We had our pre-settlement walkthrough on Thursday, and then we went to "pre-sign" some things for closing. Turns out we signed everything, and closed on Thursday, Valentine's Day! That, in itself, was an experience.
We got the keys around 4 pm on Friday, and have been in a whirlwind of moving, shoving crap in boxes and forgetting what's in there, and stressing out since then. We were both back to work on Monday, and that was stressful too.
Some notes (and then I have to get back to work):
- NVR is terrible. We will have more to say about that later.
- The cleaners are terrible (I know other people had the same problems).
- Our PM and assistant PM are really nice, but a little lacking in the communication department sometimes.
- The dishwasher has already had a problem (carry-over from before closing, which we weren't aware of and are not too pleased about), and apparently it's so confusing that the service tech that was sent to the house yesterday now cannot be reached and is likely in South America somewhere. (Have to tell you all about that one - it's a doosie.)
- The house (other than the cleaning) looks great and I can't wait to get some pics up.
- The cats are about as stressed as we are (one of them wouldn't leave the carrier for 3 hours after we arrived at the new house).
We should be getting internet tomorrow (amazing how lost I feel without it), and we have movers scheduled for Saturday for all the big stuff (we moved some beds and a bunch of boxes ourselves on Friday and throughout the weekend).
I'll keep you all posted, and good luck to those who are still dealing with NVR's *ahem* stuff!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Pre-Settlement Day
Today is our pre-settlement day. We are just 1 hr 13 mins (or so) from our appointment with our PM. I'm excited to see the clean house, however my excitement is tempered by the fact that we still don't know if we're on for closing tomorrow or not.
At this point, I just wish someone would tell me with certainty one way or the other. I wouldn't be quite as upset about it if I just knew there was a definite date. I hate being in limbo. Some friends invited us to hang out this weekend, and we had to tell them we weren't sure if we were moving or not this weekend. Rather frustrating. At least I have a decent amount of vacation left.
Here's hoping.
At this point, I just wish someone would tell me with certainty one way or the other. I wouldn't be quite as upset about it if I just knew there was a definite date. I hate being in limbo. Some friends invited us to hang out this weekend, and we had to tell them we weren't sure if we were moving or not this weekend. Rather frustrating. At least I have a decent amount of vacation left.
Here's hoping.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
And Now We Wait Some More...
We have submitted everything requested of us to the LP at NVR. So now we are waiting to hear back about whether the underwriters require more info on something, or if we can actually close on Friday.
I'm seriously doubtful.
If it's not Friday, it won't be Monday because of the bank holiday. It won't be Tuesday because of the husband's work schedule. It won't be Wednesday because of my work schedule. It might be Thursday or Friday, but who knows?
This is starting to get rather stressful and nerve-wracking. I just hope everything goes smoothly, whenever it happens.
I'm seriously doubtful.
If it's not Friday, it won't be Monday because of the bank holiday. It won't be Tuesday because of the husband's work schedule. It won't be Wednesday because of my work schedule. It might be Thursday or Friday, but who knows?
This is starting to get rather stressful and nerve-wracking. I just hope everything goes smoothly, whenever it happens.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Really Quick Update
Appraisal came back today, and the price didn't change!! Woohoo!! This is exactly what I was hoping for, so I'm super-pleased.
*giant sigh of relief*
Our loan processor has requested some more info (of course), but it seems like reasonable stuff that we can get done by tomorrow. So, hopefully they will have everything and the loan will be off to underwriting before the weekend...or at least first thing Monday.
Still on for closing next Friday, as far as I know. However, I wasn't the one who talked to the LP, so I don't know if it was brought up or not. I'm sure our pre-settlement walkthrough date (next Thursday - Valentine's Day) won't change even if closing does. It better not, I've already got the day off.
Chugging right along.
*giant sigh of relief*
Our loan processor has requested some more info (of course), but it seems like reasonable stuff that we can get done by tomorrow. So, hopefully they will have everything and the loan will be off to underwriting before the weekend...or at least first thing Monday.
