Floor Concerns Continue & basment update

I was hoping I would have an update by now regarding my floor.  On August 30th, Ryan Homes brought a structural engineer to examine why my floor is no longer level and what the exposure is.  Ryan Homes noted that they wont do anything until they hear from their engineering firm.

During the meeting, the owner of the engineering firm made several comments that there were errors made in building my house.  He laid blame on the framing crew as they were in position to catch this error.  He also said it could have been those who installed the beam and maybe the foundation subs.

The issue is that my I-beam the supports the house internally between the living room and dining room was not installed correctly.  One side of the I-beam sits on the foundation and is level with the sill.  The other end of the I-beam sits 3/4 of an inch above the foundation and sill.  The last joist sitting on the I-beam is 3/4 of an inch above the next joist that is sitting on the foundation.  The result is a major slant in the floor above in the kitchen.

This is amazing that someone did not catch this during construction.  The framing crew should have noticed a gap and that their panels were not level.  As the engineer confirmed, they messed this up.

Our house is structurally sound and isn't going to lean or fall over.  The issue is that our floor has a section that has a major slate and it is felt along the two joists for 6 feet.

I basically see 4 options for Ryan Homes
1) Do nothing - It doesn't sound like Ryan will choose this but it is still an option we need to evaluate.  Doing nothing means I have to live with an unlevel floor and that it will most likely affect the resale valuae of the house.
2) Lift flooring and add leveling compound - This option involves putting something like a thinset mortor down on the floor.  This liquid uses gravity to fill in the low sspots and become level.  The disadvantage is that the compound means you cant install hardwood floors and if we ever change floors, this leveling compound might get ripped up.  It also wont fix the floor under the island or the wall where the Hvac runs in.  The floor still wont be level but the 3/4 of an inch over 2 feet would be spread over 8 feet and less noticable.
3) Lift subfloor and add shims to level - This is similar to the adding leveling compound except it would involve removing the tongue and groove plywood.  It would spread the 3/4 difference over 8 feet.  This would allow us to add hardwood sometime later.  This could cause other problems like squeeky floors since the floors will be cut and put back down and not as tight as the tongue and groove.  They also wont do the area under the island or the floor in the wall area where the Hvac ductwork is.  The house would still have a section not level.
4) Lower the I-beam to match the foundation sill - This is an option they did not seem to like,  This would involve lowering the I-beam so the house is level.  This would crack drywall above the house and could cause the 2nd floor to now have a dip in the floor.  This could also cause doors to stick and windows to break.  While this would cause issues, from speaking to others, this is how it should be fixed.

Hopefully Ryan Homes and the Engineer will provide me a report soon and their options.

BASEMENT UPGRADE

So over the past few months, I have been working in the basement.  I originally started with some rough sketches for rooms.  I figured I could install a storage room, a work out room, a media room, a bar wine room, bathroom and small workshop storage area.  I started by buying some lumber each week.  I would wall in a panel and wedge it into place.  This involved me taking sections of my basement apart which has been fun but disturbing at times.  I can see the good and bad of my home builder.  1) I love that they built a drop ceiling section where all the utilities are pulled through, but 2) They stalled their framing for the drop ceiling over the drywall installed.

Here are a few pictures of my work so far.... not bad for a girl eh

Mice Infestation

We have found wild life in our basement.  We have found both a dead mouse and a dead bird.  We also have a mouse infestation around the outside of our foundation.  You can see their little tunnels all over the sides of the house where the stone meets the ground.  We got alarmed when we started to find dead animals in our basement.

We mentioned this to the PM who had two of his guys fix a few other small items on the house.  Both walked the outside and one walked the inside and could not find a hole.  He said he could not find a hole and since the basement ceiling has drywall on it, he couldn't see anything.

Well........

I have been slowly working on building out the basement.  I have been framing walls and trying to get ready to do a rough in with electrical.  While I was removing drywall to run wiring, I found a hole in the foundation for the AC compressor that was not filled in.  Considering it is sealed to the vinyl siding with a flexable sealant, the mice getting in must somehow be crawling under the vinyl and into the hole I discovered.

Here is what it looks like:

I plan to spray foam it full of expansion foam and stop a potential entry point to the house for the mice.

10 Month Review

We are just about at our 10 month point with our new home.  We are both enjoying our home and the much needed space.  We aren't struggling with closet space and fighting over the bathroom.  It's been super nice to have a garage big enough for an SUV.  We even had a party and loved how big and open the house is.  It's a nice house so far, but it's not great and its not finished.

When we had our final walk through it was basically how things work in the house and where things are at.  We went over items like the importance of draining your outside water lines before winter and how to do that.  Our PM said this wasn't the time to review and "blue tape" things to fix.  That as we live here we'd notice things and he would address them or the service center will address them.

Here is where we stand with these things as of today:

1) FIREPLACE - It is nice having the fireplace in winter.  It worked well for a period of time until one day it wouldn't ignite.  This was one of our earliest complaints.  A service tech came while my wife was working at home and fixed it.  The fireplace people commented on how Ryan must have installed it because there were a few things installed wrong.  They fixed it and it has been working so this issue was resolved.

2) LEAKING SHOWER DOOR - Our master bathroom has a shower with an enclosed glass area.  The door would leak water all over the corner of the bathroom floor.  The sub had to come back several times but eventually they got the sealant in the right place and the leak stopped.  We haven't seen the leak in months.  This issue was resolved.

