Options!!!

Standard Included Options:

Elevation B
2 Car Garage- Front Entry
9 ft. ceilings
Appliance Pkg Freestanding B/W
Carpeted Stair w/ capped wall
Faucet Fixtures Standard (Linden)
Front door fiberglass
Gas heat
Interior Trim Standard
Light Fixture Nickel Finish
Living Room
Microwave hook up
Owner's bathroom with standard tub
Single bowl vanity bathroom #1
Trim Pkg #1
Vanity Cabinet Standard Bathrooms
Vanity Tops Standard Bathrooms
92% Efficiency gas furnace system
Basement foundation
Dryer electric hook up
Faucet fixtures bathrooms standard (linden-chrome)
Flat ceiling owner's bedroom
front door standard lock
house base finish
icemaker kitchen rough-in
interior door hardware finish satin nickel
kithen appliance layout with range
laminate countertop kitchen
light package (E) (Bravo)
Microwave
No Refrigerator
Range electric hook up
siding veneer front
sliding glass door dinette
Three bedroom w/ loft
unfinished basement
Windows Vinyl single hung brickmould 2300
Full Basement
Cabinet Crown moulding kitchen
Garage door upgrade 1
Indoor water heater unit
Landscaping pkg standard upgrade
paint foundation exterior
roof shingles 30 year
sump pump
condensing water heater unit
door opener garage w (2) remote controls
ceramic surround bathrooms
siding vinl .044
Tankless propane water heater
zone damper system

*I left off some of the things listed as included options and features because they seemed construction specific... like "county requirements" or "std grille pattern"... I really have no idea what some of these things meant.

Incentives:

Luxury Kitchen Package
- This includes Stainless steel appliances, including  refrigerator.
-Gourmet Kitchen island
-Granite level 1
-Kitchen faucet upgrade
-Cabinet knobs
-Cabinet upgrade #1
-Upgraded sink
-hardwood (level A) in morning room and kitchen
-Recessed lights in the kitchen

Discount on morning room
Free Carpeted stairs with white balusters
Free Ceiling Fan Rough-ins (in all the bedrooms)
Free walk-out basement (SR forgot to mention that our lot choice was a walk-out, and we didn't find out until he came to have us sign the sales agreement so he didn't charge us for that.  So nice!  We are still warming up to the idea of a walk out basement b/c its not anything we ever thought we'd want. But we think it'll be a nice to have... maybe???  ideas? advice?  Also really hoping its not going to make our yard too slopey because it currently as a piece of dirt is super flat and our SR even made mention of the flatness of it when we were walking it, so to days later hear it was going to be a walk-out basement lot was kind of a shock and we still aren't sure what it will mean for our yard.  We love the view of our lot though so we are sticking with it.  Guess we'll learn more when we go for our pre-construction meeting)

Options we added:

Morning room ( with a small discount- sad b/c they offered a discount that was more than double that the month before on a different lot and we passed on it in November because we weren't ready)
3 piece plumbing rough in in the basement
Study (in place of the living room)
Upgraded Owner's bathroom:  includes soaking tub and glass enclosed shower
Double bowl vanity in bathroom #1
Bonus Bedroom (in place of loft)
Kitchen Cabinet upgrade #2
Hardwood in living room, foyer, hallway
Recessed Lights in living room
Lot Premium

Interior Choices

Here are the interior choices we got to make at our appointment HD Interior Supply on Monday December 21st.

Vinyl:  initiator 66180 (Family entry, powder room, laundry room, master bathroom and kids bathroom)
Hardwood:  Dundee 2 1/4 x 3/4" oak stained saddle (Kitchen, morning room, family room, foyer)
Carpet:  Graystone Stone House w/ std. 3/8" midnight pad  (Dining room, study, stairs, and all bedrooms)
Kitchen Cabinets:  Rushmore Hazelnut Glaze
Kitchen countertops:  Granite- New Caledonia
Bathroom Cabinets: (Timberlake Value) Fairfield Honey
Bathroom Countertops and Tile:  White

This appointment was slightly disappointing.  Despite our personal reasons for not having our hearts "in" the appointment, it was shockingly disappointing to realize how FEW options were offered to us at our base point, or even in our already "upgraded" package for the kitchen.  We had 4 or 5 hardwood colors as options, and the only one dark enough for me to even consider is actually the one pictured above and the one we chose.  I wish there had been an option slightly darker.  There would be if we went up another level or two in the hardwood options but that seemed like a waste of money.

The really sad thing was realizing that to get solid wood cabinets and the lighter finishes we would have to upgrade on top of our "luxury kitchen package" which was included as an incentive the month we signed our contract.  For the majority of the appointment we actually had decided to go with  darker cabinet color that was included in our kitchen package, but I knew that if I left with those as my cabinets I would have agonized over it.  The color was too close to the color of the hardwood floors and I really wanted there to be that contrast.  So we had to upgrade to get the Rushmore Hazelnut Glaze cabinets.  I love the cabinets, but I do not love the added cost.

