Finally Getting Somewhere
Just an update on our Construction loan... We've finally... after months of work and stress and broken promises from lenders and going back to the drawing board several times... closed our construction loan for our first brand new house!!! I just can't say enough how happy I am to know that it's finally happened and we're really doing this. It almost doesn't seem real yet. There we're many times throughout this process that I wondered if it would ever really work.
I was told by a very trusted friend who knows the real estate market inside and out that "Derek, it's not you... don't take this extreme scrutiny personally... it's like this everywhere!" He even told me that "if Garth (Brooks) were to walk in and want a loan to build a house he might not get one!" I guess that made me feel better.
Many of the things I do are done on about 90% faith and the rest actual data. But one thing is for sure... the folks that I've worked with trying to get this approved and get them on board never for a minute questioned my level of commitment to this. I'm sure I've freaked some people out by the tenacity that I've approached them with and the confidence that I've had that we could make this happen. Really I had no place to have so much assurance that this was even possible with the numbers that I was bringing to the table. Being self-employed, every year I take many deductions on my taxes to reduce my liability to the Gov and because of that I get hammered when I try to prove income with my returns. This time I did my homework months before the end of the year and found out exactly what I needed to show (what # to hit)to qualify for the loan I was asking for. I got my takes done the first week of the year and came to the banker with it the second I retuned from my accountant. I shouldn't have been surprised when he told me that even though I'd done everything I was asked and provided every document imaginable to them for approval of the project, I was still not going to get what I needed... not even close.
That's when I thought this might not really happen at all. This was the third time that someone had led me through the entire process only to find some reason to not lend me the dough at the end. The reasons I have pushed for this so heavily are valid. We purchased a building lot in the fall of '09 and got the most killer deal on it... something I just could not pass up. Since the economy is in the tank right now it is a great time to build, if you can do it, because there is literally 0 building going on and prices are rock bottom on materials and subs. Interest rates are killer right now as well with prime at 3.25... not likely to stay that low for ever. If I could get this project going during this down time in the economy I knew I'd be sitting pretty when real estate values go back up to where they left off. Needless to say, I had some real motivation to get this done for us this year. Not to mention, our first house in Mt Juliet was already too small. We were blessed enough to find a buyer for our place in November '09, in the worst real estate market I've ever lived through, without an agent taking a cut and knew that was one of the signs that we were supposed to do this.
I've always wanted to build my own house for my family. I'd done several in Knoxville for others and it just felt like we deserved to have our own custom place this time. I've got the Pirate Ship business running nicely and plan on keeping it going through the process. It allows me to be very flexible on my schedule and that is key in being able to take advantage of this time to build.
After talking with my friend in the mortgage business and telling him of my latest road block he suggested that I call a credit union. I really didn't think too much of it but decided to try anyways. The second call I made was to a C.U. in Franklin and immediately it seemed like I was in a different world. I spoke to the rep for a few minutes, telling her what I was looking to do, and right then and there I knew I'd found the place that could help me do this project. It was pretty cool. I still didn't want to go around telling everyone (especially Mom) that I knew it was a done deal because I had said that before with the other lenders. But I knew this one was different... still I only let myself say "I have a closing date".
It's been about the easiest thing I've ever done financially and now it is up to me to get this done, hopefully in the next 4-5 months. We've got a locked rate on our permanent mortgage with the same C.U. (which is awesome I might add : ) so that is not an issue as far as finishing before they go back up. I'm going to do tons of stuff myself, hire the other crucial things that I hate or don't do, and end up paying about the same or less per month that we paid on our 1100 sq ft 1960's house over in Belinda City. That will be the sweetest part.
I guess the reason I'm rambling all this down in words is so I can remember how much the Lord cares about us because of the process that He put us through (or allowed us to pass through) to get to this point. It is a lesson well learned that persistence in something that you want so badly really does materialize in the right way and in the right amount of time. I know that if things had gone the way I planned them it would not have worked out as well as it now will with this experience under my belt. It's a real testimony to me that the Lord is in charge after all and that anything you will to happen, if it be righteous and good, can and will happen if you don't take no for an answer, which I didn't. Here we go!
