Sunday, March 17, 2013
Progress in Pictures
I met with my PM at the house on Friday and was able to walk through and check out the progress and take photos. Everything is looking good and I'm getting excited to see the finished product. Carpets and counters should be installed this week. I may take a drive by later in the week and see if the workers will let me take a peek inside to see the carpet and counters :) I'm so happy with how the colors turned out on the outside of the home. We're in love :) !
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Closing Cost Confusion
Ok, I was super excited about this house and being able to call something "ours." After I received some closing cost papers in the mail I'm having some extreme anxiety!
My closing cost good faith estimate came and it said we'd be paying around $16,000 for closing costs. I understand since we went with NVR that we receive the morning room incentive, however, I honestly feel like there is a much better program that would benefit us better in the long run. It's a little disheartening to have saved a good amount of money and then find out it all goes out the window to closing costs. Is there a penalty for backing out from using NVR mortgage? Will NVR work with us on the closing costs to reduce them? Is there a different loan program we should be going with?
When we looked at the model home, we were offered the inventive of getting a morning room valued at $12,895 (I think that was the price) to use their mortgage company. I just pretty much went with the guidance of the sales rep. He said the USDA loan was best for us because of the lower interest rate and no money down. I asked about first time home buyers programs, but he said if we used that we wouldn't get the incentive from NVR Mortgage. Me being me, I just said ok. There the SR used some forms to fill out and he estimated numbers so we could have an idea of what we'd be paying. He originally said we could roll in $10,000 closing costs and only have to bring around $2,000 to closing. Since we had that money in cash saved up, we said we'd just pay the $10,000 to keep it from being in a 30 year mortgage. We ended up saving about $16,000 to use for downpayment and stuff and when I emailed the loan officer to tell her we had that, she said that is about what our closing costs would be, therefore we'd have no money down. I'm super confused! & why do we need to pay an appraisal fee if the house is brand new?
I've called around and talked to a few different people that say our closing costs should be around $10,000 and that we made a big mistake not using a realtor in this process.
I contacted our loan officer, but she is in training throughout the day, so she can't speak with us until about 5pm. I also contacted our loan processor and she said sheis going to pull our file and review it with her closing cost manager and then see what they can do and get us as close to an estimate for what we can expect to pay at closing. I told her that I wanted to know what fee we would be charged for backing out from using them and that $16k was just way too much. Maybe they’re willing to take money off… IDK?
Like I said, I was really excited about this whole thing, but now I'm feeling nervous. I feel like maybe we're getting ripped off and taken advantage of and I think there may be a better alternative to us for lower closing costs, first time home buyers, etc.
At the time, the rate on these papers was 3.25% however when we locked in it was at 3.5%.
Also, is it too late to do anything or switch mortgage companies? We signed a paper stating we were locking in at 3.5% and also that we accepted their approval of our loan. Is it too late to do anything?
Super Stressed !!
My closing cost good faith estimate came and it said we'd be paying around $16,000 for closing costs. I understand since we went with NVR that we receive the morning room incentive, however, I honestly feel like there is a much better program that would benefit us better in the long run. It's a little disheartening to have saved a good amount of money and then find out it all goes out the window to closing costs. Is there a penalty for backing out from using NVR mortgage? Will NVR work with us on the closing costs to reduce them? Is there a different loan program we should be going with?
When we looked at the model home, we were offered the inventive of getting a morning room valued at $12,895 (I think that was the price) to use their mortgage company. I just pretty much went with the guidance of the sales rep. He said the USDA loan was best for us because of the lower interest rate and no money down. I asked about first time home buyers programs, but he said if we used that we wouldn't get the incentive from NVR Mortgage. Me being me, I just said ok. There the SR used some forms to fill out and he estimated numbers so we could have an idea of what we'd be paying. He originally said we could roll in $10,000 closing costs and only have to bring around $2,000 to closing. Since we had that money in cash saved up, we said we'd just pay the $10,000 to keep it from being in a 30 year mortgage. We ended up saving about $16,000 to use for downpayment and stuff and when I emailed the loan officer to tell her we had that, she said that is about what our closing costs would be, therefore we'd have no money down. I'm super confused! & why do we need to pay an appraisal fee if the house is brand new?
I've called around and talked to a few different people that say our closing costs should be around $10,000 and that we made a big mistake not using a realtor in this process.
I contacted our loan officer, but she is in training throughout the day, so she can't speak with us until about 5pm. I also contacted our loan processor and she said sheis going to pull our file and review it with her closing cost manager and then see what they can do and get us as close to an estimate for what we can expect to pay at closing. I told her that I wanted to know what fee we would be charged for backing out from using them and that $16k was just way too much. Maybe they’re willing to take money off… IDK?
Like I said, I was really excited about this whole thing, but now I'm feeling nervous. I feel like maybe we're getting ripped off and taken advantage of and I think there may be a better alternative to us for lower closing costs, first time home buyers, etc.
