One week!

Well we are finally just one week out from our closing date! It does not even seem real that we are this close to owning our dream home. It seems like forever ago since we signed the purchase agreement. Sadly I just received a call from our PM saying that we are behind. Our final walk through was supposed to occur on 11/23. It has now been moved to the day before we close.

It seems that there is an issue with the shipment for our counter-tops. So at this point basically the whole inside of the house is done besides the counter-tops and appliances being installed. Our first concern was making sure the closing date did not get moved. Our PM told us that this should not change our closing date. So as long as that doesn’t change we are fine with it. We know our PM will have his team work hard to get everything done in time. We are just reminding ourselves that we have one final week left of being stressed over the whole process before we no longer have to worry about all of this.

Picture update

   So we got about 2 weeks until close they left the doors open so we went in to see the progress.

Pre-Drywall

So we had our pre-drywall meeting at the beginning of October.  It was a short meeting. It was more just us being able to walk through the house and look at everything that is being done and ask questions. We had planned when we went to the meeting to take a ton of pictures to know where pipes and wires were in the walls for in the future. Sadly we were both still trying to wake up and we forgot.

The main thing we wanted to know was the closing date. John was unable to give us the closing date or completion date while we were at the meeting. He let us know that he would call or text us later to provide a completion date. I actually had to end up texting him to find out the date for the walk through and the closing date. We have our walk through on 11/23 and closing date is 11/25. At this point we are in the final countdown of this whole building process and it seems like a dream. Sorry this one took so long seems we had a bug go though our house for a few weeks we all passed it around. 

Framing started…..Framing done?

 So I wanted to wait until the framing was done until I wrote this blog. They started last Tuesday and was mostly done by Saturday. We went out Tuesday night and got to watch the first wall going up, which was to the morning room. It seems like it’s been forever since we started the whole process. We went back out the next night. We were told once they start the framing it goes fast. They already had most of the first floor done and was starting to do the floor beams on the second.

So Friday night we went to a high school football game and afterwards we stopped by. They had framed the whole second floor. So in a matter of 3 days the house was mostly framed. All that they didn’t have done was the point on the front which was on the ground ready to go in and the roof covered. So we waited and went out on our normal day of Wednesday. The roof had been finished and the windows and doors were on. We looked in the windows and saw they had the framing of the island and pantry done and a few others. It’s really starting to look like a house that’s for sure. Hopefully by this weekend it’s going to have the roof all the way done.

First wall going up 

First floor done 

10pm Friday trip second floor done

Saturday daylight check 

Back of the house 

Tuesday all framed roof ready for shingles and windows/doors in 

Progress….for the sake of progress

A few days since we had been out to the site we decided to stop by and see if the walls were up or not. Little to our surprise they were up and done. Now we get to wait for the weekend to be over to see what else they do. 

Basement walls poured

We had some stuff to do and didn’t get out to see what’s been done until yesterday. To our surprise they had the basement walls wrapped and even back filled and the pipes ran for some of the plumbing. Now they should be able to pour the floor of the basement the next few days. To our amazement they had delivered the wood and windows to the lot. It’s so unreal seeing the pile sitting there and more than just a hole in the ground.

Wrapped and back filled

Pipes ran ready for the floor

All the wood 

Doors and windows 

We have footers

So after the long Labor Day weekend we were told by our PM that the footers would be done on Tuesday. We know how it’s been going so we were hoping that they would actually get to do them. After the wife got off work we ran over to the site to see and sure enough they were poured and they already removed the forms to them. They must have done them first thing in the morning. I use to pour concrete before I was in the military and normally if we got it done early enough we could remove the forms later in the afternoon, it would be set up enough. Now we hope we will have basement walls soon and all the wood delivered.

Back On Track

The paper we needed to drop off to authorize the moving of the house back 5 feet was dropped off on 08/26. John called me that evening to let me know that the lot was going to be staked again that night so they could start digging the next day.  It made us feel so much better to know that they would start digging the very next day.

So the wife and I drove out to the lot on Thursday to see what all they were able to get dug up. As we drove up we noticed that there was no digger on the lot. So it was not a shock to us that there was no hole besides the small one they had started a few days prior. I text our PM that day to see what was going on with the lot not being dug up. He let me know that there was an issue with the excavator and that they were working on getting it fixed. Our PM said that they would start digging on Friday and would have it done by Saturday at the latest. Of course we weren’t exactly thrilled about it but nothing we could do.

Friday morning we decided to drive by the lot to see if there was an excavator at the lot yet and there wasn’t. That afternoon I received a call from our PM letting us know that they still weren’t there and should be there on Saturday or at the absolute latest Monday. At this point the wife and I were just hoping for a hole to get dug on Monday.

We made our way out there Monday evening and saw them finishing up with the dig. It was absolutely amazing to know that the build was finally really starting for us. It seemed like we had been dealing with a big standstill the entire time.