3) WIFI HOME AUDIO - When we moved in there was no documentation on how to use the system via our phones.  Eventually Guardian helped us with the app and the system worked nice for a few weeks back in 2015.  Sadly, when Guardian came to fix the speaker issue (installed speaker in wrong spot outside) they WIFI system stopped working.  We have not been able to play music via our phones as advertised by Ryan and Guardian.  I have been complaining about this for months.  Guardian did send a tech out on the weekend but he was a security guy and not a audio guy.  He rebooted the system and it worked for 5 minutes and then stopped.  He determined it was bad hardware and provided me with a phone number to call LeGrand customer support.  Basically Guardian pass the responsibility of fixing the Audio WIFI to me.  I called LeGrand who had me on hold for 20 minutes before asking for my name and phone number and disconnecting me.  I have called them three more times with no response.  The hardware vender has not responded.  In frustration and no action from the project manager or the Guardian sales person, I opted to log an issue with Ryan's customer service.  This got me a call from Guardian who said they would send me a technician in the evening between 4 yo 7.  I left work early and sat at home waiting for Guardian.  The evening passed with Guardian not showing up and not even calling.  I have since opened another issue with Ryan and sent an email to all parties.  As of today no one has reached back out to me.  UPDATE - Guardian sent out a more experienced tech who replaced some of the panels and downloaded a patch to the software.  He got the system working.  We have been enjoying the WiFi music as intended when it has stopped working again for our Android device.  Our Apple device still works.  ISSUE PARTIALLY RESOLVED

4) COLD AIR LEAK - During the winter we discovered a major draft coming from the stone fireplace.  Since the fireplace stopped working, there was no heat to mask the cold air blowing in.  This was back when the PM was working with us on some issues and he agreed it felt bad.  His plan was in the spring to open it up from the outside and re-insulate.  They forgot about it in the spring and I reminded them.  I took a day off from work to get them to come fix things with the house.  This was one of the items they did.  They cut the side open and found only a small amount of insulation.  They used spray foam insulation on the corners and where the gas line comes up from the basement.  The interior was then filled with loose insulation.  They close it back up and it looks fine.  Since it is not winter it is difficult to know if they resolved the problem, but based on what I could see of their work.....it appears addressed. Issue resolved.

5) UN-LEVEL STONE - Our fireplace has several large stone slabs that one can sit up.  Apparently someone sat on one of them while the concrete was wet and the stone was not level.  We discovered it with a 3 foot candle stick for the holidays.  Our PM had the stone work guys come back and reset the slab.  It appears to be level now. Issues resolved.

6) STONE TO GRADE - There are several spots where it looks like the masons just didn't put any stone to cover the concrete wall.  It's odd because the stone to the left and right are to grade, but spots are not.  We asked our PM about this and he has done nothing.  I have logged an issue with Ryan Homes service and they have reached out to me, but they have done nothing.  This should be an easy fix for them to do as it does not need us to be home.  UPDATE - The customer service guy who we have been workng with since logging these issues had the missing stone added instead of throwing dirt and raising the lawn like they did on neighbors houses. ISSUE RESOLVED

7) UNLEVEL FLOOR - This is one of the more alarming issues I have with my new house.  There is a major dip in the floor.  I never noticed it much but then gradually I have been feeling it when I adjust the thermostat.  I remember checking it months ago and it did not seem this bad and it must be getting worse.  I contacted the PM about it and he ignored it.  I did get one of the general laborers who fixed the insulation on the fireplace and he said it is slopped and would speak to the PM.  The PM has ignored my requests.  I decided to log an issue with Ryan Homes Service but they have yet to confirm a day to come look at this.  While I am not an architect, I suspect this is a problem caused by the change Ryan Homes made to not take the I-beam from wall to wall in the basement.  I raised concerns to Ryan Homes about this shown here: http://thelovelyladieslandon.blogspot.com/2015/08/foundation-concerns.html

The dip appears to be right in front of the cold air return where the I-Beam ends.  I suspect the floor dips here because there is no support under it.  I have been planning to build a wall in the basement that would support this some, but at this time things are on hold until Ryan Homes Service can come to the house when we are there.  If you look at the picture below, you can see the floor is out of level by an entire bubble.  ISSUE REMAINS

8) DENTED MICROWAVE - We didn't notice this at first and in fact we didn't notice this for months but the side of our microwave is dented in.  It looks like it came from a scratch and dent store, or was a 2nd removed from another house.  I mentioned this to the PM who has ignored it.  I logged an issue with Ryan Homes who says it only has a 30 day warranty on cosmetic issues.  While this is hardly noticeable, considering the price of the house I expect new appliances that are not dented.  I suspect this wont be addressed and a loosing fight.  ISSUE RESOLVED

9) DISH WASHER - When we first moved in we ate a lot of fast food just because we were overwhelmed with moving and unpacking.  Soon we started cooking and using the dish washer.  We quickly discovered that the dish washer would run but nothing would come out clean.  I often had to wash things by hand.  WE complained to our PM who replaced it with a different model and I suspect they put the dish washer in one of the houses being built after ours.  The new dish washer works better, but there are times when it should clean better than it does.  ISSUE RESOVLED

10) MISC. SMALL ISSUES - We had some small issues when we moved in which is expected.  Here is a list of smaller issues and what Ryan Homes did for them:

Basement light - We have a basement light that doesn't shut off as it was supposed to be a pull chain and it isn't.

Garage Trim - The wooden trim around the garage door is not plum.  The boards around garage entrances is bowed and looks really bad.

Small Garage Door top Trim - While I was hanging X-mas lights, I noticed that they didn't finish painting the top of the trim of the small garage door.  You cant see it from the road, but it's obvious that they stopped half way.

Sticking Doors - We have a few internal doors starting to stick.  I'll suggest we wait on addressing these until the house settles more.

Morning Room Door - The door stays shut if it is locked or closed hard, but the door can be opened by a strong gust of wind.

DataComm Box – There are more components in the data comm box that needs power than the outlet installed  in the bottom of the box.  The data comm box needs another outlet installed for the other components.  (Resolved by adding an extension cord and not another outlet)

Missing Paint - We had a section of the wall between the windows totally not painted.  We found various other spots where the painters missed.

11) ITEMS RYAN HOMES HAS IGNORED - I have a small list of items I have mentioned to the PM that have just been forgotten about our ignored.  I have not pressed on these since we have bigger issues we'd rather them focus on.

Garage door sealer - The trim also around the garage door has gaps in places between the trim and the wall.  Shouldn't this have some chalking in it to seal out water?

