June 28 - That's it, ladies and gentlemen! We are officially closed. All of the paperwork is signed and we are the official owners of Our New Venice Home! It was a ton of signing and a bit of an exhausting day for all, but we did it.
Look at that stack of paper. I think they killed an entire rain forest for this one.
So, that leads us to our very last edition of the countdown.
One last time, for the fans in the cheap seats, a reminder of our countdown so far:
30. The Garage
29. The Community
28. A Backyard
27. Family Space
26. The Soaking Tub
25. The Kitchen Cabinets
24. The Outdoor Carriage Lights
23. The Master Closet
22. The Dishwasher
21. The Landing Window
20. The Laundry Room
19. New Carpet
18. The Mudroom
17. Our Landscaping and Trees
16. The Reading Room
15. Our Neighborhood Playground
14. The Home Office
13. Our Lighting
12. Storage
11. Speakers in the Ceiling
10. New carpet.
9. Our Master Bedroom/Owner's Suite
8. Energy Efficiency
7. Our Basement
6. Our Wood Floors
5. Our Stairs
4. Our Fireplace
3. Our Children's Big Bedrooms
2. Our New Venice Home
And now, for the moment you have all been waiting for:
Getting the keys to our new home. That is a crowning moment that brings so much happiness! We are so very happy to have our new home. All of the ups and downs have been...fun? Now, we are ready to move in, relax and be content just sitting watching the wheels go round and round.
Bryan was the first to try the key and enter as a brand new home owner.
We also stopped by the house to make sure our keys worked before we showed up with our loaded U-Haul and guess who we saw working into the evening hours?
Bryan and our kids with Super Drew, our project manager!
Well, that's it, dear friends. The blog will continue on, but that is a wrap for the building process. We begin the loading and unloading process tomorrow, but all documents have been signed, notarized, and penned in blood. We are now owners of our new Venice home and we could not be happier!
June 27 - Remember when we told you that everything was in the bag? Well, you didn't buy that like we did, right? We were all set for the closing for the tomorrow and everything looked to be in order. Then, cue the music...dun dun dun....the underwriter said "Hey, there, wait a minute. I need a few more things." Alright, stop collaborate and listen. Now, was the time to get our T.U.R.T.L.E. Power on and circle the wagons. Our loan processor, Chrissy, was on top of everything and she worked quickly, but we were told that Friday's closing may be out. Well, that caused us a little more than a panic. A panic is a nice way of saying holy craparoni! We looked something like this for most of the day:
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I thought we were finished!!!!!!!!
Well, Chrissy worked her butt off again to get it resolved. Then, later in the evening we received the phone call that everything was now complete. We are definitely closing tomorrow. We even got a second phone call from our loan officer, Gary, to confirm it. That sounds like good news to us. Although, we cannot wait to sign those papers tomorrow. No more panic attacks. No more of this:
So, now that we are back on at the 25th hour, let's continue the countdown. Let's start from the beginning and when we get to the end, stop.
Counting down, for your reading pleasure.
Our countdown thus far:
30. The Garage
29. The Community
28. A Backyard
27. Family Space
26. The Soaking Tub
25. The Kitchen Cabinets
24. The Outdoor Carriage Lights
23. The Master Closet
22. The Dishwasher
21. The Landing Window
20. The Laundry Room
19. New Carpet
18. The Mudroom
17. Our Landscaping and Trees
16. The Reading Room
15. Our Neighborhood Playground
14. The Home Office
13. Our Lighting
12. Storage
11. Speakers in the Ceiling
10. New carpet.
9. Our Master Bedroom/Owner's Suite
8. Energy Efficiency
7. Our Basement
6. Our Wood Floors
5. Our Stairs
4. Our Fireplace
3. Our Children's Big Bedrooms
Our new Venice Home. Did that throw you for a loop? We are sure that you are asking "What the heck could be number one then?!" Well, good things come to those who wait. We are looking forward to our new home for so many reasons that it is truly difficult to list them all without sounding self-indulgent. However, just to give you a little taste, then like when the Baskin Robbins lady gives the little fat kid a miniature spoonful of Rocky Road, you will be hooked. We are looking forward to having a home of our own that we built to our specifications. Yes, Ryan Homes has a floor plan, but the idea of picking out all of the special features such as the stair rails, lights, flooring, windows, carpet, etc. truly is an experience that gives you some sense of fulfillment.
I am lifting the air...the newest craze in virtual exercise.
