Sticks and stones may break my bones...

But they'll also build our house! Today our lumber was delivered! We are expecting our walls to be poured before the end of the week. Progress is appreciated :)

God is good and I am so thankful that he has blessed us with this opportunity.

Something is better than nothing

Ok, so I called our LP today and she called back not long ago to let me know that she hadn't received a decision from the underwriter (ugh!)- However, she also let me know that she had already contacted her manager in regards to our file - She said that it has taken longer than she would normally expect so she has requested that her manager get in contact with the underwriter. I let her know that I have been worried about it because I wasn't sure if I needed to line up another lender- the LP reassurred me that there was no need to worry and that she hadn't seen anything that would give her any reason to have concern and everything would be fine. This is a relief, but I will feel even better when I get a response after her supervisor talks to the underwriter, which I really hope is today or tomorrow.

I also emailed our PM this morning and asked what was next on the agenda. He told me that the footers were pinned by the surveyor yesterday and he was expecting the poured wall crew to be at lot 29 on Friday or Monday because they are scheduled to close before us. Once their walls are done they will start on ours and he hopes to have the forms set by Thursday of next week. That's 2 weeks from when they poured the footings. I know that the heavy rain from a few weeks ago caused some delay, but it seems like every other blog that I've read had their footers and walls poured only days apart from each other. Well, I guess I won't have anything to report for the next week.

I'm glad that I finally have something to tell my husband because every time he calls he asks if I have heard anything about the loan and house...and everyday I've had to tell him "no".

I've got nothing

I was really hoping to see some walls poured by today, but there hasn't been any changes since Friday. In fact, there doesn't appear to be any changes to any of the homes in our neighborhood. I am going to email the PM and touch bases because we haven't spoke since the pre-con meeting....Oh and we're at 60 days with NVR and I haven't heard anything since last Tuesday.

I had to add this because it makes me laugh :)

Out with the old and in with the new??

A few weeks ago I received a flyer in the mail from Charter, which is my cable/internet provider. The flyer offered their bundled package for $86 per month. Wait what? Why am I paying $150 a month for the exact same service? This prompted me to give Charter a call and I told them about the flyer I received and that I was interested. Well the CSR than began to tell me - "This deal is only available for our new customers."- Wait what? You mean to tell me that because I'm already an existing customer that I have to pay almost twice the amount for the same service? Wouldn't you want to keep your existing loyal and paying customers satisfied? Needless to say I'm looking into other providers.

Ok so it seems a similar scenario has been presented by Ryan Homes- Our neighborhood just opened 16 sites in their Phase 2. This was advertised via flyers that were posted in the neighborhood. On this flyer RH offers not only the free finished basement (which we received) but also a FREE stainless side by side fridge and a washer and dryer! Wait what? So again the "new customers" get an additional bonus? Aren't we technically still a "new customer" since our home isn't even complete? Shouldn't Ryan Homes offer this bonus to the families and new customers that have just started construction or are still in the process? I hope I'm not coming across as greedy because that's not my personality, but it would be nice if Ryan Homes said," Hey, since we are offering this bonus to potentially new customers, we would also like to offer this to our already new customers that are still building with us." There hasn't even been any lumber delivered to our site and already we're being considered as "old" customers? One would think that Ryan Homes would want to keep customers that are still in the building process happy and satisfied since the surveys won't be completed until the building process and closing is done. My feelings are hurt and I'm feeling a little discarded- shame, shame RH.

Footers

Today we caught the them pouring the footers at the lot. Later in the day we went back over so we could check it out and so I could snag some photos. Dustin says that it looks small and I told him that according to other blogs that everyone says the same thing- Lot 29, which is one lot over from ours, is going up at the same time as ours. The PM told us this at the meeting. They had their lumber delivered today so I'm thinking that ours will be here soon also. There are two other homes that are near ours that have had lumber for a bit now and I think they will be framing soon. All together that makes 7 homes in our neighborhood alone that our PM is covering. He also has a few others in other neighborhoods. Is it normal for project managers to take on that many homes at once? Just wondering...Anyways, there hasn't been any news from NVR, maybe next week. I'm looking forward to seeing the walls poured next week too.

54 Days with NVR

NVR has had our loan application and info for 54 days...Last Thursday the LP said that the underwriter was requesting our verification of rent (this is in addition to a copy of our lease agreement and all rent receipts since November 2011- I supplied these at the initial meeting). So I emailed our LP on Monday to follow up and she responded saying that our current landlord was returning the rent verification today and once it was received everything would be submitted back to underwriting.

