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This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
This told essay is based on a conversation with Amy Yzaguirre, 40, a student and barista. She and her husband purchased her home in Tigard, Oregon with a mortgage in March 2023. constructive lien Qualified buyers can obtain the interest rate, current principal balance, and other terms of the seller’s existing loan. Not all loans can be accepted. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in the Portland area but moved to Boise in 2017. In 2022 her husband and I decided to move back to Oregon.
My husband applied for and got a few jobs in Portland, and we had just refinanced our house in Boise. Because we signed a no-flip clause, we couldn’t sell until April 2022.
We planned for my son to move to Portland and live with a friend while my son and I moved back into the house to get it ready to sell in April. Then we were going to buy a house with him.
However, in January 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I didn’t want to have half of my chemotherapy in Boise and the other half in Portland, so I needed to find a way to be together as a family while I was undergoing chemotherapy.
Izaguirre and her husband stand in front of their RV.Provided by Amy Izaguirre, via BI
We had to keep our house until April, but we couldn’t afford to pay two mortgages or pay rent and mortgage. A family friend gave me the idea to buy an RV and live on my parents’ land in Oregon. We lived there for 8 months. It was quite difficult, but I managed to do it.
I started looking for a house through a real estate agent in March 2022. I was in the middle of chemotherapy, but on days when I felt well, I met with my broker.
One person suggested, “You need to wait until you get back to work to get the type of mortgage you want.” So, I decided to stop looking for a house until then. While I was waiting, I was able to get credit in a good place. In August, I got a job and started seriously considering a house.
It was difficult to find a home to buy at an affordable price
We wanted to live in the suburb of Tigard where our parents lived, but the area was too expensive for us and the real estate market was quite competitive.
What’s funny is that an area can go from being a family-friendly, affordable place to live, to suddenly becoming overpopulated and not as affordable as it used to be.
We ultimately decided to look to the Sherwood area instead. At this point I was cancer-free and in remission. My husband and I were excited to take the next step and purchase a new home.
We qualified for a large loan through our mortgage company, but we didn’t want our monthly payments to be too high. We set our budget for the house at under $450,000, but even that was a bit of a stretch.
Amy Izaguirre’s Oregon home.Provided by Amy Izaguirre, via BI
When we looked, we found very few homes that checked all the boxes for that amount.
But in September 2022, I found a townhouse for sale for $416,000. In the flyer for the house, the seller wrote that if they wanted to take over the loan, it would be fixed at 2.5%.
We weren’t necessarily drawn in because we didn’t really know what it meant.
What interested me more was the fact that it was a 1,500 square foot townhouse with everything we wanted, including a backyard, large garage, and an open floor plan with hardwood floors.
I think the mortgage interest rate at the time was close to 6%. If I had taken out a traditional mortgage, my monthly payments would have been about $3,000 a month. I remember thinking, “Okay, that’s pretty expensive, but I think it’ll work. I just have to be really careful.”
The mortgage could not be ignored
We told our real estate agent about the house and asked what the mortgage was. She said, “You’ll need to talk to a mortgage broker. I don’t have any experience with that and I don’t know what that means.”
I asked my mortgage broker and he admitted, “Well, we haven’t dealt with this in probably about 30 years, so I don’t know much about the process, but basically… , if you take out a loan and qualify, you can take the seller’s fixed rate and don’t have to pay the current mortgage rate.
He warned us that the seller’s mortgage company was not going to hold our hand through the process. But if you’re willing to put in a rigorous amount of work and fix a lot of bugs, you should definitely give it a try as it can save you a lot of money.
I calculated it. The seller was pegged at 2.5%, so if we qualified for the loan, our mortgage would be just over $2,100 a month, but we would pay it with a conventional mortgage at current market rates. That’s over $3,000. You’ll save over $40,000 in the long run. This will give us more leeway and allow us to continue with our current lifestyles without having to downsize.
I thought that was great, so my husband and I decided to pursue loan underwriting.
Getting a loan isn’t easy – and it took forever
In March 2023, we purchased a home for $418,900 and made a $48,000 down payment. He has a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage on the house, and he has 28 years remaining on his $383,000 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan.
We worked with Flagstar to underwrite the mortgage and they assigned us an attorney. He was really kind and helped us through the process.
In the end, we had to submit over 200 documents and the process took a full three months.
At some point, my husband wanted to get out of it and take out a regular mortgage. I had to assure him that I could handle it and that it would be worth it. We just had to be patient.
Izaguirre’s husband and son.Provided by Amy Izaguirre, via BI
The first mortgage broker we spoke to was right. The companies that process mortgages aren’t making any money, so you really have to advocate for yourself and jump in there and ask questions.
I tell everyone who asks me about underwriting a loan that it’s going to take a long time and be a pain. This process also humbles you in a way. Because, “Am I a terrible financial person? Why did they need so much information? Am I doing it wrong? Did I do something wrong? This is because you start to doubt yourself. ”
But if you go through the process, you’ll definitely get it.
It just takes time.
It was worth the hard work to get an acceptable mortgage.
After living in a tiny 21-foot RV, buying a home gave us freedom and a new beginning. It also helped me not feel boxed in anymore.
Amy Izaguirre and her husband.Provided by Amy Izaguirre, via BI
Luckily, I had good insurance during chemotherapy, and once I hit a certain deductible, my insurance covered the rest, and although I have generous insurance through my current job, I still owe a significant amount of money. I had to pay medical bills.
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