I guess just like in any business, you see a little bit of everything in the mortgage industry.
I had a case recently where we had been working on a closing for about a month and half, and were a week away from closing when the seller passed away. Now it has to go into the estate and I’m sure there are all kinds of probate issues and things the estate has to deal with and document. It took another year before we closed that one. Luckily, the buyer waited it out; he wanted the house, was in no rush, and understood the situation. The seller’s family was onboard and friendly, also understood the situation, and did everything they could to move things along. It was a long year! Of course, we had to start all over by submitting a new loan, new appraisal, new everything. In the end, though, it all worked out.
I’ve seen people lose their jobs two or three days before closing and watched the deal fall apart right away, and that’s no fun. In that situation, it typically falls apart from both the lender and buyer’s side. At that point, the lender denies the loan because the client is no longer working (they will do a last minute employment verification) and can’t qualify. In all fairness, as the buyer, this is probably what you want to happen. You don’t know how long you’ll be without a job and won’t likely want to take on this huge debt, so you’ll want to back out of the deal anyway. It’s very scary to take on a mortgage payment, even scarier to take one on without a job.
I had another case recently where my clients were under contract to buy a house. The seller, well, the husband, went to work one day and gave notice to his job that he was retiring because he and his wife had just put their house under contract and were going to move to Delaware. He got home from work that same day to find a note on the counter from his wife. It said, “I’m leaving you. I took the dog. Don’t come find me.” The husband had just given notice at his job, had the house under contract, and his wife through him a curve ball. He decided to back out of the contract. Technically, my buyer could have sued him or gone after him and pushed the issue. I think they just felt bad and decided, “This is bad karma. We’re going to walk away. We feel bad for the guy.” I get it—it’s not a fight you really want to fight. But it was very interesting. I had never had a purchase fall apart for that reason.
Just last week I had a new one. My client had been looking for a condo and had been looking at a lot of them. He found one he really liked and agreed on the price. After agreeing on the price, he found out that the condo does not allow grills and he grills five nights per week. He said, “I cannot live in a home that does not allow me to have a grill.” I can’t argue with the rules, so he had to back out of the deal and I don’t blame him. Strange, yes, but true.
One time I had a deal where my client committed fraud by submitting fraudulent documents. I had no idea. The documents looked as real as can be. We went through the whole process, got to the closing table, and there was no money there. I don’t know what they thought they were getting away with, but it was a very interesting case and I had no idea what was going on. I couldn’t believe it. I really liked them and was excited for them. They were a young couple buying a house, so I thought. I guess they wanted the house and decided to do anything to get the house. People get attached to houses. I always tell people, remember, it’s a place to live. I know you’re excited to have a house, but you can’t get too attached to it. We caught them in the end, but it was difficult.
You definitely see some weird things in this business. I’m here to help you through the process no matter how weird it gets! Call or email me today to get started.
