I need to vent(sorry kinda long)

[Caroleh]

My DH and have been wanting to move for quite awhile, we really dislike the city we are living in and the apartment building we live in. On the news yesterday was a report that the mall next to us is one of the highest in the general Toronto area for criminal activity. Does it surprise me? No, I worked in that mall and saw stuff that I never want to see. Also there's a baseball field next to us where we can see "let's make a dope deal" Its so bad that they don't even hide the fact.
The police are at the building just about every day for some reason, one evening not too long ago we heard them chasing someone down the hall and watched out the balcony them hauling away 3 of our neighbors(there was 5 police cars and 2 assault vans outside for this arrest). Trying to get work done on the apartment is like pulling teeth. We have water leaks quite often, and our carpet gets soaked to the point water squishes out between our toes. They come and rip holes in the walls fix the leaks, but don't clean up the water from the carpet. The holes they put in the walls take forever for them to fix(we complain numerous times to the point we give up), it usually takes them 3 years, yes years, to fix them. They're great on fixing outside appearances, but that's it.

So we finally have enough money saved for a down payment on a townhouse. Last Sunday we went looking at a development being built in the city I work in and fell in love with a floor plan (I know, right now, it's just a floor plan!!!). We can choose our closing date at either the end of the year or Feb or March of next year..next year better for us because we don't want to worry about moving the same time as our trip to Disney. We'll be getting a 3 bedroom home with a home office. The office is going to be my scrapbooking studio and one bedroom my quilting studio!!! We got home, went on-line to our bank and filled out a pre-approved mortgage application. They said we would be hearing from them in 3 business days. Also on the application they asked what would be a good time to contact you, so the DH let them know. They called on Wednesday...not during the times we listed. My DH called them back..voice mail. He called again on Thursday, couldn't get a hold of the person, so he waited and talked to someone else. This person, instead of trying to find out any information, wanted him to fill out another application over the phone and kept asking him if we had our house on the market yet....this was after the DH told him several times that this would be our first home. Last night he got home from work with another message from the first person asking for documention..not telling us what they need. So he took our last paycheck stubs and the past 2 years tax forms to fax..after he calls again to see what they need. We want to make our down payment on Sunday, to make sure we get our new home before the last of them are sold(this town we want to move to is the fastest growing community in Canada right now). Earlier this year, this same bank called us up and gave me large line of credit and this morning they called the DH and gave him a line of credit for the same amount they gave me, but yet it takes forever to get a pre-approved mortgage.

Thanks for listening to me vent!!!

[BrerSchultzy]

Sounds like it's definitely time to

and plenty more where that came from.

Hope everything gets settled today! Best wishes!

[DVC2004]

I'm so sorry. As a mortgage loan officer myself, this person's service is unacceptable. We work on commission and there is no excuse for poor service. Call another lender; there's plenty of good ones that will treat you right and make you thier top priority. This person stinks at thier job! Good luck.

[SteveL]

Sounds like a bank in my area.
We were trying to get a home equity secured used car loan to finance DD's car while she was in school.
We're talking about a $7000 loan secured with over $300K in equity, with automatic payment deduction from our money market account . We also had an IRA for DW at the same bank.
After 14 days without a decision, we loaned DD the money ourselves, then moved all of our accounts to a small local bank.

[Caroleh]

SteveL, that's us. The bank we were dealing with contains our checking account, our savings accounts(the DH has his and I have mine), our RRSP(like a 401K or IRA-retirement funds) our charge cards(again the DH has his and I have mine) and the lines of credit that they called us to have. Our paychecks are automatically deposited into the checking account, that what floors me the most.

Anyway, the DH called me this morning and said he's trying a different place and we should have the approval by Monday or Tuesday. They didn't see a problem. The bad thing is we can't put our down payment down this weekend, but we would do it next weekend and hopefully it won't be sold out.

[Jeff G]

SteveL, that's us. The bank we were dealing with contains our checking account, our savings accounts(the DH has his and I have mine), our RRSP(like a 401K or IRA-retirement funds) our charge cards(again the DH has his and I have mine) and the lines of credit that they called us to have. Our paychecks are automatically deposited into the checking account, that what floors me the most.

Anyway, the DH called me this morning and said he's trying a different place and we should have the approval by Monday or Tuesday. They didn't see a problem. The bad thing is we can't put our down payment down this weekend, but we would do it next weekend and hopefully it won't be sold out.

Carol,

I'm a mortgage banker in Wisconsin and am not familiar with the laws up in Canada so this may be off.

