I checked my email this morning to find that MortgageDesignGroup.com had finally sent me the estimates they promised me, last night around 5:15p. So, only about a day-and-a-half late.

Somehow, when someone’s dealing with my money, I’m huge on punctuality. Don’t tell me one thing and then do something else. That may seem petty in a case like this, but I feel like sometimes these little things are indicators of something larger.

After I looked over their estimates (closing costs were way higher than everyone else, so you’re definitely paying for their service), I called Ann over at NW Mortgage Group to tell her she’s the one. She was pretty excited, and I’m glad because I feel like that’s enthusiasm she shares with me in the whole process. Plus, she’s always easy to get ahold of and is very punctual about things. Maybe if I had gone through this process before I would consider doing something based solely on the money, but the first time I run through it I definitely want the service and I think that’s what Ann’s providing.

I gave her all of my vital stats and she’s running my credit and coming up with a new, more accurate estimate to walk me through. She’s also sending me a packet of stuff to look over which basically signifies the beginning of the paper trail that will end in my home loan.

One interesting thing she pointed out, which I think is a smart deal and I’m not sure if all new homebuyers do this: When someone asks you for a loan pre-approval letter, many times that letter shows the total amount the buyer is approved for. If you’re the buyer, that’s tipping your hand to the seller, who is trying to get the price to go up. What I’ll end up doing is calling Ann to get a letter tailored to my offer, so the approval will only show the amount of money I’m willing to pay for the house. Sounds good to me.