Thirty Days and Counting...

Happy New Year everyone!

It's been a while since we updated the blog.
We got so much work completed on the house including an automatic Garage Door opener, Blinds, Ceiling Fans...

We did get a nice Tiffany Platter from NVHomes as a Holidays gift just like other homeowners. Impressive.:)

The issues raised during the post settlement walk thru' have been addressed.
We didn't have to push them hard to complete the work. PM(s) quitting didn't seem to matter.

We had our 30 days walk through and found additional issues like caulking, chipped woods, doors not closing all the way, sink stopper not working, water not draining.....

The PM has fixed a date to address those defects. If they are all done, he's got our 10 for sure.

Meanwhile...we got a call from NVRM regarding an error in the HUD and how they can fix it if we send a check..
Shooo....Go away NVRM! Please don't call us if it  is going to give us stress headaches! Let us enjoy the home!

Good Luck to everyone building a house with NVHomes. Except for NVRM, we did have a good rapport with our SR and the PM(s).
Will keep you updated if anything exciting happens..
Enjoy your journey!

Surprise Turnovers..

This week we came to know that the lead PM who conducted our Pre Settlement Walk Thru' has quit NVHomes.
Really.?.We couldn't have figured it out from his actions..
He was all about having a good relationship in the coming days, getting a good evaluation and above all he promised to take care of all the issues :( . Is it true or is it a game that NVHomes plays?

Now it adds to our worries.. Will they fix things as they promised?
Just when we start trusting someone, they leave NVHomes.. Again...This has been our experience through out the journey.
You could never tell from their expressions that they are planning on leaving the builder...

Maybe it was not a good idea to let them off the hook before closing...
We've sent the list of issues found in the Final Walk Thru' to the assistant PM. He is the one whom we communicate with on a regular basis. Hope he takes care of things before he walks away...:(

Surprises everyday..

Got the Keys!!!

We closed last week and got the keys! Very happy about it!!
Thank God! It was painless; we were in and out in an hour.

There was a drama earlier in the day about an extra charge appearing in the final GFE. We've been asking about it for two days. The reply was they will take care of it. But when we did see the charges again in the morning, we had to call everyone involved. Finally got a call from the LR explaining how it was a wrapped up charge, not an additional charge. Wish they had explained it when we initially questioned it.

Closing is done.. but we have a laundry list of things to do!.
The minor issues with the house are yet to be fixed. Need to make a list and persuade the PMs to get them done. Hope they keep their promise to get it done in a week. Haven't heard anything from them.  Not sure if closing without getting those issues fixed was a good idea. We'll let you know how that goes.

We got some things completed over the weekend ...
Much more shopping to do…Good thing, Thanksgiving is around the corner.  Our favorite time of the year!

Thanks to every one for being supportive during this process. We got lots of good tips and encouragement from our friends visiting the blog.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Pre Settlement Walk Through and some pictures..

The Pre Settlement Walk thru' takes solid two hours. Be prepared...
It was mostly about how things work, tips on maintenance, warranty, and contact info.....

The lead project manager was very thorough in explaining. They have one big book to go through..:)
Since we had a glorious home inspection we didn't have much questions or complaints..

They have done a good job so far. We could definitely see that they want to end it with a good note.
Hoping to have another year of good relationship with them..

Some friends asked us about our tile choices. The pictures don't do justice for the granite. But it is a perfect match. The kitchen is as bright as it can be..
Most of our choices are not too strong colors; but the house does exhibit the warm feeling we were hoping for..
We took an advice from one of our friend: Do not select and pay mortgage for an option that you can easily replace or get it done later. We made sure we got all the structural needs and some less expensive options that made the house look better.

Master Bath - Ridgeview DG30 Cream

Garage Entry - Paraiso PS51 Artico

Laundry Room - Castle De Verre CV10 Turret Beige

Master Bedroom -White Fox Carpet

Upgraded Banisters with Maple Stain

Kitchen View from Stairs

Kitchen - Waltham 3-1/4" Gunstock

Maple Spice Cabinets with New Caledonia Granite

Burlywood Granite in all Baths

Front Entry- Engineered Gunstock Hardwood

Home Inspection Passed with Flying colors...

We did arrange to have Home Inspection done from our side.  The Home Inspector said this is one of the best built houses he has seen. That made us really happy about our choice.
Don't want to sound like NVHomes spokesperson...:)
But got to give the kudos to people who deserve...Job Well Done!
He is a well experienced and reputed home inspector from our area. Found couple of minor issues and the big one was with attic insulation..And there is an unfixed squeky floor and some alignment issues identified from NVHomes inspection. The Project Manger assured to take care of those issues. At this point we are trusting that they will fix it in the next couple of days.

Is it worth the $400 we spent on a new house on home inspection? Yes, it gives us peace of mind.

In our earlier post we had mentioned the error made by T.A.C tiles. It was finally resolved by NVHomes.
Never got a good reply from T.A.C tiles one way or the other.  It seemed like they never cared about the issue or never intended to resolve it. Just bought time with their wishy washy replies. It was a game of pointing fingers.We are just happy that some one took care of it at the crunch time.

We are looking forward to the closing now.. Hopefully NVRM will make it easier with NO surprises...
If that goes well, we could definitely say the journey was all worth it...

Locked In... and Some Happy Moments!

We finally locked in a comfortable rate with NVRM. Though they didn't match penny to penny against our other GFEs, we think it is a decent rate and cost.
Historically the rate seems to go lower in the winter months. Maybe we rushed through the process, but we wanted to put the mortgage issue behind us and enjoy the rest of the 30 days. We will just have to refinance if the rates go well below 4% like last year.

Our visit this time was a happy one since things are coming together. The new PM gave us a quick tour. A lot of things have been completed.
We felt that our choices didn't go wrong any where.

Though we did not upgrade the carpet everywhere, we got the upgraded carpet pad throughout the house. It doesn't feel cheap at all.  We will be installing hardwood later on.
Couldn't get clear pictures since the tile and carpet were all covered.

The kitchen cabinets and the counter tops are a perfect match. (The granite is covered.) We are planning to install glass tile back-splash later on.

We have the biggest pantry a townhome can have. And a lot of storage spaces as well...










Love the Powder Room! The Master bath tile is not finished yet. That is something we are looking forward to since we upgraded it.

The spacious dining room with NVHomes signature finishes.










The whole row of houses look wonderful!

More pictures to come...

It is Beginning to Look a lot Like....

It  is indeed an exciting phase since it is really starting to look like a house. 

The cabinets are up and the tile is done in most of the places.

Still waiting for the granite in the kitchen and the tile in the master bath room. 

The mortgage issue did burst the bubble out of us. We are really tired of all the negotiations.
NVRM has a lot to improve in timely communications and earning customers trust.

Malaise is contagious and their actions make us mistrust them in every step of the way.

However, we have to give it up for our SR. She has been a true advocate fighting for us while keeping her promise to resolve the issue. We might go with NVRM after all, but we'll have to pay a little higher to get the market rate.
Hopefully they will make the 'Closing' painless.

Just when we synced up with our PM, he was replaced. Not sure if he left the company or just moved to a different community.

The new PM is updating us on all the work being carried in the week. No problems there so far.

The finished kitchen and master bath room may put the excitement back in this process. Will post pictures when we visit the house again...