Building a Maracay Home

Aftermath....

So here is the big update! Thanks to Maelynn, I realized I may have failed to properly keep you all informed of our whereabouts and the like. BTW, Maelynn, I didn't send a change of address card because I don't have an address for you! My last 2 items have been returned undeliverable.

WE MOVED IN!

Yippeeee! It all worked out. But not without considerable effort, so this will be a long post, with no pictures. Hang in there :)

First, Maracay builds a great house. We have been very impressed with the home and are constantly counting our lucky stars. This is a quality product and we can tell. The few items we felt needed repair or tweeking have been taken care of very promptly. Not all builders are this good - but Maracay did great.

Second, Maracay was very very accommodating in helping us through our loan processing nightmare. What happened?

-We sold our other house. The family who bought it was in the exact same situation we were, a fellow in medicine and unfortunately their quick sale house had fallen through so they offered on our house while stuck in a hotel. They were ready for us to move whenever but no later than July 28, a Friday.

-Oh, you already know this...... you do, you just don't probably know why it impacts us. The subprime mortgage debacle was happening. No, we don't have a subprime loan. We are truly conventional people. But that subprime problem caused a ripple effect and even people with good credit, good jobs, good houses, good deposits were and are being impacted. The increase in the number of houses on the market lowers the value of all of them. And the appraisers jumped or fell with the market in general. Maracay though needed our house to hit on the appraisal as it was one of the 1st 2 stories done, and the big comp for the 3 they sold in the weeks following our close.

-So, as of that Monday before July 28th, we were still wondering whether we were just out our deposit. On Wednesday, Maracay and First Horizon Bank make a sheer miracle happen and we signed papers. Really, it is almost impossible to get things moving that quickly but First Horizon worked with Maracay and it all came together.

-On July 27th, we hired movers and I managed to get the house moved. Eric was working. There was just no other way it could be done. We have put off painting until Spring Break when we can be out of the house again. We did do the kids rooms though - Mason in Retro Robots with grey-blue walls, Aiden in Paleontology with Retro Green walls, Emory in Bubble Gum Pink with a Castle bed acquired from one of Eric's partners.

Third, no small part of this deal working out was due to the intense negotiations and juggling of our real estate agent, Denise Pruitt with Arizona Best Real Estate. This is no shameless plug - this woman worked tirelessly. She acted in our best interest at every turn, taking the brunt of the unpleasantness and making it work out. She kept our buyers informed, our loan folks rolling, and Maracay involved to the very end. WE WOULD NOT BE IN THIS HOUSE WITHOUT HER. I think she is owed a bedroom, at least. Maybe a portion of the pool.

So things are working out. We love the new place. We have lovely neighbors. Our sky is huge and we love to spend the early evening in the pool, watching the sun set. At night, the sky is so dark you can see so many stars it is insane. My Grandma gave us her Chevy Caprice convertible and the kids adore driving around in it with the top down, especially to Cave Creek for Dairy Queen :) Things looked to be falling apart for a while but now it seems they were just falling into place. We are home.

posted by Antigone @ 12:36 PM