The last couple of weeks have been two of the most stressful and anxiety filled weeks of my life.  I had no idea attempting to close on the purchase of a home would be so complicated and such an emotional roller coaster.   Late last summer Lee and I started to think about trying to become homeowners in the Bay Area.

We spent several weeks driving around the Bay determining where we would want to live and at the cost of what commute.  We happened upon a neighborhood on the northern most end of Fremont that had a great house for sale.  We decided to give our realtor a call and get the scoop.  The house had a sale pending and wasn't taking offers.  About a month later -- the same house came back on the market.  We were out of town at the time, but fortunately it was still available for previewing a week later.  We recognized pretty quickly that this house could be perfect for us.  Granted, it needs a whole-lotta updating, but it's got fabulous potential.  We decided to make an offer.  When our realtor called to make the offer he learned that the sellers had accepted an offer from a buyer who was able to put 50% down in cash. But between accepting the offer and our phone call, the buyer's employer had relocated the buyer and he had to withdraw his offer.  Our offer was the next best thing and the roller coaster ride began (October 20, 2009).

Turns out this property was on the market because a husband and wife were getting a divorce and had gone bankrupt.  They didn't even take offers until after the bankruptcy was official and had "cleared" the liens on the property.  This sale was also a short-sale, meaning that the sellers didn't have any say in truly accepting our offer.  Given the number of short-sales out there we were told it could take several months before the selling bank would look at our offer.  So we went on our merry way and didn't think much about it. On December 6 we found out that the bank assigned our offer to someone and they were evaluating it.  And on December 17 we found out that they accepted our offer - and didn't even counter the price!  Woo-hoo! We were SOO excited.  We were leaving for Christmas break on the 19th and had 7 days from the 17th to complete our inspections with the mandate to close by January 29th or the deal was off.  Our agent was fabulous and he arranged the critical inspections to occur on the 18th.  Lee and I both went to them and learned that the house had "good bones" and there weren't any deal-breakers.  We were convinced this house was going to be ours!

We spent the next two weeks over Christmas planning and designing the remodeling work we wanted to do, researching appliances, locking in our mortgage rate and getting all set to close on January 15th.   On January 7th we went to Title and signed all sort of papers and everything was set to close on the 15th.  We gave 30 days notice on our apartment and even purchased an oven that was on sale for the house.  Now is when it gets crazy...

• Wednesday, January 13 we learn that one of the liens didn't clear during bankruptcy and additional paperwork was required by one of the lien holders.  Odds of closing on the 15th were slim to none.
• Friday, January 15 we learn that the lien cleared and another one was discovered.  This one didn't get included in the bankruptcy because their attorney was an idiot and the lien holder refuses to back down.  The seller's agent asks the selling bank (US Bank) to absorb the lien.
• Wednesday, January 20th PM we learn that US Bank refuses to absorb the lien.  The bankruptcy attorney refuses to correct his mistake without requiring 45 days and $1,000 to do so. The sellers can't pay the lien.  We retract our 30 days notice for our apartment.
• Thursday, January 21st we decide to chip in 1/3 of the amount if both agents also chip in
• Friday, January 22nd PM we learn that both agents will chip in, the seller's agent has negotiated the lien down to $4,200 and the docs were being sent to US Bank for approval.
• Monday, January 25th we find out that the bank has approved the new docs and that the wife signed the papers. The husband was to sign on the 24th and then our bank could fund. Lee ran to Title with two cashier's checks for our lien portion and our down payment.  The house was going to be ours!
• Tuesday, January 26th PM we learn that the husband signed and our bank decided to be a pain in the arse.  They switched underwriters and the new underwriters refused to let the agents contribute to the lien.  Documents to be redrawn that show the seller was paying the lien and go to both banks for approval.
• Wednesday, January 27th AM we learn that the docs we thought were corrected still showed the realtors involvement and to be processed had to go to the compliance department for authorization.
• Wednesday, January 27th PM An idea came up as to how to work around this by correction documents if we brought extra money to Title.   Lee runs to Title with the check.  While there he learns that US Bank has now decided to pay a portion of the lien.  This requires new documents to be drawn - ones that would hopefully satisfy our bank's requirements and not need our extra money.  Our bank could fund on Thursday, January 26th.
• Thursday, January 28th AM - Our bank has decided that now the only people that can pay off the lien are the realtors. We are not allowed to.  New documents are required.  Documents have to go to US Bank for approval.  Without this approval our bank can't fund.

So here it is.  2pm on Thursday, January 28th and we still don't know if we'll be able to close by 5pm on Friday, January 29th.  If we don't close - the contract is void.  We lose the house, the money we've put into inspections and maybe even our earnest deposit.  Not to mention owning a fantastic oven that we don't have space for.  We're still crossing our fingers and hoping US Bank will actually do something quickly for once and approve the docs.  And then we have to hope our bank doesn't change their mind AGAIN about what is permitted and what isn't -- and will agree to what US Bank agrees to so they can fund. If we fund by 3pm on Friday - then maybe, just maybe Title can get to the County Recorder's office in time to report the sale and for us to close by 5pm. I keep hoping we'll get news that calms my knotted stomach instead of gets it doing more somersaults.  All good vibes and prayers in this direction will be accepted.  :)

If we get the house - I'll tell you all about how great it's going to be for us and what it is like.  But if we don't -- well, then this is just the worst roller coaster ride out there.