Obtaining an Assumable Mortgage
Has anyone tried assuming an existing mortgage to get a lower interest rate recently? What is the closing timeline for these like and how was your experience throughout the whole process?
Most Popular Reply
It's a frustrating and miserable process. The lenders don't really have an incentive to make things efficient because they get paid on new originations. In the last year I have assumed loans from Mr. Cooper, Rocket Mortgage, and Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo took the longest but was the best to work with. Almost 6 months total. Rocket was the fastest at 4.5 months, but they were awful to work with initially until I got into final underwriting and then they were great. Mr. Cooper was in the middle around 5 months and they were pretty bad at everything along the way. What I have found is that I end up having to educate their assumption team about the process because they assume they know what is necessary but are generally wrong. I am assuming VA loans. Lenders oftentimes think it has to be owner occupied which it doesn't, and no, you do not have to be a veteran to assume a VA loan. Lenders seem confused on those two points at times and it is difficult to get the proper clarification from the VA in a timely fashion.