Another reason we are looking forward to our new Venice home is that it will be our home. It will not be a rental. The rental life can be good, but it can also be taxing because there is a sense that your hard earned money is going into someone else's mortgage payment or real estate equity. For renters, sometimes it is not easy being cheesy.
Who's hungry now?
When we began this process, our original sales representative, Mark, said that we would never know what the feeling is like to build a home. He talked about the rewards and that only a limited amount of people get to do it in their lifetime. Certainly, it was a sales pitch. However, there is some truth there for us. Overall, it has been a rewarding experience. Working with our sales representatives, Mark and Lauren, has been outstanding. Working with Drew, our project manager, has been amazing. Although the ups and downs of the loan process has been anything short of mentally excruciating, working with our loan officer, Gary, and our loan processor, Chrissy has been so wonderful. With all of that, do you feel like that fat kid at Baskin Robbins yet?
Be bold and live in the now.
It has been an adventure and one that we are looking forward to concluding tomorrow at 3 p.m. Then, it will be time to begin the new adventure in our new home.
Until then, always remember that having a luck dragon with you is the only way to go on a quest.
June 26 - We are just two days to this exact moment from closing when we are writing this post. How exciting!! We have seen so many of our blogger friends who have closed and made the transition to their new homes. We are so happy to see all of them settled in. Sure, we are a little jealous, but such is the life of a home builder. We are also very excited for all of our blogger friends who are still in the process. We hope your closing comes soon enough.
Now, we want to give just two more shout outs. Yes, you are certainly tired of hearing how great our PM, Drew, is at this moment, but this will be the last one. He and his manager fought to get the gas company to bring the lines into the neighborhood in a timely manner. They were constantly calling and telling the company that the delay was unacceptable. Apparently, the gas company wanted to have a little more time. Three weeks more time. Wowsers! It sounds like an awesome job. The project was supposed to be completed at the beginning of June, but they wanted to take nearly two months past their original date to complete it. Give that a shot at your job and let us know how it goes. Well, after you are fired and can find access to a computer again. You'll be dumped faster than any boyfriend of Taylor Swift.
The second shout out goes to our loan processor, Chrissy. Admittedly, we were a little leery when we were told that our original LO had left or was just plain gone. Still not sure what happened there, but that is none of our concern. Well, Chrissy took the ball and ran hard with it. She quickly worked to finish everything for our original closing date of June 7. Then, the gas company decided to try out for the casting call of the new movie Turbo.
The gas company, but they never get the super powers this character gets later in the film.
As you know, this pushed our date to the 18th. That was still okay because our locked rate was still valid to that point. Well, then the gas company said "Ya, ya. We know we told you that we would have it done by the end of the week. We need to curve that because what we really meant was we need two...no, no make it three weeks. Ya, three weeks outta do it. Unless we need three more after that. Then, that ought to do it. Well let's not set that in stone...." Well, Drew and his boss solved that little fiasco. However, things on the loan side were going haywire. They had to do another scan of the credit to check to make sure nothing had changed. Okay, well that should be easy enough, right? Nope. It got very crazy with Credco yet again. In the meantime, it appears that someone wanted to drop our locked-in rate because of the delays. That would have bumped us from our 2.75% to over 5 %! Well, Chrissy fought tooth and nail for us and made sure our rate remained locked. She literally saved our home for us. That's amazing.
We bow to you graceful lady who controls the loan!
Now, enough of the pats on the back, right? I know you are excited as we continue our countdown to Our New Venice Home.
Our countdown thus far:
30. The Garage
29. The Community
28. A Backyard
27. Family Space
26. The Soaking Tub
25. The Kitchen Cabinets
24. The Outdoor Carriage Lights
23. The Master Closet
22. The Dishwasher
21. The Landing Window
20. The Laundry Room
19. New Carpet
18. The Mudroom
17. Our Landscaping and Trees
16. The Reading Room
15. Our Neighborhood Playground
14. The Home Office
13. Our Lighting
12. Storage
11. Speakers in the Ceiling
10. New carpet.
9. Our Master Bedroom/Owner's Suite
8. Energy Efficiency
7. Our Basement
6. Our Wood Floors
5. Our Stairs
4. Our Fireplace
Our children's big bedrooms. Our children currently reside in a smaller space than a convict at Alcatraz was afforded. Okay, so that's exaggerating, but fitting a full-sized person with any amount of stuff in the room would prove difficult. Our kids are looking forward to having enough space that they can stay away from one another and they can invite friends over to sleep overs. How rocking is that?
