Ok, now I’m starting to feel bad for my production-line loan officer.  He’s working late hours trying to push an unimaginable number of loans through before the end of the month.  He must have called me a half a dozen times today with a new idea to run past me, then past his boss, then to the underwriter, then back to me…

Title also called to cancel the closing appointment on Monday.  It’s interesting how they call to inform you about non-negotiable appointment times, they cancel at will, then reschedule at will.  You have nothing to say about the time and whether it works with your schedule.  If I had a 9 to 5 job or had a travel schedule like I used to, I would have a very tough time getting through these transactions.  It’s the same with the pre-walk and the final walk appointment.  You have to be there at their specified time, period.

Back to the loan officer…  We concluded that since I don’t have a property management business entity in which I’m 100% owner, and since we are going stated income, self employed, and since I don’t have a business license (who gets a business license for their REI LLCs?), AND since we’re already pulling an exception since my business has not operated out of the same location for the last 2 years, that I have to get a new CPA letter.  My existing letter would have been fine after all except that it was dated April 14.  It has to be dated within 90 days of close of escrow.  I fought like the dickens to not have to do this because my CPA charges $250 each time I need a letter.  I’ve had to get plenty because everyone seems to have their particular wording they want.

The loan officer also had to change my occupation from “property management” to “real estate investor.”  Reason being is that I cannot prove that I am the 100% owner of a property management company, as opposed to a part owner or owner via marriage of a company that manages properties. 

I hesitated to have him submit me as a real estate investor because this is a primary.  People lie about primaries all the time but we really are going to move into this house.  I’m thinking there will be immediate suspicion about this and I’ll have to somehow prove that I’m moving in.  I already had to sign a paper that said I promise to move in within 60 days of close, which is highly unlikely.  We are going to take some time to paint and decorate before moving our things over, and we’re putting in a pool and I don’t want to be there during the construction.  So I’m sure the bank will be going to knock on the door and snoop (they’ve done it before) and I’ll have to later convince them that I haven’t committed fraud.

My loan officer was shocked today to find that I’ve never had to produce a business license or Articles of Incorporation showing me as 100% owner of a seasoned entity before.  It’s never come up in probably a dozen transactions this year.  I’m as surprised that he’s asking as he is that I’ve never been asked before.

Things to consider doing:

  1. Form a business entity for real estate investing that’s 100% mine and season it.  Basically create it for borrowing purposes.  We’ve been through so many attorneys.  Now that I think of it maybe it is odd that we’ve never thought of doing this before and that none of our attorneys have suggested it.
  2. Get a business license for one of our LLCs for borrowing purposes.  This still sounds crazy to me but I guess after we move to our new place I’ll look into it.