What Plan Works to Provide Documents? The One You'll Use!

What Plan Works to Provide Documents? The One You'll Use!

When a person starts into the home-buying process, they find a real estate agent to help look for the home and a lender for the loan.  They expect their agents (both real estate and loan) to do lots of work on their behalf in a timely fashion, as well they should. 

AANNNNNDDDD.... The home-buyer ALSO has lots of work to do on their own behalf, so that when time passes, and perhaps the estimated Close of Escrow date is about to pass, the homebuyer's agents can tell everyone, "This delay was not my client's fault in any way, so (a) we should all extend the close date without fuss, and (b) it should absolutely be at NO COST TO THE HOMEBUYER!" 

A quick side-note: other folks in your buying experience will cause delay, such as the HOA taking a long time to deliver documents, or the appraiser failing to go fast on his report, etc.  BUT when a deadline is approaching, everyone will be looking around to point fingers at someone, and the homebuyer's best protection is having done his job - getting documents submitted, see below - without delay.

WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR DELAY CAUSED BY THE HOMEBUYER, you ask.  They include the following:

• Added cost to extend your rate lock (find a loan officer who will pay the extension if it is no fault of you the client that the rate lock date passed; I do this for my clients),
• Added cost per day (called "per diem") which can attach if you the homebuyer are buying a bank-owned home, as the the bank-seller uses it's own purchase contract that imposes some per diem (usuallly $100 per day!) for going over the original close date, and even
• Failure of the transaction when the seller gets fed up and delivers a notice to perform in a time frame that can't be met under current loan turnaroud times.

HOW can you avoid those painful penalties?  Get a plan that will let you be able to print out documents that you need to sign and return them within an hour or at worst case, the same day.  This includes:

• Documents that are emailed to you and need your signature,as well as,
• Other documentation you have to provide for your loan such as bank statements, pay stubs, W2s and tax returns.

If you don't have a printer or fax where you spend your days during business hours, or at home, someone near you does!  If necessary, find out where the nearest library, Kinkos or similar copy store is near you.  You don't want to be faxing 75 pages of tax returns at $1 per page, so perhaps you hand-carry your documents into the loan officer's office and let her make copies she needs.  Then, as the transaction progresses, and you need to sign one or two pages, you go ahead and use the copy place at $1 per page to fax them where they need to go.

Perhaps you will have a plan that is different depending on where you are when you hear from your agent that they yet again need "one more thing."  What's the plan if you're at work?  At home?  In Temecula wine country for an afternoon getaway?  Hotels usually will accomodate you.

Here are some plans my clients have used for quick turnaround of documents with or without signatures:

1. The office printer at work, then sign and fax back. 
2. The printer and fax machine at a neighbor's house.
3. Their home printer and scanner. 
4. Their computer to access their bank statements, and a free PDF printer they downloaded online, such as www.cutepdf.com.  Simply download the cutepdf software to your computer, then go to print the document and select the printer called "cutepdf" and it will then ask you what file on your computer to store the "printed" document in.  Choose a place to save it, then you can attached that PDF to an email and send it to your agent.
5. The military base library: base libraries have printers you can use (sometimes you have to bring your own paper) and then you will need access to a fax machine or scanner.
6. Your bank: when you need a bank statement, you can walk into your bank and have them print one for you; many banks will also fax it directly to a fax number you ask them to, such as directly to your loan officer's fax machine.

Getting your plan together to print and return documents to your agents within a day or preferably within an hour will help the transaction proceed faster and avoid penalties for delay, not to mention help you improve your chances of getting keys to your new home.

If you are technologically challenged and need help getting a plan, don't hesitate to ask your real estate agent or loan professional.  They do this all the time and should be able to help you get your plan and work it.