citizen of the planet

Last night, I wrote that today I should be ready to act at a moment’s notice.  So, I decided to head in to work early.  I figured that if I had to leave early at least arriving early meant that I’d get some work done.  I spent a good part of the morning feeling a little bit on edge.  At one point I was actually hesitant to head to the washroom.  I didn’t want to have to answer the phone while holding my junk, know what I mean?  By about 10:45 the morning had already dragged on for a long time.  Still nothing.  I was getting hungry so I walked over to the vending machine.  It’s within eyesight, so it was really just a few steps from the desk.  When I got back to my desk I came to find my cell phone glowing.  Apparently I missed a call.  DAMN.  Eternal vigilance is a failure when you’re not eternally vigilant.  Luckily, a message was left on my voicemail.  It was the news I’d been waiting to hear.  Whoo!  Apparently all of the documents were ready and they were just being processed at the bank branch.  The mortgage specialist told me that the bank would be calling me shortly to arrange for me to come in to sign the papers.

The period between that voicemail and the bank’s call seemed to drag on forever.  I was trying to get some work accomplished, but my concentration was obviously elsewhere.  I spent much energy just sending signals out to the universe indicating that the call should come sooner rather than later.  I did eventually get that call, and scheduled myself for an appointment in-branch an hour from the call.  Just for my lawyer’s benefit I called her to tell her that I was going to drive in to sign the papers.  She told me: “can you go any earlier?”  Well, it was at that point that I felt like I was in a race of sorts.  I left work in a rush and got on the streetcar.  It’s kind of hard to have a “Go! Go! Go!” state of mind on something like a streetcar.  So, because of that I pretty much mellowed out for the rest of the trip to my car.

Anyway, long story short, I made it to the bank, signed the papers, and within hours they were faxed over to my lawyer’s place.  And within an hour after that I was at her place signing all of the appropriate sheets.

So, that’s that.  The trouble is over!  There doesn’t seem to be much left to do other than pack over the weekend.  I’ve jumped the last hurdle and now the finish line is nigh.  This is it!

I’m cutting it a bit close right now.  So far, the mortgage hasn’t been signed because the paperwork is still being drawn up.  I got a call from my lawyer earlier this afternoon.  She set off a little bit of panic in me.  She was telling me: if I don’t have the papers signed soon and over to her, the builder might not be able to hand over keys on Tuesday.  See, Monday is a holiday.  That leaves tomorrow as the last day to get things in.  Gaaaaaah!

So my lawyer told me to call my mortgage dealer to get a status.  I sheepishly called in to her and she was really nice about it all.  At the same time though, she was stressing the point that this is what happens when you do the mortgage stuff late.  It wasn’t accusatory, but more of a lamentation: “That’s the nature of the beast.”  See, in my case, I had actually started the mortgage process slightly early.  Thing is, there was a small bottleneck.  A particular document was required that I didn’t have on me.  So, I put a request out to the builder’s office.  Despite several emails, it took three weeks to get copy of that thing!  Crazy!  I still find it hard to believe that something like that set me back by so many weeks.  Well, there wasn’t a flurry of activity up until the past day or two.  And now…it’s all a big rush to just get things done.  Damn!  It wasn’t supposed to be this way!

So, there’s now a rush to get my mortgage docs done at the bank.  As soon as I get the call, I’m going to leave work and hustle over the the bank.  Once there, the docs have to get to my lawyer, who’ll then get in touch with the builder’s lawyer.  If all goes well, hopefully the builder will still be able to give me my keys on Tuesday.  If not…well…what else can I do, right?  It’s out of my hands.

Really, I’ve been really antsy since this afternoon.  I don’t want things to go wrong!  As the day wore on at work, I could feel my stress levels rising.  It was horrible; I wasn’t able to concentrate on work.  It wasn’t until I took a few moments to calm down a little bit that I put it all into context.  So, if I’m suddenly unable to get my keys on Tuesday, it’s likely that the worst that can happen is that I will have to get my keys on Wednesday.  That isn’t so bad, really.  If it happens early enough on Wednesday, I won’t have to miss my elevator appointment.  If I have to, it’s not even like I have that much to move.  Sure, it’s not really a problem but certainly it’d be a joy-killer.  If it gets bumped to Thursday, that’s a totally different story.  My appliances are set to arrive on that day.  If I don’t have my keys, I’ll be triply- screwed.

