Day 32 - Roof and Supplies

Today we got shingles!  Well, some of them anyway.  We have felt on the entire roof and part of the highest peaks shingled.  I had to bring a 3 step stepstoll to get into the house.  It's so high off the ground and they haven't put in any steps yet.  I never wanted so many steps to get in.  Frustrating.

My apologies for some of the poor quality basement pictures.  It was dark and like a sauna down there!

I'm glad they have safety harnesses - even if it's just a rope

I hope they do a good job, I want my roof to last

There's a gap in the peaks, I hope it doesn't cause problems

Morning Room - not a great view but lots of light

Our future kitchen!  SO excited about this room

Goodies for HVAC and stuffs

Formal Living Room, Bathroom

Loft window

Front bedroom

Looking into the Owners and hall bathroom

Middle bedroom and owners bath

Basement Egress window - I HATE the well

Utility/Storage area of basement

Under Morning Room

Basement Closet

I asked to have the closet moved further under stairs

Other basement window

Visit Your County's Building & Zoning Website

I've had quite a few e-mails and comments asking where I got the nifty information on my home build inspections like below.

I found this on my county's building and zoning website.  Each county likely has one, but may contain differing amount of information.  Building, property, and zoning info are matters of public record.  You can see not only permit information but also other property information (like costs of the neighbors house ssshhh).

If you can't find your county's records, let me know!  I'm like super detective with Google! LOL.  Seriously though, I don't mind helping you find your information.

Day 1 - Breaking Ground

We broke ground today.  I was extremely nervous.  I didn't sleep well at all last night.  I kept having nightmares about the house and lot.  I'm not sure this is fun anymore.  I am hoping that with Ryan Homes help we can get back to where this was the house of our dreams.  Fingers crossed.  Day 1 - Digging - We have a hole. :)

10:00AM

10:00AM

1:00PM

4:00PM

4:00PM

Added Our New House to Google Maps - All the Easier for Stalkers to Find Me!

Isn't it funny how that's exciting to me?  I got to tag an address into Google!  One that was not there before!  I know there is no house there officially, but I wanted to make sure I was the one to do it.  This is probably the only time in my life I get to do such a thing.  Am I the only crazy, obsessive person here to do this?

We have a bubble marker for our address!  Next stop - hopefully a structure! 

I think this might also be helpful for those wonderful After Close items we have to rush to get done for furniture deliveries, utilites, etc! The drivers will be able to find our house on a GPS/map! :)

If you haven't done it and want to do it, I've included the instructions below.  You'll be asked a bit of information and your e-mail address to verify your request - and voila - your bubble will appear and shortly after you'll get a notice that Google has approved your request and added the new address.

To edit Google Maps in Map Maker:

1. Open maps.google.com.
2. Click the Edit in Map Maker button in the bottom right of the screen.
3. Click Add New or Edit. Make your edits, then click Save when finished.

Ryan Homes Blog | Bedrooms to Backyards

Ryan Homes has a blog!  Ryan Homes Blog | Bedrooms to Backyards  Yup, they sure do.  Some helpful information, not just about home buying but also home maintenance, budgeting, credit repair, decorating, landscaping, and more.  Although I don't feel like the articles are overly informative, they do give you somewhere to start in just about every category.  Having a starting point when you're considering such a huge decision is price-less.

I wish that I would have been referred to the blog when I first visited a Ryan Homes model.  It would have been helpful to peek into the wide world of Ryan Homes.  Definitely this article would have been helpful: How to Choose the Not-Yet-Built Home.

This one is helpful to those of us who are wondering what's next or what's taking so long: Building a New Home.

It was fun to look through and I bookmarked a few things.  Some of the items are tailored, obviously, to Ryan Homes and building with them but some of the information is general and can be applied to the building process, home buying, home financing, and home maintenance of any home.

Just thought I'd share with those just considering Ryan Homes or home building.

Why yes, I am stalking your blog!

It's true, I admit it.  I'm ashamed.  I'm stalking your blog!  What else do I have to do?  It's likely a month or maybe even more until we break ground.  SO, I will stalk your blog.  I will eye every step of your homes progress.  Creepy?  Yeah, probably and I'm sorry!  I'm also stalking my new neighborhood.  They need to gate my community just to keep me out.  I wonder if RH offers any treatment for my ailment.  I'm pretty sure I'm obsessed.  I may possibly be borderline OCD. 

