Assumable loan – final update – failure(ish)

— final assumptions update – – well it’s not going to happen – anyone who has followed the journey- it’s been an interesting experience. As finally confirmed today by the lender after 43 days with no communication- a simple phone call from their compliance department (complained enough / I only communicate through them now) letting me that the buyer will be unable to meet one of their lender specific requirements- so that’s the end – our buyers have switched to a conventional loan because they want the home – but not the outcome either of us had wanted – some lessons below for sellers and buyers:
– if you can get the assumptions department info early when you decide to sell – do it – and speak with them – get a sense of the current processing time
– if and when it slows or stalls out- there are some escalation scenarios you can follow – I ended up using all of them which finally got the lender to review the packet and answer questions – if it wasn’t for these – I would be continuing in my belief that the sale was proceeding smoothly – which absolutely wasn’t true (VA / BBB / Consumer Financial Protection Bureau- all helped to get information and honestly got the process unstuck )
– I am not sure I would offer the home again as a seller as assumable without modification to my timeline and contract language – we had an agreement in place with our buyers that if the assumable fell through they would seek conventional financing- that allowed us to sit as the process worked out in good faith that we weren’t wasting usable market days – as a buyer in the future I will seek these loans out – but as a seller – just screen your buyers carefully and if possible see if they will consider either an agreement for alt. financing or an earnest clause provision – not a realtor – just someone who along with their buyer went to battle with a lender. Wish all of you luck in your process and success