I was told by a very trusted friend who knows the real estate market inside and out that "Derek, it's not you... don't take this extreme scrutiny personally... it's like this everywhere!" He even told me that "if Garth (Brooks) were to walk in and want a loan to build a house he might not get one!" I guess that made me feel better.
Many of the things I do are done on about 90% faith and the rest actual data. But one thing is for sure... the folks that I've worked with trying to get this approved and get them on board never for a minute questioned my level of commitment to this. I'm sure I've freaked some people out by the tenacity that I've approached them with and the confidence that I've had that we could make this happen. Really I had no place to have so much assurance that this was even possible with the numbers that I was bringing to the table. Being self-employed, every year I take many deductions on my taxes to reduce my liability to the Gov and because of that I get hammered when I try to prove income with my returns. This time I did my homework months before the end of the year and found out exactly what I needed to show (what # to hit)to qualify for the loan I was asking for. I got my takes done the first week of the year and came to the banker with it the second I retuned from my accountant. I shouldn't have been surprised when he told me that even though I'd done everything I was asked and provided every document imaginable to them for approval of the project, I was still not going to get what I needed... not even close.
That's when I thought this might not really happen at all. This was the third time that someone had led me through the entire process only to find some reason to not lend me the dough at the end. The reasons I have pushed for this so heavily are valid. We purchased a building lot in the fall of '09 and got the most killer deal on it... something I just could not pass up. Since the economy is in the tank right now it is a great time to build, if you can do it, because there is literally 0 building going on and prices are rock bottom on materials and subs. Interest rates are killer right now as well with prime at 3.25... not likely to stay that low for ever. If I could get this project going during this down time in the economy I knew I'd be sitting pretty when real estate values go back up to where they left off. Needless to say, I had some real motivation to get this done for us this year. Not to mention, our first house in Mt Juliet was already too small. We were blessed enough to find a buyer for our place in November '09, in the worst real estate market I've ever lived through, without an agent taking a cut and knew that was one of the signs that we were supposed to do this.
I've always wanted to build my own house for my family. I'd done several in Knoxville for others and it just felt like we deserved to have our own custom place this time. I've got the Pirate Ship business running nicely and plan on keeping it going through the process. It allows me to be very flexible on my schedule and that is key in being able to take advantage of this time to build.
After talking with my friend in the mortgage business and telling him of my latest road block he suggested that I call a credit union. I really didn't think too much of it but decided to try anyways. The second call I made was to a C.U. in Franklin and immediately it seemed like I was in a different world. I spoke to the rep for a few minutes, telling her what I was looking to do, and right then and there I knew I'd found the place that could help me do this project. It was pretty cool. I still didn't want to go around telling everyone (especially Mom) that I knew it was a done deal because I had said that before with the other lenders. But I knew this one was different... still I only let myself say "I have a closing date".
It's been about the easiest thing I've ever done financially and now it is up to me to get this done, hopefully in the next 4-5 months. We've got a locked rate on our permanent mortgage with the same C.U. (which is awesome I might add : ) so that is not an issue as far as finishing before they go back up. I'm going to do tons of stuff myself, hire the other crucial things that I hate or don't do, and end up paying about the same or less per month that we paid on our 1100 sq ft 1960's house over in Belinda City. That will be the sweetest part.
I guess the reason I'm rambling all this down in words is so I can remember how much the Lord cares about us because of the process that He put us through (or allowed us to pass through) to get to this point. It is a lesson well learned that persistence in something that you want so badly really does materialize in the right way and in the right amount of time. I know that if things had gone the way I planned them it would not have worked out as well as it now will with this experience under my belt. It's a real testimony to me that the Lord is in charge after all and that anything you will to happen, if it be righteous and good, can and will happen if you don't take no for an answer, which I didn't. Here we go!
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