Last Night

This is it! Our last night in the old house. We're still, however, in a state of limbo. We negotiated with the seller to move our stuff into the new house tomorrow (our original closing date), but cannot move ourselves in yet. The bank is going to pay for us to stay in a hotel for the next week until we actually close. The new closing date has still not been set, but it will probably be Friday, October 7, a week from tomorrow.

Today on our lunch break, Jason and I went to the new house to meet our agent for the final walk-through and to get the key so we can move our belongings in tomorrow. The visit was bittersweet. If all had gone as planned with the bank, today's walk-through would have been very exciting, knowing that we'd be living in our dream house the very next day. However, in real life, I'm still longing for the house, and it still feels out of reach. I still have a hard time believing we're ever going to live there.

Either way, the movers are arriving tomorrow morning at 8am and we will be fully moved out of this house by tomorrow afternoon. Tonight we packed. While I packed up the rest of the kitchen, Otto packed up himself.

My mom and sisters came over to help make dinner and keep Otto busy so Jason and I could pack. Otto lives and breathes for his aunties.

The next week is going to be a big adventure.  We'll be staying at a hotel with suite-style rooms, so hopefully we won't go too stir crazy. There will also be a pool and a morning breakfast buffet. Big score.  I'm going to try my hardest to keep my inner control freak at bay and just ride out the uncertainty of the week.

Seriously?

The shit has hit the fan.  Today we were supposed to get the "clear to close" approval from the bank, give it to the seller, get the details worked out on the Early Occupancy Agreement, and take a big breath of relief. None of that happened.

The morning started off with an email from my agent with two more conditions on our approval: 1) we need more documentation on the sale of our car a few months ago, and 2) they went to send a contractor to go out to the house and confirm that there is no termite damage. Condition number one we can pretty easily satisfy. Regarding condition number 2, wtf! A few weeks ago, the termite inspection came back saying there were evidence of live termites, but that there was no structural damage to the house. The seller paid to have the house treated and sent documentation to the bank. So, NOW, when we're already behind schedule on the closing, the bank wants the house to be further inspected. I know that having the inspection done protects the bank, and ultimately confirms that we're not investing in a black hole of money, but seriously. Not awesome.

This afternoon, the situation went from bad to worse. Despite the fact that the bank had finally agreed to the seller's terms on the Early Occupancy Agreement earlier in the day, the seller had a change of heart. Our agent says that the seller's attorney discouraged him from going ahead with it.

So here's we stand. We were supposed to close this Friday, September 30th. Now it looks like the closing will be no earlier than next Friday, October 7th.  We have no plan or idea of where we will be staying or storing our boxes and furniture in the interim.

I'm so glad I got my emotional breakdown out of my system yesterday. Right now I feel helpless but surprisingly calm.  I'm trying to remind myself that our end goal is to own this house.  I need to focus on that happening and not the hassle in between.  Easier said than done though.  If I've ever deserved a chocolate milkshake in my life, it's right now.

Weepy Mama

Pregnancy hormones are NO JOKE. This weekend was hard. I just can't stop crying!

We're still waiting for the bank and the Seller to work out the details of the early occupancy agreement, so we still don't have a definite go-ahead to move into the new house on Friday, but we're moving ahead with the packing as scheduled, in hopes that all falls into place this week.

Today though, it felt like I was operating in a shell of myself. The packing was overwhelming, reasoning with Otto was overwhelming, and getting the current house ready for potential new renters to come see it was overwhelming. Not to mention that my belly hangs out of every dang shirt I own.

On the bright side, we've accomplished our packing goals for the day and Otto and I are sitting on the coach watching the Winnie the Pooh Heffalump Halloween Movie.  Poor Jason had to go back into work tonight, but we're relaxing in his honor.

The Saga Continues

Before I begin, let me just say that it's 8:11pm and Otto is laying in his bed happily singing his ABCs. And I'm happily listening, since I get to lay in my bed too.