Sandbagged?

I believe we've been sandbagged.  I don't recall it being there before.  When I drove through the community for my daily stalking I noticed the sandbags had been removed from my neighbors (it looks like they recently closed or will very soon) to ours.  But now I'm trying to remember if they were already there or if they've just been moved down to prepare for their sodding or something?

Maybe I'm just wishing we were moving forward versus being stalled.  I hate waiting.  I believe our ordering has begun.  That was the impression that our SR gave my mother and I when we were there on Friday to pay the remaining portion of our down payment.

Sandbags from corner to beginning of neighbors yard

The house you see there is exactly our model and the house right behind us is too!!  They appear to be almost directly across from each other with the way they sit on their lots.  It's a Florence corner apparently :(  Also very similar to our color selections minus the brick colors GAH!  HOW DID RYAN HOMES LET THAT HAPPEN?  And why are we even allowed the SAME elevation?  Disappointing.  I wonder if they do that in other developments?


On a side note, the house going up on the corner diagonal to us is HUGE and is going to be so beautiful and is on our original lot selection (from my first visit) ~ jealousy.  I'm not sure which home it is and the molding at the top doesn't match any of the other homes currently in our community - not even sure it's a cottage.  Maybe it's a new elevation?

House diagonal to us lot 1
***Update this is a NEW Venice Elevation***

Location, Location, Location

For a while now I've battled internally over our lot location.  It's a corner lot, which is good, it offers a little more space than most of the lots that were left available, however it does mean that we will have a home behind us. 

When we initially looked into the community there were 21 of 60 lots remaining.  The community differs than most in many ways, but also it's unique in the sense that the streets are not lined up so, when you look down the street it's not like looking at house after house of the same thing.  That was the end of September 2012.  There would be no additional homes built in this area so if we wanted in at a price we could afford it would have had to be soon.  The land/community to the right are 700k to million dollar homes located on large lots.  The land/community/lots to the left are 300-600K homes on medium sized lots, although there are some left available it's with a different builder for those communities and outside of your budget. 

When we signed our Purchase agreement there were only 8 lots left (and that was including the lots on paid lot holds)  There wasn't much left to choose from.  Basically we could be smashed in-between homes, pay a lot premium, or take the remaining corner lot and have a home behind us, but on the other side of the walking path.  We opted for the lesser of evils and snatched up the corner.  It's not a bad spot.... really.  None of the spots are bad!  This is a very unique, small, tight-knit community that I believe we're going to absolutely love!  They've even sold 3 or 4 more since then. I'm learning a lot through this process and learning a lot about myself and it's only the beginning.

Telling Friends & Family

This is an odd post.  But I'm wondering when should we tell friends and family that we're building a home?  I don't want to seem like we're bragging, because we're not.  We're just so very excited for our family!  This will be our first home we own.  This will be the first home we're building.  This will be our long dreamt and talked about home.

I would hate to seem unappreciative or inconsiderate.  I know that we are very thankful and this entire process we've had our fingers crossed and have only told those who very obviously would figure it out given overheard conversations with SR or LO or Guardian or RR.  We had decided for sure that we would not tell anyone else until we got a final loan approval but it appears that nothing is really final until you close or maybe I am misunderstanding.  Also, our LO doesn't seem to think there's anything to worry about.  I'm kind of torn.

NVR Mortgage Update #3

We finally heard from our LO with NVRM yesterday.  A few items needed to be sent (proof of deposit checks to RH clearing bank) and I think we're off to Underwriting!  Whew, I'll be so relieved

when this part is over.  Both the SR and LO do not seemed to be concerned that there will be any problems.  Fingers crossed.

NVR Mortgage Update #2

I sent an e-mail to our NVRM loan officer on 28-MAR-13 get an update on our loan status and request on some small loan detail information but still have yet to hear back.  Our initial NVRM meeting for the Loan Application was 26-MAR-13.  I'm concerned.  We have received a specific letter today we requested stating we're purchasing a home that we worked through RH to get from NVR but we've heard NOTHING directly from NVR or the LO.  No calls, no letters, no request for additional information, not a single peep.  Should we be concerned?  Should we consider this bad customer service?  I have no idea if we ever made it to under-writing.  I have no idea if our file is sitting under a dried out coffee cup on someone's desk or if it fell into the trash can near the edge of this same desk.  This goes beyond no news is good news because now I feel like I'm completely in the dark and nervous!

