damn, i'm good
posted by bitchphd
PART ONE
I have spent ALL MORNING (and into the afternoon) trying to call a credit union to get a competing loan on this house nailed down. Busy signals (??!?), left voice mails (not returned), "out of office" messages, it never ends. Finally got them on the line--oh, she "assumed it was a refi" and that there was no deadline. Niiiiiice. So I find out how to quicken up the process (we close a week from tomorrow) and then gird myself to call the other bank, the one we've been working with for months. The one that's got us locked in at a freaking 7% rate.
Me: So, um, hi. I have a few questions for you on this place. First, since the seller's in town, the agent says we should get her in to sign the papers rather than having to fax things back and forth (Agent: Good idea.). . . second, the appraisal--it was done, right? Where is it? We haven't paid for it yet, so I've been wondering (Agent: You can pay for it at closing.) . . . . third, uhm, well, look. Mr. B. has talked to the folks at the Navy Credit Union, and they say they can give us a VA loan at 5.25%.
Agent: Oh?
Me: Yeah. And I know you've been working with us for ages now, and I don't want to yank this away from you, so I thought I'd call and see if there's anything you can do to compete with that.
Agent: Well, you're locked in. I can call secondary marketing and see what they say, but I really don't think we can meet that at this point. I suppose you can go ahead and start the process with the credit union, but you know, you're supposed to close in a week and that could take some time. . . .
Me (settling down to business): Actually, we've already started the process, and we're approved for the loan.*
Agent: I see. Well, let me call secondary marketing and get back to you.
Me: Great.
I hang up, and I look up the number for underwriting in Texas, planning on calling them to see if they'll fax the appraisal to my agent. The phone rings 30 seconds later.
Agent: Hello, B? I can offer you 5.25% if you can pay a half point.
Me: Really! That's awesome. What about our being locked into the 7% rate?
Agent: I guess they let it expire, because they told me I can just give you today's rates.
Me: Okay, good. Let's see. The credit union is offering us 5.5% with no points, and 5.25% with one point, so let me think . . . .
Agent: Oh, hey, guess what? I can give you 5% if you can pay a point. That beats them.
Me: So it does. And a quarter percent over the life of the loan, that's a fair bit of money. What are we talking about in terms of closing costs, then?
Agent: Let me see. (Mumbling, numbers.) Well, the seller is giving you back enough to cover the cost of the point, so that leaves you with taxes and insurance. . . . our charge for a VA loan is only $355, so let's say $4k plus title, escrow, and taxes. . . . I don't know how much insurance they might want you to pay up front. . . .
Me: Mmm-hm. . . .
Agent: Let's say, conservatively, $4k max. So $8k total.
Me: (Thinking) We close the day before Mr. B. gets paid again. We should be able to float this and end up putting the damn plumber and foundation work on a credit card. Argh. (Out loud) Well, that makes things really tight for the next few months. But over the life of the loan it saves us a lot of money. . . .
Agent: Yes, it does.
Me: Okay. Let's do it.
Agent: If I lock this in, are yu going with us?
Me: (Thinking) And not have to fax and scramble with the damn credit union? Hell yes. (Out loud) Yes. If you lock us in at 5%, we will stick with you.
Agent: Done.
We hang up. I do the gloating victory dance of the winning negotiator.
*I neglected to tell him that b/c of the credit union's dawdling, there might be an issue with the appraisal, which takes ten days to do. Unless they agree to accept the one that Wachovia did, which is apparently in the Texas underwriter's office and which I'd somehow have to get Wachovia to fax over to them.
PART TWO
I call the sheriff's office in ___ county to ask them about serving the dead cat people with papers. The dead cat people last week told the escrow company that they had "the wrong number," and they have consistently refused to give the lawyer any contact information, replying to him--late, and only after he insisted that they reply in writing--with a fax from Kinko's, so I'm absolutely certain that they won't sign for certified mail. Sheriff's office is quite helpful, tells me to mail papers in with a cover letter and a check for $45 and they'll "get right on it." Court date is in March. Which should be just in time to pay off the credit card bill for the house repairs.
