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random musings of a crazy cat lady

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Cranky old biddy, mortgage edition

I'm going out to Ithaca to look for a place to live.  As in, I am going to look at houses for sale and put down an offer on one if I find one I really like.  My parents were somewhat unclear on the concept.  They thought I was looking for a place to rent.  My mom gave me a lot of grief when she figured out I was thinking about buying a plce.  She shut up when I reminded her that there's a $6500 tax credit but to get that I have to be in contract by April 30.  I didn't bother to tell her I may not qualify for the full amount because my income is too high. 
Anyway, I'd like to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. I've got perfect credit, lots of money in the bank, and a job offer in hand.  Additionally, I've paid off half my mortgage on my current house in the 9 years I've had it.  Do the math - this corresponds to lots of extra payments and general fiscal responsibility. My real estate sent me the names of a couple of her contacts at the local banks.  The person from the Cornell credit union was very helpful.  I'll be meeting with her when I'm out there next week. She wanted to see my offer letter and bank and brokerage statements.  That's all.  The person from 1st Weasel Bank was nice, but I do not like their lending rules.  I don't mind providing documentation about everything from 3 years of W-2's, a letter stating why and when I was laid off, etc, so I did that.  Then she called back and told me "oh, by the way, you'll need to be in your new job at least 30 days before you close on your house."  WTF???  Yep, new FHA rule, and apparently 1st Weasel Bank doesn't make exceptions.  It's apparently not a well known new rule, either, since neither my financial advisor nor real estate agent knew about it. It probably won't be a problem at the credit union, since they have more flexibility.  (As in, they can wait a whole month or two before my mortgage becomes FHA eligible, or they can keep it in house)
Anyway, I don't think it will be a problem but it made me cranky.  This is partly because the T situation is still getting under my skin, of course, but also because I'm a geek and don't like it when I have anything other than perfect grades/SAT/GRE/credit scores.  That's not to say that it never happens, just that I get cranky when it does.  My financial advisor pointed this out to me.  He's the same way, as are a lot of his clients. 

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