Okay, so this is not really one of their rooms now, but you get the idea.
So, yes. Sanity will prevail in our new home! Looking forward to peace and quiet...at least for the first couple of days.
Finally, Bryan made an I-phone mixtape for our walk-through and closing. Sure, it was a little John Cusack from High Fidelity, but doesn't life always relate to a Cusack movie? Think about it.
Every good mixtape starts with a Milli Vanilli song.
So, we wanted to share it with you. Some of these may pertain to you while others are a little more centered on where we are moving. And, if Ryan Homes decides to mass produce these and give them to their customers, we want some kickbacks. We are watching, RH. We are watching.
Track 1: "Movin' on Up" - Ja'net Dubois
Track 2: "Little Boxes" - Malvina Reynolds
Track 3: "Brand New House" - Bobby Darin
Track 4: "Homeward Bound" - Simon and Garfunkel
Track 5: "Our House" - Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Track 6: "House" - Elton John
Track 7: "Home Sweet Home" - Motley Crue
Track 8: "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - Arcade Fire
Track 9: "Lookin' Out My Backdoor" - Creedance Clearwater Revival
Track 10: "Light Up My Room" - The Barenaked Ladies
Track 11: "Take Me Home, Country Roads" - John Denver
Track 12: "The House is Rockin" - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Track 13: "Pink Houses" - John Mellencamp
Track 14: "Goin' Home" - Dan Auerbach
Track 15: "I'll Buy That Dream" - Dick Hames and Helen Forrest
June 25 - The day has arrived! We were so happy to hear that everything was in place and that our walk-through date was not going to change. We woke up this morning with massive excitement. After the months of waiting for this day to arrive, we have finally arrived! I think now is the time to cue the music:
Oh, that's right, it's a happy day. Sing it, Whoopi. We met Drew, our project manager, at our soon-to-be new home for the final walk-through. We are so glad that we did the informal walk-through awhile back. This gave us the opportunity to just relax and learn about all of the features of our new home without having to worry about looking for any nicks in the walls or other items. Drew took us on a complete tour of our home. He showed us:
How all of the switches worked
The electrical outlets that work with a switch
The air intake vents
The water shut offs under each sink
The water shut offs for the toilets
Bathroom fans including the one that is on a timer to go off every so often to ventilate the house
The laundry room hose connects, vents, and drains
The attic access
All closets and shelving
Lighting and light fixtures
The shower and tub tile grout and caulking
The features and maintenance of the windows
The fireplace
All kitchen appliances
The kitchen cabinets and outlets
The garbage disposal
The garage door and outlets
The bathroom rough-ins in the basement
The breaker box
The HVAC unit
Main shut offs for water and gas
Sump pump
Egress window
Sod and lot size
Gas and electrical meters
Sewer and gas main access
Air conditioning unit
Locks on all doors
Siding and roof
Drew also covered all of the warranty information and every detail in our owner's manual. He told us about all of the items that pertained to our home and included contact information for anyone and everyone that we could possibly ever need for the house. He did not include the number for Santa Claus, but we suppose we can't expect all of the goodies at the final walk-through!
I think it may be 867-5309, right? Just ask for Jenny.
When we were finished, we said our (perhaps) final farewell to Drew. We know that we have given him his fair share of accolades in this blog, but maybe one more time will not be overkill. When we met drew back in March we were struck by two things. First, he was very honest with us and straight forward. Second, he said "My only goal is to build you a good home. I will do that." Those words really stuck with us throughout the building process. Whatever delays occurred, even those with the gas company, we always felt that Drew had our best interests. He watched over our house like a hawk and did not let anything go unfinished or completed inappropriately. Even when we saw little flaws during the first phases, he was quick to get them fixed and make it just the way that we wanted. Finally, Drew was extremely patient with our endless questions and with our son's endless fascination with the building process. We know, we know, get a room, right? Well, if you are lucky enough to have Drew as your project manager you will certainly share our sentiment. We are happy to be in our new home very soon, but we will miss Drew!
As Tuesday ends, we know we are just three days away from our signing at closing. Or, as our son so aptly puts, three more sleeps. So, that means it is time to continue the countdown!
