This may be a long one...
So, all seemed to be going well today, then, at about 4:45, I get a call:
"Scott? This is Jeff." (Jeff is my loan officer at the bank)
"Hi."
"Are you sitting down?" (Strange question. Usually that's the prelude to something bad, but Jeff has a very calm, soothing manner. I wondered if things were somehow better than expected.)
"Yes."
"I have some bad news." (Oh.) "I found out why that place was a good deal. It was built before 1976."
"..." (He read my silence well.)
"So you're wondering what that has to do with anything."
"Yeah."
"Well, it means I can't get anybody to carry a loan for it. In fact, I doubt anyone will. I'm surprised your real estate agent didn't tell you." (Me too.)
"Uhh... the listing agent too, as the listing read 'Terms: Cash or Conventional Loan.' ... So... is that... it?"
"You could do it as a personal loan, but the interest rates would be somewhere around 15 percent." (That would about double monthly payments - that's right out.)
"Umm... okay..." (What was I supposed to say at this point?)
"Listen, I'm going to call you agent - Curt at Century 21, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'm going to call him right now and see what he says."
"Okay..."
That's not an actual transcript. Somewhere in there, he said I'd probably be able to get my earnest money ($2000) back under the circumstances. Nice guy, but his hands seemed to be tied here. So... it gets on to 5:30, and I'm still at work because someone was supposed to bring some files by for me to transmit to Cortez. I call both Curt and Jeff, and get neither. I've no idea if they talked. I guess I won't know 'til tomorrow. To top this off, I asked around at 6:00 and found that the people I'd been waiting on had managed to send the files themselves without telling me. Ugh.
When I got home, I went for a walk. Well, that's a nice way of saying I stormed up the hills behind my house, scrambling through shale and oak brush for roughly an hour before even turning around. Great way to burn off adrenaline. Helps clear the head.
So where does that leave me? I don't know. I could drop this deal and start looking again. That doesn't appeal. This would be okay if the owner would carry the loan... but she's fairly old and moving, I can't imagine that would work for her. What's that leave? My parents. I don't know what sort of option that is right now. I've been told that if I can get the place insured, they might be able to work something out with me. There wouldn't be a question, except... if lenders won't finance a loan on the place because it's four years too old, maybe that's because insurance agencies won't insure it.
Tomorrow... tomorrow I get to talk to a lot of people, it sounds like. This purchase may still be viable, but it's far from a sure thing now.
"Scott? This is Jeff." (Jeff is my loan officer at the bank)
"Hi."
"Are you sitting down?" (Strange question. Usually that's the prelude to something bad, but Jeff has a very calm, soothing manner. I wondered if things were somehow better than expected.)
"Yes."
"I have some bad news." (Oh.) "I found out why that place was a good deal. It was built before 1976."
"..." (He read my silence well.)
"So you're wondering what that has to do with anything."
"Yeah."
"Well, it means I can't get anybody to carry a loan for it. In fact, I doubt anyone will. I'm surprised your real estate agent didn't tell you." (Me too.)
"Uhh... the listing agent too, as the listing read 'Terms: Cash or Conventional Loan.' ... So... is that... it?"
"You could do it as a personal loan, but the interest rates would be somewhere around 15 percent." (That would about double monthly payments - that's right out.)
"Umm... okay..." (What was I supposed to say at this point?)
"Listen, I'm going to call you agent - Curt at Century 21, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'm going to call him right now and see what he says."
"Okay..."
That's not an actual transcript. Somewhere in there, he said I'd probably be able to get my earnest money ($2000) back under the circumstances. Nice guy, but his hands seemed to be tied here. So... it gets on to 5:30, and I'm still at work because someone was supposed to bring some files by for me to transmit to Cortez. I call both Curt and Jeff, and get neither. I've no idea if they talked. I guess I won't know 'til tomorrow. To top this off, I asked around at 6:00 and found that the people I'd been waiting on had managed to send the files themselves without telling me. Ugh.
When I got home, I went for a walk. Well, that's a nice way of saying I stormed up the hills behind my house, scrambling through shale and oak brush for roughly an hour before even turning around. Great way to burn off adrenaline. Helps clear the head.
So where does that leave me? I don't know. I could drop this deal and start looking again. That doesn't appeal. This would be okay if the owner would carry the loan... but she's fairly old and moving, I can't imagine that would work for her. What's that leave? My parents. I don't know what sort of option that is right now. I've been told that if I can get the place insured, they might be able to work something out with me. There wouldn't be a question, except... if lenders won't finance a loan on the place because it's four years too old, maybe that's because insurance agencies won't insure it.
Tomorrow... tomorrow I get to talk to a lot of people, it sounds like. This purchase may still be viable, but it's far from a sure thing now.
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