We're in!

I can't believe it, but we're actually in our house!  We thought for sure after all of the times we had delays that we wouldn't be closing yesterday...but we did!  It was a very smooth process, and we moved everything into our house yesterday too!  hahaha - we were not messing around, we've been waiting forever for this.  We are SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it??

We are closing - finally.  We got married on the 4th, honeymooned until the 23rd, had Thanksgiving and we are closing on Thursday.  November has been a WILD month to say the least, but I am so excited to finally get into our home and not worry about this any longer!  Just in time for my birthday which is this Saturday - we all know how that's going to be spent ;)

Not closing in October, either.

So - we aren't closing in October at all.  Tell me if you were in our shoes would you really put up with this?  And wait?  Do you think that you would be a little irritated about this whole situation?  We made it VERY clear in email, on the phone, in person that we cannot close in November because we are getting married and will be out of the country.  We started this whole process back in March.  Broke ground in May.  This townhouse is taking Ryan Homes 6 months to finish.  We STILL do not have power.  We drove by the house the other night.  Some of the houses do have power.  But, not ours.  We were told our house was priority.  Doesn't look like that to us.  We don't have water, we JUST got gas this week...our island needs to be moved and our floors need to be fixed.  It's a very unfortunate situation and frankly, our friends and family that say "it'll be okay"...we wonder if that's what they would say if they were in our shoes.  They can't even tell us when we are going to close.  Absolutely ridiculous.

Still no clue...

We still do not have an idea of when we are closing.  The PM called John yesterday and said he's still shooting for mid-Oct.  However, we don't have a settlement letter yet.  So, in my mind, we aren't closing mid October.  Our Sales Rep left the company.  We still do not have electricity.  And, now we might lose our interest rate that we locked in at.  So stressed about this whole situation.  If we don't close mid October, who knows when we will because we have our wedding the first week of November and then a two week long honeymoon.

Better Now

So I decided to remove my recent post.  Initially, it was very frustrating to hear the news that we would be closing 3 months after the original settlement date.  We had to request and get approval on a late closing in September in order for us to even buy the home.  So, I'm sure some of you can imagine my frustration.  Days have gone by and I've calmed down.  We are going through with this and we're going to remain positive.  However, we are getting our own Home Inspector and we are getting a Mold Certification.  Apparently they put the hardwoods in the dining room on Saturday, we were locked out on Monday morning when we tried to see the house, and I'm pretty sure the sales office was closed.  Hopefully our appliances are in.  Who knows, maybe the power company will be able to get to us sooner than later and we will close earlier than we think.  I'm just still not really into the idea of moving 2 weeks before the wedding.  We have a lot of appointments and little odds and ends scheduled for those weekends, so it'll be extremely tough to move then.  Thanks for the support!

Annoyed

Feeling a little annoyed, so I just need to vent.  We were originally told that our house was supposed to be done in mid July.  That was fine with us, but only if we could close mid September.  They let us extend the closing date to seal the deal.  Perfect.  Well, when we went for our pre-drywall, our PM told us (mid July came and went) that they were looking around August 22nd for the house to be complete.  Okay, that's a month later than expected, that's still fine, because we still want to move in by Sept. 16th.  This will not be a problem per the PM at our pre-drywall meeting.  Well, it's now August 31st, and we have absolutely no idea when the house is going to actually be complete.  We still do not have electric, the deck is not complete, the lawn, the landscaping, they need to fix a chipped piece of concrete on the garage floor, the driveway needs to be done, we do not have our appliances yet, they still need to recarpet the basement that got flooded, put hardwood in the dining room, there is a cracked window in the master bedroom, and the phone lines still need to be done.  The electric isn't even coming until next week.  We don't even have a settlement letter letting us know what day we are closing, and if we are closing on Sept. 16th (like the PM says they are shooting for), when are we going to get that?  It just seems unfair to us because we need to coordinate our work schedules to get a day off for closing, and we need to rent a truck for moving our stuff.  It's two weeks away, and I feel like we've been forgotten about.  Did anybody else feel like this?  How in the world are they going to get all of the things done that they need to finish before Sept. 16th?  And, shouldn't we have our letter by now if they were honestly that confident in reaching that goal?  It really just amazes me that their first anticipated closing date was mid July, and now all of a sudden they are shooting for OUR intended closing date.  What about the other houses in our unit of townhouses?  It's just really, really annoying and we have a lot going on.  If they can't get this done by Sept. 16th, the time between closing and the wedding will just keep on shrinking and we'll both officially be "insane".

