Throughout this lengthy summer, my wife and I have been in various levels of homelessness ranging from REALLY not having a home to having one in complete disarray.
When we first contemplated downsizing, back in the spring, we were faced with the daunting task of first selling our very large home in Piney Creek. Oddly enough, that was the easiest task we performed. It was under contract in three days and the sale went off without a hitch. The tough part was getting our new place.
Roughly three and a half years ago, we bought our place in Piney Creek. BIG mortgage payment, no problem. Of course this was back when mortgages were distributed based on possessing a pulse and/or fogging a mirror (the tough lenders made you do both). This time..... not so easy.
With the new mortgage environment, the fact that we were cutting our payment in half meant nothing. And neither of the mortgage companies we used (two) gave a rat's buttock that we spent nine weeks in between houses sleeping on floors and couches while they made promise after promise about the whens and whats of things that never seemed to happen when they said they would. At one point, I sent my mortgage rep a picture of my son Matt, offering my first born male child to the underwriter with no success (not a reflection of my son OR the picture). In short, a wickedly frustrating experience. BUT...... I'm not going to go there. I'm going to stay positive.
Once closed, we faced a kitchen remodel that is, at this moment, ongoing (we seem to remodel kitchens everywhere we go). New cabinets, appliances and an alteration to the path and finish of the wood floors (see picture). Maybe a finished place is in the cards sometime around September 20 or so (keeping fingers crossed).
Having said all of that, and presently basking in the glow of positivity, I would like to mention the people who have come through my last 3+ months like troopers. These folks not only delivered what they promised, but often went above and beyond to take care of us.
In no particular order:
Best Buy. Geez, we rescheduled appliance deliveries ELEVEN times and NEVER was anyone anything other than wonderful (plus we got some killer deals). Paul Sargus is MR. Customer Service!
Colonnade Homes. Bob, Silvio and Peggy were patient and caring in their approach to our mortgage fiasco.
Greg Siler. Kitchen cabinet dude extraordinaire!!! Nobody does it better although PLENTY of people bid higher.
Stewart and Land Title. Hats off to Gina Call at ST and Nancy Iverson at LT. Both were excellent.
Maybe some other day, there will be a blog about the people who made this experience a nightmare. Instead, however, I sent them each copies of my last few customer service blogs in the hope that they might learn something.
Until next time, here's to sleeping in your own bed....
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