Can we just move in now??

We went to the house yesterday and everything was pretty much done, aka, everything was done except some finishing touches on paint and stuff like that.

I'm so ready to move now!! The house looks BEAUTIFUL! We both love it!

Some things we saw for the first time were:

• Painted front door
• Painted columns on porch
• Vinyl in the kitchen
• Carpet everywhere
• Island installed
• Hardware installed on everything
• Appliances
• OUR DECK!!!

It is seriously a home now! There are some minor things they need to touch up. Cabinets were mostly fixed, but there is still a gap between two of the doors on one of the cabinets that's a little too wide for my taste. They also have A LOT of paint touch ups to do. Our PM had blue tape EVERYWHERE.

It's crazy how much different the house looks with all the flooring installed. The bedrooms look and feel like bedrooms now, compared to just feeling like shells before. The kitchen is just amazing and I'm so happy to have all that counter space and storage room! I even started thinking about where I'm going to put all of my stuff! haha!

We'll start from the front - shall we?

 

We saw that our door was painted and we got new hardware for the front door. Pretty exciting but I am not thrilled about the door color. The color of our door was supposed to be "Farmhouse Red" and this color is more of a rusty orangey red. We were expecting a really bright, fun red. I'm not completely convinced that they put the correct color on the door so we're going to check on this. If it is correct and this color is considered "Farm house red," then I will be painting the door. I know this is a TOTAL first world problem and may seem really minor but details are EVERYTHING for me. I guess it's the artist in me? Everything makes a difference and this red is just not doing it for me. Easy enough to fix and wouldn't be too expensive but still a project.

Great Room

Fireplace

Office door (love the french door look on this)

Great Room - taken from Morning room (and a peak at the vinyl)

Everything here is great! I LOVE the slate in the fireplace and it flows really well with our slate colored counters in the kitchen. I can't wait to hang stockings from the mantel for Christmas! I'm also really happy with the upgraded carpet! It's so soft! (We walked around without shoes on so we didn't track mud throughout). I also really love the office door.

Kitchen and Morning Room

Kitchen - straight on shot from Great Room

Kitchen at an angle (Can you tell I love my kitchen??)

Kitchen from Morning Room

Morning Room

 I LOOOOOOVE my kitchen! It is beautiful and I'm so happy we went with white cabinets! They're classic and will stand the test of time! I also really like our counters. Granite was something we figured we could do later if we wanted to, but honestly, I don't think we'll be switching our counters anytime soon. The texture in these counters is actually really nice.

I also don't hate the vinyl flooring. It's not too bad at all. I'm not saying that it will not be replaced by my fabulous laminate wood flooring, but if we have to wait on installing the floor it won't kill me!

I'm loving our appliances! We ended up upgrading our appliances a good amount. Not only did we pay for the stainless upgrade but we paid for several models up than the standard stainless models. We decided to do this after looking up reviews. I think we'll be really happy we did.The microwave is nice and big and I have a gas stove for the first time! I've never cooked on a gas stove before, but I heard it's awesome and I'll never go back to electric, so I'm excited for that! The dishwasher makes a cool little noise when you open it and the layout is nice! Awesome!

The island is beautiful but I have a suspicion that it may not be the correct island because it is HUGE. For some reason I think it may be a gourmet island meant for a Rome because it takes up a good chunk of our kitchen (our kitchen, and house, is narrower than a Rome). I shouldn't complain because the counter space is great, but I just hope we don't find that it's too big and kind of clunky when trying to move around in the kitchen. I may just be crazy .. which is probably the most likely explanation.

The Deck

14' x 22' Trex deck!

We were told we'd have about 6 or 7 stairs ... A bit of an understatement .. haha!

Close up!

For those of you who have followed my blog for awhile, you know this deck was put into action due to some mistakes Ryan Homes made with our lot. We started off splitting the deck 50/50 with Ryan which was already a great deal (this was their way of making up for their mistakes). Over time (due to miscommunication on Ryan Home's part) we not only got switched to Trex (not their contractor brand) but we were pushed up the highest tier of Trex. In the end it probably came to a ratio of 30/70 in our favor, which is awesome!

It came out beautifully! My boyfriend was beyond excited to see this baby! We're so happy with the size and the colors and the material! It's plenty big enough for a grill and some seating with room to spare! Love it! We also checked out the model home's deck to see the material we would have gotten originally. There is no wood grain look to it and you can see skrews in the boards while ours has a nice wood look and is completely clean looking (no screws to be seen!). Very happy!

Up Next

I guess the next steps are just them cleaning up little mistakes (like paint, the cabinets, etc). I don't think there is much more to do! Craziness!

