The saga of the mortgage refi

Back in August, as we saw mortgage rates dropping, Mark and I discussed the virtue of refinancing.   We bought our house in early 2006 and were fortunate to have a nice 5.125% fixed rate, which at the time was actually below market rates (we were able to take advantage of a first time home buyer program because Mark was working part time while finishing his degree and therefore our income was a hair below the limit).

The problem?  Well, like just about anyone who bought a house in this part of the country between around 2004 and 2008, we bought close to the peak of what we now know was a housing bubble.   We've lost not only the equity that we brought to the purchase (which was not insignificant; we saved for a year while living in a crappy low-rent apartment and living very frugally) but also what we've paid towards principal for the last 6.5 years.   If we had to sell right now we might get what we still owe on it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we have a house that can (barely) accommodate a growing family, and that we can afford; there are a lot of people who aren't as fortunate.   It's just that we planned to stay put for around 5 years, or until after the arrival of our first child, then sell and move up to something bigger and better.   You know, a house with a garage and a fenced in yard for the dog and the kids to play in, and maybe a nice bonus room that we could use for my crafting projects.   Well, in April it will have been 7 years and realistically we're looking at 4-5 minimum before we'll have enough equity to sell and move.  We're basically stuck here for the foreseeable future.

So I was pretty convinced that a refinance wouldn't be possible because we'd have to have the house appraised.  I called our original mortgage broker just to ask - and she told us that we were eligible for an FHA streamline refinance.   Limited documentation and no appraisal, with a sub-4% interest rate and a huge lender credit towards closing?  You could have blown me over with a feather.   Our response: sign us up NOW!  We did have to pull together some pay stubs and bank statements and stuff like that, but nowhere near the level of what was required to get a mortgage the first time around.   Our credit is decent so there were no worries there.  We signed everything and got our 60 day rate lock on September 6th.  

They warned us that it might take a little while because they've been inundated with these refinances with rates where they are right now, but we were assured they'd do everything in their power to get us closed within the 60 days - ideally in late October.  Well, when Halloween arrived it was clear that we would not be closing by late October.   They extended our rate lock in early November and we had to sign a new good faith estimate.   Fine and dandy, we're making progress!   Then on Monday (the 12th) I got the email and phone call that they'd underwritten and approved our loan - and we have to close by the 20th because our rate lock expires on the 26th and there's a 3 day right of rescission that has to fit in between.   Um, OK?   Mark's work schedule isn't that flexible and he already took a day off this week to come with me to a doctor's appointment, but he can try to make it work as long as we have a few days' advance notice.   I can always just take a personal day with pay for stuff like this but I'd rather give my boss a little bit of a heads up.  

So I called the closing administrator on Tuesday and left a message to call me - nothing.   On Wednesday, both of us tried to get ahold of her - again, nothing.   By yesterday I was in a semi-panic - three business days left in which to close and no one's freaking returning our calls!   I finally got in touch and she informed me that they needed a letter, signed by both of us, indicating whether or not the property is currently listed for sale (Captain Obvious, we're doing the streamline because we have no freaking equity - no equity means there's no way we'd be trying to sell it.  But I digress).   This was at 10:15 AM and Mark leaves for work 40 minutes away at 11 AM so time was of the essence; I printed out a one-sentence letter at work and had Mark stop by the office to sign on his way to work, and got it faxed over.   Late in the day the closing administrator contacted the attorney's office to have them schedule the closing.  

The paralegal contacted us this morning - freaking FRIDAY.   Monday and Tuesday are our only options here.   Monday would be nice since it's one of Mark's regular days off, and Tuesday morning would have been almost as good since Mark doesn't leave for work until 11.   Except the attorney's office only had 1 and 1:30 PM free.   Lovely.  We took the 1 PM slot out of sheer terror that if we didn't take it we'd have no other option.   Mark has to burn a half vacation day for the closing, which kind of sucks but will be worth it in the end.  

I swear on a stack of Bibles that if this closing doesn't go through as scheduled, I might sit in the mortgage broker's office and sob.   Loudly.