12) BASEMENT CEILING DRYWALL - During our pre-construction meeting, I asked the PM if the basement was truly left unfinished.  He noted that they hang drywall on the ceiling.  I told him I planned to finish it and would need to drop all the drywall to run wiring for lights, ventilation, and I'd like to reuse the drywall installed since it would roughly be cut to the correct size.  The PM checked into it and said that the drywall ceiling would be screwed in and not plastered at the seams.  He said I would have no problem trying to drop the drywall.  A month ago I started to work in the basement and wanted to drop a section of drywall and start framing in a wall.  There is a section of the basement ceiling where all the wiring and plumbing run through.  This dropped with no problem.  When I went to the general area of the basement ceiling, I found that after I pulled all the screws, the drywall would not drop at all.  It turned out that the Drywall was liquid nailed to the joist.  This makes it nearly impossible to remove without break the sheet and creating a mess.  I mentioned this to the new PM and he basically ignored it and didn't offer any solution.  My only choice it to cut holes where I need them and hang a 2nd sheet over the ceiling they glued.  This is a good example of bad communication with Ryan Homes.  ISSUE REMAINS

13) GRASS - We have spent a ton of money on trying to grow grass.  The top soil is filled with rocks and some spots packed clay.  We have gone through 50 pounds of grass seed, rented an aerator, put out patch of shredded mulch, and its been nearly impossible.  

14) TORN UP YARD - We have been in our house nearly 10 months and we have worked hard to get grass to grow.  A section of our yard was torn up to connect utilities to a house being built.  They replaced the soil which has huge rocks in it and they never seeded the area.  I requested that they fix it but they have ignored it. A few weeks ago I spoke to our service manager who said this issue was not from Ryan Homes but the utility company.  I have to call the Utility Company and ask them to fix the issue.  ISSUE REMAINS

15) SIDING COMING OFF - We have a section of siding that was under our morning room window and it is coming off of the house.  I told this to the PM several times and he did have a guy come reattach it.  It started falling off the house again.  Here is what it looks like.  ISSUE RESOLVED

16) FURNACE PIPES - During the pre-con, I asked the PM what side the furnace will be located on.  This is because we have a huge side yard on the left of our house and didn't want to see a furnace if we had a patio there.  The other side of the house has a small 20 foot space between houses and seemed like a good place to install the AC compressor.  During the construction process, our PM got replaced and didn't give the new PM any notes.  This resulted in him putting the AC compressor on the wrong side of the house.  He moved it when I asked him, but left all the pipes.  So instead of having the pipes and AC compressor in the same location as other houses, we have pipes on one side (Big yard side we wanted to use as a patio) and the AC compressor on the other.  We did not ask Ryan Homes to fix this because we are more worried about the dip in the floor and would rather have that fixed.  ISSUE UNRESOLVED

Our house with pipes and no AC compressor

They moved our AC compressor but not the pipes

The house being built next to us has AC compressor and Pipes

Neighbor Example

I will update this as things are either addressed or ignored.

Open Items and into a Routine

We are approaching our third full month at the Landon.  It's nice to call home and we are still decorating it and making it our space.  I've found time to play some x-box in the study and my fiance happy in the great room watching Gilmore Girls.  Even our dogs are feeling at home and understanding the rules of the new house.  We all are finding our routine.

We still have some things to move from the old house and I haven't started to finish the basement.  I was able to make a bicycle pully rack while we are both super busy.

While we are generally happier with our new home, specially compared to our old 60 year old small starter house, we still have a lot of things that need addressed.  Ryan Homes still has some things they need to address.

Gas Fireplace - Our fireplace has stopped working all together.  Sometimes it might light for a minute or two but then immediately go out.

Fireplace Stonework - We have several issues with our stonework.  First is there is a stone with concrete stuck on the front of it.  These are man make stones so there is some concrete left over from another stone stuck to it.  We also get an extremely cold draft from the stone base and slabs.  It is as if they never insulated the inside around the fireplace.  This fireplace is a big hole in the wall and it shouldn't be letting as much cold air in as it does.  Lastly, we have one of the slabs installed so out of level that it looks like our fireplace is crooked and running downhill.  It looks really bad.  Hopefully they can fix this slab and spray expanding foam insulation around the fireplace inside.

Morning Room Door - Our door continues to not latch or struggles to latch.  If you dont lock the deadbolt a strong wind from outside will push open the door.  The door plate needs moved.  They also left the door knob on so loose that it moves around and has scratched all the paint on around the doorknob area.

Dishwasher - They must have put the cheapest dishwasher they make into this house.  It leaves our dishes dirty.  We basically have to wash our dishes by hand prior to washing them in the dishwasher. It does such a bad job that it's a joke that Ryan Homes can consider this a functional dishwasher.  Our PM said he would swap it out and he had nothing but complaints about this model.

Guardian Speakers and Network - Guardian never finished their installation.  They installed two wires on the outside of the house but nothing is installed out there.  They never installed the external speaker.  We have speakers in the great room, but none of them work with the MP3 outlet.  I can't even get them to buzz so I dont think they have power.  The data panel in the basement has items placed in the box but never plugged in.  They did a really crappy installation and their sales person has stopped communicating with us.  Our PM even said they have been doing crappy work.  I wrote a letter to their CEO asking for someone to contact me about the work they never completed.  They called to schedule a tech and never apologized for the crappy work they did.

We have a bunch of small things as well.
Missed painted areas
Mystery Leak in shower door
Basement light that stays on 100% of the time
Various drywall patches
Sticky Door

We have Ryan Homes sending back a crew on the 5th to fix all these things.  Hopefully they all get addressed.

We still haven't received any other offers from the other house.  This is really odd since the house had 2 deals fall apart and one deal missed since it was under contract.  I can see the webtraffic is high and we had tons of people save the house online.  We also installed a new furnace and electrical panel since they were inspection issues.  What is sad is people are commenting it needs too much work when it has a updated kitchen, main bath, all new windows, updated furnace and electrical panel.  Not to mention I doubled the joists on the deck for double support and poured a new concrete cap to the fireplace.  The hardwood floors could use a good sanding and the walls a fresh coat of paint, but that's common with a house 60 years old.  I feel like buyers are being picky on the looks and missing key updated infrastructure and location.

30 Day Check in

We have been in our new house for 30 days and we still have tons of boxes all over the place.  Our life is settling in and we have slowed down unpacking as 90% the mission critical things have unpacked and blinds hung on the important windows.  Our new house is becoming a home.

Old House - Our old house is still on the market but nothing seems to be happening because of the weather and time of the year.  The old house is still getting tons of online traffic and the number of saves on Zillow has gone from 62 to 88 in the first month of having the new agent.  I had the furnace replaced and the fusebox is scheduled for replacing this week.  I was sure a new furnace would help sell the house but the recent feedback is it's too small.  I don't think the house is meant to be a mansion but a great starter home.  It needs some work which makes it affordable, cheapest house in the nicest neighborhood, and close to everything.  Please keep us in your prayer that someone loves it as much as I did and starts a life there.

