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| PERMIT IN HAND! |
Building our first home by Ryan Homes
Saturday, May 25, 2013
PERMITTED TO PROCEED!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Progress Report
YAY!! We have a street now. Our Lot is on right side looking at the first picture of the cul de sac where the pile of rocks are in gutter.
Let me begin with a BIG THANKS! to Tina our SR for the updated lot pics. Now, there has been some breakthroughs in the development of our house.. During our Pre con meeting we were told that our house was originally the 3rd house to break ground based on the date of application of applicants.. which is fine with us.. We were more interested in the June/July completion date when we first started this adventure.. Well, of course the delays are now starting to pile on and with them the anxiety starts to fill us up emotionally. We were told during the pre con meeting that 1 May would be our ground breaking day. Since then it has been pushed back due to permits and developer backlog and such. We then discovered from our SR that our delivery/closing will now be pushed back into mid Aug.. ACK!!!!! That was not what we wanted to hear, as we are now pushing into the new school year for the kids.. We will basically be moving into the house during one week and the kids starting school the next week.. Not to mention that we will have to extend our stay with my brother-in-law and his family until we can move in. This just went from staying with them for less than a month, to close to 2 months. Talk about inconvenience. And they live in Crofton MD, which is at least an hour to our new neighborhood in Aquia, VA. Its probably a good thing I am military retired, so I don't have to worry about work, but Darla will have some commuting to do in the first month of reporting to her next command. I will say that I am very appreciative that we can afford to be in a house like this and have family to help us out during this time.
Another interesting development. Last week, we requested and explanation from our SR or PM regarding the delay in construction and also expressed our concerns, they explained they developers delay in permits, and that our house will now be the first to be built on the street because the first two neighbors had to pull out of the process... sigh! While I am happy that the house is starting to be built soon, I not sure how happy I am to be the first to be built because that means construction will be going on for probably the next year on our street and the adjacent street behind us. Pros and Cons I suppose. Darla is more concerned with our move in date - to worry about construction on the street...easy for her, she will go to work and not be bothered by early morning construction noises!
I do know that one of our neighbors is getting anxious as well at "Lot 3" and she has been blogging more with updates which is good because we can follow her progress as well. I believe her house is next to be started after ours based on her timeline listed in her blog. Melissa, thanks for keeping up the great posts, especially ones with pics of the neighborhood:)
As of now, I really don't know exactly what day they will "break-ground". I am hopeful it will be during the week of 6 May, but I wont be surprised if its the week after.
Update for the Spring
I haven't provided updates in awhile, mostly because there hasn't been much to update. So, I will go over some of the things that has happened since my last post in this post, and will provide another post with our most recent information updates since our Pre Con meeting trip.
In late February, we flew to Virginia for a few days to attend our pre-construction meeting. We had it early only because we live so far away and was the most convenient time for all of us to get together.. Generally the meeting is held about 2-3 weeks before construction starts. So, this meeting is about 2-3 months before construction will begin.
During this trip we took advantage of going everywhere we could around our future neighborhood, visiting shopping centers, schools, restaurants, Marina's (for our boat) etc..
The pre-con meeting went well, there weren't any surprises. We went over the blue-prints of the house and discussed details that I was unaware of, such as the numbers and codes that are on the paper that shows the lot, our PM was happy to explain those details for us. The meeting lasted over 2 hours, mostly because we have had no person-to-person contact with our PM and SR until this trip. All previous conversations have been only by phone and email. So this was nice to actually be there in person.
A very BIG Thanks to Tina (SR) and Andy (PM) for all your generous help and patience with us during this visit and meeting. It was comforting to know that our house will be built with you in charge.
Here are some pics of the blueprints that I took (unfortunately I deleted every picture that we took on this trip, so I had to go into "recovery" operation to get back some of them.) So keep in mind this meeting was in late February. Since then the pavement has been finished and I will provide pics of that in the next post.
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After the meeting, we walked right over to see our lot (we are lot 10).
Here is a pic of me with Andy (PM) and Tina (SR).
One of the options for our double welled exit was to have the exit come out the basement and instead of going straight out below the morning room, they could build it to have it come out the side of the house and still run out the back to the back yard. Here is a couple of pictures of another house that has the double welled exit like we will be getting.
