Z/Web

I’ve been telling people about the house and their reaction has been universal: “Congratulations,” they say, as though I’d had a baby or won an award. I thought that was strange. It’s not like you’re congratulated when you buy a car. It’s not like I did something extraordinary. But then I realized that buying a house is extraordinary. It’s not something you do that many times in your life. Going through the mortgage process is an achievement, having all the details work out satisfactorily for everyone involved is a challenge, and it’s difficult to find property and get it. So I guess congratulations is the right thing to say — I’ll just have to get used to hearing it!

This morning I got up early and began preparations for my moving sale tomorrow. I disassembled my loft bed, cleaned the microwave and fridge, moved furniture out onto the deck. I took the air conditioner out of the window and replaced the windows (good thing I saved them). In the middle of all that I went to the bank to sign the auto-debit form and got some cash in case I needed change for customers at the sale. I then called the mortgage contact to let her know that the form was signed and faxed; she’d already received it and said funding would happen when the documents from Oregon arrived. I called the title company in Oregon to make sure they were planning to record the deed today if the funding arrived; everyone promised to call me once things happened. I continued my preparations and tried not to worry about the phone ringing, but by 1:15 I still hadn’t heard anything and was getting worried because the deed has to record by four or it wouldn’t happen until Monday. All I got was voice mail when I called the bank, but she called me back a little while later and said we’d funded! I called the title company again to see if we were recording and they said they’d call when they did. I received that call about three o’clock: they’d received the funding from California and were recording. So it’s now done! The house is officially and legally mine. I can get the keys when I fly up on Sunday. Whew!