I have spent ALL MORNING (and into the afternoon) trying to call a credit union to get a competing loan on this house nailed down. Busy signals (??!?), left voice mails (not returned), "out of office" messages, it never ends. Finally got them on the line--oh, she "assumed it was a refi" and that there was no deadline. Niiiiiice. So I find out how to quicken up the process (we close a week from tomorrow) and then gird myself to call the other bank, the one we've been working with for months. The one that's got us locked in at a freaking 7% rate.
Me: So, um, hi. I have a few questions for you on this place. First, since the seller's in town, the agent says we should get her in to sign the papers rather than having to fax things back and forth (Agent: Good idea.). . . second, the appraisal--it was done, right? Where is it? We haven't paid for it yet, so I've been wondering (Agent: You can pay for it at closing.) . . . . third, uhm, well, look. Mr. B. has talked to the folks at the Navy Credit Union, and they say they can give us a VA loan at 5.25%.
Agent: Oh?
Me: Yeah. And I know you've been working with us for ages now, and I don't want to yank this away from you, so I thought I'd call and see if there's anything you can do to compete with that.
Agent: Well, you're locked in. I can call secondary marketing and see what they say, but I really don't think we can meet that at this point. I suppose you can go ahead and start the process with the credit union, but you know, you're supposed to close in a week and that could take some time. . . .
Me (settling down to business): Actually, we've already started the process, and we're approved for the loan.*
Agent: I see. Well, let me call secondary marketing and get back to you.
Me: Great.
I hang up, and I look up the number for underwriting in Texas, planning on calling them to see if they'll fax the appraisal to my agent. The phone rings 30 seconds later.
Agent: Hello, B? I can offer you 5.25% if you can pay a half point.
Me: Really! That's awesome. What about our being locked into the 7% rate?
Agent: I guess they let it expire, because they told me I can just give you today's rates.
Me: Okay, good. Let's see. The credit union is offering us 5.5% with no points, and 5.25% with one point, so let me think . . . .
Agent: Oh, hey, guess what? I can give you 5% if you can pay a point. That beats them.
Me: So it does. And a quarter percent over the life of the loan, that's a fair bit of money. What are we talking about in terms of closing costs, then?
Agent: Let me see. (Mumbling, numbers.) Well, the seller is giving you back enough to cover the cost of the point, so that leaves you with taxes and insurance. . . . our charge for a VA loan is only $355, so let's say $4k plus title, escrow, and taxes. . . . I don't know how much insurance they might want you to pay up front. . . .
Me: Mmm-hm. . . .
Agent: Let's say, conservatively, $4k max. So $8k total.
Me: (Thinking) We close the day before Mr. B. gets paid again. We should be able to float this and end up putting the damn plumber and foundation work on a credit card. Argh. (Out loud) Well, that makes things really tight for the next few months. But over the life of the loan it saves us a lot of money. . . .
Agent: Yes, it does.
Me: Okay. Let's do it.
Agent: If I lock this in, are yu going with us?
Me: (Thinking) And not have to fax and scramble with the damn credit union? Hell yes. (Out loud) Yes. If you lock us in at 5%, we will stick with you.
Agent: Done.
We hang up. I do the gloating victory dance of the winning negotiator.
*I neglected to tell him that b/c of the credit union's dawdling, there might be an issue with the appraisal, which takes ten days to do. Unless they agree to accept the one that Wachovia did, which is apparently in the Texas underwriter's office and which I'd somehow have to get Wachovia to fax over to them.
PART TWO
I call the sheriff's office in ___ county to ask them about serving the dead cat people with papers. The dead cat people last week told the escrow company that they had "the wrong number," and they have consistently refused to give the lawyer any contact information, replying to him--late, and only after he insisted that they reply in writing--with a fax from Kinko's, so I'm absolutely certain that they won't sign for certified mail. Sheriff's office is quite helpful, tells me to mail papers in with a cover letter and a check for $45 and they'll "get right on it." Court date is in March. Which should be just in time to pay off the credit card bill for the house repairs.
Labels: mememe, real estate
Posted at 1:34 PM
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