Just when you thought you were all set!

Well this week has truly been one for the books! I've been selling homes and assisting with financing for 30+ years and thought I'd seen it all. WRONG..



As Lyndon Johnson said, "We can draw lessons from the past but we cannot live in it."



New financing guidelines and FHA loans have turned us all upside down and inside out asking for documentation one paper at a time! You put a nice clean financing package together, send it to FHA for their final sign off, they take 10 days to review the file and then send it back looking for one piece of paper. You quickly send that in. They take another 10 days to re-review the file and send it back looking for one more piece of paper. Frustrated, you send that in quickly and 10 days later they ask you for another! Call me silly but wouldn't it be easier to ask for all of them at once or would that be taking the power away from the powers that be!



We actually had to hold up a closing at the closing table because they would not fund the loan until they had approval from the next investor they were selling the loan to. This was a local banking institution and the client went to the local bank to have their loan local instead of using a mortgage broker/company because they thought their loan would be sold. Lesson well learned. Make sure to ask if they are going to sell you before you close or hold you hostage at the closing table while they scurry around looking for a buyer for your loan! This seems a little backwards to me but again, we can't live in the past.



They are covering every angle and making buyers and sellers jump through hoops that are sometimes so ridiculous that they just say "forget it". It's not worth it.



They actually asked one client recently who was receiving child support for a 15 year old if that 15 year old would be attending college. Well, we certainly hope so but we can't apply at 15 to make sure we are accepted! Well then, how about sending in the academic transcripts so we can determine if they will be accepted, etc. This seems like big brother looking into our homes and sort of feels like the old days when women could not get financing because they may have a child and would definitely have to stay home and not work!



Where are we heading? It's sure to get more stringent before it lightens up...Stay tuned!