How to get extraordinarily stressed out:

1) Attempt to purchase a home & new studio during the wedding season.

2) Use a mortgage company that can’t tell their bumhole from their elbow.

3) Inform your landlord that when your lease is up, you aren’t renewing.

4) Hold off on ordering new postcards for the move until you get a commitment letter. Hold off on packing until you get a commitment letter. Get word that your commitment letter is in the mail. Order postcards and pack up half your house. Get word that your commitment may not be coming through after all.

5) Attempt to recreate three weeks of work in under one week because you’ve been given a deadline to purchase the home/studio.

6) Scream and punch your printer because it was the next thing that went “wrong.”

Is buying a house supposed to be the most incredibly frustrating thing you can do? If not, please spare telling me what is because if I start another frustrating project at any point in 2007 I think I’m going to explode.

So we may we may NOT be getting the new home/studio. We don’t really know yet. But in good news we have moving postcards, no place to live Dec 1, a brand new rug for our carpeted apartment and a closing date of today that has already passed now that business hours are over.

ughh!!! so sorry to hear that.

serious bummer, matt.

i hope things start to go a little more smoothly...

Oh man! I feel you! My hubby and I went through a similar situation this summer and were actually homeless and living at a friends house for 3 months because our mortgage company was completely useless and incompetent. So I know exactly how you feel! Hang in there, it'll all be over before you know it.

that BLOWS!!!!!

That bites. Phil and I are facing similarly crappy times, getting our current house ready to sell.

Matt,

Sorry you are going through that. I think I am using the same lender!

I was supposed to close in Aug, then Sept, Oct, Now November..At this rate Santa is going to help me pack!

(HO Ho Ho....Just put that box in the kitchen!)

Very little is more stressul than buying a house, I think! Sorry to hear all that--hopefully it will all come together!

ugh! so sorry!!

When you do move, just don't dive into a major remodel any time soon (unless you want to test that "nothing's more stressful..." statement right away).

Thanks all - I'm REALLY stressy about it. Just talked to the mortgage co who SOUNDS optimistic we'll still close this week. But I want to slap her in the frikkin head which can't be good. lol

Hey Matt--take heart. I've bought three houses, and they've ALL gone that way. And ultimately every single one of them closed.

My first one, we literally had house guests arriving that night for our wedding a few days later....and "oh, its the Friday before the holiday weekend, no one's here to close, sorry we didn't notify you." We still got the keys after MUCH arguing & still managed to hold our reception in the new house.

The latest one had a big financial deal fall through--we closed 6 weeks after the original planned date. But it all still worked out.

Hang tight, get a drink, we'll all think very strong happy thoughts in your direction!

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. How come we don't learn to how to buy a house in school? Never once did one of my classes in high school cover this.

Sooner or later most everyone will take out a mortgage. Whether they go to post secondary or not. So why wouldn't it be something we're taught how to do.

You don't find out how hard it is or what can (and often does) go wrong until you're right in the thick of things. What a bass ackwards way to learn something.

Sorry your having such a hard time Matt. I'm a bit cranky today so hopefully I didn't come across too bad...

Sarah, you are SO right. They really need to teach more practical aspects of business don't they?

Matt, I see a bit of your sense of humor still there, so it's not a total stress takeover.....



Something similar happened to us with our first house. It is SO SO stressful, but more often than not, it works out. Remember, too, there's more than one mortgage company out there. And in today's market, they want to get good clients (ie, someone who will pay their mortgage) Just fyi, Wells Fargo treated us well.



Take care,

Ginger

Bugger that.

Here's what its been like:

"yes you can have a mortgage, the comittment letter is in the mail... (next day)oh, no you can't we're working on something else... Guess what? You've been approved. We're sending out the letter to you now.... (3 days later) Oh, no your application was declined, we're working on another option dont worry. OH, look, you've been approved GREAT! We're sending out your letter. (3 more days)... Oops, what do you mean you didnt get the letter it should have been there by now. (3 more days) oh, we have to try something else that one didnt go through either... we're working on .....

WTF?????How can you be sending out a comittment letter BEFORE the person is approved.... THREE TIMES????

Now she says we're going to close the end of this week or next. Who believes her? Anyone? Anyone at all? Bueller?? Bueller??

Me either.

Lying little *%$#@ MY sense of humor is GONE, RIGHT out the door. Bye bye! Bye bye now.

Sorry to hear about all your problems guys - I've been through 3 house purchases myself and totally know what you're going through.

And yes, it is supposed to be the most stressful thing (I believe) since a Mortgage is simply a "Death Pledge"... and I don't know of any death pledges that aren't stressful.

So, if my experience with bad mortgages and idiotic mortgage brokers and employees is worth anything to you right now - pull out now before you get screwed for life.

There are plenty of mortgage dealers out there.

You may want to try these guys.... or these guys.