We then had a meeting with the flooring company to go over all the options that we chose for the floors, cabinetry and tiles. Danni was our rep, and it was finally nice to meet her in person and to actually see the products. I wasn't able to recover the pictures of our choices that we took that day. Danni did provide us with alot of information about what we are getting and how to maintain everything once installed. She also gave us a tip where to go to get some furniture for some deep discount prices. So, of course we went and checked out that huge warehouse of beautiful furniture.. I think we stayed in that furniture warehouse longer than our meeting with Danni. Thanks again Danni for all your help.
In late February, we flew to Virginia for a few days to attend our pre-construction meeting. We had it early only because we live so far away and was the most convenient time for all of us to get together.. Generally the meeting is held about 2-3 weeks before construction starts. So, this meeting is about 2-3 months before construction will begin.
During this trip we took advantage of going everywhere we could around our future neighborhood, visiting shopping centers, schools, restaurants, Marina's (for our boat) etc..
The pre-con meeting went well, there weren't any surprises. We went over the blue-prints of the house and discussed details that I was unaware of, such as the numbers and codes that are on the paper that shows the lot, our PM was happy to explain those details for us. The meeting lasted over 2 hours, mostly because we have had no person-to-person contact with our PM and SR until this trip. All previous conversations have been only by phone and email. So this was nice to actually be there in person.
A very BIG Thanks to Tina (SR) and Andy (PM) for all your generous help and patience with us during this visit and meeting. It was comforting to know that our house will be built with you in charge.
Here are some pics of the blueprints that I took (unfortunately I deleted every picture that we took on this trip, so I had to go into "recovery" operation to get back some of them.) So keep in mind this meeting was in late February. Since then the pavement has been finished and I will provide pics of that in the next post.
.JPG)
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After the meeting, we walked right over to see our lot (we are lot 10).
Here is a pic of me with Andy (PM) and Tina (SR).
One of the options for our double welled exit was to have the exit come out the basement and instead of going straight out below the morning room, they could build it to have it come out the side of the house and still run out the back to the back yard. Here is a couple of pictures of another house that has the double welled exit like we will be getting.
We then had a meeting with the flooring company to go over all the options that we chose for the floors, cabinetry and tiles. Danni was our rep, and it was finally nice to meet her in person and to actually see the products. I wasn't able to recover the pictures of our choices that we took that day. Danni did provide us with alot of information about what we are getting and how to maintain everything once installed. She also gave us a tip where to go to get some furniture for some deep discount prices. So, of course we went and checked out that huge warehouse of beautiful furniture.. I think we stayed in that furniture warehouse longer than our meeting with Danni. Thanks again Danni for all your help.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Upcoming Pre Con Meeting and other updates
We are headed to our community to meet with our SR and PM for the very first time. This will be our first and probably only trip to the area during this entire process, right up until they hand us the keys.
During this trip, the plan is to have our Pre-Con meeting, meet with Guardian rep to go over the choices we picked and where electrical outlets and data ports will be placed, and then re-cap with the flooring folks with our choices so we can actually see what we got ourselves into.... ugh! We will finally get to see a Rome Model in person .. yay! And when we are not in meetings, then that will be the time that we get out and see our new neighborhood. See where things are like Shops, stores, schools, etc.. We will even use the VRE from Quantico and take it to Arlington so Darla can see how her daily commute will be.
We just received a message from our first neighbor that building on the same street, and will be right across the street from us. This is nice, since we are new to this area.
We really don't have any requests hanging out there. Actually, I think we are still waiting on whether or not we can have a "gas-line" hook up outside the morning room for a barbecue. This was recommended if we BBQ a lot, this will alleviate having to go through the ordeal of getting the propane tank filled up once every couple of months.
We are getting a Double Welled Exit from the finished basement, however, we had an option of it coming off the side of the house, situated a few feet back from the Morning Room cut out. Essentially, the exit will be just under the kitchen, and parallel the house towards the back yard, and ending just about at the end of the Morning Room. Here is a picture of what I'm talking about. As you can see the welled exit coming out the left side of the Morning Room.
And this will open up the area under the Morning Room, which we are considering our "Movie" area in the basement, since we already purchased the Surround Sound option for the basement. We have grown fond of this placement, as it will not interfere with the future plans for the Morning Room Deck/Patio.
