July 13, 2005

The computer is almost back to normal. It is functional. Some of the software is not loaded, but I am not sure how much more is necessary. I need to look for more security. In the mean time, I have only been visiting websites I know.

Our condo deal is in the last stages. Like any deal, that means hiccups and snafus. Our money from Cleveland finally arrived in our account today. This was a real learning experience. When you have money in the bank, you would like to think it is there whenever you need it, but it isn’t necessarily so. We expected the money to show up yesterday. It didn’t. We waited until the afternoon and then made some phone calls. Our bank here was holding the check for five days and agreed to verify it early. Normally, only $5000 is cleared in 5 days. When we called, I think the manager realized that she had forgot to follow up. She put Kris on hold and tried to make a phone call to verify the check. Unfortunately, it was well after closing time in Ohio. After trying for a few minutes, she gave up and told Kris that she wouldn’t be able to complete the transaction until she talked to the people in Ohio. She indicated that there were some problems getting the right phone number for verification, but I suspect that was only partially true. I suspect that they forgot about our situation until it was too late to deal with that day. Luckily, we had a couple days buffer and could live with waiting.

So today, we followed up again. This time we were told that the bank in Ohio wasn’t able to verify the check over the phone and that they weren’t sure if they would get back to them today. Kris almost freaked out at this. I called the Ohio bank and explained the situation in a tone that said please help me with words that said you really screwed this up. They explained that the woman who handled our check was on vacation, but they promised to look into the situation and call me back within a half hour. Within 10 minutes I got a call from our Alaska bank saying that everything was done. Kris checked online and the available balance reflected the full amount. This was the first time she relaxed in days.

In the meantime, the mortgage branch of our Alaska bank was busy waiting for the appraisal. That’s right, they were busy waiting. Our real estate agent has been pushing everyone on getting this appraisal done for weeks. Now, at crunch time, there is nothing anyone seems to be able to do without the appraisal. I had talked to our loan agent on Monday and she had indicated that everything was ready but that she had no control over the appraisal. Today, I placed a follow-up call. I couldn’t get my agent, so I left her a voice mail. A few hours later, I called back. I got her voicemail again, so I called the main number. I explained that I was trying to get a hold of her and that I needed to know the status of my mortgage application. After being on hold for a few minutes, the person came back on and asked a couple more questions. This time, she knew my name. When she put me back on hold, I asked Kris if I had given my name during the conversation. Kris affirmed my recollection that I hadn’t given my name, but somehow, they knew it was me.

I suspect the agent didn’t want to talk to me. A few more phone calls back and forth and I still haven’t talked directly to her. In the last call, I explained to the person on the other end that I was under a contract to close on Thursday and failing to do so, could allow the seller to back out and keep my earnest money deposit. I told her that I needed a real contingency plan, perhaps another source of funds that I could tap into for a few days until the mortgage could close. I also explained that I didn’t understand how the appraisal entered into the decision process on my mortgage. She told me that the investor had their rules. I explained that I understand rules and bureaucracy, that I understood that the decision maker wasn’t in their office, but that somewhere there was someone who could make a decision. I told her that I understood that she didn’t have the authority, but that I wanted to find the person who did. She agreed to have the manager call me, probably tomorrow.

I suspect that some people don’t want to hear from me anymore this week. I haven’t yelled at anyone yet, but I am rather insistent about things. I know that causes the people in the middle stress, but I also know that it is the stress that makes it worthwhile for them to face their boss and say “can you handle this one?”

As it currently stands, the appraisal won’t be in until Monday. The bank, the seller, and the title company all seem to be willing to allow us to sign early, and take occupancy before it actually closes. This would give us possession on Friday. I haven’t decided to let the bank off the hook because the seller will want some compensation for this. I will give it one more try with the manager in the morning and if not, we will just go with the deal that is a little less clean. As long as the seller is going to be reasonable about this, that is.

We went for a bike ride last night with the Arctic Bicycle Club. We rode trails in the Campbell Tract and Far North Bicentennial Park. It was a good 10 mile ride, with a sustained downhill on the way back. There were more technical challenges than our last ride, more rocks, roots, and even a couple of small jumps. There were some slower people with us, so we weren’t the ones holding the group back this time. It gave the ride a more relaxed pace. We are starting to get to know a couple of the people in the club and they seem interested in having us come back for more rides.