Joyce Buchanan at the Creekshire subdivision was as sweet and nice as she could be for the 3 months it took her to convince us to purchase a home in that development. Her sales pitches were undeniable! She made promise after promise that we would not have to come out-of-pocket any money (they were covering all pre-paid costs) other than $1000 earnest deposit which we would get back at closing but if we weren't approved, then they would refund it.
We only put half the earnest money down. Once we signed the contract, Joyce was conveniently not available. We started our financing with M/I Financial only to find out that we needed $450 to start the loan process, $100 application fee and $350 appraisal fee. We called Joyce to confirm that they would be covering those costs and of course, she had a new explanation: she didn't know about those fees because M/I Homes and M/I Financial are two different entities! This was my first red flag but I figured this was just part of the process so we forged on.
We couldn't understand why we would be responsible for the cost of an appraisal prior to being approved for the house but as time passed and a letter from their attorney with a scheduled closing date/time, we figured we were on our way to an approval therefore, we would be getting it back at closing so again, we forged on.
During the process, I began to feel concerned and inquired about the terms for refunding our earnest deposit. That is when I learned that the approval decision needed to be within 10 days of signing the contract to receive a refund! So although we were using THEIR financing, this was still a requirement. At that point, I realized that no matter what we were out the $500 and I was not going to give them another $500 unless we were approved. Not long after that, we noticed that the SOLD sign on the house we had a contract on had been changed to AVAILABLE.
Two months into the process and we were not approved. I knew immediately we had been scammed! We asked for the return of the appraisal fee as well as the $500 earnest deposit to no avail! We are now out $950 at Christmas time and no new home to move into! I then remembered that in the 3-month period of looking that we noticed a lot of homes in the neighborhood that previously had SOLD signs on them had been changed to AVAILABLE by the time we put a contract on the home.
They are probably covering their expenses by selling pipe dreams to potential buyers and then keeping their earnest deposits. Now that I know I'm not the only one, I will definitely be pursuing legal action for the return of all of my money!
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