Sealing Granite & Grout

Hello!  To the people who have already settled into their new homes, when did you seal your granite and grout in the shower?  I am not sure if we should do this immediately after closing?  Also - what products did you use and how long did it take you?  If you could let me know, that would be great!  Thank you so much!! :)

Horrible Surprise

First of all, we ended up getting carpet in the dining room after all.  We spoke to our PM on Friday afternoon and told him we feared that they were going to carpet the dining room even though we paid for hardwood.  He said he'd be sure to make a call and make sure it was hardwood.  Well, we were out of town since Friday, so we swung by today.  Well - the dining room is carpeted.  That was our first surprise.

The living room has carpeting down, and the steps to the upstairs have padding on them, and the upstairs has carpeting laid out as well.  The basement steps have padding on them, and while we were heading down to the basement to see if it was carpeted (it's hard to see because we do not have electricity yet and it's a rainy day here today)...John gets to the bottom and sees that we have carpeting.  He steps off the last step and got a horrible surprise.

**********SPLASH**********

Yea, no joke, between 4-6" of water IN the basement ON TOP of the CARPETING.  I cannot even deal right now.  With so much going on between the house and wedding and work, I do not even know what to do.  I seriously was about to cry.  Then, I just got really angry...we went over to our Sales Rep because the model home was still open. 

We told him what is going on and he said this is happening because we do not have electricity right now so the sump pump isn't turning on, and that the area around our house is not grated (sp?) correctly yet.  I really kind of don't buy this.  I honestly think it's just something that the buyer would want to hear.  I, however, was raised by parents who don't take BS.  I said to him - regardless of the sump pump, water should not be getting into our basement.  He said water would probably get in to the sump pump but that's why it's there.  I'm starting to really wonder if Ryan gives the buyers a sump pump included for a reason.  Are they taking short cuts?

I need your opinions.  I honestly don't even know where to go with this one.  He said they would replace the carpeting and cut out the drywall that was affected and make sure everything is fine.  What am I supposed to do, go and watch them do this?  How am I supposed to believe that they will do the right thing?  This is a finished basement, we are going to use this as living space, I have horrible allergies and if I have mold in my living space, I am going to be miserable 24/7.  We are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for this home.  Can you guys please help me on this one?  If there is one thing on my blog that concerns me the most - this is the post, and I REALLY need your opinions :( :(

Is this normal?

I went to the house last night, and we have our lighting fixtures now and they stained the banisters.  They also did end up painting the shutters and the front door the Colonial Red like they said they were going to...I was wrong about the color remaining the gray color!  What else...the porch was poured, and we have our sink and faucet...I have pics that I'll put on as soon as I get a minute to myself hahaha! 

Anyway - I have a question.  They have all of our hardwood done in the kitchen, foyer, powder room and coat closet.  We paid for hardwood in the dining room.  The hardwood has been finished in the rest of the house for over 2 weeks now.  Do you think they forgot to do our dining room?  Should I say something?  Why would they wait to do that room? 

Thanks!!

Locked in!!

Hey guys!  We are officially locked in at 4.25%.  We are happy to be there, since our initial cost calculation sheet was with an estimated 4.75% interest rate.  Already saving some money.  I know it's not much, but it means a lot to us.  AND, the cost was less than yesterday as well, so we really made out :)  We are going to the house tonight.  I have pics that I need to post.  We have our cabinets in, and our hardwood in the foyer, powder room, and kitchen.  We have our Vinyl in as well.  I will get some more pics tonight and post later!

Rate Question...HELP!

We are feeling clueless on the whole locking in on our interest rate thing.  I contacted our NVR Rep today and he let us know that the rate for today on a 60 day lock is 4.25% - cost .375%.  What does this even mean?  4.25% sounds appealing to me, but is there somebody on here that can help me with this a little more?  I'm assuming that tomorrow's rates may be around the same...at least I'm hoping because it's 4:30PM right now, and I could probably only lock this in until 5PM.  HELP!  PLEASE!

Thank you!!

Siding, Stone & Shutters!

 Took a drive by the house tonight to show my Dad around.  Much to my surprise, we had this:

I LOVE IT!  We are supposed to have Colonial Red shutter and front door, but I am hoping they keep the current color on the shutters because I like them better LOL!

Pre-Drywall

From Foyer

1 Guest Room

Master

Loft

Waterproofing the Window Frames

Our units together

Add caption

Selling lots of homes!

Flat Screen Cable Wires?

