Change of plans

We were notified on Tuesday April, 27th that there were new 'rules' put in place by the builder and lender. I've retold this story so many times that I feel I could tell it in my sleep. It really made Gary and I feel like we were crossing a HUGE hurdle, but as our friends put it, it is just a wrinkle.

The builder explained that they are finding that the appraisals are not coming in for the full purchase price of the home. Whenever this happens the buyers are then required to come up with the balance on what wasn't in with the appraised value. So for example, if the house was bought at $200,000 and it only appraises out to $180,000 then the buyer has to fork over the remaining $20,000. Fun, huh? In the past the buyer then has walked away from the house because they most likely couldn't afford a penny more out of pocket. So the builder is now putting a cap on the amount of upgrades you can have rolled into your mortgage, just in case the appraiser doesn't want to play nice. If they are stuck with the house, then at least the upgrades are on the low end vs the high end. It royally stung, especially we were at $44,000 in upgrades and we SOMEHOW needed to get down to $15,000. Great....

After mulling over the paperwork once again and crunching numbers, I had to make a decision for both Gary and I. Did we want the original house with 3 upgrades that would be needed to make the home, those 3 upgrades costing more then 1/2 of the $15,000. Or did we want to entertain the idea of going with the original house that we LOVED on paper, but weren't thrilled with in person because of the lack of upgrades and 'wow' factor?? The original pick had all 3 of the upgrades we desired, but they were included in the price of the home, thus leaving every penny of the $15,000 to us and our upgrades.

In the end I know we made the right decision and we will be very happy in our new home. We dropped a lot of the upgrades that we can do on our own, but we also might have to do away with our beloved 3rd car garage. The house will be wonderful no matter what and we have to keep focusing on the positive. Some people would kill to have a brand new home and here we were being so picky about not having a 3rd car garage. Snotty much?!?! ;)

So I mourn the home we once had thought was ours and we say 'Welcome' to the newest. The ride isn't over yet and it proving to be thrilling and surprising!