Escrow is not for the faint of heart

Gratefully it's over and we have the keys to our new kingdom.  Wow, escrow can be a bit hair-raising if you are not prepared, so the sellers found out.

When all is said and done, our "swing loan" went fairly smoothly.  Clear communications was our most consistent issue -- the loan clerk would need something signed that had an issue, I would point it out, she would respond with the same thing saying that it had been fixed -- but the attachment showed the same error.  It took three volleys to get our loan officer to call to explain.  It was so simple, the "final" document had been corrected which I won't see until we are at the Title Co signing closing documents.  I was to be signing for receipt of the "incorrect" document as it was the "estimated" closing thingie but the real documents would show correct information.  "Okay, that's fair," I said to Robert, "why couldn't your clerk just say so in her THREE emails that assured me that the document had been corrected?"  I was feeling quite frustrated.

Also feeling very grateful to have such an amazing professional working for/with us in this process.  Nancy, our RE agent is the most amazing lady ever!  She is so sweet and polite and soft spoken until you mess with her or her client -- then she channels her inner Bull dog.  She is a terrific offset to my personality.  She just smiles and pulls out another form which will require the seller to show evidence of such and such or we will initiate the frightening "Notice to Cure" which will kill the deal in three days.....while I just want to squash the entire deal right this minute and move on because they are making me crazy and I just don't need that grief in my life right now.

So after our offer was accepted we brought in the inspector who discovered a problem with the 12 year old roof which had sustained some significant damage during a very bad hail storm last year.  He (the inspector) wanted about 60% of the roof repaired.  Seller was aghast and contacted his insurance company.  The roofer asked if we would pay for the other 40% to receive a full replacement and we agreed that we would.  In the end, the seller's insurance company determined that they would pay to replace the whole thing.  Seller then decides that WE should pay his deductible.  "And why is that?" I asked.  If they only replaced 60% the deductible would be the same.  Seller stood his ground....and so did we.

At that, I realized that perhaps Karma didn't want us to live there and immediately began looking at other houses in Prescott bracing myself for Round Two of house hunting (round one was pretty stressful).

Found a bunch of houses I liked as well as this one, none I liked significantly better, but many that I would like just as well.  So I was content to wait--besides our house has not sold so I'm not in a huge hurry to hurry this along.

Anyway we show up the the Title Company at 11:30 for a noon signing.  We're early and okay with that.  Someone comes by and asks if we have been helped and did we feel bad being stuck in a corner?  Odd question, I thought, and responded, "Yes, we had been helped and no I'm quite happy with my back to the wall!" (think about those implications!)  At 11:55 we hear the receptionist take a call from Nancy saying that she has all of the documentation (that she asked for last Friday) and it is okay for us to sign documents.  We are ushered into the Title Officer's office and begin dealing with the three inch stack of paperwork.  Nancy arrives, there is one interesting snaffu which is dealt with and it's done.

Nancy takes us to an amazing lunch -- can't wait to take everyone I love to this fabulous place when you come to visit -- and then we go our separate ways for chores until Nancy calls to inform me that we are recorded and can pick up our closing package at any time, but first, let's meet at the house to drop off a few things we have in the trunk and pick up the keys.  Great!

We get to the house to find that the hardwood flooring guy has finished the sanding, filling part and we cannot go in.  Okay, he goes in (special shoes) and picks up the house and post box keys off the kitchen counter but no garage door openers.  Hmmm.  Nancy contacts sellers agent.

No response.  We're standing outside talking when we hear the neighbor directly above us chatting on the phone -- rather loudly.  She peers out over her 2nd story deck and waves.  We wave back and smile.  She then (LOUDLY) calls down: "Connie (seller) is coming back with the garage door openers!  Escrow had them crazy this weekend and they left with them, darned buyers!"

Oh this is going to be fun!  Nancy yells back, "Hi!  These are the new owners!"  Neighbor looks a bit surprised and goes back inside -- she doesn't come back out.  Nancy calls sellers agent again to explain that they can't go inside so they need to drop the openers inside the garage and use the code to shut the door.  Nancy will change the code when the floor guy is done with the floors, sometime Thursday or Friday.

This entire process will make a great chapter in the book I've been threatening to write!  Looking forward to eventually meeting the neighbor to find out just how awful and demanding they think we are.

FYI, the sellers only lived here 12 years and knew all about the monsoons.  They drug their feet trying to "make" us pay their deductible so that the project couldn't be completed before escrow closed and were furious with us for requiring evidence that they and their insurance company were responsible to have the roof replaced which everyone "hopes" will be finished sometime in the next two weeks.  Good thing we didn't intend to move in tomorrow!

Another case of "once it's over and you can look back on it, it makes a funny story!"  Took several years to find the humor in our move to Garberville, this one was almost immediate!  Ah, the perspective of age.