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 

The Loan packet

So after we signed the agreement we decided to go with NVR. It made things easier and they weren’t giving bad rates for a VA loan. The included options/incentives they are offering are included if you first try to get a loan with NVR.

We got a call from our NVR loan officer about a week after signing our agreement. He took down some more basic information from us and then sent a huge packet and had a list of stuff needed. Some of the things we had to send included:

·  2 most recent pay stubs

·  2 months worth of bank statements

·  Previous 2 years of tax returns

·  Previous 2 years w-2’s and 1099’s

·  Copy of social security cards and driver’s licenses

·  Copy of DD214

·   Letters from the VA showing how much I get each month (I was able to print these off from the VA website)

·  Additional retirement information

We had to sign about 100 pages and send it back in. The faster you get it back to them the faster they can move along with the process. Luckily I had most of the stuff together already so it wasn’t a huge deal just had to worry about everything being there and reading the papers and sign. We got it on a Friday so we had all weekend to do it. My one advice is to have everything handy or know where it is. It makes it a lot easier to do far as getting it together and don’t have to stress over it. After you sign your sales agreement your sales rep should give you a rough check list on things you will need start getting them together soon as you can.

We got it sent back in to our loan officer the following Tuesday and he received it on Wednesday. He emailed us to let us know he received it all and that everything appeared to be there. Now while we wait to hear back about the loan we at least get to start picking out our options.

Florence elevation and some options

When we signed the agreement we did choose a few options.

·  We went with elevation B

·  Loft (instead of 4^th bedroom)

·  Added the morning room

·  The gourmet island to open the kitchen up.

·  Upgraded owner’s bathroom with a soaking tub with jets 
 (in doing so the water heater was automatically upgraded to 50 gallons)

·  Unfinished basement (we plan to turn it into a media room later on)

·  2 rough in’s for fans (in the owner bedroom and downstairs family room)

On top of the options/upgrades we are paying for. Ryan homes did include some incentives.

· Upgraded kitchen cabinets to level 1

· Stainless steel stove, microwave, and dishwasher

·  Garbage disposal

·  Upgraded kitchen faucet

·  Recessed lighting in the kitchen

·  Brick front to the top on the side of the house with the living room

·  $3,500 towards closing

·  $1,000 military discount

Now we get to wait for the fun part, all the selection meetings.

                                                    Florence elevation B

                                        Floor plan first floor with morning room

2nd Floor with upgraded bath and loft 

Basement unfinished 

                         

                                                           

Guess we are building a Florence

This blog is a journey my wife, I, and our 6year old are taking to build our dream home. We are farther into the process thus far into our Ryan home so this post will be somewhat of a catch up from our start to where we are at today along with the rest of the build.

A little bit of background about us. We moved back to Ohio in 2011 after I was medically retired from the Marine Corps. I became a stay at home dad while my wife started working for a software company. After about 4 years of renting we started looking for a place of our own. We looked at both older homes and new homes/resale’s, over 400 online listings easy, but never did find what we were looking for. I found a Ryan ad in a “junk mail” ads packet we get every week so I started looking on the web site and found communities I liked and models.

The next big thing was to get the wife on board with the plan. Getting the wife on board wasn’t that hard. I knew what she wanted, a big open kitchen and floor plan, but not an oversized house since it’s just us and one child. I found the florence and it was a model home in the community close to us, 10 minutes down the road. So on father’s day we went and toured the model home. We fell in love with the florence model on our first walk through. The wife loved walking into the kitchen and how open it was. The model had the gourmet island so it was not in the middle of the kitchen taking up floor space.

We sat down with the sales rep to get all the numbers for everything. We got a sheet with all the incentives they offered for the community and the prices for with a basement/on a slab along with the different elevation prices. Our sales rep asked us what were absolute must haves for us in order to build the home. All I seen was a sea of numbers.

Over the next week we went over everything, all the numbers and location of the community. We even drove around to all the different communities in the area looking. Ours only had about 17 homes and will end up being 53 in total with phases being added on later. We liked the community and were close to where we are now and the kid will stay in the same school district (which was a pretty big deal for us). We called the sales rep and made an appointment to come in and see about getting pre-approved with NVR mortgage.

At the appointment the wife and I let the sales rep know what we decided we definitely wanted in the house. The sales rep was able to type up a new cost estimate sheet for us. Then we filled out some paperwork providing our income information and account information that was then sent to the loan office at NVR. While waiting on the call back from the loan officer, of whether we were pre-approved or not, we started picking out exterior options.

While picking out the options for the exterior we received the call from the loan officer stating that we were pre-approved for hundreds above what our current estimated monthly payment was showing on the cost estimate papers. It was a great feeling knowing that we were set to continue moving forward and start really getting excited about the process.

After finding out we were pre-approved we sat down with our sales rep to discuss the price. My wife and I had read on other blogs where they were able to negotiate the price. So the wife and I put in an offer for the house. We went on the lower end to see what ryan homes would come back with. We offered them a price of $8,000 less than what was currently listed on the paperwork. Our sales rep it would probably take a day before she heard back so we went ahead and provide her with a check to hold our lot.

The next day we got a call from our sales rep saying that ryan homes came back with $6,000 off the price. The wife and I happily accepted the offer. We told our sales rep that we would be in that night to sign the sales agreement. When we went in there was tons of paper to go over and sign. That night we signed off on all the fixtures through the house and of course the sales agreement was signed.

Our sales rep let us know that we would shortly be getting an email or phone call from rite rug (our flooring) and guardian ( security and electric) to setup appointments to make our choices. At this point it felt like it would be forever before the house would actually be started.