Not That Anyone Will Read This, But...

here is an update on our situation.  We have been living in our short-term townhome for almost five months (we were supposed to live in it for 3 months).  We have put offers on three homes so far.  The first, our short sale ended in disaster, as I already shared.  The second home was a smaller rambler in a fantastic neighborhood.  We really had our hopes set on it, submitted our online offer and waited.  We didn't get the house.  In fact the winning bid was $15,000 over the asking price of the house.  I cried in the school parking lot as our agent delivered the news.

Just before Christmas we noticed a home show up on just one website - it wasn't listed for sale anywhere else.  We asked our agent and she confirmed that it wasn't for sale.  We had already driven by it and liked it, so we waited.  It listed the day we were leaving town for the holidays.  I was sad and thought for sure we would miss our window.  Houses here sell like hotcakes and it would be gone before we even got back in town.  We scheduled to see the house on December 28th, just hours after getting back in town.  But, we couldn't see the house, because our agent wasn't available.  We weren't able to see the house until the 31st, first thing in the morning.  Upon arriving, the agent couldn't get the door unlocked.  Apparently the house had been re-keyed and they forget to change the key in the lock box.  So, we peeked through windows and visited the backyard.  Of course, as luck would have it, our agent had plans for New Years.  We finally got in to the house on New Years Day, late in the evening.  The house was dirty - gross, really.  But it did have potential.

We spent the evening discussing the positives and negatives of the house, then decided to put in an offer.  Our offer went in and we received a counteroffer from the bank a couple of days ago.  We accepted the counter (verbally) and  awaiting paperwork from the bank to sign to get this thing moving!

We were thinking this was the one and the bank sent paperwork a week later.  Their contracts were terrible.  They obviously protected their own interests above our own and they had some ridiculous deadlines.  So, after an hour long phone conversation with our attorney (a.k.a. grandpa) we prepared an addendum to the contract, clarifying some things and getting things in order.  We sent it over immediately. 

Then, we waited for almost two weeks.  On Thursday, we received an email with contracts that have now been signed by the bank.  But, wait.  What could possibly be missing?  Our addendum.  The only piece of paper that protects our interests and makes us feel safe about moving forward.  When asked where it was and why it wasn't included, their response was that they didn't even know what "form 34" was.  Really?  It was the one ON THE FIRST PAGE of the fax.  The one whose name is listed at the bottom of every page of the contract to help clue you in that there is an additional form.  So, we resent it.  They are now requesting our earnest money (via email), but have not acknowledged our addendum.  They say we are under contract and need to pay now or we will breech the contract.

So, we are rescinding our offer and starting over.  After some research, we learned that this bank has outsourced the work to India and lots of other customers have had similar problems.  Many report being scammed out of their earnest money.  Others say the company is really lacking in communicating with customers and that they most likely never will.  My guess is that they recognized their forms and threw any additional ones away.  It is a great tactic.  Because we made no changes on the actual contract  pages (only on an additional form) it appears that we agreed and signed everything as is.  We only made changes via addendum because it was in the agreement that changes not be made to the forms.

Yet another bank to shout from the rooftops that everyone should stay away from.  Yet another let down for my kids who, on three separate occasions, have "picked" their bedrooms and begun dreaming of living in a certain house.  And so, we are back to square one.  Back to searching and praying that the right house will come along (quickly) and that we will be able to feel settled and home.  Wish us luck.