Made buying process easy & painless for Veterans!
Written: Nov 24 '04
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Pros: Extremely understanding company that helps all types of credit customers and Veterans
Cons: TOO MUCH PAPER wasted!
The Bottom Line: Quick loan process; forgiving of poor creditors; easy to navigate website; and real people when you call!
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| thriftymommy's Full Review: Countrywide |
First, let me preface this by saying that our credit is less than perfect; what some may call "marginal" at best. What we did as new creditors has left a mark on our combined credit reports that has been difficult to overcome. I like to call it the "Scarlet Letter" of credit: the big, unmistakable "L" for loser...
We had help purchasing our first home from Countrywide Home Loans with their VA home buying program. It was inevitable that we, who started our lives together young and reckless, would need a helping hand from somebody. Countrywide looked at us a people; not as a credit score.
Countrywide: Approved VA lender
I must tell you that we used my Veteran Affairs home loan guarantee to secure our mortgage with Countrywide home loans. This makes a huge difference compared to traditional home buyers: we needed no deposit and due to my disability, we paid no points on the loan and our closing costs were funded by HUD. But, due to our credit, we did receive a slightly higher interest rate than other buyers with better credit. After contacting the regional VA office, they recommended Countrywide as our first home loan choice. Compared to our credit union, Countrywide made it easy to secure a mortgage even with our poor credit history.
Pre-Approval
From the first time I called the office of our local Countrywide, I was connected to a helpful loan processor who said she would follow us through the entire home buying experience until the final step when her manager would oversee the closing. Wow, I thought. One person to talk to through this entire ordeal. How nice! I went into the office, retrieved all the necessary forms and applications and returned home to fill out a mound of paperwork that seemed daunting. She's now on my Christmas card list; she was never judgmental and very kind when she explained the obvious to me (why is the APR different from the interest rate?).
I came across several items that required clarification (who created these forms? Einstein?? Lenin??) and was able to contact the same loan processor each and every time to obtain a clear, concise answer. Hmmm, she really knows her stuff!! Most of my questions were related to "what does this form mean" and "what does this fine print say"...I thought about breaking out my magnifying glass but called the office and had the answers without straining my eyes.
The approval letter was in our realtor's hand within three days. Yes, an approval letter and not the pre-approval letter we thought was necessary. This gave us the edge over several other bidders and our offer was chosen. It also helped that the loan processor called the realtor and spoke about our needs and personal situation; this helped the process along greatly with the sellers.
The documents
If you ever have a need or desire to kill a tree, buy a house. After the easy approval, we received a list of documents that Countrywide required (income documents, tax returns, mother's birth certificate...kidding; they called mom for that!). I sent in my Veteran home loan guarantee that I had obtained prior to looking for a home. The VA guarantees have no expiration date and are good unless the VA raises the guarantee amount or until you use yours and sell that home and are looking to buy a new one. The VA home loan guarantees are also easily through the nearest VA regional office with a copy of your DD-214. Make sure you request this PRIOR to applying for a home loan; the guarantee could take months to arrive!
Our loan was processed for closing in thirty days after Countrywide had received all of our paperwork. One hint to all future home buyers: save everything. If there was ever a time my husband was grateful that I'm a packrat, this was it. I have tax returns dating back to my high school days. I have old receipts for old credit cards. I even have scraps of paper with disputed charges or those annoying bill collector's contact information and paid in full statements. This was the most important factor in closing our loan: every question about our credit was easily answered and proven to their satisfaction. Countrywide gave us a chance when we thought no one would.
VA Appraisal Process
The appraisal was ordered immediately and performed one week before closing. With a VA loan, this is the longest and hardest piece of paper to obtain. You see, Countrywide is an authorized VA lender and can act without waiting for the VA approval on every line item EXCEPT for the appraisal. Unfortunately, the appraiser must be VA certified as well (usually they are sent from the regional office or the regional office contracts with a company). Setting up the appraisal was handled completely by our loan processor. I didn't know the appraisal was completed until after my lawyer called with a closing time and date.
Problems with the sellers
It seemed as if every day our lawyer was calling with a matter that needed our attention. I felt as if this mortgage was not going to happen. Luckily, many of the problems had easy solutions ("They're not going to fix the kitchen floor. What do you want to do?" "They don't have a closing date on their new house. Can we change your date?") and those relating to our mortgage were handled efficiently by our loan processor.
When their lawyer called about the low appraisal from the VA, the sellers were given a copy of the appraisal. This was an issue for me: we paid $550 for the appraisal. If they had concerns, why couldn't they pay for their own? I had to put these thoughts out of my mind after the loan processor pointed out that our lease was expiring on our rental.
Countrywide made the buying process quick and easy by handling all of the paperwork through the mail and over the phone. Maybe one day our mortgages will be handled over the computer and there will be no need for more trees to die for the cause:)
Closing
Another dead tree worth of paper sat on our attorney's desk awaiting our signature. Countrywide made only one error: our home insurance statement was not prepared. This took a few extra minutes of the builders' time and made me antsy. Our loan processor faxed the form immediately and our closing went through.
Payment Choices
We received our first coupon in the mail with a website listed. Onto the website I went; I was not going to be late if I could avoid the postal system! There, on the website, was our loan documents (the H-2 and note), the breakdown of our loan payment, our escrow account, our tax statement, our personal information and payment services. You can use the online website to pay your bill each month or set up for automatic withdrawal. Depending on what type of loan you have and which payment type suits your budget, Countrywide offers the easiest ways to pay. They also offer other services through their website: refinancing, new loan applications, rate watch, home line of credits, and insurance.
Problems
We have had only minor problems with Countrywide to date. The first bump in the road occurred when our real estate taxes were not correctly entered into the computer system. Since our property taxes are $4150 annually, Countrywide's request for an additional one time escrow payment of $5120 to cover our first quarter taxes was disconcerting to say the least. A call to the loan processor corrected this in one day.
Our second minor problem occurred when we switched insurance companies. Here in New Jersey, the high property taxes and insurance costs make our monthly payment lopsided: our principal is almost equal to our tax and insurance cost. AS such, when I changed insurance carriers, Countrywide erroneously charged us for both policies...they quickly corrected this error without a problem crediting our escrow account with the overcharged amount.
Whenever we have a problem, the toll free service number connects us with a different loan officer; this is not really a problem but a different experience after dealing with the same person for over a month. Otherwise, the toll free number can answer any question and connect you to the right department if needed. This phone number, managed by real live people, is open from 8AM EST to 8PM EST to accommodate those who have busy lives. That is important to me: I can't discuss anything with a computer!
Praise
Like many, we have had a period of unemployment since obtaining our mortgage. Thankfully, the VA assigns an intermediary who manages our loan and the VA was able to work out a repayment plan with Countrywide to get us caught up with the only penalties to our credit report. I don't know if this type of service available to all Countrywide customers (no, unless you're a Veteran, the VA can't help you); Countrywide was very understanding and helpful when we needed them.
Overall, I happily recommend those with less than perfect credit and Veterans to Countrywide home loans. With offices in every state (and almost every county), an easily navigated website, and helpful considerate loan processors, they helped us achieve the so-called American Dream of home ownership.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
thriftymommy
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Member: April
Location: Home of the Hindenburg Disaster, NJ
Reviews written: 90
Trusted by: 49 members
About Me:
The number of people below the official poverty thresholds numbered 36.1 million in 2005.
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