Building on Hold

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve last written- once again.  I apologize, but we’ve been very busy as of late.  Since the last time I’ve written, we’ve told TD Bank to cancel our loan.  Since they couldn’t figure out what was A from B, I don’t know if I ever want to work with them again anyways.  There were two reasons for us cancelling our loan (which was really heartbreaking for me):

1. The appraisal wasn’t nearly high enough, and frankly, I don’t think this company did their job especially after seeing the appeals and what they had to say for missing a bunch of stuff and then not fixing the appraisal itself. 
2. I’ve never been more sick and tired of having to explain things 3-4 times and ask the same question 2-3 times just to have a different answer in the end.  I don’t know if it was a lack of experience on the mortgage specialists’ part or laziness- either way, it was irritating.  I have the feeling it was laziness.  He took forever to respond to me too, which was not professional in the least in my opinion.

We got in touch with the woman we originally spoke to over a year ago now.  She had “retired” from TD Bank and moved to another bank.  I don’t think it was a subtle retirement, just in the way that the branch that we went to talked about her retirement and the way this woman kind of said things.  She’s been doing construction loans for 30 or so years.

We explained to her what happened with her old bank and I asked for her opinion on what we should do.  The bank she works for does a 90-100% construction financed loan, but they won’t be doing this until mid to late June or early July.  She told us that right now, the appraisals aren’t coming in high enough because of the flood of foreclosures on the market.  The worst part is, if we didn’t have to include labor that Mike and friends/family would be doing ourselves, then we’d be in the green, but the bank required us to add the labor because if something happened to Mike they wanted us to have the funds available.  I get it- but really?  Work with us here.  She also recommended that we move our land loan into a traditional land loan instead of it being seller financed so that we aren’t paying a mortgage a month on the land and it may open other opportunities for us.  I don’t disagree with her, but we’d be doubling the amount of principal just on interest if we went this way.  In the long run, it wouldn’t be best suited.  I wish we could find something that would extend our loan to 3 years at like a 3-4% interest rate.  Private investor is the only way we’d accomplish that I think!

Anyways- with all the sad/bad news we’ve received, it’s kind of put a bad taste in my mouth for the whole process in home purchasing.  Mike asked me if it’s gotten me so upset that I don’t even want to build anymore and I told him that it’s gotten me so upset that I want to prove them wrong and throw it back in their faces when we succeed.

It looks like it will take a few years to accomplish this though.  So Mike and his Dad came up with another idea that may help us in both the short and long term.  We’re working on it now, but we’ll see what happens.  I’d rather see this plan succeed before I really let it out there so I don’t have to re-explain myself to everyone on why it didn’t work.  So- if you’re interested, keep tuned and in the next few weeks, I’ll update again.

We Won't Back Down

Where to start.  Hopeless- that’s how I feel.  Irish- that’s how much I want to fight right now.  Yes, I’m Irish, so yes, this descriptor applies.

I guess there’s something that most people who don’t know me too well should probably know about me.  Tell me I can’t do something, and I’ll do it.  I won’t fail.  I refuse to fail.  Tell me a second time I can’t do something and I’ll dig right in and prove to you I can.  I won’t stop trying- and maybe that’s a downfall of mine or maybe that’s why some things in my life have worked out the way they have. 

That being said- we received our Appeals for the Appraisal back.  I have no words to describe how much I despise the company (Powers, Smith & Associates in Keene) that was used and the woman that did the appraisal.  First and foremost, as I stated in my last posting, this woman completely missed a full bath.  In putting in that full bath, it should’ve driven the value of the house up at least a little- right?  I would’ve been happy if it even drove it up $5,000.  Realistically, it should’ve driven it up more than that.

We gave this woman our appeals.  I won’t lie, I may have written it as professionally as possible, but it was so hard not to have our frustrations creep in.  It’s obvious that this woman did not appraise the house accurately- she missed a few things and her comparable sales… they weren’t comparable.

We received back her response, and she didn’t change a friggen thing.  Not one penny.  Ok- answer me this… if you FORGOT A WHOLE BATHROOM… how the hell does the value NOT change?!  Am I missing something?  She defended her entire appraisal and didn’t once look at the comparable sales that we were supposed to provide to her.  She never even mentioned them.  

