10 Questions You Must Ask Before Purchasing A Condominium Unit
To borrow from a famous phrase, not all condominiums are created equally. Some condominiums are very well run; some are quite poorly run and underfunded. Buyers interested in purchasing a condominium unit must do their homework: not only about the condition of the individual unit they are interested in purchasing, but on the financial health and governance of the condominium as a whole. Remember, you are buying into the entire project as much as you are the unit, and your decision will impact your daily living and your ability to re-sell.
Here are the 10 questions buyers should ask when deciding to purchase a condominium unit:
1. What is the monthly condominium fee and what does it pay for? The monthly condominium fee can range quite dramatically from condominium to condominium. The fee is a by-product of the number of units, the annual expenses to maintain the common area, whether the condo is professionally managed or self-managed, the age and condition of the project, and other variables such as litigation. For budgeting and financing you need to know the monthly fee and exactly what you are getting for it.
2. What are the condominium rules & regulations? Condominium rules can prohibit pets, your ability to rent out the unit, and perform renovations. Make sure you carefully review the rules and regulations before buying. Needless to say, the buyer's attorney should review and approval all condominium documents, including the master deed, declaration of trust/by-laws, covenants, unit deed and floor plans to ensure compliance with state condominium laws as well as Fannie Mae and FHA guidelines, as necessary.
3. How much money is in the capital reserve account and how much is funded annually? The capital reserve fund is like an insurance policy for the inevitable capital repairs every building requires. As a general rule, the fund should contain at least 10% of the annual revenue budget, and in the case of older projects, even more. If the capital reserve account is poorly funded, there is a higher risk of a special assessment. Get a copy of the last 2 years budget, the current reserve account funding level and any capital reserve study.
4. Are there any contemplated or pending special assessments? Special assessments are one time fees for capital improvements payable by every unit owner. Some special assessments can run in the thousands, others like the Boston Harbor Towers $75 Million renovation project, in the millions. You need to be aware if you are buying a special assessment along with your unit. It's a good idea to ask for the last 2 years of condominium meeting minutes to check what's been going on with the condomininium.
5. Is there a professional management company or is the association self-managed? A professional management company, while an added cost, can add great value to a condominium with well run governance and management of common areas.
6. Is the condominium involved in any pending legal actions? Legal disputes between owners, with developers or with the association can signal trouble and a poorly run organization. Legal action equals attorneys’ fees which are payable out of the condominium budget and could result in a special assessment. In most states, you can run a search of the condominium association in the court database to check if they've been involved in recent lawsuits.
7. How many units are owner occupied? A large percentage of renters can create unwanted noise and neighbor issues. It can also raise re-sale and financing issues with the new Fannie Mae and FHA condominium regulations which limit owner-occupancy rates. If your buyer is using conventional financing, check if it is a Fannie Mae approved condo. If FHA financing, check if it's an FHA approved condo. (Thanks Lou Corcoran for the links)
8. What is the condominium fee delinquency rate? Again, a signal of financial trouble, and Fannie Mae and FHA want to see the rate at 15% or less.
9. Do unit owners have exclusive easements or right to use certain common areas such as porches, decks, storage spaces and parking spaces? Condominiums differ as to how they structure the “ownership” of certain amenities such as roof decks, porches, storage spaces and parking spaces. Sometimes, they are truly “deeded” with the unit, so the unit owner has sole responsibility for maintenance and repairs. Sometimes, they are common areas in which the unit owner has the exclusive right to use, but the maintenance and repair is left with the association. Review the Master Deed and Unit Deed on this one.
10. What Does The Master Insurance Policy Cover? The condominium should have up to $1M or more in coverage under their master condominium policy. For buyer's own protection, they should always buy an individual HO-6 policy covering the interior and contents of the unit, because the master policy and condo by-laws may not cover all damage to their personal possessions and interior damage in case of a roof leak, water pipe burst or other problem arising from a common area element. Ask for a copy of the master insurance policy and don't forget to check the fine print of the by-laws. Sometimes, there's language that would hurt a unit owner in case of a common area casualty. Condominiums over 20 units should also have fidelity insurance to protect against embezzlement.
