106 replies to this topic

[mother.jeni]

I have looked over all the paperwork I have, and nowhere does it say that there is a max. sq. ft. requiremnt, so I am going to say this is just mistake in information??? I'm really interested in how long it has taken from signed contract (agreement between buyer and seller regarding buying the house for a set amount of money and conditions) to closing on a USDA RD Direct Loan from any others who have gone through this process.

[MelodyT]

With Direct there is a definite 1,800 sq. ft maximum. It used to be 1,400. They will not even go one square foot above 1,800. That's it. We have 5 people in our household as well so it is tough to find something doable. It also has to be modest. It cannot be extravagant at all.

[gabbyraja]

I kept seeing "modest" on the website and the paperwork. It was on one of the sheets that came with the prequalification worksheet that had 1800. Being that the loan limits and all that other stuff depends on your area, I would imagine any sq footage requirement would be different (if there is one at all) in your areea. I'd just go ahead and call your local office (tomorrow, as they are closed today) and ask. I'd bet the front desk person who answers would know off the top of her/his head.

Also, my realtor is assuring us that they are not going to quibble over a few sq ft. 2400 may be too much, but 1860 wouldn't be. I think some discretion is under the control of your loan officer/UW.

Edited by gabbyraja, 20 February 2012 - 10:39 AM.

[gabbyraja]

Here is the brochure for my state:
http://www.google.co...UAvKxEwlxzC-A0A

It says: "requires that the site must be of a size that it cannot be subdivided into two or more adequate sites under existing zoning ordinance requirements" So, I guess that's where the 1800 comes in on ours. Less than 1800 sq ft couldn't be easily split into 2 units here, so it's considered "modest". Maybe the LO could look at our family size and bend that rule...

[gabbyraja]

Argh, here's the real requirements. http://www.rurdev.us...orm 1944-59.pdf It also says you can't have much land, and I think you can't be on a dirt road. WTF! This is RURAL development! I'm getting a little upset now. I read somewhere that you may be able to get a waiver for one of the requirements. The only 2 houses we even think might work now have 3 acres and almost 9 acres. Not our fault they have acreage...

I found this info by just pasting this in the address bar http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ and putting my state initials after it. I followed Single Family Housing->Direct Loans then clicked the link "Existing Dwelling" under "Property Requirements". Maybe you can find something like this under your state.

Edited by gabbyraja, 20 February 2012 - 11:42 AM.

[mother.jeni]

Sounds really frustrating for your Gabby. I'm sorry. I know the "HUrry up and Wait" is KiLLING my hubby and me

Thank you for reposting about the 1800. I was looking at our sheet, and it says the house has 1811 sq. ft. living space, so I sincerely hope we are good. I couldn't sleep last night after finding out about it on here, even though my husband said not to worry about it too much. It was just one more reason for our loan not to be approved "Ya know?" All these inspections are scary too. Like what they'll find. This house has been on the market for years, when the guy bought it from HUD foreclosuren and fixed it up to resell. He seems anxious to sell, and we just want things to go speedy like so he won't give up on us. I have been praying non-stop about this. It just seems that everyhting is finally coming together, and I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop like it always does. Thank You! and Good Luck!

[gabbyraja]

Here's the form I got with my pre-app that mentions the size restriction
Pg 1
Pg 2

[mother.jeni]

Here's the form I got with my pre-app that mentions the size restriction
Pg 1
Pg 2

OK. Yeah, my papers say nothing like that. It's only 1 page. And it simply says modest and comparable to houses in the area Will definately add my success story to this website if we get the house!

[MelodyT]

Hopefully yours is different. I know, we tried to get one just over the 1,800 sq. ft. and it is no go. He has stated to me many times (the LO) they will do NO EXCEPTIONS on it. They just recently upgraded up from 1,400 sq. ft. so they will NOT go any higher, not even one sq. ft.

Also, in regards the acreage... what I was told is that if it's in the county they aren't as picky. It has to be equivalent to what is around. 9 acres may be a bit much but may not be a deal breaker. Where we are looking is in the mountains and several have acreage so we were worried. In the city, it is under 1 acre unless the norm is higher.

[gabbyraja]

Also, I read here, I think, that now they have PMI. But, in the brochure, date 1/20/2012 it says : "No monthly insurance premium (PMI) charge" IDoes that just mean you pay all your PMI upfront or something, or do you really not have any PMI on this loan? Anybody know?

[mother.jeni]

My info says no PMI.

[gabbyraja]

I got more info this morning:

Sq Ftage: If the size is over 1800 and that's "normal for the area", and/or the "family size supports a larger house", then it's flexible! Yay! She said they use 2 people per bedroom as a guideline, and it is hard to find a 4 bedroom house in our area for under 1800 sq ft. And 2000 sq ft is perfectly usual here, but so is 1000, so... She said you find it, you submit it for approval, and it goes to the...can't remember the title but it was like the boss at the state level...for approval. And it requires more documentation.

Acreage: if your county says the acreage is dividable then it's too much. They think 3 acres is fine, but more than that is not. That's fine if we can find one with 1-3 acres.

In-ground pool: absolutely not under any circumstances.

So, ymmv depending on your area.

[gabbyraja]

Grrr. My husband's workplace uses The Work Number for employment verification. USDA said they won't use TWN. Because they are a gov't agency they get charged for using it. The HR person won't even call her back, and that's the only thing delaying us at this point. > I hate that place!

[harmstrong523]

Grrr. My husband's workplace uses The Work Number for employment verification. USDA said they won't use TWN. Because they are a gov't agency they get charged for using it. The HR person won't even call her back, and that's the only thing delaying us at this point. > I hate that place!

