What I Learned: Getting Financing

Last year was very hectic for me. The reason for this is that in addition to working and running a few races, I was in the market for a home. There are a lot of moving pieces involved when buying a home, especially when you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is one of the hottest places to live (and the most expensive) in the country.

I thought I would break down my search into a few posts, starting with the beginning, which was financing. Oh the joys of getting a loan. Now, I have no idea what the right or wrong way to go about this is, but I will talk about the way that I did it, and what seemed to work for me.

First, I pulled my credit report. I have heard, and I am not sure if this is true, that it is better to pull it 6 times in one month than 6 times over the course of a year. So I pulled it, knowing that the lenders would also pull it. Luckily, it was in good shape.

The next thing I wanted was a pre-approval letter. I had no idea what I was getting myself in for, but I did know that a pre-approval letter was better than a pre-qualify. With a pre-approval, the lender gets mostly all of your paperwork and then they use that to figure out how much they will be willing to lend you. This is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is hard to figure out how much you can afford. I spent a lot of time on the internet plugging in numbers, but until the lender actually used my actual hard data to get an amount, I was just guessing (with the help of Google).

The second reason that it's important is that it helps to submit the pre-approval letter with your offer. This can help convince the seller that you are serious about the offer, and it will make them more comfortable that your agreement is not going to fall through due to lack of financing. In the Bay Area, your offer will most likely not get accepted without a pre-approval letter.

To get a pre-approval letter, you have to figure out who you want to try to get a letter and/or a loan from. How do you figure this out? Good question! Once again, I turned to Google (and Zillow) to find out who could give me the best rate. In addition, I asked several people who they had used and how their experience had been. I got a lot of different answers. Zillow named two internet banks and Bank of America as having the best rates. Two of my friends used Quicken (internet bank) and Bank of America.

So, I contacted one internet bank, Bank of America (who happens to be where I have had my accounts since I was a teenager) and Citibank. What happened next was this:

The internet bank asked me to fill out a form with my financial info and send it back to them. The lady was very nice and the operation seemed legitimate. I filled out the form and sent it back and got a pre-approval letter the next day.

Bank of America connected me to Texas. I finally got routed to a local agent, who barely spoke English (sorry!) and tried to talk me into getting a 5/1 arm (adjustable rate) instead of the 30 year fixed that I asked her for. She then asked me to send in about 400 different kinds of paperwork, including all of my Bank of America  bank statements. I sent them all to her and did not hear back from her for three weeks (when I called her, her message said she was on vacation).

Citibank sent me an unprofessional email with no signature or logo that looked like a 12 year old had sent it, asking for 400 different kinds of paperwork. I told them I would feel more comfortable seeing a real person and giving my documents to them and the guy blew me off.

Since the Citibank guy seemed unprofessional, I contacted a third option, a local broker, and I sent him all my 400 different kinds of paperwork. He was very helpful and even helped me run a few different scenarios, depending on my down payment and/or desired purchase price. The guy was easy to reach on the phone and answered any (dumb) questions I had throughout the entire process.

The verdict: The amount I could qualify for was less than I wanted, since they could not count bonuses or overtime unless you could show two full years and proof that it would be ongoing. Bummer. So that meant the amount I thought I could spend was not the actual amount... in addition, I found it very strange that they ask you how much you want to spend. Can't they just crunch all the numbers and then tell you what the absolute max is?

My advice: Try a bunch of different lenders. You have no commitment to them. Once you have all of your 400 documents in pdf form, you may as well send them to as many lenders as you can!

In addition, my realtor told me a few tips. (1) the big banks (BofA etc) take forever to get you an answer, sometimes meaning you lose the house because you can't get financing in time. I know this as well because I work for a big bank and I see some of the frustration over how long thing take. (2) The internet banks will give anybody a pre-approval letter and will often give you the number YOU want, rather than what you can really afford. This causes problems later when it comes to getting the actual loan. Due to this, often times sellers will not accept offers if the letter is from an internet bank.

So, there we have it, my new understanding of financing in a nutshell.

Have you gotten a home loan? What advice or tips do you have for others regarding the situation? 

*Disclaimer: I am not a professional. Any opinions I give are my own and you should do your own research before making any rash decisions. :) 

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What I Learned: Etymology

I have been listening to Don't Know Much About History while doing my long runs lately, and there have been a few interesting tidbits that I have learned from it. Actually, there have been a lot of different things I have learned, relearned or remembered, and of course they are all very interesting and very educational and I can just feel myself getting smarter by the day.

