They say if you want something bad enough, anything is possible. I was recently put to the test when trying to close on my condo and I’d like to share my experience with you. Hopefully, I can enhance your education on home buying, but if nothing else, I will help you from making the same mistake I made by choosing Truist Bank years ago in Florida. (It started out as BB&T when we opened our account and merged with SunTrust. In 2019 they settled as Truist.)

As most of you know, my Husband passed away in January leaving me behind in our Florida home. With absolutely no family and only a handful of friends there, this quickly became a very lonely existence. Not to mention, the entire work load of a yard and pool were added to my indoor daily tasks. I know you’re not supposed to make life-changing decisions for at least six months to a year, but do you know what it’s like to pull weeds, lay mulch, trim bushes and rake debris in humid 90+ degrees? I was changing underwear 3 times a day for crying out loud before jumping in the shower just to prevent swamp @ss!

So long story short, I made the decision to move back north where my family and life-long friends are before I even found a place to live. I made arrangements to use PODS for moving everything I own so that it could remain stored until the day I need it. They also offer military discount even to surviving spouses, so I also saved a little money.

Luckily for me, I found exactly what I was looking for before I made the move- a three bedroom two bath condo home in a nice community and in my price range. This made moving north more comfortable in my brain knowing I would not be imposing on family indefinitely or having to rent an apartment and make two moves.

I immediately reached out to my mortgage rep and asked how quickly she could get me pre approved so that I could have my sisters go with my northern realtor to see and video the condo. Kathy Morris at Prime Lending assured me that if I quickly got her the info required that I could be approved that same day. I made the call to my realtor and she had the appointment with one of my sisters to see the house the following day. Within twenty four hours I was ready to make an offer over asking price on a condo I only saw through the eyes of my sister. Suddenly, the condo went off market and I was shocked.

My realtor found out that the seller became ill with pneumonia and could not show her place. About a week later (after everyone else in the area also saw it listed), it came back on the market and we were ready to make the offer, but so were many others.

If you are not familiar with an aggressive seller’s market, there is very little chance that an offer will be accepted when you have a house to sell (known as a contingency) or up against an offer with an escalation clause (unless you have plenty of money to join the automatic bidding war), or up against a cash deal (saves everyone time). I lost that condo to a cash deal.

In the meantime, my house in Florida was soon on the market and under contract, and I too, accepted a cash deal with an escalation clause- giving me an over asking price deal. This enhanced my chances to make the next offer stick because I had more cash to put towards a house and a contingency becomes less risky with a set closing date.

The next condo that came up was even better than the first and they accepted my offer. BINGO! I was now orchestrating a move out of one place with a closing in Florida and a trip north to close on another.

This is pretty ordinary, right? People relocate all the time and do exactly the same thing. So what makes my situation any different? Well here’s where it gets a little tricky.

I had an all expenses paid trip planned to Wisconsin long before my house sold to dog sit for great friends, enabling them to sail around the British Virgin Islands (BVI). You don’t cancel something like this if you have integrity and I pride myself on exactly that. I fulfil my commitments. This should not be an issue because they do what is referred to as “remote closings” all the time. A third party Title company or Notary just has to witness you signing your lender closing package and you sign many things electronically on your computer since the days of Covid. My friend in Wisconsin hooked me up with a Title company nearby and that problem was quickly solved. Everyone was onboard.

Before I left Florida, I wrapped up all my financial issues and transferred utilities to the new owners successfully. This included closing a joint checking and savings account I once had with Roger and asking some questions in regards to my closing in Ohio on the new condo. I explained the situation and the banker assured me that a wire transfer would not be a problem. She even explained a few new CD programs that Truist was offering on a 7 month CD at 5% interest that I might like. We exchanged pleasantries and I left my bank for the last time.

I already shared my crazy experiences driving home in the pouring rain in my last blog, so I will fast forward to my closing in Wisconsin.

My friends are now safely traveling to the BVI for a wonderful sailing excursion. I am what I refer to as “Fake Mom” to their golden doodle and getting used to him telling me what he wants me to do. (snickering) He’s a bit spoiled and has already wrapped me around his big paws.

Closing day arrived on Thursday, I entered the address on my phone, and off I go to the Title company. I was a bit early and we started a little before 11:00am. The notary’s name was Shelley and she was a wonderful person. She expressed how she could feel my excitement and very happy for me. After everything was signed before 11:30am, she was required to fax everything to the Ohio title company so they could review and confirm that everything was completed before I left her office. I was handed the wire transfer information and asked Shelley if I could conduct the phone call while in her office in case they had any questions, and I could use her fax for signatures, if needed.

Let the fun begin.