                                                     Front view 

The garage 

                                                  Where they had to move it back 5ft

                               

The Kitchen/morning room 

Our soon longer driveway

Now we are just hoping for some good weather the next couple weeks so they can get the foundation done for us.

So it begins…..or so we thought

So on 08/24 I text our project manager to ask him a question and he gave me a call. He let me know that they were probably going to start digging on 08/25 instead of 8/26. This made both my wife and I very happy. Sure it is only one day difference but to finally have the house started had us excited.

The wife and I decided to drive by the lot that same day and get one final look at the lot before they started. To our surprise they had already dug up the dirt where our driveway would be going and put gravel down. We both decided that we would come back by the following evening to see the progress they had made since they were going to be actually digging the next day.

Driveway ready 

As soon as the wife got off work the next day we made our way out to the lot. When we drove up we did see more dirt piled up but not the size hole dug out as we expected. Only the front room appeared to be dug out. The wife stayed positive and tried saying maybe they got started later today and will get more done the next day.

Little dirt moved 

The hole so far 

As we were driving back home I checked my email and saw that I had one from our sales rep. Apparently while they were digging they found a sewer line. So now they want to move our house back 5 feet and we have to sign off on something before they can proceed stating that we agree to it. While we both understand that 5 feet isn’t that big of a deal it is still very frustrating. How is it that they did not know there was a sewer line on our property? They should have been able to know this from city records. So while I am writing this our lot is just sitting there not being worked on until we get this paper up to our sales rep. We have to rush the paper up there on my wife’s lunch to get it to them as soon as possible so they can continue working. Again this is not that big of a deal but just very annoying and frustrating.

While my wife and I were discussing this on the drive home we had our son in the backseat telling us to not sign the paper. My wife asked him why he didn’t want us to sign the paper and he told her because he would lose play space in the backyard. Of course my wife being the woman she is downplayed the loss of the 5 feet in the backyard. She told our son that 5 feet is just the length of her if she lay down. This seemed to calm him down a little bit. I guess 5 feet to a 6 year old seems like a huge amount.

Not the best start to the dig but there could be worse things that could occur. Hopefully moving forward it will be smooth sailing.

Pre-Construction Meeting

So a few days ago we had our pre-construction meeting. It was at the model home with our sales rep and John, our project manager. Our sales rep told us this meeting would be about an hour and to write down any questions that we have. When we first sat down we went John’s role and what all he would be doing. He let us know how we can get in contact with him if we need to for any reason regarding the building of the house.

John had a long checklist of everything we would be discussing over the meeting. John made sure that we were aware that we were not allowed on the site without a ryan home rep present due to safety reasons. For this part of the checklist both my wife and I had to initial that we understood. John made sure to let us know that we are not able to do any type of work on the home until we close with NVR. He went through all the steps of when everybody will be brought in to do the work on the house. I was happy to hear that the drywall people come out 3-4 times after they first do the drywall for touch ups and clean up along with the painters.

Then we went over the blueprint and all the outside options we had picked out to make sure everything we had picked out was there and everything was correct. This was done for all levels of the house and every option we had chosen.  Just a last minute check to make sure they get all the right stuff to go into the house. John then went over the timeline they are looking at and about when the pre-drywall meeting will be about and what all it entails. He went over that we will be working with him after we close for our house walk though and home demonstration along with the post 30 day inspection.

On top of initialing the area where we agreed to not go in the home alone we had to sign his check list of everything he went over. We also had to sign a survey paper showing us where the concrete drive way, sod and seed would be along with the lot size which we already knew. It seems it was just to verify the lot size and where the sod ends and seed starts. A copy of the survey paper was made for us so we could keep it in our files for if we want to build a fence down the road. We wrapped up with a few questions we had. John was really thorough in his explaining so most of ours were already answered.

Our sales rep then asked if we were going to go down to the lot and check it out. John didn’t think it was staked yet but we went down and it had already been all nice and staked out. We walked around the lot with John and he pointed out where everything would be. On the 26^th they are supposed to be breaking ground. As of right now our close date is November 18^th, a week before thanksgiving. Now the fun 

                                              Lot all staked out (and they are digging the lot right behind us)

Loan Approved

Well it took 9 days to get here back from underwriting, but we are APPROVED!!!!!  It was a pain waiting, everything hits a standstill while you wait. We did find out our start date is the 26^th of August and attentive complete date is the 18^th of November, which is great because our lease is up the 30^th. So we could be out in time and not have to hold over and pay more money. Our pre-construction meeting is set for August 20^th. So now we wait for that meeting and then they should be breaking ground in under a week from that meeting.

Guardian home security/wiring meeting

This was the meeting I was looking forward to and hating at the same time. I knew it could get expensive.  The house we are renting doesn’t have hook ups in every room, so we run heavy on wireless and not all rooms have cable access in them. We met at the model home with the rep from guardian whose name was Ron.  He was nice and friendly.

