After several delayed closings due to lenders I decided it was time to share my latest closing ordeal.
When my buyers visited her son and his family in the Twin Cities at the end of the summer they decided to sell their home in Wyoming and move to Minnesota, excited to move closer to kids and grandkids! I connected them with a Realtor in Wyoming so when they got back home they were all set to get their home on the market in a few days… and it sold to the first people who saw it!
That meant they were ready to buy their Minnesota home. I recommended a local lender but they liked the idea of going with their local bank in Wyoming… they already had all their financial information and it was a national bank headquartered in Minnesota so it seemed like a logical choice. Their loan officer assured us there would be no problem closing on the same day they were closing on the sale of their Wyoming home.
Their son went out to Wyoming to help with their move and loaded up a U-Haul prior to closing. The seller of the home they were buying here graciously agreed to let them unpack the U-Haul into the garage prior to closing. My buyers drove to Minnesota with their camper and arrived the day before closing. The seller again graciously said they could stay in their camper in the driveway overnight until closing the next day since campgrounds had closed for the season.
This is where the nightmare began… their loan officer was great, but processing was done in another city and in a different time zone. After multiple requests for additional information (including repeat requests for information already submitted) and almost daily assurances it would close the next day we finally closed today… two weeks after the scheduled closing date! Needless to say, my buyers were mighty tired of living in their camper in the driveway of their new home… and the seller was tired of waiting to leave on their extended vacation!!!
So… what difference would in-house underwriting and funding with a local lender make?
- Everything is processed in house, not in another department in another state
- The loan officer, underwriter and processor work together all the time as a team and feel responsible to each other to get things done in a timely fashion
- They don't have the lengthy process and bureaucracy of a 'big box' bank
- They take deadlines seriously and the whole team works together to meet them
- If there is a problem, everyone is in the same location to work together to get it resolved
If you are refinancing it typically isn't a big deal if closing is delayed a week or two. But if you have closing deadlines that must be met… especially if there are multiple transactions taking place the same day… I strongly recommend using a local lender that does its own underwriting and funding… and takes closing dates seriously!!
Ask your Realtor… they will be able to recommend a lender who will take good care of you and won't cause unnecessary delays.
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results - Twin Cities Buyer's Agent
The HomesMSP Team - Sharlene, John, Angela – Minneapolis-St. Paul Realtors
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