Have you tried shopping it to other banks?

We haven't because the problem lies in the fact that we started the work. We stuck with TD bank because we had a prior appraisal and no new bank will give an appraisal on a house that is gutted.

One option is to do a private loan, usually at an exorbitant interest rate, or possibly at zero interest if it's from a family member.

Or drastically scale back your plans to builder grade cosmetic finishes that can be upgraded as a separate project at a later time. Your goal should be to merely get the home into a finished enough state so as not to lose the COA and to be able to do some type of appraisal. And, if you don't do that soon, the bank could possibly become nervous that you've practically demolished their asset and then call the loan due.

Have you exhausted all options with the bank? Have you asked to speak with the manager? The manager's manager? Do they have credit lines available? I would call other banks - smaller private banks, and see what options you have. Is Compass Bank in your state? I have found them to be very good.

What do you need for an appraisal? Did your loan officer tell you? Do you have drywall up? Can you put in a cheap kitchen off craigslist or ikea, a couple toilets and cheap pedestal sinks to get by an appraisal?

Some banks will accept an appraisal if it is less than 6 months old. Have you gone past that?

We have asked TD every question possible and we can't scale the job back enough to get our c of o before we need more money. I was unaware that some banks will use a 6 month old appraisal, maybe that will work. thank you!!

List the jobs that need to be done.

List the money that you have to do those jobs.

List your DIY skills.

Prioritize. Habitat for Humanity Restore and Craigslist can be the source for floor coverings, lighting and other items needed for a CO. Your goal isn't to have it "remodeled"., It's to get it together enough to get the loan that you need to get it remodeled.

The only other option is having the note called and foreclosure, losing that 45% that you put down, so focus on what is actually needed barest of bones, not your grand pie in the sky plans.

Thanks everyone for all of your helpful ideas. As of today all of our complaining has paid off and TD has agreed to use the appraisal from last month, we should now get the approval!! This was one scary lesson but I will NEVER attempt to do anything without secured lending again!!!

Ah,TD Bank - love them, hate them. They rejected us for a HELOC based on our appraisal because it didn't show 3 kitchens in our legal 3 family house, even though the HELOC was in large part to add back the third kitchen (how do we afford to do that without a loan?) - silly stuff. I called a bunch of other banks and their HELOC guidelines either don't allow us to even get a HELOC or the HELOC rates are crazy high. So I'm not bothering applying elsewhere figuring we'll have the same problem getting appraised everywhere else. So we are adding the darn kitchen out of pocket and then re-applying for the HELOC and hoping we get the loan and can basically then borrow to put a few bucks back in the bank as an emergency fund (or just treat the HELOC like an emergency fund). I also found TD challenging to deal with in terms of not being organized, they pride themselves on weekend hours and staff their weekend hours with people who take twice as long as on a weekday (at least at my branch) and don't know their stuff, so I learned the hard way to just go during business hours if at all possible and get the A team (such as it is, it's still TD).

TD Banknorth denied me a mortgage, then reported the loan they never made as "delinquent" 2 years later; caused havoc with my records that took a while to fix. I will never give them my business again.

On the flip side, I discovered how amazing a local credit union can be. Warmly recommend this as an option for vastly better service vis-a-vis the national banks.

"Started my reno & need more money"

Welcome to the club.

3 kitchens!

I sincerely feel your pain. But for the grace of God, we would be walking in your shoes. Our lender who pre-approved a loan on a 100% cash purchase, denied it because of debt ratio, but they were not taking into account our income property.

Happily, we told the contractor to hold the demo until we got real approval of a loan, and we then went to the brokerage account, and they worked with us to base the payback of the loan with scheduled payments from the IRA. This was our only hope, and is taxable on liquidation, but once the loan goes through, we can repay the IRA, and also pay the contractor.

Because we hadn't done the demo yet, we were able to get the appraisal. Demo starts this Thursday, finally. I think you got great advice here with craigs list. Also try freecycle. It's amazing what you can find. I was looking for pedestal sinks on Craigs list, and a woman had an entire bathroom for sale, but you had to come and take it all out because she didn't know how to do that.

People also will sell or give away old kitchen cabinets.

If you have an IRA with any funds in it, you may be able to get a loan from the brokerage like we did.

Edit. Just realized you got your loan! Congratulations! Now I hope your renovation goes well!

Good luck to you!

Suzi

This post was edited by desertdance on Mon, Apr 15, 13 at 11:59