Quiet Day

[willowisp]

Today I did dishes and laundry and got to KC pretty much on time. The felines are definitely getting used to the fact that I come in, pet everyone as I say their name (unless they don't want to be petted, in which case I leave them alone), and then sit down and pull out my crossword book. I don't try to chase them or otherwise do anything to bug them, and I make great kitty furniture. Now if only Owen and Tom Clancy would stop being so afraid. Oh well.

Near closing time a mother and daughter came in. They fell in love with all of the kitties in turn, and I got good vibes from them, plus they answered the "How do you feel about declawing?" question correctly. They will probably apply for brothers Darryl and Dirk. While I absolutely adore those two kitties, I hope these two women adopt them. I have serious trouble not stuffing the two critters into my backpack and bringing them home, and removing the temptation would be a Good Thing.

One of the non-routine things I did today was pick up a faxed copy of our good faith estimate from State Farm. They work drastically differently from Centex mortgage. With Centex the rate is not locked in until N days before closing, so if Greenspan suddenly goes nuts in the next four months we could be looking at something much higher. State Farm, on the other hand, allows people to lock in a rate immediately upon receipt of a small retainer. Needless to say I didn't tell the State Farm guy anything one way or another since Andy wasn't there to discuss it. We'll probably see what Centex can do with regards to meeting the State Farm rate or offering some sort of assurance with regards to lock in, and also what Sandia FCU and what the company my doctor recommended might offer.

Comments

Declawing?

[clubjuggler.livejournal.com]

What's the deal about declawing?

[spenceraloysius.livejournal.com]

That is really bizarre about your rate. When I applied for a mortgage, I got my rate locked in when I told the mortgage company that I had offered for a house, which was 60 days before closing. I don't know if this is because I got pre-certified by the company. I had USAA though.

[tyee.livejournal.com]

It's not that bizarre; different organizations that offer loans have different policies for how long they will let you keep your lock. Organizations that don't resell loans (like a credit union or large bank) tend to let you lock your rate in for longer. Folks that do resell loans (a mortgage broker, for example) tend to do shorter locks because they don't want to carry the risk of interest rates changing a lot and getting stuck with a loan at too low a rate that they can't get rid of.

Re: Declawing?

[willowisp.livejournal.com]

PACA absolutely does not allow it (unless we adopt out a cat who was already declawed, of course), and the adoption contract explicitly says it cannot be done. If we find out someone has, we will take the cat back.

Unfortunately many (most?) people believe that declawing is simply a more permanent version of clipping the nails. What they don't realize is that they're also amputating part of the cat's toes. Some cats never recover; I almost wonder if Thena's habit of "Oof"ing whenever she landed wasn't something to do with her declawing. Also, I don't know if you ever noticed, but she had what's called "mushy paws", wherein her front claws splayed really wide whenever she stood on them. This is generally associated with declawing. Finally, declawing often messes with a cat's balance when it jumps/lands (Thena missed far more often than Gail or Heidi), and also since the cat considers itself defenseless it often develops a nasty biting habit, which may well end it up back at the shelter. Most cats who end up back at a shelter for problems like biting/spraying/etc never leave again alive, or remain in the shelter forever if the shelter is no-kill. Thank goodness Thena was far too sweet to ever have that problem; not that I could have ever given her up anyway.

[willowisp.livejournal.com]

Yup. The quote from State Farm was from the bank which would be doing the lending. In the paperwork for Centex, one of the documents we signed acknowledges that 100% of their loans for the past three years have been resold, and which explains our rights if we go with Centex and they resell it.

[willowisp.livejournal.com]

Part of the difference with ours, along with tyee's explanation, may be that we're having the house built from dirt. We won't be closing for another three or four months yet, wherein if we were buying a pre-owned or pre-built home, the timetable would be much smaller. Of course this is a guess on my part and should be taken with a grain or three of salt.

Re: Declawing?

[willowisp.livejournal.com]

wherein her front claws splayed

Of course I meant her front "paws" splayed, as she lacked the claws to do so.