Often a standard condominium questionnaire will answer all or most of these questions. In Mass., where I practice, this isn't required by law, nor is a seller disclosure. If not, be prepared to generate this list and incorporate it into your Offer to Purchase or Purchase and Sale Agreement, as the case may be in your home state.
Either way, do not have your buyer put earnest money down until satisfactory answers are received. Good luck and happy condo hunting to you and your buyers!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Credit Reports Expire in 60 Days. Realtors Be(a)ware!!
So now credit reports expire after 60 days. it really just isn't enough time!! let us say we pre-qualify a client and they have a home in mind and they just need to know if the numbers work. All is cool. it takes let us say 3 days to get an offer accepted and a home inspection scheduled. Contracts are signed by the buyer and seller within another week. we are now 1 1/2 weeks into the transaction. the client applies for a mortgage. Because of the new disclosure rules we can't spend the clients money for 3 days, so there is a 3 day delay on the ordering of the appraisal, and it takes another week to come back. We are now 3 to 4 weeks from the credit report. Now we can submit the file for underwriting. Unless the closing is too take place right away and there are absolutely NO issues with the title, seller moving out, client needing more documentation... your client most probably is closing in another 3 to 5 weeks. more than 60 days! As a mortgage professional I educate all my clients not to use their credit cards, make any large purchases or allow someone to check their credit. The problem is that even if my clients follow my instructions to the letter, what if something happens beyond their control,or what if they made a mistake, a poor error in judgment? and trust me I have tons of stories like this. I have one this week in my office, the clients score went down 75 points because he forgot to mail in his car payment and he had a 30 day late. we had to get this file closed in 7 days (closing is tomorrow).
In my office we are running credit at the 45 day point. This way if there is a problem we can do a rush closing or be able to fix the problem. i can just imagine what the Realtors would say if a closing was canceled because the credit tanked within a few days of closing, and I wonder if the client would be entitled to his down payment back if he had already provided a mortgage commitment to the seller.
There is legislation just waiting to pass which will require a credit report to be run within 3 days of a closing to insure that no new credit was initiated. I just can't wait to see how many deals die and how many rate locks will be blown because of changed credit circumstances!!
In my office we are running credit at the 45 day point. This way if there is a problem we can do a rush closing or be able to fix the problem. i can just imagine what the Realtors would say if a closing was canceled because the credit tanked within a few days of closing, and I wonder if the client would be entitled to his down payment back if he had already provided a mortgage commitment to the seller.
There is legislation just waiting to pass which will require a credit report to be run within 3 days of a closing to insure that no new credit was initiated. I just can't wait to see how many deals die and how many rate locks will be blown because of changed credit circumstances!!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
New Condo Approval Rules. A must read for realtors seriuos about their business.
New FHA Condo Approval Rules!
Realtor s who are serious about their business must be aware of these new guidelines!!
In 2010, not to offer FHA financing on a condominium is in effect eliminating a huge chunk of buyers. In today's tough mortgage and Real Estate environment you must expose the property to all possible buyers.
Lots of condo's serve the first time home buyers. FHA is Crucial.
FHA allows for 3.5% down payment. Conventional programs require a minimum of 10% but in some areas 25% down payments
FHA will allow for lower credit scores.
FHA came out with new guidelines on Condo Approvals. We have had notice about this already in the end of 2009 but for the most part they went into effect 2/2/10. There used to be an approved list of approved condo’s on the HUD website. If a condominium complex was approved, then we could do an FHA loan. If a condominium complex was not approved, we were also able to do “spot approvals”. Spot approvals are individual approvals of a condo within a non-approved condominium complex.
Now the spot approval has been done away with and we have to check with the FHA to see which condo complexes are on their new list. A little note, a lot of condo’s that were on the FHA approved lists are no longer because an existing approved condo complex has to have been approved prior to October 2008 in to be on the new approved condo list on FHA connection. All others have to go through a complete condo complex approval process.
