Believe it or not, Farmers is the better company for my new house. We live in a small town of only 18,000, and oftentimes, the insurance carriers are more expensive, but not in our case. Our lender reached out using his AI tools to find the best price for the coverage we need and want. I couldn't have done a better job if I had done it myself, and I mean that. With AI working for him, he was able to push through every quote possible using any and all criteria he needed. He zipped right through and came up with an amazing deal. The one I found was literally $ 1,000 more, and this one covers everything the other covered, with very few adjustments.
For the past few months, since we've been leasing the house, waiting to close, we've had a Progressive rental policy; that will change. Progressive, though wonderful, was higher, even with my auto policy bundle applied. There are literally so many small things you have to do when you buy a house - it's incredibly complicated for most of us, which is why you have to have a really good realtor. We have the best. I've blogged about her before; she's really been the best warrior for us. There have been at least a few times when the owners, who aren't that educated in the first place, have tried to pull the wool, but we said no. We said no, then we called Amanda, and she put her foot down.
No one was trying to be too bad, but you just know when someone is trying to push one past you - if they can. I am going to be so glad when this thing is over, and we own the house, and we can do with it what we want without all the fingers in the pie. It's not just been my realtor who came to our rescue, but our lender as well. I use The Money Store, and my guy is Josh DeBlaise. If you need a good one, he's highly recommended. (Realtor: Amanda Rose Keller of Re/Max, OKC). Such a good team! Josh has a couple of really dedicated associates as well - they're the ones he turns to for support, and they always deliver. I just have to wait - but that's really been harder than you think.
I am not a sit-still kinda gal - I want things to move. We didn't have that opportunity because I hadn't been on my job for a full two years. I had to wait for that to happen. I just passed the two-year mark, and May was the next month following the full 30 days after my 2nd year. We set the closing for the 29th, but honestly, I would have preferred it to be the 1st. You don't have to pay your first mortgage payment until after the first full 30 days after close - so it could have been May 1 or May 31, and we'd still not have to pay the mortgage until July. It's OK, I'm not too worried about it -- we're just too excited to finally say it is our house -- OUR house. Right now, we have to say we're under contract; no one can take it, but we're still leasing. I hate that. It's just a first-world thing, but it bothers me.
FHA wouldn't lend to me until I had been on my job for 2 years, and they wanted me to pay 6 months of rent (on time) to prove I was worthy. I had to prove I was still working at the same place. I had to prove my income. I had to show my bank statements, and now, FHA knows I shop at Amazon too often. My statement is rather boring - Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, Walmart, Amazon, Little Caesars, Amazon, Tractor Supply, Amazon...you get the point. I pay all of my bills through the card as well, so they do get to see that I pay my car payment, my insurance, my utilities and water payments as well as buying copious amounts of hay, feed, and dog food. Now and again, I buy cat food and cat litter too. I'm nice like that.
So, when the lender told me I had to send in my bank statement and paystubs for the past 30 days, he added I had to pick an insurance company and plan to start May 29, and that excited me. It made it more real. I'm happy he found a good rate, too. It's a 1,368-sf house on land for only $ 2,560 a year. I like that. It does pay to live in a smaller town. The same coverage I used to have in OKC was $ 3,790. There is just something to be said about living in near-rural America. The Mom and Pop restaurants are better, too; just sayin.
God has been so very wonderful to us - for us, with us. He's made sure that I keep my cool under all the stress that we've been through. He's the reason we have the house to begin with, and He's the reason we'll keep it. He has just been so very wonderful; words can't describe it. When we thought we couldn't do it, He showed us how. Every time we got upset or discouraged, He smoothed it all out for us - and now, well, we have another issue we're about to deal with after we close, but He'll still be there. I know it will work itself out for the best - it always does.
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