Family Room

Family Room w/Deck Door

Island

Sorry it's sideways! hahah

We had our pre-drywall meeting on Friday the 15th.  It was a fairly quick meeting, going through the house, checking the framing, electric, and plumbing along with all of our lighting placements and fireplace, etc.  Everything was great.  We didn't have an issue on anything - except for the fact that our finished basement doesn't have a window in the main part of it.  However, when we went downstairs with the PM that was the first thing he addressed.  They are putting a window in, as they misrepresented this to all of our neighbors, including us.  Of course we noticed this about a week before the pre-drywall meeting (b/c we were in the house hehe) and we didn't say anything, because we were going to bring it up at the meeting.  It was great that we didn't even have to do that though, because it's already being taken care of!  We also learned from our PM that most of our neighbors are young couples or newlyweds with babies!  So exciting!!  Projected closing date is 8/19, however we won't be closing until 9/16.  We are going to do the closing walk through and all of that on 8/19 (if this is the definite closing date), so that when we close about a month later, all we need to do is sign some paperwork and get our keys!  It'll be easier for the PM too, so that he doesn't have to come back for all of that.  I can't WAIT!  I have gone furniture shopping, and got a living room set, a dining table and chairs, I need a hutch or buffet server still...some cute lamps, and some really nice glassware to display.  I just can't help myself!  My new favorite store is HomeGoods - I just cannot believe the deals that they have at all times!  I bought 4 upholstered dining chairs for $60/piece!  And, I want to get two more for each end of the table, but I want them to be a little different than the four on the sides.  It'll just add to the room :)  Here are some pics and a video from about 2 weeks ago, lol!  First time using the camera as a video camera, so please don't mind me going in all different directions, I have learned better since this! 

Carpeting

Hi everyone!  I have pictures and a video to upload when I get home from work.  The whole house is framed, we have a roof, and on last Friday (7/1), our PM told us we would have our pre-drywall meeting in two weeks.  I am PRAYING that we can schedule it for 7/15 because my office is moving and we are CLOSED that day!!!!  If I don't have to take off of work, that'll be wonderful!  Anyway - I do have a question.  What color was your carpet that you chose (if you chose the Ryan selections and didn't upgrade) and was it too dark, too light, or just the color you thought it would turn out to be?  I am getting a little nervous that my choice is going to be too dark because my parent's house has a very light colored carpet.  Anybody want to share?  THANK YOU!! :)

Pictures! 2nd Story is UP!

Back of House

Distance



Entryway/Powder Room




From Kitchen



Front Door/Porch

2nd Floor in the Front!

We didn't have steps on Wed. but this is a shot of one guest bedroom upstairs

Loft

Hey guys!  Hope you're all doing well.  Everyone's houses look AMAZING!  This is so exciting!  These pics are from Wed. 6/8, we are going again tonight, so I'm sure that the roof will be on - then I'll post more pics tomorrow!  Enjoy! :)

Question on Locking In

I'm at work right now, and all of my paperwork is at home, and I just realized that I forget when the timing is supposed to kick in that we can lock in our interest rate.  What stage of the game is that again?  Anybody know if they are still decent today?  We're really hoping to get it between 4.5 and 4.75....THANKS!!! :)

On to the Second Floor!

Hey guys!  I'm so psyched right now, I went by the house yesterday afternoon with my mom and brother.  Our first floor is pretty much framed out and by next week we should have the whole house framed and be under roof!  Then, all the electrical things start to happen and all that "stuff".  How long does that "stuff" take?  It's so funny because I want everything to be precise, but at the same time, I want this to move even faster!  I need to work on my patience!!!!!  I assume that we will have a pre-drywall meeting before I know it?  I'm so excited!!  Here are a few pics for all of you :)  Happy Father's Day to all the great Dad's out there!  Enjoy your day!

Our front porch on the left, garage on the right.

Just a shot from the other side

Shot from the distance

Yours truly in the kitchen entrance from garage

Corner fireplace is in the correct spot!

Mom at the island/breakfast bar

Standing in the dining area

Dining area windows from the outside of the house

Back of the first floor with my brother in it lol

Another shot of the front/side

Our hole!

I went to the model home with my family yesterday to show them the finished product.  While I was there, the guys were working on the slab for our garage floor.  Our Sales Rep told me that they should begin framing on Monday and the longest it would take to finish is 2 weeks.  He thinks it'll only take about a week, a week and a half.  I didn't take any other pictures because the guys were right there, and I couldn't fit my car through the road because of all the trucks.  However, I am posting the pictures that I promised - including a picture of our wood ;) Enjoy!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend!! :)