What that means is that no longer can we rely on closing an FHA mortgage on a condo quickly. An FHA case # cannot be issued until the complex is approved which means appraisals can’t be ordered.
What FHA has done, is simplify the approval process for condo complexes. There are 2 ways of approving a complex. DELRAPs or HRAPs. DELRAP means that an FHA approved lender’s DE underwriter will go through the documentation and issue a condo approval. This is the condo complex approval, not just this one unit. This is unfortunately impractical for the most part, since if HUD later on determines that there was any error in this approval, that Lender is responsible for every condo that closed based on this bank’s DELRAP approval, even if it closed with a different lender and no bank wants that responsibility.
HRAP is the same approval, but HUD issues the approval.
Once the documentation is compiled, it needs to be submitted to HUD. It takes HUD now about 4-6 weeks turn around time to approve the condo. They will be flooded with applications, so it can take longer. Some areas to be concerned about:
Who will pay for the company that facilitates the condo complex approval?
approval?
If a condominium project is in litigation, beware. Any lawsuit would pretty much disqualify a condo association (even if the association is the plaintiff) since they argue that any lawsuit could financially drain the budgets of the associations.
All existing FHA approved condominiums that were approved before 10/2008, the HUD approval will expire on 12/7/2010, When listing a condo, encourage your homeowner's and the Homeowner associations to begin the application process early, I would suggest as early as May/2010.
Here are the NEW changes:
1. Elimination of Spot Approvals
2. Condo Complexes need to re-certify every 2 years
3. Max FHA financing in 50%. After 12/10/10, 30%
4. No more than 15% of homeowners can be in arrears
5. No more than 10% owned by one investor
6. 2-3 unit condos now are allowed (Used to be only 4+ units allowed)
7. Right of first refusal allowed on a case by case basis
8. 30% pre-sale required on New construction. 50% after 12/31/10.
9. No more 1 year waiting period on a conversion
Once a condo project is approved, with each individual mortgage application a new condo questionnaire must be filled out. HUD is making sure that the condo complex fits the following basic criteria:
1. FHA Concentration 50%, and up to (100% on a case by case basis)
2. Investor concentration, 10%
3. Homeowners delinquency not greater than 15%
4. Owner occupancy requirements, 50% min and can exclude REO's from calculation
If homeowners are delinquent, the reserves will be low. If too many investors or renters are in the complex, it will be up-kept at a lesser degree than if Owner Occupants live there and they also don't want to much exposure in any development.
What HUD is trying to do is eliminate poorly manged projects.
Here are some handy links:
To find out if a condominium project is HUD approved visit:
https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm
To access Mortgage Letter 2009-46A: www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-46aml.pdf
To access Mortgage Letter 2009-46B: www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-46bml.pdf
For general FHA information: www.hud.gov
CONDO ACTION PLAN(Approved Condo’s)
CONDO PROJECT IS HUD APPROVED BETWEEN 10/1/2008 – 12/07/2009
http://ow.ly/1fgYZ
CONDO ACTION PLAN (NON Approved Condo’s)
http://ow.ly/1fh2F
REALTOR CONDO QUESTIONNAIRE
http://ow.ly/1fhkF
Realtor s who are serious about their business must be aware of these new guidelines!!
In 2010, not to offer FHA financing on a condominium is in effect eliminating a huge chunk of buyers. In today's tough mortgage and Real Estate environment you must expose the property to all possible buyers.
Lots of condo's serve the first time home buyers. FHA is Crucial.
FHA allows for 3.5% down payment. Conventional programs require a minimum of 10% but in some areas 25% down payments
FHA will allow for lower credit scores.
FHA came out with new guidelines on Condo Approvals. We have had notice about this already in the end of 2009 but for the most part they went into effect 2/2/10. There used to be an approved list of approved condo’s on the HUD website. If a condominium complex was approved, then we could do an FHA loan. If a condominium complex was not approved, we were also able to do “spot approvals”. Spot approvals are individual approvals of a condo within a non-approved condominium complex.