With the deposit that you will be putting down on the house is that considered earnest money(money in good will that you intend to purchase the house)? If so does your offer to purchase contract agreement have a financing contingency? The reason I ask these questions is that here in the states if you were to put an offer on this house with it contingent on financing and for whatever reason your not able to obtain the loan the offer is null and void and the earnest money is fully refundalble. Most purchases I deal with require that upon accepting an offer to purchase a buyer presnets a pre-approval letter within a few days to the seller. If this is the case up by you it may be a way where you can make an offer yet this weekend to ensure you get one of these houses.

As for your bank it's a great idea that with that kind of service you are looking elsewhere. Speaking from my experience I can generally run an application and have a pre-approval in a matter of minutes for my customers.

Plus with the number of mortgage companies available to choose from it's always a good bet to shop other places besides just your bank. Generally speaking the banks in my area have rates 1/8-1/4% higher than what we are able to offer. The main reason for this is banks have a steady stream of customers with whom already do all the banking at their location and know that even if the rate is a little higher most customers will stick with them for conveinience purposes. Depending on how much your looking to spend the difference in an 1/8% can be hundreds of dollars per year.

Buying a house and taking out a mortgage can be a rather daunting task that most of us do only a handfull of times at most in our lifetime. If I can assist you with any questions as you go through this process let me know. I have 15 years mortgage experience. I can't do loans outside of Wisconsin so I''m not soliciting you, just offering to lend a hand if you have questions.

Jeff

[weswerx]

So, should the Intercot moving crew start getting ready? I bet we can load everything into one truck...

[murphy1]

Oh, Carol, all of that activity is terrible! Hang in there, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I know it's stressful.

[Ms.Disney]

I just wanted to say best wishes and good luck

[Dsnygirl]

Carol, I sure hope things speed up for you and that everything works out okay for you this week!! How frustrating... your bank must not want your business very badly... glad to see you tried elsewhere!!

We have a credit line through our bank here, and I tried to access it once awhile ago, and it wouldn't allow me to transfer funds - so I called - and had a finance guy tell me that they felt I had enought credit available on my credit cards (with them) to use, so they weren't going to allow me to access the credit line! I said I didn't want to use my credit cards and rack up balances at a higher interest rate... and he said, "Well, that's too bad - that's our policy!" To which I said, "That's okay -please close my credit line, I'm moving it elsewhere b/c MY policy is to use accounts that have lower interest rates! That's what a credit line is for!" He wasn't too happy, but oh well... neither was I. Funny how some institution seem to care less & less about customer service...

Anyway - congrats to you that you've found a place and are going for it - I'm envious you'll have your own craft room!! That's awesome... let us know how it goes this upcoming week!!

[Caroleh]

So, should the Intercot moving crew start getting ready? I bet we can load everything into one truck...

How big of a truck? I have a lot of crafts!!!

[jillluvsdisney]

I hope things turn out well for you. Brace your self because the home buying experience does not get easier. There will be plenty more frustrating days ahead of you. Read everything you possibly can and be well informed. That will be your best defense against insanity.

[MsMin]

Just sending Buying a home/townhome can be the most exciting and the most frustrating time of your life. Hope things work out for you real soon.

[The Bookseller]

I will just knock wood and send so that you can get away from this mess ASAP!

[Speedy1998]

Not sure what the laws are like in Canada, but if you have them in Canada, I recommend using a mortage broker.

[conorsmom2000]

Carol, I just wanted to wish you good luck and I hope it all works out! As others have said, this is an exciting time, as well as a frustrating time! I think you did the right thing by going to someone else - there are enough banks and brokers out there that want your business and will treat you better. But, a lot of it is a stressful waiting game! So, keep your chin up and things will be fine!! Keep us posted!

[Caroleh]

Update!!!! We got our preappoved mortgage and made our down payment. Our closing date will be March 3 of 2008. It was the last one available. I went and took a picture of the lot under construction!!!

[BronxTigger]

DH and I are going to try to get a condo/townhouse before our lease ends in April 2008. It's quite a daunting idea to try to get the down payment, mortgage, etc. I don't even know where to begin!

[Caroleh]

DH and I are going to try to get a condo/townhouse before our lease ends in April 2008. It's quite a daunting idea to try to get the down payment, mortgage, etc. I don't even know where to begin!

We've been talking about moving for 4 years, but when my DD was going to college, everytime we got any money saved up she needed help. She's graduating Mother's Day weekend and has been out since around Christmas. The last year of her schooling, she has had a good job that she didn't need a lot of help from me and after she got out of school she has had a job that pays her bills, so no more asking mom. That's when we really got to save. If I would of helped saved for the downpayment, we would have had more money, but I saved for a trip to WDW. It was a lot of work to get here.

[Damon18]

I am glad everything worked out for you! Enjoy your new home!