NVR - They totally sold our loan and have not heard back from them since.

The Landon - I send out PM an email for some things we noticed need addressed.  Nothing is major which is nice.

1) Guardian never finished their install.  The panel in the basement had an outlet installed and Guardian install a network switch but didn't look like they plugged it in.  They also never installed the outside speakers.  We also cant use our speakers from an MP3 player like in the models which was a specific question we asked.
2) We have 1 door sticking really bad.  This isn't a big issue as the door just needs planed.  I am sure its from the shifting of the house.  I expect more.
3) Our morning room door doesn't shut easy.  It doesn't catch and hold.  Literally we have had windy days open the door if its not locked.
4) The painters didn't finish painting some trim over the garage.  They painted 70% of the trim and left the right side white.  I saw this when I was up on a ladder hanging lights.  I guess since no one can see it they didn't finish it.
5) We have tons of spots where the drywall wasn't sanded smooth before painting.  I can see waves and seams which is common when rushing drywall.  It's an easy fix we are going to wait on for our drywall fix at 10 months.
6) We have a circuit breaker that must pop out when it trips.  It doesn't stay mounted in the box.
7) We have a basement light that wont shut off.  It was supposed to have a pull cord but it doesn't.

About a week ago, our husky decided to pull up some carpet when we were not home.  We keep our dogs locked in the office when we are not home.  Our dog shredded a corner of the carpet, pulled it back, and ripped up the pad under it.  We had it repaired today by a repair man who noted that the installers didn't install the carpet correctly.  I suspect they didn't stretch the carpet and get it on the tacks really tight.  The carpet is super easy to lift off the carpet tacks.  Our repair man said the carpet was installed poorly as properly installed carpet is hard for a dog to pull off the tacks.

The Chaos Continues

So we have been in the Landon for over a week and we are still settling in.  Things are so still very hectic and exhausting.

NVR - I haven't heard anything else from them in the form of the mortgage or the settlement.

Ryan Homes - Our PM called me one evening to check in on us.  He said he was worried when he never heard from us.  We've been so busy with moving and boxes we haven't had a chance to do much.  I did point out that our front light doesn't turn on and we have a basement light that doesn't shut off.  He said he would take care of them when the electrician comes to install the garage light they missed.

Guardian - I have not heard or seen these guys yet.  They still need to install the speaker in the back of my house.  Also, the model had speakers that you could plug an MP3 player into and play over them.  I see that plug but the speakers don't play.  Hopefully they will fix the speaker and let us know how to play from an MP3 player.

Landon - Our home is starting to feel like home.  We are unpacking more and more resulting in more things we used to have around us in life back in their place.  My fiance hung a lot of pictures up this past weekend and I put together the dresser.  We had a few incidents.  Our husky decided to chew a corner of the wall so we have trim now that is chewed on and she scratched a door with her paws.  We had delivery men replacing a bad washer from Best Buy rip the washer leak pan off the pipe.  This took me hours to replace.  Overall the house is working out nice for us.  The grass has me concerned though as it's too cold for the grass to grow.  I have a feeling our yard will be muddy all winter.

Old Home - We fired our agent and have a new agent.  She is doing more than our past agent did.  I feel bad for our new agent because I am pretty jaded towards this situation.  She recently asked me to repaint more of the inside of the house.  It's frustrating because I just want to move on with our new home and spend my time working on the Landon and not a house we don't call home.  

CLOSED!!!!

We closed on Friday and it's been chaos since.  We woke up early Friday morning and picked up a rental truck.  We got home and immediately started packing.  I carried and loaded the truck and my fiance packed boxes.  My father came up and helped take care of a few repairs on the current house that the new realty suggested.

At 11am I signed all the papers.  NVR settlement services were pretty decent and the process took about an hour or more.  I did spend some time reading some of the legal documents such as the note payable.  A few things to keep in mind here.....1) they require full signatures with middle initials and 2) often the date.  They actually take the stack of signed documents to a room for review after execution to make sure your signature is consistent.

I arrived home a little after noon right on schedule for the movers at 1pm.  The movers said they had 2 jobs scheduled with a move in the morning and ours early in the afternoon.  A little after 1pm they called and said they were running late but would arrive before 2pm.  They actually did not show up until 3pm.  They loaded the big furniture with ease in there trucks and by 5pm we were on the road for the Landon.

We arrived at the Landon around 5:45 and everything was dark.  Our sales people left us a nice thank you gift of towels with our a variation of our nicknames for them applied to us.  It was cute.  They also left a small bottle of champagne we never had time to open.  My lovely fiance snuck into the house Thursday night and put up some pictures of her and I at the site during construction.  The house looked beautiful.

Then we unloaded and boxes were just dropped anywhere in side.  By 7:00ish our truck was empty and my father headed off.  7:30 the movers were done and gone.  We were left with a sea of boxes.

Saturday we spent it taking care of the needed items.  My father and I built steps on the back of the house (picture to follow) and my fiance and her family got some stuff moved around.  Her parents gave us an old table and chairs plus a china cabinet.  By 4 the steps were up and 2 loads were moved from storage.  Everyone headed out and we were left to unpack.  Around 6pm some friends stopped past with wine and pizza.  It was much needed but after they left we didn't feel like doing anything else.

Sunday was current house chores.  We headed back and cleaned out the first floor to make sure it was ready for a cleaning person and new realtor.  My old house looked so much bigger empty.  We still have things in a closet in the basement and stuff in the garage, but at least it's not urgent to have them removed.  We also had to empty out a storage unit we prepaid and expired on Sunday.  After 2 trips it was cleared and our garage too full to fit both cars.

This is pretty overwhelming but its coming together.

Almost there and a change of course

We are almost ready for our closing.  I have worked so hard the last two weeks on the phone daily with bankers, NVR, Ryan Homes pushing to get us closed tomorrow.  Our house has been done since Oct. 28th and we are about 2 weeks late, but we'll be in before thanksgiving.

NVR

They use Cleaview bank for some of their debt and they are awesome to work with.  I am seriously considering moving more of my banking to them.  Clearview knew this week had a bank holiday in it but went out of their way to get everything back to NVR the day before.  They are great to work with.  NVR still has been asking for stupid things.  My father is on one of my bank accounts and NVR demanded he sign a letter noting those funds are mine.  Really, my father is on my saving in case I am hit by a bus when cycling.  People do that in a family.

