Closed!

Everything went well on our pre-settlement walk through. We went over features of the house, warranty policies and instructions on the next few weeks. We'll have a 2 week meeting with our project manager to go over any punch-list items we discover that need to be fixed.

We closed on Friday August 30th, which was about an hour and a half long process. I got a little nervous right before because there was supposed to be a bank right by the settlement office, but it was actually a cemetary. Then the next address we tried for our bank was an ATM inside a grocery store. We basically had to go back 2 towns to find an actual branch, but then it was the Friday morning payday rush. But after that stress, it was smooth sailing. We closed, returned our cable boxes, had lunch then started moving boxes over. 

Saturday the moving trucks took the rest of our belongings, we had furniture delivered and Sears eventfully delivered our appliances. The Sears delivery guys were two hours late, didn't take the hinges off the fridge and didn't ask us to remove the stairwell banister. That resulted in big damage to our walls and floors. We have a claim in with Sears but it's just disappointing since it's a brand new house. But on the upside, in addition to whatever it costs to fix the damage, I was able to get $470 in gift cards. Hellllooo new TV! Sunday Comcast came to install the new X1 cable platform, which is actually really nice. Almost makes me feel better about paying so much for internet and cable. Then on Friday, Guardian came to set up our security system, which is interesting since I've never had one before.

It's been a long process but we're so happy with how things turned out. Some of our neighbors started moving in this week, and hopefully we'll have many happy years in our house.

Standing in the doorway as new home owners.

Opening the door for the first time!

Jason carrying me across the threshold. HA

Celebratory champagne in our wedding flutes.

Family room before.

Family room after

Some of the damage to our walls from the Sears delivery.

I can't wait to see how big these bushes grow in a few months

Living room with the fan my dad installed. We'll eventually get couches and a TV for here.

Kitchen before

Kitchen After

Kitchen After

First dinner out on the patio set

Bedroom before

Bedroom after with the ceiling fan my dad put in.

Masterbathroom. We need a new shower curtain because the one I had shrunk when I washed it.

Hall bath

Laundry closet. I'm going to ask for them to move the shelf down ~6" during our 2 week meeting. I have to stand on my tippy toes to get the bottles down. We're also getting a new washing machine overflow tub because the pipe hole needs to be cut closer to the edge. Since it's more towards the middle now, the washer has to be farther back to line up.

Almost there

We're still all on track to close next Friday. The painters were there yesterday to do the final coat after they spackled whatever Knicks occurred from installing things. The cleaning crew was supposed to come today and final inspection is scheduled for Monday. We have our Pre-Settlement walk through on Thursday. Afterwards, I plan to have everything packed by then so I can sit by the pool and wait for Friday to come. The only thing that may not be complete is the outside street lights but that shouldn't be a problem.

Were scheduled to close at 10am on Friday and then straight to Sears to open a Credit Card to buy the appliances we have on layaway. We got a Kenmore Elite washer and dryer with a 31cubic feet Kenmore Elite french door fridge. It's more than double the size of our apartment fridge. Jason is pretty pumped.

Movers are scheduled for 8am on Saturday and we have to be out of our apartment that day too. It's going to be a long day but worth it. Wahoo!

Granite and Flooring!!

This week they continued working on the final mechanicals like light switches covers and air vents; and worked on the flooring by installing the carpets and staining the wood floors. Our deck was also finished, we have to see if they stain it. The decks on the unit behind us look darker but we're not sure if it's just the natural weathering of the wood. The kitchen granite counter tops, dishwasher and stove were installed. Looks like they started sodding and planting bushes and trees for half the units. I bet they'll finish our end this coming week. The sprinklers, driveway and sidewalk were also laid down this week. Can't believe we'll be closing in 1.5 weeks!

We have toilets!!! The lids are saran wrapped together. Not sure if the water is hooked up yet.

The floors and rails are stained! 

Downstairs carpet and hardwood.

Leftover laminate and screen doors in the garage.

Oh boy our basement is almost done. Where will the TV go?

Privacy trees to our right.

What we see from the left of our patio

Waiting to be planted

Dishwasher, we couldn't open it up yet since it wasn't fully anchored to the space.

View of the living room from the kitchen.

Double sink and close up of the Santa Cecelia  granite. It's not as red/pink in real life.

Wahoo a stove.

Most of the kitchen view. The microwave is in the box on the left waiting to be installed over the stove. They also need to install the back of the island and the wooden support shelves that are on top of the island.

View from the living room into the dining area/kitchen.

Finished deck, bigger than I thought it would be. I think the patio set we got will fit well.

Carpet and hardwood on the 2nd floor.

Laminate in the laundry closet

Hall bathroom with a toilet and laminate floor. It really does look like tile. Quite deceiving.

Master bathroom with the toilet

Driveway and sidewalks are done, just need to be swept clean.

They started sodding and planting bushes in front of the other units. Guessing ours will be this week.

Cabinets and tiles!

Lots of stuff last week. Everything is trimmed, cabinets are installed, tile is installed and final mechanicals have started.  PSEG installed the electrical meter as well. Looks like we're still on track for a 8/30 moving.

Front walkway

Downstairs Powder Room

Foyer area going into the garage

Downstairs living room

Downstairs sliding door

Boiler

Using the handrails for the first time!

Island sans counters

Jason's glad I got the top crown molding.

Deck off the 2nd floor

Kitchen Pantry

Standard dining room lighting. Not too bad!

2nd bathroom

Upgraded cabinet

One of the bedrooms

Master bathroom with upgraded tiling

Double sink in our bathroom

Close up of tiles

Bathroom floor tiles

We're the only two to have power!

View of the deck from the back