My shit sandwich

When I saw As Good As It Gets, this exchange below between Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson really resonated with me. Go ahead and read it and then we can move on(sorry I cannot format it better via my Mac)...

Carol: OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you...

Melvin Udall: It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.

I'm frustrated right now beyond all belief because yet another thing has not worked out or has caused me to stumble that's beyond my control, even if it's temporary. I'm one of those people who belonged in that car -- I'm not one who has had it easy (and if you think so, read the privacy post below). I do think I'm one of those people that do right to others and all I ask is that they do right by me. But, it just seems so much harder sometimes than compared to others; the ones with the noodle salad.

I'll be the first to admit that things could be much worse. I'm healthy and I have a roof over my head, but problems are all relative, right? Don't most of us think we've had a rocky path to travel? I think I know of one person that openly admits to having an easy life. One.

So what happened?

One week prior to closing, the buyers for my condo canceled their contract because they couldn't get their loan. How does this happen, you ask? Well, they had a pre-approval letter when they submitted their offer five weeks ago. Pre-approvals mean that the loan officers have done their homework and have verified income and credit history. Basically, the buyers are supposed to be qualified for the loan at this point and it's just the formalities that await.

Between my mom and her mentor/family friend, they have 50 years of real estate experience combined and neither one of them have had a pre-approval not go through. In this case, the wife had poor credit prior to the marriage and that's what killed it. Again,this should be resolved prior to issuing a pre-approval letter. Now, why it took five weeks to figure this out and why it couldn't have been before the movers took my stuff away and I sold/gave away all my furniture is beyond me (I had to have my crap out so I could have the place cleaned in time for the walk-through originally scheduled for tomorrow).

What it comes down to is that the buyers' mortgage broker was irresponsible in taking care of his clients' file and issuing a pre-approval letter for buyers that were questionable. While I don't think his intentions were to "screw Becky over," his negligence still wound up doing so. And in case you're wondering (as others have), there is no recourse for this at all. I'm trying to think of a way to get across as to how unusual this scenario is, and especially to get that close to closing and then pulling the plug, but my brain is too frazzled.

With regards to my Seattle property, I have no idea what will happen as my agent is going to see how flexibile those sellers are to wait for me to receive a new offer because I can't carry two mortgages by myself. Budgeting will be even more careful over the next couple of months, since I already started shutting myself down at work to prepare to leave in two weeks. And on top of all this, I'm wondering if I'll go crazy living with Mom for another two months instead of another two weeks.

Believe it or not, I just got an update that one of the buyers' parents will co-sign their loan and we may be able to close in two weeks, but I'll know more tomorrow. Nice roller coaster of a day. I think I'll go throw up that noodle salad now.