During out pre-settlement (October 20th) I'll take more pictures of the other rooms too. These were just the highlights.

This weekend I'll be working on the ugly couch with my mom. All fabric is cut out and sewn so now we just have to put the new fabric on the couch bones! I may also work on the table a little bit with my dad too if I have time. If not, we'll finish that next weekend.


I hope everyone is loving their home as much as we're loving ours!

People Planning to Paint - Please Read!

Hi everyone!

I know a lot of people are thinking about painting their homes once they move in, so I wanted to share something that our PM told us in case you aren't aware (since we weren't until yesterday). Apparently, if you paint your walls it voids the warranty on all of the walls that are painted. Our PM said it wouldn't cover ANYTHING that happens to those walls including nail pops and warping. Even if your drywall mysteriously ripped in half it wouldn't be covered.

I know this sounds completely ridiculous, but it's definitely something worth looking into. We even asked a friend of ours who built a Ryan Home in a different community and he said they told him the same thing. It's definitely possible that this is only true in certain communities but I'd just check with your PM directly.

With that said, we will not be painting unless he tells us he was wrong about this for some reason (but he was REALLY confident in his answer). Some of you are aware that we bought paint, and I know some other people bought paint as well, and the good news is, is that unopened paint can last 10-15 years as long as it's stored in normal temperatures (no unifished basement areas, garages, etc where it can freeze and fluctuate a lot in temperature). At least, that's what several Google links told me.


In other news:

My boyfriend headed down to the house yesterday to meet up with our PM. We had seen a few problems here and there so we wanted to address them with him. Here's a list of some of the problems we saw and his reponse:

• Crack in molding above big window (exterior of house)
• He ordered a new piece and it's already on site. They'll replace the broken one
• A big cut in the ceiling of the basement
• Noticed that there was a lump in the floor -  they realized the beam used in the floor has a small bump in it so they had to cut the drywall, cut off that bump, and installed another support beam)
• Vent on outside of house still crooked
• He'll have it fixed - siding crew was supposed to do it but they didn't
• 4 footers for deck (we thought there would be more than that since a friend of ours had 8 for his)
• We only need 4 footers
• I thought we were getting recessed lights on our porch??
• Admitted they missed this on the blueprints. This was already corrected yesterday.
• Drywall looking bad on one wall in the basement
• Because they were cutting and removing beams in the basement ceiling they had to cut the drywall tape on a wall connected to it so it would relieve the pressure. If they didn't do that then the drywall could rip. This will be fixed
• Cabinets - some drawers look pretty crooked
• These will be fixed towards the end - he explained the last two weeks are used for the detailed work so everything is perfect
• Mudroom door - looks like it was installed incorrectly according to the plans of the house.
• It was - he'll fix it

Our PM also let my boyfriend know that the deck we were going to get was out of stock and wouldn't be available in time for the house to be finished. Now they're giving us the highest tier of trex decking which is pretty awesome! So now we're getting the Transcend tier in "Tree House" with white railings. In a perfect world I would like a little dark of a color but I really can't complain. We're getting a really good deal on this deck (For a refresher on price see this Blog post). We're still paying the same price but now we're getting actual Trex (not GeoDeck - see this post), and now we're getting their best tier of decking which not only is better with fading and strength, but it has a nicer grain with more depth! Saaweeet!

Tree house (Source: trex.com)

Our vinyl flooring was also installed (foyer, kitchen, morning room) yesterday. As many of you know, we are planning on replacing the vinyl with these beautiful laminate planks when we move in:

They're a little darker in person

Now we're concerned that these may void some type of warranty (like the paint does with walls). I'm REALLY hoping it doesn't, or it would only void the warranty of the vinyl, in which case, we obviously wouldn't care.

Overall, things are going well! We love our PM and I love that he admits to things that he misses. I have much more respect for someone who says "We missed those recessed lights, but they will be fixed," than someone trying to play it off and make an excuse. Nobody's perfect, so little things like that don't botter us, especially because he gets the job done and gets it done well and fast.
 

The End Is So Close I Can Taste It!



We went by the house again on Saturday. When we got there, there was only one guy painting some exterior trim. We asked if it was okay to go inside and he didn't care, so we did! These guys move sooo fast!

