Our meeting to pick out our finishes went well. We’re getting ceiling fan wiring in the master bedroom and living room, upgraded facets in the bathrooms, and nice flooring for the kitchen/bathrooms. And I am so looking forward to my huge tub in our bathroom and the washer/dryer that will be installed and ready to go when we move in. The kitchen will be gorgeous and look something like this, although it will be laid out differently and be bigger. But these are the cabinets/counters/appliances we chose:
As for the loan, all of that is underway. We’ve pretty much abandoned NACA and I’m left with an extremely bad taste in my mouth regarding the program. I look back at my post from early January – at the hope and anticipation and I have to laugh. After being a bug in our consultant’s ear, constantly asking for updates without any real answers for months, I have given up. It’s a real shame since the program is so good in theory. In practice, it is so not worth it – not if you have any sort of other option. And truthfully, if you don’t, you probably shouldn’t be buying a house! I guess the whole point is that they can help people get themselves together to get to that place as they move through the process. But starting off in semi-reasonable shape just left me frustrated at the ineptitude and inefficiency of the whole thing.
We’re now going with the lender associated with the builder to get a ton of incentives (like $19,000 in closing costs paid!) The loan will be FHA insured and we’ll be putting 3.5% down. Half of that was our earnest money that we had saved up over the last few months and the other half will come from an IRA my mother started for me some years ago pretty much for this purpose (as opposed to being really for retirement since she knew we wouldn’t have to pay the penalty for early withdrawal for a house purchase). That was some great thinking on her part and I cannot thank her enough for the incredible foresight and thoughtfulness that went into such a decision. Cute Man and I will both still have our 401ks trucking away so we’re not really harming our retirement savings. This account was pretty much started for this purpose.
The speed at which the process has moved is staggering when compared to the molasses that was NACA. It’s amazing how motivated people are when they’re getting paid! I love nonprofits, but sometimes they can be inefficient, as I’ve learned the hard way with NACA. I’m really sad that things worked out this way. The program has a great mission and I looked forward to volunteering with them as part of the program. Now, I’m glad I don’t have to do that. I will find another way to give back – they have lost an advocate in me, that’s for sure.
It’s time to let all that go now and just move forward. When all is said and done, I will chalk it up to a big learning experience and just revel in the end result, our new home. Here’s a peek at what it should look like on the outside:
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