Sorry that it has been forever since I've updated my blog but late this summer I began working with a realtor while the housing market was crashing to see if there was anything out there that I could afford. I had bid on and lost the first home I fell in love with and just as I was sulking, the realtor called me and said she'd stumbled upon something called a stagnant property. Not having any idea what she meant by this I began asking a million questions and found out that it was a home still going through construction in a wonderful neighborhood that just hadn't held 
down a buyer yet. The builder was offering maximum incentives and well...long story short, I signed all the necessary papers because it really was a deal I couldn't pass up! However my bubble was burst when I realized how AWFUL mortgage loan game was. I'd gone through a total of 4 different places to "shop around" for the best program. I was sure that by being a first time home buyer and a teacher I should easily qualify for a couple of good loan programs, right? I was becoming quite frustrated with the process because each program listed their fees and conditions with completely different 
verbiage and it seemed truly impossible to compare. After getting jerked around by the BofA no fees mortgage program who offered me a crazy 8.1 interest rate, I finally settled in with a local broker that my Realtor had recommended. He was able to do all the comparing for me to find the best program and I was happy with his results. Unfortunately for BofA, they have this $250.00 guarantee that says if you close a better deal with another lender they'll cut you a check! I made them uphold that fine print and a couple of weeks ago to my 
brokers shock and awe I received that $250 dollar check!!!
Just after moving in my first order of business was getting a back yard put in because with a dog...a backyard of powdery dirt and fresh new cream colored carpet would've been a catastrophic 
combo! Thanks to mom's connections I hired a co-worker of hers who does landscaping as a side job to put in my sprinkler system and help me map out the proper distances for trees, plants, and grass. He did a great job and charged at cost for parts and did all the trenching by hand! I got my keys on September 18th, painted the interior of the garage each evening, then called in the Calvary to help me get moved in on Saturday the 22nd and he had the sprinklers and the bend board (the rubber tubing that acts as cheap curbing until I can afford to pour cement) completely finished by mid-day on Sunday. The sod had been delivered early Saturday morning 
so there was some pressure to get it laid in place before it dried out! I was given the option of laying my own sod if I wished to save the labor fees of approx. $300 so I took him up on that challenge. Between Mom and I we had the 4 palates of sod moved from the front yard to the back in just a couple of hours and I'd gotten the sod laid down by around 7:30pm Sunday night...then it was just Mom and I doing the fine-tuning with the
crazy grim reaper looking scythe-style knife to trim up edges. So boom...I moved in and put in a back yard in just a couple of days...sadly the process of uncovering my belongings from the scads of boxes was a whole other chore! It has been just over a month now and Baylie and I have gotten settled in...I've even made my first scary mortgage payment and lived to tell the tale!
combo! Thanks to mom's connections I hired a co-worker of hers who does landscaping as a side job to put in my sprinkler system and help me map out the proper distances for trees, plants, and grass. He did a great job and charged at cost for parts and did all the trenching by hand! I got my keys on September 18th, painted the interior of the garage each evening, then called in the Calvary to help me get moved in on Saturday the 22nd and he had the sprinklers and the bend board (the rubber tubing that acts as cheap curbing until I can afford to pour cement) completely finished by mid-day on Sunday. The sod had been delivered early Saturday morning 
so there was some pressure to get it laid in place before it dried out! I was given the option of laying my own sod if I wished to save the labor fees of approx. $300 so I took him up on that challenge. Between Mom and I we had the 4 palates of sod moved from the front yard to the back in just a couple of hours and I'd gotten the sod laid down by around 7:30pm Sunday night...then it was just Mom and I doing the fine-tuning with the
crazy grim reaper looking scythe-style knife to trim up edges. So boom...I moved in and put in a back yard in just a couple of days...sadly the process of uncovering my belongings from the scads of boxes was a whole other chore! It has been just over a month now and Baylie and I have gotten settled in...I've even made my first scary mortgage payment and lived to tell the tale!
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