 

Here's a list of the stuff we got to fully see for the first time (not threw a window)

• Cabinets
• Cabinet hardware (most of it)
• Counters
• Railings (all stained)
• Painted walls
• Trim
• Tile floors in all the bathrooms
• Shower doors
• Doors to all the rooms
• Fireplace
• Light fixtures
• Toilets
• Sinks
• Some mirrors
• Porch
• Sidewalk
• Walkway
• Faceplates installed on a lot of the electric sockets (fan rough-ins, speak rough-ins, etc)

This all happened in a week people! That is insane! So far we are LOVING everything we picked out. I'm obsessed with our cabinets and really like our counters (they're not granite but they look pretty good to me!). We also really like all of our tile selections.

A nice surprise was that we have open railings on the basement stairs too! We definitely thought we were getting a capped wall "railing" so that was awesome!

All in all, we are SO excited about everything! Everything looks amazing and I CANNOT wait to move!! We're so close!!


Here are some pictures!

Center - You can see our porch, walkway, and sidewalk have been poured!

Right

Our BEAUTIFUL cabinets! So happy we went with the white!

Another view of these beauties

Our island sitting in our Great Room. I'm guessing they're waiting to put floors down in the kitchen but it looks funny!

Fireplace - slate - I LOVE the slate and it flows well with our kitchen counters

Morning Room

1st Floor Powder Room - Like the tile we chose!

1st Floor Railings (very happy with the stain) and a light fixture!

Another view of the railings

Upstairs

Secondary Bath - Love the gray tile - So happy we got a double vanity there

Secondary Bath shower - stuck with the basic white. We'll have a shower curtain there anyway!

Master bath - It was dark so it was hard to take a picture

Expresso cabinets

Check out this sexy ass shower! I was worried about the dark tile but I realy like it!

Basement railing! A pleasant surprise!

Basement - painted, trim installed, and recessed lights

Other Updates:

Kitchen Table - I will be building this bad boy with my dad this weekend. All I need to get is some 4x4's (which apparently, no one sells .. Lowes, Home Depot, and Lumber 84 totally let me down). I'll probably have to go down to a nice lumber yard but not thrilled with paying their prices for just some 4x4s .. Oh well .. If any one has any tips on where to get these I would appreciate it!

Ugly Couch - The ugly pink couch has been stripped of the ugly pink fabric and is currently sitting naked in my parent's living room. My mom (who's a nurse and practically lives at the hospital) has had time to sew and cut some of the new fabric. That's all so far so it may not get done until after we move ..

Appliances - We went shopping this past weekend! After a ton of research we ended up getting a Samsung fridge and Samsung washer and dryer from Best Buy. We also got Best Buy's 5 year protection plan on all of them (we both used to work at Best Buy and they have really good protection plans for a really good price). They were having a sale so we got about $1000 off the fridge and about $200 off washer/dryer. Then we saw that Lowes is having a huge sale on appliances so we checked their prices and they were cheaper than what we payed ($323 less) so we went back to Best Buy and had the price adjusted! Good stuff!

Tip: Most retail stores like Best Buy (I'm guessing it's the same for Lowes and Home Depot) will price match! They'll even price match places like Amazon (but it has to be sold BY Amazon and not a private seller or company you've never heard of). You also normally have a certain amount of time after your purchase too! For example, if you buy something at Best Buy, you have 15 days (or 30 days for Silver Card Members) to price match if it goes on sale there or anywhere else. I would check out Lowes prices since they're having that sale right now. If ou see that someone is selling it cheaper now, you just bring your receipt back to your store, and they pull up the prices online on the competitors website and you go from there. It saved us over $300, so I'd check it out!

Fridge - We got this goliath of a fridge. Do we really need this HUGE of a fridge? No, not really, but it was the same price as the smaller one we liked with slightly better reviews. Plus it has two ice makers and ice does not last long in our house! I'm SO excited to have a fridge that will allow my food to last! Our apartment fridge is probably a million years old (I may be exaggerating) and sucks at keeping food fresh. I also can't wait to have a bunch of room so I can actually see what's in there! I can't tell you how many times I find something in the back of the fridge and I'm like "What?? That's still in there?? I was looking for this tupperware container!"

 

Samsung - 31.6 Cu Ft - RF323TEDBSR

Washer/Dryer - Pretty excited about these babies too! We looked comparable LG's and they had similar reviews. We just got a better deal on the Samsungs. Plus, we got a protection plan on both. I can't tell you how tired I am of putting money on a laundry card to do laundry! Having our own washer and dryer is going to be amazing!

 

Samsung Washer - 4.5 Cu ft - WA45H7000AW

Samsung Gas Dryer - 7.4 Cu ft - DV45H7000GW

My fabulous dog bowls also finally came in the mail! I feel like I ordered them 5 years ago. but they're finally here and they  look beautiful. They sent me these pictures via email and they're just as beautiful in person! Gotta love hand made stuff and supporting small businesses!

 

I hope everyone else is as excited about their home as we are!


Up Next:

• Grading
• Flooring
• Deck (will probably be in two weeks)
• I'm not really sure what else they have to do!

 

We Have Chosen

Over the last couple of weeks we have gone over every option. Back and forth, back and forth. "Let's just move lots .. Wait .. Let's get a different model .. Wait .. Maybe we should look somewhere else .. No.. I like this community..." We repeated this train of thought about a thousand times.

Final Verdict : We're changing lots!

There are several things that led us to this decision.

1) We really do love the Palermo. We love our elevation, we were able to get the exact colors we liked at this new lot, the finished basement is HUGE with the morning room area finished, we like that there is line of site to both the great room and the dining room from the kitchen, and we love the big shower we can get with two shower heads.

2) We really are getting a good deal by moving to this lot. It may not be as pretty, but it is bigger. We have 2 dogs and we want a deck (which we are now building) so a bigger yard is nice. The lot is also layed out so it get's wider towards the back while our old lot got narrower towards the back. This also helps with increasing the back yard. This big lot usually has a premium ($2500) but they knocked that off because of the inconvenience. We also are saving money by not paying the much higher premium at our previous lot ($7500). So overall, the house will start off at $7500 less than what we were going to pay.

3) Saved money on the lot means we can get some other upgrades we had to take off our list early on. One of these is an upgraded carpet on the first floor. We're also getting ceramic in our first floor powder room now. We may also add on a couple more outlets or some crown molding on the cabinets.

4)We are now getting a composite material deck (14 ft x 22 ft). Ryan agreed to pay for half and we will pay for the other half. We asked some friends what they paid for their deck and the price per square foot was pretty competitive ($40/sq. ft - our friend payed $36/sq. ft for a wood deck). A deck will be awesome because a) we'll have somewhere extra to entertain or have a drink/dinner on nice days and b) we have direct access into our backyard for our dogs.

5) If we got the Milan on our previous lot it would end up costing more than we would like to spend. This was a big one, and really helped us make the final decision.

Overall, we feel good with the decision. I am a little sad we aren't getting as pretty of a lot, but we'll just plant some pine trees in the back of our property so we can't see the guy's yard behind us all year. Plus, it's not like his yard is directly behind us like we would have had on the other side of the street.

Here are some new upgrades we're doing.

Carpet (Upgrade C)

Ceramic Tile - Upgrade B - Mushroom

And, as promised, here is an updated picture of our puppy at 2 weeks old (we'll be picking him up in about 6 weeks). 

Ryan's Offer - Update

Around 5:00 last night we heard back from our SR about their final offer for building our Palermo on Lot 225.

1. We would not have to pay the $2500 lot premium - (It's a bigger lot than others in the community by like 0.03-0.05 acres so there's a "small" premium on the lot)

2. They will split the cost of a composite deck with us 50%-50%. (We asked for a 14x22 ft deck). This deck is around $12,500 so we would each pay around $6,250.

That's it. They said because we already got the discount of a finished basement (this was an incentive for using NVR for our mortgage), and because they already gave us about $10,000 off in the beginning that they think giving us the lot for free and paying for half a deck is enough.

I don't really think the incentive that was offered to everyone on our street should really count as a discount for us in this situation, but what are you gonna do? It really comes down to the fact that, as a business, they really don't need us. They are about 8 months ahead of schedule with sales because this community sold FAST. (Not the kind of fast that they always tell you about so you hurry and buy in panic .. I mean fast in that we looked in March and almost all lots were open and now its early June and all but 3 are sold.) They know they can easily sell these lots without us which gives us very little negotiation power.

So here are our options - I want to decide by tomorrow or Friday.

Option 1 - Move our Palermo to the other lot and have them pay for half of our deck.

Option 2 - Go with the Milan and see if they can get the price low enough that we can afford this option (since the Milan starts at a higher price).

My boyfriend is leaning towards Option 1 and I think I'm leaning towards Option 2. My thinking is, ask if we can get the Milan at a price we can afford. If we can't afford the price they offer then Option 1 becomes our only option. Done. My boyfriend just really likes the idea of a deck. I get that, but you can always build a deck .. you can't move your house. Too stressful. I think I'm losing my mind! Haha!

I know it will all work out in the end, but we both just wan't to make the best decision. I know I could live with the new lot .. I mean, I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to build a home in the first place, and I can just plant trees to block off the guy's yard behind me .. but I also don't want to settle.

Ah! I need to develop powers to see the future! That would make things sooo much easier.