Jenny-J-Jenny: The Value of Competent Allies

When Andrew got his job with Lam Research in Tualatin, we immediately started searching craigslist for a suitable house to rent. Andrew and I have dreamed about buying a house for a long time, but we didn't have the savings for a down payment. As you may know renting a house in the Portland area is extremely expensive. We started combing through apartment listings, also expensive. Not only that but they all had a two pet limit. The thought of giving up the ferrets made me sick to my stomach. In addition Andrew and I had been dreaming of getting a dog through the whole process of job applications and temporary post-college jobs. When one of us landed that grown up permanent job, we were getting a dog that was our deal. With the limitations of being renters, our dog dream faded once more toward the distant horizon. Every once in a while life sends you a fabuluous streak of luck. Here's how it went for us:

1. I stumbled across an ad among the craigslist rental postings. The ad was for a mortgage company, it went something like "can't afford a down payment? We can help. There are programs that you're probably eligible for."
I was suspicious. Things that sound that good tend to be scams, but I decided to find out. It was legitimate. We lucked out, Robert and his team at Summit are some of the most competent professionals in the business.

2. Robert was an advocate for our best interest. Mortgage brokers get paid a percent; we were on a budget. It was far from a juicy sale, but Robert was always willing to take time to answer my questions and explain all the details of the program to which we were applying. He also recommended that we avoid shopping at the top of our budget.

3. We didn't have real estate agent in mind so Robert recommended Patti Freites.

Because of our budget, it didn't take us long to go see all the our options. We found the house we wanted on the first day and made an offer. The house was foreclosed. Banks are notoriously hard to work with. They made a counter offer that wouldn't work for us (or anyone probably). The counter offer was really very close to our original offer, we offered them 1% earnest money (the industry standard) they countered with 3%. We couldn't afford 3%, but even if we could Andrew and I wouldn't have been comfortable with it. In case you're not familiar, earnest money is money that the buyer puts down to seal the offer. If the sale goes through, earnest money becomes part of it. If the sale goes sideways, there are a lot of places where the buyer can get it back, but there is a possibility that the buyer might not. Why was the bank insisting on 3% when the standard is 1%?

The conversation went back and forth, but the bank (the seller) stubbornly clung to the 3%. Another potential buyer came into the picture and everyone put forward their best offer. The bank chose us, but they still instisted on 3%. Patti was furious on our behalf. She ranted to Robert, and Robert wrote a letter. Robert's writing reminds me of Auntie. If you know me well, you know that I can give no higher compliment. The letter was beautifully professional, clear, well reasoned and polite. It said you are being ridiculous and unprofessional, without being the least bit confrontational. It explained the way the system works (something a bank really should have known), and why 3% earnest money was unnecessary and unreasonable and why certain levels of detail about our financial information were the mortgage companies' concern not the seller's.

Andrew and I had learned that the bank had turned down nine other offers on the house. The house had been listed for almost a year, and during that time, its asking price had been reduced several times. Some of the previous offers were probably higher than ours. We weren't extremely hopeful. The seller seamed stuck on requiring 3% earnest money no matter what, but after getting Roberts letter, the seller accepted our offer with the standard 1% earnest money.

It's been almost five months now since the house closed. We're all moved in and we have been remodeling all summer. We love our neighborhood. We love Newberg. There is no way we would have got this place without Robert and Patti. I cannot recommend these two enough. Because of them we live in this lovely little town close to Andrew's work and yes we finally have our dog.

Here's the link to Robert's webpage
http://go-summit.com/staff/robert-williams/