During this trip, the plan is to have our Pre-Con meeting, meet with Guardian rep to go over the choices we picked and where electrical outlets and data ports will be placed, and then re-cap with the flooring folks with our choices so we can actually see what we got ourselves into.... ugh! We will finally get to see a Rome Model in person .. yay! And when we are not in meetings, then that will be the time that we get out and see our new neighborhood. See where things are like Shops, stores, schools, etc.. We will even use the VRE from Quantico and take it to Arlington so Darla can see how her daily commute will be.
We just received a message from our first neighbor that building on the same street, and will be right across the street from us. This is nice, since we are new to this area.
We really don't have any requests hanging out there. Actually, I think we are still waiting on whether or not we can have a "gas-line" hook up outside the morning room for a barbecue. This was recommended if we BBQ a lot, this will alleviate having to go through the ordeal of getting the propane tank filled up once every couple of months.
We are getting a Double Welled Exit from the finished basement, however, we had an option of it coming off the side of the house, situated a few feet back from the Morning Room cut out. Essentially, the exit will be just under the kitchen, and parallel the house towards the back yard, and ending just about at the end of the Morning Room. Here is a picture of what I'm talking about. As you can see the welled exit coming out the left side of the Morning Room.
And this will open up the area under the Morning Room, which we are considering our "Movie" area in the basement, since we already purchased the Surround Sound option for the basement. We have grown fond of this placement, as it will not interfere with the future plans for the Morning Room Deck/Patio.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Mind Changing and Decisions
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| Loft of Rome Elevation D pic 1 |
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| Loft of Rome Elevation D pic 2 |
So after receiving the above draft site plan with our 3 options for a double welled exit; and these photos of the loft of an Elevation D Rome - we have made our final decision...
Elevation C with Stone - double welled exit off of the left side of the finished basement!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Updated Change to Selection list
Home Changes:
Hardwood in Family Room - change to carpet
Hardwood Study - change to carpet
Gas line range - change to electric
Added Flooring changes:
Basement carpet pad
Zone 2 (2nd flr) Carpet pad
Study carpet pad
Family Rm carpet pad
Throughout home changes:
Morning Rm (optional) windows
Cognac Kitchen Cabs
Crown molding kitchen cabs
Under cab lights kitchen
Recessed lights fireplace
Granite wheat vanity top hall bath
Master bath vanity cognac cab
Hall bath vanity cognac cab
Upgrade hall bath ceramic surround "b"
We have not finalized the elevation question. Our goal is to be definite about it after I talk to Guardian (hopefully Monday) and Darla talks to Flooring Rep on Tuesday morning. That info along with (or not) our welled walk out is facing in the rear-of house direction vice parallel to morning room, then we pay for a double walk out, and if we can get that glass door for the study (NS request) will help us decide if we want to budget the extra $4000 for elevation C or not
Hardwood in Family Room - change to carpet
Hardwood Study - change to carpet
Gas line range - change to electric
Added Flooring changes:
Basement carpet pad
Zone 2 (2nd flr) Carpet pad
Study carpet pad
Family Rm carpet pad
Throughout home changes:
Morning Rm (optional) windows
Cognac Kitchen Cabs
Crown molding kitchen cabs
Under cab lights kitchen
Recessed lights fireplace
Granite wheat vanity top hall bath
Master bath vanity cognac cab
Hall bath vanity cognac cab
Upgrade hall bath ceramic surround "b"
We have not finalized the elevation question. Our goal is to be definite about it after I talk to Guardian (hopefully Monday) and Darla talks to Flooring Rep on Tuesday morning. That info along with (or not) our welled walk out is facing in the rear-of house direction vice parallel to morning room, then we pay for a double walk out, and if we can get that glass door for the study (NS request) will help us decide if we want to budget the extra $4000 for elevation C or not
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Ryans Home - Rome - Day 1.. ack!!
Well, I thought I would start a blog about this new and exciting adventure of us buying a new construction home through Ryan Homes so that we can share this with our friends and family, of course for anyone else that wants to read yet another blog about another Ryan Home being built from the ground up.
**The picture above is Darla and I in Rome, Italy.. I thought it was a good way to start it off :)
We chose the Rome model mostly because of the room requirements for our family. And of course, its the best model offered at the community we are looking to move to.. I never realized how popular this particular model was until I started reading all of the blogs written about it.
