Saturday, January 14, 2012

Pre-construction meeting

We met with Dave (the builder) on Wednesday, exactly one month after I handed the sales rep the largest amount of money I have ever held.  The previous month had been pretty uneventful in terms of our new home- all of our selections had already been finalized and we were just waiting on the Town to approve the permits for our new home.  Here and there my wife would change her mind on some little detail and I would have to drive over to the model to initial yet another change order.  I would like to say that the Christmas holiday went well, but our son brought a stomach bug home from school that made both of us sick (of course I got it the worst).  But so it goes. (Did you catch the Kurt Vonnegut reference?  That's right, a little nerd for ya).

Our meeting with Dave was pretty quick.  All he did was go over the list of our selections and upgrades.  And my God, there were a ton of them.  When everything was laid out on paper, it was a little dizzying.  Did we really opt for all of this stuff?  But the good news was that the Town approved our permits and groundbreaking will be on Tuesday!  That means our new home is scheduled to be complete about the first week of April.
All marked off and ready for digging

There was one small disappointment though.  We were informed that Ryan is unable to install the exposed wooden stairs w/runner on the Rome.  I know this isn't a huge deal, but this was one of the few things that I really wanted.  And to be told it could be done for $750 and then have it taken away 2 months later was a little disheartening.

And I think this happens to most homebuilders, but immediately after our meeting with Dave, my wife drove over to the design studio and began second-guessing the flooring selections.  We decided to go with our gut instinct and leave our choices intact.   We were also informed that the price of the Rome model in our community has suffered yet another price increase of $10,000.  That's a $20,000 in less than 2 months!  And now Ryan is offering only the free morning room instead of the free morning room and free finished full basement.  It's almost like getting instant equity!

Cedar Creek Brick (will be partial with stone on facade and full wrap on 1st level, sides/rear) w/ Black Shutters and Door


Buff Stone (will be partial w/ brick on facade)

Stone Mountain Clay siding example (will be on 2nd level sides and rear)


I will attempt to list most of the selections and upgrades that we opted for:
  • Rome Elevation C w/ partial brick and stone facade - Brickcraft Cedar Creek, Buff Stone
  • Stone Mountain Clay siding
  • Full Brick wrap on first level (sides and rear)
  • 3 car garage
  • black shutters and door
Basement
  • Coco Beach berber carpet with 8lb pad
  • full finished basement
  • full bath in basement
First Floor
  • morning room with optional side windows
  • gourmet kitchen with Scottsdale Espresso cabinetry (42 inch with crown molding)
  • New Venetian granite countertops
  • family room with rear stone fireplace, with 2 eyeball lights and recessed lighting
  • hardwood flooring on first floor except for study and family room - Bruce Legacy Manor Spice Tint
  • Trim Package Option 3 (2 piece crown in formal living room, study and dining room. 2 piece chair rail in formal living room and dining room.  "Box"molding in dining room. 
  • Non-standard trim option of "box" molding in formal living area to match dining room
  • wrought iron spindles on staircase
2nd Floor
  • non-standard crown molding in master bedroom
  • upgraded master bath with soaker tub and ceramic tile surround
  • Wheat granite countertop in master
  • Espresso cabinets in all bathrooms
  • optional 3rd full bath in guest room
  • Fine Linen carpeting with 8lb pad throughout
  • Brixton Bone ceramic tile in all bathrooms and laundry room
  • stationary tub added into laundry room
Guardian Upgrades:
  • Silver surround sound package in basement
  • extra motion, heat, carbon monoxide sensors
  • cable and phone lines
Other:
  • Lighting Package C, brushed nickel
  • all bath fixtures are brushed nickel
  • upgraded kitchen sink and faucet
  • fan rough-ins in all bedrooms, morning room and family room
  • 80 gallon water heater
  • Stainless Appliance Package 4 with GE Profile Stainless appliances

    1 comment:

    1. Ryan can't keep the stair issue straight. I was told they wouldn't do hardwood stairs. Sales rep said Ryan only did stairs with carpet. I dug up some blogs and showed him Ryan homes being built with hardwood stairs. He got with PM and shared. PM went to the factory guys - and I got my hardwood stairs. No runner, though - you'd have to do that yourself. Although God only knows why they can't have Rite Rug price that out, too. I'm sure Rite Rug would be more than happy to do it. I got oak stairs for the low low bargain price of $1350.

      Be careful about your 80 gallon hot water heater, too. We were promised one as well. We were told it was the biggest we could get. Well, guess what was in our house at walk-through? A 50 gallon. And they say this gas 50 gallon would have been a $1050 upgrade had we selected it ourselves at the time we did our contract. What? But we practically begged to upgrade at the time and they said there was no upgrade. Confused? Yeah, me too.

      Then, I see you upgraded your sink. We were also told no sink upgrade was available. Granted, we are building the Ravenna and you are building the Rome, but come on...

      Don't feel bad about multiple trips to Rite Rug. I think we have a close personal friend in our Rite Rug rep now, we saw her so many times about our 'non-standard' issues.

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