We were supposed to close on our house today.
We have been excited about it for the last 45 days while we waited to close.
Alas, it has fallen through.
And the reason will probably surprise you.
Our mortgage lender sent our paperwork through underwriting.
We started getting worried on Monday when they were having issues, since our closing date was that Friday.
As we drew closer to the end of the week, more and more problems appeared, until we finally came to one that proved insurmountable - a lack of guarantee.
You see, my husband took a new job November of last year, a year ago next week.
His W-2 for the position was obviously not high in terms of income (after only two months of employment).
We provided two months worth of pay stubs to the finance company.
We had also told them when we ran through the prequalification process that he had changed industries, was making more money, and had little in terms of income on his tax documents.
Never was it stated that this would be a problem.
Yesterday, Thursday, the day before we were supposed to close, the finance company contacted us with "the big one," the major problem that would keep us from closing.
They wanted a guarantee.
They wanted my husband's employer to guarantee that he would make so much a month for the next 12 months.
They wanted it in writing.
Well, of course this didn't happen.
Would your boss give you that guarantee? As his supervisor stated, "What if you are injured and are on disability? If we have provided a guarantee in writing, we would be liable for your full income, not just the 60% of the disability portion.
" (On a side note, they said they would gladly state pretty much anything without a guarantee; they would say "He is on track to earn $y,000" or "We have enough work that he will likely earn $z,000/month.
" They just couldn't give a guarantee, and rightly so!) Personally, I would love a guarantee on a lot of things.
Perhaps I should ask the finance company to guarantee that the house we were purchasing would go up x% in value over the next year.
I mean, we could make it reasonable, based on the previous year's record (the same thing my husband's company would base his salary assurance on).
Maybe I could ask my car insurance company to guarantee that I won't have a wreck.
If I'm a really good negotiator, I could probably convince God to guarantee my kids will all live to a ripe old age and never touch drugs in their life.
Come on! Maybe it's the recent mortgage scare that has prompted this problem.
I certainly understand that the major employment changes that we made in the past year might make the financial backers hesitant.
But to demand a guarantee is ludicrous! And to wait until the day before we are supposed to close is insane, not to mention poor planning on the business end by all parties! So if you are looking to buy a home, make sure your mortgage folks know that your employer probably won't give a guarantee.