Pre-drywall Meeting Scheduled

Our pre-drywall meeting has been scheduled for this Tuesday, 4/4. So exciting!
We didn't know if we should have an independent inspector with us or not, but after asking a few people, we decided to go for it. We are not sure what to look for, so having that (experienced) extra set of eyes will definitely be helpful. Very worth it the fee. We will pay our inspector $300.

On a side note about our dormers issue, PM said they will be installing the dormers late April as he needs the framers to come around with a crane and we are past that framing stage. We are ok with it, as long as it is installed properly and before we move. Just a heads up for those following our blog in case they might wonder where the dormers are :)

Issue Resolution

This afternoon Chad and I received a call from Sam with a resolution on our dormers issue. Ryan Homes will honor what they represented to us and we will be getting our cute dormers. Woohoo!

I must say that we are very satisfied with how they handled the issue. Yes, it was stressful and yes, we were upset, but RH, well-represented by Sam, took ownership of the mistake and gave us a resolution on our issue in one business day. We weren't looking for anything more than what was promised to us and we got it. So leaving this one behind and moving on with enjoying the exciting process that is building a new home. Oh, and Frank stated that the shingles will be removed so the dormers are installed properly and that we shouldn't see a delay because of this.

We will, of course, be there later his week to see any progress in person :)

Construction Update - Roof / Plumbing and a Bump in the Road

Hi ya'll,

We received an email from our PM this Friday letting us know that framing was complete, shingles were installed, and plumbing rough-ins were done. As soon as we saw the picture, we raised the concern that our dormers had not been installed and asked if they come after shingles. And that's when shit hit the fan.

Frank said that no, dormers are installed before shingles, but that double checking our selections he could see that dormers were not an option in our home. Say what?! That is not what the SR sold us and definitely not what was on the contract we signed.

He said it was possible that the dormers are not offered in the community. Say what (2)?! If dormers are not available, then why would it be in the picture above? I do understand that he only follows the selections sheet given to him, so I thanked him for his insight and turned my attention to the Sales team.

Immediately I sent Sam and Shannon an email asking for clarification on the issue and received a response back a few minutes later stating that they were "just realizing that the home does not have the dormers on certain elevations" and that they "have passed this on to management." 

Since we stop by the house every weekend to see progress, we decide to wait for Sam to discuss this on person. She did say that she was not aware that the community wouldn't have dormers and did admit that she represented this information to us. She also said she will fight to get us what we want, but that there is a possibility that the developers will not allow the dormers and if so, there would be nothing they can do about it. And that's the second time shit hit the fan. 

We responded that we did not agree with this "solution." We said we would rather have the dormers, but if that was not possible, then Ryan Homes better think of ways to make it up to us. I might have used the word bullshit, but hey, who wouldn't? Not sure if she was a little surprised by this, but despite of what she says, we are the ones who need to watch for our best interests.

I even told her we didn't want to point fingers or be dicks to her, but now it is a big disappointment. We've been proudly showing the house around to family, friends, and even strangers, and we will end up not getting what we were promised. Every time we look at our home, we will be upset we are not seeing what we really liked. And some may think it's stupid, but when you were spending this kind of money and signing your life away, you do NOT want to have this type of stress.

The quick meeting ended with her saying she would get back to us once she heard from management. She mentioned something about extra closing help to make it up to it, but nothing was promised yet. We look forward to see how attentive Ryan Homes' customer service is after they made a sale. I will update with a resolution once we have one.

On a side note, we grabbed a couple of hard hats and walked in the house. Here are some pics:

Loving the bay window

Can't wait to see the deck

HVAC and hot water systems

HVAC again

Main floor, measurements for our island and kitchen cabinets / appliances

Master bathroom tub :)

Update!

Hello Y'all!

We heard from one of our SRs that the guys were working hard on our place on Saturday, so we stopped by today to see if there was any progress made since Wednesday (the day we visited to see how Tuesday's snow impacted construction). We got an email from the PM on Friday saying that the snow did delay them a little bit, but that the roof and HVAC will be installed next week. As of now, pre-drywall should be on the second week of April, but nothing has been scheduled yet.

We have exterior doors, windows, and I'm assuming they are done with framing. We snuck inside the house and took some pictures. Enjoy!

We got windows and a door :)

View from front door - stairs

View from front door - access to garage

Basement

Stairs from first to second floor

Morning room - pantry to the right. A nice deck will be outside those doors

Living room - <3 bay window

Second / main floor from morning room. Kitchen will be to the left, dining area to the right

Stairs from second to third level

Laundry room on the left; hall bathroom to the right

Master bedroom with master bathroom on the right

Back of the house

I GOTS A TABLE!

YAAAAAAY.

Can you tell I'm extremely excited?!

