As it always goes, our start date has once again been pushed back a few days. It’s now scheduled for Monday, July 28. But, we have a date! It works out for the best because we have family coming to visit next week, my sister and my parents, and we still need to finalize the loan. Because we remodeled two bathrooms and reroofed since the last appraisal, the bank is planning to send someone to see the house. Wouldn’t be good if we tore apart the kitchen before they came! We also want to do as much ourselves before our handy man takes over, and we have a super busy weekend ahead. Next weekend will be better for getting the nitty gritty stuff we can do out of the way.

As far as financing … Unfortunately, Harris Bank also changed it’s policies three weeks ago, so instead of being able to take out 85% of the value of our mortgage, it’s 80%. With falling home values and increasing percentages, we’ll be taking out about half of what we had originally planned. The good news is that we can do a five-year loan instead of ten-year so it’s paid off sooner, and our monthly payments will be less. It will be an opportunity to put to good use our practice of stretching the dollar!