I called Truist and was speaking to a banker (not a teller). She immediately informed me that I would have to physically come in and sign to do the wire transfer. I started to explain to her the situation.

Keep in mind as you’re reading this that I was an Account Executive during my lengthy career. I do not get upset with people on the phone easily because I have dealt with folks on the phone my entire life. Usually, they just don’t understand the situation completely, and simply react before they think. It’s worse, of course, if you have an inexperienced employee on the phone.

Let me share the initial conversation with you to the best of my recollection using the name Michelle for the banker:

“Hi Michelle. My name is Lorraine (last name) and I am at “B” Title Co. in Wisconsin signing closing paperwork for my new home. I have just been handed the wire transfer information and need to speak with the proper person to initiate the transfer of funds.” Michelle says “Oh we can’t do a wire transfer over the phone! You will have to come in and do it in person so we can get your signature.”

I said “Perhaps you can get me to the proper person so I can explain the situation. I am relocating and I have already moved out of the state of Florida. I spoke to…” She interrupts and says “I’m sorry, but anyone you speak to is going to tell you the same thing. We don’t do wire transfers over the phone.” I said “If you would let me explain please, I am sitting in a Title company with a notary and if you fax me whatever form needs my signature, she will notarize it and send it back with two forms of ID. That is why I am calling my Truist branch while I am sitting here with her.” Again, she says “We can’t do a wire transfer without you being here.”

I respond “How can anyone relocate to another state and initiate a wire transfer? Military people do this all the time.” Michelle says “I don’t know about other banks, but Truist’s policy is absolutely no wire transfers unless you’re standing here in person.” I answer “Well that is not what I was told when I was there before I left the state. I am closing on a house in Ohio and was told by a banker in my branch that there would not be a problem. She also informed me that there was no Truist branches anywhere near my future location, but it still could be done.” Michelle responds “Who told you that?” I said “I don’t have her card on me but it’s the girl in the middle cubical that I met with.”

I proceeded to say “Please connect me with someone in a higher position than yours. Is there a manager or supervisor I can speak to?” Her answer was “Yes, but they are going to tell you exactly the same thing as I just told you. You can’t do a wire transfer.”

I get a Supervisor on the phone and start at the very beginning. She agrees that I am in a difficult situation because they don’t do wire transfers on the phone and confirmed there are no locations anywhere near me. I said to her “Are you telling me that I would have to get back to Florida in order to close on a house in Ohio?” Her answer was, “Well, there might be one closer than Florida. Hold on while I check.” She then responds that she found one in Cincinnati and Columbus, OH. I said “Well, I am in Wisconsin and there has to be a better way.”

By the time we went round for round- me searching for solutions and her shooting each and every one down, I was back to square one. She basically told me “I hope your day gets better” and said goodbye.

The Notary also did everything in her power to resolve this now very pathetic situation. She called the Ohio title company to explain the circumstances and they confirmed that they must receive funds by wire transfer only and a check of any sort would not do- even though funds were verified.

I could bore you to tears if I continue with this explanation. It just got worse with everyone I spoke to, each confirming they could not help me. I was at the title company nearly 4 hours and nothing got resolved. My notary hugged me and said “I don’t know how you didn’t lose it with those people. You are very professional.” I thanked her and I drove to my temporary home with tears welling up in my eyes thinking how terribly I was treated by my own bank. A criminal could steal my money more easily than me getting it out of this bank!

I spent the evening emailing and updating everyone involved and seeking solutions to the problem. No one had any. I ended my day with the thought that I will walk away from this deal before I cave in and fly to Florida.

My sister called me and when she learned of the situation offered me assistance. My Florida realtor offered to help if I could appoint her POA (Power of Attorney). But nothing was going to happen that night and I started fresh at it again in the morning after a sleepless night.

I spoke with everyone within my bank that I could (Branch Manager was on her honeymoon, but a banker called all the way to the top). No one would authorize a wire transfer. No one would help me.

With all the suggestions, none of them held up. POA would take too long with many approvals needed. I could not physically get to Florida. They would not accept a verified check. I could not open a new account and pull my money out of Truist and wire from a new bank in time. They would not accept a cashier’s check- nor could I obtain one from a new bank. No one else could pay it without “gifting” me the funds, requiring major changes to the lending paperwork and starting all over costing money. It just went on and on and on.

Finally, I sent an email to all parties involved. I voiced my frustration with all the banking institution’s rules and regulations. Everyone knows I have verified funds. Everyone knew I’d be in Wisconsin. Everyone knows if someone else wires the money that it’s NOT a gift. Everyone knows the deal is going to fall apart and two lives will be negatively impacted. So let’s stop right here and pull our resources together and get this deal done before I am forced to walk away. I firmly but professionally said “I am running out of ideas.” My sister was offering to wire the money for me and I would pay her back. Period.