The next thing was the carpet choices.  This had me lose my cool.  I mean seriously, it was so bad that it was funny and had I been in a "better place" in my mind that day I would have taken videos and photos of the level 0 carpets that were included in the base price of our home.  I literally laughed in the poor sales woman's face, and side ranted to my husband about how there was NO WAY I was allowing that "carpet" in my home.  It shouldn't even be able to be called carpet.  It reminded me of what you'd use to make a cat play house sort of thing, or fake carpet in  doll house but carpet in a REAL house for HUMANS... NO WAY!!!!  I wish I had taken photos and videos to share with you all and I am considering going back or going to any carpet store and looking for something comparable.

Our poor SR, I emailed him and ranted a little bit about the sad excuse of standard carpet and seriously recommended they consider throwing that crap out and adding the cost for the level 1 carpet into the base price of the house.  It would add  a couple thousand dollars to the base price sure, but at least they wouldn't come off as a "slimey" home builder- nickle and diming, and using the cheapest materials possible.  

I know I appreciate much more the honest truth up front, knowing exactly what I'm getting for my money.  To have the "standard" flooring options be LESS than what SHOULD be standard left me with a bad taste in my mouth and made me reconsider whether or not this was a good choice to build with Ryan homes.  

Needless to say, that normal looking.. standard looking carpet you see pictured above is... yes you guessed it... an UPGRADE!!!  Can you even believe that?  Well, it is!  Level 1 upgrade... costing just over $1,000 just to have low quality but actual, real live carpet in our two rooms on the main floor and all the bedrooms upstairs.  Holy moly!  I think I will be disappointed in this for a very long time.  It is what it is though, and I'm happy to have my normal carpet (at our expense) over there free, I can't believe its carpet "carpet".  (AHHHHH!!)

Anyway... bathroom cabinets, flooring, tiles, and countertops... it was ridiculous to have to upgrade these things, so we did not.  I hate the cabinets we are getting... we had two ugly options and we chose one... really it could have been either one... didn't matter, both seriously awful.  Same with counterops and tile, and floor... yuck.  But we were upgrading the extension of that hardwood floor into the living room and the foyer, so we didn't have any more money to upgrade with.  We will paint the cabinets, and the sales lady told us on pinterest she saw how to make those countertops look like granite, so maybe we will look into that.  Sad to upgrade the bathrooms to a double sink in the kids and the glassed in shower and soaking tub in the master at a big price tag, and to then go pick out our options and find that to have it look nice like we wanted we have to throw even more money at it.  

Maybe my view point is altered because of what was (is) going on in my life at the time BUT I really did walk out of there feeling happy with the things we "upgraded" but disappointed that we had to "upgrade" certain things and disappointed with some of the "standards" we had to take.  The lack of options that we included were seriously disappointing.  How can there were 2 cabinet options in the bathroom, and three in the kitchen?  The Timberlake website shows so many more options, so I don't know why Ryan Homes doesn't allow you to choose other finishes in even the same categories of cabinets.  I was ill prepared for what was going to be available to me that's for sure.

Bittersweet...

This exciting time of building our home has become mundane and even annoying this week as we had a family tragedy occur about a week ago.  My mother, who has also been my best friend for as long as I can remember passed away a week ago tomorrow.  I cannot believe it'll be a week tomorrow, and at the same time time has felt like it has literally stood still.  The minutes pass by so slowly, the hours drag on, and the days...  it has been the saddest, hardest experience of my life.  My mother was one of the most amazing women you'd ever meet.  Truly so full of life and personality, she did not know a stranger, and would proudly show pictures of her children and grandchildren to anyone she'd talk to.  She loved her family more than anything, and everyone who knew her knew it.  She was an angel on earth, and now she is an angel in heaven.  I miss her so much, and also I know that it really hasn't even sunk in yet, the loss.  I know we all have been trying to push through and get through the funeral arrangements, the funeral itself, and then all the family Christmas events and traditions.. and boy are there many!  Mom was all about the traditions, and she of course made us promise to "make Christmas" and "be happy!"
In the midst of all of that my husband and I also attended our previously scheduled appointments with HD Interior Supply, and Guardian.  Neither appointment coincided with any funeral arrangements so we just kept the appointments.  It was very hard to go to these appointments.  My heart was not in it, and I know the sadness in my eyes showed through.  I know I wasn't as happy or friendly with the sales reps as I normally would have been.  And honestly choosing things for our home was a chore and not fun at all. By the end of the appointment on Monday with HD I was literally fighting back the tears while we waited for Jennifer to make copies of all the paperwork we had signed.  It was like I had tried to do a "normal" thing and talk to someone like everything was fine and normal for too long and I had reached my breaking point.
Not only was the timing really bad, being two days after my mother passed away, but it was also sad because I had hoped to include her in the decision making process, possibly even bring her with us.  Instead I wanted to hurry and get the appointment over with.
We are still excited to build our dream home, we are happy with our choices (that I will post about in a separate post) but really this doesn't feel like the most important thing we have going on in our lives right now and I'm not sure if it ever will.