Still on for closing next Friday, as far as I know. However, I wasn't the one who talked to the LP, so I don't know if it was brought up or not. I'm sure our pre-settlement walkthrough date (next Thursday - Valentine's Day) won't change even if closing does. It better not, I've already got the day off.
Chugging right along.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Getting close...
We went to the house yesterday to check things out - and we have lights! I'm so excited! Starting to feel like a real house now. Oh, and our front door was painted and the outside stone finished! I was so excited to get inside that I didn't even bother with an outside pic, though. I'll have to take one at another trip.
A lot of our floors were exposed too, so that was great to get to see the hardwoods uncovered. Of course, we still don't have carpet but that's okay. I'd prefer that they wait until the last possible minute to install that.
We found some items for our current and evolving punch list. Mostly they were related to drywall issues. There were already quite a few patch jobs present, so I think our PM is on top of a lot of it. Nevertheless, an additional set (or two) of eyes will catch a lot more, so we're trying to keep track. A few drawers in the master bathroom vanity are askew, and we noticed some things in the garage that we hope get handled before closing. Also, we weren't overly ecstatic about some of the painted trim - around the doors there seems to be a large number of obvious nails and paint goobers and so on. Not the best job, but we're hoping it gets taken care of. The husband is supposed to call the PM today sometime to talk about it. I know it's still not completely finished and of course there will be fixes made up until the last minute, but we just want these things on record now, while we still remember them.
Oh yeah, and our fireplace still isn't finished. Speaking of which, we apparently have a remote for our fireplace - we thought we were getting a switch next to the fireplace for it, but yesterday we only saw one switch there. That one was for the fireplace lights, and the box that used to be there was now covered in drywall. What? Well, we saw a remote sitting on top of the mantel, and low and behold, it operated the fireplace. Awesome! We couldn't figure out how to make the blower work, though, and we didn't know how to turn off/on the pilot from the remote either. They currently have the pilot running all the time, to help dissipate the smell that's associated with new fireplace logs. I really appreciate that - our friends who built with another builder this winter haven't been able to enjoy their new fireplace yet because of that smell. They're waiting for spring so they can turn it on full blast and open all the windows to let the smell out.
Still waiting to hear back about the appraisal. Once we have that number I'll be able to move on mentally. Providing, of course, that it's a favorable number. Otherwise... We shall see.
In other news, we've submitted the first round of paperwork to NVR. Let's hope it's the only round.
A lot of our floors were exposed too, so that was great to get to see the hardwoods uncovered. Of course, we still don't have carpet but that's okay. I'd prefer that they wait until the last possible minute to install that.
We found some items for our current and evolving punch list. Mostly they were related to drywall issues. There were already quite a few patch jobs present, so I think our PM is on top of a lot of it. Nevertheless, an additional set (or two) of eyes will catch a lot more, so we're trying to keep track. A few drawers in the master bathroom vanity are askew, and we noticed some things in the garage that we hope get handled before closing. Also, we weren't overly ecstatic about some of the painted trim - around the doors there seems to be a large number of obvious nails and paint goobers and so on. Not the best job, but we're hoping it gets taken care of. The husband is supposed to call the PM today sometime to talk about it. I know it's still not completely finished and of course there will be fixes made up until the last minute, but we just want these things on record now, while we still remember them.
Oh yeah, and our fireplace still isn't finished. Speaking of which, we apparently have a remote for our fireplace - we thought we were getting a switch next to the fireplace for it, but yesterday we only saw one switch there. That one was for the fireplace lights, and the box that used to be there was now covered in drywall. What? Well, we saw a remote sitting on top of the mantel, and low and behold, it operated the fireplace. Awesome! We couldn't figure out how to make the blower work, though, and we didn't know how to turn off/on the pilot from the remote either. They currently have the pilot running all the time, to help dissipate the smell that's associated with new fireplace logs. I really appreciate that - our friends who built with another builder this winter haven't been able to enjoy their new fireplace yet because of that smell. They're waiting for spring so they can turn it on full blast and open all the windows to let the smell out.
