It finally happened.  The home I bought at the absolute peak of the real estate boom, only to turn into an upside down rental has been refinanced.

This was far from easy.  You can follow my adventures through a couple of blogs Linda Thomas at KIRO did on me.

This was her first post.

And the follow up.

With the presidential election coming up and lots of people turning into one-issue voters, if that’s the case for me, President Obama wins.

It was completely ridiculous to pay an interest-only loan for five years at 6.25%, but as you read in Linda’s write-ups, Mortgage Company after Mortgage Company said they couldn’t help.

Then, after re-checking in with a couple of mortgage buddies who, once again, couldn’t help, I talked with a woman named Shellane Adams.  Shellane is a mortgage specialist with Homestreet bank.  I had worked with her when she was the on-camera talent for Penguin Windows, one of our former clients.

Shellane said, “They’ve changed the rules again….let me take a crack at it.” and she made it happen.

Oh, it still wasn’t easy.  I had the main mortgage that Bank of America had sold to Greentree.  I was told they were far from easy to work with.  Then, to add insult to injury, I had a 2nd mortgage with Chase.  Chase didn’t have to do anything but watch the transaction happen…but they charged me a $250, “Oh, sure, we’ll let you do that” fee.  They lost major points with me on that one.  Why would a  guy who, after five years of making high house payments, suddenly be a bigger risk by lowering his payments?

Anyway, hats off to Shellane and the crew at Homestreet Bank.  It was a home refinance five years in the making.  Maybe, just maybe, we’re starting to wake up from this long, financial nightmare.

Tim Hunter