It's been a while since I've posted, but I wanted to put out a question here to see if anyone knows of the answer:
For those who used NVR Mortgage, did you end up receiving a 1098 tax form from them during the year your house was built? I'm wondering this because as you may know, NVR Mortgage never ends up being the servicer for the mortgage on your home. Right after closing they sell your mortgage to another company. In my case it is PennyMac. I have gotten a 1098 from PennyMac, however it does not include the pre-paid mortgage interest or the points I bought for a lower rate. I also did the upfront PMI payment at closing so that I wouldn't have to pay it monthly which I just learned that I'll have to amortize for 7 years but the pre-paid interest and points paid would be a nice deduction for my taxes.
I would try to ask someone from NVR about this, but I could barely get a response from them during our homebuilding process so I seriously doubt I'd get an answer from them now. Thanks in advance!
UPDATE: I called the corporate CS number and it turns out that they do send out 1098s! The person I talked to was very nice and even confirmed that I should be getting one.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Friday, September 18, 2015
Some Pictures Finally
I've finally gotten around to getting pics up of the house on here. Needless to say things have been very busy for the past couple of weeks! We are completely moved in and most of the boxes have been emptied. These pics are at various stages of the move, so please excuse the mess in some of them!
All of the other tops were installed well so I'm not mad about it but I do want it re-done. I've contacted our PM about it but haven't gotten a response yet.
We also have some floor creak issues and a few nail pops which we'll address at our 30 day meeting. Let's hope there aren't too many more issues that pop up until then!
Office/Study
Dining Room (currently kid's playroom)
Family Room
Morning Room
Mud Room/Laundry Area
Mud Room/Welcome Center (no hooks yet)
Kitchen (with our new countertops!)
Kids Bathroom
Kid's Bedroom
Kid's Bedroom
Before we moved in we were able to paint the Family Room, Morning Room, Kitchen, Mud Room and both of our girl's bedrooms. Since these were brand new walls the paint was a bit difficult to put on and definitely needed two coats. Overall we are happy with the results and we'll paint other rooms when we have the time.
Our issues so far have been pretty minor. Our dishwasher had no power (fixed), we've had a couple windows break (not fixed yet), and a heavy downpour last weekend caused parts of our lawn to sink. We also found some bubbling on our ceiling in the kitchen, which we think was caused by the rain leaking in through the siding. Our PM still isn't sure if that was the cause of it but he had someone go up and re-caulk some spots where the roof of the garage meets the house. As for the counter tops, we finally got them installed yesterday! We do have an issue with the top that is on the half wall, however (it is the one being held down by the wood in the pic). The guy who installed it cut the notch for the wall crooked, and it ended up affecting the position of the top all the way through. Here's what it looks like at the edge:
All of the other tops were installed well so I'm not mad about it but I do want it re-done. I've contacted our PM about it but haven't gotten a response yet.
We also have some floor creak issues and a few nail pops which we'll address at our 30 day meeting. Let's hope there aren't too many more issues that pop up until then!
Thursday, September 3, 2015
We Are Closing Tomorrow!
Yesterday we had our pre-settlement meeting where we went over all of the details about the home (warranties, service calls, etc.) and walked through all of the house to check everything out. Overall everything looked pretty good! Unfortunately I was too busy looking for any issues and I didn't take pictures of the inside. I did take one of the outside, however:
The only serious issues we have is that we still don't have our countertops installed, and they forgot about our "Arrival Center" in the mudroom. Our PM has been having a heck of a time trying to track down our countertops, so in order to pass final inspection with the town he installed a temporary top and sink. The good news is that he said we could keep the temporary top if we wanted it. I probably won't use it for a long time (or ever) but it might be useful if I want to set up a bar or maybe a second kitchen in the basement in the future. We should hopefully get our countertops installed next week. My wife is the most upset about the Arrival Center, which was supposed to include a bench and a long, wall mounted coat rack. Our PM thought it might have been an extra that we were supposed to pay for, but after looking at the plan PDF for this model it is definitely included. We'll see how that shakes out.
