Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Movin' On Up, Part II
Where was I? Ah, yes, our things were on their way to Tex-ass in a big-ass moving truck. I had selected $200K-$225K on the insurance declaration sheet when asked to assess our possetions, so there was a part of me (most of me, actually) that wasn't at all concerned when an ice storm hit the midwest. Hey, maybe the truck would overturn and destroy all our old crap. I'll take a check for $210,000 and be on my way, thanks. It'd be a shame to lose all those Target dress shirts and $11 khakis, to be sure, but I think we'd survive. And the best part of only being married for six months is that if our crystal or china was broken, well, it's not like it's so old we can't replace it!
Alas, though, there were no problems with the truck and he arrived as scheduled this past Monday, and then proceeded to fill our new house (2700 sq ft) in a way that makes it hard to believe it all fit in our old house (800 sq ft).
Ah, yes, our new house. That brings me to the closing.
We did our walk-through last Monday, 12/10 and during the walk-through they told us how when we got our keys at our closing on Weds, 12/12, to come to the house and use the keys in every door. This would trip something in the lock which would make their "builder's keys" no longer work. This was important since many people had the keys -- painters, laborers, random illegal immigrants, etc. They said after we signed off that everything was cool during the walk-through, that they'd lock the doors up and nobody would be in it again until we came after our closing.
But, wait, with a two-day window between walk-through and closing, what about all those people with the keys to our house then? What if they decide nice stainless steel appliances would be nice at their houses? Or on the black market? Nobody really had an answer to this question. I probably should have declined signing the sheet but they said I couldn't close without it. Had me by the beans there, I guess.
So on Tuesday, 12/11, my plan was to go get our bank check for the closing on Weds morning, which was scheduled for 10 AM. On Monday, I had transferred $5,000 from our ING savings account to our Bank of America checking account to make sure I had more than enough in there to have the closing check drawn from it. Only when I went to get the bank check on Tuesday afternoon, the $5,000 wasn't showing in the BofA account, which left me about $1000 short of what I needed. Ruh-roh.
I went online and confirmed I had made the transfer from ING. I had the confirm number and everything. Now in a panic, I called ING and explained I wanted to know where my effing money was.
"Oh, yes, sir, I see the transfer request, but it takes 1-2 business days to process."
"To process?" I asked.
"Yes, sir," she said, not offering any more help. "It's in Bank of America's hands now."
"But I am looking at my ING account and the $5,000 is gone from there and it's not showing even pending in my BofA account," I tried to point out, and I think I had a legit point here. I mean, if it's not in either account, where the hell is it?
"Yes, sir, it should take 1-2 days to process."
"To process? That's ridiculous. Also, I made the request on Monday at 3 PM and the confirmation says I made it on Tuesday morning. That's not right."
"Yes, sir, the transaction date is always the next day."
"But that's not when I made the transaction. That's incorrect."
"Well, sir, the transaction date is always the next day."
"Okay, thanks, you've been really helpful," I said bitterly.
So now it's about 5 PM on Tuesday and our closing is the next day at 10 AM. Bank of America doesn't open until 9AM and, of course, I'm HOPING that the funds will be showing there at that time. Seems a bit close to call for me. So I call the title company people and, fortunately, they're able to move the closing back to 1 PM.
The next morning, fortunately, the money was showing in my BofA account and so disaster was averted. And I have to say there are few things more frustrating than that -- to have the money you need but not all in one place. Irritating.
So we went to closing at 1 PM and things went reasonably well. We got our keys and after a quick stop at a furniture store where a salesman wouldn't shut the f-ck up about his life that we really didn't care about, we headed to our new home.
We excitedly pulled into our new driveway and went to the front door. I was all ready to carry my bride over the threshold of our new house, so I put the key in the front-door lock.... and the lock wouldn't turn. No problem, we got four keys. I tried the next one.
It didn't work.
Neither did the next one. Or the last one.
At this point, I was about to ease our entry to the home by putting a rock through the front window and I think Watersyne could sense this and so she gently took the keys from me and suggested we try the back door. We mucked our way through the soggy lawn and, fortunately (for the door), it opened. Watersyne ran back around front and I went through the house and we completed the carry-over-the-threshold tradition.
