17 days- Light at the End of the Tunnel

If this blog were a child, I'd be a horrible mother.I started to write an update for T-26 days and had to delete it and update with this instead! Ok, fine, if I am being totally honest I rewrote this particular post at least 5 times, but never finished. See? Horrible mother. So late. 

A few days Over a week ago we received a conditional approval! We had to submit a few documents, explain in a formal letter that Tony doesn't pay child support, wait for the appraisal, show proof of homeowners insurance, etc. I took care of all of those documents as of 3 days ago. A week ago we also received the appraisal.

Our appraisal came back at $82,000. Which is perfect because we are buying the house for $81,500 + 3% seller assist. I can breathe easy, because I was half expecting the house to appraise lower and cause a whole other clusterfuck. 

 So I am pretty sure once all of that gets to the underwriter, we have an approval from the bank!!! At first I was like DAYUM, maybe we should change the closing that to April 20th/25th or something. BUT, "we" (meaning my lender) has to submit all the info to PHFA, the program that makes my 3% conventional loan possible. This additional underwriting will probably take another week, because according to my real estate agent, they are really, really busy. 

So now I'm panicking. Because it seems like closing might actually happen in 17 days. And I'm busy as it is. But its not like an anxiety panic. I know in the end everything will be ok, especially because we basically have the month of May to move and clean the apartment. Its a happy panic. Is that a thing? In my head I am trying too organize all the things I should be doing, and the things Ill need to do when I move. I keep saying I will write things down, but then that ends up being yet something else I need to do and dont get around to it. hahahaha. 

I did at least
  • schedule the addition of the new house to our electric company for the day of closing
  • scheduled change of address with Post Office
  • schedule the move of our TV services (actually on the hold now as I type this)
  • called the town hall of where we will be moving to and asked questions about permits and changeover of water, garbage, sewer, etc (actually am waiting for a call back)
I still have to call to change over my phone and internet. Thankfully most of our other accounts are mainly online. So I will take care of all the banks, credit accounts, insurance, etc, after we have moved. 

I also started packing a "move box". It has things like disposable cups, plates, utensils, paper towels, toilet paper, basic toiletries. I have to add some cleaning supplies to it. Next week hopefully Tony should bring home some body wash from work and that should go in there too. Since we may not be moving everything the first weekend, this box will go right to the house when we close so we have access to basic materials (although there is a Dollar General a few blocks away in case we forget anything). 

I'm waiting until we have a clear to close and can actually schedule closing to start signing up some "troops" to help clean the new house and paint, which will be the most time consuming things I have to do I think. About a week before closing, maybe the weekend right before, I also want to start prepping some meals, Crockpot meals specifically, so that we can limit how much we order out during that first weekend. Even if we are working in the kitchen, I can plug in my Crockpot in any room for a meal!

Basically, I am just sitting here waiting for either a clear to close or more conditions that the bank would want approved. This is it, the home stretch! I can scarcely believe we are here. I am so giddy with excitement, and I have never been happier to be so stressed. Wish us luck!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

T-10 or 11 Days

Yep, you read that right. We have ADDED days to the countdown. We need to get the clear to close at least 3 business days before the actual closing date. Apparently my lender only just sent out the paperwork to PHFA (the program that makes my loan possible) and they will likely take 5 business days to review the loan. So our hope now is that we get the clear to close on Monday to schedule closing for next Friday, May 11. Problem? I have an all day seminar that day that is mandatory, and I am not sure if its something I can make up (hence mandatory). Thankfully, the teacher who is in charge of organizing it this year is really laid back and understanding, so I emailed her to see if it was possible or what the repercussions would be if I missed it. Honestly, I can't stand these sessions when we do have them, they are usually just one afternoon. They are boring as all get out and I rarely actually learn anything useful. But if its mandatory, I also asked her if it was possible to mi
Read more

T-27 days

Image
I can't believe we are just 4 weeks out from closing! About a week or two ago we decided to switch loan products. Originally we were going to go with a conventional loan backed by PHFA (PA Housing something or other) to avoid having PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), with the idea that this would result in a lower monthly payment than an FHA loan. Plus, we could avoid the dreaded FHA appraisal, which does more than just check the value of the home, it includes a mini-inspection to check for safety issues. However, the interest rate on the conventional loan was MUCH higher than the FHA loan. So although the FHA loan would require a little more money at closing (3.5% down payment vs 3%), our monthly payment sits at about $40 per month CHEAPER. This means a savings of $480 per year, which far outweighs any extra money we would pay at closing.  Our expected payment for mortgage, taxes, insurance and PMI would amount to $615. This is a $160 a month savings in what we pay for rent, wh
Read more

T-26 days

Well really, according to a countdown site I have bookmarked, its 25 days and 4 hours. Can you tell I'm getting just a teensy bit antsy? I emailed the loan officer's assistant yesterday to see if there was anything else missing and a concern about some deposits (basically my paychecks) that a previous lender had me write a letter to explain. And I realize that I **did** basically gift Tony the $1000 already, because there was a check of mine he was supposed to send but kept back in December.  When she contacts me again I am also going to ask for more clarification on the timeline and if i still seems at all reasonable to close on 3/2. The appraisal will soon be ordered if it hasn't already, so at this point I think we are waiting for underwriting and a title search.  Also, on Friday, I scored a deal on some wall cabinets. I just so happened to be on Facebook when someone posted about a regular 2-door wall cabinet plus two short ones (like the ones that go over a fridge
Read more