Thursday, November 1, 2012

Heartache and Loan Approval

Boy oh Boy, the last six weeks have been a roller coaster!  But I finally received loan approval on Halloween Night. 

On 10/19 I got a call from my LO at NVR informing me that my loan application was denied.  I was stunned!!  When she delivered the message, it was like she was pulling straws trying to help me understand why.  IMHO when you drop a bomb like that, please have all of the information available. 

Anyhow, to sum up a long story, my Debt to Income ratio was a little over the percentage that NVR would allow (but not close nor pass the maximum that the FHA 30 year fixed allows).  NVR told me early on that due to my DH's student loans he would not be able to apply for the loan with me so I applied alone.  With less than perfect past credit, I'm assuming they viewed the loan as risky.  Now we all know that NVR turns right around and sells the loans to big banks, so I think, had they approved my loan, they'd have a hard time selling it on the secondary market. 

So, the alternative was to pass my loan off to a Broker who would easily approve the loan because their requirements were not as "strict" as NVR's.  I kept being told that "NVR is stretched" and "they are nitpicking everything". 

I'm not ashamed to admit that I am a young adult who like many others in America, struggled to pay credit card bills, loans and monthly obligations and still remain afloat.  In the past couple of years I've worked diligently to pay off credit cards, clean up my credit, boost my score and save money so that I could get to this point.  It has been a long time coming.  The denial was like a slap in the face.. like WOW, you work so hard and think you're there, but not quite.

Thankfully my SR is terrific and assured me that this happens to about 30% of the loans they make and 95% of them are approved.   He told me not to view it as a bad thing, because it was not. 

The Broker quickly approved the loan with all of the documentation I submitted to NVR with all of the terms I agreed to.   

I feel it is important to share my true testimony because I honestly thought I would never see a score above 650 a year ago, let alone be on my way to owing my very own home.  There may be someone reading, that like me, was discouraged and thought they'd never see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

I'm happy to say today I am debt free (no credit card balances, no car payment, no student loans) and blessed to be able to provide for my family and build the home that suits me.

Lets get this ball rolling already!   :) 

22 comments:

  1. Congratulations TechMama! LOAN APPROVED AND HAPPY BUILDING!

    I thank you for your transparency and authenticity to share your story. You have done a great job and I am so excited that you were able to make a way for you and your family.

    It is awesome that you only had to wait the 6 weeks and what I have found is that RH is willing to work with you to get you into your new home so I never doubted for a minute that you were not going to get approved. Our SR told us the same thing that 95% are approved and I am telling you they jumped through hoops and so did we to get the approval after 6 months. So I am highly grateful to RH, NVR and a host of others for believing in us.

    SO now...how so will you be placed on the schedule? Did you get a pre construction date and/or break ground date?

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    1. Thank you Nadase! I have to remind myself that there are others out here, like you, that waited much longer for approval. I know for me 6 weeks felt like forever, and I got discouraged, but to say you waited 6 months and remained faithful says alot about your faith.

      My next battle will be to get on my SR about clearly communicating expectations. I honestly don't have ANY dates, timeline or anything (Wasn't ever given any). He's not in the office today, but I will be there bright & early Saturday morning to find out or plan for moving forward.

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  2. Did RH allow you to keep any incentives offered from using NVR? I know they offered me closing cost assistance, which made looking/considering another lender kind of mute.

    Congratualtions! What you've accomplished by 29 is awesome. I'm 31 and while I have great credit, I will likely be paying student loans for the next 40 yrs. :)

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    1. Hi Jania, how are you? Where can we find your blog? It would great to follow your journey.

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    2. Thank you, Jania! Since NVR actually brokers the loan I get to keep all of the same incentives. It's not like using your own lender. That was one of the first things I asked when presented with the idea :) It would have been a deal breaker if I lost the incentive.

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  3. Congrats on getting the loan approval. The route to getting it sucked, but you've got it now! And thank goodness you got to keep the incentives!

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  4. The same exact thing happened to us. We were originally planning on building a house, on a lot, with a custom builder, and had several approvals for the end loan, but couldn't find anyone who lends for new construction without 20% down - so we decided to look into Ryan Homes, and were excited about the thought of not having to get 3 different loans to build a house.