The bank has backed this up by not questioning a thing.  I’m sorry- if I hired a third party to do an appraisal and the client appeals it because a few things were missing and they made their case, the company comes back and doesn’t change anything- I’d be asking some questions. 

TD Bank has really upset us; in fact if I’ve discussed this with you already, you’d know the wonderful colorful language I’ve been using to describe everything from A to Z about them.  It’s not like me, but this is the Irish coming out.  The process is keeping us from having our house.  It’s truly infuriating.

Here’s the other thing.  I get this email from my amazing, awesome, State Farm agent.  The bank requires us to purchase home owners insurance before closing.  Ok- here’s the deal.  TWICE I asked this “Mortgage Loan Specialist” if we had to have it prior to the house being even built and TWICE he said NO – that this is one of those automatically generated things that come up and it would be required before the final disbursement since insurance companies won’t insure a home that does not exist.  So I talked to my awesome State Farm Rep the other day and apparently that has changed… apparently we were misinformed TWICE (after asking twice) that we didn’t need home owners insurance and yes, we have to pay it in full before closing- on a house that doesn’t even exist.  She did take the time to explain to me that it does cover xyz for the building process so, it made more sense I suppose.  Regardless, this is the types of things that TD Bank has put us through.

Please know that this isn’t the only question that I’ve asked several times, got the same answer and then the answer changes.  That coupled with having to explain ourselves more than twice has become a really frustrating point for us.  I’ve had to tell them 3-4 times where a “large deposit” came from… it was from our wedding, and that has since been expunged… no joke- 3-4 times! 

It’s just absolutely ridiculous.  Frankly, if it were me in that job with the pressures we get at my current job, I would’ve been canned.  I can’t tell if it’s laziness, inexperience, or what, but the fact of the matter is, the people I am trying to work with are relatively unresponsive as well. 

I feel like we’ve wasted almost two months trying to just get a loan to build our house.  I feel like we have a great design, but now Mike wants to change it.  I don’t know if that’s the solution because he’s putting more sq ft upstairs, but that means more$$ being spent upstairs. 

We need a private investor or a different bank willing to work with us.  Before I tell them to colorfully go play with themselves.. ahem, I asked Mike if I could get 4 questions answered.  1, if we could bring the loan amount down to the 80% of the appraisal.  We can build the house for that, but it would be without labor, so it would be a little tight.  2, since Lisa contacted me at State farm, I wanted them to explain what was going on since I had been told one thing and now another.  3, I had asked a question about the closing and how this affects the closing date and what costs would be incurred.  I asked this FIVE times before he answered me – and he only answered me because I had to put my foot down and put it in an email with these three other questions before Mike and I would make a decision on this loan.  4, our credit score.  When we went for the loan with the bank back in February, we told them not to submit it.  They did anyways and our credit was run.  We want it fixed.  I was told that the corporate office can’t fix it- that we would have to go back to that individual branch to have it fixed…. REALLY?!  Pretty sure the branch answers to the corporate office- or am I off my rocker?  I reminded him moments ago that our credit score was run twice this second time so I want to have it fixed.

Anyways- this is the headache that Mike and I are facing.  Sorry it’s so long, but here’s a warning to all:

If you decide to go for a construction loan or a regular mortgage through TD Bank- I would like to say beware!  I’ve been a client of theirs for 20 years (well it was Bank of NH back then, but regardless, I’ve had the same account number with them for 20 years).  I have never been so disappointed in my entire life with a company. 

Also- if you are in the process of a mortgage in our area and they hire or wish to hire Powers, Smith & Associates in Keene to do the appraisal- request another appraiser.  The appraiser might walk through the house and walk past a bathroom and not have it in the appraisal of the house- just saying.

Mike and I will be going to another bank to try this all over again.  A complete waste of time.  I put a call in to the woman we worked with last year to get some guidance from her- so hopefully something good comes of it.  I’m thinking of talking to a much smaller bank in the area- they do construction loans and have no fee rate locks, be your own GC, and one time closings.  I think they might do better by us- but I want to know where this woman is first and see what she can do.  The bank that I want to look into is First Colebrook.  They sound pretty decent and I’ve heard good things.

