Fancy' in Up Our Florence: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Papers, Locked In & HOI

I sure will be happy when the process of gathering all of these papers is over! I feel like I keep printing and printing and printing papers. Most things are simple, it's just taking the time to find everything, copy everything, print bank statements and checks and sign more agreements.

I also locked in our mortgage rate on Tuesday at 3.5%. When we started this process the rate was 3.25%. It has stayed at that rate since December. Just my luck- the same week I received our mortgage approval papers was the same week the rate changed to 3.5%. It is still a decent rate, but man I would have loved 3.25%. It's not much of a difference now, but in the long term it does add up to a lot more $$ in interest. We have been saving like crazy, so we're hoping to have a pretty decent down payment.

I also got in touch with a homeowners insurance broker and secured our policy. We will be paying a premium of $588 per year with a $1,000 deductible. This was the lowest rate I could find and most others were $630+. I'm happy with the savings :)

And let me just say....I am so impressed with my Loan Specialist. She has been such a big help in this process. She answers all of my questions and answers them pretty much right away (I use email a lot since it's hard for me to make long phone calls at work). She has kept in great contact with me and lets me know right away if she needs something from me- direct communication at its finest! She even emailed me the list of documents I need to get together, while I wait for the snail mail copy. She has provided explanations for me of all different documents and has really taken the time to help me in any way possible. Since we're first time home buyers, a lot of this stuff is confusing for me. I am definitely impressed and am so thankful I was assigned to someone that takes the time for me.

And I must not forget to mention my SR who answers any questions I may have too. I can pop in his office with a stack of papers and be like "got this in the mail, what the heck is it and what do I have to do?!" He didn't just sell us a house and forget about us, he actually still cares and takes the time for us even though we have already signed on the dotted line.

I am truly thankful for the people put in our path in this whole home buying journey.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

New Day, New Photos !

I take entirely too many photos. Way too many. Alex hates it and gets frustrated with me, but it makes me happy and I'll not have the opportunity to take photos of this process again (well not for this house at least), so I want to take all that I can! Most photos below are pretty self explanatory.

Now that that paper stuff is all cleaned up and fit to the house, it looks much nicer.

Plus we have a front door :)

Garage floor was not poured last time I was here

& electric wiring has been started

Recessed lighting in the kitchen

Foam to fill in the gaps :)

Neighbors house from our bathroom window

My attempt at panoramic: upstairs and downstairs.

It has really been bugging me that I don't know where our property line ends. I am a visual person and need to see things to get a better perspective. My SR gave me a big tape measure and said my back yard was 74' from the back of the house. He said to check it out if I wanted, but it was really muddy. Do I ever listen ?! 24' back and I was sinking fast... my shoes were stuck as I was walking and my feet came out of my clogs, sunk in the mud and then I really was stuck and couldn't move!!! So, I didn't get my 74' visual and left with wet socks, muddy shoes and pants.

Maybe next time... maybe.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

House Announcement

After our families were told about our purchase of a home, we decided to let everyone on FB know too! This is what I made as a little sneak peek for everyone.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Pre-Drywall Meeting & Mortgage Papers

A lot has happened this past week. I spoke with the PM on Monday about the wood that was sitting in all of that water. He said he was going to have a remediation company come in on Tuesday and address that issue.

Wednesday was the pre-drywall meeting and the walk-through with Guardian to pick the placement of our data/tv jacks. It's hard for me to leave work in the morning, so DF had to go alone. He was pretty grumpy since he worked until 0200 and the meeting was at 0800, so he was running on a few hours of sleep, but he managed. The PM said all of the gaps in the studs would be filled with the foam and then the insulation crew would make sure everything was covered and there was not any air from the outside getting in.

Regarding the mold: I'm not really sure that I understood DF when he spoke with me... they either treated the wood for mold or they treated the wood to prevent mold, so IDK if we actually had a mold problem or if they were taking precautionary measures to prevent a mold problem. PM said he has this company go through all houses to make sure it's all ok and that we'd get a copy of the report from the remediation company.

We also got a stack of papers from NVR. Our official approval letter was in there, as well as a list of things we need to have prepared for closing (new pay stubs, 2012 W2's, a home buyers class and some other stuff that I can't remember). We're first time home buyers, so all of the mortgage stuff is a little overwhelming to me! It's like speaking another language. Luckily my SR has been more than willing to go over documents with me and explain things- def. helps out a lot.

Our tentative closing date is March 29th, but I'm sure that will not be the actual closing, since our PM said the house should be finished around the 1st or 2nd week of April. NVR papers said if we didn't close by 4/5/13 then the contract thing they sent us will be void and they'll have to run a new credit report/check and we'll have to provide more pay stubs, cleared checks/deposits, etc.) Ugh... why do I have to send all that stuff now just to turn around and send it all again, because I know we're not closing by April 5th?!?! I suppose I can't complain too much though, because we haven't had too many issues with NVR........ yet.

The guardian walk-through was quite simple. We got a TV hookup in the master bedroom, loft, living room and 1 data hookup for the living room.

I have been good and stayed away from the house this entire week, so I am def. going to swing by tomorrow to check the progress. Hopefully I'll have some new pics to post!

I'm getting more and more excited as time goes on!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Framing is Finished

I've been to the house every single day this week and couldn't wait to go in this weekend. DF and I snuck in this morning... hoping we wouldn't get in trouble! When I saw the SR car drive by I thought we were busted!!! He was actually showing someone else a house though.

So far things seem to be moving right along. I got a call from the PM yesterday and he said next week they should start wiring things. He wants to have a pre drywall meeting Wednesday morning at 0800 so DF will have to attend that alone since I have to work at 0730. It's hard for me to get off work in the mornings since I'm the only one there for a little bit... bummer!

I didn't actually get to speak with the PM on the phone yesterday (busy at work), so I didn't get a chance to ask him some questions I had. After today I had another questions, so I'll either shoot him a text or just call him on Monday. One question I need to ask is about the wood that was sitting in water- will it have mold or become a mold issue later on? After sneaking through the house today too I noticed there were some gaps in the vertical studs and I could see from inside of the house right outside- somewhat curious how they're going to fix that...DF said they'll spray that foam stuff inside and then when insulation goes in that will take care of it. Seems logical.

Here is the remainder of the progress:

Thursday