I just do not understand what the deal is. This is a VA loan, I've been at my job for 5 years, our credit isn't bad, and we don't have much debt other than a car payment. Seriously, I work in finance so I know that they have to take many things into consideration, but come on!

When we started looking for homes we had already contacted and started the process with Veterans United, but we decided to go with NVR when we chose to move forward with Ryan Homes in an attempt to keep everything easier. So how's that working out for me??? Not so well apparently. So what happens if NVR decides they don't want to approve us? I then have to start the entire process over again with Veterans United because the past 2 months have been a waste of time!

I really want this house and it brings tears to my eyes to write this...But if I would've have known that we would have to wait almost 2 months for the approval I don't think I would've wanted to move forward. I'm a mother of 4 children and I work full time- I have more than enough worry to keep my nerves worked up without the added stress of this NVR loan process. They haven't requested too much additional information, and the LO and LP have both been very nice and always answer my calls/emails, but 54 days of waiting and not knowing and being unsure about everything is just too much. Seriously,  this house is going to be the future home for my family and I need to know what the heck is going on!

Break and Dig. Yippie!

I drove by the lot on my way home and ta-da...there is mess of dirt! I stopped and took this picture with my phone. After dinner I got the camera and went back over and took a few more, but I have to get a card reader before they can be uploaded. However, since I'm impatient and want to share them now I decided to use my phone to take a picture of the picture! Yeah, I'm a dork- never claimed to be anything different....I have to thank God for this because I know without him none of this would be possible :) I really love the beautiful trees and can't wait to see them this fall, they will be so pretty!

A bit let down

So on Tuesday at our pre-con meeting the PM said that they would start excavation before the end of the week. Well, as of today at 430 there hasn't been anything done. I could understand if the weather was bad because it was raining at the beginning of the week, but their hasn't been any rain for the past two days and the sun is out and shining. I'm just a little frustrated and needed to vent it out. Also, Dustin was at the model home yesterday and the PM happened to be there and he didn't even recognize Dustin - just walked right past him. That makes me feel real warm and fuzzy. I know that once we see some progress we will be excited, but I'm just really bummed about it all right now....Again, I'm just venting a little.

Pre-Construction meeting

Alright so I can check the pre-construction meeting off the list! Today at 9am we met Stephan, our PM. He had with him a binder that was about 5 inches thick with tons of papers and colored tabs. He is currently the PM for our community as well as another in the area. That's a lot of responsibility and I can't imagine walking a mile in his shoes. I have read a ton of blogs about people building with Ryan Homes and some of those people haven't been so easy on their PM. Anyways, Stephan explained how important getting all 10's on the survey is to him and RH. He said that if there is an issue, a question, a problem, or anything to let him know so that we could find a resolution. I'm glad to hear this because I'm big on communication. I have faith that he will do a great job - which is a good thing because we won't accept anything else :)

We discussed our selections and confirmed that everything was correct. We also covered the placement of things (furnace, sump, HWH, hose bibs, exterior outlets, additional outlets, AC unit).
The PM explained about the energy star qualities and how it will be a more efficient house. All of the info was good to know. I asked about the granite and if it was going to be sealed or not - the answer was no, so we will need to seal it ourselves. I also asked if I could go pick out my slab of granite - our SR has never been asked about this, so she is checking on it. Apparently the granite company is near my work, so it would be awesome if I can do this. I requested that the master bathroom mirror not be hung - this was no problem. I've already done a lot of research so this basically sums up the questions and concerns discussed at the meeting before heading to the lot.

Once we were at the lot the PM showed us our property lines and showed us where the drive way would be and where the house would begin and end. Then my husband and the PM went towards the rear part of he lot to discuss the drop off. The drop is about 5 or 6 feet and our property line continues about 100 ft past that point. We told him how having a nice yard was important to us because we have 4 kids that like to be outdoors. According to our PM we will be responsible for the area that is outside of the silt fence. So if we want to fully utilize our property we will most likely have to build a retaining wall and have dirt brought in. This will be a few years down the road because it sounds pricey. We are just waiting to see how much backyard we will have after the house starts to go up. I almost hate to do anything to the area because right now the area is full of trees and is pretty.

