Stolen bikes

We woke up this morning to discover that someone had used bolt cutters to cut through the steel chain locking our bikes to the landing jacks.  John especially feels violated because he loved his bike and this is the first time in his life that he had anything stolen from him.  Our bikes were there last night when we got home from Melissa's so we know it happened during the wee hours of morning.  Bummer.

At long last

Melissa got word that she would record by noon today YAHOO. She was going to get her keys around 1 pm and wanted us to meet her there with her cat and truckload of painting and other stuff. In keeping with everything else that has caused delays, we all get there and there is no key to get in! Melissa's realtor contacts the sellers realtor and supposedly the locks were rekeyed yesterday but no key was in the lock box. More calls with the locksmith stating he left a key. He says he will come by between 3 and 4 pm to cut Melissa a new key. Melissa went back to work while we hauled stuff up to the third floor and will wait for the locksmith. So Melissa owns a condo that she can't get into. She was also told a specific site was hers for parking.  Hmmm, John and I couldn't find it.  Another issue to get settled.

Thankfully, the locksmith got there earlier than expected.  He was perplexed that the key was not in the lockbox because he knew he had put the key in the lockbox and left two other keys on the kitchen counter.  He had a key and said if the deadbolt is locked (he left it unlocked), then a realtor was here and took the key.  Sure enough, the deadbolt was locked.  John and I told the locksmith that we didn't feel at all comfortable that someone had a key to our daughter's condo.  He had to agree so we asked him to rekey the locks at our expense.   His price was very reasonable, quick, and convenient.  Both John and I feel much better.  We did learn that all Fannie Mae properties are keyed the same way and the lock box has the same code country wide so when a property sells, they rekey the locks.  

John and and I got all the stuff inside the condo and went to work.  We got Melissa's bedroom ceiling painted and were well on the way to getting the dark walls primed when Melissa got home from work.  She had stopped at the store and got her working crew some sandwiches and cold drinks for dinner.  With the help of Ryan (Melissa's friend Kelly's husband), John got Melissa's bed up the stairwell after a trip to the storage unit.  Melissa was determined to sleep in her own bed tonight.  John got the water heater lit, shower curtain and shower head installed (former owners took the shower head).  While John was doing all of this, I continued on priming the dark walls in the bedroom.  We were very tired puppies by the time we got home at 10:30.  We are just so happy that the real estate limbo Melissa has been in is over and we now have plenty to do.  It will be fun helping Melissa bring her vision of what she wants in making the condo her home.

Waiting still

We have been in Sacramento four weeks today.  Melissa's loan was "suppose" to close around  August 20 and here we still sit.  None of the delays have anything to do with Melissa but  rather unprofessional "professionals".  No proactive thinking with this group.  I guess the real estate/loan industry feels everyone should just be darn happy they are willing to work with anyone.  This whole process is so jacked up.  I can't tell you the number of times Melissa has been told that closing was imminent when at the last minute another form is needed - oops that will be another 24 or 48 hours (happened twice in the last two and half weeks).  Once approval was given and Melissa signed her documents last Thursday evening, funding and closing was to happen Monday, Tuesday at the latest - both days have come and gone.    Oops, another issue has reared its head.   Got to get the necessary form and approval before the loan can be recorded.    No wonder people are just giving up on trying to get real estate loans.  Good news: loan was funded today.  With all these "delays", John and I feel really bad that we didn't complete our commitment to Fort Welikit because it is very apparent now that we could have.  Sigh.

Cal Expo only allows you to stay 30 days so we were faced with having to move to the Elks who only allow you to stay one week (no sewer hookups).  We figure once we actually start work on Melissa's condo, it may take us two to three weeks to get everything the way she wants it for now.     John had been told by some Elk Knight that longer stays than one week were allowed.  When we stopped by the Elks to see if we needed to make reservations or just show up, the very unfriendly almost bordering on rude woman working the front desk made it sound like extending would be a problem.  Great.  Trying to take the road of least resistance, we decided to try to see if Cal Expo would work with us by allowing us to extend another month (A month is cheaper than three weeks).  Thankfully, we were approved.  We will have to change sites on Friday which we will gladly do.  One problem solved, now if only Melissa could get her docs recorded and be given her keys so she/us can move forward.  Any inconvenience we've experienced is nothing compared to the limbo Melissa has been in the past few months.  She said that there is no way she ever wants to go through this again.  Maybe it is like childbirth and given a few years, she'll change her mind lol.  

Still waiting

We arrived back in Sacramento on 8/18 under the belief that Melissa's purchase of a condo would be closing soon.  We are still waiting.  There have been a lot of bumps along the way and the frustration just keeps building.  It is believed that everything Wells Fargo needs/wants was put in their possession on Monday, 8/30.  Here we sit waiting for final approval so that documents can be drawn and signed.  After waiting 2 1/2 hours on the phone with Wells Fargo yesterday, the underwriter was told that a decision would be made today or Friday.  I wouldn't want to put any money on it what with a three-day holiday right around the corner.  The lack of customer service and the amount of BS being fed is outrageous.  No wonder so many who would like to buy a home at nearly basement bargain prices just give up.  What a waste of time and energy.

We did get Melissa moved out of her apartment and items put in storage.  We have a very full 5th wheel as Melissa and her cat are staying with us.  Melissa did spend one night with friends enjoying a good nights sleep on a regular bed while her cat had a total meltdown for 12 hours and neither John nor I got much sleep because she was not going to be pacified.   Unfortunately, Melissa's friends have cat allergies so she couldn't take Hayden with her so she (Melissa) had to return to stay with us . . .  no Hayden.  I guess Hayden wore herself out after her 12 hour meltdown as she was pretty darn mellow before and after Melissa arrived.  If Hayden kept Melissa awake last night, it wasn't at the pitch from the night before when we (and possibly our neighbors) were kept awake, as I only heard soft meows on occasion.  This experience has confirmed to John and I that we do not want any pets at this point in our lives.

I didn't think we would ever say this again but we are soooooo ready to get with painting, unpacking and such.  May this logjam break soon or there will be three of us humans having a meltdown.

While all of this condo craziness has engulfed us, our family did have some good news what with the arrival of our great-niece Emma Leigh Kinnear on August 31.  Welcome to the family Emma and we can't wait to meet you.