And so it went down exactly that way. I overnighted a personal check to my sister with proof that it was not a gift and she wired the money. A letter explaining why we did it this way was sent to the Ohio Title company. The wire was received Friday and confirmed by 4pm. End of story.

So….my advice to anyone that made it to the end of this blog without putting a fork in their eye:

Stay away from Truist Bank! They basically held my money hostage and would not let me close on my house. They apologized that the banker that said “it wouldn’t be a problem must have misunderstood your question”. Basically standing behind their employee and leaving their customer stranded up the creek without a paddle! Also leaving a seller without funds for her assisted living arrangement! How dare a bank treat people like this, yet they do all the time!

Sorry, but I digress.

Try to stay positive, as hard as it may be, because you can’t resolve anything by accusing, cussing or blaming when in the middle of negotiations. Everything I said on the phone was true, and I was frustrated at times, but never treated anyone like an idiot- even when I wanted to! I could have walked away and given up, but I didn’t. I have come too far to just give up!

My family and my friends supported me and encouraged me and I never gave up.

The funds transfer Monday and my realtor will get the keys on Tuesday in my absence. I will now be moving into a beautiful condo, and knowing how hard I had to fight for it, will just make it that much sweeter when I do!

A special thanks to my sister and her ex husband for getting the funds transferred and I can’t wait to celebrate when I get home! In the meantime, I am enjoying being Fake Mom to my favorite Doodle dog while my best friends enjoy sailing the BVI.

Sail on my friends…Sail on!

The last time I wrote, I was in a decision-making mode with uncertainty and emotional highs and lows. Hurricanes or snow was the question. A lot has happened since I pondered that decision.

The truth of the matter is; I desired to be around my friends and family more than I needed Florida. Roger and I settled there together and were a “We” instead of a “Me.” It didn’t work for me anymore, and as many of my followers know, I put my house on the market just before the weekend, and it was under contract by that Sunday afternoon.

I put a lot of sweat and tears into the Florida home, but it was getting the usual super hot and humid every day, and I couldn’t help but want to get the hell out of there! I had my air conditioner poop out on me once, and I prayed after getting it fixed, it would outlast my time there and serve the new owners well. It did.

I made all these decisions after getting a very clear message in my head one day- like a bolt of lightning striking me- that the time to sell was now. Everyone tells a Widow that you should not make any major decisions in the first year after losing your spouse. I can certainly understand why people say that, but no one holds the crystal ball, and you have to follow your heart and your gut when it’s yelling at you to do something. I am also stronger than most people because I have stared disaster in the face more than once- and lived to tell. The fact of the matter is, the sellers market in Florida is great and I didn’t want to drag my feet too long. The house and neighborhood turned out to be a great 3 year investment.

I didn’t know where I was going to go on the Ohio end, but I have family that would give me a place to stay and I would store my belongings in a unit while searching for a condo. The demand for Condo homes seems to be very high in just about every place I wanted to live. I missed out on a couple of opportunities, but I wasn’t going to let that stand in the way of my vision. As it turns out in these crazy times, you better have a lot of cash, no contingency and an escalation clause to get what you want. I was starting to look at apartments (just in case), but if you want a nice one, it will cost you every bit the same monthly payment, and usually more than you will pay for a house.

And since I started writing this blog entry, my life became a whirlwind of activity!

I started planning a move on my own and packing soon after the house was under contract. We had downsized once already to go fulltime in our motorhome, but I was amazed at how much we had already accumulated to transform the house into a home. Apparently, all my choices were good ones in staging the house because I got top dollar for it in our neighborhood. Roger had fought me tooth and nail over buying “things” we didn’t need, but spending time in the real estate business years ago and learning dos & don’ts, certainly paid off. The buyer’s agent told me that their buyers chose my house over others because it was beautiful, spotless and move-in ready. They purchased some of my furniture, which enabled me to move with less.

My house closed on June 21st. I signed my paperwork and got on the road directly from the Lawyer’s office. I had packed my car with important items, some last minute stuff, a bit of car food and water. I had no idea that I was about to face a very long, stressful and rainy day.

The fun started about two hours into my trip north. The PODS driver that was picking up my packed POD called me as I was approaching I10. He said “Mrs. Turner- are you home?” I answered “No, I am already en route to I10. Is there something wrong?” He then says “Oh Mrs. Turner, we got a problem! Your POD isn’t locked.” I said “What do you mean it’s not locked? I made sure I put the lock on it before leaving the house.” He said “The lock is on, but I can lift the door right up.” Oh my God! I am about to die on the road! If he had not checked that door, my belongings could have been scattered all over Ocala on the way to the warehouse! Either it was a defective door mechanism, or my defective last-minute haste to get things done!