Now the spot approval has been done away with and we have to check with the FHA to see which condo complexes are on their new list. A little note, a lot of condo’s that were on the FHA approved lists are no longer because an existing approved condo complex has to have been approved prior to October 2008 in to be on the new approved condo list on FHA connection. All others have to go through a complete condo complex approval process.
What that means is that no longer can we rely on closing an FHA mortgage on a condo quickly. An FHA case # cannot be issued until the complex is approved which means appraisals can’t be ordered.
What FHA has done, is simplify the approval process for condo complexes. There are 2 ways of approving a complex. DELRAPs or HRAPs. DELRAP means that an FHA approved lender’s DE underwriter will go through the documentation and issue a condo approval. This is the condo complex approval, not just this one unit. This is unfortunately impractical for the most part, since if HUD later on determines that there was any error in this approval, that Lender is responsible for every condo that closed based on this bank’s DELRAP approval, even if it closed with a different lender and no bank wants that responsibility.
HRAP is the same approval, but HUD issues the approval.
Once the documentation is compiled, it needs to be submitted to HUD. It takes HUD now about 4-6 weeks turn around time to approve the condo. They will be flooded with applications, so it can take longer. Some areas to be concerned about:
Who will pay for the company that facilitates the condo complex approval?
approval?
If a condominium project is in litigation, beware. Any lawsuit would pretty much disqualify a condo association (even if the association is the plaintiff) since they argue that any lawsuit could financially drain the budgets of the associations.
All existing FHA approved condominiums that were approved before 10/2008, the HUD approval will expire on 12/7/2010, When listing a condo, encourage your homeowner's and the Homeowner associations to begin the application process early, I would suggest as early as May/2010.
Here are the NEW changes:
1. Elimination of Spot Approvals
2. Condo Complexes need to re-certify every 2 years
3. Max FHA financing in 50%. After 12/10/10, 30%
4. No more than 15% of homeowners can be in arrears
5. No more than 10% owned by one investor
6. 2-3 unit condos now are allowed (Used to be only 4+ units allowed)
7. Right of first refusal allowed on a case by case basis
8. 30% pre-sale required on New construction. 50% after 12/31/10.
9. No more 1 year waiting period on a conversion
Once a condo project is approved, with each individual mortgage application a new condo questionnaire must be filled out. HUD is making sure that the condo complex fits the following basic criteria:
1. FHA Concentration 50%, and up to (100% on a case by case basis)
2. Investor concentration, 10%
3. Homeowners delinquency not greater than 15%
4. Owner occupancy requirements, 50% min and can exclude REO's from calculation
If homeowners are delinquent, the reserves will be low. If too many investors or renters are in the complex, it will be up-kept at a lesser degree than if Owner Occupants live there and they also don't want to much exposure in any development.
What HUD is trying to do is eliminate poorly manged projects.
Here are some handy links:
To find out if a condominium project is HUD approved visit:
https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm
To access Mortgage Letter 2009-46A: www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-46aml.pdf
To access Mortgage Letter 2009-46B: www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-46bml.pdf
For general FHA information: www.hud.gov
CONDO ACTION PLAN(Approved Condo’s)
CONDO PROJECT IS HUD APPROVED BETWEEN 10/1/2008 – 12/07/2009
http://ow.ly/1fgYZ
CONDO ACTION PLAN (NON Approved Condo’s)
http://ow.ly/1fh2F
REALTOR CONDO QUESTIONNAIRE
http://ow.ly/1fhkF
Realtor Condo Association Questionnaire
Realtor Condominium Questionnaire
Date: _____________________
Condominium Project Name
___________________________________________
Address
__________________________________________________
Primary Condo Contact person
________________________________________
Primary Condo Contact Telephone Number
______________________________
Primary Condo Contact E-mail Address
________________________________
Type of Condo Project: ____ Proposed ___ Under Construction ____ Existing ___ Conversion
Total Number of Units: ____Total Number of Phases: ____ Number of Units in Phase:______
Number of Units for Sale: ____ Number of Units Sold: ____ Number of Units Rented: _____
What is the total number of units with FHA insured mortgages? ________________________.
