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Another adult step

So, aside from moving to Texas, changing work environments completely, getting knocked up, taking another bar exam and everything else going on this year, we have also decided to embark on another "adult" step in our lives, and buy a house :) I did end up giving up on the dream house ideal, but given the restricted universe of 1970s suburban ranch houses we became limited to, I'm very happy about the house we did find. It has been very well maintained (which doesn't stop me from wanting to redo the bathrooms - I already understand the homeowner's impulse to upgrade) and it has a pool, which is great. That would never make sense in Ohio, but in my first six months in Texas, we've already had unbroken week-long strings of 95+ degree days several times. When the swimming season lasts for a full six months at least, I think this will be a lot of fun to have. (Another future home improvement, though, will be a pool fence once the kid is old enough to be mobile.)

Closing went pretty well. It was my first residential closing, and of course also the first closing where I was signing the loan documents, not drafting them for someone else to sign. The title commitment and survey came in first, and I marked up the title commitment the way I usually do. The only exception documents were the subdivision covenants, which were interesting. I deleted most of the survey exceptions since even the limited, ca. 1986 survey didn't show any required exceptions, if the title company was going to accept it. They didn't provide the deed, so I asked for that. The title officer wrote me back and cracked me up by saying something along the lines of, "Yes, here is the 'vesting deed' you requested." I'm guessing they don't get many requests for these, but hey, it's due diligence to check. She also told me "we don't do 'proformas' for non-commercial closings under $500,000." Which makes perfect sense, and you only learn by asking. I did appreciate that she revised the title commitment for me, though, and did delete the survey exceptions. I just couldn't stop laughing at the quote marks around "proforma" and "vesting deed." I think she wanted to pat me on the head while she was at it.

I read over the closing docs on Tuesday night when the title company sent them and had to keep fighting off the urge to mark up the (draconian) deed of trust with my comments. No negotiating at this end of the spectrum: I am the little guy. The bank is the big guy. They set all the terms, take them or leave them. I did make sure to put in no prepayment penalties ahead of time, and declined escrow, which helped some with closing costs. It was still the single biggest check I've ever drawn (or expect to draw) on my bank account. And our estimated costs for the things we'd like to do later on this summer when we move in - like scrape all the glitter popcorn ceilings (que?) - is pretty high also. But, that's what we've been saving for, right? And this a long term investment, not in terms of any intended economic return, but in terms of building a place to settle in and raise our family. So I think it'll all work out :) But I'm still planning to pick up any extra needed furniture on Craigslist - so don't worry, I've still got the "cheap" instinct.

Full post as published by Irish Law on June 22, 2008 (boomark / email).