House progress

We reached an agreement with the seller. They got the termite company that treated the house two years ago  to deal with the termites again (we'll treat on our own later, as we certainly cannot trust this company after this). As for the repairs, we agreed to share the costs.

Today we signed most of the loan paperwork with the exception of one document that I was not comfortable with. Basically, on at least two other documents, we stated that this will be our primary residence and that we will move in no later than 60 days after the title is released to us. That is fair and gives us enough time to make some repairs and improvements. But this particular document stated that we needed to move in within 30 days. Not only that, but it said that if we didn't, we had to pay back the full amount of the loan immediately.

So I asked those 30 days to be changed to 60 like in the other documents, but the escrow officer was very impatient and said that I needed to sign the paperwork right away, in spite of the contradiction.  Actually, she initially insisted the document said sixty days, not thirty, and pointed to another part of the document that said we had to stay in that residence for at least 6 months. As if the number 6 somewhere else in the document magically turned 30 days into 60.

That pissed me off. Maybe she was trying to get away with this ruse just because I am Hispanic and speak English with a Spanish accent. Or maybe she would have tried this with anyone else, regardless of race or accent.

In any case, she  was very patronizing, telling me we were simply not going to get the loan if I did not sign right then and there, and that I should not really worry because it was very improbable that anyone would show up to check that we had actually moved within 30 days.

I explained to her that this was not about the chance of getting caught, it was about not lying or making promises I was not sure I could fulfill, and that made her even angrier.

Frankly, I don't think we are risking the loan not going through. We have been saving for years, we are putting down a 30% down payment, we have excellent credit scores and absolutely no debt, so I am sure the lender has good reasons to want our business.

And in the end, if we really have no choice, we could move in in 30 days. We just would prefer that all work on the house is done before we do, and that's why I am pushing for the 60 days. I think that is reasonable and also consistent with the rest of the paperwork.

We'll see what happens. Our closing date is April 26, and that could be extended. We rent on a month to month basis so we are not in a hurry.

Still, I wish I did not have to meet with that particular escrow officer again. I'm not good at dealing with people like her.