Well, I suppose there’s no point in worrying now.  Tomorrow, I will just have to be ready to act at a moment’s notice.  I’ll be ready!

I think I have this mortgage thing settled without much effort. Really, it’s kind of like there are a couple of people out there that are doing the dirty work, leaving me to just decide what the best course of action for myself is. There’s one offer out there tied to the builder and a big bank that’s a rate that’s actually quite unbelievable at this point in time. I tried to take it to my bank this morning to see if they could match it, but alas no luck there. From the general consensus of colleagues and friends, it looks like the rate that I was presented with is indeed nothing to scoff at. I just need to get my documents in order, but it looks like I’m pretty much set.

Even though I didn’t really do much work in terms of scouting out a rate, I actually did spend a little bit time educating myself on the numbers behind rates and what banks might do in the future. People can make educated guesses but ultimately it’s hard to predict what the Bank of Canada is going to do. Consider the past few months. I know a few people that decided to go with a variable rate. That all made sense because the banks and what not were offering rates at the prime rate (currently 2.25% at many banks) minus some small percentage. I guess the banks were really trying to encourage people to get mortgages. All of a sudden though, the variable rate became prime plus a certain percentage. At this time the rate seems to be prime + 0.6%. Maybe the banks are reacting somehow and trying to cool things off. If I were to get a variable at this time, it wouldn’t seem like such a great deal once the prime rate starts heading back up when the banks recover.

So, all right, I think I’m going to settle on a fixed rate. Traditionally those rates are higher because you’re kind of paying a premium for that security. Historically, variable tends to save more, but in my case I think the timing is off. The whole prime plus scenario gives me pause. Given the fixed rate I was offered, all prime would need to do is go up by more than 0.5% for a prime + 0.6% rate to go above the fixed rate being held for me. I have to decide: should I bank on the fact that prime will go up within the mortgage term?

Yes, what about the mortgage term? When you talk fixed rates, most banks tend to give 5 year terms. Those seem the most common. Thing is, is that ideal for my situation? Five year rates tend to be higher than shorter terms. In general, the longer you go the higher the rate because of the uncertainty factor. Do I plan on living in that condo for all five years? If I decide to move and break the mortgage early, I’ll have to pay a penalty. The rate I was quoted is for a 3 year fixed term. In all honesty, that seems to work perfectly for me. If at the end of three years I still plan on living in that condo, maybe the variable rate will be back to a prime minus situation. Who knows?

See! It’s fascinating stuff! It’s a numbers game with a bit of luck and prognostication involved. There are some cases where a little bit of knowledge can be detrimental. In this case though I almost feel like having this bit of knowledge is like a bit of armour. It’s giving me a bit of confidence in knowing that I won’t be making this important decision blindly.

Despite my possession date being moved back to April, the whole design process is moving along. Today I had my appointment at the design centre where I had to pick out things like flooring, tiling, finishes, cabinetry, etc. Sound mildly simple enough, right? However…really, it was quite tough. There’s so much choice, and it was difficult to really decide on how I wanted things to look. I mean, what I choose is what I’ll be stuck with (barring any weird renos). The consultant and I agreed to just formulate a list of everything that I wanted, just as a catch-all list. In the end, I chose an upgrade here, an upgrade there, etc etc. By the end, I was shocked to see the cost of all upgrades ramped up to $18K! Holy crap. Granted, at that price it’ll all look quite swank, but wow, I don’t know if I can justify spending that much. On top of that, I also have to worry about upgrading my appliances, buying furniture, etc etc. The costs are mounting!

I know I can tack it all onto the purchase price and have it taken care of via the mortgage. However…do I want to? Putting it on the mortgage will ultimately raise the price by a good chunk in the long run. It really might be the only way to afford what I want though. I might have to cut back on some of those upgrades though just as a matter of making it more reasonable. None of it is finalized yet. I have a lot of time to think it through. I better work things out soon though or else it’ll eat away at my mind.