(619) 422-5900Jack was a sharp Lieutenant for the Civil Engineering Corps, looking for a condo for himself and his fiancée. He had his own spreadsheets, did tons of research, and knew what he wanted.
They’d been working with the bank he’d used since joining the military. His agent had done deals with that bank before and recommended he talk with us.
He didn’t understand what we could do different, but reluctantly came in.
Losing his paperwork 9 times – no big deal
Jack wasn’t fully approved with his lender yet. That’s because they’d asked for the same piece of paperwork 9 times, and kept losing it.
He didn’t seem to think this was a bad sign. “It’s just how this goes”.
I tried to politely pick my jaw up off the ground. Who puts up with someone losing their paperwork 2 times, let alone 9? But he was still convinced they were a solid choice.
Missing out on his dream home – now that pissed him off
Besides losing his paperwork 9 times, Jack’s bank had told him there were only 3 VA approved condo complexes he could shop in. He had a large area he was targeting with multiple condo complexes, but they told him only 3 worked.
It’s not unusual for some VA approved condo complexes to be hidden under names other than what you’d expect (often hidden under their legal description, old names, etc…). Anyone that does a lot of VA should know this, and Jack’s bank was one of the biggest military banks out there.
I asked Jack for the names of a couple complexes he’d seen that we not on the list his bank had supplied. Sure enough, 2 of the 3 he mentioned were indeed VA approved.
It was at that moment that his eyes opened, and he was pissed.
One of those complexes was the one his bride-to-be loved.
For months he had told her ‘no’ we can’t buy in there. They’d restricted their shopping to the 3 complexes on his bank’s list. During that time they’d seen great options in that other complex come and go. Options he was now kicking himself for missing out on.
The spell was broken
All of Jack’s fierce loyalty to his bank disappeared instantly. He looked back and wondered what kind of spell he’d been under.
He was a contracting officer. He lived and breathed attention to detail, paperwork, accountability. How had he put up with this treatment he’d allowed?
It didn’t matter, he finally was getting the real answers and service he deserved all along.
Epilogue
Yes, we became his lender and he got the condo his wife wanted.
Happy ending, thanks to him coming in and giving us a chance.