Chugging Along

Well, I did it. I signed loan papers today. It was not perfect. We had to do an 80/20; I wanted a fixed rate but an ARM was the best deal she could get because the interest rate was great so we will have to refinance in 2 years to get a fixed, 30-year mortgage. I knew there might be an issue because my credit is not great. It's good but not as good as they would like to get the best rate, though it's a heck of a lot better than this time last year when I was getting old stuff caught up after getting a break from the financial pressures we had at that time.

Since then I've gotten an awesome job and make better money - and so does Mr. T. the longer he stays where he is - so we're in a better place overall, but credit doesn't repair that quickly and since I'm buying the house alone, everything depended on me. Mr. T. has perfect credit and for the next house, HE is getting the mortgage and we'll take advantage of that. By then, however, mine will be just as good so we should be in a great place no matter what.

Anyway, I knew there would be an issue but the interest rate is 6.3% and I can accept that. I'm actually quite happy about it because ultimately, I did this on my own. Yes, his money went into it too but on paper this is all me and I actually like this opportunity to have property in my own name, even if it's just on paper because you can best be sure I assured the husband that we was on the hook as much as I am. I had to school him a little about the whole what's-yours-is-mine thing. "In the end, my dear, if I leave them high and dry on this mortgage and disappear on you all, they are coming after YOU." Wouldn't want him to feel too relaxed here.

So I initialed and signed on the straight lines and the mortgage broker explained before hand that at the closing, I will be signing twice as many papers - about 50 odd - but many of them would be like what I was signing with her at that moment. She would be my translator for the rest of it because the lawyer will be whipping through but she is a lawyer too (I didn't know that until today) and she'll be able to explain it all.

The issue then was closing on the 15th. I told her earlier this week that the bid was turned into a contract and the other lawyer - probably at the behest of the seller - changed the closing date to "on or before Dec. 25." All this time it's been the 15th. It was that date when I signed the bid back in November. It was that date when the seller decided to sell it to someone else. It was still that date when her buyer fell through and she came crawling back to us. (I told you I thought it was personal choice not to sell to us in the first place.) It stayed that date until, oh, last Thursday or Friday. But my broker (hereby known as the MB) was determined to stick to her original date.

After I signed the papers, as I talked to the MB about the rest of the money needed to close this, a call came in. The seller would not be ready by the 15th. This is the same seller who originally wanted to close by Thanksgiving. Apparently her sister is ill. In my mind I wonder, "What has that got to do with this?" I know it sounds hard and I'm not THAT hard. I knew her mother was sick (I THOUGHT her mother was sick so maybe it was the sister instead) but she's the one who wanted to sell this house quickly and since she actually got a month more than she was originally going for, you'd think she'd be chomping at the bit even more than I am and she'd get her stuff out. A lot of it was still there when we did the inspection last week. The guy who took the message was sitting one desk over from us and after hanging up, he tells us this. My MB sits back. "You get back on the phone," she says. "Tell them this. We either close on Friday or we close in February." About 3 hours after I left, the seller called her personally and assured her she would be in town on Thursday.

So the deal isn't done until it's done. But I must admit, that MB plays hardball and if she's on your side, then thank goodness. After all this uncertainty and ambiguity, right now I can say I'm feeling like she did a good job for us overall. Will we work with her again? It honestly depends on who can offer us the best rate when it comes time to refinance. She admitted that she knew she had me in the dark and she knew I hated it but she didn't want to say an amount and have it keep changing on me since she hadn't locked in a rate yet. Understandable. I'm still leery of her but I may be more relieved now than anything else. The 15th isn't here yet so we'll see how that goes but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.