I am going to tell you a story ... a true story.
Buyers who were excited about a closing on a Friday were put in limbo and wait and see mode. They were deep into the process and had given all their documents to the loan officer right after we had binding agreement date and they made formal application for their loan. They had been pre-approved. The appraisal was done, and all was well ... until... that one day when the loan officer stopped returning phone calls.
Finally the loan officer answered his cell. He had been "let go", not because his job performance wasn't up to snuff, but because this lender is closing the office he worked in here in Georgia. He told her a "skeleton" crew had been left in place to close loans in process. He even graciously provided her with contact information of the "manager" left in place to close out the loans in process.
Now it turns out that "new guy" who has what kind of motivation to get them closed fast, because as soon as he closes them all he will also be "let go", is home, having had recent surgery and has his jaw wired shut.
We climb the ladder a bit further and find someone in another state who is the "mortgage" manager. She informs me she's got EVERYTHING from the buyers and is waiting on a document from jaws wired shut and can't get in touch with him. Seriously? We're going to fire you next week, please do your job right now.
I explain that we have a contract deadline and we have buyers traveling for business and sellers who will soon be traveling for vacation (scheduled and paid for already) and she starts telling me how one person can sign at one time and another at another time while during "escrow". I explain, we aren't in her state, we don't do things that way. Our buyers and sellers sit down with an attorney and funds and the sellers leave with a check and the buyers leave with keys to their new house.
I'm a kind person and I don't want to make this even harder on the sellers than it is at this point, so I have not said "I told you", but....
Future buyers... take it to heart. This is not the first time a buyer who didn't choose a lender from our preferred list has said to me: "We sure wish we had listened to your advice."
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