All Forum Posts by: Joe T.

I just received another email from my lender stating that since I have not been at my current job for 2 years (I'm 3 months away from the 2 year mark), that they will not be including my bonus as part of my income. They knew all of this information upfront however, and I got my first loan through them as well as having all of my accounts with them. They did 4 preapprovals because my realtor requested one for each property we submitted offers on (not sure why).

I have had no changes in my income or debt, if anything my income has increased since this process started. The only debt I have is my primary residence and my one rental that I already have. No credit card debt, no car, nothing else.

So my lender did a pre approval on me about 4 times and I confirmed with them several times that I would be able to get a loan on a non-owner occupied duplex. Fast forward to 2 weeks before closing (yesterday), my lender sends me an email AFTER my financing addendum ends stating that they do not believe I will qualify the loan, and that my income needs to be about $100 more a month. By this point, I have already done my inspection ($480), appraisal ($740) and my earnest money ($1000).  My realtor even sent my lender an email 5 days before stating that the third party financing addendum will be up on the 26th, and that if I am not approved for this loan, I will lose my earnest money. On Saturday I get an email from my lender explaining how I will not be able to get the loan now. I told my lender that he needed to figure out a solution, because if they do not approve my loan, I am transferring all of my accounts away from them and canceling my credit cards etc.. He stated that he will talk to the underwriter again on Monday and get back with me.

The only solution he offered to me was to increase my down payment by about 20k. That means I would be putting down 46% on the property.... (seriously?)

My question is what recourse do I have here? Can I sue over this in small claims court? They seemed very confident when they pre-approved me 4 times... now they wait until after I spend over $2200 to tell me that I can't get a loan over a HUNDRED dollars.

I'm currently in the process of buying a duplex that is currently occupied on both sides. One of the leases ends shortly after my closing date. I'm pretty sure that the existing tenant wants to stay, but I need to increase the rent on that side to meet market value (it's about $80 below). My question is, how do I make sure that I'm able to increase the rent if the tenants decide to stay, because the current owner will probably go ahead and extend their lease but I will not be the owner at the time.

@Craig Stephens

I ended up renting it for $1150 which was the true market value. The tenants signed a 2 year lease and have been absolutely fantastic. The requirements you listed are the same that I used to verify their eligibility. I honestly would try to stick to that, but you can definitely overlook credit score. You are really more concerned with their ability and willingness to pay rent, their other liabilities aren't any of your concern. If they have the proper income and good rental history but bad credit, I would still rent to them. 

@Scott Carder

I meant to say "can't". Phone made a typo :)

I should note that the same thing happened to me, and I paid $280 for a brand new dishwasher using my reserves. I ended up getting reimbursed for the full amount from the home warranty the seller provided for me about 1.5 weeks later.

Stuff happens. A dishwasher isn't something someone can live without. Apologize for the inconvenience and get it fixed within a reasonable amount of time. If the insurance company will be reimbursing you, just fix it out of your reserve you have for the property and then pay it back once you get the check, easy.

@Julian John

Make sure you are running the numbers accurately, if you guess what property tax, insurance, or hoa fees are, you are going to run into a lot of trouble. 

In my experience, those condos have too high of an HOA fee compared to what they would rent for. You will not be able to cash flow unless you outright own one.