Although knocking on forty years of age, this will be the first home I’ve ever purchased. I found out that the average age for first time home ownership is 33 (in 2015), so I’m actually not that old, but still: the idea that on a 30 year loan I’ll be done paying this sucker off when I’m 67 years old is… spooky.
When we’re kids, the idea of being 40 seems so abstract and distant, it’s hard to imagine it ever become reality. But turn 40 we shall, if we’re lucky enough to live that long, and imagining actually being in our late 60’s is much the same.
So last night while my wife was out I actually read through all the documents I’ve been e-signing furiously, trying to speed escrow along. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, there were stories about borrowers who didn’t read the fine print. When I heard those myself, I scoffed at the dumb-dumbs who could do such things: obviously I am a smarter and more detail oriented person.
Or so I thought.
Although there was nothing sneaky or hidden in my loan documents upon careful review, I certainly am guilty of e-signing as fast as the documents show up. With Docusign, I’ve e-signed several 10-page documents via my smart phone while sitting in a meeting, and just buzzing through as fast as the Docusign prompt will allow me to move.
And really, when you send someone a 10-page document that they can sign on their phone, is anyone really expecting a thorough review, or are we all just basically agreeing that we’re going through the motions and hoping our realtors, lenders, and escrow folks didn’t make a typo that will ultimately cost us thousands of dollars?
Sure, go ahead and lie to me that you read everything you sign. Make sure the next time a politician signs a multi-thousand-page-bill and didn’t read every page, you jump his or her case for it.
The world has gotten really complicated, our brains have remained the same size, and the solution to many problems is transparency(a.k.a. more information).
It’s Independence Day weekend, a great time to nurse a beer and read through line items from my lender, showing me where all my money will be going and precisely why I’m about to be poor.
Mammoth Guy 