Does any single entity own more than 10% of the total units in the project? 0 YES 0 NO
If project has 10 or less units, does any single entity own more than 1 unit? ___ YES ___ NO
How many owners are in arrears on association fees? (more than 30 days past due) _________.
How many units are owner occupied?
_____________________________.
Is the developer/builder in control of the Homeowners’ Association (HOA)? ___ YES ____ NO
Date of transfer:
__________________________________________________
Date: _____________________
Condominium Project Name
___________________________________________
Address
__________________________________________________
Primary Condo Contact person
________________________________________
Primary Condo Contact Telephone Number
______________________________
Primary Condo Contact E-mail Address
________________________________
Type of Condo Project: ____ Proposed ___ Under Construction ____ Existing ___ Conversion
Total Number of Units: ____Total Number of Phases: ____ Number of Units in Phase:______
Number of Units for Sale: ____ Number of Units Sold: ____ Number of Units Rented: _____
What is the total number of units with FHA insured mortgages? ________________________.
Does any single entity own more than 10% of the total units in the project? 0 YES 0 NO
If project has 10 or less units, does any single entity own more than 1 unit? ___ YES ___ NO
How many owners are in arrears on association fees? (more than 30 days past due) _________.
How many units are owner occupied?
_____________________________.
Is the developer/builder in control of the Homeowners’ Association (HOA)? ___ YES ____ NO
Date of transfer:
__________________________________________________
ACTION PLAN: CONDO PROJECT IS NOT CURRENTLY HUD APPROVED
CONDO PROJECT IS NOT CURRENTLY HUD APPROVED
1. Project is required to be fully approved. (For case numbers issued on or after 02/01/2010 - NO MORE SPOT APPROVALS!) .
2. Contact my office for condo assessment to faxed or emailed to management company
4. If qualifies, we will work directly with management company to get necessary documents for processing of HUD approval. R
5. B2B Opportunities… GET ENGAGED!
Contact Ann Zeilingold at azeilingold@fmm.com or 914-260-9000 to get started
1. Project is required to be fully approved. (For case numbers issued on or after 02/01/2010 - NO MORE SPOT APPROVALS!) .
2. Contact my office for condo assessment to faxed or emailed to management company
4. If qualifies, we will work directly with management company to get necessary documents for processing of HUD approval. R
5. B2B Opportunities… GET ENGAGED!
Contact Ann Zeilingold at azeilingold@fmm.com or 914-260-9000 to get started
CONDO ACTION PLAN(Approved Condo’s) CONDO PROJECT IS HUD APPROVED BETWEEN 10/1/2008 – 12/07/2009
CONDO ACTION PLAN(Approved Condo’s)
CONDO PROJECT IS HUD APPROVED BETWEEN 10/1/2008 – 12/07/2009
1. Project will remain on approved list until the 2 year anniversary of the HUD approval. Project must be “Re-certified” by HUD prior to 2 years from the date of the HUD approval or it will be terminated from the list. ** Deadline for Recertification published on HUD website.
2. Mark calendar to begin re-certification process in May/June of 2010 or 2011.
3. Make contact with management/developer/Homeowners association to alert them about significant changes. B2B Opportunities.
4. Remember, re-certifications will be subject to new guidelines. If there are issues with approvability, it should be managed pro-actively.
CONDO PROJECT IS HUD APPROVED PRIOR TO 10/1/2008
1. Re-certification is required on or before 12/07/2010.
2. Mark calendar to begin re-certification process in May/June 2010.
3. If qualifies, you will need to get engaged directly with management company to begin process and to gather necessary documents for processing of re-certification.
4. B2B Opportunities … GET ENGAGED!
Contact Ann Zeilingold at azeilingold@fmm.com or 914-260-9000 to help you facilitate the approval process.
