Closing Day Woes

It's official! We have purchased our home in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Actually, I don't know how official it is quite yet. All I know is that yesterday -- closing day -- was the most difficult day I've had to overcome in a very long time. The documents are all signed by us and at the closing attorney's office as I write this entry, being signed by the sellers and witnessed by the attorneys.

Closing day started bright and early for me. Ethan usually dictates how your morning starts, which, on this particular day was around 7am. And so my day went:

6:55am - blurry-eyed while Kelly leaves house for work
7:00am - wash face, brush teeth
7:04am - Ethan's first diaper change (pee)
7:05am - morning prayers with Ethan
7:20am - play and read with Ethan
7:45am - Ethan's first feed (solid - carrots & rice cereal)
8:15am - Ethan's second diaper change (poop)
8:50am - leave house for bank to meet with mortgage lender
9:01am - arrive at bank as they are opening, mortgage lender still on his way to work
9:10am - lender arrives at work, we're waiting
9:25am - still waiting to see lender, I decide to call closing attorney's office in Blue Ridge
9:27am - I am told not all information has been received, waiting on lender for some escrow details
9:35am - I convey message to lender, checks with closing department to ensure escrow details sent to Blue Ridge
9:55am - lender tells me this may take a while and just go home and that I will be called when ready
10:05am - we go home, not for any reason but Ethan was cranky having waited over one hour
10:20am - back at home
10:25am - Ethan's second feed (breastmilk - 3 ounces)
10:45am - quick stroll around the house and street
11:00am - Ethan's third diaper change (poop #2)
11:45am - I call lender to see what's taking so long -- reply, still waiting
12:00pm - I call Blue Ridge to see what's taking so long -- reply, none (voice messge)
12:10pm - second stroll around the neighborhood
12:30pm - Ethan's third feed (breastmilk - only 2.5 ounces)
12:45pm - play with Ethan and listen to songs
1:00pm - realized had not eaten lunch, ate cold noodles (leftovers)
1:45pm - lender calls, documents are ready, come to bank and sign
1:55pm - went in to my bank to get certified check for funds
2:15pm - arrived at lender's bank (again) and signed 100 pages or so of documents
2:18pm - attorney's fees for preparation of documents triple what was estimated, I literally go bonkers, so upset
2:25pm - soaking head to toe in sweat, Ethan hot, sweaty and cranky and crying, no more mr. nice baby
2:55pm - leave lender's office to go find Kelly to sign documents (Kelly was working so could not sign at office with me)
3:00pm - driving through traffic of north Durham trying to find Durham Regional Hospital (Kelly not at her usual Duke work)
3:20pm - meet Kelly at front of DRH, Kelly signs all docs in car while engine running
3:30pm - leave DRH to go back to my bank to get another certified check for difference of unaccounted funds needed
4:00pm - arrive back at lender's bank office with signed documents, and two certified bank checks, Ethan asleep
4:15pm - arrive at home, Ethan awake, no down time for daddy
4:20pm - Ethan's fourth feed (nearly four hours from last, breastmilk - 5 ounces)
4:45pm - Ethan's fourth diaper change (poop #3!! -- he hasn't had three poopies in a day since around 2-3months old)
5:00pm - third stroll around the neighborhood
5:30pm - Kelly home from work
6:00pm - cook dinner (boiled corn-on-the-cob), and leftover noodles
6:45pm - some dessert, blueberry pie
7:10pm - bathe Ethan
7:35pm - night-time prayers with Ethan
8:00pm - last feed of night, Kelly breastfed
8:35pm - noomie asleep at last
8:55pm - watch some TV - Dancing with the Stars
9:45pm - brush teeth, too tired to shower, go to bed

It was really the most arduous day ever, and compounded by so many ugly feelings of hate by how the whole closing process was dealt with by others -- it just infuriated me. And what added insult to it all, was the fact that, although I felt the handling of our closing was carried out so poorly for us, the fees demanded were astronimcally more than what was estimated, and since it was the day of closing (i.e. not a day or two before or a week before) we had no other option but to pay the fees or risk losing the purchase agreement or start all over with a new closing attorney/firm and wait another month (which we were not willing to do either).

Oh well. But I did learn a lot. Every lesson sure comes at a high price for me though. So if y'all are buying a house any time soon, talk to me for some pointers. To start with:

(1) find a good lender who offers a very competitive mortgage/rate with at least 3 weeks to time of closing
(2) own a fax machine AND scanner in order to expedite all the documentation required for credit history checking that will be required you provide
(3) shop around for the following: a closing attorney, appraiser, building inspector, title company
(4) appraisal is ordered by the lender and so have him/her shop around for you for cheapest appraiser/fee
(5) closing attorney have their own ideas of how much to charge, and so find a good, reputable and economical one
(6) title company also is decided by the lender/closing attorneys and so have them do some work to get a good rate and not their usual "go to" title people who charge an arm and a leg
(7) most imporant of course for last: have rates/fees quoted to you in writing so that on closing, any estimated fees will be precisely your agreed upon quoted fees, and not a penny more!

Ok, rant is over. Utterly, utterly exhausting. But you can bet this is not over, as I will aim to recoop some of the costs.