I received my HUD on Monday and it's about 1,300 more than my good faith agreement.  The two things that changed were 1) more tax escrow and 2) additional HOA fees.  The tax escrow is confusing as school years go from aug to aug so pushing back a closing should lower the amount of tax needed at closing, OR the tax escrow is always 6 months and the amount shouldn't change.  I truely think NVR missed the Pittsburgh taxes and they are covering their butt saying it's a timing thing.  The HOA fee is a total blindside.  Our sales agreement noted two HOA fees but the HUD has four of them.  Somehow NVR Settlement is charging me an additional 340 for HOA when my sales contract doesn't list them.  Hopefully they will remove them since it was their error.

We are scheduled to close tomorrow at 11.

MOVING

We are frantically packing boxes.  We have so much in storage already and boxed up in our basement but I know it's going to be a mess tomorrow throwing things into a truck.  We had hoped to hire movers to move everything, but our reduced budget only allows for movers to move the big things.  Our furniture and heavy items will be handled by the professionals and we'll address everything else.  We found a great moving company and if things go well, I'll be sharing their information.

CURRENT HOME SALE

This has been the worst part of moving and one of the top suckiest parts of my life.  While we lowered the price of my house for old items such as furnace and fusebox, the fusebox causes every home inspection to fail even though buyers are disclosed of it and they agree to a purchase price with it.  I'll be dropping another 2k into the house just to sell it.  Sadly this puts my investment into my current home at 10,000 and we are selling it roughly 10,000 less what my Realtor assured me we would.  I basically decided that if I am going to take such a hit and feel the entire burden of this, my Realtor should lower her commission for the lack of accuracy in pricing my house and lack of service.  She never offered so this week I terminated my relationship with her.

Coldwell Banker is a horrible broker to use to sell your house.  When I raised concerns to the Broker he just pushed me off to my realtor's manager.  She called me once and offered to come out, but never did.  What helped me realize that Coldwell Banker doesn't provide good service was when I spent this past weekend interviewing other realtors.  Every other broker firm has a better marketing plan.  They pointed out things that Coldwell Banker did not do such as adding captions to the pictures online.  My realtor never hosted any time of open house and the new realtor wants to do a realtor open house first thing before it hits the market.  I really hope this new agent to actually get my house sold for the value it should get.

Is that the finish line I hear.......

Over the past few years, I have done a lot of triathlons.  I have learned a lot from triathlon....specially a half ironman.  In a long race, something will sooner or later not go as planned.  One race I dropped a water bottle when cycling through the exchange and another race I blew a tire.  I have had races where I was kicked in the face while swimming and felt like passing out from the heat and sunburn.  Some of triathlon isn't how well you plan, but how well you can recover and stay focused.  When I blew a tire during a race, the pit crew were right behind me and while they swapped out my tire and tube, I stretched, took in calories and drank.....making the best of the situation and stoppage.  The best part of the triathlon is when you can hear the finish line ahead.  You can always hear the finish line way before you can see it.  It's like that second wind, the reason to push harder, pick it up and straighten up the form to look strong in the chute.  I am pretty sure I can hear the finish line for our Landon.

Landon

No change in the build as it's basically done and waiting for us.  We had our pre-settlement and just waiting to move.

Current Home Sale

Our 2n buyers have decided not to come back to the table.  This is so very disappointing.  We disclosed the house has a fuse box, and that it is old and should be replaced.  We provided a home warranty for any issues that may come up from the HVAC.  They knew they were buying the home as-is and we still offered to make a few repairs and pay for a majority of putting in a new fusebox.  This first time buyer just got cold feet from the opinions of the home inspector freaked them out.

NVR

Yesterday I took it upon myself to push everyone at NVR for a closing date or a game plan which would lead to a closing date.  I called NVR settlement who said they were waiting on things from NVR.  I emailed Ryan Homes sales and PM about my concerns of having to move our storage unit prior to closing since it was already rented to another person.  I also emailed NVR with more concern.  Cleaview still proved wonderful to work with as they reached out to me.

Well, things kind of worked.  I got a call from my loan officer and her manager.  While he was a little snotty implying the delay was on my end due to the buyer backing out and bridge loan, but ultimately shared information so I understood why it was taking so long.  He said worse case scenario we could close November 19th...best case scenario is we could close on Friday the 13th.  It all depends on if Clearview can close my bridge before Saturday.......At 3:30 yesterday I got the call I can close my bridge today and funds available on Monday.  this would give NVR 4 days to do what they need to do.  Hopefully today they tell me if next Friday is a go.

Pre-settlement, NVR Hell, and Cold Feet

A lot has happened since my last post.  Not all of it was fun or enjoyable which has been the usual for this home transition process.  I really can't wait for all of this to be over.

Landon
We had our pre-settlement walk through on Friday with our Ryan Homes Project Manager and his sidekick.  He basically showed us through the house and went over things and their warranty.  He had a few small open items such as a replacement cabinet has not yet arrived along with the replacement garage door panel.  He said this wasn't an inspection, but for us to make a list and he'll have them addressed at the 30 day review mark.  He also had a bunch of papers to sign and went over his survey.

He asked when do we close as we were supposed to be closing today.....seriously.....today I was supposed to be signing papers.  We told him we were told it would be another 4 weeks.  He made sure we knew his survey was separate of NVR mortgage.  He said he would call someone, but I doubt he has any pull to move NVR along.

NVR
Our mortgage broker seems to be passing the buck and not taking command of getting us a closing date.  NVR points the finger to Clearview and Clearview points the finger back to NVR.  Neither is able or willing to propose a closing date.  What is super annoying is that NVR keep harassing me for stuff that I'm waiting on from Clearview and told them that.  I have tried to call people and no one is answering their phones today......so I guess today isn't the day we find out if we close on November 12th.

Home Buyers
Our 2nd set of home buyers are backing out.  We fully disclosed the prior inspection report and they knew what they were purchasing.  After their home inspection, they feel our fuse box needs replaced even though we discussed it with them before they ever saw the house.  This is so dam frustrating dealing with kids who sign contracts to buy and then weasel out of the purchase via the home inspection.  My house is under market price due to condition but they still expect me to spend thousands for replacement of working systems so they feel safer.  I'm tired of all the young buyers getting cold feet after they sign on the line.

