Becoming Houseless

Wait your guys are getting thrown out onto the streets!?

No! Houseless! not homeless!

So in the last post, we kind of dropped a bombshell about moving overseas (specifically to Saudi Arabia).  In the past few weeks, we are now dealing with the implications of our impending move.

The Original Plan

Our original plan was to sell the house in Florida and then buy a small condo in Michigan.  By doing this, we thought that we would always have a home to come back to during holidays (summer, Christmas, etc) The house in Florida has been no problem.  We have been under contract for quite a while, the appraisal came back at the selling price, and we are going to make a nice healthy profit!  Score!

Enter Quicken Loans. (cue ominous music)

 

We probably should have known something was up when our current mortgage lender, PNC, said that they couldn’t help us out because we were moving overseas.

Our next step was to call Quicken Loans.  We talked to the representative and after giving a few financial details (approx. 800 credit score for both of us! Not bragging) we got pre-approved with no problems!  I explained to them our situation of moving overseas and they didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Hooray!!!

So after having family look at a number of places (thanks Paul and Kristi!), we found a nice 2 bed 1.5 bath condo for a pretty good price and got our offer accepted. Because of the sale of the Florida home we would be able to give a down payment of 25%.

We had the place inspected (cost of $340) and started packing up the Florida home, when Quicken came back to us and told us that the underwriter had concerns about us moving overseas.

Uh Oh…

Uh oh is right.  We went through an appeals process and then were denied a mortgage because we did not have any future verifiable income. (Our new school does not report to the US government)

Now, while it sucks being denied a mortgage, we are not actually upset by it. Quicken has to follow regulations just like everyone.

What we are upset about is getting pre-approved in the first place.  We wasted $340 on an inspection for a house that we can’t buy!

So now what?!

Well, strangely enough, we both have a sense of calm about this happening to us.  We’ve owned our home for about 4 years.  While home ownership has its perks (and we’ve benefited financially from an upturn in the market), perhaps it is not the wisest thing to own a home in another country, especially with potential burst pipes, leaky basements, etc.

We don’t have to deal with any of those hassles any more!

Let the Sale begin!

We will probably have to get a storage unit in Michigan, but the $175 rental for a 10×20 locker is better than a storage unit masked as a condo with a $1000 mortgage!  Our moving now includes selling off as much as we can (at least a lot of the big furniture)

So we have decided to do a complete 180 on our values.  Quite the paradigm shift!  I used to think that a house will bring some sense of stability, but now we figure that our home is where the three of us are happy.  Is that Saudi Arabia?!  Not sure, but we will see.

Now.  Who wants to buy something for their house?????