As the time to close on our new house is getting closer, I’m both excited and terrified at the same time.
The terrified part comes from all the buyers remorse and second guessing that comes with spending that much money. Did we really make the best choice? Will we really be able to afford it? And all those other questions that go along with a big purchase
Of course I know that we can afford it and we found a perfect house in the city where we wanted to live. We were really lucky to find something for such a great deal and the entire process so far has been rather painless.
But mostly I’m excited to finally be a homeowner.
Why is it so hard to find a good bank? It seems that magical combination of a bank that offers great customer service and great products is elusive at best. Of course, there are some better than others.
We’re on the hunt again for a bank. We tried National City because of a special with work, but I’ve so far not been impressed. Their online site seems to be down more than up and twice now they’ve had major issues with direct deposits. I mean how to you “misplace” everyone’s direct deposit when it’s the same bank that the employer uses?
We’re probably going to go back to KeyBank. I had them for a long time and always liked them. I just hate the whole switching process though. So much paperwork, so many places to update, so many automatic payments to change (well ok, not that many). It just makes the whole process not very enjoyable.
As a side note, Key approved us for $8000.00 in overdraft protection. Now if I were to overdraw my checking about by $8000.00, I think I’d have bigger things to worry about than whether I’m going to get an overdraft fee. 
This week has been absolutely frigid, winter has definitely arrived. I miss those 55º days in December.
I’m starting to get more excited as it gets closer to closing on the house. Even though we won’t be moving for a month after closing, it will be a relief just to be done with all the paperwork. Once that’s done I’ll be able to relax and begin packing for the move.
The hard part will be picking the colors to paint a few of the rooms. Oh and learn how to paint since I’ve never done that before.
Adam and I signed the purchase contract for a new house yesterday. It’s exciting and scary at the same time to be honest. Neither of us have ever owned a home before and the entire process just seems so complicated and overwhelming.
The good thing was that after only looking for a few weeks, we easily found the “perfect” house. Both of us knew it was the house we wanted when we first looked at it. We also got if for a very good deal.
Here’s a picture:
So as long as the closing and everything in between goes well, we’ll soon be the proud owners of a new home.
I’ve been a longtime user and advocate of ING Direct. They consistently have outstanding customer service, a very intuitive and easy to use website, and a well above average rate on their savings account (currently 4.5%). They do this with absolutely no minimum account balances or fees of any kind.
ING has always been primarily a savings-oriented bank. They’ve always offered savings accounts and CDs and have more recently introduced brokerage and IRA accounts and mortgages.
To my surprise the other day, I noticed they also are now offering a checking account, Electric Orange. It turns out they’re just testing it until mid-February or so, but I was lucky enough to get offered a chance to sign-up.
It’s an “electronic” checking account meaning they don’t have any paper checks which is fine with me since I’ve used about 6 checks in the last two years. They do offer free online bill pay, a debit card, 32,000 ATMs, $1000 in overdraft protection, oh , and a 3% yield with no minimums.
One drawback is that, like other ING accounts, the only way to deposit money is via direct deposit or through a linked checking account (although I expect that might change in the future). Not a huge hassle for me, but it will be something I’ll take into consideration as I test this out.
I think I’d like to add one more to my list of resolutions for 2007:
- To not overextend myself with activities
It’s the time of year once again where people begin making lavish lists of all the “total transformations” they’ll make in order to better their lives in 2007. Like most New Year’s resolutions they’ll go by the wayside, probably before the break of February.
I’ve decided to make a few small, but hopefully manageable resolutions for 2007:
- Eliminate trans-fats from my diet
- Set aside at least 30 minutes a day for relaxation
- Stretch every day
- Exercise at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week.
And what I think will be the hardest for me…
- Eat fewer desserts each week
This past weekend, Adam and I traveled to Virginia to see our friend Courtney graduate from James Madison University.
After arriving on Friday, Adam, Courtney and I headed over to Calhoun’s for dinner. While we were waiting for our reservation we went across the way to the wine shop for a little tasting. I bought an outstanding Cabernet Franc that I could “enjoy at breakfast in the Outer Banks.”
Saturday was graduation day and it was filled with interesting times. The president of JMU was dressed in a purple velvet robe with giant silver bling around his neck. The commencement speaker was pretty bad, but when he was done it was time for lunch.
After lunch we headed to Courtney and Miranda’s graduation party and saw many friends and made some great new ones.
Sunday we had breakfast at The Little Grill and met up with a great new friend, Matt, to head off to a local winery. The winery was fantastic and we all ended up with a few bottles before we left. Matt suggested looking for some place for dinner in one of the little towns near the winery.
After walking around for a bit we ended up heading back to Harrisonburg for dinner at Calhoun’s and then an evening of wine drinking and Arrested Development.
Overall it was a great trip. It was awesome to see Courtney’s graduation after she worked so hard and to make great new friends.
I need more Netflix friends.
Apply within. 
Today I put up my Christmas decorations.
