By the numbers

 

Its been two weeks since we moved into our Dream Home and its been one project after another. Even though I cried myself to sleep the first night (due to exhaustion compounded by a busted water pipe), we’re enjoying our new adventure and having a blast every step of the way. Here is a breakdown of the last two weeks by the numbers:

1 = number of busted water pipes in the upstairs bathroom, the leak from which created a swimming pool downstairs
1 = number of nights that I cried myself to sleep (see reason above)
1 = number of emergency calls to the plumber (see reasons above)
1 = number of BBQs held in honor of the FIFA Word Cup finale (woohoo Spain!)
2 = number of visits from the HVAC repairman
2 = number of dumpsters we rented to hall away our trash
3 = number of faucets installed by our hand dandy family members
3 = number of attempts it took my dad and Ronnie to install the downstairs toilet
4 = number of men it took to install our new super duper amazing Viking rangetop
5 = number of days that reached above 95 degree temperatures
6 = number in feet of baseboard molding that Ronnie installed all by himself
7 = number of days we survived without a clothes dryer
8 = number of light fixtures installed by our handy dandy family members
9 = number of handy dandy family members that helped us move, unpack, install, fix, clean, and rewire
10 = number of hours it took us to install our Ikea closet
11 = number of trips to the Home Depot
13 = number of guests that have slept over (thankfully, not all at the same time)
16 = number of days in our Dream Home

Move in day!

Even though our close of escrow is not official (we are waiting for LA county to record our deed), we decided to move in anyway. Nothing could stop us. Not even the lock box or the disconnected electricity and water. Yeah, we’re rebels. On Saturday we packed up (most) of our apartment and, thanks to some very helpful family members, moved all of our belongings into our new garage. Yeah! On Sunday the painters took over the house. And by Monday it was official - we were the proud owners of our Dream Home.

The day the loan funded

Happy Friday to us! Today we received good news. Our loan conditions have been met! That means all of the repairs required by FHA have been address and our loan has officially funded. Wooohooo! Cue happy dance. That means we get the keys, right? Wrong. The Broker is telling us that we will close on Monday. Pause happy dance. We were under the impression that one nice couple + one loan funding = 2 sets of keys. How wrong we were - and we're pretty good at math. Not getting the keys today is a big problem because we need to be moved out of our apartment by Sunday. THIS IS Craptastic.

$5K pocket change

Ask and you shall receive.

We asked and the bank said ‘it would be our pleasure’. Ok, so maybe the bank didn’t quite say that. But, it did agree to make all of the repairs we requested. Oh happy day! The bank will be replacing the water heater, installing new stair railings, fixing the broken windows, and removing the mold. After obtaining our own estimates, we discovered that it would have cost us over $5K to make pay for these repairs ourselves. Someone will be sleeping soundly tonight. Aaaahhhhhh........

Perspective

A family emergency can really put things in perspective. Cherish those you love.

Appraisal

We were sweating bullets waiting for the appraisal to come in (btw, it took 2 weeks from the date it was ordered). Given the unfortunate state of our Dream Home, we were expecting the worst. And because we’re going FHA, any required repairs noted in the appraisal had to be addressed before our loan would fund. Crap! Luckily, the appraisal report didn’t mention anything about the exposed (live) electrical wires throughout the house, the black mold, the missing rangetop, or the broken air conditioning. Woohoo! But not so fast. It did mention that we would have to replace the water heater, install new stair railings, and fix the two broken windows in the upstairs bedroom. So….who pays for these repairs? Good question.

Escrow limbo

ETA. In real estate speak that means Extension of Time Addendum. But it might as well mean Estimate Time of Arrival, because that is what our closing date has been…..an estimate. And boy were we (WAY) off. We have had the pleasure of signing three of these ETAs. That’s right, we have had to postpone our closing date three times. Our original closing date has come and gone OVER A MONTH AGO. Can you hear the typed cap frustration? By now we should have been in our house, picking out curtains, laying sod, and decorating the guest bedroom. Instead we are still in our 1-bedroom apartment. And every Friday we have to stare at our boxes and wonder if they'll ever go anywhere besides our patio, call the painter to postpone his start date, and beg our apartment manager to let us stay one more week. We are officially in escrow limbo. And its hell.