There were a few small issues that I kind of expected as we went through. There was a floor creak in the master bedroom, a bunch of spots on the walls were patched up but not re-painted, and a post for one of the support beams in the basement wasn't fastened/hammered into the beam. All minor issues that are going to be fixed by tomorrow.
As for NVR mortgage, it was surprisingly easier than I thought and we were cleared way earlier that I expected. If you're a follower of Ryan Homes or NVR mortgage, I'm sure you've heard plenty of horror stories where they mess up something with the application or ask for a ridiculous amount of financial information at the last minute. The only information they needed from me at the end was my last three paystubs, and that was only needed by the end of this week and really wouldn't have affected closing. As long as there isn't any last second hiccups we shouldn't have any problems at the closing tomorrow.
After closing tomorrow we are heading over to the house to start moving some things in. I will take some pictures and post them on here. We are gonna slowly move stuff in with our cars next week and do the big move next Saturday. Our family is very excited and we can't wait to move in!
The only serious issues we have is that we still don't have our countertops installed, and they forgot about our "Arrival Center" in the mudroom. Our PM has been having a heck of a time trying to track down our countertops, so in order to pass final inspection with the town he installed a temporary top and sink. The good news is that he said we could keep the temporary top if we wanted it. I probably won't use it for a long time (or ever) but it might be useful if I want to set up a bar or maybe a second kitchen in the basement in the future. We should hopefully get our countertops installed next week. My wife is the most upset about the Arrival Center, which was supposed to include a bench and a long, wall mounted coat rack. Our PM thought it might have been an extra that we were supposed to pay for, but after looking at the plan PDF for this model it is definitely included. We'll see how that shakes out.
There were a few small issues that I kind of expected as we went through. There was a floor creak in the master bedroom, a bunch of spots on the walls were patched up but not re-painted, and a post for one of the support beams in the basement wasn't fastened/hammered into the beam. All minor issues that are going to be fixed by tomorrow.
As for NVR mortgage, it was surprisingly easier than I thought and we were cleared way earlier that I expected. If you're a follower of Ryan Homes or NVR mortgage, I'm sure you've heard plenty of horror stories where they mess up something with the application or ask for a ridiculous amount of financial information at the last minute. The only information they needed from me at the end was my last three paystubs, and that was only needed by the end of this week and really wouldn't have affected closing. As long as there isn't any last second hiccups we shouldn't have any problems at the closing tomorrow.
After closing tomorrow we are heading over to the house to start moving some things in. I will take some pictures and post them on here. We are gonna slowly move stuff in with our cars next week and do the big move next Saturday. Our family is very excited and we can't wait to move in!
Friday, August 14, 2015
Heading Towards The Home Stretch!
It's been a few weeks since my last post, but today we can happily say that we are nearing the completion of our new home! Lots of things have been done since my last post, which was the pre-drywall meeting:
- Insulation and drywall has been completely installed and walls/ceilings have been painted.
- Kitchen cabinets have been installed, however the countertops have not been installed yet as they noticed some issues with what was delivered so they ordered a new one.
- Bathroom cabinets installed
- Vinyl flooring on the first floor installed
I'm actually pretty surprised that they re-ordered the countertop. We settled on getting only Formica instead of granite, so either the defect was too big to not notice or the installer just didn't think it was good enough. Either way, I'm glad it is being done right.
We did have a couple small issues that were rectified by our PM. First, we noticed that they put drywall up on the lower stairs where our banisters were supposed to be. We noticed this just before our PM was set to go on a short vacation, and even though I didn't expect a response he did text me while he was away to tell me they'd fix it! We also just noticed a puncture in the sheathing on the outside of the house. I'm not sure how that happened but I'm guessing it was from the tractor they were using to do grading. Our PM said they'd take care of before they put the siding up.
Next week should be even busier as we are scheduled to have the tile (bathrooms), carpeting, plumbing, siding, light fixtures and our driveway (asphalt) completed or at least in process. This is all great news as our expected closing is around the first week of September (2-4) but it may be possible that we can close earlier.
