Pre-Construction Meeting

Despite the blizzard on the weekend we were able to have our pre-construction meeting today.  I feel kind of silly about the whole thing, I've read so many blogs and read the manual they gave us at signing so I knew about the pre-construction meeting and wondered when it would be, especially after our SR had told us at signing that they would break ground the end of January. So when we inquired about the meeting our SR said it usually happens about two weeks before they start and he would check to see when we were scheduled to start and we could pick a day that worked for us.  Seemed very laid back, and casual and almost like we were the ones who were asking for the meeting, not like it was one of their meetings they always do (if that makes any sense?)  Anyway, then we get there today and find out that they aren't going to start the week of February 8th like they told us last week but we're now scheduled to start February 15th.  No big deal to us.  Apparently they are going out of "turn" and doing the house to our right first, then coming back and doing ours even though we both have loan approval and we technically signed two days before they did.  Maybe their delivery day is sooner than ours?  The SR didn't really know why they were doing it that way just saw it on his schedule this week when he came in.
Anyway, the meeting was very informative, took a little under an hour.  We didn't walk the lot at all.  Its covered in 2 feet of snow (not sure if they normally walk the lot or not out here?)  The meeting was very laid back, both the SR and PM told us things about our house, we asked a couple of questions as they went through as they came into our heads.  We didn't prepare a list of questions to ask, from reading all the blogs I pretty much knew all the answers they'd give me and we really don't need them to do anything extra special.  The one thing I did ask them to do if possible is to move the (ugly) access panel from my boys bedroom to the laundry room or the walk in closet that is right there next to the boy's bedroom.  The PM thought it may not have enough room in the laundry but could possibly fit it in the closet, he needs to check with his inspector (I think he said) but he was going to try to make that happen for us.  Anyway, if they can do that we will appreciate it, if not its not too big of a deal.
My husband was most excited to find out that our garage door opener comes with a key pad panel thing to access the garage.  I never would have thought to ask about that.  He also asked if our upgraded shower came with a bench/seat or not.  We had seen it in the model in Maryland but didn't know if it was included in ours.  The PM and SR didn't know, and the SR thought maybe it wasn't even an option here in PA but the PM had him look up the plans on the computer and sure enough it IS included in our plans.
We had also hoped that they would clear some of this gross brush stuff at the end of our property, it goes down a little hill at the end and we knew they wouldn't sod down the hill but would love if they cleared it a bit so that the kids weren't climbing in it.  We didn't even ask them about it, the SR told us that our neighbor to the left of us who is already under roof at this point (we saw it was just the basement when we went and had our picnic after we got loan approval), apparently he also wanted them to clear that stuff out and asked and they are doing it for him, so they are also going to be doing it for us!  Sweet!  Thanks neighbor!
Speaking of neighbors, our SR said he "couldn't say too much" but he gave the impression that he really likes our neighbors on either side and flat out said that he'd want to live where we are living, with the neighbors on either side of us.  So that is nice, it probably means they have children, which will be great for us.  We are excited to hopefully meet them during the construction process rather than all the way in May when we move in.  Both the PM and SR then went on a little bit about how nice the people were and really how nice of a neighborhood in general it is.  We already had gotten that impression while doing our research on the area but its nice to hear from people who are around it a lot more than we are.
Anyway, it was a quick meeting, they went through all the paper work with all the specifications and everything was right, no mistakes there.  Our SR is really on top of everything and it was obvious that the SR and the PM are very good friends and get along great.  They work together well and it shows, we do not foresee any issues with working with either of these guys... hopefully they will continue to be our SR and PM throughout the entire process.
We are very excited to get started in a few weeks and excited to watch our house be built.  Really can't wait to see it all come together, and we walked away from our meeting today even more excited than before and really feeling like we are going to have such a cute house that we will LOVE!

Here are some photos just for fun...

This is of the model where we are building.  It is the Venice model, and what I really loved was noticing that its the same color hardwood floors that we chose (wish our planks were going to be this size but they'll be slightly thinner... either way they're sure to be gorgeous!  I've been worried about it b/c the photo I took in the design center came out weird with the lighting and the floors didn't look dark enough.  But if they are this dark then I will be so happy with them).

Here is our neighbor's house.  

The SR said they got the roof up Friday right before the blizzard happened.  Yay!

And here is our snow covered lot sign!  See you in three weeks!

