gross lack of communication.
My mortgage commitment letter and interest rate are due to expire in just days now.
Great! How on earth can I make this deadline, considering the lack of time they gave me?
I pay a surveyor $800 now, to draw up the survey and have it back to me 3 days later. I am able to do this, but once the survey is given to the bank, it takes them days to review it.
Can you guess what happened?
Naturally my mortgage commitment letter expired, along with my interest rate lock.
So what happens now!?
After my mortgage commitment letter expired, I was back to sweating again. I was worried that after all of this, and money out of my pocket that the bank would decide to randomly not issue me a new letter.
Thankfully they did, but what it took was new pay stubs, new income verification letters, a new run of my credit report for any changes, and of course 2 more weeks for the morons to process this information.
Basically, when your mortgage commitment letter expires, it is rather easy to get a new one. However it will add more time to you actually meeting a closing date. It is frustrating, tedious, and annoying. It also steals away the excitement of being a home owner. Just bear with it though, the day you move in will grow closer.
Is there a way to avoid this sort of mess?
You bet. Avoid big banks. Like the plague.
Read and find out:
What Happens If My Mortgage Commitment Expires Before I Close On The House I am Buying?!
Buying a home for the first time is supposed to be one of the happiest times of ones life. However there are tons of pitfalls and nightmares that can occur during the long ordeal that literally turns this exciting time into one so stressful that you end up loosing sleep at night.
I am a real estate agent, buying my first house. I have sold homes extremely quickly, with clients in the same position I am now in. Only there was one ironic difference.
Instead of an easy 30 day turn around, contracts, closing, and keys, my experience was nothing but a nightmare.
During my appraisal, the appraiser noted mold in the basement. Who knew this little word could end up costing me so much money, time and stress!? Well now I know. I learn something new in this industry everyday now.
The lender of course took note of this mark the appraiser so quickly made, and required a clearance. This meant they wanted the mold tested, they wanted it remediation, and $3,5000 later they were satisfied.
Only one small problem.
Even though the work was done and complete in just 4 days total, it took the bank 2 weeks to say that it was OK. Time wasted as far as I was concerned. Why it took 2 weeks to just OK the work was beyoind me. More so considering the fact that this was a conventional loan, and not some FHA 203K loan.
After that hurdle, the survey that the owner had on hand was certified only to him, so naturally the lender decided it was not good, and they wanted a new one.
Great.
They tell me this literally 60 days into the process. Never will I in my career ever in my life recommend to any of my clients to use big banks to process their loan. I have ever experienced such slow underwriting, and such a gross lack of communication.
My mortgage commitment letter and interest rate are due to expire in just days now.
Great! How on earth can I make this deadline, considering the lack of time they gave me?
I pay a surveyor $800 now, to draw up the survey and have it back to me 3 days later. I am able to do this, but once the survey is given to the bank, it takes them days to review it.
Can you guess what happened?
Naturally my mortgage commitment letter expired, along with my interest rate lock.
So what happens now!?
After my mortgage commitment letter expired, I was back to sweating again. I was worried that after all of this, and money out of my pocket that the bank would decide to randomly not issue me a new letter.
Thankfully they did, but what it took was new pay stubs, new income verification letters, a new run of my credit report for any changes, and of course 2 more weeks for the morons to process this information.
Basically, when your mortgage commitment letter expires, it is rather easy to get a new one. However it will add more time to you actually meeting a closing date. It is frustrating, tedious, and annoying. It also steals away the excitement of being a home owner. Just bear with it though, the day you move in will grow closer.
Is there a way to avoid this sort of mess?
You bet. Avoid big banks. Like the plague.
As Promised- My Review of the Enviro M55 Cast Iron Pellet Stove
This review belongs to me- it was originally published on Yahoo Voices- I however am the owner/reviewer of this stove! (Sorry guys, I have to ad that whenever I share one of my reviews with you. Anyway, here it is, as promised:)
I just moved into my new home, and with winter quickly approaching and the way our large 2,000 square foot home eats up oil, I came to the quick conclusion that I wanted to have a wood stove installed in the home to save on the cost of fuel.
Unfortunately due to the awkward layout in my parlor, I could not add a wood stove unless I placed it in the center of the room, and ran it up through the entirety of the home. That was not in my budget, nor did I want a pipe going through the floor.
After some research and speaking with our local fireplace store/friend, we decided to take the plunge and go with the Enviro: The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove. Aside from pellets, you can burn corn and cherry pits in this beast. Seeing that we do not live in areas that sell cherry pits or corn by the pallets, we were going to be using pellets in our stove.
My parents had the Enviro: Mini Pellet Stove in their smaller 3 bedroom ranch, and I knew the power that the smaller model carried. Although skeptical about the M55, I figured it would pump out some serious heat, even if it did not manage to heat the entire house.
Why we decided on the The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove
Our home is big, 2 stories with a lot of space. I was of course skeptical that the The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove would actually heat the entire home, but the sales woman insisted that the one in her home does the trick in her 2,200 square foot home. I raised an eyebrow but decided at this point there were no other larger options when it came to pellet stoves.