“Don’t you worry Mrs. Turner. I will call my warehouse supervisor and we’ll get this resolved! You just keep going because you are too far away to do anything about it.”

An hour after this exchange of words and heartfelt emotion, they called to tell me they cut the lock off, locked it properly with a new one and will contact me to find out where to send the new keys. Problem one solved! Thank you PODS.

My next stop for gas would prove to be even more exciting.

I got fuel and parked my car out of the way so I could get a fresh cup of Java. When I returned to my car and pressed the remote to unlock it, I heard nothing. I pressed it again, and still heard nothing. Third time the charm? Nope. Nada! My remote was not working and I can’t get in my locked car.

Oh, but wait! It’s a 2015 and still has a key to insert into the lock, so I shall try this foreign method to enter my car. My car decided it doesn’t like the key and starts the alarm blowing loudly for the guy next to me to give me dirty looks. Well, guess what? The button wouldn’t work to stop the alarm from blaring either. Pressing harder doesn’t help. Eventually, it stopped and my heart was pounding after I sat down in my car and shut the door.

I believed the immediate problem was over, but did you know that inserting your key into the ignition, after what my car believes is an attempted theft, ignites another episode of “let’s piss off everyone” and the alarm started blaring again! I am thinking now that the man sitting in his car next to me fully believes that I am a stupid female that knows nothing about cars.

So I phone a friend. “What should I do?” I asked after laughing hysterically over my dreaded situation. He asked me if I could manually lock and unlock my door with the lock button. Well, I locked it, but now it won’t unlock. I am literally locked in my car like a prisoner now and it’s very warm. I know if I insert the key that I may hear the dreaded alarm again! I said “Oh this is not good!” to which he responded “Start the car and just go! Just take off and go!” This time, the alarm doesn’t go off, but it flashes that an attempted theft has been made on my vehicle.

I am still laughing as I started down the road. My friend called me back after researching the situation and explained that using the car handle twice in a row will unlock the door if it happens again. We both know that my remote battery must have died and now I am faced with a new dilemma. Where is the 2nd remote that I know I packed somewhere in the back of the car, but have no idea at this point- where?!

My next stop results in basically unpacking the back of my car, as I frantically look everywhere for the other remote. Have you ever witnessed this scene during a trip? You stair at what appears to be an idiot searching thru everything they packed into the car, placing items on the ground, and rummaging thru suitcases. It always appeared hilarious to me. NOT anymore. I now know that there just might be a very good reason for such roadside activity. I am usually a very organized person, but this was a last minute attempt to fit everything left in my house into the back of my car with time restraints for an appointment to sign papers downtown. The remote was right where I put it- I just couldn’t remember where that spot was. Finally- success! I now have a working remote for the rest of my trip. My day was filled with heavy rain and several stops to docu-sign last minute items before the closing transfer could take place. I got the email at 6:52pm that my Florida home was no longer my responsibility, as it had transferred and closed. That chapter of my life has ended and a new one officially had begun.

The next day results in a moment I am quite sure many can relate to.

I fueled up near my hotel first thing in the morning. I always place my credit card in my pocket as I fill the tank and immediately return it to my wallet when I get back into the car. But, perhaps I was a bit exhausted after a day of driving in torrential rain and not getting enough sleep in a hotel bed. The credit card remained in my pocket after I returned to my seat.

How do I know this? Because the next time I stopped for a pit stop, I returned to my car to find my American Express gold card face down on the ground next to my car door! It obviously worked it’s way out of my pocket. Oooooops! Close call that could have been a disaster.

I finally made it to my sister’s home, where they were both waiting for my safe arrival. The sense of relief I felt after two long rainy days and fog in many areas, was overwhelming.

I am home!

I now start the process of closing again. This time, I am closing on a wonderful condo home that will enable me to enjoy the freedom of no yardwork, no snow removal, and the ability to walk away when I want to travel and visit friends for awhile.

The process has begun and I am now set to close tomorrow, July 6th, as I sit in Wisconsin dog-sitting for dear friends. It has not been an easy task to organize a closing in a different state than your house is in, but I have figured out in this life that anything is possible if you work hard enough for it. I am about to join the condo world of living- something very new to me, yet I am excited for new adventures and my new life. In the meantime, I am “Mom” to my favorite Doodle, who is adjusting quite well to me. Love, attention and food is all you need with pets…

I sort of feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

“There’s no place like home.”

Me on the left, little sister on the right before heading out for a wonderful evening with big sister and our niece