My brother in law waited 61 days on a bank refi last spring and the rate lock expired twice, cost him almost $9k in extra fees and he never even got the money. That $2,100 a month you were bleeding is the part people always skip when they do the math, because holding costs don't care about your rate, they just keep stacking up while the appraiser sits on his hands. I've watched the same thing at the dentist, at the mechanic, anywhere there's a line, the cheap option is only cheap if you can afford to wait. You paid maybe $3,400 more upfront between points and rate, but you saved $12k and actually got the house. The folks calling hard money a scam have never had a deal dying on the vine.

People keep saying that defense was a huge blunder but I'm not sure it really changed much. Air Canada was going to lose this either way because the bot was on their website saying stuff customers could rely on. The "separate entity" thing sounds dumb when you read it in the ruling, but companies throw out weak arguments in small claims all the time just to see what sticks. The payout was like $650 Canadian, which is nothing to them, so the idea that this defense cost them way more in damage to their brand feels a little overblown to me. Most people flying Air Canada have never heard of this case and never will. It's a fun story for people who follow this stuff online, but I doubt it moved the needle on their business at all.