Why Lot #28?

When we were choosing our Lot, we had four MUST HAVEs: 

1.  Build our Home in a Cul-De-Sac with a walk out Basement

2.  Choose a Lot that would accommodate our vehicles:  

(2)  F150s, BMW X3

(Harley Road King Classic & Suburban (both missing from photo)

3.  Side Entry Garage

4.  Build in the Fairwood Community

Well, we were able to get three out of the four, which we were pleased with because the last side entry garage was taken several months ago.  It was more important for us to be in the Fairwood Community as long as we could secure a Lot within a cul-de-sac with a long drive way which meant losing some backyard space and potentially front yard space.  We picked Lot #28 with a driveway that extends 60 feet from the curve in a cul-de-sac located in the Fairwood Community.  There were two cul-de-sacs to choose from, but the other cul-de-sac had in ground Lots with short drive ways (not gone work)! 

 Our LOT #28 (still with the Dumpster sitting on it)!  Took this the other day!
  Now that the other two houses are built we see how much front grassy area we do have which is not much at all; however, we are A okay with this because the drive way was more of a concern for us.  Most of the grassy area will be on the right hand side of the house. Harley will still have plenty of yard space to run around and handle his business.  lol and  I will still have a space to grow my herb garden.  Yay!!

Three of our vehicles!  We would have loved the three car garage or side entry;
however, not available when we signed our contract.  There is no way these guys would fit inside the garage.  We opted to put my vehicle (pictured in the middle) and his Harley motorcycle in the garage.  The other guys will have to remain outside.  With the driveway being 60 feet back, we can keep both of the larger vehicles parked on the left hand side directly behind one another.  This will allow me to drive out of the garage without having to move vehicles around!  The other vehicle will stay parked at our business office.  My husband tends to drive his work truck home everyday and use the Green F150 on the weekend. This will be such a convenience for him because we are only allowed to have two parking stickers and he has to maneuver the cars from resident to visitors depending on the truck he drives home that day.  The snatch man is out every night so we try to be careful! This is going to be a big relief for him when we move.

This is the house to the left of us on Lot #29 (Beautiful Victoria Falls)
They have a huge lot and long driveway.  There driveway is the same distance back as our driveway. We met them the same day they secured their contract.  It was very funny because they were on the fence with the Lot and I was hoping they would not pick it.  LOL We later discovered that they secured the Lot the same day.  We could not secure our Lot until a week later.  But GOD is good all the time because when we secured out Lot, we discovered the Rome Home of the Month special was being offered on two lots and you guess it, Lot #28 was one of them but you had to build a Rome which was the model we had already chosen (WHAT!?) and it offered huge huge huge huge incentives. What a DEAL!! We had more to spend on upgrades!  Major Score!

This is the house to the right of us on Lot #27 
(Beautiful Oberlin with spectacular views of the pond)
We did not want this Lot because the driveway was to way to short!  However, it would have been nice to have that complete pond view! They were the first homeowners to move into the cul-de-sac and we will be the last home owners to move into the cul-de-sac! 

Ran Into This House Today

Soon-To-Be New Neighbors

It was nice meeting YOU...

This is our Super, Supportive Sales Representative until September 1!  She has been promoted within the Company with a grand opportunity to continue to exemplify the excellent customer service and role model she has been for the Company!  She has supported us through this journey and her unwavering support and commitment means a great deal to us.  We could not have done many things without her support.  She has offered to be with us for our pre construction meeting to be sure our PM is absolutely clear about how to build our HOME!  She will be greatly missed!!

NEW HOMES GUIDE $50-100 GIFT CARDS

New Homes Guide offers two incentives for new home shoppers/buyers.  One is for a $50 gift card of your choice and the other is a $100 gift card of your choice once you receive your settlement date.  Click on the link below and follow the instructions.  To receive the $50 gift card, click on the shoppers tab and to receive the $100 gift card click on the buyers tab.  If you are a realtor, there is an incentive there for you too!   I have already received the $50 gift card for Nordstrom.

****HAPPY SHOPPING FOR YOUR NEW HOME!!!****

http://www.newhomesguide.com/rewards-for-shoppers?gclid=COPk59rJ7rECFYao4AodRS4ANw

Ran Into Ralph

In my last post, I showed a picture of an Armoire from Arhaus named, Ameila as a future purchase that I absolutely adore.  I have always wanted an Armoire and she appeared to be the perfect fit.  However, the more and more I thought about it, the less enchanted I became with pairing Amelia up with the Barrister King Bed and other furnishings.  My vision for our Master Bedroom is a vintage eclectic, elegant, romantic atmosphere.  The key is to create an atmosphere that blends both feminine and masculine characteristics into the room.  My color palette for the room is cream, chocolate, distressed blues, and distressed grays plus a pop of color that I have not chosen just yet.  I want my spouse to feel connected to the room and if it's too feminine it will not work for obvious reasons.  It's our sacred sanctuary!  No electronics are allowed in this room.  None!  It's ssspppeeecial!  I am glad we did not purchase Ameila, because I ran into Ralph yesterday.  Check him out!

