For those of you that own a Ryan home or are in the process of building one, how are your powder room mirror's hung? The Mozart model home has it hung with 4 brackets that hugs it tight to the wall, but they installed ours with one hook towards the top of the mirror, much like you would hang a picture frame on the wall. It swings from side to side when touched which seems rather sketchy. PLUS when that happens, it scratches up the wall!
How did they install yours?
Monday, February 11, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
APPRAISAL
Of course the minute I close out the last blog post I would get a call from the Branch Manager. Lets get the good news out of the way. The appraisal came in today!! Such a relief! So they are sending everything to underwriting tonight. Unfortunately she does not think we will close by the 15th. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.
She plans to call us late Monday to give us an update on the status of everything. At that time, she hopes to definitely nail down a closing date. She was leaning more towards the 19th which is much better, but still not what we were hoping for.
I told her I remained hopeful that a miracle would occur and we would still close on the 15th, but she still maintains that her gut tells her that won't happen. I refuse to give up.
So on the positive side, its nice to be dealing with ONE person with all the information vs. three people with contradicting information but I was hoping for some vindication! I want to be able to FORGET how awful this experience has been. I am still a little bruised from the drama earlier this week and it has simply left a really bad taste in my mouth. Its hard to be mad when we are now dealing with someone who has their act together, but at the same time I feel like speaking up about what happened hasn't changed anything. Some poor unsuspecting person will get stuck in the same vicious cycle we have been in over the past few weeks and they will walk away with a bad experience too. Isn't the point of their survey to help improve their processes and become a better company anyway? Do I lie on the survey because a branch manager went out of her way to try to help us out? Don't get me wrong, she has been SO helpful and I do feel better now that she is in control, but how does giving 10's on this survey help them improve?
So what do I do now? While communication has improved, we still aren't getting what we needed most which was the weekend after the 15th to prepare our new home for our arrival. Now I am going to be MIA right after closing on the 19th only to parachute in at the last minute to meet the movers. I am just not OK with that. Now we will have to be rushed and stressed all because of something that was completely out of our control. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get excited about our new home.
I am relieved that we have our appraisal now and also relieved to have just one person to communicate with, but that doesn't fix it for me. I don't mean to sound so ungrateful, but my heart was REALLY set on the 15th. I don't want to settle for anything less.
She plans to call us late Monday to give us an update on the status of everything. At that time, she hopes to definitely nail down a closing date. She was leaning more towards the 19th which is much better, but still not what we were hoping for.
I told her I remained hopeful that a miracle would occur and we would still close on the 15th, but she still maintains that her gut tells her that won't happen. I refuse to give up.
So on the positive side, its nice to be dealing with ONE person with all the information vs. three people with contradicting information but I was hoping for some vindication! I want to be able to FORGET how awful this experience has been. I am still a little bruised from the drama earlier this week and it has simply left a really bad taste in my mouth. Its hard to be mad when we are now dealing with someone who has their act together, but at the same time I feel like speaking up about what happened hasn't changed anything. Some poor unsuspecting person will get stuck in the same vicious cycle we have been in over the past few weeks and they will walk away with a bad experience too. Isn't the point of their survey to help improve their processes and become a better company anyway? Do I lie on the survey because a branch manager went out of her way to try to help us out? Don't get me wrong, she has been SO helpful and I do feel better now that she is in control, but how does giving 10's on this survey help them improve?
So what do I do now? While communication has improved, we still aren't getting what we needed most which was the weekend after the 15th to prepare our new home for our arrival. Now I am going to be MIA right after closing on the 19th only to parachute in at the last minute to meet the movers. I am just not OK with that. Now we will have to be rushed and stressed all because of something that was completely out of our control. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get excited about our new home.
I am relieved that we have our appraisal now and also relieved to have just one person to communicate with, but that doesn't fix it for me. I don't mean to sound so ungrateful, but my heart was REALLY set on the 15th. I don't want to settle for anything less.
Declaration of War!
Did you think this post was about our NVR issues? With a title like that you would think major drama is involved. Never fear, this post isn't about NVR (although I am still waiting on news about our appraisal).
Nope, this is about our future neighbors. I had to swing by our new house yesterday to allow a measuring guy from Lowe's in. He measured all of our windows for our blinds! WOOHOO!
As I walked towards the house, I saw the unthinkable! One of our neighbors had ALREADY let their dog do their business right by the stoop and didn't bother to pick it up! WHAT THE SMURF?!
I know since our house is technically a condo that we don't own the outside, BUT STILL! Who would do such a thing?! Mike and I are very diligent in making sure we pick up after Daisy. I was hoping that moving to a place where people owned their homes they would respect the area more. Clearly I was wrong.
