A Texas homeowner says her mortgage went up by over $3,000 because of a calculation oversight. She cautions others from falling into the same trap.
The mother of six, who posts on TikTok as 6kidzlater (@6kidzlater), said she had been too embarrassed to post about her situation. But she recently decided to do so as a PSA for other home buyers.
“It’s our fault, and we should have done our research, and we should have known better. So the blame is on us. But you live and you learn, and we’ve definitely learned from this experience,” she concedes in her video.
Filming herself in her car, the TikToker explains, “We purchased a home last December. … The price was higher than our first home, but it was something that was doable for us.”
After buying the house, her family was paying $3,832 for the monthly mortgage payment. But then they received a rude awakening.
“Then this February we received the new mortgage for the year that had the escrow and all that, and it showed that we had an escrow shortage of $23,000,” she says.
She explains that this was due to an error in the calculation of the mortgage and property taxes. Apparently, the assessor only took into account the land, not the house that going to be built on it. But once the mortgage company realized there was a home on the land, it raised the family’s monthly payments to remedy the escrow shortage of $23,000.
“Our mortgage went from $3832 to $7,200 a month,” the homeowner says. She adds that there’s no way her family can afford that.
Did the mortgage company know all along?
The mom repeats that at the end of the day, she should have done more research.
She also adds, “The realtor that we had, she was not a good realtor, and the mortgage company was the seller’s mortgage company, … so I’m sure they know what they are doing.”
The woman then alleges, “They knew that they calculated [the] land value and they showed us that $3,832 because they knew that’s what we could afford, and we would purchase the home. And they knew that if they had told us the truth of how much it would be that we probably wouldn’t have purchased the home.”
Finding a way to pay the mortgage
The homeowner says she figured out a temporary solution after she called the mortgage company. When she explained that she would be putting her home up for sale, they decided to extend the payment period over three years.
“They stretched that $23,000 escrow shortage over three years, which dropped our mortgage to $5,166 … which is still a lot,” she says.
Going into her second month of paying a mortgage over $5,000, the Texas woman says there hasn’t been a lot of interest in the house. She adds that they’ve also dropped the price three times already.
She ends the video imploring home buyers to double check these calculations and not make the same mistake she did.
Who is to blame?
The video was viewed 93,100 times and received numerous comments. Viewers felt the responsibility was on the realtor and mortgage broker to make sure the buyer was well-informed.
“Your realtor and your mortgage broker should have told you this… it’s common knowledge in the industry,” one person commented.
“I wish there was a law in place. This is devastating. Your realtor failed you. I’m sure this information will help others. I keep hearing stories like this every man for themselves, I guess,” another said.
Some viewers offer advice
One person wrote, “Things i learned 1. Dont buy new build coz taxes could be a future mess 2. Buy less than you can afford. 3. Buy a house you can sell without loosing money (desirable home and value).”
Another person suggested the homeowner look up another TikToker, Esther Alsume, who went through a similar situation. But Alsume managed to save herself $2,000.
“Have you seen Ester Alsume on here talking about her experience with escrow. Not sure if yours was new built but she gave calls and got a refund check for the missed calculation for the land,” the person wrote.
@6kidzlater #creatorsearchinsights #homeownership #storytelling #awareness ♬ original sound – 6kidzlater
The Daily Dot reached out the to Texas mom for further updates via TikTok direct message.
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