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First post here but I've read this forum a lot (among others) leading up to our recent (first) home purchase. I have to say my experience doesnt reflect 90% of the stuff I read online. I used the two services that seemed to best use technology to minimize having to do annoying things like faxing or duplicating document submission (redfin and quicken loans). I guess one positive from reading everyone's horrible experiences online is that I way over budgeted for the home buying process so ended up with unexpected liquid funds at the end. Ended up getting almost all fees credited by lender and realtor (redfin rebate).
Incredible communication throughout the whole process easy online form submission and e-signing for everything. Frequent 9,10,11pm emails letting me know theyre still working. Just generally some of the best service I've ever received from both lender and realtor (title company was kind of annoying as it seemed they operate somewhat old school still but lender and realtor stayed on them and ended up closing 2 weeks early).
We are in the process of getting our mortgage completed for a home we are buying in the beginning of April. We have excellent credit, my husband is paid well and has been with his employer for many, many years (well over 10 years) and we have very little debt. We are buying a home well below what is considered a "conservative estimate for us" with a decent chunck for a down payment. I literally copied and sent EVERYTHING they asked for up front. 3 years of tax returns, 2 months of savings & checking, all of the required pay check stubs, explanations of some large deposits from the relocation company handling my husband's RELO...the list goes on and on. But I did it and sent it all in.
We are being asked for the most ridiculous things. We had an insurance claim for our current home's roof and received payments for the new roof which we ended up paying right back out to the roof company. We had to provide copies of the check, sign and affidavit and send them the insurance company damage estimates.
They wanted all of this stuff about the payment we got from the RELO company even though we had the RELO company write out a detailed explanation. It got stuck because they needed a copy of the check. We didn't have the check because it was a direct deposit. They required this complicated work around because I told them I could not send them a check copy that did not exist.
The worst was my husband's bonus. I gave them the pay check stub for his bonus. They were very concerned because there was such a large payroll deposit that was out of the ordinary. He gets a bonus every year in February. I explained that. We don't even need bonuses to qualify for the mortgage but they are still needed crazy documentation because this is a "large deposit".
I transferred money from our savings account to our checking to cover the earnest deposit and now they need all of this documentation on where that money came from even though it very clearly says "transfer from savings". They have my savings and checking statements. I don't keep most of our money in checking. Just what I need to pay our bills and daily living. I always transfer money back and forth from savings to checking. Warning--DON'T do that!!
I'm seriously worried that tomorrow they will be asking for a DNA sample and possibly my first born.
If it is this hard for us to get a mortgage and we should really be EASY I can't imagine what others are going through. Or maybe I just picked the wrong Mortgage Broker!! Is this just the way it is now? If so, this industry is horribly over regulated to the point of being ridiculous. I almost want to rent for the rest of my life. I feel like I'm under an FBI investigation. I literally have around 30 emails from our mortgage processor just today.
I forgot to mention too--they made us get a letter from his direct boss verifying he will not be taking a demotion or pay decrease in our new location. It had to be those words. It was humiliating for him. They had already verified his employment and we sent tons of pay documentation. To get this letter was a 100 step process through the HR department.
What the heck??? Why are there so many hoops now?? Was it the bill passed by Obama in 2010 (Frank Dodd or whatever it is) that is fueling this ridiculous overkill?
Its Barbozo Franks fault. HE just dont like people. I bet if Barney wanted to refi his house-you know the one where there nagughty thing goin on he be approved in a minute And would have no payments.
Im in similiar situation to yours. It was being processed for over 3 months-i got mad and gave up.
I would have had to pay fees etc of approx $4-5000. I just dont think banks are that incompentant unles govt officials made them so.
PS. Cant imagine what commoners with low credit scores do. IM a high fallutin person w skore over 840.............hahahaha.
Its Barbozo Franks fault. HE just dont like people. I bet if Barney wanted to refi his house-you know the one where there nagughty thing goin on he be approved in a minute And would have no payments.
Im in similiar situation to yours. It was being processed for over 3 months-i got mad and gave up.
