Locked and Locked Out!

So I forgot to share with you last week that we locked in at a great rate. Yeah....wait for it....3.25 at 0 points for 30 years!!!!  That rate saved us $4400 at closing. So with this savings comes another great surprise, we will be saving $400 a month paying for a house instead of renting an apartment.  I know the economy is still in flux, but with rates and savings like that, I have to say, the housing market is getting back on its feet.

We are set to close in 19 days!  We will be moving into the house in exactly 32 days.  I'm glad we'll have a two week break in between closing and our actual move. This will allow us to move in gradually and for me to get window treatments up, appliances delivered and proper sealing of bathroom tiles and the garage.  Speaking of the house, I went by yesterday to do my weekly inspection and to my surprise, I was locked out!  Behaving like a nosy Ms. Jenkins, I peeked through my own house window to see that our hardwoods  and carpet has been installed! From what I could see, I loved the color and I'm so happy that we upgraded our staircase.

In addition to those changes, the front yard is in the process of being graded, sidewalks have been poured, and a really long driveway has been installed. I think Nadase, our driveway is about 65 feet as well. With a driveway that long, my husband was real clear that we must invest in a snow blower! Although all the shutters are finally hung, we still need our front door  painted and some minor repair on the roof and around the garage.  Sorry kiddos for the limited pic, but I guess we'll be doing our pre-settlement walk thru sometime soon and I will get pictures then.

Happy building....

Lights!

Hi everyone!  It has been awhile since my last post. Life is moving fast, we're about 20 days away from settlement. I went by the house last week and was really excited to see tile and lights (outside lights were also installed).  I was rushing, so my pics are not the best, but I will be by the house this week so hopefully my  pictures will be better.  Happy building….

Foyer Chandelier

Hallway bath tile

Hallway Bath Shower/tub

Cabinets!

It has been close to two weeks since I was by the house and what did I find yesterday?  Cabinets! 

Cabinets with crown molding.

View of the kitchen from the family room.

View from the side of the morning room all the way until the dining room.

 I was very excited and very pleased with our pick (see the upgrades entry from June for more details). And for laminate (which was FREE), it works for us. We will think of upgrading our counter top later after we complete the first big project of finishing our basement.  In addition to cabinets, I saw doors, wall, trim, and our finished fireplace. 

Slate fireplace.

Temporary stairs for the two story foyer.

Up close picture of our faux granite.

We have a door to our "skinny" pantry.

Standing in the MB, with a view of the hallway.

I also met a neighbor from a few blocks away who was very nice and assured us that the town we're moving to is a nice community. So, the next step will be for us to lock in our rate, sometime this week and on Saturday, we have 30 days until we close!

Hope everyone else is doing well...happy building!

The Worst Part of Building a House...

When I shared with my dad that Patrick and I wanted to buy a house and it would be new construction, my dad said, "you may want to do something else; building is a headache."  I was very prepared to go at odds with our PM and each time I visited the house I looked at every turn of construction with a laser-like focus because I knew something was going to go wrong.  And the things that had gone wrong  were minor, essentially, no stress for me or Patrick. 

The stressful part of this building process has been with NVR. OH. MY. GOODNESS!  They have been a train wreck the entire time.  Not only do they lose paperwork but the communication has been horrible.  Now, I see why the have the incentive of a basement, morning room or whatever else they try to give. It's all because if they we're  not giving anything, no one, I mean, no one would use them as a mortgage company.  I know there is the famous evaluation that NVR gives at closing and surely we will provide them with some thoughtful feedback. But truth be told, as bad as NVR is the real problem lies within the mortgage crisis and how people were able to get homes with no documents and barely had to prove an income. And now, it's like they conduct an evasive internal exam. Give us, the American people a break!  I hate to get political on this blog, but the truth of the matter is hard working , honest people are being screwed because greedy, lying and conniving politicians misused the system.

Yes, I'm angry that it is so hard to secure a mortgage and we all have to go through this pain process.  How many times do I need to send you my bank statements?  Oh, I have to explain every deposit into my account over $1,000 and you have to verify where it comes from--every two months? Patrick keeps reminding me that we're in the final stretch and it is only by the grace of God that we are able to get the home that we wanted and had the right to choose.  So, I get that through the pain there is a silver lining.  But, venting is a good thing, right?

Switching gears to the house, is moving along but I will not have any progress pictures until next week. Until then here is a picture of the front of our house with the shutters going up. Happy building everyone, and let's try not to have NVR get us all down! Happy building…