Day 50

Another appraisal. Another value. In another post, I told you about the very low appraisal we got a few weeks ago. Well, we decided to bail on the bank that we were using, and that was dropping the ball in more ways than one. I ran into person after person there that would just not return my calls, or didn’t seem to be in a hurry to do anything. Even after resubmitting information to the appraiser we had through that bank, he would not change his valuation of the property and house.

My realtor mentioned that they had a client that recently had a deal done with another bank that went very smoothly. I found out who did it and decided to give them a call. By the end of the day, I had applied online and the mortgage person had printed off my application by that night. A morning or so later, she had already gotten an appraisal ordered. The appraiser called me by 10:00 that next morning.

So, we sat on pins and needles for the next half a day. I was expecting a few day process, because of how things had gone at the other bank. Not the case here. We knew the next morning that we got the value we needed!

We were going to be able to build and have the equity necessary to prevent carrying PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). On a house the size of ours, PMI could be as much as $250/mo. I really did not want to have that kind of a fee added to our house note if possible. And with this latest appraisal, it looks like we won’t have to have PMI.

So, I am glad I switched over and went with this other financial institution. The only bad things about this part of the process: we wasted about 5 weeks of time with this other institution, and we now had to pay for the first appraisal. A sum of $425!

Overall, I am very happy with how the appraisal came out. Now, on to the next step.

Until next time…

Day 21

Yes, this post is late. Let’s just say, I’ve been underwater this past week. ;)

Speaking of which, I found out a bit more about the possible flood zone designation on the land we are (now) interested in. Supposedly, we can pay like $400 and have another site survey done. How convenient.

I have spoken to some near this industry and they think it is a money grab by the state and city for more money. Not to mention, it is a kickback to the insurance industry. Why is that, you ask? Because flood insurance is another $400/yr, that’s why. Again, how convenient.

Apparently, it is not uncommon for this area to have that designation. Many of these site surveys were done years ago, before much of the development and drainage measures were put in place.

We should know more Monday on how to proceed, when we can actually talk to the seller of the land’s agent. She has been out of town for the past couple of days, and unreachable.

Until next time…