WE HAVE A HOME!

It took all of 31 minutes to sign for our new home.  The kids playing in the room may have helped speed the process along.  But we are officially New Home Owners of a BEAUTIFUL ROME!!

1..2..3 - UNLOCK

WE'RE HOME!

Thank you for all your prayers and support along the way - We will keep praying for our neighbors in lot 3 in hopes to see them moving in quickly!  

To all the other home buyers of new constructions out there...enjoy the process as much as you can - going into your new home and dancing about to Disney fairy tale songs is so worth any heartaches or bumps along the way!

CLEARED TO CLOSE

Well it went to the bitter end of the day yesterday - and the underwriter gave the clear to close at about 4:00pm.  So they are working us in to close TODAY!  Of course it is 8am, and we do not know what time or location we are going to...That is irritating for the household of "planners" that we are.  But either way by the end of the day we will have the keys to our new and beautiful home!

WE ARE BEHIND - NOT JUST IN BLOGGING (Part II: THE DELAY!)

So some of you may have noticed our "count down" has become a "Count Up" for how long it has been since our Closing was delayed!!!  We finished Thursday excited and hopeful that Friday Close may happen - even though the underwriter had not completed his job - since the previous THURSDAY!  I have written an AAR (after actions report) to submit when they request our comments.  I not so jokingly suggested that this would NOT happen in a military environment and since I have managed trouble tickets and customer service I have a few "ideas" for them.  (The underwriters process that is).  

So even though my direct contacts pushed up to their supervisors requesting immediate action, there was a small chance of a Friday close.  If the underwriter finished his job in the morning - or even mid day to give my contacts the 2 or so hours they needed to process and close us.  We would have to trek to Fredricksburg - a good 45-50 miles for me from work, and 75 or so for my husband from our temp lodging.  Knowing that we could not make that miles without significant traffic delays we pushed Friday in the positive manner that we would be good to go. - We reached our destination about 15 minutes after our scheduled appointment.  But since the underwriter had not finished - it was a waiting game for 2 1/2 more hours - Then finally - NO WAY! The Underwriter had not finished our paperwork - and weather he was even given the guidance to put ours on the priority list is questionable. Because end of day Friday we got told his supervisor has talked to him, and he said he would do it Monday. (which translates to he never intended to do it Friday!)  

When Monday we ask??? No answer.  He could make it his last order of business today.  Which puts us in a pinch.  We had scheduled our HHGs to be delivered on Tuesday.  We have been debating all morning at what time do we cancel the movers?  How long will it take for us to reschedule that move?  Will we even know when we could schedule it - we don't know how much longer the underwriter will take!  I'm on vacation days - being wasted at this point - and the school year starts on the 2nd of September - that is a whole different ballgame of "what if"!  

I am trying to have faith that the person will do their job in a timely manner - but if I go off the previous week - it is a great challenge!  I will muster the strength and believe he can start this week fresh. I will blog tomorrow if it became a no go!  If we close - I may not have internet to share my excitement with everyone.

WE ARE BEHIND - NOT JUST IN BLOGGING (Part I: PRE-SETTLEMENT WALK-THRU)

We had our Pre-settlement walk-thru with Phil and Collin our PMs - it was wonderful.  We arrived early and started early 9:45am - and it was done @ 1:00pm!  That's right 3 hours and 15 minutes worth of walking - talking - discussing - demonstrating.  It was OUTSTANDING! - Special Thanks to Rob the "Model" in the following photos....

My Car matches - What can I say Haze Gray in Ocean Blue!

Double Sink Master Bath

Master Bath - Shower (without Seat)

Master Bathtub

Rob 'watching' his wall mounted TV!

Hall - aka Kids Bath

Kids Double Sink

Our Daughters Room

Rob in our son's doorway.

Rob in the Loft

Rob showing how he can clean the windows!

The Laundry Room

Downstairs to landing

Downstairs to Main Floor

Dinning Room - Look at that floor shine!

View from hall into Dining/Living Room

From Dining Room looking to Living Room Window - and Rob

From Dining Room Looking past pantry to Kitchen

Quick peak into Pantry

From Pantry into Kitchen

Panning around Kitchen

End of Kitchen 'Panning' photos

 

Beautiful Double Oven with Frig...Difference in light reflection for wood colors..

