Yeah, smaller lenders saved my bacon last year. Big banks had me chasing paperwork for weeks, but a local credit union sorted the transfer in days—real person picked up the phone and everything. Definitely less stressful...
Totally relate to your experience. Smaller lenders do seem more responsive overall. I'd say another key is prepping your docs beforehand—proof of income, recent statements, property details—having those ready shaves days off the transfer process, regardless of lender... Learned that the hard way myself.
Couldn't agree more about having docs ready. When I refinanced a couple years back, I thought I had everything set, but missed one tiny detail—my homeowner's insurance policy number. Sounds minor, right? Nope... delayed the whole thing by almost a week because I had to chase down my agent who was conveniently on vacation. Lesson learned: triple-check even the small stuff before kicking things off.
Totally get it. When I bought my first place last year, I thought I was being super organized—had my pay stubs, bank statements, even dug up old tax returns. Then halfway through, my lender suddenly needed proof of employment verification AGAIN because the first one was apparently too old by a week or something ridiculous. Cue panic emails to HR and awkward explanations. Learned pretty quickly that being prepared also means being ready for weird curveballs nobody warns you about...
Haha, been there. Here's a quick survival guide for next time: 1) Gather docs, 2) Submit docs, 3) Wait confidently, 4) Panic when lender asks for random doc you never knew existed, 5) Repeat step 4 until closing day...