So before I get into the ugly details of where we are at in the process now, I am going to let you know that we currently live in Hawaii, and our home is being built just south of Quantico VA.. Yes, this will be a full ocean and cross-country design, development, bargaining, and utterly confusing way of doing it, but we don't really have any other choice. My wife (Darla) just got military orders to move us to Washington, DC. So we just decided to buy our first house.. and a NEW CON at that:) . Please bear this in mind as you read this ongoing blog when we get disgruntled in the process, as we don't have the luxury of feeling the carpet choices, walking on the wooden floor examples, nor feeling the coolness of granite counters options. I will end up flying out to meet with the PM maybe once during this entire process... RH reps say this is very doable, and therefore are going to get it done this way.
We literally just started this process 30 Dec 2012. We received the phone call from the Mortgage rep this morning, and are now gathering all those documents needed to start the application. We are almost done getting them.. Then hopefully tomorrow we get the email that has color selection choices for cabinets, counter tops, carpets etc... so we can somehow make a decision without having hands-on reference.
We have pretty much decided on majority of the house options, they are:
>EXTERIOR
ELEVATION??? Still haven't decided.. We really like the C with the porch, but porch is not available in the area. We might end up going with Elevation A to save money, As C is $4000 without the porch... ack!!!
> BASEMENT (absolutely wanted the finished basement with bathroom)
WELLED EXIT BSMT ~REAR MASONRY WALL
> BASEMENT LAYOUT
FINISHED BASEMENT
2 PIECE PLUMBING ROUGH-IN BASEMENT
PDR RM BSMT ~BATHTUB BSMT
> MORNING ROOM
MORN RM ~FIN BSMT
> KITCHEN
lots of decisions here... mostly the cabinet color choices, the countertops, and backsplash (if any)
DOUBLE PATIO DOOR DINETTE
KITCHEN GOURMET ISLAND
KITCHEN FAIRFIELD SQUARE MAPLE SPICE TIMBERLAKE (this will probably be changed)
> 42 INCH CABINETS (SKD)
42" WALL CABINETS KITCHEN
> GRANITE KITCHEN COUNTERTOPS
GRANITE COUNTERTOP KITCHEN UPGRADE #1
GRAN KIT UP1 ~MORN RM
GRAN KIT UP1 ~GOURMET ISLAND
> APPLIANCES
RANGE GAS HOOK-UP
PREMIER VI FRSTNDG ~MICROWAVE ~RANGE
FRIDGE G ~ICEMAKER KIT RI
> FAMILY ROOM
FIREPLACE SIDE ~STONE (Really want the Stone Mantle vice the Wooden mantle)
> OWNERS SUITE
OWNER'S BATHROOM TYPE E W/SOAKING TUB & SHOWER (Stanhope model had the best
layout for bathroom.. oh well)
> VANITIES
DOUBLE BOWL VANITY OWNER'S BATHROOM
> VANITIES OWNER'S BATH
Maple Spice (this will change) Double Bowl
> VANITY TOPS OWNER'S BATH
VANITY TOPS OWNER'S BATHROOM GRANITE WHEAT (this will change)
> VANITIES SECONDARY BATHS
VAN FFIELD-MPL SP ~SGL BWL VAN BATH1
> INTERIOR SPECIFICATIONS
PINE STAIR W/OAK HANDRAIL, BASEPLATE/WHITE BALUSTERS
> ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS
RECESSED LIGHTS KITCHEN OPTIONAL
6 - CEILING FAN ROUGH-IN (EA)
> FLOORING (still trying to figure out what the choices of "A" are?)
HARDWOOD FOYER (A)
HARDWOOD POWDER ROOM FIRST FLOOR (A)
HARDWOOD KITCHEN (A)
HARDWOOD MUD ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD DINING ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD LIVING ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD FAMILY ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD STUDY (A)
HARDWOOD HALL FIRST FLOOR (A)
Anyway, this is just a start.. and I will be posting pics of the table that is next to me that has our layout plans.. i went and got poster boards and will be sketching out each floor to follow each of our decisions.
Here we goooooooooo.!!!