The best part of the meeting was hearing that they will excavate this week and our footers will be done by the end of next week - weather permitting of course. The concrete crew is behind due to all of the rain lately. Yesterday was the first time it hasn't rained and I think we were at 16 days straight, some of which was seriously heavy rain. As of today our delivery date is still the end of October/ 1st of November.

I feel so happy, excited, and above all...BLESSED! My family will finally have a home of our own and we can say so long to renting!

Rock on! This was delivered to our lot. Aren't the trees beautiful? There will never be anything built behind us either :)

Tomorrow, tomorrow- it's only a day away!

Soooo....tomorrow is the infamous pre-construction meeting! I'm excited to be at this point because I know there is about to be a lot more action in the near future. I can only hope and pray that the PM plans to break ground the day after our meeting- that would be super, but I learned not to hold my breath a long time ago. Anyways, I have a list of questions that I plan on asking. Mainly about the location of things i.e. the furnace, HWH, hose bibs. I also have concerns about the grading of the property because the back of our property has about a 5 ft drop off and then our lot extends about another 40 ft beyond that. I'm curious to see how this is going to play out because the reason we chose the lot was because it was the largest one available and I want all the space to be useable. I also had a few requests for the master bath. I really love the accent tile that we picked and I'd like to incorporate as much as possible, so I was thinking about requesting 2 rows instead of just the one. Maybe one in the original spot, and one a little lower...I don't know, but it was a thought so I want to see if it could be an option. I also would rather not have the mirror hung in the master BR. I found a picture on pinterest (shocking, right?) of a rectangular mirror above each sink- picture below. I really like this idea. Maybe tomorrow after I get some answers I will post about my questions and the answers provided by the PM---I'm ready for some progress and I really hope that the plan is to break ground this week because Dustin is getting anxious and when that happens it kinda comes across as being moody, so basically he is getting on my nerves. Don't get me wrong, I'm on the anxious side myself, but not in a moody way---not at the current time anyways. Speaking of being moody...So tomorrow will be 2 weeks since our LP at NVR told me that our file had been submitted to underwriting. I emailed her last Tuesday to check the status, but there hadn't been a decision made at that point. I called around 3 today and left a voicemail, so I'm expecting a call back tomorrow. My message was very nice because I know last week was a holiday and I truly understand that can cause delays, but we submitted our application on 5/24 and today is 7/8 and even though we are moving forward with the process I would still like an official approval. I just don't understand as to why the process takes so long with NVR. This is not me saying anything bad whatsoever about our LO or LP because they have both been so great, I mean really great. They return my calls and answer my emails and have been just as nice as can be...but what's the deal? Anyways.....oh, I forgot to mention that I went by the lot on the way home today and it wasn't staked out. Shouldn't it be staked out for the Pre-con meeting? Maybe I'm wrong. 

Love this idea. Need to find these mirrors.

Awaiting answers and over the rain

So I'm glad that we had the opportunity to see fireworks on Saturday because the rain has been relentless all week. I'm sure this weather has put a damper on a lot of planned celebrations.

Well- I was notified last Tuesday that NVR had sent our file to underwriting. What a relief knowing that our file hadn't disappeared or been filed in the trash, lol. Our LP said that she was hoping to have decision early this week, but when I sent an email to check the status she hadn't received a decision. I'm anxious to get a confirmed approval, it would make me feel a lot better. My husband asks me twice a day about it and I hate disappointing him with the news of no news.......On a positive and happy note, our SR called me on Tuesday and cheered me up by giving me the news that our Pre-construction meeting will be on Tuesday the 9th at 9am!! I'm excited and imagine that NVR gave our SR a thumbs up to move forward (still would like a confirmation). I had previously started a list of questions that I wanted to ask and I'm checking out blogs to make sure we have all bases covered. I'm beyond ready to get started because the house we're in now seems like it is closing in on us everyday. There is literally no more room. I've had winter clothes packed up and sitting at the landing of the stairs and honestly there are still Christmas decorations that are waiting to find a place to hide until December. This isn't a healthy environment for someone that suffers from OCD! I need organization and neatness to be completely happy. That sounds ridiculous for some people, my husband included, but it's truly the truth. I think it may be hereditary because my sister, mother, and grandmother are the same way. I'm not saying it's a bad quality at all because who doesn't like a clean organized house, right?

Anyways, enough ranting about that - I'm excited that the pre-construction meeting is in our very near future and look forward to meeting our Project Manager. Hopefully we will get a decision from NVR on Monday because not knowing is the worst! Until then I'm going to do my best to relax and have faith that everything will work out.