Ron first pulled up the plans for our home and told us that with our home size we get 4 choices automatically. Now these could be either cable or data. He had us go through and put where we would want the 4 that come with the house. Ron asked us how many additional lines we think we would need installed. After discussing it we decided that 2 more additional direct internet lines would need to be added to the loft and the family room. This would prevent us from having to use wireless on the computer in the loft and downstairs on the game console.

Ron then went through and discussed with us that we could have lines going to each room or we could have a central hub downstairs where the wireless router could be placed and everything in the house would be hooked up here. The husband and I both thought this would be a great thing for us so we told him that is definitely what we wanted to do. This would make it easy for if in the future we decided we wanted to add anything to the house it could all be added through this central hub.

When he got to the part about the house vacuum he asked if we had any interest in one. After we told him no he just moved onto the next item. Ron asked us if we had any interest in a sound system and we told him no and without batting an eye he moved on as well. It was so nice with this meeting because he wasn’t trying to sell us anything we didn’t want. He took no as an answer and didn’t try to persuade us.

The last item we discussed was the security system. He asked what all we had heard about it. My wife being herself had already done some research on it so she was able to tell him what she heard was the standard price for install and the charge per month. He seemed a little surprised that she was pretty accurate on both prices and asked where she heard that from. So of course she had to give up her secret of the internet and fellow ryan home blogs.

Now neither of us has ever had a security system before so we obviously knew the basics of it but weren’t completely sold on if we wanted one. Both of us were right down the middle and could have gone either way. Ron discussed with us that if we got the system we could have a fire alarm hooked up to it as well as a carbon monoxide alarm. He let us know that if the system detects any type of smoke that would be from a fire they would send someone out. The same thing would occur if carbon monoxide was detected in the house. With having a son this started to become a no brainer.

Ron discussed with us that if we wanted we could get a motion detector in the home as well. Prior to bringing this up though he asked how much our dog will end up weighing when she is fully grown. Ron stated that they don’t really recommend it for people that have dogs that weigh over 80 pounds due to them being able to set them off. Our dog would not end up weighing 80 pounds but we still decided against it. Ron let us know that we could go with window sensors instead. This seemed perfect to the wife and I.

On top of the standard things already mentioned guardian has an app that you can install on your phone to use. This is a nice feature for if you are already in bed you can arm the system without having to get out of bed. Ron was even discussing that you can have your garage opener hooked up to your system so if you forget the garage door you can hit a button on the app to shut it.

After deciding that we did want the security system with the options we discussed Ron then pulled out his laptop to give us the price everything would be. Everything ended up coming to $1,075. Much better than what we both expected. The two extra data/cable hook ups were $100 each. So the remaining $875 was all for the security system. To us this was money well spent. Now we both feel our home, as well as our family, will be safer.

Now we wait to hear back about our loan.

Rite Rug option meeting

It took a few weeks to get through both of our option meetings. We signed our sales agreement on 06/27 and had our meeting with rite rug (flooring) on 07/08. Unfortunately we had to get the first appointment of the day at 8:00, so the wife could head into work afterwards. Looking back this meeting seems like a daze to us since we were both half asleep. Sadly due to this we didn’t take any pictures at the actual meeting.

The sales rep, Lindsay, was really nice. Before we even began discussing flooring options Lindsay had us confirm our cabinet choices and then we picked out our counters in the kitchen. We didn’t expect to be picking out the counters at the flooring meeting but Lindsay said that is typically how they do it.

She went over all the different flooring options we had and showed us all the different levels. Lindsay provided us with a sheet showing us all the prices for each upgrade so while we decided we could know how much each upgrade would cost us. Lindsay let us know that if we had any questions to ask and then we were off.

My wife grabbed up our counter options for the bathrooms and the kitchen, as well as our counter choice for the kitchen. We put them up against one of the displays and just started grabbing up different types of  flooring and laying them down in front of the cabinets to try and get the full effect. With the owner’s bathroom, powder room and foyer we went with laminate. We both really wanted tile in the owner’s bathroom but we didn’t fall in love with any of the choices. Since the kiddo loves to splash when it is bath time we upgraded his flooring to vinyl. We let him pick out which one he wanted in his bathroom (saved us from him trying to get blue or green carpet in his room).

Ever since my wife and I first got married I have always hung out with her in the kitchen while she was cooking. So to us this was the area we wanted to make sure we really loved. With the way our home is what you choose for the kitchen goes in the laundry room and morning room as well. Initially going in we wanted the same type of flooring that was in the model home we toured. Sadly Lindsay told us that it was discontinued and the one closest to it just didn’t do it for us. So the wife and I finally found one that we both agreed on and we were done with everything but the carpet.

Luckily we knew going into the meeting that we were going to get the standard carpet. We decided that with having a kid, a boxer, and 2 cats that the carpet will need to be replaced a few years down the road no matter what. So to us there was no point in upgrading right now.Our sales rep called us and wanted us to stop in and finish up our outside options.

Next up, the guardian meeting.

Rite Rug price list for our area 

Maple Espresso cabinet with Perlato granite counter top (laminate) 

Brick option 

Siding color with the brick 

The door color and shutters