It all came down to the wire …

And we’re officially homeowners!  What a long, arduous process.  After setback after setback, we finally signed the documents and procured our keys.

Keys in hand – officially homeowners

On Thursday we met at the house to do our final walk through with the builder.  I arrived first, and I parked near the construction site.  Because it’s still very much a work in process, I tried to pull over as close to the edge of the curb as possible.  What I didn’t realize is that the curb has about a foot and a half drop off from the edge.  I did however realize this after my driver’s side tire plunged directly over the curb and into the ditch.  F —- I tried to reverse, as I didn’t quite know how far over the curb I was or how deep it was.  No dice.  I got out of my car and surveyed the situation.  No damage to the car, but it was definitely at an angle with the the driver’s side in a ditch, and the axel resting on the pavement.  I should have taken a picture, but I was in no laughing mood.  What a fantastic way to start the final walkthrough.  After our realtor and builder pulled up, we discussed that I probably just needed to call a tow truck and have them lift me out.  I’m sure Phil was thrilled when he pulled up and saw my car teetering in a ditch.  So $125 later we started our walkthrough.  No one ever said buying a house is cheap!  However, normally expenses are just related to the actual house – not dumbass driver error.

Anyway, we did the walkthrough, and the house looked fantastic.  There were a few minor things – touch up paint here, buffing out scratches there.  But, all in all we were so pleased with the process.  As a final touch, the builder gave us a framed picture of the artist’s rendition of the home.  What a sweet touch!

Since we were originally scheduled to close on December 31st, I wrongly assumed all was good with our lender. The push back had been more from the builder not the lender, so I assumed that all docs had been reviewed on the lender end and it would be a bang, bang we’re done.  Initially, we were meeting at the title company at 11am on Friday to close.  Thursday afternoon we hear from the mortgage lender that there’s some discrepancy between the insurance company and lender regarding what we’ve insured the home at.  Honestly, I really didn’t understand the discrepancy, and luckily Phil dealt with all of the back and forth with the lender.  Eventually, they straightened it out, but it was not until the last. possible. minute. on. Friday.

Friday comes around and the lender and insurance company are still going back and forth, back and forth.  We’re stressing out, snapping at each other.  It reminded me of the scene from Christmas Vacation with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character after Clark busted through their window with an icicle:

Margo: And why is the carpet wet, Tod-duh?

Todd: I don’t know. Mar-go.

Some tense, snappish moments for sure.  Neither of us really knew what was going on, and we had so many other people scheduled.  Our realtor and title company were ready to go at 11.  We had movers scheduled for the next day.  I was staying home Monday morning for the washer/dryer delivery and cable set-up.  Ugh…

Then we moved the close back to 2:00pm.  Then, we’re stressing out, waiting, waiting, waiting.  Still no word.  My day at work is absolutely shot because I can’t concentrate.  I know Phil has it worse because he’s the one dealing with all of the bank entities.  At this point, I have to call Ashley and ask her what is the last possible time of day we can wire money to the title company in order to close on Friday.  She tells me 2pm for the wire, and we can close at 4pm.  It takes some time for the wire to go through and for the title company to verify the money is accounted for.

We finally hear that the bank and insurance company have reached some type of conclusion, and now we’re just waiting on the HUD-1.  The HUD-1 is the document that tells you exactly what you owe.  It’s the final settlement that shows your loan amount, credits from the seller, and money you as buyers need to bring to the table.  Until you have that document, you don’t know how much money to wire to the title company.

And it all came down to the wire.  We received the HUD-1, and Phil wired the money at 1:57 – 3 minutes before our drop dead time.  We were about to explode with anxiety and stress.  But we made it!  Phil got a call a few minutes later confirming it’d been approved on the bank end, and we finally heard an A-OK on the title company side.

Then at 3:30 we met our realtor at the title company, where the title attorney went through all 30(???) or so forms that we had to sign.  There were mortgage, title, tax, you-name-it documents.  One form showed every name that came up for you on your credit report.  For example, it had my full name with middle initial and my full name – no middle initial.  I guess I don’t always use the exact same name on all credit cards and line of credits.  Ashley told us on a few occasions it can be interesting because a couple will be buying a home, and all their previously used names appear.  Every now and then, she’ll have a couple where the woman was married before and her former married name pops up.  That isn’t that weird, but Ashley said once or twice the husband had no idea the wife had been previously married — until this form showed it!!  That’s crazy!  Rest assured, Phil had proof that I’ve never been previously married (or at least changed my name as a result, hah).

