A housing update…

Oy, what a weekend. Once this house is mine, I think I'll burn it down for all the headaches it's caused!

Well, okay, it hasn't been the house that's given me the headaches. Actually, it's been my mortgage broker. (As I understand it, the "mortgage wrangler".)

Originally, it was supposed to be Julee. Julee is one of Vicky's best friends. (Actually, "was" is probably more appropriate now…) I decided to let her do my loan because Vicky has some good history with her and Vicky seemed to think she'd do a better job that the first bank that was trying to do my loan. (Just a taste of why: They LOST my loan!) Seriously, how could anyone do worse?

Well…

Julee screwed this up so badly that the president of the mortgage company had to step in - and he's been quick to point out to me that, normally, he's not supposed to be doing this. But it's clear to him that she really muffed it, so…

I found out this weekend that everything fell apart. And I did so in a rather dramatic way.
You see, I wanted to talk to this guy to tell him what a shitty job I thought his people were doing. When he called Friday afternoon, I thought it was because I had told Julee I wanted to talk to him. I thought she had asked him to call me. So, I was ready to chew him out.

And I did. I did BIG TIME!

Then, he said, "Wait." I should have waited before the tirade. Turned out he was calling because he KNEW how screwed up it was and had decided to take over to save the loan and if I wasn't happy with his company, I could take my business elsewhere. (Which I couldn't do because it was too far along in the loan and there's this stipulation in my paperwork that says the seller could come after ME for the cost of the home even if I didn't get a loan. We're talking possible bankruptcy! So, I'd forgotten the first rule of negotiation, namely to have the upper hand.)

Well, after threatening me - and shutting me the hell up - this guy then worked the whole weekend to get my loan back on track. You see, Julee was the screw up; he wasn't. He knew what he was doing. (Oh, but I made sure he knew that she didn't… and, boy, did he know!)

That said, by yesterday I was this close (he said, holding thumb and forefinger an inch apart) to saying, "Fine. You know what. Take my money! Take me to court! I'll declare bankruptcy! I just can't deal with this any more!" I mean, my god! I've lost a lot of sleep, had so many headaches, and possibly developed an ulcer over this! I was SO done!

But before I did, I went back to Vicky and ran the numbers with her again. Now, I just have to take a moment and repeat how wonderful this girl is. She's the best. Not only did she help me figure out how we're going to do it but she remained positive and hopeful that things would be okay. Instead of feeding my neurosis (bordering on full-blown panic), she totally put me at ease. She's incredible and I am incredibly lucky to have her.

And, with that, I went back to the pres… and the hard truth.

Now, look, we're going to be homeless as of this weekend. Our apartment has been rented out. We need a place to live - soon! Though the interest rate on my loan keeps going up with each new revision - and, let me tell you, it ain't afraid of heights! - he assured me that he'll do everything to get me in the house this week, so we could move this weekend. Coming from a guy who just worked his whole weekend to resuscitate my loan - I believe him.

But Friday's a long time away… and, until then, I wait...