John Verheyden and his team are absolutely amazing! My husband and I inherited a 100 year old craftsman from my father when he passed in 2022. It was, by no means, a turn-key house and my husband and I had credit score challenges. Those two factors made getting a mortgage extremely complicated. Adding to our mortgage challenges was the never ending rise in interest rates after coming out of Covid-19. the John and his team analyzed our credit and suggested specific actions that brought our scores up sufficiently to prequalify. Then, then appraisal of the property disclosed the disrepair issues that my husband and I wanted to address but needed the mortgage to accomplish. Specifically, the cedar siding was exposed in numerous places putting the structure at risk of massive water damage from the weather and there was dry rot under the widows in the middle bedroom where siding had already fallen off the house. Finally, the house had not been updated since the 1950's and it showed. We expected a low appraisal value and the appraiser did not disappoint. Despite the condition of the house and the low appraisal, John and his team were able to work out a mortgage for us that contained a holdback amount to cover the necessary repairs outlined in the appraisal. It also provided us sufficient cash in hand to pay for several necessary repairs that the appraisal did not reveal- like repairing a support pillar on the front corner of the house, adding a whole new front face to the house because of the rotten support pillar, and replacing support beams between the foundation wall and the house itself. Finally, we were also able to initiate renovations that included gutting and completely remodeling the main bathroom, converting the half bath to a full bath with an amazingly huge custom shower, and adding french doors and new windows to the new front face of the house. We still have much to do, including adding a wrap around deck to make the french doors usable and converting our non-working fireplace to an electric insert with a new hearth and mantle and upgrading the heating system. If funds allow, we will also gut and renovate the kitchen and replace all 38 windows on the mail level of the house (because they don't open!) The appraiser recently stopped by the house to confirm that the painting had been done so that Guild Mortgage could release our holdback funds and he was shocked at all the changes. He said that when we are done we will likely have one of the most valuable houses in the area. None of this would have been possible if John and his team had not been so patient, professional, and knowledgeable as they helped my husband and I navigate the mortgage process that, for us, took almost 6 months from application to closing. We are forever grateful for everything they did to make our humble inheritance a stunning home.
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