Hopefully this week will be better.

Hopefully we will get to live in our new house instead of looking through the windows.

Limbo

Nothing really improved today with NVR.  They had some external credit reporting agency contact me to approve an information request they have with the bank doing the sub debt and bridge loan.  NVR needs this third party credit investigating to obtain and confirm the bridge loan account number, date it was opened, and the day of the first payment.

Up to this point I have been all I can to get the closing done as soon as possible.  I picked up the phone and called my Clearview loan processor who didn't answer.  I decided to shoot her an email.  Clearview responded with they can't provide them anything since it has not started yet.

I think NVR is trying to confirm the bridge loan that doesn't go into affect until the closing on the Landon.  I'm not sure why NVR is pushing for this because it makes sense that it's not in effect yet.

NVR also tried to get me to update a form that they need updated with in 20 days of a closing.  I basically pushed back and told them I'm not investing more time into a form that might not be needed if my closing is going to take longer than 20 days.  When I get a firm closing date I'll fill out the needed forms.

I feel very much disappointed we wont be closing next week and no one is giving us another date.  I feel we have fallen off into Limbo and no one really cares.  How can NVR and Ryan Homes give people a firm closing date 90 days out from closing, but cant give us a date when our house is done this week.

We are now hoping for November 12th....but with the Limbo we are in, I doubt we'll get confirmation of a day anytime soon.

So Close.... but still so far away

NVR Update

Well, last week NVR set the exceptions with me that we'd get a new firm closing date today when my file leaves underwriting.  My NVR loan officer made it sound like she'd know for sure today when the file is done.  Well.....here we are today and yes......the file is done and on its way to Clearview and my NVR loan officer still can't provide me a date.

Today the NVR loan Officer says it could take up to 4 more weeks to clear the next set of underwriting.  That is another entire month.  I have been working with them since October 1st and while we had a bump because of the buyer backout and bridge loan, they still have 2 weeks to process before our pushed back closing date of November 5th.  I don't see how they would need to push it back past November 12th.... that's three weeks still and they should have 1 week of work already down over the past month.

I guess we are stuck in limbo and need to cancel all of our deliveries and movers.  Our house will be completed this week and will just sit until NVR can get all of the paperwork completed.

Home Stretch

Friday my fiancé sends me a text that she wants to go to the Landon.  We had originally talked about going up Saturday after taking a load to storage.  Our weeks have been exhausting and we both could use the excitement of the house.  We got to meet with our PM who stopped past.

The Landon

It’s in the home stretch of construction.  Basically this week they have punch list items to work on.  They put the first layer down of asphalt for the driveway, put forms for the sidewalk, and been touching up problems.  Our PM stopped past and caught us inside with a funny exchange:

PM-How did you get inside?

ME-I have a key

PM-Do you have a construction key?

FIANCE-No, the door was unlocked, don’t believe her.

PM-Laughter

He gave us a quick tour and scolded us for being there and seeing the house a mess.  We honestly didn’t mind it at all.  Friday we emailed him to ask if we could walk through this weekend and create a punch list of items to fix.  He said that it’s not needed until after quality control check that happens on Wednesday.  He said the blue tape would just irritate people.  So here is how he explained it to me.  He’s spending Saturday to Tuesday finishing up the house, cleaning, and his quality inspection.  Then a third party inspector comes in Wednesday and reviews his work.  Our PM noted that a portion of his compensation is based on these third party inspectors and their report is critical for his pay.  This means he has to pass their inspection before doing a pre-settlement walk with us.  Basically he said for this inspection the house needs to be in the shape as if it were being delivered to us.

The electrical problems is because the electricians who did the rough in just pulled wires, and another group put in the fixtures all while the power is off.  The electricians return when the power is turned on and finish their connections.  I find it’s mainly the three way switches.  This should be getting fixed today.

Friday is our Pre-settlement walk through.  We promised the PM we would stay out until then.

NVR

When I pushed NVR for a closing date, they said my file was still in underwriting and can’t give me a date until it is out.  This is so annoying.  I know we lost some days from our buyer backing out, but it happened just as we cleared underwriting so I’m not sure why they need the same amount of time to review….only one thing changed…..the bridge loan.

Hopefully today they give us a date so we can call and hire movers, arrange deliveries, and get utilities moved.

Current Home

We have our home inspection this week.  All of the major items from the last inspection report were addressed with the exception of replacing the fuse box.  This weekend I also banged out some of the smaller items like replacing the old outside outlet with a new GFI outlet.  Hopefully these buyers are more realistic that they are buying a 60 year old “used” house.

We responded to the prior buyer’s agent who has been threatening us with a lawsuit over me not signing their release.  I had my legal consultant write them a blistering letter citing that I’m still within my contractual time frame to decide if I want to make a claim on the hand money or not.  This guy caused a lot of financial damage when he made demands for replacements 1) already addressed in the price and 2) exceeded his own inspectors repair suggestions.  Once we pointed out he breached the contract with those two items and we sustained damages, we haven’t heard back from this agent.

Moving

We bought more moving boxes from Home Depot and kept filling boxes most of the weekend.  Home Depot boxes are cheap and I strongly recommend using them over trying to find free boxes at a store.  We still have so much more to box up and move.   The fiancé found a company that moves you and also puts together things taken apart for the move such as a bed.  I don’t mind taking a bed apart and putting it back together, but I am pretty sure we are going to be over whelmed and they might be worth it.  We’ll know more what options we have when we know when we are closing.

Now for pictures

The Front of Our Home

Yeah....we have a railing

The AC compressor installed on the small side of the yard

What's this switch do?

Things have been moving forward on all fronts and it looks like we will be in the house sometime in early November.  The lenders can't confirm a date but everyone feels comfortable telling me early November. Here's the updates on everything:

Landon
My partner had class cancelled last night and I had a rough day so we decided to go check out our new home and how close they are to being completed.  They started to install appliances which I thought we would be locked out but we aren't.  There was a contractor working across the street who plugged into our house.  We aren't sure if that is why the house was unlocked but we were happy to go inside.

