Homeless in Key West

I will now attempt to make a long story short. In July we decided that our family would move to Florida for Brad's work. It was a sad and exciting decision all at the same time. In October we took the kids to Gainesville to find a home. After a series of events, we came home and put an offer in on several homes. The one that took was a home we'd never seen before but it looked perfect. We started the loan process and were due to close on December 22. Here's where the long story becomes short: It is January 19th, and we still haven't closed. Everyday for the last three months the mortgage company and bank have asked us for a new piece of paper to qualify for the loan, which is odd since we were "pre-qualified." Which of course means nothing. Everyday since the week of Christmas we were told that we would be ready to close within two days, and everyday we were again asked for new paperwork. A letter of explanation on a deposit, the paper trail to our tax returns for three different years, a letter from Brad's employer (three different times), letters from our CPA, and on and on. On January 6th our house was packed up by Brad and our wonderful friends (in a snowstorm) and started it's way to Florida. Me, the kids and my mom got on a plane on January 9th, and Brad and my dad started the trek driving our cars cross country. We just kept hoping and believing we'd be ready to close by the time our belongings and bodies arrived. After several days in a hotel, and a realistic look at how hopeless closing on the loan was looking, we went down to Key West, about 8 hours south, and are now staying in Brad's parents house there. Much better than a hotel!! And still on Friday the mortgage company asked us for more paperwork. (We had to go to an IRS office in West Palm Beach to get something signed and notorized by an official IRS employee...) We finally told them that everything we owned, including our files were in a moving van storage facility in Ocala, Florida and we would not be able to get them any more information than what we have been sending them over the last three months. Monday is a holiday so I guess we wait for Tuesday for a final answer. In the meantime, we have found a house to rent that we think will be just fine and will be less than a mortgage payment every month. We're still satisfied that our move to Florida was the right thing to do, but our being homeless in the Keys is God's way of making us take a much needed vacation.