I just want a place of our own so we can start our family… 

Appraisal Appeals- Construction and working with Big Banks

I won’t lie- I’m really fed up with this bank that we are dealing with (TD Bank).  When I send them an email, it takes them usually two days to respond.  It’s really quite aggravating- especially since we are getting closer to the closing date.  The stuff we send and do and ask needs to be all done in a timely manner.

Mike and I put together our appraisal appeals.  I wrote 4 pages outlining absolutely everything in our home, what she missed, and I shot holes through each of the houses that she chose as “comparison” properties.  I sent this off to Mike so he could review it and let me know if I misspoke or missed anything.  He then turned around and gave me just over another page that I used for beginning notes since it was a rough overview of everything I had written.

I sent this to the Appeals to the bank first thing on Tuesday, April 17^th in the morning.  We wanted to get it in there ASAP so we could still be on target for our closing date.  I sent them the package with a PDF of our tax bill (before improvements to show them that our land was actually worth more than what we had purchased it for PLUS all the improvements will drive the value of the land up). 

I didn’t hear from the two individuals that Mike and I have been dealing with.  I sent an email on Wednesday morning (4/18) and asked a question about the closing as well since Mike and I had discussed how sometimes there are penalties if the closing is pushed because of the client.  No response.  On Thursday in mid-morning I finally got a response from the Bank saying that we also had to come up with three “comparable” properties that we can give to the appraisal company for compares as well.  I don’t think they understand that there is NOT a comparable house in the area, especially with as much land.  We couldn’t find a single house with radiant floor heat, a metal roof, and ICF blocks- the three big things (among other things like the amount of bathrooms -we have 2.5 and none of the others have over 2- granite counter tops, cherry cabinets, etc.).  Yes, there are houses out there with hardwood floors, carpeting and ceramic tiles- but ours is still unique to the market with the radiant floor heat, metal roof, ICF blocks, stamped and dyed concrete, fully finished basement, etc etc. 

Regardless, I found it humorous that we have to supply up to 5 comparable homes.  Unfortunately, the bank didn’t get back to me until THURSDAY last week, so we had to pool our resources and use Mike’s Mom’s real estate contact to help us find houses that have been sold in the last 12 months that more closely meet our home’s criteria.  It’s really hard to do!  We did find 3 homes that we decided to pit up against ours.  All three sold for much higher than what ours appraised at, but they have much less land.  The three do have a bit more sq ft above ground, and one had a partially finished basement.  The only thing working against us I think is that two of the homes had a garage (which we are trying to build as well, but that’s a whole separate issue). 

Anyways I had revised our appeals and sent the appeals with the tax info and three “like” homes from markets that were closer to us in both distance and market appeal.  I also put in a home that is yet to be sold and BUILT in the next town over, but has a lesser market appeal than our town.

You’ll love this.  Guess how much this less than 2 acre land with about 200 sq ft more above ground and not a finished basement is being asked for…??  $272,000.  Yup!  I think it had a one car garage too though.  Regardless, I added that to the appeals form as well.   

So I sent the appeals on Monday (April 23^rd) and asked the question about closing and its effects on us AGAIN.  Tuesday went by and I was trying to be patient.  Then this morning comes and still no response.  I decided to send an email AGAIN asking for a status of the submittal of the appeals and if this guy had any answers to my questions on the closing.

He FINALLY responds back that the appeals had been submitted, but never answered my questions on the closing.

CMON!  If I did that at work I’d get my ass kicked!  First, for not responding in a timely manner to begin with and second for not answering all the questions posed!  So I thanked him for sending it along and asked him AGAIN on the closing questions we had.

I mean really, is it laziness or are you so busy you can’t get to me?  Either way- at least tell me you are looking into my question- don’t ignore it completely!

/facepalm.  This whole thing is so ridiculous. Hopefully we will get this all straightened out though!

Bank Appraisals- what a bunch of crap

I've been meaning to post about the plethora of paperwork that you'll need to sign your life away on in order to get a construction loan.  Sorry- really haven't had time.

Mike and I have been working on trying to finish clearing the land.  It's been a very laborious process and I think I've formed muscles in places I never had before!  Regardless- we're hoping for just one more day and we should be all set!

