I finally took a plunge and landed on Pinterest

In the midst of finding our new dream home. I've been revitalized with new ideas and things I want to try. I love the Houzz website!  I'm a creative person by nature but having an endless flow of photos to stimulate my own ideas is phenomenal!  It's going to take years for me to get my home how I want it.  Things are ever-evolving and I don't have the time or resources to get everything right in the next year.  I've been seeing some of my FB friends share things from Pinterest and so I decided to explore.  What a nifty site! Real life things i can try and do myself! It's amazing and I encourage anyone with a knack to explore new and creative things to take a stab a Pinterest.  You won't be disappointed!!!!

Perplexed but still motivated... I think

Welp - the good news is our house got an offer the 2nd day and is on it's way to closing. The bad news or shall I say, not so great news is that we can't get a Ravenna at Culpepper.  As of today, they have completely removed the plans and everything off the site and out of the model home and no longer are offering.  Instead, for almost $30k more, we can get a Verona.  Excitement? [pause] I don't think so! I think it's absolutely ridiculous and my patience has worn thin with Ryan Homes... On top of that - the house wouldn't be ready until January and there are only a couple of lots left and the nicer lot comes with a $20k lot premium!!!

Visited with Sales Rep today! Decisions... Decisions

So we just got back from visiting with the Sales Rep at Culpepper.  My agent was able to make it and it took us like 4 hours!!! If you plan to go to a sales office, be prepared to be there a while.  Between the baby crying (we couldn't get a babysitter) and random foot traffic, we had to keep stopping.  With only one sales rep there today it was pretty hectic.  I made sure I had my list of questions and options prepared before I came and after she was done with the basics I went over all of my questions and concerns.  DH was great! He managed the kids while I got the much needed questions answered.  I really hope Ryan Homes will turn out to be the right choice for us... While we were there the lady from Crystal Lake South called looking to see if we were interested in her offers.  DH answered and idk what happened from there!! I'm really glad she called because the sales associate looked a little worried and asked us were we going to go there after seeing her. Hahaha! After 4 hours of DD and DS acting crazy - it was time to come home to crash!  We have our cost estimate in hand and are trying to narrow down the extras.  So far we have:

Downstairs bedroom w/ shower additional $1500+ $6000 for room
Hardwood 1st floor $8000+
Fireplace $3600
Extra windows $990
Bonus Bedroom $14000+
Free Morning Room (yay!)
Free Granite in Kitchen

and that's just to name a few.  I don't think I can part with the extra bedrooms but that hardwood flooring is astronomical! Does it really cost that much? And that's the cheap stuff! Maybe we can get it installed cheaper later on?  It would definitely save us some money because Ryan is only offering $2500 in closing cost. I'm just not thrilled. Not to mention the neighbor who will be next door to the lot we want, happened to show up today.  He's been presold since December and was told his house would be ready by July.  I should've taken pics.  They still haven't graded the lots and we have a lake behind our lots that has flooded his lot. Glad we haven't sold our house yet...

What's the Deal?

So my DH and I decided it was time to move. After 4 years in our and 2 kids later we just would like to have a little more space. Don't get me wrong - our house is great that we have now, we've done wonderful upgrades and love our home but we just want to make sure that as our kids get older we don't all go crazy!  With that said - after visiting several homesites we've decided Culpepper Landing in Chesapeake, Virginia would be the most formidable option.  Our 2nd runner up was Crystal Lake South, another Ryan developed community.  We decided against Crystal Lake South because it was much smaller, the homes are isolated between several industrial areas and we wanted to have community amenities that they don't not offer at CLS.  Nonetheless if you like seclusion, manmade lakes and plan to provide your own outdoor pool and travel elsewhere to jog and walk then this community is great for you!  DH are going today with our Realtor.  Yes, we decided to use our realtor during this process.  I've read my buyers that take the venture alone and some that opt for their own agent.  Personally, I'm sure I am capable of walking into their and negotiating just as well as any seasoned realtor but I don't have the time!  My realtor is a wonderful lady and if she doesn't mind I will provide her information later!

Oh and we haven't put our current house on the market yet. We are aiming next week once all pics have been taken! I hope it sells quickly so we can be up and out and on our way to our Ravenna!

First Timer

So I've never created a blog before. This is definitely going to be an experience.  I've been scouring the internet for information and after seeing tons of older blogs about building homes with Ryan (none in my area of course), I decided I would start one of my own and track my own progress.  Hopefully my experiences will help others just as other blogs have done for me :)