The apartment Mike and I live in now is on the first floor and is right next to a path where people walk their dogs all the time. These people are AWFUL about cleaning up after their pooches. It was so bad over the summer, that we couldn't even open up our windows to enjoy the warm weather! I will be pretty upset if the same thing happens in our new neighborhood.
I would like to see another pet waste station installed in the open area across the street from us in hopes that these people will start using it. Not sure what I have to do to get that done though. I mean really what else can you do? I guess we could install a little video camera and catch people in the act and turn them into the police, but what the heck are they going to do about it?! I fear that if we put a polite sign up, that someone might get a little sassy and purposely let their pup do their business near the sign. Am I thinking too much into this?
So obviously this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, otherwise I wouldn't be blogging about it. What would you do?
Nope, this is about our future neighbors. I had to swing by our new house yesterday to allow a measuring guy from Lowe's in. He measured all of our windows for our blinds! WOOHOO!
As I walked towards the house, I saw the unthinkable! One of our neighbors had ALREADY let their dog do their business right by the stoop and didn't bother to pick it up! WHAT THE SMURF?!
I know since our house is technically a condo that we don't own the outside, BUT STILL! Who would do such a thing?! Mike and I are very diligent in making sure we pick up after Daisy. I was hoping that moving to a place where people owned their homes they would respect the area more. Clearly I was wrong.
The apartment Mike and I live in now is on the first floor and is right next to a path where people walk their dogs all the time. These people are AWFUL about cleaning up after their pooches. It was so bad over the summer, that we couldn't even open up our windows to enjoy the warm weather! I will be pretty upset if the same thing happens in our new neighborhood.
I would like to see another pet waste station installed in the open area across the street from us in hopes that these people will start using it. Not sure what I have to do to get that done though. I mean really what else can you do? I guess we could install a little video camera and catch people in the act and turn them into the police, but what the heck are they going to do about it?! I fear that if we put a polite sign up, that someone might get a little sassy and purposely let their pup do their business near the sign. Am I thinking too much into this?
So obviously this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, otherwise I wouldn't be blogging about it. What would you do?
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
An Upswing..
After much discussion today with our LO and LP, I wasn't able to get any additional information, and I kind of feel like they were unapologetic for what they put us through the past few weeks. I understand that there wasn't much they could do since the process was dependent on something external to NVR, but the point I was trying to make was that the confusing information and lack of communication exhibited was what ended up flipping my crazy switch, which was totally avoidable. I think what frustrated me the most this week, was that they just kept repeating the same information about not having control over the appraiser as if I didn't already know that. And they failed to call me back with the update the next day as promised.
At some point in the day today the branch manager got involved and called me later in the afternoon. While she basically told me the same thing our LO and LP had been saying, she seemed to actually CARE about how this situation came about and seemed generally interested in making us have a more positive experience with NVR. She is going to try to find out when exactly the appraiser plans to submit his report and once she has that info, she hopes to be able to nail down a closing date for us. She plans to give me a call or email me late tomorrow. I remain hopeful that they are still able to get us to closing on the 15th. Yes, this is because it is most convenient for us given our work schedule after that week (for me it gets REALLY hectic) but also because Mike went through the trouble of getting special approvals for his leave on that day. You will recall I mentioned in an earlier post that because the 15th is a working day before a holiday (President's Day), teachers in the county have to get special approvals from the assistant principal. Thankfully, he found out today that his leave was approved! I just hope it wasn't a wasted effort on his part and that we will be able to use his existing leave request vs. starting the process over again for a new day.
So that's all the info I have right now, but I do hope to have good news to report tomorrow. Maybe then we will be able to finally relax and actually enjoy the prospect of being brand new homeowners!
At some point in the day today the branch manager got involved and called me later in the afternoon. While she basically told me the same thing our LO and LP had been saying, she seemed to actually CARE about how this situation came about and seemed generally interested in making us have a more positive experience with NVR. She is going to try to find out when exactly the appraiser plans to submit his report and once she has that info, she hopes to be able to nail down a closing date for us. She plans to give me a call or email me late tomorrow. I remain hopeful that they are still able to get us to closing on the 15th. Yes, this is because it is most convenient for us given our work schedule after that week (for me it gets REALLY hectic) but also because Mike went through the trouble of getting special approvals for his leave on that day. You will recall I mentioned in an earlier post that because the 15th is a working day before a holiday (President's Day), teachers in the county have to get special approvals from the assistant principal. Thankfully, he found out today that his leave was approved! I just hope it wasn't a wasted effort on his part and that we will be able to use his existing leave request vs. starting the process over again for a new day.