    We submitted everything to NVR, discussed our credit issues, and were told nothing would be an issue, and there was no reason why we wouldn't get our loan. The LO even told us he would approve us to start building if we wanted to flip our contingency. Fast forward over two months later (yes over 8 weeks), and after we had flipped our contingency, and two weeks prior to closing on the house we just sold, I get a call from our LO saying they couldn't approve us for a loan. Didn't get into the specifics, but that my credit issues (from nearly 4 years ago) and DH's credit issues (from nearly 6 years ago) don't qualify us for a VA loan. No other loan options were offered.

    I called another broker that I knew, he said we wouldn't be able to get approved for any VA loan from any VA lender with the two of us being on the loan. Another lender couldn't get us an approval through their desk top underwriter, so that means they can't even manually override it to get an approval per their guidelines.

    I was in hysterics, hyperventilating and super scared that we were now homeless.

    I called our SR, told her we couldn't build without a loan, and I was certain we would have to purchase what we could with the cash we were getting from our house selling (which in the grand scheme, would have put us in a shack). She told me to call her go to guy when NVR fails to approve a loan. I was on the phone with him for over 4 hours one night, going through the nitty gritty and pleading our case that I do not pay anything late, not even the garbage bill. He submitted our approval to Ryan Homes in less than two weeks. Why is NVR not able to turn around an approval that fast?

    The part that still confuses me, is the fact that NVR STILL has not sent us a loan denial letter - it's required by law, and they never sent it. That will for sure be on my survey of them and their service, which if I'm not given, I will request the opportunity to review them.

    Sorry for the lengthy comment, I just know how it must have felt to have your dream slip through your fingers, and I know for sure I felt so helpless. It was a terrible experience, and one that will make us both stronger for having to go through!! Best of luck to you and your family in your new home!!

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    1. Wow A & M! I'm sorry you had to go through that too, I would have been a nervous wreck knowing that I just sold a home to purchase a new one. Now that I think about it, I wasn't given a denial letter either. I'll have to follow up on that. The only "reason" I got from NVR was that they were stretched and the the UW's were nitpicking every little thing. I too received a speedy approval from the Broker who approved the loan (Thank GOD!I couldn't take another week of the waiting game). NVR kept insisting that the loan was "approvable" but not without a fight with the UW.

      It would be helpful if NVR provided information to validate the denial. Credit issues from so long ago shouldn't be a deal breaker in my opinion. Happy to see that you were able to get it all sorted out and start building. Looks like things are moving right along.

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  5. Good for you, TechMama! The approval of the loan for your new home is a great deal to start 2013. The process may have been dismal, but once you set your goal and go for it, nothing is impossible. Kudos for working so diligently in boosting your score and cleaning up your credit by paying your debts! People forget that these are very vital in getting loans approved much quicker.

    Javier Bonnell

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  6. Congratulations on your success and determination!!

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  7. I’ve already seen your new home, TechMama, and it’s sincerely beautiful! I’ve decided to comment here though because we’re in that apprehensive stage of waiting for the decision if our home loan would be approved or not. It’s so bothersome. >.< I’m glad you’re through this! :] -->Levi

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  8. I can identify with your feelings, TechMama. It’s heartbreaking if you got a denied stamp from your loan application after the long wait. But I’m glad that you’ve finally overcome this problem, and that you’re able to provide for your family now.

    Eustolia Nitta

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  9. Wow thank you guys for being so honest and transparent. I know that this old but we are in need of a new home right now and are thinking of trying ryan homes. I hope that we can get approved as well. Your experiences are comforting to here.

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  10. I'm glad it helped. It was a nerve wrecking process but in the end well worth it. I wish you all the best. NVR worked it out for me and in the end, they approved the loan. Let me know if you have any questions, I can share what to expect with you.

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  11. In the same predicament and feel hopeless and stressed.

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  12. In the same predicament and feel hopeless and stressed.

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  13. Hey Morris! Did you get everything worked out? I'm just starting the process.

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