Blizzard 2016

We got slammed with 30 inches of snow this weekend.  We started to dig ourselves out this morning after the snow finally stopped but the State of Maryland still wants everyone to stay off the roads for a while longer and we are happy to stay home and hang out as a family.  We know that our future home site also got slammed with snow this weekend and so we are not sure what that will mean for our building schedule.  Currently we are scheduled to have our pre-construction meeting this Tuesday, but not sure if that will happen anymore or not.  We can probably get there.. I think... but we will see what our SR and PM say.  There is no hurry really (though we are excited to do something else house related), we are also currently scheduled to start the 2nd week of February.  Fingers crossed that won't change and the weather will warm up and melt all this snow away!  :) 

Uneventful Week (*cricket*cricket*)

Things have been uneventful this week in regards to the house.  Its been quiet on the Ryan Homes end.  We expected to get our approval letter outlining the conditions of the loan approval and it never came.  Finally Thursday afternoon my husband inquired with our LO and with our SR.  Our SR responded right away saying he was off for the next two days (always is on Thurs. and Fri we should know better by now than to bother him on those days) but would check in with our LO and on Saturday (today) when he got back in the office he would check the "start schedule" and let us know when we would plan our pre-construction meeting and all that.  Late Friday night (yesterday) we got an email from our LO who said she had been out of the office all week, she said the letter would be mailed to us when our LP was back in the office (apparently everyone was on vacation this week) but in her email she did include the conditions of our loan approval so that we could see them now instead of having to wait any longer (it had been a week since we got word of approval).  Anyway, it was nice to hear from her and for her to take the time to email us at 9pm on a Friday night, so we appreciate that.  Our SR never did check in with us today about the start schedule, but to be fair his text says he'd check back with us "this weekend"... so we'll probably hear from him tomorrow-- I am just trying to be patient and apparently its still something I need to work on!  ;)

Our View...

I found this picture I accidentally took on our first visit to the community on October 29th.  I was actually taking a video of our drive around the streets with the available lots and I snapped this photo while we were driving.  Turns out this is our lot, which wasn't even available when we were there that day.  The one next to it was available and it is also in this photo, its hard to separate the two lots, though for the most part that is our lot and those trees in the distance will be the view from our morning room (and from the master suite as well), so I do love that!

I am kind of going crazy over here waiting to hear more from NVR and from our SR.  I am trying to be patient and wait for it all to play out instead of hounding them with questions.  I mean really there is no rush, but its just my anxious mind that wants to know everything NOW.  Like we heard that we were approved first thing Friday morning and they would be sending us the letter with details however it is now Wednesday evening and nothing. I did get a letter in the mail today from Ryan Homes but it was just a copy of our latest change order.  I am still anxious to know when our Pre-construction meeting is going to be.  I don't need it to be now but I just want to know when it is, also when they plan to break ground.  When we signed our sales agreement our SR told us he expected they would break ground the end of January.

I am also gathering questions in my mind that I want answers to at our pre-construction meeting.  I really don't have many... {For instance...   I want to know if we will have any windows in the basement, if we will have a square or a round column on the porch (the blueprints we signed say square and that makes me happy b/c I want square... however the ones I've seen in the neighborhood were round), also want to know what the paint color will be and can we change it?  I know they will say no BUT I really think they should let the homeowner pick the neutral color that will be on all the walls. Its kind of a waste to have the builders paint only to have the home owners paint over it after they move in. }

SOLD

Since it was a Saturday and we had just received our loan approval the day before we decided to celebrate by driving up to our lot.  It is kind of an all day commitment to drive to our lot because its over an hour away from where we currently live (although we were pleasantly surprised with no traffic whatsoever and made it to our lot in record time yesterday so that was nice!)  We were really hoping that they had put up our lot sign and sold sticker because the last time we came over a month earlier there wasn't even the lot sign up yet so we didn't have a photo of it.  We were thrilled to see that the sign WAS in place and did have the sold sticker on it!  

It was kind of a cold and wet day so not the greatest for a family picnic like we had planned, also the house next door (basement was done) was being worked on so it was a little awkward to be out there on our lot while they worked.  Anyway, we ate our picnic lunch in the car and then we got out and walked the lot a little and took a family "selfie" with our sign.  :)
After that we drove around the neighborhood for a minute looking for a house with the same color choices as us, and also went to check out the pool and playground area again.
Then we went and explored the area a little bit, checking out some local parks, and the kids school.  Also went to check out what stores and restaurants were around.  All in all it was a fun trip despite the weather.