As for working with NVR to get our mortgage, that's a whole other story. I really don't want to get into it, but I will just say that I wasn't happy with their lack of communication. But I'm glad that we've finally locked in our rate and (hopefully) we should be all set for that at closing. For future prospective Ryan home buyers, I would highly recommend shopping around for a mortgage. While I found that most mortgage companies have about the same closing costs, NVR seemed to be between 1/8th to 1/4th of a percent higher interest rates. If it wasn't for the closing costs incentive that we received (almost $5,000) I probably would've gone somewhere else. If you do decide to go with NVR, I would also recommend that you wait until you're in the 30 day window to lock in your rate, as their standard lock period is only that much time and they want a lot of money to lock in your rate longer. Pretty much all of the other companies have a 60 day lock period.
I think I have some pictures of the drywall and most of the kitchen cabinets that were installed, if I have a few minutes free I'll post them up!
- Insulation and drywall has been completely installed and walls/ceilings have been painted.
- Kitchen cabinets have been installed, however the countertops have not been installed yet as they noticed some issues with what was delivered so they ordered a new one.
- Bathroom cabinets installed
- Vinyl flooring on the first floor installed
I'm actually pretty surprised that they re-ordered the countertop. We settled on getting only Formica instead of granite, so either the defect was too big to not notice or the installer just didn't think it was good enough. Either way, I'm glad it is being done right.
We did have a couple small issues that were rectified by our PM. First, we noticed that they put drywall up on the lower stairs where our banisters were supposed to be. We noticed this just before our PM was set to go on a short vacation, and even though I didn't expect a response he did text me while he was away to tell me they'd fix it! We also just noticed a puncture in the sheathing on the outside of the house. I'm not sure how that happened but I'm guessing it was from the tractor they were using to do grading. Our PM said they'd take care of before they put the siding up.
Next week should be even busier as we are scheduled to have the tile (bathrooms), carpeting, plumbing, siding, light fixtures and our driveway (asphalt) completed or at least in process. This is all great news as our expected closing is around the first week of September (2-4) but it may be possible that we can close earlier.
As for working with NVR to get our mortgage, that's a whole other story. I really don't want to get into it, but I will just say that I wasn't happy with their lack of communication. But I'm glad that we've finally locked in our rate and (hopefully) we should be all set for that at closing. For future prospective Ryan home buyers, I would highly recommend shopping around for a mortgage. While I found that most mortgage companies have about the same closing costs, NVR seemed to be between 1/8th to 1/4th of a percent higher interest rates. If it wasn't for the closing costs incentive that we received (almost $5,000) I probably would've gone somewhere else. If you do decide to go with NVR, I would also recommend that you wait until you're in the 30 day window to lock in your rate, as their standard lock period is only that much time and they want a lot of money to lock in your rate longer. Pretty much all of the other companies have a 60 day lock period.
I think I have some pictures of the drywall and most of the kitchen cabinets that were installed, if I have a few minutes free I'll post them up!
Friday, July 17, 2015
Pre-Drywall Meeting Today!
I was able to schedule our pre-drywall meeting before we leave for vacation tomorrow. I wasn't sure if it would be possible but I contacted our PM for our status and he said we were good to go! If it wasn't possible then we'd have to wait another week and a half which would not have made my wife happy :-). All of the insulation won't be in but I'm OK with that. Supposedly the reason for the delay was because the town inspector was out unexpectedly. I haven't talked to the PM since scheduling but I assume we are good to go since my wife saw the insulators working on the house yesterday afternoon. We should get a better idea of our closing date and start thinking about locking in the rate for our mortgage. BTW, I've been having tons of fun dealing with NVR </sarcasm> and I may put up a post about it after we get back.
I did decide to hire an inspector to come with us and look at the house. Our PM seems to be fine with this and I believe that it can't hurt to have another set of (experienced) eyes to look at everything. I would definitely recommend hiring someone for both the pre-drywall and pre-closing stages, especially if you're not a handy person (I definitely am not!).
I may post a picture or two before we leave tomorrow, we still have to pack both our stuff and our kids stuff. Yes, I am a bit of a procrastinator!
I did decide to hire an inspector to come with us and look at the house. Our PM seems to be fine with this and I believe that it can't hurt to have another set of (experienced) eyes to look at everything. I would definitely recommend hiring someone for both the pre-drywall and pre-closing stages, especially if you're not a handy person (I definitely am not!).
