Approved!!!!!!!!!!! --- With Conditions

February 21 - We received a call from Gary stating "Congratulations, you're approved!"  Woohoo!  We were so excited that we were bursting at the seams.  You see, we limited the number of people we told about the house because we did not want to build it up in their minds only to tear it down later.  Why should they enjoy our suffering and despair if it all went south?  Well, Angela was so excited that she called Bryan to give him the good news and good news it was!  Bryan had to finish the rest of the work day into the evening before he could come home to celebrate.

We made a family pact that when we found out the results of the loan process that we would go to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate with dinner and a piece of cheesecake.  Or, we would go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and an entire cheesecake apiece to drown our sorrows.  Either way, it was a win-win.

It was a night for celebration!  Angela called her parents earlier in the day to share the good news.  Angela and her mother went through every picture of the virtual walk through on Ryan Homes' website.  They waxed philosophical about decorating choices and the size of the house.  Her father was also very excited with the progress that his little girl was making after Angela told him the good news.

We were so excited that we wanted to celebrate!

We called Bryan's parents to let them in on the good word.  Bryan did a conference call because his mother was in Florida and his stepfather was in Missouri.  They were both very happy.  Nana said she was so happy and could not wait to see it.

Later, Bryan was able to tell his friend, Armond, who had by far the most excited response of anyone.  He was practically jumping through the phone.  It was great to have such support from friends and family.  Angela was able to share the news with her friend, Mary, and her siblings.  The phone calls were going out like crazy.  It was a great night.

February 22 - If you have seen Independence Day then you could imagine this date to be on a similar title card with that foreboding sound.  This is when we learned that, sure, we were approved, but it was "with conditions".  Emi had a little different tone with her congratulations message.  It was a congratulations with some qualifiers.  We had been approved, but there were still a few items that needed to be resolved before full approval could occur and closing could happen.  Way to swipe that rug out from underneath us -- now, you understand why I talked about the Underwriter in manner that infers that he may, in fact, be he who walks behind the rows.

Well, here are the things that we still need to resolve:

1. Bank statements that show where the closing costs are originating.
2. Homebuyer education course.
3. Tax transcripts
4. Student loan information [Grrrr!]
5. Recent bank statements
6. Paystubs for 30 days prior to closing.

This is not too bad and should not be problematic outside of the student loan issue.  Despite the fact that Bryan will not be graduating until December, they still want something official from the student loan people.  Yes, that should be easy enough (that is sarcasm).  Well, it can and will be done.  We will be home buyers, I am sure of it.

In the meantime, we took another trip to the old homestead to find...they leveled the ground.  Our big mound of dirt was gone!  We are another step closer!