I would have had to pay fees etc of approx $4-5000. I just dont think banks are that incompentant unles govt officials made them so.
PS. Cant imagine what commoners with low credit scores do. IM a high fallutin person w skore over 840.............hahahaha.
Who cannot spell, type or use grammer properly. (The word is score, not skore, and you've misspelled it in TWO posts.)
I re-fin'ed with American Interbanc. They are a broker based in Irvine.
I found them on a zillow ad.
From contact to close was 40 days. All communication was through email.
I had a bit of a scare, with my HOA learning under-writing, but other than that, everything was reasonable.
I have ALL my documents scanned on my computer and ready to go.
ALL banking/brokerage accounts. I bought my house in 2015 and then refinanced just now.
IMO, mortgages in the US for the standard case, ie. W2 income is pretty straight-forward.
I'm going thru underwriter hell right now. They are telling me that I can't use the earnest money check even though it came out from the bank that I'm getting the mortgage with and there is a direct deposit showing that there is sufficient money to cover that check. I'm being told because the checking account was opened with cash that the bank check that came after a direct deposit is no good.
I know you posted this thread a while ago but it's still one of the top results in web searches and still completely relevant.
Just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience.
I'm going through a very similar experience and having very similar feelings and it's helpful to hear from someone else who went through it.
I have no criminal history, no debt, decent income from the same employer for 12 years, the loan I'm applying for is considerably small and I've spent the last decade building flawless credit... yet I'm still being interrogated like I'm a gd criminal.
It's unethical, degrading, insulting, frustrating and depressing.
I'm seriously on the verge of telling them to go f*** themselves and continuing with renting until I come up with some other plan.
So it's STILL going on. That is pitiful. It's simply all gone overboard and feeds the controlling egos of some of those hired into those positions. It's akin to calling the doc's office to give a private message to the doctor...but oh no, the receptionist wants to know your full name, your birthdate, and exactly what you want to tell the doc. NOPE, it's none of the receptionist's business.
I know you posted this thread a while ago but it's still one of the top results in web searches and still completely relevant.
Just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience.
I'm going through a very similar experience and having very similar feelings and it's helpful to hear from someone else who went through it.
I have no criminal history, no debt, decent income from the same employer for 12 years, the loan I'm applying for is considerably small and I've spent the last decade building flawless credit... yet I'm still being interrogated like I'm a gd criminal.
It's unethical, degrading, insulting, frustrating and depressing.
I'm seriously on the verge of telling them to go f*** themselves and continuing with renting until I come up with some other plan.
Remember, people that have fabulous experiences rarely post on threads, such as this. The happy ones post on Yelp or one of the real estate sites.
I am willing to go out on a limb and say 80% that experience the OP's or your experience have sought a mortgage from a big box bank. Big box = banks on every corner, coast to coast; only followed by internet-based mortgage companies or large regional banks trying to increase their footprint. Their sheer size make them inefficient. And if the problem isn't a big box, it's someone that is either inexperienced or a worker-bee. The worker-bee never challenges conditions, just tells you to "just do it." The best experiences are typically with community banks, credit unions or independent brokers.
There are just too many talented people out there to settle for anything less than your personal advocate when getting a mortgage loan. Think about it - this is likely the most expensive investment of your lifetime. It is also a 30 year commitment. How much time did you give to picking out a lender?
So how do you do that? There are many threads on CD providing thoughtful advice on the topic. I can only say ask friends and family. If someone you ask is overly enthusiastic about an individual, chances are the experience was so good, the want to return the care they received. They warrant a call. The other thing to watch out for is someone that explains to you why something is required. If you understood the logic, chances are you will be far more willing to provide the request. An explainer is more concerned about your understanding the transaction than finding their next loan.
I recall endless go-arounds with my mortgage company a few years ago when buying 4 investment properties (SFRs). I felt like a circus animal being forced to jump through hoops of fire.
In the end I got all my deals closed, and even better got all my mortgages sold to my own bank. I'm done buying investment properties and glad of it.
I doubt anything has changed.
Remember the days (2007?) when all you had to do is prove you had a heartbeat to get a mortgage?
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