I recently received a couple of emails from some FICO friends wanting me to post something. I guess some are just gluttons for punishment.
For those of y'all on this side of the mortgage process all I can say life goes on once you close and move in. It has been almost 5 months for us. One thing I don't miss is the constant checking of fico scores. Everyday I signed on to make sure things were good. I lived in a world of of acroynoms last year CTC, DTI, LOE, etc. I'd pull my Chase card out to pay for supper at Outback and become despondent that my ribeye dinner my cost me my dream house. "I need a LOE on why y'all went out to eat last night."
But it was worth it. We love living here. It is more than we ever thought it would be. We have friends and family over several nights a week, enjoying the proverbial "open concept" floor plan. My brother said he felt bad being over with his family so often and I told him, "its why we bought the house brother, so we could have our family and friends with us more often." That was not possible on Primrose, because any more than 4 was a crowd in our 1200 sq ft house with galley kitchen.
Our home is decorated informally, with country style furnishings and accessories. Wife picked out a farm house table with a bench one side, chairs on the other and both ends. When we have folks over we seat everyone. I told DW, "supper felt like the jr high lunchroom."
About halfway through our mortgage process I just said, " I'm gonna live my life, I'm not gonna be tied up in knots everytime the phone rings." It was the best advice I ever gave MYSELF. I'd spend about 45-60 min each morning on the mortgage, making phone calls, returning emails, and keeping a eye on my credit file. Finishing that, I didn't think about it the rest of the day. "If they need me they know where to find me." Once I did that things seemed to pass quickly. I had some hangups near the end. I took off work to move, and got the call. "Can't close Tues, can you close Wed?" "NO, I took off work Mon and Tues, if that doesn't work, it will be next week. Call me when you know something." "You can't just put this off till next week." "Yeah I can, I'm not the one servicing the construction loan, where everyday costs SOMEONE money, but it aint me, so when you get a date call me." Next thing ya know I get a call, "Oh we can close Tues, just like the plan."
Keep in mind, they want you to have this house. Everyone is going to get a cut on a home sell. It's business, so they gonna do all they can to make it happen. I figured I'm gonna get my dream house and they'll make some money. Everyone is happy.
Once you move in you'dre gonna get all kinds of phone calls, folks wanting to sell ya insurance, warranties, lawn care etc. "h\Hey you need someone to walk your dog?" "We don't have a dog." "Know anyone in the community that might? "No we just moved in last week"
Biggest pain was our farmhouse table. It took FOUR months to get it from Ashley. Everyone in the country must have wanted one like it. I never saw anything like it. I ripped Ashley on their customer survey. I didn't care they to order it, but I had to pay up front for it. Instead of telling me 4 weeks to deliver, just tell me YOU DON'T KNOW WHEN IT WILL DELIVER.
And my cat Lilbit loves it here, and we can't keep him off the farmhouse table, but we keep trying.
