Well, the plot thickens. We got them up to $172, and that's where it ended. We accepted, although I'm skating on thin ice by accepting.
The mortgage company in AL said that, based upon the information I provided, there should be no problem with approval. I sent them: personal and corporate tax returns for 2007-2009, W2's for my wife and for me from 2007-2009, business and personal checking and savings account statements for January and February of this year, pay stubs for the last month, and some other stuff I'm forgetting right now. Probably about 40 pages.
They won't use my wife's income, as she won't have a job when we move there, so they're just using mine. That should be fine. Well, should have been.
On last two year's corporate tax returns, I showed profits. Last year my accountant used a five-figure net operating loss carry-forward to offset taxes due, so I didn't have to pay. The underwriter wants to use this carry-forward to reduce my personal income. My accountant tried to explain that the carry-forward is a loss from a prior year, not a loss for last year, and didn't reduce my income, only my corporation's tax liability. I don't know if the underwriter will come around on that.
Now they want a profit and loss statement for the two full months of this year, a letter from my accountant certifying that the 2009 tax returns we gave them are what have been filed, and a letter stating that moving to AL will not change the nature of my business.
Duh! If I owned a business that needed to be in Milwaukee, would I just up and move to Alabama? The switch from photography to an internet business was done so we could move.
The mortgage broker started calculating the debt to income ratio, and included my wife's charge card payment. I said, "wait a minute. If you can't use my wife's income, you can't use her debts." The broker agreed, but I wonder if that will pop up again. It's almost as though they want to deny the mortgage.
Our buyers dictated that the closing would be May 1st, which means we have to get the pre-approval done ASAP and get down to AL and put in an offer. As it stands right now, we won't have a home on May 1.
My stomach is in knots.
Thanks for listening to my rant.