The loan got called in month nine. The refi math never worked.
Posting this because I looked for someone who'd actually had a loan accelerated and found mostly people saying it rarely happens.
The deal: 1978 three bed, seller relocating for work, loan at 2.99%, balance $221,400, payment $1,704 with escrows. I paid $19k for her equity in cash. Rent was $2,150 on a lease I inherited, so $446 gross spread, and I underwrote it as a ten year hold on the rate.
What happened. The deed recorded in a state where the recording is public and searchable. In month seven the servicer sent a letter to the seller asking her to confirm occupancy and provide a copy of any transfer document. She called me first, which I'm grateful for. My attorney answered on her behalf. In month nine they sent a demand to pay the balance in full within 30 days, citing the transfer provision in the mortgage.
My Plan B on paper was refinance. That plan was a sentence and never a number. On $221,400 at investor rates in the environment I was in, the payment came out around $1,910 before taxes and insurance, so roughly $2,290 all in against $2,150 rent. Negative $140 a month before any vacancy. And I needed 25% down against an appraisal, meaning I had to bring cash to a property I'd bought with $19k. I couldn't source $30k in 30 days.
So I sold. Listed at $259k in month ten, took $248k, closed in month twelve after two extensions the servicer granted in writing because payments were current the whole way. Payoff cleared. After commissions, concessions, and a $3,100 roof credit the buyer demanded, I netted about $8,900 against the $19k I'd paid her, plus nine months of $446 spread minus a $2,700 sewer line. Call it a $9,000 loss, and I put maybe 90 hours into it.
The seller came out fine. Loan paid, credit intact, she got her $19k on day one. I'd do that part identically.
What I'd do differently. I'd price the Plan B as an actual number before signing, both legs of it. The refinance leg: what is the payment at current investor rates on this exact balance, what down payment does that lender require, and do I have that cash liquid today. The sale leg: what nets after costs at a realistic price, not my ARV. If neither leg clears the equity I'm paying the seller, the equity payment is too high, or the deal isn't one.
And I'd stop treating "lenders rarely call" as a risk assessment. It's a base rate. It says nothing about my file.