How long will it take to close on a USDA loan?

6 weeks and counting to close on a USDA guaranteed home loan?

• My husband and I got a pre-approved USDA Home loan and found a well maintained, non-foreclosure that is well under our pre-approval price. We went into contract on April 5th. On April 25th we submitted the rest of the required documentation plus 2 additional pieces of information that our Loan Officer felt would flag a explanatory letter. Now 3 weeks later we got an email from our LO saying she just submitted our package to the Lender's underwriter today. My questions; is it normal to take 6 weeks to get to just the underwriting process? Is it normal for a LO to sit on a completed package for 3 weeks? or did she drop the ball somewhere? Also my Realtor told me yesterday that the appraisal had just been ordered on Monday, this concerns me because our check was cashed 2 weeks ago, when we were told our appraisal was already scheduled. We are first time home-buyers and are getting frustrated and confused by the lack of communication from our LO and Realtor. We are also worried about missing our closing date of 6/8 because it still needs to be sent in for approval by our backlogged USDA office.

• Answer:

  I think your close date shouldn't be a problem, but it is pretty obvious your mortgage broker is not exactly on the ball. A smarter loan officer would have worked harder to achieve a full file by ordering the appraisal and title search long ago, but instead opted to twiddle their thumbs because they knew they had so much time to close. Now if after your file goes to final underwriting and there is a problem there will be less time to resolve the issue(s). All of this could have easily been done in 3 weeks. But now you have to wait for the appraisal because without it, it is not a full folder an can't be sent to underwriting. I also suggest you make sure the title search has been completed. Then once your stress level eases and you go through the closing process with ease, remember your experience and do not refer the agent or loan officer to anyone else.