That stinks! Hopefully the HR person will hurry up and call her back! Wishing you the best of luck!

[Brian B The Loan Professor]

Did you offer to pay for TWN?

[gabbyraja]

Didn't occur to me that I could do it, until after we had it solved, lol. The USDA woman learned that on the page where you get a salary key to give to the requester is a link to "Request your employment data report." They were able to accept that as verification, and our file is now with the final reviewer. Yay! As many roadblocks as there seem to be in this process, it's still working out quite easily and quickly (knock on wood) so far. Fingers crossed it keeps up! Hoping to hear something on Friday, but still on track for something on Monday at least.

[MelodyT]

I am SO jealous your process is moving so quickly! I am stalled on the appraisal. It has been about 2 weeks, or more, that they have put in for funds for an appraisal and still nothing. So frustrating!

[gabbyraja]

Oh, that must be where I'm going to get stuck, too, then.

[gabbyraja]

Update: No update, lol.

I called on Fri hoping that they were finished and I could go ad physically pick up the letter (10 minutes from the office). They were still waiting on the credit report that they'd ordered on Tues! I forgot this was the gov't and they still did everything by Pony Express. She said it can take 7 days, which would mean they should get it today at the latest. So, I'm still waiting. I'll call tomorrow afternoon and see if any progress has been made. Hopefully their carrier pigeon won't have been delayed...

[Chris in OK]

The agency who we are working with ran my credit this morning and are packaging the loan paperwork to send over. My situation is a little different, as the agency I am working with is a self-help housing place a la Habitat for Humanity. Basically, we get a brand new house built for us that is "reasonable in cost and construction" on an acre lot. They do both 3 and 4 bedrooms, and we were told that we qualify for a 4b due to family size. We just have to paint, do trim, daily cleanup, etc...

By the way, they ran my credit and my TU score was 653. Six months ago when we tried the first time and were denied, it was 582. +71 points in six months is awesome, IMO.

[Chris in OK]

I'm done with USDA. On one hand they say it's OK if I am not three years post BK, and then they say it's not OK. My mid score was 665, I'm just going to go through a local bank and plead my case. Forget them.

[gabbyraja]

I got a call on tues asking for a few more pieces of info. I faxed them the same day. I got another call yesterday asking for the fax number of our leasing office so hat they could fax them a form. I called today to check on whether or not they've FINALLY got everything they needed, like they'd told me they did over 2 weeks ago. She said she's still waiting on the leasing office to fax back the form. I asked why it was necessary. She said they got his tri-merge (or whatever it is) report yesterday (FINALLY!) and they need to see at least 3 TLs with 18 months or more of positive history. Since only 2 of dh's TLs were more than 18 months old, they can use our rental history as the third. News to me! So, we continue waiting. Going to see 8 more houses tomorrow. These are the last of the houses in our area that will meet our needs. We will need to be under contract by the end of March in order to be moved out of our apartment by the end of our lease. There is the option to go month-to-month on the lease, but the fee is equal to a months rent (meaning we'll be paying 2x rent each month we go over) and this place is barely worth the 1x rent we pay now. I really, REALLY don't want to pay double, ever! Wish us luck!

[gabbyraja]

Well, while we're still not even on the desk of the person who will approve the loan, we're putting in an offer today! We went out again this weekend and saw everything that's left. We need to be under contract in 2 weeks in order for our timeline to work. So, basically, we had to choose from what's available now. Luckily, we saw 2 excellent choices, and one perfectly acceptable choice. Our top contender has another offer coming in today. So, we can't wait. Luckily it's owner-occupied, so we don't have to wait for the certificate. So, now we wait for good news from 2 places. Ugh, I hate the wait.

[gabbyraja]

We put in the offer. I called USDA again to see who needed to know what property we'd chosen, to start looking into whether it meets their quals (it's 2161 sq ft, for instance, but, again, they told us that was flexible because we're a large family). I spoke to the guy who will do the final review. He said the person who knows whether or not thew landlord verification is back or not is not in 'til tomorrow. However, he said that's the last thing they need, then it's in his lap. Then he said that once he has it it will be a day or 2, depending on what else he has going on at that moment, to get the certificate. Yay! I hope he's not just blowing smoke. We could have an accepted offer and a mortgage this week! Of course, we could also have neither one, but I'm not going to think about that.

[gabbyraja]

I'm becoming quickly disenchanted with this stupid gov't organization. The guy told me he'd have it and it would take a couple of days. He told me this on Tues. Wed I get an out of office reply that he's out of the office until the 26th. I call the girl with the file and am condescended to about the process, but told it will be in the local office on Thur to be reviewed by the other reviewer. I decided not to be that girl who calls every day, and I waited until today. I call and the other reviewer is out today, too. So, I call the rude girl back just to make sure the file did go to the right office on schedule, so at least I know where it is and whom to call on Mon, and she was EXTREMELY condescending about how it's not taking very long, and she TOLD me when we talked before not to put an offer in until we have the certificate, because now we feel pressured, etc. Um, no, she never said that and I wouldn't have listened anyway. We had to get it in when we did because they were getting another offer that day and we'd have lost it otherwise, I felt pressured anyway because of the million other reasons we need this to go quickly, and I don't give a flying f*** whether or not my feeling pressured is inconvenient for her! Too bad it's the gov't and they wouldn't care if I was receiving poor customer service...

When it's all over it will have been worth it, right? When I think back to my first mortgage, in the last 2 years of the mortgage bubble, I walked in, filled out one form and gave them 2 paystubs, picked out a house and closed. It was easier than buying a car...