So after a few trips and some discussions, we decided on a few things and after we close, we're going to head out to Rooms to Go and get some new stuff. 

And as a disclaimer: these are my opinions and my advice.  They may or may not fit within everyone's experience and if you don't agree or like them, please feel free to seek out information from other's.

Note: These photos are on their own separate Flickr account, so if you feel like commenting on a particular picture, you can click on the Photo Link button in the bottom right corner above the thumbnails bar and it should take you to it's Flickr page. I would recommend doing this anyway because there are notes on the picture!!

I did hear from our realtor today.  He wanted to make sure I had done the utilities.  I haven’t done that so the pressure’s on.  But he also wanted to schedule the walkthrough.  We have the option of doing it either the night before or in the morning.  I think we decided to do it in the morning because we have off all that day and it’ll be nice to get it all in at once.

However, it just hit me that closing is a week from tomorrow.  Wow!  We’re going to be real grownups.  Kind of scary!!!!

People are probably like “What the hell is this girl doing?”.  Not knowing how to fax apparently.

• Copy of earnest money check
• Title binder
• Hazard insurance
• Termite inspection

The title binder is being prepared by the attorney and will be sent over.  The termite inspection gets sent over by the realtor and the hazard insurance sent over by our insurance agent.

But the earnest money check?  WTF?  I checked my transmission page and it was successful so I don’t know why they didn’t get it.  I’ll have to take care of it tomorrow since I had already left work and I don’t have fax capabilities at home.

However, the good news from today is that our CL-100, or rather, the termite inspection, came back clean and clear.  No evidence of termite damage and definite evidence of prior termite treatment.  So no critters!!  Yay!!

So now that the appraisal is in, we’re good to go.  Mom, in her infinite mortgage wisdom, said once it’s in, there’s very little that can mess things up or throw a monkey wrench into it.

Ah well, beggars can’t be choosers and at least we got the important stuff done.

I also asked about locking in our rate.  When we first applied, I chose a floating rate, which means until I chose to lock it in, it is determinat upon the market conditions and prime rate for that day.  You can lock it in to gurantee a good one the day that  you apply, but most places charge you and in this market, you really don’t need to pay to get a low rate.

When I inquired about it, the loan officer checked and asked if I was sure and I said yes.  And I ended up locking it in at a quarter of a point LOWER than what I had originally applied for (6.50% versus 6.75%).  This will save us $7,000 in interest over the course of the loan, which doesn’t seem much compared to the 30 years/over $200,000 in interest we will be paying but hey, at this point every penny counts!

So I told the agent to go ahead and write the policy and he’ll just get the paperwork back for us to sign (more signatures – I should get a stamp!) and then send it over to the loan officer (I had to give him her info as well).

And then I won't have to panic during hurricane season every year!

The loan officer called us today to go ahead and authorize the appraisal.  We needed to pay $350 up front for that because appraisers like to be paid immediately apparently.  We will get it back at closing but how exactly that works, we’ll wait and see.  I’m assuming it gets deducted from closing costs which doesn’t matter because the seller is paying.  I guess overall, I’ll never see that back in “cash” so it’s not like I’m technically being reimbursed for it.

I also talked to the insurance broker that the realtor recommended.  Right now, no one is really writing policies so I can’t get quotes online and I don’t have time to waste to call around to five million different agents for quotes.  So it’s much easier that he could provide one right away.

And he gave us a good one.  It’s $841 a year for $150,000/$300,000 (property/liability) with replacement costs and a $1000 deductible for all other pergils or 2% in case of wind/hail damage (i.e. hurricane).  And thankfully, no one can deny writing a policy because it’s a new home purchase and it’s illegal to not do it.

So two more things down.  Five million to go!

• Install starter shingle missing at inside corner of roof at valley between garage and porch roof.
• Repair (Paint/Caulk) fascia/soffit/eave area at right side of valley and garage roof and at corners of house.
• Repair areas on trim of house that are displaying wood rot (he said he’d do this when we put in the offer)
• Install hatch cover in garage attic opening (he had also said this was going to be done).
• Repair flood light by garage door to insure operation (May be a blown bulb).

I just had to get Steve to sign it this morning and was able to email it back over. 

That has been the hardest part is not being able to immediately print out whatever paperwork is needed then sign it and send it back over.  And I’ll drop it in my bag to get Steve to sign it and forget about it for a few days.  Maybe I should just get him to give me power of attorney!  I could probably slip it into the papers and he wouldn’t even know!!

Kidding – he’s good about signing anything I’d like him to as long as I explain what it is.  But it would make life a lot easier because I’M the forgetful one!