Not quite.
I wasn't going to update this until I had a final close date. I'll give a run down of our last two and half months...
We were recommended to One Bank of TN by the guy we did our land loan through. I took his advice and just went there. Didn't call around, didn't feel like wasting anyones time. Mistake.
I should've listened to my gut from the beginning...
First meeting with this *******, he wasn't there and never bothered to call to reschedule. They simply handed us an application to take home and return the following Monday. Odd, I thought, but whatever. Remember, this meeting was scheduled by HIM to go over everything with us.
We turned the application in the following Monday and sent an email to the guy, confirming that he received it. Three days later, a follow-up email was sent, he responded that "he recieved it and would reach out with any questions". We let two weeks pass, sent another email, hey just checking in. He responds, "it's in underwriting. We've ran your credit, everything looks good and we're looking forward to working with you!"
At the one month mark, we follow up again. He needs some more info so we provide that, within the hour. Another week goes by, we follow up again. They need more info on the finishes on the house. We provide that within 24 hrs (had to come from my builder, not me). Week goes by, we follow up. He doesn't respond to the email, all day. Steph calls the branch, leaves a VM. No call back. I call the guys cell phone, he says he needs an itemized break down of all the costs. Once we get that over, that should take care of it.
At this point, I'm more than frustrated. We get that info together and over to him. Another week goes by. I think at this point, we're two months in.
The last conversation I had with him was on 5/12. He was going to check on the appraisal and return my call. I've yet to hear from him.
That afternoon, I called another local bank (my bank doesn't do construction loans, if you're wondering why I havent been working with them). We went through everything on the phone. Setup up a meeting for Thursday, 5/14.
We met that Thursday evening, she did the application while we were there (typical, in my past experiences) and we had a letter of intent from them by 3 pm Friday (less than 24 hours).
She scheduled the appraisal the following Monday 5/18.
Yesterday, she told us they should receive the appraisal back this week and possibly close next week.
This is how I expected this process to go. Quick, done and done.
For those of you who are building or plan to build, and aren't paying cash like
@THE YETI , a few notes of importance...
Verify 100% with your intended lender that you can do any work on your property, prior to the construction loan. Even if you own the land out right. That wasn't a problem with our original bank, but the one we're working with now, said they typically prefer untouched property. I did have a notarized lien waiver, along with paid in full receipts. There was never a lien filed, I just wanted it for future protections (you never know). Glad I had that. Another thing, no work or equipment could have been performed or onsite within the past 90 days and no equipment or work can be performed during the loan process.
If your initial conversation with a bank is not appealing, change banks. Don't accept mediocre service. This is probably basic knowledge to everyone else, I just felt obligated to work with the since we had started the process. Don't do it.
Construction loans are entirely different than a mortgage. "A construction loan is riskiest loan they make. They're essentially lending money on something that doesn't exist". You'll hear that more than you care to. Also, cash reserves. Make sure you have plenty. That is in addition to your 20% down.
Thats my long winded update. I'm not scheduling anything until we close. I'm not thinking about anything until we close.