The advertising in their store also stated that this particular pellet
stove had the capability of heating up to 2,500 square feet. This was
more than what we had, so I lowered my eyebrow and signed on the dotted
line.
Enviro The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove took a week to come in, and our appointment was set up to be installed. The installation took them about 2.5 hours, and once that was done we were in business.
There are 2 ways to heat the home, a thermostat is included so you can set the temperature, but we did not need this installed because we wanted it to run continuously. There is a small panel inside under the lid that allows you to adjust your settings. There are a total of 5 heat settings, 1 being the lowest, and 5 being the highest.
The hearth we decided on was called Night Owl, and it is such a perfect and pretty touch to the parlor.
On level 5 the pellet stove really comes to life. It offers a large and romantic flame which reminded me a lot of a regular old wood stove, so this was a really pleasant touch.
If you leave it on setting 5 all throughout the night you will go through one entire bag of pellets during a 15 hour time interval, which is not too bad. However on a lower setting the stove requires less pellets. We wanted to put the stove to the test though and really let it cook to see just how hot the entire house would get with it on.
At setting 5 in about 1 hour our home which initially began with a 67 degree temperature rose to 75 degrees on the lower level, and 73 on the upper level.
After around 3 hours of running on setting 5, we had the house cranked up to a sweat inducing 85 degrees on the lower level, and a warm and toasty 80 on the upper level.
At this point we were 100% satisfied that the sales rep did not lie to us, and that the advertising on this particular pellet stove rang true to the words written on paper! You can seriously get some powerful heat from this stove, and yes it will heat up your entire home, lower and upper levels without a hiccup.
Yes the price may of cost us the same amount of money as a 2 week trip to Bora Bora, but in the end we now have tropical weather inside of out entire home for years and years to come. The amount of oil we will now save is going to be the most impressive, and of course the best investment we could have ever made for our home.
Overall:
If you are considering the Enviro: The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove do not even hesitate. It is worth its weight in gold, and it is such a beautiful touch to any room you decide to add it to.
We got ours for a very decent price of just $4,400 with installation. The price will be higher depending on where you purchase it. We got ours from a reputable seller, and friend, so we were not charged labor.
Tip:
You get a $300 credit on your taxes for purchasing this stove and other pellet stoves as well.
I just moved into my new home, and with winter quickly approaching and the way our large 2,000 square foot home eats up oil, I came to the quick conclusion that I wanted to have a wood stove installed in the home to save on the cost of fuel.
Unfortunately due to the awkward layout in my parlor, I could not add a wood stove unless I placed it in the center of the room, and ran it up through the entirety of the home. That was not in my budget, nor did I want a pipe going through the floor.
After some research and speaking with our local fireplace store/friend, we decided to take the plunge and go with the Enviro: The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove. Aside from pellets, you can burn corn and cherry pits in this beast. Seeing that we do not live in areas that sell cherry pits or corn by the pallets, we were going to be using pellets in our stove.
My parents had the Enviro: Mini Pellet Stove in their smaller 3 bedroom ranch, and I knew the power that the smaller model carried. Although skeptical about the M55, I figured it would pump out some serious heat, even if it did not manage to heat the entire house.
Why we decided on the The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove
Our home is big, 2 stories with a lot of space. I was of course skeptical that the The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove would actually heat the entire home, but the sales woman insisted that the one in her home does the trick in her 2,200 square foot home. I raised an eyebrow but decided at this point there were no other larger options when it came to pellet stoves.
The advertising in their store also stated that this particular pellet
stove had the capability of heating up to 2,500 square feet. This was
more than what we had, so I lowered my eyebrow and signed on the dotted
line.Enviro The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove took a week to come in, and our appointment was set up to be installed. The installation took them about 2.5 hours, and once that was done we were in business.
There are 2 ways to heat the home, a thermostat is included so you can set the temperature, but we did not need this installed because we wanted it to run continuously. There is a small panel inside under the lid that allows you to adjust your settings. There are a total of 5 heat settings, 1 being the lowest, and 5 being the highest.
The hearth we decided on was called Night Owl, and it is such a perfect and pretty touch to the parlor.
On level 5 the pellet stove really comes to life. It offers a large and romantic flame which reminded me a lot of a regular old wood stove, so this was a really pleasant touch.
If you leave it on setting 5 all throughout the night you will go through one entire bag of pellets during a 15 hour time interval, which is not too bad. However on a lower setting the stove requires less pellets. We wanted to put the stove to the test though and really let it cook to see just how hot the entire house would get with it on.
At setting 5 in about 1 hour our home which initially began with a 67 degree temperature rose to 75 degrees on the lower level, and 73 on the upper level.
After around 3 hours of running on setting 5, we had the house cranked up to a sweat inducing 85 degrees on the lower level, and a warm and toasty 80 on the upper level.
At this point we were 100% satisfied that the sales rep did not lie to us, and that the advertising on this particular pellet stove rang true to the words written on paper! You can seriously get some powerful heat from this stove, and yes it will heat up your entire home, lower and upper levels without a hiccup.