They continue to work on the inside and improve things.  We noticed the carpet was down, toilets were installed, and a lot of the damage to the walls were being fixed.  The house had tons of nicks and dents but most were addressed.  The paint around the railings were touched up.  The sink in the garage was installed and spickets on the outside pipes.  The dishwasher was put into the kitchen and started.  The hot water heater was installed, but the water hasn't been turned on.

Now one thing we noticed was with the electrical.  The two of us walked around trying to turn on lights and we found a bunch of switches that do not do anything.  A good example is there are no switches that turn on our dining room light.  The best is out master bedroom walk in closets.  The 2nd closet doesn't work unless the light is on in the 1st closet.  It seems like the electrical is a mess.

There are still a few punch list items they haven't addressed or taken care of.  They are:
1) We still have a dent in one of the panels of the garage door
2) Guardian never moved the external speaker or even responded to us about it
3) The loose hot water pipe was tightened by the cover and it not lined up with the cold water....basically the hot water pipe is 3 inches lower than the cold water pipe.  It's not that noticeable since it's in a vanity, but considering all the headaches buyers are doing to my house, this should have been perfect.

We also noticed they started to backfill the ground up to the house.  There are spots were it looks like stone is missing as there is a gap between where the stone ends and the ground begins.  Hopefully they fix this.  The morning room door still doesn't have trim and the outside is missing siding.  The seams on the siding on the front of the house was overlapped in the wrong direction so you can see them when standing in the front door.  We can't figure out why so many switches do nothing.

We aren't getting involved and letter our PM do his job.  We'll get out final check soon where we make a final punch list.

NVR & Clearview
The bridge loan officer submitted everything to underwriting yesterday morning.  Her and I talked and exchanged estimates of loan payments, etc. and it seems the monthly debt service will be less than estimated.  NVR is still stuck waiting on a term sheet from Clearview.  I hope to get this today so NVR can do their final check.  Hopefully this paperwork can be ready for a Nov 5th closing.

Home Sale good and bad
The new buyers seem really nice and their agent is working on the closing.  We have a settlement company already and they already asked for utilities.  To make sure we disclose everything, we gave them a copy of the prior buyer's inspection report so there is no "I didn't know" and that this house is "as-is".  I like this younger couple and they are so nice and reasonable so far I am knocking out extra home projects for them.  This weekend I might replace a yucky water trap for them and work on a home owners manual.

The prior buyer's agent sent me a nasty email since I have not signed the release of the hand money deposit.  We incurred financial damages from him backing out of the deal and he did it by making unrealistic demands of replacing the deck when his inspector noted repairs.  He also demanded a new electrical panel even after we lowered the price for it.  His agent noted the repairs were "over whelming and costly" but I did them all last Saturday for under 1,000 bucks......not overwhelming or costly in my view. The buyers contract notes we have 180 days to release the funds.  If they wanted it sooner they should have lowered the days when they drafted the contract, but they didn't.  I have been in business for years and I never sue for anything under 20,000.  It would be costly and a waste of time to sue for 1,000 of hand money.  If they were polite and attempted to understand my position we could work out a solution but they went straight to a legal threat.  We suspect he found another home when their agent never provided us with a settlement company, never participated in repair negotiations, and urgently needs their hand money.  Again..... selling a home sucks!!!

Moving
We are kind of in limbo over moving.  Not having a closing date makes it hard to plan a moving date.  We can't hire movers or plan our furniture delivery.  We are going to try and box up as much as we can this weekend in hope that we can be moved the end of the first week in November.  I'm not looking forward to moving.

Here are some pictures of the Landon:

We found that these lights worked, but not the others

These lights work but not the other recessed lighting

I wonder why they didn't pre-wire the garage so the remotes are under the plaster board

My extra outside line rough in was left in but not hooked up

Almost Home

We are roughly 2 weeks away from the scheduled closing date of 11/2/15 back when we had a buyer for our home.  When our buyer backed out, everything fell apart and the last week I spent it working on survival plans.  Today I signed a new sales contract for another buyer.

That Was Fast

When our buyer backed out last week, we scrambled to find a solution for the missing equity I needed from my house for pushing the Ryan Homes sales through.  While I focused on that, my agent put the house back on the multi list and corrected the square footage.  I had scheduled tons of repairs for Saturday and would start showing again Sunday.  An agent called Thursday and asked to see the house Friday night.  I explained we have some repairs to make and would start showing Sunday, but if they didn't mind some moving boxes they can see the house.  They were there from 5:30 to 6:45, left us a thank you note on the napkins we have next to the cookies and bottle water we leave for buyers.  We thought it was a nice touch.  I got a call an hour later from the agent asking for a few explanations on some wear and tear of the house.  That night, they issued us an offer.  I didn't receive it until Saturday morning and spent the day thinking about it while we worked on the house.  We gave them our best price Saturday night and they accepted it.  We found a new buyer in less than a week.  This is amazing but totally wont sell before we close with Ryan Homes so that stupid bridge loan is needed.  Best part of the deal is we will be in our new home by Thanksgiving and out of the old one by end of the year.

We provided this buyer they previous home inspection report and noted all the repairs we were making even though the prior buyer is backing out of the deal.  Even though my architect says the deck isn't falling off the house and the inspector suggested repairs, we added tons of more support.  We added 10 more lag bolts and 10 more joists.  We basically doubled the amount of support this deck has.  I can't see how this deck could fall off the house now.  I think the prior buyer was just making unrealistic demands.  Here is some of my construction skills:

We poured a new concrete top of the chimney (Not fun carrying concrete up to the roof)

Doubled the number of joist

This new buyer wrote us a letter when they purchased our house.  It was very sincere and kind.  I was loosing faith in buyers as so many buyers are rude, arrogant and unreasonable.  I had first hand experience with this when I was acting as my own agent hosting open houses.  We didn't want to give them a number, we actually wrote them back.  Their agent said the wife cried when she read our letter back to them.  I'm going to make sure I leave these people all that I can and give them a good start in this house.

The Landon

The last time I was up there it was just so big and empty.  Our PM had moved the AC compressor which really meant a lot to me.  Seeing our new home in it's final phase reminds me why we did this.  My future wife already is talking how to decorate it for Christmas.  She wants two Christmas trees....I reminded her we still have to pay off our two wedding dresses.