After about an hour and a half of signing documents, we officially became home owners!  It was such an incredible high!  Ashley gave us an adorable basket of Nashville goodies as a thank you, and we took our picture with her.  She really was such a great guide through the process, and we’re so indebted to her (and Angela for the recommendation).  Additionally, the title company also gave us a bottle of wine!  I guess after you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, you get some freebies.  Regardless, we were thrilled!

With our realtor Ashley

Lovely congratulatory gift basket from our realtor

And just like that … we became homeowners.  As Phil said, both literally and figuratively, it all came down to the wire.

Home Inspection and Initial Walk Through

Our realtor Ashley had warned us in advance that once you get close to your closing, everything sort of happens at once.  As much as possible, we had been trying to brace ourselves for the fact that quite a few things would come up last minute, and we needed to try to roll with the punches as best we could.  Originally, we had both our inspection and initial walk through scheduled for last Friday.  However, the day before Ashley told us that she had the flu, and she wouldn’t be able to do the walk through.  She said we could do it without her, but Phil and I both agreed, no way.  We don’t know what we’re doing; we want and need her expertise regarding what we need to be looking for during the walk through.  Thus, we went ahead with our inspection on Friday, but rescheduled the walk through for Monday.

Inspection

We were supposed to meet our inspector, Chuck, over at the house at 10am on Friday morning.  My only experience with inspections is what I’ve seen on HGTV.  Whenever they show it, it almost seems as though the buyers are walking around with the inspector as he conducts each test, inspection, etc.  By the time we arrived, Chuck had pretty much completed the entire inspection.  He said he’d been there since 7am, and he was just working on his report.  I wasn’t a huge fan of that.  Nothing was very structured at all.  I thought we’d start on the ground floor, room 1, and work our way up.  But, we met Chuck in the kitchen, and he just absent mindedly pointed out things he’d noticed.  He never really introduced himself or explained the process.  We never went room by room either.  We’d be talking, and I’d ask a question, and he’d say, “Oh yeah you should get carbon monoxide detectors on every floor and put them here.”  Or he’d be talking about the kitchen, and say, “yeah I noticed the pan for the HVAC unit is too large, and it doesn’t look right, so they should change it.”

I was furiously writing notes, which he seemed to think was odd.  He kept saying, oh it’s all in my report.  I’m sure he did a fine job, but the process just seemed so disjointed.  Most of the questions I would ask about were “cosmetic” in his eyes, but I didn’t always know where to draw the line between cosmetic and structural.  Ok, so the cabinets aren’t level.  I get that this is somewhat cosmetic, but it also seems structural to an extent!  It just seems overwhelming, and you have to trust that the inspector is just doing their job.  However, that is a little hard to do when our report has typos in our address and names… Ugh.. This process.  All in all, Chuck thought things looked great, and Brendon, the contractor, agreed to address everything.

Which brings me to …. The Initial Walk Through!

Phil and I were majorly stressing about this.  We thought it would be adversarial, and we know enough people who have closed on a new build who had warned us of this process:

• Note everything!
• Bring your own role of painter’s tape and start marking up the walls.
• Sit on every toilet and look at the room from that vantage point to see if there is anything you’re missing.
• Bring a flashlight to shine on the ceiling to notice imperfections.
• Try every outlet, window, light switch, faucet, etc.

Brendon was actually extremely organized.  We started on the third floor, and worked our way down, room by room.  Most of the issues we pointed out were minor.  Paint needs to be touched up here and there.  Brendon and I each had a roll of painter’s tape.  Whenever we noticed an imperfection, we’d mark it with the tape and let Brendon know so he could make sure it got taken care of.  It actually turned out to be a fun experience.  For the most part, Brendon agreed with us about everything.  Even in a few instances, he noticed things we hadn’t seen.  According to Ashley, this was one of the better walk throughs she’d done.  The builder (i.e., Brendon) was organized, and the house was pretty much 95% done so there isn’t a huge list.  The biggest items that still need to be addressed:

• Porches are not complete
• Sink in kitchen is not level with cabinets
• Tiling in one bathroom was messed up so it needs redone
• Master closet is not done
• Stairs need a final coat of stain

But, we are super close.  The big hold up is the gas is not yet turned on.  We cannot get a final appraisal and certificate of occupancy from the city until this is complete.  And, until we have a final appraisal, we can’t get the loan from the bank.  And without the loan from the bank, we can’t close.  So, we’re in limbo until the city comes out and hooks up the gas.  The new goal is to either close December 31 or early in January.  Several parties in this process have incentives to close before the end of the year, but there’s really nothing we can do until that gas is turned on.  As a result, I’ve rescheduled our movers for the third time.