Still waiting to hear back about the appraisal. Once we have that number I'll be able to move on mentally. Providing, of course, that it's a favorable number. Otherwise... We shall see.
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| Living room - we can see the floor! |
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| View of dining room from living room |
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| Master Shower (glass door pending) |
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| Master Bathtub (a little blurry) |
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| Master vanity and mirror (at an angle so I'm not in the pic too) |
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| Hall bath |
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| Hall bath vanity |
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| Foyer chandelier |
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| The Kitchen *sigh* I love you, Kitchen. |
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| Another angle of the kitchen |
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| Morning room fan with light |
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| View of kitchen from family room |
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| Unfinished fireplace - but hey, there's light! |
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| Dining room chandelier We will seriously need a dimmer for this. Seriously. |
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| Dining room bay window with lights I love the look of the floor with the trim and paint in this room. |
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| Random pic of the basement media room |
In other news, we've submitted the first round of paperwork to NVR. Let's hope it's the only round.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Two Weeks to Closing (hopefully)
Well, here we are, approximately two weeks until our Pre-Settlement walkthrough and closing. I remember many of your posts about how stressful these last few weeks are - especially wondering if they are going to get it all done. I am having these same concerns now. The husband is less worried. He's sure it will all get done in time. I'm trying to be positive. Plus, our new appraisal is expected to be finished this coming week, so my fingers are crossed that the number doesn't change at all. Or it could go up, of course. :-) We have the lists of info to get to NVR as well, so that will take up some time this week.
We were able to stop by this weekend and get a few shots of the first floor. However, they have just finished (or started, I can't tell) the stain on the stairs and handrail, so the upstairs was off limits until after Monday. :-(
Without further ado, some pictures (in random Blogger order). First should be the pics of the stairs - I love them. We've noticed some slight inconsistencies in the stain (you'll see where the long handrail has a lighter-stained area in the center), but I don't know if/when those will get fixed. I guess we will see.
Next up is the dining room - I love this too. So beautiful with the trim. The large box in the center of the room is one of our hanging light fixtures. It's a 9-light chandelier, but I'm not sure if that will go in the dining room or in the foyer. I don't know what size chandeliers we're getting in those two spots. The paint is Sherwin Williams Pavilion Beige. In some lights, it looks very cool and greige-y. Other times it seems more warm, and a little peachy. It's a chameleon color, but so far I'm very happy with it. It's actually very similar to the Valspar Antique we have painted in the majority of our current house (have I mentioned before that the new house will be very similar to our old house in several ways?). The Pavilion Beige is just a little less yellow and a little cooler than the Antique. They fixed that crazy outlet, too, by the way.
Next, the kitchen - Santa Cecilia granite with Wyoming Cherry Spice cabinets. Overall, I'm very happy with this as well. There's one small granite cap on the half wall near the fridge area that has a very peachy look in person (I don't have a good close-up photo of it), but it's a minor thing. The rest of the granite is rather similar in color. The backsplash near the fridge also has that peachy color, but that's where our Keurig is going, so I doubt I'll notice it. Not all of the appliances are in yet (waiting on microwave and cooktop), and I'm not in love with the fridge (it was one of the RH choices, we wanted to just have all the appliances together so we wouldn't have to think much about it before moving in), but it's larger than our current fridge so that's great. Our current fridge has more of a rounded, sleeker feel so I will miss that, but it's just a fridge to me and it can always be replaced. I'm loving the double ovens though!!