Ok, down to business. Borrowing money sucks! We are at the total mercy of the bank. Just when I thought we were done with the hard part and we could just coast until the closing, I was rudely interrupted from my dream-like state. This afternoon while I was at work, my mortgage lender called, and we happily chatted about childbirth. I thought she was going to tell me that we finally got the "clear to close" status from the Underwriter and that we were ready to enter the final processing period. But alas, she did not. It turns out the bank did a whole lot of lay-offs last week, and now the bank is understaffed and all of the closings are running a week behind schedule. UGH.

Because we're doing an FHA loan, we are supposed to close on the last day of the month (hence our intended September 30 closing day), and if the closing gets pushed even one day into the next month, we're responsible for the interest due for the whole month. I have no clue what it all means and why, but that's what I've learned. So in the case of this delayed closing, the bank is going to pay our increased interest expense (which will actually push the date of our first mortgage payment off from November 1st to December 1st, the one silver lining of this situation).

The not awesome part is that we now have to figure out where to live/what to do in the interim week. The agent is going to see if the Seller will allow for an Early Occupancy Agreement, in which we would essentially rent the new house from the Sellers (and paid for by the bank) during the interim week until the new closing date. That way, we'd still get to move on September 30 as planned. I'm stalking my email account waiting for an answer on this. I'm really depending on the early occupancy plan to work since we already have the moving truck, the movers and the movers all booked and ready to go.

So, the moral of the story is: the drama never ends in the homebuying process! Don't rest too pretty on your laurels until the key is in your hand. Not that I even have the insight to know about that last part. I've never actually had a key in my hand to a house I've owned. But I assume a lot of the drama ends there. At least I hope so.

Second to Last Weekend

This weekend was the second to last one we have in our (old) house. Here she is in all her glory:

These days, we give this house a lot of hell, mainly because it feels too small. This house has, however, been an important place in our lives. Jason and I have lived here for the past three and a half years. It may not seem like a long time to many, but it's the longest that either of us has ever lived in a place during our adult lives. In New York, we moved yearly, sometimes even more often. I guess without much stuff or many responsibilities, it was easy and fun to do. In fact, I remember moving from the Upper West Side to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in just one cab ride.

In the time we've been in this house, we made it through Jason working the night-shift for two years, we've had job changes and upgrades, and most importantly, we've had Otto. It feels like we became adults in this house.

But now we're ready to go. This second to last weekend has been the first fall weather weekend of the year. We spent Saturday completely shirking house responsibilities. We went to the Forest Hill farmer's market over by our new house and ate sourdough Amish donuts.  Talk about fulfilling a pregnancy craving. Those donuts deserve an award.  We spent the rest of the day feeling content and happy. Had an awesome dinner with several of our friends and their kids.

Today we packed. We're in a place of packing limbo right now for two reasons. Firstly, it feels like we've packed up all the obvious non-usable things. We've cleaned out closets, the dining room, the living room, book shelves, non-pregnancy and off season clothes. However, it's too soon to pack up the kitchen, Otto's room, the bathroom, things like that. Secondly, Jason seems to be responsible for at least 80% of the items in this house. He has a slight touch of hoarder in him. So aside from all the last minute stuff to pack, what's left is all of Jason's stuff. His records, dear god his records, his art, his office, the list goes on. So I'm just waiting. I'm waiting until next weekend to go on a packing rampage. And I'm waiting for Jason to hopefully attack his areas in the meantime. He successfully conquered one very important area today:

Fifteen painfully heavy boxes of Jason's record collection, his prized possession.  I am so glad I am not the unlucky soul who will be moving them this time around.

New Beginnngs

We are on the verge of beginning another chapter in our lives. Or maybe it's already begun? A week and half ago, Otto started preschool at Montessori. In two weeks, we will close on our new house and become homeowners for the first time. And in sixteen weeks, we will have a second baby.  I could really use a glass of wine. And by glass, I mean bottle.

For the next two weeks, it's all about signing, scanning, and emailing documents back and forth to the mortgage broker.  Our communication is so frequent, she titled her last email to me "Hey Chick". I'm glad someone is enjoying this relationship! It's hard to believe that the data-gathering process with the bank will ever end and that they are actually going to let us buy this house.

Until the actual day comes, I dream of owning this house. It's possible that I spend more time thinking about this house more than the upcoming baby.  I like to visit these photos multiple times a day and imagine the glory that will be.