Next time we visit it will be for our pre-construction meeting, getting more and more excited everyday!

Approved!

A little after 9 this morning my husband got the call from NVR letting us know that our loan has been approved!!  Yay!!!  That was my first reaction.  My next thought had me sobbing, sad, uncontrollable tears for the next ten minutes.  That "next thought" being to text/call or drive over to my mom's house and tell her the good news but I couldn't (see post titled bittersweet).  I debated in sharing this part of our journey because it really has nothing to do with building a home with Ryan, but it is part of our particular journey and it does change how I feel as we go through this process.  Also, being as no one reads this blog yet it feels like a "safe" place to share and its very therapeutic for me to "share".

Anyway, I was talking to my husband last night about possibly driving up to our "lot" this weekend, and I said that I would like to know ahead of time if our loan was approved or not.  He laughed at me because they just submitted it Tuesday and hearing on Friday wouldn't be anywhere near 7 -10 business days!  haha!  When he texted me about the phone call I told him "See we could hear sooner than that!!"

I guess I also wanted to share how quickly it went for us because I found myself google searching and digging into people's blogs trying to see if it was possible to get approved faster than the 7-10 business days or if it was pretty standard and we wouldn't hear any sooner than that. So for anyone else crazy like me, who maybe comes across this blog months... years... down the road it IS possible!  ;)

Now we are just waiting for our LO to get into the office and email us the details of the approval.  So far we know nothing... just that we were approved.  Slightly nervous about what else there is to know, hopefully its all pretty straight forward and still what we were told at our initial application meeting with NVR.

NVR Update

Heard from NVR  that they submitted the file today, so we should hear something in 7 to 10 business days.  Fingers crossed.

Fixed!

When we had the purchase agreement sent to us a few weeks after signing it we noticed a couple mistakes.  The Milan comes with 3 bedrooms and a loft on the 2nd story, with the option to change it to a bedroom.  We needed a 4 bedroom house, so that's what we did, only on the purchase agreement paperwork it looked like we were getting a "bonus room" instead of a "bonus bedroom".  This would not include a closet, which we very much need.  Its actually also my favorite part of that bedroom, it has a HUGE closet, twice the size of the other bedrooms closets.  Also, we had wanted recessed lighting in the living room and thought we saw it on the purchase the agreement when we signed it but upon further reading what we saw was the ceiling fan rough ins, not recessed lighting.  So my husband quickly emailed our SR (on the night before Christmas eve mind you) because the bedroom thing seemed like a structural change and we were already passed 14 days since we signed the agreement and so we were in a panic that it was going to be a huge problem.  Our SR wrote right back and said he would put in the change order to fix it.
It was the holidays and our SR also had a death in the family and was off work for a little bit and said he put in the change order but we wouldn't hear from him again until after January 2nd.
January 3rd he emailed the change order to us to sign and send back and he fixed those things for us at no cost to us, which was a huge surprise and so appreciated.  The difference in cost between a bonus room and a bonus bedroom is $500 and the extra recessed lights were $600- but they charged us nothing.  Also in the change order we had him switch us from a gas stove to an electric one.  I know that's probably not a popular choice, we've heard gas stoves are so much better, but we only know electric and would rather not deal with some of the other things that come along with gas stoves so we switched to electric.  This was also a no cost added changed.

Along with the email for the change order our SR emailed the appliance package details to us because we signed without seeing what the appliance were they were giving us.  One thing I have noticed from reading all the blogs of people building with ryan homes is that it has put me on edge little.  I feel like I don't fully trust Ryan homes, and I'm waiting for them to pull the rug out from under me so to speak.  Like with the appliances, I've heard people review the appliances and complain that they aren't great.  Or that they're given the wrong appliances or their appliance has been discontinued, etc.  my worry with the appliances was that they would not include an ice maker/water dispenser on the door of the fridge.  This was something we would have gotten had we bought our own fridge and the fact that the fridge was included in the luxury kitchen package was nice but not if it wasn't a fridge we would want to keep and use.  Soooo, needless to say all that worrying was for nothing because the fridge has the ice maker/water dispenser on the door.  In hindsight I probably should have just asked the SR up front a bunch of these questions that I now wish I had asked ahead of time but I was too afraid to and we were in a hurry to sign and get it over with since it was a decision we were anxious in making.  Anyway, more than us being excited about (a silly thing like) the ice maker/water dispenser our children are ten times more excited!  haha.  Its the little things sometimes!!  :)