The Drive to the Escrow Office

Ashley from Harmony Escrow called me on Friday (7/27/12) to have me come into the office to sign the loan documents! She wanted me to come in asap in order to close at month end. Honestly, when she called I wasn't too excited. Maybe because I was in Culver City and she was in Irvine! It was an hour away, but
with traffic it was 2 hours, not to mention another 2 hours back! They are not open on the weekends so I had to go Friday, so I did. I asked my kind boss if I can take off at 2:00 PM and he was completely fine with it. At this point in the process, I should have known all the details of my loan, such as total closing cost, monthly payment, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't. I had been asking my loan officer for this info for days but his response was always, "I'll get that for you right away." Well that "right away" never came.

At 1:00 PM I called the escrow office back to let them know that I'll be passing by to sign the loan documents and asked her what would I need to bring with me. She said that I will need to take my ID and a cashier's check for the escrow balance... I've been wanting to know how much more I had to come out of my pocket for closing cost and the 3.5% of my down payment. I had already sent a cashier's check in the amount of $4,100 as my earnest deposit at the very beginning of this process so I was very anxious to know what was left. She finally responded and said to give her 30 minutes to finalize the numbers and that she'll e-mail me a copy for my review.

At 1:20 PM I received her e-mail and I couldn't have opened the attachment any faster! The attachment finally opened and I quickly look at the bottom of the report and there it was, "total due to escrow: $5,215.25" I felt so relief to know it wasn't anything outrageous like I saw in the Good Faith Estimate presented by banks when I was shopping around for a lender. This probably has a lot to do with the sellers credit of $6,117 (3% of selling price). This was literally, $6,117 that I didn't have to take out of my savings account! FYI - Freddie Mac provides up to 3% of sales price as a credit and a 2 year home warranty (only applies to single family residence) for owner occupant buyers. My property didn't qualify for the home warranty, because it's a duplex. I am happy with the credit though!

Okay, back to Friday... At 2:00 PM, I went to the bank to get a cashier's check and anxiously drove to the escrow office. It felt like I was never going to get there. It was so surreal. This drive felt the same way the day I drove to church to get baptized and the day I picked up my iPhone 4! It's a feeling that you're so proud of, but you feel something big is going to happen because you cannot believe it's really happening. I seriously thought I was going to be involved in a car accident on my way to the escrow office. Not because I was driving recklessly, but because my presence in this world didn't feel real. It felt like things like this do not happen in real life...

Made it safe to the office (thank God, because I was speeding...haha..kidding of course, traffic was jam). Ashley met with me in a private room and we went through the loan documents and she had me sign where a signature was required and after an hour and a numb hand, I was given a copy of what I had just signed and I drove back home. At this point, it didn't feel like a big deal that I just signed loan documents to buy a house, I was probably just tired.

Wells Fargo should be paying the seller tomorrow (Monday) and keys to the property should be provided to me on Tuesday of which I will then officially be a homeowner!

 Recap:
Day 1---July 19, 2012 : File was submitted for final review (lender process)

Day 2---July 20, 2012: Waiting

Day 3---July 21, 2012: Waiting

Day 4---July 22, 2012: Waiting

Day 5---July 23, 2012: Waiting

Day 6---July 24, 2012: Waiting

Day 7---July 25, 2012: Waiting

Day 8---July 26, 2012: Loan specialist received my file from underwriter to close for final approval. File was put into the closing department for them to draw the loan documents

Day 9---July 28, 2012: Call from escrow office that loan documents were ready to sign. I signed documents that same day and file was faxed back to Wells Fargo by escrow office who will overnight originals as well.

Day 10---July 30,2012: Wells Fargo will review loan documents to ensure everything was completed correctly and if everything looks okay Wells Fargo will fund escrow account. Escrow office will submit borrower info to title and pay seller

Day 11---July 31, 2012: Title acknowledgment is confirmed and escrow is closed. Realtor will pick up keys from listing agents office and proudly give you the keys to your new home!


I then have to call my contractor to begin to remodel the property and once completed, I can finally move in! But before calling my contractor, my boyfriend and I are going to go to our favorite Thai restaurant in Santa Monica and celebrate our victory!