~Update~
I've spoken to our SR and she assures me everything is good.  There is usually around 2 weeks of silence as things work through the process.  She also assures me that if NVR needed something they'd let us know.  I'm beginning to think that because we were so very thorough when we were preparing for the loan application that we may have given them everything they needed.  Let's hope so :)

Our Ryan Homes - Homeowner's Guide Chapters 1 - 3 Overview

When we signed our Purchase Agreement, along with a HUGE pile of paperwork, we received a white binder homeowner's guide.  I immediately started reading it (I read everything, if not at the very moment of receipt then later when I have more time) and using postie notes for concerns and questions.  It's too bad it's standard size and all our paperwork is long, otherwise I would use this as our central document holder and information source.  We're actually in the midst of Chapters 2 and 3 at the same time - so by no means is this a chronological step by step.

 There's a nifty little Table of Content and introduction for every section.

1. Introduction
2. Purchasing Your Home
3. Arranging Your Loan with NVRM
4. Construction of Your Home
5. Closing on Your Home
6. Quality and Customer Care - What to Expect after Closing
7. Glossary of Terms
8. Appendix A - Homeowner's Maintenance Guide & Warranty

Understanding Our Purchase Agreement

So, we did it.  We began the process to sign the next 30 years of our life over to our new home.  Now to re-read the documents.  I'm definitely not the smartest person in the world, but this is what I've read more or less on our agreement.  I've left out A LOT of the information in these documents for the sake of space and lack of just repeating the legal mumbojumbo.  Please feel free to skip this post.  I just wanted to share my first experience with these types of documents.  Plus, someone might be interested in what types of things they will be agreeing to and signing off on.

The Biggest Case of Buyers Remorse

I experience buyers remorse with any item over $100.  Why?  Because it's taken me a long time to get where I'm at now and I never want to be in a situation that I'm out of control of ever again.  Now imagine buying a house - that's not yet built.  The doubts creep in.  Logically, I know this is just a knee jerk reaction to this very huge commitment/change we signed up for but I seem to lose my grip on reality during my bouts of buyers remorse.  Change is not easy for me, even when it's a good change.

I did not expect to experience it so quickly.  Quite literally, I started sweating our decision the moment I started driving home from our Purchase Agreement Paperwork meeting.

The facts - Buyer's remorse is very common.  Everyone talks about having it and it's nothing to be ashamed of.  Nothing in life is certain and sometimes it feeds an irrational fear.  There will always be other possibilities, more opportunities, or better deals if you keep looking for them.

The goal - Reassure ourselves with the pros.  Review the research that lead us to our decision.  Don't get bogged down by the negatives.  Ignore others opinions when they really don't matter.  Keep in mind that this feeling will go away and soon we'll be in our very own home, finally doing all of the things we've been talking about.

I know that I have many sleepless nights ahead of me because of my nature, but one day soon I hope to go to sleep satisfied with our decision and hopeful of our days ahead.  This is an exciting, yet scary process but I know that there's no better time than now to go through it.

We Signed The Purchase Agreement!!!!!

I've had several sleepless nights lately.  I roll the pros and cons around in my head.  I ask myself if the lot we've selected/that's available is right for us?  Is the price reasonable?  Is this something we can take on?  Will we be happy in 10 years in our location/home?

It's hard to predict what life is going to hand you and after much discussion with my mother, who will be sharing our home with us - we decided we were going to move forward with building our home with Ryan Homes, NVR, in the community of Stone Lake.  Let the OCD and worry begin!

Our Purchase Agreement paperwork is somewhat of a blur to me.  I didn't sleep at all the night before, worrying about money, financing, the HUGE decision of buying a home.  We didn't start this journey without some initial disappointments.  I don't want to discuss them too publicly, but we're lucky enough (I hope - we haven't gotten the final approval as of yet) that we had a work around.

Our SR learned my characteristics very quickly and had a "Notes Copy" of the Cost Estimate for my notes and comments.

First Stop - Master Selection Sheet.