First Time Home-Buying: The Paperwork and The Trees

I realized that with a new home where you are directly buying from the builder, it’s not when they accept the offer that you really feel the excitement. Afterall, it’s the builder’s sales agent who gave you the price anyway. It would be up to you to challenge that, in which you risk insulting the builder and they’ll end up taking away all the incentives. So, basically the agent’s price is the price.

Thus, the offer is accepted. Yay. I received congratulations left and right but to me it’s not even close to being ours yet until the loan is approved. Or is it? They pre-qualified us and now they are qualifying us with the same documents they used for the pre-qual: W2′s, tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements. So should I do my celebratory dance then?

Additionally, they had sent us to the design center, in which I did not realize that it would take us hours to choose the kitchen floor. The title company has already started their process, simultaneous to the processes of the mortgage bank. My big question would be is it safe to tell my landlord then that we are moving out?

I will hold off on my dance until the loan approval. Nonetheless, I can go on to say that this real estate industry wastes so much paper.

I have these two folders – the property folder and the loan folder – each about an inch and a half thick. Documents and documents of forms and disclosures. Prints only on one side. Worst part of it – I actually read every page. I guess builders are already cutting so many trees to build the house, they might as well use their scrap to make paper.