So that's all the info I have right now, but I do hope to have good news to report tomorrow. Maybe then we will be able to finally relax and actually enjoy the prospect of being brand new homeowners!
Not Closing on the 15th
I'm so angry. So much so that I might cry. Of course my job throws a wrench in things by making it pretty impossible to close after that date, so I guess that's on me.
The part that makes it 10 times worse is that I have been given the run around for several weeks now. I think that if they (NVR & Ryan) were 100% realistic with me to begin with this might be a little easier to stomach. Their lack of communication between the different offices does not help much either. It could just be because I am still very upset right now, but I feel like its going to be quite a stretch to give them high marks on that survey of theirs. I feel so beaten and bruised and a little shell shocked. I know that buying a home is stressful and building one just makes it more stressful, but I don't think its supposed to be THIS BAD.
One thing is certain though. We will never do this again.
The part that makes it 10 times worse is that I have been given the run around for several weeks now. I think that if they (NVR & Ryan) were 100% realistic with me to begin with this might be a little easier to stomach. Their lack of communication between the different offices does not help much either. It could just be because I am still very upset right now, but I feel like its going to be quite a stretch to give them high marks on that survey of theirs. I feel so beaten and bruised and a little shell shocked. I know that buying a home is stressful and building one just makes it more stressful, but I don't think its supposed to be THIS BAD.
One thing is certain though. We will never do this again.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Choosing a paint brand - Consumer Reports Weighs in
Mike's parents sent us THIS article from consumer reports about what paint is best for different applications. It looks like Valspar beat out Benjamin Moore this year as far as coverage goes in the matte category, but a new brand called Clark & Kensington won the satin and eggshell category. That is just fine with me, given the savings potential. Now lets just hope they can color match all of our selections!
The article also talks about best painters tapes as well which is an ongoing debate in our household!
The article also talks about best painters tapes as well which is an ongoing debate in our household!
Monday, February 4, 2013
My brain hurts....
Our loan processor called today. She just wanted to let us know what was going on with our loan and also to prepare us for the possibility that we may not close on time. Add to that the fact that she gave us yet ANOTHER closing date is giving me quite a headache. It was a bit contradictory if you think about it. Here we are thinking were closing on the 15th, but then she calls to prepare us for the worse (not closing on time), yet she still gives us a possible closing date that's one day SOONER than what we were expecting. WHA?!
They are still waiting on the appraisal, but she seemed confident it would happen this week. I asked her if the appraisal comes in this week, would we close on time and she said it would be tight but she thinks it's possible. She just wanted to make sure we were prepared for the worse.
So lets see, first our estimated closing was the 14th, then it moved to the 1st, then back to the 14th and then it moved to the 27th, and they changed it to the 15th after that and now were back to the 14th! See where one might get a headache?
Really the 14th or 15th doesn't matter for me. I can get either day off without a problem. Mike however has to get special approval for the 15th because he is a teacher and they are not allowed to take the day before or after a holiday off and since the 18th is President's day, he would have to get special approval to take the 15th off. Not to mention we kind of need to know soon, so they can arrange a substitute! So really this new date (the 14th) works better for him and its fine for me too, so I am really hopeful that they can just stick to this date for good. She is supposed to call me tomorrow with a better idea of when we are expected to close.
I guess if Mike can't get the day off we will have to get a power of attorney. Anyone have to do that before? I would REALLY prefer that he and I were both at closing, but what if the higher ups don't approve his leave?!
They are still waiting on the appraisal, but she seemed confident it would happen this week. I asked her if the appraisal comes in this week, would we close on time and she said it would be tight but she thinks it's possible. She just wanted to make sure we were prepared for the worse.
So lets see, first our estimated closing was the 14th, then it moved to the 1st, then back to the 14th and then it moved to the 27th, and they changed it to the 15th after that and now were back to the 14th! See where one might get a headache?
Really the 14th or 15th doesn't matter for me. I can get either day off without a problem. Mike however has to get special approval for the 15th because he is a teacher and they are not allowed to take the day before or after a holiday off and since the 18th is President's day, he would have to get special approval to take the 15th off. Not to mention we kind of need to know soon, so they can arrange a substitute! So really this new date (the 14th) works better for him and its fine for me too, so I am really hopeful that they can just stick to this date for good. She is supposed to call me tomorrow with a better idea of when we are expected to close.
I guess if Mike can't get the day off we will have to get a power of attorney. Anyone have to do that before? I would REALLY prefer that he and I were both at closing, but what if the higher ups don't approve his leave?!
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