We finally, FINALLY closed! I'm so excited!
The bank would tell us to come up with X amount of dollars for a down payment and promise that we could then have the loan. So we'd meet their demands and they'd say they'd get back to us after it went confidently to underwriting for approval. We'd wait days, sometimes weeks past their promised date of response. And ultimately, they'd come back saying they, again, needed more down. So we'd come up with that and after far more time than assured, they'd say they needed even more money down. Or even more money in savings than they'd originally asked for. And so on. I've never heard of so many empty promises. Both on the loan and on the dates they'd say they'd get back to us by. In our local branch's defense, they were just the messengers telling us what they were told to say. But the next level up needed some talking to!
We'd call the next level up to complain and they'd apologize up and down and say they'd personally get us an approval answer by the next day and take a week or more. Then we'd move up the latter again and again looking for a straight answer. We ended up with the president of the bank who agreed it shouldn't be that way and promised to personally look over our file and give us an answer first thing in the morning after Memorial Weekend. He never called. But his secratary called several times thoughout the day and apologized that he hadn't had time to call yet. Nor did he the next day. We never heard back from him, personally. But eventually, he did assign his top loan advisor to our loan and that person did finally approve us the loan. I've NEVER been good at waiting. That feeling of constantly for months waiting on the edge of my seat, by the phone because I was promised that life changing phone call that day, has been torture.
We couldn't understand it. In the years we've been left with nothing to do but prepare for this, we've earned great credit, a great savings, a great relationship with the bank through our business and personal accounts. But we felt they were still trying to run us off, hoping we'd give up without them ever actually denying us a loan! I can honestly say I thought they were leading us on and never intending to give out construction loans at all! Todd is less of a skeptic than I am. But I couldn't rule it out because almost ALL banks have discontinued issuing construction loans during this process.
We've had a hard enough roller coaster finding the right land in 5 years, but the last year and a half of shooting for the construction loan has, by far, been the bigger headache. At least we don't have to take it personally anymore. We called many many other banks who all said the same thing- Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were raising the mandated amount you have to put down every time we got close to what they wanted. So, not entirely our bank's fault that, over and over, we were one step behind. And they all had the same requirements for down payments and amounts in savings.
It's in sane what banks are requiring of people to build now. It's the government's way of stimulating the market, trying to force those who would like to build to buy existing homes for sale instead. But I live in Fruitland, Idaho. Not L.A. There aren't a plethera of homes I like for sale for me to find exactly what I want. And I don't want to pay money or leave the home I'm in for anything less. It's too bad, though. Whoever did buy a home in March when we signed the purchase agreement to buy our land only needed 5% down and got thousands of dollars given back in a tax return.
On the plus side, I don't feel like I signed my life away in a monster percentage of a mortgage. But that's because we had to come up with a monster chunk of it up front. I feel like I gave away my right arm and leg just to pay the down payment! But it's done. It's over. I'm breathing in and out and, alas, I do still have arms and legs. I'm grateful to have the "IF we can build" stage behind us. I don't think I can jynx that fact by saying so now... I hope. Because my nerves are finally remembering what it feels like to be at ease!
And I have to say I am grateful that things took the time they did. I can only say that NOW. I gave a lesson in Relief Society two weeks ago on President Ukdorf's talk in the April General Priesthood Session of Conference on patience. Some things he said made me reflect on these past few years and brought me that gratitude. He said:
"Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer." ... "Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness."
Had we been given the green light to build the first time we tried, we'd have purchased 17 acres of land for what seemed like a great deal. We had intentions to become developers and quickly get approved to develop and sell several lots and make back a lot of money. This would have been about two months before the econmy crashed and people stopped buying homes/land or building. That land sold a year later for almost half the amount we would have paid. So many lots sit vacant in Fruitland now. We would have been stuck with such an incredible debt that wouldn't get to be an investment for a VERY long time.
Had we been given the green light the second time on a 3 acre parcel off Elmore Rd., I would have really struggled. It would have meant leaving my ward to a completely new one. The house would sit in the direction I like the least- facing East. I know, who cares, but it's a huge deal to me- I designed my house to have the living areas lit up from the Southern sun. The house would have been right off a fast busy road. It would have been a desparate attempt.
The third time would have been a complete giving up on what we wanted in land. I hated it. It had all the cons to the option just before it and then some. But we owned that land and couldn't sell it after two years of trying to. We were ready to give up and just build on it. We finally did sell it for much less than we felt it was worth, but no one was building homes so no one would buy it for even (literally) a third of what it was worth before things crashed.. But that money helped us buy what we own now.
The fourth time would have meant building on the lot we now own, when it was first approved to be developed two and half years ago. We would have built when construction costs were at an all time high. And interest rates were very high. The land was worth more and being sold for much more than we paid for it. Interest rates are very low now. And construction costs are now at a 20 year low. If someone chooses to hertle getting a loan, right now is the most ideal time to build a home in decades. That is a huge blessing from having to wait.
I have drawn our house plans over these few years. Our dream on paper has definitely evolved. It has changed many times. If we built what I originally designed several years ago, I would have hated it soon after! While we've had to wait, we have visited hundreds of homes from 10 seasons of Parade of Homes as well as many more homes on the market we've toured. We've documented with photos many details of homes we like. We've purchased dozens and dozens of magazines and books month after month and really learned what we like and don't like in a home. We've asked lots of people who have built what they learned and wish they could do differenly. Being our first, and hopefully last home we ever build, that is really critical. It brought us a lot of peice of mind this last Parade of Homes in May, to walk through the homes and actually be bored. We just know what we want now and we've seen enough to be confident about that. Not that we won't ever come across new ideas we like or wish we had done something differently. Everyone says they do after building. But we don't have to worry that we'll want to create a completely different house by the time we move in.
And I am really grateful for the learning curve I've had in drafting a home. It's been a blast to get to a place where I can talk to architects and engineers and understand each other fluently. I really enjoy drafting now. I'm not a pro, I'm not liscensed. But I have made a mild talent that I enjoy and I wouldn't have otherwise had a reason to develop it.
The list goes on. I can stand on my mountain top and see a vast valley of missed detraments and trials. And I see my mountain of blessings. I'm very VERY grateful to feel the way I feel and to see from that perspective today.
We signed most of the papers on Friday and a few last stragglers on Monday. Monday night we went to the land and spray painted the driveway entrance area with the guy that will be doing the driveway. Our builder, one of our best friends, is Tim Davis. We are SO excited to work with him. He just finished construciton on the upstairs of Todd's Fruitland office earlier this year. Tim really proved himself an excellent builder to work with on that. And he has a flawless reputation from every one of the many clients we've talked to that he's built for. We met with him tonight to stake out where the house would sit.
At this point, I'm in no hurry to have the house completed. I'm fully aware it's a long process and always takes even longer than expected. After the battles for land and loan, I'm feeling broken in for the construction adventure. And I really don't care when it's finished. All I ever wanted was to know it could begin!
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