Finally is our as-yet-unfinished fireplace - Buff ledgestone. There is a lot more rusty-orange tones in this stone than I think we were able to see at the time we chose it, but it's growing on me. I'm sure it will be fine in the end, and I'm rather pleased with how it looks against the paint. Perhaps a burnt orange accent wall is in our distant future? Who knows, but it'll be at least a year before any extra painting happens. The dry stack is something a little different - there are some gaps and things I'm not in love with, but honestly I think it would look worse if they had to cut small bits of stone to fill in those gaps. It might look more busy and I don't think I would like that any more. As it is, though, I'm still pretty happy with it (and can always just find something pretty to put in front of those less-attractive areas). We've never had a fireplace before and neither of us can wait to hang stockings at Christmas time!
So, I think I'll probably try to stop by this coming weekend as well. I don't know how you guys can stay away - you have much more willpower than I do! Let's hope the appraisal comes back in our favor (or at least at the same amount as it did before), so I can start to feel like we might actually get this house. We haven't started packing yet. Yeah, that's us all right. We are last minute to the core.
We were able to stop by this weekend and get a few shots of the first floor. However, they have just finished (or started, I can't tell) the stain on the stairs and handrail, so the upstairs was off limits until after Monday. :-(
Without further ado, some pictures (in random Blogger order). First should be the pics of the stairs - I love them. We've noticed some slight inconsistencies in the stain (you'll see where the long handrail has a lighter-stained area in the center), but I don't know if/when those will get fixed. I guess we will see.
Next up is the dining room - I love this too. So beautiful with the trim. The large box in the center of the room is one of our hanging light fixtures. It's a 9-light chandelier, but I'm not sure if that will go in the dining room or in the foyer. I don't know what size chandeliers we're getting in those two spots. The paint is Sherwin Williams Pavilion Beige. In some lights, it looks very cool and greige-y. Other times it seems more warm, and a little peachy. It's a chameleon color, but so far I'm very happy with it. It's actually very similar to the Valspar Antique we have painted in the majority of our current house (have I mentioned before that the new house will be very similar to our old house in several ways?). The Pavilion Beige is just a little less yellow and a little cooler than the Antique. They fixed that crazy outlet, too, by the way.
Next, the kitchen - Santa Cecilia granite with Wyoming Cherry Spice cabinets. Overall, I'm very happy with this as well. There's one small granite cap on the half wall near the fridge area that has a very peachy look in person (I don't have a good close-up photo of it), but it's a minor thing. The rest of the granite is rather similar in color. The backsplash near the fridge also has that peachy color, but that's where our Keurig is going, so I doubt I'll notice it. Not all of the appliances are in yet (waiting on microwave and cooktop), and I'm not in love with the fridge (it was one of the RH choices, we wanted to just have all the appliances together so we wouldn't have to think much about it before moving in), but it's larger than our current fridge so that's great. Our current fridge has more of a rounded, sleeker feel so I will miss that, but it's just a fridge to me and it can always be replaced. I'm loving the double ovens though!!
Finally is our as-yet-unfinished fireplace - Buff ledgestone. There is a lot more rusty-orange tones in this stone than I think we were able to see at the time we chose it, but it's growing on me. I'm sure it will be fine in the end, and I'm rather pleased with how it looks against the paint. Perhaps a burnt orange accent wall is in our distant future? Who knows, but it'll be at least a year before any extra painting happens. The dry stack is something a little different - there are some gaps and things I'm not in love with, but honestly I think it would look worse if they had to cut small bits of stone to fill in those gaps. It might look more busy and I don't think I would like that any more. As it is, though, I'm still pretty happy with it (and can always just find something pretty to put in front of those less-attractive areas). We've never had a fireplace before and neither of us can wait to hang stockings at Christmas time!
So, I think I'll probably try to stop by this coming weekend as well. I don't know how you guys can stay away - you have much more willpower than I do! Let's hope the appraisal comes back in our favor (or at least at the same amount as it did before), so I can start to feel like we might actually get this house. We haven't started packing yet. Yeah, that's us all right. We are last minute to the core.
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