CONDO PROJECT IS HUD APPROVED BETWEEN 10/1/2008 – 12/07/2009
1. Project will remain on approved list until the 2 year anniversary of the HUD approval. Project must be “Re-certified” by HUD prior to 2 years from the date of the HUD approval or it will be terminated from the list. ** Deadline for Recertification published on HUD website.
2. Mark calendar to begin re-certification process in May/June of 2010 or 2011.
3. Make contact with management/developer/Homeowners association to alert them about significant changes. B2B Opportunities.
4. Remember, re-certifications will be subject to new guidelines. If there are issues with approvability, it should be managed pro-actively.
CONDO PROJECT IS HUD APPROVED PRIOR TO 10/1/2008
1. Re-certification is required on or before 12/07/2010.
2. Mark calendar to begin re-certification process in May/June 2010.
3. If qualifies, you will need to get engaged directly with management company to begin process and to gather necessary documents for processing of re-certification.
4. B2B Opportunities … GET ENGAGED!
Contact Ann Zeilingold at azeilingold@fmm.com or 914-260-9000 to help you facilitate the approval process.
Doing The Right Thing Feels So good!!
I was faced with a dilemma. I was referred a client by a Realtor. It was a short sale. The Realtor brought me in to handle the negotiation of the short sale. Things were not going right. To make a very long story short, the sellers told me on Friday that they enjoyed working with me but they didn't want to work with their Realtor anymore. They asked me to refer another agent to them to sell their home. They felt that their Realtor was inept and that he had told the city inspectors that there was an abandoned oil tank which basically was the deal killer since upon removal it was determined that the soil was contaminated and we simply ran out of time. The current appraisal expired, the values in the area have gone up, the offer at this point is too low since the appraisals and BPO's support a higher value.
Now I work with a lot of agents and I first told them, yes I definitely can continue to work with them. I had no intention of cutting out the agent, but I wasn't clear to the client. I called a Realtor that I work with who is a top agent in my area and I explained the situation. The current Realtor was a part time agent, a nice guy who worked really hard on this deal. One of the problems was that his office also had the buyer and when things didn't go well in the negotiation, instead of re-marketing the house 3 months ago and selling it to someone else he tried to hold on and ultimately, the seller got hurt because the bank was requiring that she come up with $38,000 to meet their required net. The seller on the other hand wanted out and was afraid to start fresh. I advised her to return the down payment sell it to someone else, and not be afraid that the house wouldn't sell, but she was nervous and couldn't sleep thinking about a possible foreclosure.
My Realtor friend told me that the problem we were having was because the house was undersold. She told me to tell the sellers that the first Realtor worked really hard and that he should re-list the house at the current value and sell it quickly and that I would continue to work with them under these conditions.
I called the sellers into my office on Friday and I told them that I was referred to them by the original Realtor and that I would be very happy to work with them further, but only with that Realtor. We discussed the problems that occurred. I arranged for the original Realtor to sign a new listing agreement with them and he arranged an open house for this afternoon.
So here we were, full circle starting over again and I feel good. What would you have done??
Now I work with a lot of agents and I first told them, yes I definitely can continue to work with them. I had no intention of cutting out the agent, but I wasn't clear to the client. I called a Realtor that I work with who is a top agent in my area and I explained the situation. The current Realtor was a part time agent, a nice guy who worked really hard on this deal. One of the problems was that his office also had the buyer and when things didn't go well in the negotiation, instead of re-marketing the house 3 months ago and selling it to someone else he tried to hold on and ultimately, the seller got hurt because the bank was requiring that she come up with $38,000 to meet their required net. The seller on the other hand wanted out and was afraid to start fresh. I advised her to return the down payment sell it to someone else, and not be afraid that the house wouldn't sell, but she was nervous and couldn't sleep thinking about a possible foreclosure.
