We're in!

So much has happened over the course of four days, but I am pleased to say that we closed on our home! I arrived in Maryland on Friday, and it has been non-stop since then. Saturday we went to see the home since it was my first time in person, and I must say its gorgeous! I went through each room trying to visualize where I would put everything, and went to work with shopping. That day we purchased tables and chairs for the family room, entryway tables, ceiling fans and a garage door opener; Sunday it was the washer/dryer, TVs and cabinet hardware. My mind was all over the place that night so I didn't sleep a wink...I was too excited!

Monday started off pretty well. We met with the PM Duane for a final check before we went to settlement to ensure all issues were fixed. I must say, he has been excellent during this entire process and I wouldn't mind working with him in the future. Our settlement meeting began at noon, and after signing 1,720 pages of housing documents we were done...or so we thought. The closing officer goes out to cut the refund check since we were due back money, and 25 minutes later we had not heard anything. He comes back in and states they needed to verify employment...what tha what? Why are you now asking to verify employment after I have signed everything? So I get my boss on the line to let him know to expect a call, and the officer leaves out again. Twenty minutes later, nothing. Fifteen more minutes passed, not a word. I am getting nervous at this point. Another fifteen minutes passed, and I am getting irritated. Steve, the calm one that he is, goes out to the receptionist to see if all is well, and they ensure him that it is. Another twenty minutes passed, and I am ready to pull out my hair. The closing officer comes back in, and I ask if all is well...he says "I was cutting the check, did they verify employment?" I don't know, you tell me! He then says that I am good to go, hands over the keys and that nice fat refund check, and we literally run out of the building.

The rest of the evening consisted of moving our things out of our friends' home where we were staying, buying necessities to get us through the night in our new home. I didn't care if I had to sleep on the floor, I was sleeping in that house that night. We bought an amazing E-Z-Bed from Frontgate to hold us until our stuff comes this week, and we slept wonderfully. Verizon showed up early so I was online in less than an hour, and the rest of the day will consist of mounting the TV above the fireplace, hang the ceiling fans, install the garage door opener and buy misc items.

 

I will post more when all of the furniture arrives and things are mostly set up, but until then here a picture of us opening the door with our new keys for the very first time.

Finally Home!

Although the journey to come back to the states was long (26 hours if you include trans. to the airport, layovers and driving from the airport to my Moms), it was well worth it. To know that I have left Korea for good and will start a new journey with my sweetie next week makes all of the sacrifices so worth the effort. Monday was my birthday so I was able to spend it with my family, something I haven't been able to do for years. It was low key, but I enjoyed every minute. I also got a cell phone, it felt so good to actually be a part of the real world (goodbye Tracfone!)

Tuesday consisted of transferring utilities in my name, setting up delivery of my household goods as well as setting up Internet and satellite. Doing all of this cause my credit monitoring service to send me an email stating that major changes had been reported. I have been out of the US for so long, I forgot that just about every company pulls a credit report. So for my cell phone, Internet and satellite, they pulled a credit report. In addition to the one NVR pulled last week, it caused a small drop to my credit score. Not happy! I am proud of the score I have worked hard to get, and to know that simple inquiries in a small amount of time can make it drop bothered me. Its still in the excellent category, but it dropped nonetheless! This caused me to be hesitant to make any purchases on my credit card in case NVR decided to pull another report before we close on Monday. My loan processor Jennifer (who is AWESOME btw), emailed to see how my shopping was going, and the minute I replied with my concerns she called me directly. She put me at ease by saying my account is in the clear and they would not pull another report before closing, so I am definitely free to shop. I'm no longer scared to do any shopping which is a huge relief since I now have to buy a car.

I inquired on whether we would get the keys on Monday or another day since I have read that many get their keys after the fact, and was told that they keys will be available to us immediately after the last document is signed! Since we are not required to bring in cash to closing, it allows us to get the keys during the appointment. That means I can actually sleep in the house on Monday (even if its on the floor)!

Overall, this has been a roller coaster ride, but I am so excited that we are at the last leg of the race. There has been separation anxiety, frustration and tears, but I wouldn't change a thing.  Only five more days and home is ours--to create a life together with one another for the rest of our lives.

And the verdict is in...