I've been in love with this dining table for months. Never have I owned or seriously considered getting anything from Pottery Barn, but every once in a while I'd browse the website and dream about all the wonderful pieces of furniture I'd like to buy for my new home. The Toscana Dining Table costs $1299. Table only; no chairs or benches. The lowest I had seen it drop to was $999. Then today, I logged in to daydream a little more and saw it was $599 for the stain color I want (Tuscan Chestnut). AND I got a 20% off code on my email! I'm surprised they let me use it. Price of the table before shipping and taxes was $479 (!!). It does not get any better than that.

We live in an apartment, so grandma and grandpa let us ship the table to their house for the time being. I will keep an eye on promotions for the bench and chairs so I can complete the set. No rush, though, as we still have a few months before moving. So happy right now :D

Look at this beauty <3

Rate Locked In

When we quoted the house, the interest rate used was 4.5%. All was fine and dandy with our estimated mortgage payment. We are not people who follow the market and as first time buyers, we weren't very educated on how much interest rates fluctuate and the several factors that can affect it. Fast forward 3 months and now we are here, dealing with a good economy and rising rates.

Our estimated date of completion at signing and pre-construction meeting was May 1. We were hoping to settle any time after June 1. Right before we knew that the new unemployment rate was going to be released, we tried locking. That was about a week ago. We contacted Patti (loan officer) and Frank (PM) to get their two cents. At that point, the rate of the day was 5% (ugh). Frank brought to our attention that some electric meter needed for the house to pass inspection could be delayed (two months!!), so he didn't feel comfortable telling us to lock in just yet. He would have more information at the end of this week.

We asked for today's rate and, sure enough, it increased to 5.125% due to unemployment numbers. Patti said the Feds were meeting again this Wednesday and most likely we will see another increase. We don't want to be stuck with a mortgage we can't afford comfortably! So I called my PM. He told me that even though he still doesn't know for sure if we will have the meter this week, he was being extremely cautious and that he is 90% confident that he can complete our home in 90 days. He wanted us to avoid paying for a rate extension. However, at this point, we decided we were going to pay for a 180 day lock anyway, the way rates are increasing, ev n if we couldn't lock for 90 days.

Long story short, WE LOCKED OUR RATES TODAY. We actually bought points to have the rate dropped to 5%, so that's what we will luckily have. Fingers crossed that we will have no major delays that will keep out home from being ready by June 13 :)

A Roof Over Our Heads

Chad and I were a little concerned about the snow storm that is coming our way. We are expected to get about one-foot of snow on Tuesday here in MD. I know we are not first people to ever build a house in bad weather, but it makes us nervous. First-time buyers, ok? Give us a break :P 

We sent a note to our SR this afternoon to ask if they guys had been working this weekend. Last time we stopped by was on Friday evening, and we saw they had added trusses to the house. She responded saying they were working really hard through some nasty wind to get the roof in place in anticipation for the snow. Woohoo. It makes us feel a liiiiittle better, even though we know there are cracks and holes all over the house still. 

Can't wait until the house is all wrapped so they can start working inside :)

Got Wood?

Hubby and I stopped by the house this afternoon to get some idea on how our backyard grading is going to look (more on this on a different post) and we were pleasantly surprised. A lot of progress done in 2 days :D

It's been raining in MD so it makes me a little nervous that the lumber is getting wet. But I guess it's pretty normal--just first time home buyer anxiety.

Here are the pictures!

Front of the house

Front closet seen from the front door

Powder room by front door seen from front door

Future driveway seen from garage

Back of the house seen from back of property line

Garage

Hallway from front door to basement (stairs will be on the right) seen from basement walkout

Construction Update - Week 8 - Framing (pictures)

Hello!

Chad and I stopped by to see in person the progress that Sam sent us in the video. According to the PM, the first floor is finished and the fire wall (the purple board you see) has been installed. They will be working on the second and third floors in the next couple of weeks.

We're excited to see a pile of dirt and wood start looking like a house :)

The only thing we are a little concerned is with the slope in the backyard. Apparently, our backyard will be sloped due to water run-off. We asked the PM if it will be graded a little more so the slope is not as steep. I'll let you all know when the PM answers our questions. Enjoy the pics!

Front of the house. You can see the bump out above the garage

Apparently, we will have a very long front yard. I wonder how long the driveway will be

Row of houses. Our is the only one without the second level frame, grrr (haha)

Fire wall can be seen on the side of the house. This is the back of the house, the walkout basement

You can see the backyard slope

Construction Update - Week 8 - Framing

If you remember, during week 6 we received an update from our PM that in week 7 (last week) the slab was going to be poured and during week 8 (this week), framing would begin.
This past Saturday, I stopped by the community to talk to my SR and the slab wasn't done. I was a little upset, but since we're trying to settle a little later than the estimated completion anyway, I didn't stress about it. I figured framing was going to be pushed at least out a week or so.


Today, I got this video from my SR. Three days ago we didn't even have a slab and today we're pretty much done with the first level?! HOLY CRAP!


We'll stop by for pictures sometime this week.


YAY! :D