Seriously, I tell all of my friends going through the process that the job of mortgage companies is to stress you out beyond belief up to the final hour. We went through one thing after another and the day before our closing, they asked for another thing of taxes or something stupid like that. You know what you need from us in the beginning, ask for it then!!! We already had all of our offices, actually, the entire house packed and on the moving truck and we had to go into the moving truck, try to decipher which box had the tax records and unpack it. UGH We left our townhouse at 6am on a Thursday and was officially homeless until we went to closing at 3pm that day. Talk about nerve wracking.

Oh, and thankfully we had a good attorney. The day before he said they still didn't know what the closing amount would be...?!?!?!! So he gave us a number over-estimating so we could get to the bank before they closed for the bank check and then he cut us a check for the difference at closing. A friend just found out an hour before his closing. WTH?!

No sir- SELLING it is! Won't go on and on with the list of why...just trust me! (Congrats to you hopefully!!!)

Because you're doing both the buying AND selling at once?

That's nothing! Call me when it's been 11 months, you still haven't closed, and you can't even GET OUT of the contract because the sellers can sue you and MAKE you buy a house you no longer want because you're fed up. Yep, that's been my last 24 hours.

ugh, that just sucks! That 30 day closing period is like a roller coaster from hell - I remember it all too well. You'll get there - you will! Think positive!

Emily

Take comfort in knowing that everything happens for a reason, and it will all work out the way it's meant to. Easier said than done, I'm sure, but if you teach yourself to do it, thinking that way just comes naturally.

I know you mean well here but our beliefs differ on this particular point. I believe it will work out because that's the mortgage people's job and they're telling us it "should." I don't believe it will work out because "it's meant to" - and I promise you I'm NEVER going to "think that way" naturally. Anyhoo...yeah stress.hahah

Oh, sorry Matt! Let us know how it turns out for you.....

Lisa,

I KNEW you would get in on this thread sooner or later, since you are the absolute QUEEN of mortgage woes. I know this probably doesn't make you feel any better but I've been chanting to myself the past few weeks "at least this isn't as bad as what Lisa is going through". My fear is that this is only the beginning, but so far, nope! Our problems totally pale compared to yours.

My heart definitely feels your pain, girlfriend, even if it is preoccupied with it's own at the moment. I guess that means double the fun.

That's nice.

Someone very wise who I believe is one of the most talented shooters and business men around once said

July 7th 2007
-------------------------------------
If I told you that I believed you could have anything you wanted if you believed two things, would you try to believe them with all of your heart?

1) Believe you are worthy of the thing you desire.

2) Believe having it soon is going to be a reality for you.

Try to dwell on the positive aspects. Say “I will run a 10k” not “I don’t want to be out of shape anymore.” Say “My business will triple in the next year” not “I don’t want to be so poor anymore.”

Whatever your dream, dare it big. Dare something worth waking up in the morning for. Dare to believe in yourself and your goal.

Call it The Secret, call it The Attractor Factor, call it God. Whatever you want to call it, perception becomes reality. What reality are you headed toward?

Coming soon: New video tutorials (Lightroom and more!), David Allen Getting Things Done, and a lot more.

P.S. The not so secret goal of this post is to Attractor the attention of one of the above authors who I think I would share a great deal in common with.
-------------------------------------------------------

You'll get through it, I moved my family from St. Louis to the Gulf Coast, took a hit on my home to sell it fast, have no business lined up in town and only the weddings back in St. Louis on the books. And we did it in the middle of the busy season.
Plus I've been spending two week stints away from my family every month since May.
This is life- the real thing, it's not a dress rehearsal and you will never ever forget these days. Good Luck, but I know you really don't need it

Getting stressed out only brings more stress into your life, you know... Some things are out of our control, and stressing out only makes the situation worse.

I could be stressing and complaining about one thing after another if I wanted to (I could find one major thing in particular that I bet everyone here would sympathize with me over, no doubt), but I don't want to.

Granted, venting as a result of stress does feel good.

I'm just saying that the situation is only as bad as you make it.

Ran and Carrie, I totally agree.

I *definitely* agree with that.

Oh geez, your situation does stink! We are trying to sell our house right now. We've bought & sold a few times, & acutally they all have been mostly stress free. Our current home is taking longer to sell than expected though....I'm going to jump on your stress boat soon with you & Sarah!

Well, I don't know about the queen of mortgage woes...it's more like the queen of probate and crappy lawyer woes? For a couple of Irish folks, the hubby and I sure haven't had much luck this time around. I was awake at 4 am this morning trying to figure a way out of this mess without being sued.

Anyway, this will be our 3rd purchase. I can promise you it went MUCH better the first 2 times (or we never would've done it again). FWIW, we've had nothing but trouble with Wells Fargo, but Chris from Alliance Bank is da man!!

I hope it works out for you. I was hoping to check out your new old house!!!

If you need to vent or just drink a lot, give me a ring!