December was a terrible month. Let me tell you how Wells Fargo made a large contribution to my misery.
Let me start back in February my fianc (now husband) and I divided a piece of property we had held for many years, into two 2-acre parcels. Our plan was to build a house to sell on one parcel and a home to live in on the other. We had visited with a number of contractors and found a very professional builder that offered to put up the money to build the house (to sell) if we would put up the property. It was a business transaction with very little risk to us as the property was bare land and unoccupied.
The builder planned to build a custom home for the local Tour of Homes. After it sold, he would build a home for us on the second parcel with our proceeds from the sale. Our backup plan, if the Tour home did not sell, was to buy the tour home ourselves, as we would already have a great deal of equity in the home due to the value of the land we had contributed. (My fianc sold the property to the builder with a note due and payable only upon the sale of the Tour home).
Due to the drop in the market right when the home was finished, in June it did not sell. Thus, in November the builder offered us a very nice discount on the Tour home. My husband would rescind the note, as the house did not sell, the contractor would discount the sale price, and he would take the second parcel as partial payment (to build a house upon after the housing market improved). This would provide my husband and me a very beautiful custom home with a very small mortgage relative to the value of the house. We would have a huge equity and a payment lower than our current Wells Fargo Mortgage payment on our present home. This was very exciting news.
We currently have a Wells Fargo mortgage on our present home and only needed to find a buyer, which we did right away, also a past Wells Fargo customer, recently moved out West from the Midwest.
Excited about the opportunity to own a beautiful tour home, I contacted my Wells Fargo broker to arrange for the Mortgage. The woman buying our current home did the same. We wanted both properties to close on the same day. Both parties (the buyer and I) held very good credit standing and were immediately pre-approved as Priority Buyers. That was prior to Thanksgiving, and we were given a closing date of December 19. We planned our wedding to take place at the new home on December 27th.
Today is January 3. We have not been able to gain an approval because the underwriters (in the Portland, Oregon office) do not like that the builder is reducing the price of the home by the value of the land. Their reason is that it looks suspicious, perhaps a bail out of some kind. Our accountant and our attorney believe it to be a very good purchase and strongly support us going forward, and yet Wells Fargo Underwriters are making me feel like a criminal.
Let me explain my misery. On December 3 my dear mother passed away (who was helping me plan my wedding), and on December 27 we were married in the new home (thanks to the builder), using LAWN FURNITURE for our guests to sit on, all the while waiting for the underwriters to make their decision. Today I am just sad and frustrated. I have been a faithful customer of Wells Fargo for many years. I have had three separate mortgages with Wells Fargo. I am at a loss as to the customer service Wells Fargo has shown me. What on earth is happening here?
Can anyone explain why it would make a difference to the lender what type of asset was used to reduce the price of a home. The home, was appraised by Wells Fargo Appraisers for $725,000, and we are asking for a $320,000 mortgage, for which we easily qualify for. What am I missing? Isn't this a great deal for WF and us?
Is there a WF Underwriters big wig I can complain to at Wells Fargo?
Phyllis
Aumsville, Oregon
U.S.A.
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