We’ll just have to sit back and relax.  Phil and I are out of town until the 28th since we will be visiting his family in Omaha.  I’d like to point out that it’s in the mid 50s here, and I’m pretty sure there will be snow in Omaha.  At least it’ll be a white Christmas!

Nashville New Build v9

You guys!!  We are actually doing our home inspection today!  Like, for real.  It’s scheduled.  We’re showing up at 10am, and doing the home inspection.  Our actual walk through with our realtor and the builder is scheduled for Monday, and we know there are still quite a few outstanding items that need to be finished before we can close.  However, most of them are small and cosmetic, so this shouldn’t affect our home inspection.

I was over there yesterday (and every other day this week), and I am so thrilled by the progress.  Like I mentioned, there are quite a few items still outstanding (finish screening the porch, staining the stairs, installing the quarter round, touch up paint, etc.), but all in all it looks very close!

We are still both a little sick to our stomach because it seems like so many things are up in the air.  Will the inspection go well?  Will things be ready for the walk through?  Do we have everything we need for the walk through and close?  Will there be unexpected expenses (short answer – I’m sure.  So far this process has been bleeding us dry)?  But, while I contemplate taking a Xanax, I’m just going to sit back and get excited about the progress so far.

Exterior

Exterior – Still painting and staining and screening

Exterior

Our porch with our address

Interior

Kitchen – with a few fixes still to do (fridge, patching the ceiling, some of the cabinets are not level)

Looking into the kitchen from the living area

Kitchen sink

Stairs – stain still isn’t complete

Upstairs bathroom

Holding our breath until after the inspection!

Nashville New Build v8

You guys!  It’s getting close!  We have our inspection scheduled for December 17th, walk through for December 19th and a tentative close date of December 28th.  I’m feeling really good about this!

I stopped over to the house on Tuesday afternoon to take some measurements for blinds.  Did you know blinds are expensive?  Did you know everything about home ownership is expensive?  Anyway, I counted all the windows, doors, etc. to determine how many blinds we needed.  We will probably just prioritize and not get blinds everywhere for the time being.

While I was over there, I checked on the progress.  The majority of the porch is now finished!

Porch is very close!

Exterior shot

Additionally, faucets and shower heads have been installed.

Faucet and my tape measure

Master bath with shower head

Guest bath with faucet

Really, at this point it’s just carpet, final paint and a few little things.  I can’t believe we’re so close!  We’re going to stop by tomorrow to see where things stand, see how confident we feel that we’ll be able to meet our anticipated timeline.  Can’t wait to see the progress!  Honestly, every time we stop by we’re amazed at what’s been complete.  We’ve been very happy with the quality and progress, so thinking positive thoughts for the weekend.

Nashville New Build v6

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I’m incredibly thankful that we’ve had such a terrific 2014.  Here’s to hoping our house will be ready, and we will be moved in by 2015.

Not tons to report on the house this week, but we’re still always excited to see some progress.  When we stopped by, we noticed a few things were underway:

Our amazing farmhouse sink that I discussed extensively here has been installed.  I love it!  So thrilled we went with white.

Farmhouse sink installed

I love how large it is, and that it’s directly under the window.

 

Kitchen with sink to the left and paneling installed on the island

 

Bathrooms have been prepped for tile, and in a few cases, tile has been installed.

2nd floor bathroom prepped for tile

Tile laid in the master bath

I love how wide the tile is.

Finally, we noticed that banisters have been fully installed on the staircases.

Banister looking downstairs

Love how it’s all coming together!

And a shot of our neighbors across the communal green space:

Nashville New Build v5

When we tell people that we’re under contract on a new build, the first question we always get asked is, “Oh!  So do you get to pick out all of your finishes?”  The short answer is no.  While our house is a new build, it’s not a custom build.  There are a few things here and there we can select, but for the most part design decisions have been preselected.  The floor plan absolutely cannot be changed, but every once and while we get to make a few choices.  Had we purchased the house earlier in the process, we may have had more say in these decisions, but c’est la vie.  Honestly, I really like most of the decisions that have been made for us, and I probably wouldn’t have changed anything.

