First time home buyers w/o 2 year work history

That happnes a lot now days

The property apprisal are changed after some time by the under writers to matchthe market condition

underwriters have to look carefully at appraisals - that's a given, so it's not a surprise to those of us who've been at this for a while. nevertheless, it's a big shock to a borrower. now, why did it take until now? that's anyone's guess, i'm afraid.

you've got a choice - you ought to be able to go back to the seller and renegotiate - assuming the value assigned by the underwriter isn't wildly lower than the negotiated price you had to begin with. i don't recall if you're doing fha financing or not; if so, you have every right to go back and renegotiate with the seller. here's the latest bottom line, i suppose: is this the only issue remaining? if so, then try to resolve it to your benefit and get closed. if you can be assured of that, at least you've got a leg up on the process (for once).

this is miserable, and though it's no consolation, it's typical of the market now. i've lost 3 deals in the last week for a variety of wacky reasons. keep in mind, now, that every deal is like a jewel to a loan officer. and we don't carry insurance in case of loss - they just drift away (agonizingly slowly).

newbie, i feel for you - this is an awful position to be in - wondering and waiting and then to have ups and downs along with the wait. i hope there's light at the end of your tunnel finally coming.

forgive me my digression in the midst of my answer to you. your frustration simply brought to mind the frustration i am feeling.

Thanks for sharign the details George

I am sure lot more people are out there who are frustrated like you and newbee

The underwriter valued the house $25K below the appraised value. After escalating the issue to corporate, we were get the value to $10K below. The seller is willing to accept that price if we agree to proceed without a mortgage contingency and put our earnest money at risk if this deal still falls through. Considering how unpredictable the situation has been thus far, my husband and I are very wary of risking our $5,000. We are waiting to hear back from the lender with hopefully verification that there are no other issues besides the purchase price issue. Once we have that, we would feel better about agreeing to the seller's request. I just hope that the underwriter responds quickly, for once. Until then, we really just have no idea what's going to happen.

Do you think that the underwriter just doesn't want to approve our loan and has been just trying to find ways to deny us?? (Or do you think that this is just too much effort to try and sabotage someone?) Maybe the underwriter has something against dentists?? Have you heard of someone going out of their way to make sure that a loan gets denied?? Maybe I'm being paranoid...

your paranoia is somewhat understandable. however, i'd certainly hope that there's no underwriter on the face of this earth who would deign to deny someone at all costs. no, i don't think this underwriter is looking for ways to decline the loan. i don't think too many people have issues with dentists, except for those who (oh lord, my childhood) are just plain butchers. forgive me, again.

i agree with your stance that you ought not to risk your $5000 at this time. wait and see what the underwriter says about other, potential issues that are in play, and then move on. the seller isn't quite that realistic to ask this of you, in my opinion. this $10K below price isn't unheard of - that's for sure. if you can get a reasonable answer from underwriting that makes it worthwhile to move forward, then you ought to (i guess - this is just my thought).

remember this: even though it may not seem that way all the time, lenders are in the business of lending. they want to make loans, not deny them. underwriters are quite wary of risk, and they are also concerned about their own skin (unfortunately). if they approve loans that go bad, they'll look bad. frankly, i think way too many underwriters are just plain scared these days.

As of last week, the seller had given us until this Friday morning (the 13th) to close (we had to guarantee them $1K if we didn't close) and then yesterday the underwriter hit us with another condition. Now she wants us to be "gifted" our down payment because she doesn't want to use any of my self-employed income due to the fact that I deposit my paychecks into a "business" account. So even though we have the money, we can't use it. How ridiculous is that? And of course, she has to insist on this the day before Veteran's Day so we have to lose another day. We just can't catch a break. Now I have to try getting a cashier's check from a relative, send my broker the copy of the check and the gift letter, have him send it to the lender, and somehow get all the paperwork ready for a closing bright and early the next morning.

How likely is this to happen? In my mind, it's not gonna happen considering how long the bank takes to respond to anything.

We were told last week that we either close on Friday or that's it for the house. At the time, it seemed that we were so close that we decided we might as well try one last time for it. However, sometimes it just seems that this underwriter is trying to make things so impossible that we give up. I know that the lenders are in the "business of lending," but things just look so suspicious. There are so many recent issues that could have been addressed easily weeks or months ago. Instead, she waited until the last minute, literally (like 5 minutes before 5pm). For the most part, I've been able to get everything she requested relatively quickly (within a few hours at most), but then we have had to wait for her to respond...with yet another condition. It's been crazy.