**The picture above is Darla and I in Rome, Italy.. I thought it was a good way to start it off :)
We chose the Rome model mostly because of the room requirements for our family. And of course, its the best model offered at the community we are looking to move to.. I never realized how popular this particular model was until I started reading all of the blogs written about it.
So before I get into the ugly details of where we are at in the process now, I am going to let you know that we currently live in Hawaii, and our home is being built just south of Quantico VA.. Yes, this will be a full ocean and cross-country design, development, bargaining, and utterly confusing way of doing it, but we don't really have any other choice. My wife (Darla) just got military orders to move us to Washington, DC. So we just decided to buy our first house.. and a NEW CON at that:) . Please bear this in mind as you read this ongoing blog when we get disgruntled in the process, as we don't have the luxury of feeling the carpet choices, walking on the wooden floor examples, nor feeling the coolness of granite counters options. I will end up flying out to meet with the PM maybe once during this entire process... RH reps say this is very doable, and therefore are going to get it done this way.
We literally just started this process 30 Dec 2012. We received the phone call from the Mortgage rep this morning, and are now gathering all those documents needed to start the application. We are almost done getting them.. Then hopefully tomorrow we get the email that has color selection choices for cabinets, counter tops, carpets etc... so we can somehow make a decision without having hands-on reference.
We have pretty much decided on majority of the house options, they are:
>EXTERIOR
ELEVATION??? Still haven't decided.. We really like the C with the porch, but porch is not available in the area. We might end up going with Elevation A to save money, As C is $4000 without the porch... ack!!!
> BASEMENT (absolutely wanted the finished basement with bathroom)
WELLED EXIT BSMT ~REAR MASONRY WALL
> BASEMENT LAYOUT
FINISHED BASEMENT
2 PIECE PLUMBING ROUGH-IN BASEMENT
PDR RM BSMT ~BATHTUB BSMT
> MORNING ROOM
MORN RM ~FIN BSMT
> KITCHEN
lots of decisions here... mostly the cabinet color choices, the countertops, and backsplash (if any)
DOUBLE PATIO DOOR DINETTE
KITCHEN GOURMET ISLAND
KITCHEN FAIRFIELD SQUARE MAPLE SPICE TIMBERLAKE (this will probably be changed)
> 42 INCH CABINETS (SKD)
42" WALL CABINETS KITCHEN
> GRANITE KITCHEN COUNTERTOPS
GRANITE COUNTERTOP KITCHEN UPGRADE #1
GRAN KIT UP1 ~MORN RM
GRAN KIT UP1 ~GOURMET ISLAND
> APPLIANCES
RANGE GAS HOOK-UP
PREMIER VI FRSTNDG ~MICROWAVE ~RANGE
FRIDGE G ~ICEMAKER KIT RI
> FAMILY ROOM
FIREPLACE SIDE ~STONE (Really want the Stone Mantle vice the Wooden mantle)
> OWNERS SUITE
OWNER'S BATHROOM TYPE E W/SOAKING TUB & SHOWER (Stanhope model had the best
layout for bathroom.. oh well)
> VANITIES
DOUBLE BOWL VANITY OWNER'S BATHROOM
> VANITIES OWNER'S BATH
Maple Spice (this will change) Double Bowl
> VANITY TOPS OWNER'S BATH
VANITY TOPS OWNER'S BATHROOM GRANITE WHEAT (this will change)
> VANITIES SECONDARY BATHS
VAN FFIELD-MPL SP ~SGL BWL VAN BATH1
> INTERIOR SPECIFICATIONS
PINE STAIR W/OAK HANDRAIL, BASEPLATE/WHITE BALUSTERS
> ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS
RECESSED LIGHTS KITCHEN OPTIONAL
6 - CEILING FAN ROUGH-IN (EA)
> FLOORING (still trying to figure out what the choices of "A" are?)
HARDWOOD FOYER (A)
HARDWOOD POWDER ROOM FIRST FLOOR (A)
HARDWOOD KITCHEN (A)
HARDWOOD MUD ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD DINING ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD LIVING ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD FAMILY ROOM (A)
HARDWOOD STUDY (A)
HARDWOOD HALL FIRST FLOOR (A)
Anyway, this is just a start.. and I will be posting pics of the table that is next to me that has our layout plans.. i went and got poster boards and will be sketching out each floor to follow each of our decisions.
Here we goooooooooo.!!!
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