When we were negotiating, our realtor suggested since we probably couldn’t change price, we should ask for a few upgrades as part of the negotiation process.  We asked for an island and a farmhouse sink, and the builder agreed to both of them.  I was ecstatic about the farmhouse sink.  I know they are all the rage right now, and in 5 years it’ll probably look super dated just like wood paneling or something, but for the time being, I am so psyched for it!

Our builder reached out a while back because the farmhouse sink from Ikea that they had been using was on backorder.  He made this big to do about how, oh he’s just so nice, so he’s going to get us a farmhouse sink from Kohler, even though that’s sooo much more expensive.  And isn’t he just the nicest builder ever?  Ummm, we have a signed contract that you owe us a farmhouse sink.  You’re not being nice because you’re upholding your end of a legal document.  Not my fault Ikea’s sold out and you have to upgrade us.  Needless to say, I was thrilled by this development.  This change in course presented us with our first actual design decision: which farmhouse sink from Kohler would we like?  Who knew you could spend so much time debating the merits of two sinks?

Stainless steel farmhouse sink

White cast iron enamel farmhouse sink

We talked about this forever.  On one hand, we liked the look of the stainless steel as a modern contrast to the kitchen.  On the other hand, when I pictured farmhouse sink, I had been picturing white.  We asked me mom for her opinion.  We read user reviews on Kohler and Amazon (because of course you can buy sinks on Amazon.  I wish you could have bought a house on Amazon.  I totally would have done it with Prime.).  Finally, after much ado, we selected the white sink.  I had just read a few reviews about the stainless steel scratching, so we decided, heck, let’s go with the white.  They’re both awesome choices.

Given how much time we spent debating a sink, I can’t even imagine making all those other design choices.  Also, how adult is this?  Ahh, my youthful debates of Natty vs. Jungle Juice have been replaced by detailed discussions of sinks and trim colors.

On a side note, I’m so excited for this weekend.  We’re going to see the NYC Rockettes at the Opry on Friday, and then my sorority little is visiting for a Friendsgiving that one of our mutual friends is throwing.  I’m still totally bummed that I’m missing my Columbus Friendsgiving, but I’m sure I’ll hear all about it and see pictures!  Have a great weekend!

Nashville New Build v4

Today, Phil, our realtor Ashley, the contractor Brendan and I all met at our house during lunch to review progress.  I had stopped by last weekend with my friends who were in town, so I was quite pleased with the progress that had been made in less than a week.  Of course, I have no idea what the intended schedule is, so I don’t really know if they are hitting projected dates or not.

Brendan really drives me crazy because he will not look you in the eye when talking to you.  I started staring him down because I figure if he’s going to try to tell me they’re not going to hit a target, he needs to look me in the eye and say it.  He still seemed pretty certain they’d hit most targets and we’d close in mid-December, maybe a day or two later.  We’re trying not to let it stress us out since Ashley had warned us that this is how new construction works.  So, we’ll just have to take Brendan on his word.  Good news is, people were working on the house when we did our walkthrough, and lots of progress had been made.

Concrete poured for first floor porch

A look into the garage

Updates

Drywall has been smoothed over and the first coat of grey paint has been applied.   They will do more painting further along in the process, but the grey color you see is the color we will have.

Trim has been installed in most locations.  They are smoothing out the trim, and it will be repainted at some point.

Cabinets have been installed in the kitchen and the bathrooms.  I’m totally relieved about the kitchen.  We had an island installed, but we were concerned it would eat into the living space.  Now that we see everything set up, we feel that we’ll still have a lot of living space, and the island gives us a ton of extra storage.

Concrete for the first floor porch has been poured.

Banisters for the stairways are up.

Most doors are here!

Brendan said we should see tile next.  They do hardwoods and carpet after tile has been installed in the bathrooms.  So fingers crossed that we start seeing tile soon.  I’m so excited with how much has been done, and Phil and I are thrilled.  We can’t believe we get to live here!

First Floor

First floor bedroom, doors are here!