At the time, the rate on these papers was 3.25% however when we locked in it was at 3.5%.
Also, is it too late to do anything or switch mortgage companies? We signed a paper stating we were locking in at 3.5% and also that we accepted their approval of our loan. Is it too late to do anything?
Super Stressed !!
Monday, March 11, 2013
PM Update with Photos :)
We took a swing by the house again on Saturday to check out a pipe that my in-laws told us about. It's on the back of the house and I'm not really sure what it goes to, but it surely did not look right.
& just a photo of the back of the house since I was back there already.
So, I shot a text to my PM this morning and told him we had stopped by, sent him the pics of the pipes and asked why it was like this and if it was going to be fixed.
He immediately got back to me with... "Hey Robin, we fixed that this morning. Here's a pic"
Thanks PM- You Rock!
& then he sent me some more photos of the progress inside!!
Love it! & I'm meeting with my PM on Friday at 1200 and we're going to go through the house and check things out.... & of course take tons of photos...!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Locked Out & Potential Closing Delay
Our PM called yesterday for our weekly Friday update. He said things we're coming along great and they finished drywall, painting, ceramic around the bathtubs, flooring and will be installing the cabinets soon.
Then he said there was some bad news... The county said they may not issue any more certificates of occupancy until they do more work in the neighborhood. He said the house will be ready by April 10th for the final walk-through, however closing on the 11th may be delayed. He said they have their equipment out there working on new houses and when the bad weather breaks they'll be working, but our closing could possibly be delayed by a few weeks. Seriously?! so my house is going to be completed and just sitting there for a few weeks, maybe longer because the county won't issue a CO?! I know it's not RH's fault, but it is extremely frustrating. I also kinda hope our PM fights for us and gets us in ASAP! The PM said as soon as he heard anything more concrete as far as closing or dates if it gets pushed back then he'd let us know as soon as possible. Ugh! Alex said I'm being too dramatic and maybe I am, but I'm awfully excited about my house and it's extremely frustrating not knowing when we're going to closing and the thought that it may just sit there empty for weeks.
We drove by the house today for the first time in over a week... and much to our disbelief we were locked out!!!! When we met in the beginning of this whole process, the SR said either he or our PM could take us through our house. We stopped in today to ask to go through the house and the SR said RH was enforcing their walk-through policy and he couldn't take us in and that we needed to make an appt. with our PM. A week ago we saw a different SR taking someone through their house....Anyway, our PM only works 8-3 and I work 730-4.... ugh!
Then he said there was some bad news... The county said they may not issue any more certificates of occupancy until they do more work in the neighborhood. He said the house will be ready by April 10th for the final walk-through, however closing on the 11th may be delayed. He said they have their equipment out there working on new houses and when the bad weather breaks they'll be working, but our closing could possibly be delayed by a few weeks. Seriously?! so my house is going to be completed and just sitting there for a few weeks, maybe longer because the county won't issue a CO?! I know it's not RH's fault, but it is extremely frustrating. I also kinda hope our PM fights for us and gets us in ASAP! The PM said as soon as he heard anything more concrete as far as closing or dates if it gets pushed back then he'd let us know as soon as possible. Ugh! Alex said I'm being too dramatic and maybe I am, but I'm awfully excited about my house and it's extremely frustrating not knowing when we're going to closing and the thought that it may just sit there empty for weeks.
We drove by the house today for the first time in over a week... and much to our disbelief we were locked out!!!! When we met in the beginning of this whole process, the SR said either he or our PM could take us through our house. We stopped in today to ask to go through the house and the SR said RH was enforcing their walk-through policy and he couldn't take us in and that we needed to make an appt. with our PM. A week ago we saw a different SR taking someone through their house....Anyway, our PM only works 8-3 and I work 730-4.... ugh!
Anyway, we saw the outside with the siding and shutters and we are happy with the way it turned out! Thank Goodness!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Paint Now or Later?
Ok blogging friends, I need some help here.
Alex and I were planning on painting a few rooms before we moved in while the house was empty. However, I spoke with some people and they said to wait for at least 1 year to paint anything, because RH would be back in a year to fix nail pops... And that we'd have a mess and have to re-paint after they fix the walls.
Did you paint right away or are you waiting for this reason?
I don't want to create more work for myself, but adding color to the walls is something I've been looking forward to.... I can't paint where I rent right now and I'm pretty sick of white walls. I can't imagine having white walls for one year in our new home....
Alex and I were planning on painting a few rooms before we moved in while the house was empty. However, I spoke with some people and they said to wait for at least 1 year to paint anything, because RH would be back in a year to fix nail pops... And that we'd have a mess and have to re-paint after they fix the walls.
Did you paint right away or are you waiting for this reason?
I don't want to create more work for myself, but adding color to the walls is something I've been looking forward to.... I can't paint where I rent right now and I'm pretty sick of white walls. I can't imagine having white walls for one year in our new home....
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