When this is all said and done, regardless of whether or not we get the house, I definitely want to complain. I think that this situation has been ridiculous and severely mishandled.

well, you posted this yesterday, and it's now 4:30 here on the east coast on thursday - not much time before the workday is over and your closing is to be tomorrow. i can't be much help with whatever it is i may say (and i don't know what that is, yet).

hopefully, you were able to submit what you needed for first thing this morning, and hopefully you have someone working on your behalf who can persuade the underwriter to review all of what you sent quickly. and, again, i hope that all is, by now, rectified and that your closing will go off tomorrow without a hitch.

by all means, register a complaint. i don't know what the upshot of it will be, but you'll feel better (a bit) at least.

i hope this works for you.

I have been an independent contractor(not by choice) for approx. 1.5 years. I am employed and paid by the spa i work out at. I just have to pay my own taxes. Does that make a difference than an actual Self-Employed person. Is there any way i can get around this? I want to be preapproved ASAP!! Also i am a first time home buyer. What loans and programs are best for me? How long does is the tax credit going to last?

kelly, do you file a schedule c on your tax return? that's what will define you as self employed. do they provide you with a form 1099 at the end of the year? generally, someone in your line of work would be considered self employed as a result. getting around it isn't an option.

the tax credit works this way: you must be in contract to purchase a home by april 30, 2010 and you must close on that purchase by june 30, 2010.

you may not have the 2 years of self employment required by lenders. what did you do prior to becoming an independent contractor? if it's the same line of work, you may be able to get by with the time you've spent on the job. it's a tricky situation, and i'd suggest you maximize your income on this year's taxes, while minimizing deductions so as to qualify for the greatest amount.

it may just be time for you to sit down with a loan officer and see what you might qualify for now.

Sorry it has been so long since my last posting. I just wanted to let you know that our situation has been resolved favorably and we closed on the house on Friday, Nov 13th (the deadling the sellers had given us). It really came down to the wire:

On Wednesday, after submitting the requested documents to my broker, I waited patiently for any reponse. As of Thursday morning, we still had no answer. By noon, my broker let me know that we would have an answer by 5pm. At 5:10, I finally got that fateful call and was informed that we were going to close the next day. Even on Friday, it was still dodgy and we didn't even have all the paperwork ready for us to sign until 4pm. Thankully, though, this ordeal is done. We are very happy with our new home...and grateful that we will not have to go through this again...at least not until we decide to move :-)

Thank you again, George, for all of your advice and words of encouragement through this challenging time. You are a Godsend to all of the people in real estate limbo!

Sorry it has been so long since my last posting. I just wanted to let you know that our situation has been resolved favorably and we closed on the house on Friday, Nov 13th (the deadling the sellers had given us). It really came down to the wire:

On Wednesday, after submitting the requested documents to my broker, I waited patiently for any reponse. As of Thursday morning, we still had no answer. By noon, my broker let me know that we would have an answer by 5pm. At 5:10, I finally got that fateful call and was informed that we were going to close the next day. Even on Friday, it was still dodgy and we didn't even have all the paperwork ready for us to sign until 4pm. Thankully, though, this ordeal is done. We are very happy with our new home...and grateful that we will not have to go through this again...at least not until we decide to move :-)

Thank you again, George, for all of your advice and words of encouragement through this challenging time. You are a Godsend to all of the people in real estate limbo!

i got the notification that there was a post on this topic - mentally noted that i hadn't seen anything on it for a long time...and, of course, i didn't remember the topic at all until i logged in and saw your latest post.

i'm gratified that it all worked out. now that 2+ months have elapsed, you've had some time to get accustomed to the home and attempt to becalm yourselves over the stress you went through. i have to say you were handling all that nonsense reasonably well back in the fall (doesn't that make it seem longer ago?).

your last-minute notification, delayed closing on the actual date of closing...all this is so commonplace now that i'm fearful that it may become the way of the future. it looks like closing departments, processors, underwriters, department heads...pick 'em all...have come to the conclusion that it's reasonable to hold people's minds and hearts hostage while they decide whether or not to close on time...and more problematic - whether those loans get funded on a timely basis.

i'm very pleased to see a good report, and i thank you for your kind words. i'll take encouragement from them as well. i pray your talk of moving is something you'll only consider after a loooooong time in this home.

George,
My husband and I definitely don't plan to move for a long time :-) I have a lot of friends who are looking to buy in the near future...I hope that they don't go through similar turmoil.

We are happily settling into our new home. To be honest, it seems like we've lived here for much longer than a few months. Thank goodness all of the nonsense is over.

Thanks again, George.

don't go scaring your friends, though i suppose they already are aware of your ordeal.

nonsense never ends - it's always there, hovering over us, waiting to pounce. oh wait...that's the devil i'm talking about!