Second Floor

Closer look at kitchen cabinets

Kitchen

Third Floor

Hallway with trim up

Guest bedroom

Guest bath

Master bath

Mater bedroom

Nashville New Build v3

Drywall is up!  I repeat, drywall is up!  At least, the base for drywall is up.  Still, we finally have walls.  It looks so different now that we can visualize the space better.  No longer can we walk through the walls (as we were doing when it was just studded); now we actually have to walk through the doors.  It is so cool that it’s coming together!  I took a few pictures below:

[SIDENOTE: When we first started looking at new construction I was so thrown off by the state of the homes while being built.  A quick glance around shows discarded water bottles, nails everywhere, debris scattered throughout the home, etc.  It definitely took me off guard at first, but I’ve grown used to it.  I think you’ll see a few Gatorade bottles thrown throughout our home 😉 ]

First Floor

Garage

Looking into the bedroom/office

In the bedroom/office looking into the bathroom (door on the left) and hallway (door on the right). The garage is behind the bathroom.

Looking out of the bedroom and at the stairway to the second floor.

Second Floor

Panorama of the second floor. The living space is to the left, and you can see the porches that open out from the living space. Directly in front is the kitchen and the framing for the island.

Kitchen

In the kitchen, looking into the living room.

 

Third Floor

Stairway to the third floor

Master bedroom

In the master bedroom looking at the closet.

Looking at the progress on the houses across from us.

Nashville New Build v2

Phil and I have decided that we will only allow ourselves to drive by our house once a week.  We think if we go with any greater frequency we will drive ourselves crazy.  The truth of the matter is they don’t work on your home every day.  So, if we were to stop by every day we’d probably stress ourselves out because we wouldn’t be able to see progress as clearly.  Our last visit was worth the wait!

We have insulation!  Yay!  That means we have (1) siding, (2) shingles/roof, (3) insulation, (4) electrical, and (5) plumbing.  I’m no expert, so I have no idea what is next but my guess would be drywall?  Fingers crossed that when we stop by next we have drywall up.  Our contractor confirmed that they were on track for a December 12th close date.  Our realtor has still braced us to take this with a grain of salt since it’s not in their best interest to tell you this early in the game that they can’t hit your close date.

1st Floor

 

1st Floor, looking into the bedroom/office

1st Floor, another shot of the bedroom/office

2nd Floor

2nd Floor, looking into the kitchen (island is the structure closest to the “2”) and the back bedroom/den

2nd Floor, looking out of the living area onto the stairs to the 3rd floor

2nd Floor, looking down the stairs to the main entrance and 1st floor

Third Floor

3rd Floor, from the stairs looking into the master bedroom

Looking out the window to the shared “green space”

Nashville New Build v1

On Wednesday, we went to our house (!!!) and met with our builder, Brendan.  We were really impressed that a lot of work had been done on the house in the few days since we had last stopped by.  Almost all of the siding is up.

The siding is up! It will eventually be painted white and black.

Siding up in the back!

At first we were totally bummed because we thought the house was going to end up yellow.  However, we realized that they eventually paint the siding.  So, our final colors will be white + black.  We’re really excited about that selection!

The point of meeting with the builder is to get a better sense of the timeline and the process.  Our realtor was really great about stressing in no uncertain terms that we absolutely had to be in by our close date (Dec. 12).  Brendan didn’t seem to excited to give us an official date, which made us nervous.  He said he’d check on the schedule and get back to us by Monday.  Our fingers are still very much crossed.

In addition to meeting Brendan, he showed us around the house.  The interior is still very much studs, but we can see where progress has been made.  They have begun putting in the installation and building the island.  It still takes some vision to figure out how it’ll all come together.  But, it’s really exciting to see every step of the process.

A view of the first floor. You’re in a bedroom looking at the closet and bathroom. Definitely just studs at this point.

Looking at the staircase leading to the main level.

We also got to see the finishes that had been preselected.  Since we bought midway through the process, a lot of finishes have already been selected.  However, we love what they chose.  We’ll have dark hardwood, white cabinets, and white granite.  One thing we did manage to negotiate into our offer was a farm sink.  I am SOO excited for this.  I think Phil is into the farm sink, but I don’t think he fully grasps how pumped I am for this addition.

Our finishes: white cabinets, grey and white marble, grey and white tile for the bathroom

Carpet in the bedrooms (bottom right)

While we were there, we also met some of our neighbors.  Our neighbors directly next to us look to be about our age, so that’s reassuring.  We know this process is going to be stressful, but we are so excited for the journey.  I’m so thrilled we were able to find a house, and I feel so fortunate that we are going to be living in what I think is a pretty sweet house.