Closing, Closets and Stain

Closing:

Last night, Sara and I spent a couple of hours with Nate who has been helping us wade through the Mortgage process. Nate just had his second daughter last week, and we are thankful during this time of sheer exhaustion (he's apparently pretty tired too), he was able to spend some time with us nailing down this obviously critical part.

It felt like we were at a book signing or an autograph session (or what I imagine that might feel like) as we signed form after form after form. It was an exciting evening, and we've now handed over this part of our journey to unknown underwriters, appraisers and probably some bureaucrats/regulators looking to keep busy.

Not all that long ago, we' had renters extend their lease because they arrived at the 11th hour of their own home building process only to learn the rules had change and they had to start over to get into their new home. While this is something we are well prepared to avoid, the fact that it "can happen" is certainly something we're cognizant of as we sit down with Nate. On top of that, Nate talked about the paper chase that takes place in the last 72 hours before we actually close. Vendors seeking payment, underwriters looking for confirmations of payments and the like. It sounds like we can anticipate several hours with Nate, TJB and others on the 27th signing papers and waiting for wire transfers to hit. Exciting and nerve racking at the same time.

I asked Nate if he is worried, or if he could foresee any worst case scenario in which we'd get to that 11th hour and have this fall through. Understanding that the very definition of "unforeseen" is that it is unforeseeable, it was nonetheless comforting for him to say firmly, "no." I pressed him further as to why he believed that, and he simply said, "because I've never had one fall through yet."

Nate has been great to work with throughout and all indications are that he has been a creative advocate to get us the best possible rates and options.

Closets:

Early this morning, Sara and I met with a recommended closet vendor out at the house to discuss options for all of the closets and pantry. This is something we're going to take the time to get right even if it is after the fact. We're going to have more space and more storage than we've ever had, so putting up shelves just to have them isn't something we're particularly interested in. We had a nice walk through where we went through some good options throughout the house. We're expecting some actual photos based on our meeting sometime on Thursday. Here are a few photos of their work from their Website.


Stain:

The painter and his crew were out working at the house when we were meeting with the closet vendor. We learned from him that they are scheduled to finish all of the painting and staining on the 22nd. For anyone keeping score, that's THIS WEEK! He said that they had even planned on finishing on the 21st but that it would likely be the next day and they'd run into the next set of vendors who will pick up and start their work yet this week. With several coats, the stain looks really good. While it is still difficult to see or envision how it will all come together, we're pretty happy with the selections we made. I'm anxious to visit the house tonight or tomorrow as they are going to be painting a few of the rooms where we really changed things up from the taupe and grey we've taken pictures of thus far.





It is hard to believe all of this painting and staining will be done in a couple of days.