NVR

I hope that the new sales document will help get our loan through underwriting faster.  Basically we only need the bridge for about a month which shouldn't affect things much.  Stay tuned on what NVR suggests.

Have a good rest of the weekend folks.

Navigating the Storm

This has not been an easy process.  The amount of time I have spent this week on damage control has been overwhelming and expensive.  The buyer backing out 18 days before the duel close almost screwed the entire deal and cost us thousands in extra fees.  I have a background in accounting and spent a lot of time around construction so this has been my saving grace.  Here are the highpoints:

NVR & Clearview

NVR has really stepped up and worked with me.  They seem to have more influence over the closing schedule than Ryan Homes.  While Ryan Homes sets the closing date based on when construction is complete, NVR sets the closing based on when the financial documents can be completed.  I have a feeling if you want to push back a closing date, just slow down the stream of information to NVR and back goes the closing date.  Clearview has been awesome so far. I only need a little bit of equity from my house to make the entire deal work.  They are going to refinance my current home into a home equity line of credit so I can tap a little bit of equity.  This is so much better than doing a 401k loan or distribution or cleaning out our savings account.

So far my proposal is holding together and everyone so far sees no problem with the structure.  Having two mortgage payments pushes me right up to the 45% limit of the back end debt to revenue ratio.  The back up plan is adding my fiancé but our rates would change drastically but then we would clear the debt to revenue ratio with no problem.  Our current plan allows us to pay down the home equity on the Landon when we get the full equity from the current home sale.  Then our interest and payments snap into our financial plan and all is well.

It’s going to suck but this is the best financially sound solution.

Tip & Trick – I’ll share a little trick you can do to help you with getting through a tight spot like this.  Since most Ryan Homes are rather expensive, many of us are going to have bigger than normal tax refunds due to the higher mortgage interest expense and real estate taxes.  Let’s say this year I project out my tax refund to be 6,000 from tax deductible interest and taxes.  Each pay cycle my tax is taken out and given back to me at the end of the year.  If I change my W4 and add more allowances(Dependents) you can have more take home pay and pay less taxes.  So a 6,000 a year tax refund could result in 250 more per pay for a bi-monthly person.

Current Home

We have our current home back on the market with the old multilist.  It’s now past being on the market for 3 months and I feel the ad is stale.  My agent and I discussed this, and she’s going to come take new pictures and relist the house and start all over.  Hopefully this will generate more online attention for it.

Tips & Tricks – I have figured out a lot of things on selling a house.  We have tons of web activity back prior to the sale.  Here are some good suggestions.  1) Push for an open house as they include your house in a ton of additional advertising.  Open houses are moved higher in the list on Realtor.com and Zillow not to mention the Broker advertises them in the paper.  2) Make sure you push your agent to make Zillow’s square foot the actual.  In my case, Zillow used the county assessment’s square footage which is lower than actual.  My house has a finish basement, utility room and basement bathroom that all add to the living space not included in the county.   How this affects you is that many buyers use Zillow’s average price per square foot to compare the price of your home to that of others in your area.  While Zillow is not consistent and much of the data is wrong, buyer seem to be basing price on this more than comparable homes in your area.  Here is what this looks like in a comparison:

	County	Actual	Offers
Square Foot Used	1,022	1,228	1,022
Price	169,900	169,900	160,000
$ per Sqr	166	138	157
Zillow Ave	154	154	154
Over/(Under) Per Sqr	12	(16)	3
Over/(Under) Per Total	12,512	(19,212)	2,612

If your square footage is wrong (most county data is understated) you could be screwing yourself out of thousands.  Once my agent finally changed the square footage to actual you can see my house is nearly 20k less than average homes in the area.  I confirmed that the square footage should be external dimensions less garage space and unfinished space.  Ryan Homes confirmed it for me along with other realtors I use at work.  I should have fired my agent over this when she argued with me 2 months ago.

This weekend we try and address so more home repairs.  While my architect says the deck is not going to fall off the house, he did tell us some repairs would firm it up and remove any concern from a future buyer.  Saturday we install 11 5inch lag bolts into the ledger board and into the foundation.  We’ll basically be tripling the structural strength of the current bolts holding the ledger board onto the house.  I also plan on nearly doubling the current joists.  While on average the joists are one every 21 inches, we’ll add more so that it is one every 14 inches.  I’ll also add metal right angle which will really stiffen up the deck.  An HVAC contractor helped me with the suspected Asbestos external exhaust pipe.  It will be encapsulated this weekend.  I have already chiseled off the old brick added to the top of the chimney.  We’ll build a form and add a concrete top cap to the fireplace chimney.  I also added fire foam to the wood burner steel liner and clay sleeve.  I also have a contractor coming Saturday to spray for pests even though I have not seen a carpenter ant or termite in my basement in 3 years.

Hopefully these repairs will be the last needed to get our house sold.

My readers

I never thought anyone would spend a lot of time reading what I have shared.  I appreciate the blog of others who have built and I learned to ask for things like an extra switch at the front door for the external garage door light.  Seldom do Ryan Homes blogs write about the rest of the process.  Building a Ryan Home wasn’t just about building a home, but it includes a lot of extra things like financing and selling the current home.  I wanted to share all of the experience good and bad.  Sometimes I am embarrassed to share that our deal nearly fell apart and how crappy selling has been.  I was touched by how many readers wrote to me.  Thanks to everyone who wrote me.

The Landon

Last night we went up to see the Landon.  It’s been over a week for us and seeing it was much needed.  It’s beautiful and helps remind me why we are doing this.  I can just see the joy of my partner’s face as she walks through the house studying it, planning how to decorate it in her head, creating a home we both will love.  The only regret I have is that I hired Caldwell Banker and couldn’t sell our house first.  I really wanted to have it sold so I could help my fiancé by the Amish country table she fell in love with.  We still hope it will sell before the end of the year.

Our garage door was locked and we were afraid that they locked us out.  Ironically, the front door was unlocked and we were able to get in.  There was a lot done since this past weekend.  The stone was on the house except for a few spots.  The moved the AC compressor location to the small yard side of the house.  The turned the power on and installed all the lights.  Guardian installed internal speakers and switches(still never moved the external speaker).  The vinyl floor was installed and the tile was put into the bathroom.  The appliances were delivered and put into the garage.  It doesn’t look like they have much more to do and should easily be done by the first week of November.

Here are the pictures: