SOLD!

Papers are signed!!

We're excited but it doesn't feel real! Our house should be completed by late September or early October. That's 4 or 5 months! Crazy!

So we decided we're already going to alter some of our choices.

1) No hardwood floors - We priced it out and we can get better quality hardwood if we do it with someone else after. A friend of ours got hardwood in their Ryan Home (level A) and it was already scratched and chipped.

2)Appliance upgrade - We looked up the model #s of the included appliances and they were pretty bad, especially the dish washer. The upgrade prices are way over priced but it's still cheaper than if we had to buy them ourselves

3)Carpet upgrade - At first we were only going to get basic carpet with upgraded padding. Our friend had upgraded padding but also upgraded the carpet in their Great Room and it definitely made a different and felt great on my feet! We think its worth it for that room and maybe the basement.

4)Double Vanity in secondary bath - Not positive about this one but it would be nice. Not sure if it's worth $995 though.

Anyways, its very exciting and we have a lot to do in the next month! So many decisions.

SOLD!!!! 

Our Selections

We have finally picked out all of our selections. Choosing everything was so hard! **Note: We changed everything again. For our final selections see the tab on the top. I'm so indecisive!

We asked a ton of people and looked up a ton of blogs to see what people missed having or regretted as well as things they are really happy they did.

Ultimately, we decided to definitely get upgrades that we liked but will ultimately add value to the home and would not be easy to do later on (ex. Morning Room - adds square footage to home and is beautiful but not so easy to add on later. It was the most expensive upgrade we got but it would be a lot more expensive to do it later.). Then we picked things that aren't super valuable but hard to add later (ex. Ceiling fan rough ins).

TIP ** - Remember that anything electrical or structural is much more difficult to add later! You can always get granite countertops in a year or two but it may be really complicated/expensive to add in recessed lighting or ceiling fans later

So here are our choices (as of now):

Home Model - Palermo

Elevation E

It doesn't look like many people have built this elevation but I did find one picture. Ours will be all siding though (No stone - too expensive!). It is an expensive elevation but I think curb appeal is really important for resale later. Plus, I'm an artist and love architecture so I wanted a house I found beautiful!

Same picture but I changed one to Sepia so the color choices look different

Basement

Finished Basement - FREE - Incentive for using NVR as a mortgage company

Basement Power room (So my Boyfriend will never come upstairs)

Wet Bar Rough - in

Carpet Pad (B)

Recessed Lighting

First Floor

Morning Room 

Gourmet Island

Recessed Lighting

Cabinets - White (most expensive but also highest quality - check out Timberlake cabinets website at 

http://www.timberlake.com/cabinets/ - The construction of the Premier select cabinets is much better than the cheaper ones)
Hardware (knobs for cabinets)
Counter - Laminate Formica (shiny surface - upgrade but only about $500)
Ice Maker Rough-in
Gas Hook up for oven/stove - (Note - Gas is MUCH cheaper than electric)
Fireplace - Slate
Carpet Pad (B) - Great Room
Carpet Pad (A) - Office & Living/Dining room
Hardwood (A) - Foyer/Powder Room/Kitchen/Morning Room
Ceiling Fan rough-ins - Great Room, Dining, Morning Room

Second Floor

Carpet Pad (A) - Zone 2 - Entire upstairs
Ceiling Fan Rough-ins - All bedrooms
Owners Bath
Cabinets - White (I heard the standard oak cabinets aren't moisture proof so we did a basic upgrade)
Upgraded shower - Two shower heads and bench (no tub - This makes our shower bigger and our closet bigger)
Double Vanity
Secondary Bath
Cabinets - White (only upgrade we made in this bath)
Dryer Gas Hookup

Outside

Flood Light

First Post - A Litte Background and our Lot choice!

After a friend of my boyfriend had a great experience with recently building his home through Ryan Homes we looked into them. We also looked at a few other builders, but none of their homes impressed us like Ryan Homes, so here we are!

We found our perfect community soon after deciding we liked Ryan Homes as our builder. We're going to be right by a canal and it only adds a little bit more to each of our commutes. The lot is a little smaller than if we were to go to a more expensive community or to a community more south but 1)We like to save money and 2)going south = awful commute.

We had two lots to pick from. One lot was the largest lot they offer, and was flat. We really liked those aspects but it was closer to the road. The second lot was smaller and we would get a walk out basement. I think we would rather have a flat lot but the walk out lot is beautiful! It's closer to the water and our view from the back yard is protected wet land with cat tails and trees. We decided the second lot was our perfect lot!

As of now we have a hold on our lot and will be going to sign the papers tomorrow! I'll create a separate post on our selections (as of now).

Our Beautiful Lot - Full lot 

View from our future back yard!

 

Our puppy Loki - Can't wait til he can run around in our yard!