Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

The Gingerbread Diaries

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Even though we’ve closed on the house, we’re still a far cry from being done with Wells Fargo and their various departments. Still, I was surprised to get a call (then an email) from their “Retail Deficiency Management Team” (and doesn’t that sound ominous). Apparently there was a signature missing from one of the addendums (addenda? addendi?) and, you know, that’s entirely possible. Until, that is, I saw exactly which addendum it was.

Y’all, I know for a fact that I signed this paper at the closing, and I know because I signed it twice!

See, there’s this HUD/VA Addendum that has various boxes to check, but only if certain other boxes apply (usually about previous or concurrent FHA/VA loans or if we intend to rent the place, etc.), and while I was trying to decipher said boxes at the closing table, the seller and the Realtor were chatting like magpies about old dogs and daughters off at college. And between that and the fact that I skipped lunch to go to the bank and still make closing on time, it was tough to concentrate and I checked the wrong box and signed it and had to ask the attorney to reprint that page when I realized my mistake.

Which is how I know that I signed that paper. Twice. Three times if you count the fact that it was part of the disclosure packet with the original application. And, now, four times.

If you thought the closing went off without a hitch, you obviously haven’t been paying attention.

In fact, it was touch-and-go right up til the last moment: I needed to leave the office by noon to get to the bank for the cashier’s check, then get to the house for a last walk-through at 1:30, and then the closing at 2 pm. You know what we didn’t have until 12:08 pm? The amount that the cashier’s check needed to be. And even then it wasn’t official, because the attorney’s numbers and the bank’s numbers kept coming up $9.80 off.

And then, at 2pm, the attorney’s office was still generating the paperwork and the seller still needed to take said paperwork to get her husband’s signature since he was tied up at the hospital saving people’s brains and whatnot. So after about 20 minutes of semi-awkward small talk we’re finally ushered into the conference room where we round-robin signature 4 copies of the Settlement document so Mrs. K could head off with them to get the Dr’s signatures while I started in on the rest of the paperwork.

Of course, at this point I have a feeling I might be resigning documents for the next 30 years, but we have the keys and that’s what counts. Enough of last month, how are things progressing this month?!

(Direct link for the feed readers: Gingerbread Diaries 1.3: Another Leak Down–I figured out of few things, video-wise, but I’m still learning as I go as far as editing and such)

So, yeah, rumors of us having hot water were a bit premature. The missing part has arrived, though we’re still debating if we’ll make it up to the house this Friday or not to try yet another fix because of in-town social engagements this weekend. Then again, we don’t want to lose our momentum, do we? Decisions, decisions!

We’ve also discovered that the dishwasher either has a water-supply issue or a motor-grinds-it-wheels issue, but it’s not currently working. Which is a bummer, but not the end of the world.

In an unexpected upturn, we do seem to have caught a break with the rigid duct-work and the fact that it appears sound. Thank goodness! We’re still considering having the vents blown out or whatever you do to them to make sure they’re operating at peak efficiency. At some point. Maybe if I find a Groupon. The other plus, and this is a big one, is the kitchen cabinets!

Ignoring the scary paint job, there, this kitchen is going to be awesome once I'm through with it! (photo from the Realtor.com listing)

Ignoring the scary paint job, there, this kitchen is going to be awesome once I’m through with it! (photo from the Realtor.com listing)

While exploring how big the vent pipe for the stove hood was (i.e. not big at all, actually nonexistent as the hood vents back into the face of the cook) I confirmed one of my bigger hopes for the kitchen: that the soffit above the upper cabinets is purely decorative! This means we can open it up and install regular-height, glass-front cabinets to house serving dishes, my grandmother’s china, and other pretty things. I can start collecting cake stands now–I’ll actually have some place to put them!

It’s the little victories, folks.