However, there were a few interesting factoids that I had no idea about, and actually never thought to question them! For example, do you know where the word "sideburns" comes from?

Sideburns were first called "Burnsides", after a civil war general named Ambrose Burnside, who, as you can see below, had a pretty nice display of facial hair.

source

I also found out why "booze" is so named. It's from the Dutch word būsen, which means "to drink to excess". However, DKMAH states that it was given it's name due to a man named E. C. Booz, who was a distiller in the United States in the 19th century.

Do you know the game "rock, paper, scissors"? Do you ever call it Ro-Sham-Bo? We do. However, I never knew that there was a man named Rochambeau who was a French nobleman who participated in the revolutionary war. 

Do you ever wonder where certain words came from? Or why some things are called different words, even throughout the US? My mom's family is from Back East and they have some weird words for things, as well as pronounciations.

For instance:

Bubbler / drinking fountain
Pocketbook / purse
Cabinets / cupboard

Or there is always the coke, pop, soda debate. 

Why is that? And what do YOU call it?

What information have you learned lately that made you say "hmm"? What weird words do your friends and relatives say that make you giggle? Did you know where the word sideburns originated?

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What I Learned (3): Running

I was running the other day and I was thinking about how many things I didn't know when I started running. Through much trial and error (mostly error), you end up figuring out what works for you, food wise, water wise, shoe wise and more! Obviously, I didn't have a pen and paper with me, and my brain is very similar to Swiss cheese. Therefore, once I sat down to make the list after getting home, it was much, much smaller than I had planned. However, here are the few things that did stick. So, here are a few things I have learned about running in the past several years.

It's okay to walk.

This took me a while to learn. It seems like it's a bit backwards, because usually you walk before you run, but I didn't. If I had to walk, I considered myself done. This was keeping me from running farther. If I would have just stopped to walk and recover, I could have kept going. However, since I started trail running and the hills were brutal, I realized that by walking up the hills, I can save more energy for later! The same goes for any run whether it's on the trails or the roads.

You are faster than you think. 

For a long time, I stayed at about a 10 minute per mile pace because it was comfortable and I didn't really (a) want to push myself and (b) think I could go much faster. However, I decided to try speed training (intervals) after a friend told me how hard but rewarding it was, and by doing that I realized that I was selling myself short. I was a lot faster than I gave myself credit for.

Sometimes you need a buddy. 

I am usually a solo runner. However, sometimes I run with my Dad or my friend K, and it's fun. The time goes by a lot faster, you talk the entire time and it puts the fun back in running. It makes it more of a social session with exercise, instead of a chore.

My running buddies

A bad pair of undies can be your worst enemy. 

I think this is self explanatory. However, as I have mentioned before, some people chose to go without. I am not one of them, but I do believe in the benefits of a good snug pair of undies (but not TOO snug!).

Always carry water. 

I have done the bad thing and assumed that there would be drinking fountains on the trail, or that I was "only going a few miles" so I wouldn't need a drink or that it was not as hot as it really was. Let me tell you, I believe that it is well worth it to carry water, even if you don't end up using it.

It's okay to take a rest day. 

Okay, maybe I am lying about this one, as I still have a hard time taking a day off. I do know though that I feel better, am less sore and am more ready to go the next time when I have a day of rest. It's just hard ON that day to get over the fact that I am "sitting around".

Do you call them undies, underwear, panties, knickers (or...)? What have you learned about running? Do you exercise with a buddy or solo?

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What I Learned (2): The Relay

The Relay is over. I am tired. Sore. Dehydrated. And Happy. I am glad I did it. I will go over the recap in a few days, but for now, I want to say that I learned a lot from doing this. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant going in, mostly because it was going to be a new experience for me, but also because I was going to spend the weekend with strangers, doing a strange thing. I was a bit scared.

But now? I am not scared anymore. I had a good time and it was an experience I will never forget. And I learned a  lot too! Here are a few of the things I learned. 

Jonnycat's Dirty Dozen

- You run by yourself but you are not alone. Most of the race was spent running alone, since the teams all started at different times, the race tended to be a bit spread out. Sometimes you pass a few people on your run (or sometimes they pass you, but we tried not to let that happen**!) but many times you are running a pretty quiet road all by yourself. However, the van goes on the same route and stops along the way to make sure everything is going well. So you never feel like you are alone. The team is always there.

- Inside the van, everything goes. Yup, you eat in the van. You sleep in the van. Your dirty feet and socks are in the van. You laugh in the van. You sweat in the van. Everything happens in the van. And this leads to...