We received great news today...the appraisal VA required is complete, we have FINAL APPROVAL on our loan, and we are on schedule to close on the 27th! The first question I asked my loan processor was if I was in the clear to start shopping, and she said to shop until my heart's content! Huge relief! I'm so ready to begin buying items for our home, I just hope Steve's ready for the credit card bill! I kid, I kid, it will be paid off before he goes through the roof :)

More shutters...and SOD!

The house had been looking a little weird with just half of the front being covered with shutters. Although they had placed the ones on the side the county considered high visability, no one could decide whether the loft area and the 4th bedroom came with some as well. Leave it to me to come to the rescue! From the beginning, I have kept every email the sales rep sent me, including the revised plans that the county forwarded to Ryan Homes with suggested changes. Those plans also showed the extra window in the family room that I almost didn't get since they didn't have it drawn on the plans during the pre-con meeting, as well as all of the shutters. Once I resent the email to the project manager, he quickly added the shutters.

Additionally, sod was planted! I was tired of looking at a jacked up yard and dirt thrown all over the place!

Look at the tiny tree! So cute



Cute little bushes around the Heating/AC unit

I'm glad the water account still belongs to Ryan Homes, they allowed it to run ALL DAY to cover the yard!

With the picture below, you can see where it seems as though our soon to be neighbor has a lot of land on the left side of the foundation. There will be an easement between the homes, so we are trying to determine how much of the land will not belong to either of us.

The PM also requested to move the walk-through up from the 24th to the 22nd to have more time to get issues cleared up (if any) since we are projected to close on the 27th. I still won't be in town to attend, but I will be there in Skype spirit :)

FYI, only three more days left in Korea!

Future furniture Selections

Searching for furniture has caused me many headaches! Since we already have three complete bedroom suites, it made things somewhat easier. The dining room set that I have will move to the morning room, and I have a new sectional that will be placed in the family room. For all other furniture items, we have gone back and forth over what we wanted to buy. For now, here are some of our choices:

Erin sofa from Havertys for the living room

Matching chair

Morgan cocktail table from Abbyson Living

Morgan round glass side table

 Morgan ellipse side table

Dining table from Rooms To Go (not the server)

Matching china cabinet

Metropolitan cocktail table from Pottery Barn for the family room



Metropolitan end tables from Pottery Barn

Side table that will sit between the accent chairs in family room



Morgan accent chair (2) for family room  from Abbyson Living



LG HE steam 4.0 cu. ft electric washer and 7.3 cu ft electric dryer (without pedestals). Picture courtesy of CMM...THANKS!

Only two more weeks...I'm getting nervous!

This past week has been so stressful with me packing and moving the items I had here in Korea, to going back and forth with underwriting with NVR. The time difference is nerve wracking (13 hours to be exact), I try my best to stay awake to answer any questions they may have. Unfortunately, they don't have questions until it 3 pm EST, and it's 4 am here. So that means a day is lost because they don't recieve an answer from me until they come in the next day. After calling them on Thursday, I truly hope that they have all of the answers they need and I can have final approval on the loan and to make large purchases. My credit card has an awesome cash rewards program, so I tend to make all of my purchases on that card and pay it off at the end of the month. This is a no-go until I receive final approval, so my fingers, toes and eyes are crossed to hear something great this week!

In the meantime, here are some updated pictures of the house. Its gone from where someone spilled blue tape all over the place to being all fixed up and pretty:

Driveway has been paved

Our "kung-fu" colored door



Side shutters. The county required them on this side of the home

Still waiting on the shutters for the other three front windows. Somehow they forgot about them.

I LOVE the floors! That's right babe, take your shoes off at the door :)

The banister has been stained

Pantry to the right

I love how spacious the family room is

The appliances are in!

I love the island

The morning room. I'm probably one of the few that has the door on this end, but we had no choice with the welled exit in the basement. 

Yeah, not feeling the side view of the fridge...it will make its way to the man cave



Linen closet



I just love how huge the master bedroom is

His closet

My closet!

Laundry room. Still debating on whether we should have left out the shelves to put up cabinets. Hopefully if we do there won't be much damage to the walls.

    

Grading has been done in the backyard

 That's all for now. Hopefully I will have good news to share with you by the end of the week!