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
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