Furniture Purchases Dining/Master Bedroom

Teak Mirror - Future Purchase
I love this Mirror! 

Approximately two weeks ago, I asked my husband to go window shopping for future furniture.  This wasn't the first visit to many stores; however, this is the first purchase.  I have picked most of the furniture for each home of the house with the exception of the basement prior to this trip.  I have two sections of the basement furniture selected that I am still mulling over.   Here are the purchased selections and three of the chosen selections that we intend to purchase closer to closing.  The furniture is from Arhaus and they have a huge sale through the end of August.  We lucked up and purchased our items on sale but the day we went window shopping, they had a special offering called "no tax day" and additional $150 off if you purchased three bedroom items.   We had no intention on purchasing any items because I was going to include them with my current inventory of future furniture purchases; but this sale was insane! We could not pass it up.  Check it out!

I love this Bed!  Can't get this bed because we will be using our current Queen Bed for the Guest Bedroom.
We did get the 6 drawer dresser, tall dresser and 1 night stand with the Blue Marble Stone
 to the right of the bed for our Master Bedroom. Purchased

Formal Dining Room - Purchased
Same Dining Chairs, Same Colors

King Size Barrister Bed - Purchased
I love this bed because it has a vintage wing back style.
2 Fotini Chandeliar (look closely on the right)

Night Stand for Hubby's Side of Bed - Purchased

I did not like the mirror paired with this dresser so I chose the mirror below  to go with our dresser - Purchased

 I am going to use this mirror and turn it side ways.
Future Purchase

"Amelia Armoire" - Made in Indonesia - Future Purchase

"Louise" Distressed Blue/Gray Tea Table - Made in Indonesia
My side of the bed as a nightstand - Purchased

Closer to My DREAMS!!

Here is one of the many inspirational songs that I love to listen to foster feelings and memories of things I am grateful for in my life.  It is also serving as the gratitude, the joy, the excitement, the elation to remind me of this awesome opportunity my husband and I have to build our dream home.

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As you may have read, we started our search to build a new home, a new foundation for our marriage September of last year and were told we were not ready to purchase.  We had to wait for the new year to submit our purchase agreement.  As soon as January rolled around, we ran and put our hold deposit on Lot #28.  We watched this LOT for months and prayed it would be available when we were ready to purchase.  We were absolutely clueless that RH were offering HUGE incentives for choosing a particular Lot with a particular model which they called the "Home of the Month." The home of the month for January was a ROME and you had to choose Lot #27 or Lot #28.  What!?  We were shocked because it was the lot and the model we had on our bucket list since September 2011!!!  We saved thousands of dollars on our new home!!  The number of incentives were outrageous and it made our pocket book HAPPY!!  This was a marketing strategy RH used to create visibility of new homes off Church Road near our cul-de-sac.  Our cul-de-sac was empty prior to September through February.  This marketing strategy worked because the entire cul-de-sac will be completed by September with the exception of our home with a early December delivery.  Thank you, God and Ryan Homes!!!   Last week, we were so excited because after waiting SIX months for our loan approval we received our ratified contract in the mail.  What a sigh of relief!  We were tickled pink because our patience for waiting paid off and it PAID off WELL!!  We were able to keep our lot and our incentives.  I am forever grateful!!   I give thanks because we are closer to our DREAMS!   So what's NEXT??  Breaking Ground!!  We are tentatively scheduled to break ground the week of my husbands birthday which is September 9 and expected to have our pre-construction meeting the week of September 2.

I also want to give thanks and appreciation to all of you who have offered encouragement, resources, insight, and crossed fingers who have followed our blog and hung in here with US.  It was a huge risk to blog and my husband thought it was a bit premature; however, it offered me the opportunity to connect with other home owners who understood, learn and grow about this industry and to keep my sanity as we waited these six months.  I have watched so many homes being built and the time has come to build our home and the ratified contract made it a reality. Once we settle, we would have gone through this entire year--January to December to build this home.  What a journey, because we still have approximately five more months. And it is all good!

After today's meeting with our SR, I will be posting our final selections/upgrades/customizations.  Hopefully we will have some good news today and I will be able to add Elevation C with front porch to our list!  I held off from this step deliberately because I wanted to be sure our contract was ratified and that we could move forward on this blog with confidence and assurance!

