So what happened at the closing?

Well, it's been a really busy few days, and I don't expect that things will be slowing down anytime soon. I've got quite a few things to share, but overall things seem to be moving along very well.

On Wednesday of last week, I closed on the house. The scheduled plan was for me to meet Jean-Paul over at the house for a final walk-through at about 9 AM. Since I began the day too excited to sleep, when 9 AM finally rolled around I was ready to roll. In fact, I was able to take advantage of the morning before 9 by bringing Becky to work downtown and stopping for a cup of coffee with her on the way.

Jean-Paul met me at the property at 9 and we began the tour. There had been a little concern that the owner might not move out by the closing date, but those fears proved unfounded. The walk-through showed that she had, in fact, removed almost everything from the house and that it appeared ready for the myriad of improvement projects that had been tumbling around in my brain, or in conversations with Becky and my family and friends. The house seemed like it was in the same shape it had been in when I placed my offer, so I gave my approval and we were off to the title company.

We used Crescent Title, an organization Jean-Paul recommended from what seemed like a longstanding good relationship. He knew the folks over there by name and had nothing but good things to say about their service, competence, and efficiency. Based on my limited experience, I can only agree. The folks over there were very nice, even offering me cookies right out of the oven while we waited for 10 o'clock to arrive. They seemed to reciprocate Jean-Paul's goodwill, and one of the staff members showed me something I never hope to see again... a water bill for $42,000+ dollars. Yikes!

While I was in the waiting room, looking at a magazine for New Orleans homeowners, Doris (the seller's agent) arrived. She was a real sweetheart, as she had been during our previous encounters. She was not accompanied by the seller, but we had known that the seller might not be able to attend the closing, and Doris had power of attorney to sign and complete the sale. Since it appeared that all of the relevant parties were present, then, we moved to a conference room to begin the closing.

They sat Jean-Paul and myself on one side of the big table, with Doris on the other. Bob Bergeron, the attorney who handled the closing, sat at the head. He was very friendly as he quickly and efficiently handed me a stream of papers to sign and explained to me what each item was. About 5 signatures into the process, the seller showed up with a friend and the stream of documents received even more signatures. I thanked her again for the opportunity to purchase the home, and she reiterated again how much she had enjoyed living there, especially during Mardi Gras. The stream of papers to be signed slowed down and finally ended, the seller and I shook hands, and everyone wished me good luck, a wish I returned to the seller. I stood up from the table officially a homeowner. Then I sat down again and wrote out a couple of important checks they had forgotten to ask for during the signing process. Jean-Paul also wished me luck and gave me a nice gift as well.

I walked back to my car wanting to jump for joy. In my mind, I was picturing the scene from the movie "Major League" where Wesley Snipes figures out that he has not been cut. He maintains a straight face in front of all the other players, but sneaks outside to yell in triumph and perform a little dance of jubilation, and that's about how I felt. With a big folder of paperwork under my arm, I got in my car and headed for the office.

And that's how I became a homeowner.