I may post a picture or two before we leave tomorrow, we still have to pack both our stuff and our kids stuff. Yes, I am a bit of a procrastinator!
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Progress Pics
garage foundation
foundation
our wood for framing (this was on our neighbors lot that wasn't started yet, sorry!)
more wood, windows
basement floor poured! However, they screwed up the position of one of the jack stand holes (on the lower right).
first floor framed up
mud room/laundry room, and the pantry on the left
family room
study
kitchen/morning room
morning room
family room
kitchen/morning room
all framed up!
garage floor completed!
Monday, July 6, 2015
Framing completed!
Hi everyone, sorry for not posting any updates in a while. I've been really busy at work and every time I would think about putting up a new post I would end up forgetting about it just a few minutes later!
To recap what's been done, they've poured the foundation footing, walls and floor and completely framed the house. The foundation was started June 10-11 and they waited to start framing until June 26. I was really happy about this, since sometimes they wait as little as 7 days to frame the house after the foundation has been poured. There's no strict guidelines as to how long concrete should cure before it can take any sort of load, but in my opinion the longer the wait, the better. Plus we had a few days during that time where we had some pretty heavy rain. Some rain is actually a good thing as the water will help it cure properly, although there's currently about an inch or so of water in our basement. It sounds bad, but it's something that we don't have control over, and they can pump out the water and de-humidify the basement to dry it out. They should actually be pumping the water out today, our PM was just trying to get a power source to run the pump. We are very excited as it is now starting to look like an actual house! I should have some pics up either tonight or tomorrow.
So far we've only encountered a couple small issues. We noticed that there was an extra "closet" that was framed up in the kitchen that we did not have in the plans. After discussing this with the PM, we found that this was where a pantry closet for the kitchen used to be under the old Savoy model. Under the new plans, we now have a whole pantry room behind the garage, so this pantry is no longer needed. We already have plans for this space so I asked that we take the pantry out. PM said it was not a problem and the framers were able to take care of it ASAP. The other issue is that when the basement floor was poured, they put the spacing for the jackstand for one of the support beams in the wrong spot. Currently the beam is being held up by a couple 2x6s (I think) but they should be in to fix that this week. There is also a couple chips off of the foundation near the basement windows. They are very small and they should be able to patch them up.
Now that the house is framed we will be getting plumbing, electrical and HVAC all started up. According to our PM, we should be having our pre-drywall meeting mid-to-late next week. Woo hoo!
To recap what's been done, they've poured the foundation footing, walls and floor and completely framed the house. The foundation was started June 10-11 and they waited to start framing until June 26. I was really happy about this, since sometimes they wait as little as 7 days to frame the house after the foundation has been poured. There's no strict guidelines as to how long concrete should cure before it can take any sort of load, but in my opinion the longer the wait, the better. Plus we had a few days during that time where we had some pretty heavy rain. Some rain is actually a good thing as the water will help it cure properly, although there's currently about an inch or so of water in our basement. It sounds bad, but it's something that we don't have control over, and they can pump out the water and de-humidify the basement to dry it out. They should actually be pumping the water out today, our PM was just trying to get a power source to run the pump. We are very excited as it is now starting to look like an actual house! I should have some pics up either tonight or tomorrow.
So far we've only encountered a couple small issues. We noticed that there was an extra "closet" that was framed up in the kitchen that we did not have in the plans. After discussing this with the PM, we found that this was where a pantry closet for the kitchen used to be under the old Savoy model. Under the new plans, we now have a whole pantry room behind the garage, so this pantry is no longer needed. We already have plans for this space so I asked that we take the pantry out. PM said it was not a problem and the framers were able to take care of it ASAP. The other issue is that when the basement floor was poured, they put the spacing for the jackstand for one of the support beams in the wrong spot. Currently the beam is being held up by a couple 2x6s (I think) but they should be in to fix that this week. There is also a couple chips off of the foundation near the basement windows. They are very small and they should be able to patch them up.
Now that the house is framed we will be getting plumbing, electrical and HVAC all started up. According to our PM, we should be having our pre-drywall meeting mid-to-late next week. Woo hoo!
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