Yes the price may of cost us the same amount of money as a 2 week trip to Bora Bora, but in the end we now have tropical weather inside of out entire home for years and years to come. The amount of oil we will now save is going to be the most impressive, and of course the best investment we could have ever made for our home.
Overall:
If you are considering the Enviro: The New M55 Cast Multi-Fuel Stove do not even hesitate. It is worth its weight in gold, and it is such a beautiful touch to any room you decide to add it to.
We got ours for a very decent price of just $4,400 with installation. The price will be higher depending on where you purchase it. We got ours from a reputable seller, and friend, so we were not charged labor.
Tip:
You get a $300 credit on your taxes for purchasing this stove and other pellet stoves as well.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Your Door Is Kind of Creepy
Sadly I was not able to get this gem in before Halloween, no matter though, I will have it hung up on my door year round!
At any rate he is called the Vecchio Greenman Authentic Iron Door Knocker, and reminded me of the Labyrinth door knockers, only he is 100 times more scary.
It is large, in charge, and is very detailed and made of high quality iron. It will last for years, and I just love how my door looks now!
My door was initially a red mess, with paint peeling and it looked really bad. I decided to repaint it the same color red, and add the knocker for flair! I think it does justice, and I feel like I live in a castle now!
.JPG)
The above photo shows what the door used to look like. Below is the door repainted- well what you can see of it anyway, and the Vecchio Greenman Authentic Iron Door Knocker hung up on it. Pretty dang neat if you ask me!
.JPG)
At any rate he is called the Vecchio Greenman Authentic Iron Door Knocker, and reminded me of the Labyrinth door knockers, only he is 100 times more scary.
It is large, in charge, and is very detailed and made of high quality iron. It will last for years, and I just love how my door looks now!
My door was initially a red mess, with paint peeling and it looked really bad. I decided to repaint it the same color red, and add the knocker for flair! I think it does justice, and I feel like I live in a castle now!
.JPG)
.JPG)
You Have Christmas Lights On In November?! Yes... Why Yes I Do!
When you are a new homeowner, holidays- I guess... at least at first are exciting.
It is only November 6th and we have already began putting up Christmas lights. The neighbors think the new people (us) are insane, but hey, while unpacking I found my lights, and figured I may as well Chevy Chase this house out this year, to really make a statement.
This is just the small area we finished over the past weekend... Well, I should say I. He was on the second story roof cleaning out the gutters. I on the other hand had fun decorating the yard.
It is only November 6th and we have already began putting up Christmas lights. The neighbors think the new people (us) are insane, but hey, while unpacking I found my lights, and figured I may as well Chevy Chase this house out this year, to really make a statement.
This is just the small area we finished over the past weekend... Well, I should say I. He was on the second story roof cleaning out the gutters. I on the other hand had fun decorating the yard.
Kitchen Nightmares
The new house needs a new kitchen, but this is not a task we can take on at this moment. We have the money on reserve, but we just do not have the time to get this major update done- not while we still have a parlor and living room, and 5 bedrooms that need major updating as well.
The kitchen however has been a pretty neat surprise since moving in.
But first let me get to the layout, and why a new kitchen is so necessary. It is shaped awkward, so you really are limited to counter space. There is of course room for more counters though, so this is a must for when we get to doing this.
For right now though, we have one counter and a half counter of work space. It is defintley not very efficient for space, but for right now we have to make it work.
The neat thing about this kitchen though is that it is on the bottom level of the house, which was the 1968 built level. The kitchen, and its cabinets are just as old. Literally.
When we first moved in, really ugly white checkered wallpaper covered the walls. On day 4 while cleaning, I was able to see some neon colors just behind this drab white vinyl wallpaper. I began peeling and discovered a 1960's hidden gem.
We of course will not be keeping this wallpaper up, but we will be taking out the best area and framing it.
At any rate, here are the photos, with the original 60's wallpaper.
This first photo shows the wallpaper we ripped out.
My fella on the right--->
I am antsy to start renovating the entire kitchen, as you can sort of see we do not have a whole lot of cabinets for storage. We did purchase a chef's block for $300, which was a nice addition though, and gives us that extra bit of surface space and storage that we so desperately needed.
The kitchen however has been a pretty neat surprise since moving in.
But first let me get to the layout, and why a new kitchen is so necessary. It is shaped awkward, so you really are limited to counter space. There is of course room for more counters though, so this is a must for when we get to doing this.
For right now though, we have one counter and a half counter of work space. It is defintley not very efficient for space, but for right now we have to make it work.
The neat thing about this kitchen though is that it is on the bottom level of the house, which was the 1968 built level. The kitchen, and its cabinets are just as old. Literally.
When we first moved in, really ugly white checkered wallpaper covered the walls. On day 4 while cleaning, I was able to see some neon colors just behind this drab white vinyl wallpaper. I began peeling and discovered a 1960's hidden gem.
We of course will not be keeping this wallpaper up, but we will be taking out the best area and framing it.
At any rate, here are the photos, with the original 60's wallpaper.
This first photo shows the wallpaper we ripped out.
My fella on the right--->
Pretty neat Brady Bunch like colors. It's relatively ugly, but discovering the hidden treasure was really neat!
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