Have you been in the position where you knew today was the day you would be turned down? There’s a distinct sinking feeling that surrounds this negative possibility that’s kind of like the body sensations of the buzz of stress.
It started in the normal way with a referral to a wonderful young couple from France looking to build a life and a family here in the U.S. At first glance they had done so well in France I wondered why here, why now with all the economic and financial bad news. But they saw the opportunity not the pain.
Their desire and qualifications were strong, their cash sufficient, and their employment solid with promise for the future. Certainly a bright career to look forward to while building their family, dare I say “The American Dream”! They said the only problem they were told by everyone they interviewed was they didn’t have the required 2 years employment history in the U.S. to get financing. Was this a turn down day?
A little research & we had a strategy that we discussed thoroughly. With an excellent 6 year veteran Realtor, and a willing developer of a new home, they had an acceptable purchase contract and were thrilled with what would soon be theirs. They saw the possibility.
They were prompt, thorough and efficient gathering all that had been asked of them, and then an unexpected problem with a property they still owned in France which would now require what was to be some of their down payment to secure. This surely was a turn down day.
The new plan required less cash, bigger payments and stretched them beyond what they considered comfortable. This was the turn down day.
It was a solid plan, an excellent purchase, and because of temporary lending limits which would dissappear by year end, after 3 days they carefully and thoughtfully chose to continue. This new plan required additional documentation and some from France but we had 2 weeks to get it all done. Lots of E-mail, phone messages, 3 way communications, translations, and sleepless nights and my 30+ years of working this stuff out was tested, but with excellent support it got done! Now all we needed was an underwriting decision and the closing ceremonies could commence. It would be tight but we had a week left. With a few well placed phone conversations, all were standing by. . .
Having an approval in hand weeks earlier, all we needed was a successful review of requested documentation. We used every communication skill and venue to speed it up - no word from the underwriter - Get supervisors involved - No answer - Get managers involved - No answer - Get Regional involved, on vacation, no help - No answer.
This couple, packed and scheduled with a mover for the exact day of closing, 8 months pregnant, completed everything asked of them on time, excellent credit, funds, income, out of time, had every right to yell, scream, and hollar about what surely would be a turn down day.
Get the regional director involved - YES, an answer, it’s all good, documents are approved, our Realtor hero negotiates an additional few days to close and the spring begins to unwind, sleep returns, and the move is one. They saw the possibility, trusted their advisors and beat the odds!
In todays stressful mortgage lending environment even if you are well qualified with plenty of assets and it’s completely obvious it should all go well, the rules change while you sleep and the impact without warning may be A Turn Down Day.
Build your dream, choose your advisors carefully, then follow them no matter what!
Thank you for your interest - I’ll be back in 1 week - DN
September 28th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
[...] discussion of what they needed to do as a well qualified buyer in today’s market. See “A Turn Down Day” for their [...]