"every time I uploaded one document, another one mysteriously vanished."
Haha, yeah, online portals can be glitchy as heck. Honestly though, I've seen snail mail docs get lost too...no method's perfect. Best bet is usually to keep backups and bug your loan officer directly if things drag too long.
Had a similar issue last year—felt like playing whack-a-mole with docs. Honestly, I think some lenders just stall hoping you'll give up. Keep copies of everything and stay on their case...worked for me eventually.
Went through this recently myself and yeah, it can feel endless. What helped me was setting weekly reminders to check in with my lender, politely but firmly. Staying organized and proactive definitely sped things up a bit...hang in there, it'll happen eventually.
I get what you're saying about checking in often, but honestly, I felt like bugging my lender too much might backfire. Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I worried they'd get annoyed and slow things down even more. I did try to stay organized on my end though—had all my paperwork ready and responded quickly whenever they reached out. Still felt like forever, but maybe slightly less stressful knowing I'd done all I could...
"I worried they'd get annoyed and slow things down even more."
Totally understandable concern, but from my experience lenders actually appreciate proactive borrowers. Checking in periodically (without overdoing it) can signal you're engaged, potentially nudging your file along. Staying organized like you did definitely helps streamline things though...