Exterior Choices

Front Door Color:

I grabbed this photo after a quick google search of the paint color.  I really hate looking at the color on the sample because the color looks SO orange, or even a little brown.  I really have dreamed of a red door so I wanted to see what a door would look like painted this color.

It is Sherwin Williams  2839 Roycroft Copper Red

Beach Style Entry by Jacksonville Home Builders Glenn Layton Homes

Siding Color: Flint   (So the gray color siding is the flint in the photo below).

Shutters:  Dark Navy

(photo taken from:  ringshouse,blogspot.com) 

Here is a photo I took of the samples our SR mailed us to pick our exterior choices... you can see why I searched the internet for images of these choices on an actual house.

We really like the choices and hope that when we see them all come together at the end that we will end up loving it!

Getting Started...

We finally took the leap and decided to sign a sales agreement with Ryan homes to build us a dream home.  I had been researching for about a year, life happened and there were many things obstacles that fell into our laps, literally days after I found the area I was considering for our new home.  Turns out those obstacles created a great distraction while we needed to wait patiently anyway for our current lease to be up anyway.  Finally we sold our current house down south and we got into the time frame were we could start getting more serious.
At the end of October we drove an hour north to the community we were considering and had an appointment with the SR.  We really weren't ready to do anything yet but we had taken our checkbook with us.  We put a hold on a lot and waited the four days--it didn't feel right yet so we had to remove our hold on a lot.  The SR called back a few days later and had gotten a pretty great deal for us, we seriously considered it, and prayed (and fasted) but in the end it still just wasn't feeling like the right time.  I hate feeling pushed into something I'm not ready for so we walked away.  Thinking of course we wouldn't sign for anything less than that sweet deal.
Another month passed and we were feeling more ready.  We drove back up and met with the SR again, walked through a home in the neighborhood with the same floor plan we were considering, that was about to close and we did still love it.
Now, we were considering a different home site.  One with a lot premium, but one that also wasn't available the month prior.  It goes against everything I ever thought I'd do to pay a lot premium, they are quite ridiculous somethings, I really didn't want to pay more than $3500 for the lot premium, but the truth is during that visit we fell in love with the lot.  Also, it was the largest lot on the street, and had no neighbors in the back.  How much better could we get? The view currently looks a little dreary with it being winter, but we had seen in in October with the beautiful fall leaves changing colors and we know it'll be a beautiful view.
Anyway, after some back and forth with the SR and his boss, and more praying on our parts we knew we would be sad to walk away from this home on this home site, so we agreed to sign the agreement.  The next day our SR came to our rental home and sat down with us and we signed the contract.  Four days later we went and met with the NVR mortgage LO and got that application process started.  Now we must wait to hear if we get loan approval.  Not expecting to hear anything about that until the middle to end of January maybe.  So we wait.  In the meantime we have told family of our decision but have only told friends and acquaintances that we "might" move up north a little, or we are "considering" it.  Really don't want to count all our eggs before they hatch.
We are excited though.  Really wish this week would go fast so we can get to our appointment with HD Supply Interior Solutions (formerly known as CTI).  I want to pick stuff for the house, and I also want to be sure we are getting what we thought we were getting when we signed the contract.  I feel like they never tell you exactly what is included standard and what is included in the upgrades.... and if you got the fancy upgrades can you get the best they offer, or is there going to be another upgrade charge at this next appointment.  It makes me so nervous that we are spending all this money on "our dream" home and we aren't even going to be able to get it because they overcharge for everything!
Anyway, I will let you know how that appointment goes and if I am just worrying for nothing.
Also our SR is mailing us a selection sheet with the siding and exterior samples.  We are over an hour south of the neighborhood currently, and so anytime we can avoid making the drive for little things then thats great, so we are going to see if we can make confident decisions on the exterior colors without having to come up there... if we can't then we will just make the drive up and decide.  I am hoping that we will be able to get a red door and that our neighbors on either side don't already have that... if that is a rule in this neighborhood... I'm not even sure BUT I have read similar things on other Ryan Homes blogs.
Also, I am a worrier.  Its just my nature.  I also suffer from anxiety, so getting through this long process is going to be a miracle and will require a lot of prayer.
Anyway... we decided on the Milan floor plan with the 4th bedroom in place of the loft, and the study in place of the living room.  We also added the morning room.  We got the "incentive" of the Luxury Kitchen package... (which better include ANY cabinets, granite, appliances and hardwood floors I may want!  I mean seriously!!)  We added a double sink in the kids bathroom, and upgraded the master bathroom (these too better also include granite counter tops!).  My husband loves that there
are two walk in closets and that he will get his own.  haha.  I love the laundry room on the 2nd floor.  And we all love the big basement (though it'll be years probably before we can finish it, it'll still be a good place for the kids to roller blade and play down there-- I remember doing that as a child in my parents basement when they built their home over 23 years ago).
We are really at our max budget already, and so we have no plans to upgrade flooring or electrical.  I'm a little nervous because my husband is excited for the appointment with guardian and I know we don't have the money to add anything on so...  yeah.  We shall see how that goes!!

Milan Elevation B