Stay tuned! Nadase

Customs is Closed!!!! THE REQUEST

We submitted seven non standard requests and I was told yesterday that we are prohibited from submitting any more non standard requests.  I am happy to report that each of them were granted even though it took some leg work to get them handled by doing some of my own investigation/research.  My SR worked closely with us and the costing department to get them approved and I find her support extremely valuable.  She mentioned that she got her hand slapped because the requests were being added.  The longer it took for us to get approved, the more time it allowed me to mull over our selections/upgrades/customs. The only problem I am having with this response is that the email to my SR read in the subject line: "Customs Closed to the Proctors." What!??   We gave them our non standard requests back in February and they refused to look at them because our loan wasn't approved.  Our contract was finalized yesterday and we are still in limbo because of the newest request to add the front porch to Elevation C.  Until then, we do not have a confirmed pre construction meeting or breaking ground date.  We are tentatively on the schedule to break ground on September 9 which I believe looks promising because we are already two weeks into the DSR with the county for the front porch.  They estimated that it would take 2-4 weeks to get the approval which means we still have at least two weeks to make any adjustments; however, she is telling me that they refuse to take another request except the one for the front porch once it is approved.  We do have one final request because of the change from Elevation from E to C  but they will not consider it!!!  Would you cause a stink and persist that they consider the request or would you be content with the customs closing SIGN!!  As it stands, my SR said, they will not allow her to do it.  Would love your feedback?


****Here is our request: Once we reverted back to Elevation C we intended to choose the all brick option which we later learned that Elevation C isn't built with all brick; only A & B.  It does come in all vinyl; however, they do not offer the all vinyl in our community; nor did we want all vinyl.  Our last request is for Elevation C with the partial brick veneer front with the brick extended around the entire garage instead of just the bottom.  This does not seem out of the ordinary because every home in our community (with the exception of one home on the South Side of the Chapel) has brick around the entire garage, so we thought why not ask for it. But we are still in limbo and I really don't see what the big deal is for this request because it's standard with most of the homes. Not to mention, it will only take a week, maybe two, which is pushing it to cost out the brick around the garage which would definitely return with pricing before the front porch request because it had to go through the review board especially since they want to offer Elevation C with the front porch to future home owners in our community.

Mini Update

Spoke to our SR today who said that (1) we can expect to receive an email this week that our loan is ratified and (2) the county is in favor of the front porch on Elevation C and it should be approved to build.  She mentioned this last time, so it looks promising.  Once we get the approval for the build our names are scheduled for pre construction meeting and breaking ground.  Again, this is still working with our original timeframe which means end of August or first week of September and closing the beginning of December.  Dates:  TBD

Elevation C - More Pictures

Elevation C - The White House

As some of you may know, I have been in recovery!!  Recovery from not being able to build Elevation E which I was told we would be able to build a couple of months ago!  To say the least, I was filled with disappointment because the ROME model is the perfect model for my family and this elevation provided the most charm.  I was told empathetically NO--we could not get this elevation because there is no permit in our county or community to build it and it will not be presented to the board for another 6-9 months unless we chose to wait another 6 months, lose our lot, lose our incentives and start the loan process ALL over again, which I was unwilling to do because we have been waiting to break ground since February!!  Another 6 months would have been absolute torture and emotional abuse.  In the meantime, I put in a special request to see if they can incorporate the front porch on Elevation C; however, it will take nearly 2-4 weeks for the Review Board to determine if they can make this change.  According to my SR, they seem to like the idea of the front porch and want to make it available to future home builders.  This works out for us because the target date for us to break ground is within the same timeframe.  We are still waiting on the official date which I will post once it is confirmed!! One of our fellow bloggers (Danielle) asked me to post pictures of Elevation C.  Here are a few pictures from some of our fellow bloggers Elevation C.  As we continue to WAIT, please continue to keep us lifted that they approve Elevation C with the Front Porch.  For now, enjoy the pictures:

Elevation C - The Purple House

Elevation C - The Brick & Stone House

Elevation C - w/The Front Porch House (Under Construction)

Elevation D - w/The Front Porch (Cottage Style)

For KevinC & Rachel/Tommy - This is Elevation M w/Front Porch (Cottage Style)
 It is totally different from the Elevation E we THOUGHT we were getting!  It has shake siding on the entire front with the brick, the garage door has windows, the corners are crimped which I have never seen before and the front porch window has trimming.
We thought we were getting Elevation E  (you can see a picture of Elevation E) shown on my previous post called "Our Exterior" 

Elevation C - Cottage Style (Rome Model Located in Bristow, Virginia)