My Realtor friend told me that the problem we were having was because the house was undersold. She told me to tell the sellers that the first Realtor worked really hard and that he should re-list the house at the current value and sell it quickly and that I would continue to work with them under these conditions.
I called the sellers into my office on Friday and I told them that I was referred to them by the original Realtor and that I would be very happy to work with them further, but only with that Realtor. We discussed the problems that occurred. I arranged for the original Realtor to sign a new listing agreement with them and he arranged an open house for this afternoon.
So here we were, full circle starting over again and I feel good. What would you have done??
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Snow Storm Saves Sale!! Reality Mortgae Episode
Word to the wise, if you are purchasing a foreclosure that is winterized, try to arrange for the appraiser to go to the house when the utilities are on. Other wise, you will have to pay for the appraiser to go a second time to certify that the utilities are on and functioning. Dorit Katz, a local REO agent for Realty Teams in Pomona says, "The bank will pay to have the home de-winterized temporarily, once the contract is signed, if there is a clause in the contract subject to a home inspection. Therefore, she suggests having the appraiser go into the house a day after the inspection so that it can be canceled if the home fails inspection."
Last Friday, we were hit with a momma of a snowstorm with very windy conditions causing numerous power outages. Thank You G-D for that storm!!
We had a foreclosure purchase deal in our office. The file was the epitome of "Murphy’s Law". The home “under appraised”. The client’s tax returns were filed late causing a needless denial because the IRS showed no records of any return being filed, which we then reversed. The underwriter questioned the assets and the income because our client was complicated. We worked through all the issues. Our file was 287 pages thick!!! Then we got hit with a deadline. The attorney asked for an extension and was denied. We were informed that the deal was off if this file did not close by February 26, because the foreclosure bank wanted to move on and was actually changing attorneys offices because they had transferred all their unsold properties to another entity. What a Mess!! This all happened On February 19th. The only condition left was that the appraiser had to go to the home to verify that it was de-winterized. A whole chain of events had to happen. The Realtor had to schedule the plumber to do the job, and then we had to schedule the appraiser through a management company, who then had to schedule the appraiser, who then had to submit the report to the Management Company, who after review would email it to me. The earliest we could get the appraiser into the house was Wednesday and the Management Company only gave us the appraisal on Thursday evening. Underwriting cleared the file Friday morning but we couldn’t get the closing documents until Monday or Tuesday. We ran out of time. Then we had SNOW!!
Because of the bad weather and power outages, we got an extension and the file is closing day!! Whew that was a close call!!
I guess the lesson is, To close a mortgage loan today takes not only skill, but also good LUCK!
Last Friday, we were hit with a momma of a snowstorm with very windy conditions causing numerous power outages. Thank You G-D for that storm!!
We had a foreclosure purchase deal in our office. The file was the epitome of "Murphy’s Law". The home “under appraised”. The client’s tax returns were filed late causing a needless denial because the IRS showed no records of any return being filed, which we then reversed. The underwriter questioned the assets and the income because our client was complicated. We worked through all the issues. Our file was 287 pages thick!!! Then we got hit with a deadline. The attorney asked for an extension and was denied. We were informed that the deal was off if this file did not close by February 26, because the foreclosure bank wanted to move on and was actually changing attorneys offices because they had transferred all their unsold properties to another entity. What a Mess!! This all happened On February 19th. The only condition left was that the appraiser had to go to the home to verify that it was de-winterized. A whole chain of events had to happen. The Realtor had to schedule the plumber to do the job, and then we had to schedule the appraiser through a management company, who then had to schedule the appraiser, who then had to submit the report to the Management Company, who after review would email it to me. The earliest we could get the appraiser into the house was Wednesday and the Management Company only gave us the appraisal on Thursday evening. Underwriting cleared the file Friday morning but we couldn’t get the closing documents until Monday or Tuesday. We ran out of time. Then we had SNOW!!
Because of the bad weather and power outages, we got an extension and the file is closing day!! Whew that was a close call!!
I guess the lesson is, To close a mortgage loan today takes not only skill, but also good LUCK!
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