One of the things that you'll need to do is get your project appraised.  Mind you- the bank already has the amount of money you want to borrow at hand.  The appraisal place will take your specs, land layout, blue prints, etc to appraise the house.  They'll also take a look at what other houses are selling for in the area.

Well, we got a call today- so I apologize in advance if this sounds like a complete rant session, but maybe you'll feel the same way Mike and I do after reading this.

The cost to build our house (materials alone) is $145,000.  We have lots of upgrades in the house- like radiant floor heating throughout the first floor and the cellar, energy efficient trusses, ICF blocks for foundation for efficiency, Water on demand for efficiency, windows and doors that are rated for efficiency  (do you see where this is going?!).  Regardless, it's going to cost us about $145,000 to build.  Our land purchase was $55,000 and we've put a good chunk of change into it with putting in a driveway and clearing it ourselves.  The driveway project was almost $10,000, and clearing the land ourselves was a couple new chainsaws, some gas, some bar and chain oil, and lots of man hours, sweat, and blood.  So in TOTAL Just for costs, our house will cost us approx $210,000 to build (including the land and just the driveway portion).

We got our appraisal.  Guess what it was?! First- I should tell you that hte bank will only give you 80% of the appraisal.  As it stands right now- we have put $47,000 of our own money into this project.  We haven't gone out to eat in months (wedding/honeymoon not included) and frankly, haven't been "living" at all because we've been spending so much time and money at the property.  This is not a "feel bad for us" rant, this is a "I'm pissed off especially since we've done all this work to get nowhere" rant.

Ok appraisal... $214,000.  WHAT?!  You're telling me that we have to find a crew that will build our house for a grand total of $4,000?!  That's not possible!  You can imagine how we felt.  In order to borrow the money we need to build, we need the appraisal to come in at about $270.  We can work with a little less, but $270 is our magic number.  Regardless, Mike was pissed and my heart fell to the floor.  Mike was so upset, he actually called the bank (for those that know him well enough, you know he doesn't call ANYONE and makes me do all the calling).  Left a nice message to the lady we've been dealing with and told her to call me directly- that he was too po'd to take any phone calls.

She did call me and told me that there was an appeals process we can use to make the company redo the appraisal.  We're going to do it- but Mike talked me out of writing it up right now- and he's probably right- if we wrote it right now, we'd just be so fired up that we'd put things in there just to piss the appraiser off.

We went through all the paperwork- she's missing a whole bathroom on the first floor- she listed it as a 1/2 bath, and she's missing our 1/2 bath downstairs.  Now, I understand that "below ground" is not worth as much as "above ground" but half of our house is still "above ground" regardless, she put our SQ FT appraisal above ground at about $92/sq ft- and for those of you that understand this- this is really low even in today's market.  The below ground... a whopping $29/sq ft- we can't even build the below ground for that cost- so what the hell is this woman thinking?!  She put asphalt roofing- we have metal... the list goes on.  What makes us the most mad is she did the appraisal using recent sales in the "area" which stretched all the way 30 minutes south of us in a crappy neighborhood.  Of the 3 houses, 2 were older than 30 years and one was 20 years old.  Only one had as much acreage as we, and none of them had as much living space.  In total, their finished "above ground" floors ranged from $110- $148/sq ft... so EXPLAIN to me why ours is only $92?!

We are both so mad it's not even funny.  I want so badly to start building our house- but it's like every turn is a road block.

I'll be writing my wonderful message to the appraiser tomorrow to make sure she understands that she appraised our house wrong.  If it costs us $210 total to build, why is it worth only $214?  The worst part is, we gave her everything down to the countertops of what was going in this house.  The houses she used for comparison didn't have half of what we are putting in our house- especially when it comes to the efficiency matter.

This is not how I envisioned our house being appraised.  It makes me sick.  At least I have Mike to hug me and tell me that we will get it solved- and if the bank can't solve it- we're done with them and going with another one.

Oh and if anyone wants to know, the bank we are currently using is TD Bank, and the Appraiser was Powers, Smith, and Associates, Inc in Keene... in case you don't want to go through the headaches we are... Live and Learn- right?

Building love, through the most trivial experiences.