ON RECORD! WHOOO HOOO!!!
Another home buyer gets their keys today! I can't even begin to tell you how many bumps in the road this escrow went through! All the stress, pain and tears and now we can look back on the buyer's "Miracle Home" and say it's officially their new home!
My buyer decided to use their own financing through a program called NACA (Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America). Now the program and the details that it offers the home buyer seems too good to be true AND it is true. No down payment, No closing Costs, No MI, no Bankruptcy seasoning and you can buy down your points to as low as 1.89% fixed for 30 years. What they don't tell you is the 1 1/2 years the buyer's went through the grueling process of qualifying. Some taking even longer if you are not diligent and on top of your paperwork. They had to do several homeownership workshops in Oakland, CA. Drive back and forth to the NACA office in Oakland to meet their loan officer, upload all their financials EVERY SINGLE month in to the web portal, volunteer hours at the financial workshops and a letter of explanation for every little change in their finances. Also if you MISS a deadline for something, you start ALL OVER FROM THE VERY BEGINNING! It added a lot of stress and an anxiety for my client, but they were determined to push through.
After 1 1/2 years of this process they contact me with a full approval letter. This approval letter consisted of the NACA underwriter approval. We were assigned a NACA liaison who would be our point of contact from beginning to end and also a web portal for me to upload documents and required forms. The other thing is that inspections and repairs are to be with contractors approved with NACA as they had a strict guideline that needed to be followed.
Being that this is a seller’s market, its already tough to get offers accepted with multiple offer situations and people with financing that has short escrow periods and worst of all cash buyers. I had to prepare my buyer’s fully on the expectation that dealing with NACA, a product that many listing agents locally will not be familiar with, will be a challenge to even get accepted as well.
I was truly hesitant and scared to even attempt using NACA because everything I personally researched or read online was not such a great experience. I had no pull or connections within NACA which also added extra anxiety in the event things fall through the cracks. BUT I also had to remind myself that my job was to help those who needed help and to serve others in the best possible way I can. To stay positive and know that I would do whatever it takes to get us to the finish line. I have known this amazing family for several years now and if anyone deserved a chance at home ownership it would be this family and I would need to do everything I can to go to bat for them.
April 9th my buyer’s and I have our initial consultation discussing the current market and what to expect and soon after they begin to look at homes with my business partner.
April 22nd my buyer’s attend an Open House and fall in love and call me right away to tell me they find “THE ONE”.
April 24th We meet to write the offer because NACA requires wet signatures and doesn’t allow for Docusign.
April 26th YAAAYYY Offer accepted! The very first offer they wrote and they got accepted!!!!
We had hoped and prayed for a smooth escrow, but well let’s just say that was only the beginning of the crazy roller coaster ride of the escrow.
Inspections went went well, but had termite work in the amount of $3200 to be addressed. Next came the appraisal. We were in contract for $370,000 and the appraisal came in at $349,000. A $21,000 difference! By then the stress level was through the roof for my buyer. After much negotiations with the listing agent, Buyer and seller agreed to just split the difference in half between buyer and seller to make it work.
Once we got to that point it was then back and forth of repeated documents from NACA and the buyer. Minor but tedious things that take up time for the buyer to get scanned and emailed back and forth. Either NACA didn’t get it and had to be sent again and again and again. Everyone was thoroughly frustrated at this point as no one can seem to figure why NACA would need so many extra things if they had been told they are underwriter approved.
Next step we finally move into Citi Underwriting. Citi Mortgage is the bank that is backing the NACA loan. So when we thought we are already done and close to the finish line, NO, they now had to send it to Citi Mortgage for their underwriting. Again we went back and forth and back and forth with conditions and re-sending of documents again and again and again. It truly was torture for my buyer to have to go through this. By then we had removed ALL contingencies and the buyer’s deposit was at stake and the lender came back missing another document (that was already sent) and said if it’s not re-sent the loan could be declined. O-M-G!!!!! Again the buyer resent what was needed and fingers crossed they get it together over at Citi. We had escalated this file all the way to the National Director of NACA and CEO and finally the escalated it within Citi to get us a final approval and clear to close.
Dealing with NACA was yes a nightmare as the timelines were never met, miscommunication of information to the buyer, inexperience of the NACA liaison to review conditions and what the underwriter really needed, lack of management support to the NACA liaison and just an inefficient way for them to do business. Buyer then had to sign loan documents in Oakland at the NACA office as a requirement so buyer had to miss another day of work to do that.If it was not for a very understanding listing agent and seller, anyone else would have cancelled out on our buyer and not grant us the extensions needed. It was important to me to make sure I kept the communication open the with the listing agent and tell her the details so they knew that we were working every day with the lender. Communication is key when you have escrows like this because anyone can quickly assume no one is doing anything if you don't keep the other party in the loop. Again we know how lucky and grateful to have a seller and listing agent so patient to work with us.
Our 45 day escrow was suppose to close June 9th, Then June 14th, then June 23rd and then pushed to record on June 26th. FINNNALLLLYYYYYY!!!!! HOOOORRRAAAAAYYY!!!!!
I can only speak on how traumatic this experience was for my buyer as there were definitely lots of tears, stress and fear of the unknown. I had to stay positive and strong for them as best as I could. This was their miracle house and I knew from the beginning it was their home. Of course it only took 60 days of a crazy roller coaster ride to get there!!!
My advice to all of you looking to buy a home is to work with your realtors local lender. They will have the expertise and the know how of what is required in your local market. There is a lot of great loan products online, on commercials on TV, on the radio...but can they close? Make sure your realtor has a track record of good business with that lender. A good lender will ask for ALL of your financials up front to get a thorough and clear picture of your financial profile. It may seem like a pain, but well worth the work versus waiting while you are in escrow and in a time crunch!
Would I take on another NACA financing again??? Not sure if I will say yes today, but tomorrow if someone approached me, I will likely say YES! As long as the buyer’s committed, then I’m committed!!!! LET'S DO THIS!!!!!
Joy Yip, REALTOR
BRE# 01481339
eXp Realty of California, Inc
www.joyyipsellshomes.com
joyyiprealestate@gmail.com
(916)932-8358
