New closing date confirmed

July 10, 2008.

Closing date

No, we haven't received an official letter yet, but someone who posts on a local house-building forum has. It looks like our new closing date is going to be sometime in July, which is right around the 120 day mark (it's in our sales agreement that if they delay closing by more than 120 days, we can cancel our purchase and get our money back).

Sigh. It's disappointing, but I'm trying to look on the bright side. We're in a month-to-month lease, so we haven't been put in any sort of crisis situation by this turn of events. We can also use the extra time to save more money for appliances and other things we're sure to need for the new house. I'll be updating my countdown ticker sometime this week, which is when I expect to get our official letter.

Structural upgrade appointment

We had our first design appointment, the "structural" one, this past Monday. The good news is that we spent less than I thought we would. The $5000 Design Center credit, plus the fact we didn't have to pay for a couple of things I thought we would, meant we walked out of there a little less poor. But only a little. :P The upgrades we chose are as follows:

• Direct conduit for A/V TV cables (in the room we'll be using as a "den", which is where the TV will be)
  
• Extra capped light outlet (above the island in the kitchen; it was a nice surprise that this is the only extra light [apart from what comes standard] that we thought we needed)
  
• Master Kitchen upgrade (one of several kitchen upgrade packages available, this one gives us 24" deep fridge upper with support gable, any light valence, valence lighting under cabinets with switch, door-match drawer fronts, #150 crown moulding, microwave shelf [which we won't use for a microwave, but it actually costs extra to get rid of it], pot drawers and an upper open shelf)
  
• Henderson security system (this gets us the pre-wiring done for the security system; there's no obligation to subscribe with Henderson and it's actually cheaper getting this done through the builder)
  
• Hepa filter Amaircare 350 Airwash
  
• Upgrade to whirlpool/airpool tub in main bath (alas, not a huge corner tub, but a nice tub nonetheless)
  
• Shut-off hot & cold water valves under all sinks (I think it's ridiculous that we have to pay for this as an "upgrade", but there you go)
  
• 2-hinge 10mm clear glass frameless shower door in ensuite
  
• Coventry Ball style door handles in Antique Nickel
  
• Microwave range hood Frigidaire stainless steel
  
• Upper cabinets for the laundry room
  

We also scheduled our next appointment for December 19th. That one is to pick out stuff like flooring, cabinets, paint color, etc. And before anyone asks, we don't know our new closing date yet, although our design consultant says she thinks we'll hear in the next week or so. They were putting in the sewers while we were there, which I'm taking as a good sign.