A single line, at this point bordering cliché, taken from one of almost 560 poems by Robert Burns reflect the sentiments regarding projects that started strong but hit a roadblock or plateau somewhere along the way.

The good – my offer was accepted, no earnest money required and only $1 down.

The bad – I have 9 biz days to close.

The upside – I had as much as possible completed before reaching this point. The banks are moving along at a pace that should have everything ready at the offer table and the inspections are being performed this week and documented same day.

The downside – small glitch with a certificate of occupancy on the property being sold (nothing too serious, but with a tight deadline it gets serious fairly rapidly).

I have found bankrate to be a decent source of starter information when trying to calculate how many points one should accept when looking for a mortgage and what tax breaks are available. If you don’t have the time to follow the above linked calculator, the following calculation is offered: “Divide the number of points by the number of years you expect to hold the mortgage. Add the resulting fraction to the interest rate of the loan with the points. Compare against mortgage with no points.”