Met with the builder last night and we walked through the model, discussing the various options. They gave me “the book”, listing the warranties and home-owner association rules, etc. Most of the book was taken up with environmental studies; the only thing interesting was looking at what was on that site historically. Nothing dangerous, so I am not going to be sprouting a another limb.
After much mental exercising, I decided on a mortgage company. I suggest reading Mortgages for Dummies if, like me, you’d never had a mortgage before. It was a big help with the terminology which, after reading the book, really wasn’t all that intimidating after all.
Next up: paying the rest of the 5% down. Which, to date, will be the single largest check I’ve ever written.