Remember how I was upset the other day and wrote down all the reasons I have to celebrate? I think we are finally at a stage on the blog where we can talk about it. I wanted to get a little further along in the build process before we said anything. You know answer the BIG question of why in world we haven’t closed yet?!?
We were supposed to close on December 30th. Even though the house wasn’t quite finished – the floors weren’t stained, the island had no countertop, and a long list of etceteras. Our appraisal came back where we needed it to be. We were through underwriting. Imagine us twiddling our thumbs (very anxiously) waiting for the house to be finished “enough” to close. Then…
A little dramatic but it really did feel like someone dropped an a-bomb on us. Underwriting decided we couldn’t close with the upstairs being unfinished. Remember that genius plan we had to DIY the upstairs after we moved in? Save money upfront. Give us the best of both worlds – new + reno. We even added more square footage since hey we were finishing that later so might as well.
It wasn’t a safety thing. I should be very clear in saying having an unfinished upstairs is fairly common where we are building. It usually isn’t as much square footage as ours but unfinished nonetheless. This completely blindsided everyone – us, the builder, the loan officer, and now you.
We all put on our thinking caps/went into panic mode. You can see Beckett is very seriously reviewing our options. We found a bank that would keep the loan in house, so we could close without having to finish the upstairs. Once we got all the paperwork back, there was a fairly insignificant difference between the monthly payment closing without the upstairs finished (new lender) vs paying the extra to finish the upstairs (original lender). From there the choice was simple, let’s finish this thing off.
In case you forgot our post framing walk through, the upstairs is entirely framed out and insulated. We started the whole build process again for the nearly 1500 square feet up there. Ugh. At this point we were so over building as you can imagine from all the work/running around/general headache (see: mirrors or countertops).
So that happened. Aren’t y’all excited you get to see the upstairs come together? Honestly I wasn’t at first, but now I’m so glad things turned out this way. Let’s get this {expletive} built.
Your home is going to be so gorgeous! Such a dream home! xo Kristin
Thanks Kristin! It’s worth the heartache for sure.
Before I met you I never even knew you could leave an upstairs unfinished.
Haha it’s usually just a bonus room not another house up there, but I guess it’s similar to leaving a basement unfinished except that you typically have to finish your upstairs to sell your house. Although I know a few people who have purchased a home with an unfinished upstairs.
Possibly a blessing in disguise? It’s true, blessing are occasionally dressed as irritating bank people.
Haha I seriously just laughed out loud. Our original loan officer is awesome. We love him. Underwriters are total jerks, but you’re right it’s totally a blessing in disguise. It seems like all our house drama (in this house and the others) have always turned out for the best.
Oh my! I cannot imagine how frustrating that must have been for you. Seriously. How much longer do they think this will take? It will be so great for your little family to have all of that space though! Then you and Nick can focus on decorating.
Yes the long awaiting process of decorating. They are saying it should be finished the end of next week, so probably another month or so.
Just kidding. It will probably be finished a few days after when they actually complete it. There isn’t much to do and really should have been finished about 2 weeks ago. We’ve lost time waiting on material and works. The usual.
Shock. And. Awe.
We’ve been through similar house dramas and know how insanely stressful they can be. I am so sorry that it went down that way. BUT I am glad you’re turning it around! Go get that upstairs!
Painful but also slightly relieved. This means I don’t have to put up dry wall or lay floors, and I get to have an office. The downside is allocating money for decorating to finishing up.
Bank people suck! Blech… But I am excited to see one more whirlwind of building! I am glad you can still force a smile through it all
Beckett is so cute
It’s just rooms, so it’s not as exciting as the downstairs. However I am so excited to have that space finished. It looks really good for just being a bunch of rooms.
Ugh! That’s completely ridiculous….banks seem to have gone a little crazy in the other direction after years of throwing giant loans at anyone with a pulse. But, yeah, in the long run you might be very glad it happened this way!
Yes banks and all their rules!! I mean I’d get it if the house didn’t appraise for enough or it was a safety issue, but it was a we just don’t feel like it type of thing. Lame.
I was in absolute shock when I talked to you on the phone when that happened but I ALWAYS knew you guys (well let’s be honest baby Beckett) would figure out how to get out of such a sticky situation:)
Thanks Nichole. I just wish we would have finished it from the get go. It is costing more now then it would have then. Of course we thought we’d be saving by doing some of it by ourselves. Oh well let’s just get it finished!! Now y’all will have a place to stay when you finally make it up here!
I definitely didn’t see that one coming!
It will be nice to have the upstairs finished off. One less thing for you to have to do. And let’s be honest, hanging drywall is a real b. Better to leave it for someone else haha . And let’s talk about how much I love the a bomb picture. I think you need it in an engineer size print hung somewhere. Maybe in the new upstairs!
You are 100% correct that all of the work to finish the upstairs would be the worst kind of DIY – all function and zero fun. Thanks for enjoying my photoshop skillz. I’m really enjoying making ridiculous graphics!
Such a bummer! At least it sounds like finishing off the upstairs won’t take too long. That’s a plus! Hopefully you’ll be in before Spring!
At this point I’ll be happy to be in before Beckett can walk!
everything always works out as it should, even if it stresses you out in between!
You are absolutely right! This is all an exercise in patience.
Wow. The bombs keep a droppin. Keep goin guys!
Fingers crossed for no more bombs!!
Oh my gosh. This. Is. Ridiculous.
I’m so sorry you had to go through this. What a nightmare! I have seen first-hand how banks (and city inspectors, for that matter), can derail plans for no good reason.
Such a momentum killer. I’m so excited about everything being finished now. I just wish we would have done that to begin with!