Gas Cook-top and Microwave.

5 Burner Gas Stove!

Just another Kitchen Photo - Because - I LOVE IT!!

And Another from the Family Room

The Door to Rob's Office

Rob's Office

Rob sitting "fireside"

Rob pointing to the "fog" in the fireplace - this is due to the humidity outside.

Morning Room Window Side...

Morning Room Double Door Side

We did not go back to the basement and take photos down there - nothing much had changed since the other photos...

JUST AN UPDATE

The Kids are just as excited...and ready to move in.

Rob's already looking for drink service!

Don't let the missing smile fool you - he's excited!

All the light in the Morning room looks inviting!

Empty finished basement - "kids zoned" - for now anyway.

Neighbor's house is getting started.

Well the only thing new this week was calling the utility companies and working with NVR on the mortgage.  We are good to go on the money part, NVR is working our closing paperwork to send to the settlement office - so the real count down begins - less then 7 days and we will have hand cramps and keys!

Rob is cheating the "don't see the house till the settlement walk through" plan.  We reached out to a fencing company and they are meeting him Monday on the property to give us an estimate.  He smiled and said - I could take the meeting.  I had to remind him I'm already taking off of work on Wednesday and most of Friday.  Now the question I have to answer - do I want him to take photos?  I almost feel like when your expecting a baby and one says - I want to know the gender - and the other is like, no let it be a surprise...A surprise is harder when one is in the "know".  Anyway I'm so excited I can't express it, so I figured I would upload some earlier pictures for something to do.  Have a great weekend!

OUR LAST VISIT PRIOR TO PRE-SETTLEMENT VISIT

The outdoor shutters are not done - but the blue Stain/Paint is started - And BEAUTIFUL!!

The protection was removed from the floor - and the hardwoods look - BEAUTIFUL!!

Fireplace - Mantle...BEAUTIFUL!! and Rob measuring for my Roy Tabora "Jewel of the Night"

The "Red" tag requested window door for study - BEAUTIFUL!!

MY KITCHEN...BEAUTIFUL!!!

So do we see a trend...Everything was simply BEAUTIFUL!!  I am so excited about the next 12 days.  I was very happy with the look of the stone in person - and the blue door really helped I think.  I was initially disappointed that the blue shutter work was not finished, nor were the appliances in.  But when we were driving away I was actually glad it was not complete.  That will make the visit on August 21st that much more exciting.  It will still truly be our first look at the completed project.  We can't wait...but I guess we have too.

PROGRESS PICTURES

We have stone and a level yard - I'm not sure how I feel about the stone color - it seemed "greyer" in the boxes prior to being installed.  But I will hold off judgement until I see it in person - with the shutters and accessories completed.

Almost done in here...

YEAH for Appliances!!

The Stone Fireplace looks OUTSTANDING - and well color coordinated with the granite,
if I do say so myself.

All Tile work in the bathrooms done - Level B almond in the hall bath.

Carpet - Check
Master bedroom complete - Check

Shower door and faucets/fixtures installed - Check.

Basement Bath - Level A tile almond.

Basement complete - Check, carpet here is a little darker then the 2nd deck.

Thanks to Collin (with Phil's suggestion) who provided some updated photos to attempt to save the Sutton family some gas this week!  The pictures look great - and Collin I decided to not post the great mirror shot of you and the Master bath sinks.  But it is a sharp picture!

So we appreciate the pictures and the attempt to keep us away however,  we are headed to Fort Belvior to check out the furniture shop (if they even have one) - and going to Willow Landing Marina to sign the contract paperwork for a boat slip - (Insert big smile here since our boat "Fouled Anchors" has a new home right away too! - the HOA and the construction zone would not be conducive to boat storage in the driveway) - therefore it only makes since to go to the house and measure out for our future Fence.  Note regarding HOA here too - they get up to 45 days to process structure requests.  I'm really hoping they do not take that long for a simple fence install!  We are getting started now on the paperwork to get the fence done ASAP.

With all that being said I am going to attempt to make tomorrows visit our last until the Settlement walk through on August 21st.