- A stranger can be your new best friend. You spend a lot of time in the van, talking, laughing, joking, cheering each other on, giving high fives and hugs and pats on the back. You get to know these people in less than 48 hours. A bond is formed pretty quickly. I now have five new friends.

- Support is a multifaceted word. My group was awesome. If one of us was having trouble, the group would meet the runner at each mile with water, cheering and dancing and doing whatever it took to keep the runner's spirits up. Sometimes we even ran with each other for a little while. Also, I learned that the little net inside of your running shorts has a few different, interesting names that I was not aware of.

- Talking about certain body parts is par for the course. All body parts are open for discussion. Body glide goes on these parts in massive amounts. This is normal.

- There are many Hills. This race pretty much went up, then down, then up, then down...the entire time. I ran 4 legs and all of them had hills. There were no flat runs. That is the same for all my van mates. We had a couple of "easy" legs, but they too had hills. If you are not a hill runner, this makes things very hard. Even if you are a hill runner, it is difficult.

-**And many Kills. Kills also are hard. In case you don't know, a kill is when you pass another runner. Some of the other vans had tallies on the side of their van. We did not. We kept that info in our heads. Since the other relay teams are so spread out, on some legs (my 2 a.m. leg for instance) you don't see one other runner the entire time. On others, you see a dozen. So we tried our best to pass who we could, even though we were not running this race competitively. It still brought an element of challenge and competition to our team, between us and the other teams, as well as between the members of our van.

As you can see, I learned a lot. Team sports can be difficult because you have to count on other members of your team. But also, because of this very thing, team sports can be great. You have someone to count on and you have someone counting on you. This creates a bond that can't be broken and an element of fun you just can't get by yourself.

Do you/did you play any team sports and if so, do you like it more or less than individual sports? Do you know an alternate name for the liner that goes inside your shorts (you can privately email me if it's not fit for public view)? Did you learn anything new this weekend?

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A-List Monday IV: What I Learned

**I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a great time with friends and family!**

When I was a child, my family used to eat dinner together around the table every night. My father used to ask us every night what we had learned that day. At first I was reluctant. I thought I hadn’t learned anything. I had gone to school just like every day and played with my same friends and talked about the same math problems that I had gone over the day before. He explained to me that even if I didn’t learn a new math problem, there are hundreds of things every day that show themselves to you that you may not have known about before. Maybe you saw a new butterfly or a new way to tie a knot. Maybe you met a new person and they ate different food from you or lived somewhere you’d never been. He taught me that every day no matter where you are or what you are doing, there is something to be learned.

This year I have been lucky to experience many things I never knew about, to see things I had never seen before. Some of them were basic, a new food, a new word or a new hairstyle. Others were more elaborate: a political opinion, a poverty level, or a way of life. Every day I looked around and saw something I had not known about before. I learned something new every day.

Here are eleven things I learned in 2011:

{1} People eat these. What they are, I am not really sure. I ate one. It was slimy and tasted of the sea. It was a stomach of some sea animal. I learned the taste of it, but I still have not learned its name. 

{2} In Missouri, tractors have the right of way.

{3} No matter where you go, the cheap beer pretty much all tastes the same.

{4} December is the WORST possible month to fix a roof. When it’s raining out, it’s the worst possible TIME to fix a roof. If it’s December and it’s raining, and you are fixing a roof, you might be a redneck in trouble. But at least you get to play with nail guns. {Kids, don’t try this at home!}

{5} Never squat with your feet ON the toilet.

 

{6} If you lick one of these, your tongue will go numb. They used to use it as an anesthetic. I didn’t try it, I swear. A friend told me! It was a friend!

{7} If you ever go to China, bring a book with the kanji translations into English, because this is what the train timetable looks like. Little hat with a cross and two vertical stripes = Nanjing.  Also, nobody speaks English. If you go up to the counter and say, “Nanjing! Nanjing!” the lady at the counter and all the people in line behind you will just look at you funny until you get out of line, perplexed and confused.

{8} This is a butt warmer. Really. They put coals in the little bowl under your butt and you sit on it to keep warm. This is the only source of warmth in this room. Otherwise you put 17 blankets on and keep your head under the covers at all times.

 {9} Sometimes happy hour lasts all day.

 {10} My boyfriend likes to go to the highest building in every city that has a relatively high one. It is has a lot of floors or is many feet (or meters) tall, he is on the elevator in a heartbeat. I guess I have a similar fetish with high mountains, and luckily, he will sometimes join me in conquering them as well.

{11} Gas prices have gone down a lot since May!

What have you learned this year?

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