As I mentioned, our things then arrived on Monday and we've been digging out ever since. Although last night, we did dig out our dinky little artificial Christmas tree (supposedly 6 feet, but I don't think it's more than 5 1/2) and strung some lights and a star on it, along with one ornament. We also located our stockings and got the living room pretty much situated as far as furniture goes. So at least that looks good. And if it gets down below 70 degrees again, we might even put on the fire when we exchange our presents.
Alas, though, there were no problems with the truck and he arrived as scheduled this past Monday, and then proceeded to fill our new house (2700 sq ft) in a way that makes it hard to believe it all fit in our old house (800 sq ft).
Ah, yes, our new house. That brings me to the closing.
We did our walk-through last Monday, 12/10 and during the walk-through they told us how when we got our keys at our closing on Weds, 12/12, to come to the house and use the keys in every door. This would trip something in the lock which would make their "builder's keys" no longer work. This was important since many people had the keys -- painters, laborers, random illegal immigrants, etc. They said after we signed off that everything was cool during the walk-through, that they'd lock the doors up and nobody would be in it again until we came after our closing.
But, wait, with a two-day window between walk-through and closing, what about all those people with the keys to our house then? What if they decide nice stainless steel appliances would be nice at their houses? Or on the black market? Nobody really had an answer to this question. I probably should have declined signing the sheet but they said I couldn't close without it. Had me by the beans there, I guess.
So on Tuesday, 12/11, my plan was to go get our bank check for the closing on Weds morning, which was scheduled for 10 AM. On Monday, I had transferred $5,000 from our ING savings account to our Bank of America checking account to make sure I had more than enough in there to have the closing check drawn from it. Only when I went to get the bank check on Tuesday afternoon, the $5,000 wasn't showing in the BofA account, which left me about $1000 short of what I needed. Ruh-roh.
I went online and confirmed I had made the transfer from ING. I had the confirm number and everything. Now in a panic, I called ING and explained I wanted to know where my effing money was.
"Oh, yes, sir, I see the transfer request, but it takes 1-2 business days to process."
"To process?" I asked.
"Yes, sir," she said, not offering any more help. "It's in Bank of America's hands now."
"But I am looking at my ING account and the $5,000 is gone from there and it's not showing even pending in my BofA account," I tried to point out, and I think I had a legit point here. I mean, if it's not in either account, where the hell is it?
"Yes, sir, it should take 1-2 days to process."
"To process? That's ridiculous. Also, I made the request on Monday at 3 PM and the confirmation says I made it on Tuesday morning. That's not right."
"Yes, sir, the transaction date is always the next day."
"But that's not when I made the transaction. That's incorrect."
"Well, sir, the transaction date is always the next day."
"Okay, thanks, you've been really helpful," I said bitterly.
So now it's about 5 PM on Tuesday and our closing is the next day at 10 AM. Bank of America doesn't open until 9AM and, of course, I'm HOPING that the funds will be showing there at that time. Seems a bit close to call for me. So I call the title company people and, fortunately, they're able to move the closing back to 1 PM.
The next morning, fortunately, the money was showing in my BofA account and so disaster was averted. And I have to say there are few things more frustrating than that -- to have the money you need but not all in one place. Irritating.
So we went to closing at 1 PM and things went reasonably well. We got our keys and after a quick stop at a furniture store where a salesman wouldn't shut the f-ck up about his life that we really didn't care about, we headed to our new home.
We excitedly pulled into our new driveway and went to the front door. I was all ready to carry my bride over the threshold of our new house, so I put the key in the front-door lock.... and the lock wouldn't turn. No problem, we got four keys. I tried the next one.
It didn't work.
Neither did the next one. Or the last one.
At this point, I was about to ease our entry to the home by putting a rock through the front window and I think Watersyne could sense this and so she gently took the keys from me and suggested we try the back door. We mucked our way through the soggy lawn and, fortunately (for the door), it opened. Watersyne ran back around front and I went through the house and we completed the carry-over-the-threshold tradition.
As I mentioned, our things then arrived on Monday and we've been digging out ever since. Although last night, we did dig out our dinky little artificial Christmas tree (supposedly 6 feet, but I don't think it's more than 5 1/2) and strung some lights and a star on it, along with one ornament. We also located our stockings and got the living room pretty much situated as far as furniture goes. So at least that looks good. And if it gets down below 70 degrees again, we might even put on the fire when we exchange our presents.
Labels: movin on up like the Jeffersons
