Where do I start? I will try and make this as short and simple as possible, considering it was anything but that. I am not the one to give reviews good or bad however, this was one of the worst experiences I have ever gone through.
We recently brought a new Stanley Martin (SM) built condo in Herndon, VA. Me and my wife moved to Chantilly a couple years ago and decided to come back to be closer to friends and family. To buy a new home, we needed to sell our current home and so the process was going to be tough. We toured the house in October/November 2023 and loved it. It was a huge upgrade from our current home. I spoke with the SM agent Jennifer Lovelace and to start the process she had me reach out to First Heritage Mortgage (FHM). She mentioned they were giving out $25k credit if we were to use FHM. At the time, it felt like the perfect option.
Following the application, I was in continues contact with multiple FHM loan officers regarding numbers to make sure we can purchase the place within our budget. After couple weeks, they gave us a loan estimate and considering the proceeds we were getting from selling our home, we decided to move forward. Early December we had a meeting with Jennifer and signed the contract. Should I had known what was to follow, I would never have done this!
Come January we finally sold our home and were in the process of finishing up on getting our new home. Once again, since December, we have been in contact with SM and FHM regarding our interest in getting the house and who we will be using as our title company. FHM and SM recommend using First Excel Mortgage as their primary title company, but I was happy with mine, National Title Settlement Group (NTSG). We were told that closing for our new home was expected in January but due to issues with the association, our date was pushed back to Feb. We were fine with that.
Now here is where things got serious. We were about 2 weeks from closing and were working with FHM on providing documents for our loan. As time got closer, we received emails from the FHM loan officers regarding the amount we would be due at closing. The numbers seemed right, slight increases which we expected however, it was still close to what they mentioned when we first started the process back in November.
We were less than 1 week away and received an email from James Walker. He mentioned due to our title company (NTSG) charging higher taxes than most title companies, our closing costs increased by $4k and our monthly mortgage increased by $200. I Immediately I contacted the title company, and they were outraged. The FHM loan officer from the very beginning gave us numbers based on us using First Excel Title company!! Since November, they were giving us inaccurate numbers because they ASSUMED we would close with first excel. We informed them in December we were using our own title company. I reached out to James to discuss how we had suddenly increased by $4k, his attitude was so bad and his response was, "well, we based the numbers off first excel assuming you were closing with them". He then said, "Should you have closed with first excel you would be good". SO... you gave me inaccurate numbers for months and assumed I was using your title company when you know I am not, but this is my fault???
When we informed Jennifer this would not work and we may back out, she threatened to sue us for the ENTIRE HOUSE!! She also advised we close the house as is and consider putting it up for RENT!! How can someone dare request something like that. We got closer to the closing date, and it was a complete mess. They could not own up to their mistake, Jennifer completely cut ties with us and never once decided to reach out and even apologize. We closed the house and never received any emails from Jennifer nor did i get a response from her when i emailed regarding final walk through. Our title company sent numerous emails to FHM for trying to make NTSG look bad and even considered taking them to court for defamation. FHM missed calculating the correct taxes, did not include fees and because of that, the numbers were inaccurate, but they decided to blame NTSG. At this point we had no choice; we sold our home and had nowhere to go should this fall through. On top of that, we could face being sued and taken to court. After days of going back and forth, we finally came back to the original deal. Mind you, there were sacrifices made and none from FHM or SM.
Buying a home is supposed to be a great experience. I understand its stressful but having go be lied to, then threatened to be sued because we could not come up with the money is so unprofessional and unethical. We accepted losing the EMD. Even so, to advise we buy the home at any cost and put it up for rent if we cannot pay knowing its an FHA loan, which is against the LAW!!
SM and FHM should look at these individuals and really consider reviewing their work and effort. read more