Our countdown thus far:
30. The Garage
29. The Community
28. A Backyard
27. Family Space
26. The Soaking Tub
25. The Kitchen Cabinets
24. The Outdoor Carriage Lights
23. The Master Closet
22. The Dishwasher
21. The Landing Window
20. The Laundry Room
19. New Carpet
18. The Mudroom
17. Our Landscaping and Trees
16. The Reading Room
15. Our Neighborhood Playground
14. The Home Office
13. Our Lighting
12. Storage
11. Speakers in the Ceiling
10. New carpet.
9. Our Master Bedroom/Owner's Suite
8. Energy Efficiency
7. Our Basement
6. Our Wood Floors
Our stairs. We know that many houses have much more lavish stairs, but we are very, very happy with our stairs. We think they look very classy and they will be something nice to wake up to every morning. Of course, it will be fun to give some other activities a try such as:
Stair sledding. Who didn't want to give this a shot after watching Home Alone?!?!?!
A new Yoga position - the very still and terrified dog.
Cover thy self in baby oil and create your own stair slip n' slide.
Pretend you are in Inception for the millisecond before you break your hip.
Extreme office working.
Pretend you are the creepy and disturbing ending of Titanic. Let me get this straight, the woman spends a lifetime with some guy. Has children and then grandchildren, but when she dies that dude gets the shaft and she sees some street urchin that she spent basically one full night with? Enjoy the afterlife as a bachelor other guy. The dude from What's Eating Gilbert Grape just took your gal in the sweet hereafter.
As we did not have an update yesterday, we need just one more here.
Our fireplace. It does not have all of the blue tape on it anymore and it is ready to go. It has been hooked up and Drew gave it a go today. It looks so great! Bryan really, really wanted a fireplace. It does make a nice feature in the home, but Angela was hesitant because she is the one with the money sense. So, after some thought she went with it partially based on Bryan's thoughts that if the power should ever go out then we would have some warmth with the fireplace. Well, after the 14 day changes expired Bryan said "Hey, wait a minute. If the ignition occurs with a switch how is the dang thing supposed to light?" Our rental home has a fireplace and while it has a pilot light getting it started without power is presumably impossible. Thwarted again by technology and Bryan's lack of willingness to look anything up, right? Well, lady luck even shines on the dimmest of lights sometimes. Drew showed us that our fireplace has no pilot light, but the ignition can occur either by switch or through a hidden battery pack. So, if we should get another version of Old Man winter playing Tony Montana at the end of Scarface like the East Coast had five or so years ago, we're going to be alright!
Bring it on, Old Man winter. We have a fireplace and we are going to light this place up.
All in all, it was a wonderful day and a wonderful experience. We are moving ever so closely to our closing date and we cannot wait. The next two days will be excruciating and even Friday will be crazy because we do not close until 3 p.m.! So, move-in day will be on Saturday if U-haul comes through!
Until next time, remember somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight. Someone's thinking of you and loving you tonight.
Good night, Moon. Good night, Fivel. Night, John Boy.
June 23 - The days keep passing and we swear that they are taking longer than they should. Is Father Time adding some hours to the day or did we miss daylight savings time? Everyone keeps saying "You'll be in the house soon". Well, that's kind of like telling a kid that they can open the presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas and it is November 3. It should be classified as cruel and unusual punishment!
Patience is a virtue, but waiting is for suckers!
So, we wait. We did check our newest and final county permits. It appears that we passed all but one. It will not hold up our final walk-through on Tuesday or our closing on Friday. Our erosion test did not pass because the sod has yet to take root. Come on, sod. You've got one job! One job! Now, grow darn you and lay down some roots!
Well, now that it is just time for our final descent we are ready to continue our countdown to our Venice home!
A review so far:
30. The Garage
29. The Community
28. A Backyard
27. Family Space
26. The Soaking Tub
25. The Kitchen Cabinets
24. The Outdoor Carriage Lights
23. The Master Closet
22. The Dishwasher
21. The Landing Window
20. The Laundry Room
19. New Carpet
18. The Mudroom
17. Our Landscaping and Trees
16. The Reading Room
15. Our Neighborhood Playground
14. The Home Office
13. Our Lighting
12. Storage
11. Speakers in the Ceiling
10. New carpet.
9. Our Master Bedroom/Owner's Suite
8. Energy Efficiency
7. Our basement
Our wood floors. We are very excited about the floors. Although it is not throughout the first floor, yet, we still love the way that it looks in the kitchen and the entry way. It is so shiny! We love hardwood floors and would love to have them through most of the house again. Well, at least the first floor. Although, if we had it everywhere in the house then we could do this everywhere all of the time!
