Time to start a thread about bringing your family to the oil patch.

Yeah , lost my father when I was many miles from home, ya cant turn back time . I still want to fish devil lake .

 

This is an interesting thread because my husband and I are also going through the relocation process. He has worked for the same employer as a water hauler for 1 1/2 years in ND and has lived in company housing in Beach. Our daughter missed him greatly and elected to spend her last semester in high school with him in ND. She is an A student and ended up loving the people in Beach ND even though she is from a much larger city in AZ (even with the cold)! So, my assessment is that it really depends upon your attitude. If you embrace changes with a flexible attitude, then you might be surprised at how great living in ND can be. If you expect it to be like what you are leaving and resist change, you will be miserable. That being said, my husband and I are looking to buy a small house (less than $100,000) somewhere south of Dickinson ND so we have somewhere to bring our pets. We will keep the AZ house where I have a small tax practice and work out of my home. I have tried to change my practice so that I only have to be in AZ 5-6 months a year and can join my husband in ND for the rest of the year. I have to continue working while my daughter attends the college of her choice (expensive!). But both my husband and I want to spend more time together and we are looking to compromise (he is moving from Beach to Dickinson office and I am moving to ND 50% of the time) so that can happen.

In our search for a ND home, we are having an unanticipated problem with Bismarck loan officers not understanding how oil patch truckers may be compensated. They don't want to use my husband's employee compensation to qualify for the ND mortgage until he has 2 years of experience in ND because the pay stub says "commissions." Most of his compensation is based upon a truck hourly rate that he gets a percentage of (he also gets night pay, swapout and shop time compensation). The rationale is that he is not really an employee but an independent contractor. This is bogus. He meets all the legal definitions of an employee (his employer controls his hours, the manner in which the job is performed and provides all of the equipment). His compensation is relatively steady (no wild fluctuations). He gets an annual Form W-2 and the employer pays half of social security and medicare withholdings. He gets medical insurance, retirement and other normal employee benefits. But the loan officer keeps saying he should be treated similar to an independent contractor. Has anyone else faced this problem?

 

I ran into the same thing last fall when I was thinking about buying a house. My loan processor couldn't wrap his head around my compensation. I eventually decided to hold off and didn't pursue a mortgage, but there's plenty of people on commission who have bought homes up here.

I think you'll need to shop around. Local realtors have dealt with this issue, and they probably know where to send you.

 

My wife and I saw the same thing from mortgage people. Oh yeah, they understand how work goes in the patch. The simple fact that scares them is that 85% of oil and water (yes, including MBI and PF) haulers change jobs and/or location at least once per year... ask your husband about driver turnover. This reckoning creates instability in family, finances and future. Now, to address the immediate reactions...

1. Long-term goals: Your situation sounds far more sustainable than the average family that moves to boomtown. However, look at it from the lender's perspective. Commission sales income is not as reliable as a salary, or hourly (which is graded halfway between the two). Yes, haulers are commissioned salesmen, and this is clear if looked at logically.

2. Better than working many states from home... Again, bringing a family isn't always the best choice but my wife is more important to me than anyone else in the world (unlike most, I did not get married to simply procreate and make those children my new #1) and I wanted her close to me, after my initial tour in ND all alone. The patch is an unfriendly place, and ND natives can be as cold as the Winter, especially given your outsider status and the native's memories of oil booms gone bust (eighties for most, plus fifties for the old-timers). I don't blame them for feeling skiddish toward transient workers (yes, even buying a home here/near the patch does not qualify) but I do not appreciate them making life harder for people who just want a better life and are willing to work hard and legal to get there. But YMMV.

3. The 100% down plan... We are going the cash route, bypassing the delays and expenses of a mortgage. Sure, the boom could end tomorrow and our property will be worth 20% of the purchase price, but we are finding great opportunities to buy for cash at HALF what some sellers have listed for. Just be sure to use a home and pest inspector, and spend a week in the home camping out (call it a neighborhood review) before closing the deal, or you'll be sorry. Anyone now debt-free with the help of ND oil should be able to work a year or two and buy a home for cash here. And in your situation, with a second income helping, this is even more ideal. Others with debts should pay them ALL off before buying a home anywhere, anyhow.

 

welcome to ND. I grew up in Fargo/Moorhead. Travelled a good portion of ND.

Unless you can trace back to some of the bonanza farms, forget it. And we have history back 100+ years in western ND.

 

I actually liked Fargo a lot. It had everything one would need, plus is proximity to Minnesota made it easier to have a life. I did notice the "behind times" aspect there which is funny as MN didn't have it that bad. I liked Bismarck too I just don't see how people make these areas so undesirable, excluding the winters. It is a very pretty place. Scenery wise IMHO it has Texas beat(since both are flat), although Texas does have by far much more to do and yes, culture. I love the Texas culture. And while ND is friedly from my experience, it is not even close to as friendly as Texas. People here especially in businesses are so friendly.

Sticking to the OP theme, we moved to South TX to follow hubby. In our case we didn't have a home base as we were use to this lifestyle, we worked years and years in Alaska in similar circumstances. So moving here was not like leaving a home base. I def think no matter where anyone goes it is a different situation and needs to be thought through. I have met many families here, ND and AK who had never left their home place, but wanted a change and took the leap. There is nothing wrong with that, life is not black and white and doesn't need to be lived that way. However, I know some people are stuck in their ways and don't like change and that is ok too.

 

It is fine. As long as they don't whine and complain and expect others to pay their way and feed them. Keep doing the same thing that got you into mess and refuse to change-screw you.

 

I found out a little more about truckers in the ND oil patch qualifying for mortgages on homes purchased in North Dakota. National banks like Wells Fargo have to abide by Fannie Mae guidelines that say unless there is a single hourly wage for 40 hours or salary paid to an employee, you must have at least 2 years of earnings history in order to count the employee's compensation (overtime, commissions, night pay, swap outs, flat rates, etc.) Most national banks sell their mortgages to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or the other national banks. Supposedly, if you can find a local bank that keeps and services its own mortgages, the requirement is not necessary. So, does anyone have recommendations on local (North Dakota) banks that offer mortgages to their customers?

 

Fannie Mae etc. are what is called the Secondary Money Market. Banks make home loans and then bundle them into multi million dollar packages which they then sell to Fannie Mae etc. Then they have more money to lend.

As a new resident in ND you are going to have a hard time getting a small home town bank giving you an "in house" loan. If you grew up in that small town and been doing business with them for many years then you could probably get one.

Your best bet is finding a FSBO (for sale by owner) or any seller who is willing to finance the sale for two years so you can qualify for a mortgage.

 

North Dakota Home Finance Agency and FDA might be a better option too.
http://www.ndhfa.org/