Hey, you forgot your pants.
Advantage: Wood floors.
If ever the was an excuse to get excited it would be for the wood floors, right? Well, perhaps you like the feeling of the soft, squishy carpet between your toes. Well, you can't rock a good slide move on carpet. It only ends up like this:
Choose, but choose wisely, friends.
Well, that's it for today. 5 days and 5 more of the countdown left. In the meantime, the next time you're at the checkout counter and you hear the beep, think of all the fun you can have on Supermarket Sweep.
You could only wish to have as much fun as these cats.
June 21 - Sorry, dear friends, for the delayed postings. We have been pretty good about keeping the postings up on a regular basis until now. Well, let's turn over a new leaf and say that the delays are behind us, shall we? Well, this week was filled with the roller coaster of emotions. There were ups, downs, sideways, and straight up topsy-turvies. It was enough to make you more ill than watching a film based on a novel written by Nicholas Sparks.
It is such a shame and totally believable that ridiculously attractive people can't seem to find love in those North Carolina towns.
Let's begin with the good news. We received a message from Drew, our project manager, that the gas company finally figured everything out. Now, the houses in our neighborhood are hooked up and the meters are installed. A 24 test needed to be conducted and then it was to be smooth sailing time. Drew said that our walk-through would now be on Tuesday, June 25. However, due to the multiple homes closing at the same time in the neighborhood (re: all that have been waiting for awhile for the gas company delay) and Bryan's work schedule we are now closing on Friday, June 28. It looks like we will make it just before the beginning of July. Right on? Then, we received another call and it went something like this.
Hey there, NVR, calling. We have some questions.
Our loan processor, Chrissy, informed us that because our original closing date was June 7 and the process had been delayed so much that they needed to do a quick run through of everything again. Our completed file was now on the verge of being incomplete again. Luckily, we had been good girls and boys and avoided making large purchases or affecting our credit in anyway. So, it should be easy right? Well, maybe not as easy as you would think. It caused us some anxiety, but Chrissy continued to comfort us and said we would be closing on time. There wouldn't be a delay. She also said that our rate would not be affected either. Well, it was a long three days. Sitting, waiting, wondering. Then, we received a call today telling us that the file is complete again. Just take our advice, dear friends, do not test the waters and assume that everything is a green light. Wait it out and make sure those keys are in your hands.
And who doesn't feel this way two, three, four, or twelve times during the building process?
Now that it appears that we are back on track, let's continue with the countdown.
Screw Ryan Seacrest. There will always only be one king of the countdown. The king is dead. Long live the king!
Here is the countdown so far:
30. The Garage
29. The Community
28. A Backyard
27. Family Space
26. The Soaking Tub
25. The Kitchen Cabinets
24. The Outdoor Carriage Lights
23. The Master Closet
22. The Dishwasher
21. The Landing Window
20. The Laundry Room
19. New Carpet
18. The Mudroom
17. Our Landscaping and Trees
16. The Reading Room
15. Our Neighborhood Playground
14. The Home Office
13. Our Lighting
12. Storage
11. Speakers in the Ceiling
10. New carpet.
9. Our Master Bedroom/Owner's Suite
8. Energy Efficiency
Our basement. No, it does not look like this anymore, but it does remind us of the protection that it will provide. Being transports to the East Coast, we are not set with the same mentality as the natives. The idea of tornadoes seems almost a foreign concept to everyone out here. They seem to happen so irregularly that people dismiss them all together out here. However, the time honored Midwestern tradition of huddling in the basement every weekend to avoid tornadoes is a lost art out here. Well, not for us. Besides, Dorothy would have been better served if she would have just made it into that storm shelter with Aunt May and all of the others that seemed content with leaving a child out in a horrific storm.
"Dooooorttthhyyy! Doooorrrthy! Well, I guess she's not coming. Let's close it up, deuces."
Then again, she would have never been able to rock those ruby slippers or get to see what we can only assume to LSD induced hallucinations. So, there's always an upside to everything, right?
Well, we will pause the countdown there as it seems that we still have six days until closing. However, it will be in six days and then we will be just like our heroes. We patterned our entire lives after them.
We too are movin' on up. Get my hat, Weezy.
Until next time, dear friends. May the odds be ever in your favor. If not, get a girl who knows how to carry a bow and arrow.
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