The pre-construction meeting with our project manager (PM), project supervisor (PS) and SR was held last Friday March 21st. The meeting lasted for about 1.5 hours in the office and another 30 mins in the lot. It went okay and most of our questions have been addressed. They expect to receive the building permit sometime this week, and will start digging (groundbreaking) on the week of March 31st. I really thought that permits have to be secured first before holding the pre-construction meeting. I guess they are in a hurry to start on our house. PM said that the Palermo is typically completed in less than 90 days. Estimated closing will happen in late June. SR mentioned before that Ryan Homes have a quota for the number of houses that they have to finish by the end of the 2nd quarter June 30th (maybe Ryan Homes' fiscal year runs from July 1 - June 30). Either way, the PM promised us that we could move in by July 1st (or else he'll be fired I guess - just kidding :)
Both the PM and PS seem very nice and helpful. We got a copy of the electrical blueprint and it looks like all the switch and outlet locations in the plan make sense (none located between windows, etc.). I read how several bloggers complain about counterintuitive or unreasonable locations of some light switches. So before coming to the meeting, we made a list of specific locations of switches that we would request. It turns out that we did not have to request a thing because the switches are pretty much spot on. We'll see how the plan translates into the actual building. PM also assured us that there will be no exhaust vents on the facade of the house. We also specified locations of recessed lightings and hose bibs.
We asked that they do not install the dishwasher that comes with the
kitchen package. PM said the house won't pass inspection without a
dishwasher. He also did not approve to install our own dishwasher. He said that they do not put anything that they do not gurarantee and we can't use our personal stuff in case for some reasons that we couldn't close on the house. Boo!
We then went to our lot that has been staked (with pink and orange flags) to show the extent of our lot and the exact placement of our house on the lot. The future house on our left will be the ranch type Springhaven also with left side-entry garage (as ours). Their construction will start roughly the same time as ours. The house on the right side is a Ravenna with a basement and has just been completed. The PM and PS walked us around this Ravenna to show us some of the exterior features that would be in our house too (what the exhaust and dryer vents look like, the sump pump drain, gutter drain, exterior lights, exterior outlets, double-welled basement exit, etc
Overall, the meeting went okay but not as we expected. We reviewed and verified all of our options but we were hoping to see the actual blueprints of our house but were told that they are not yet available. As soon as construction starts, we will receive weekly email updates from the PM and calls/texts ad hoc.
Please join us in our adventure as we travel the road to building our Ryan home in Virginia.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Some exciting news - Loan approval and Pre-construction mtg scheduled
Our mortgage loan has been approved sometime last week (between March 3-7), but we have not been notified until today because our LO has been out of the office. All the same, thank God! SR also called today to inform us that permits have been cleared and that we can schedule our pre-construction meeting next Friday, March 21st. Getting ready for a blog-reading blitz before Friday to make my pre-construction questions list.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Still waiting ... Updates: Non-standard changes, NVR
Although not much happened (we have finalized our flooring and cable options and still waiting for our permit from the county), it's been a week since my last post so I thought of writing about some updates:
Non-standard changes
I don't know if this applies to our community only, but I just found out that there is a minimum $300 administrative fee for non-standard changes. We were surprised (shocked) and a bit upset about this, so our SR apologized that she did not know this (being fairly new with RH) and thus wasn't able to give us the benefit of that knowledge upfront. She said that she thought she had properly set the expectation that there would be some sort of charge for these requests. Yes, some sort of charge, but for actual costs (materials and labor), and not $300 for putting R-13 insulation (yes that's what they will use for soundproofing) in one wall between master and bonus rooms. So we ended up declining the soundproofing ($300) and the basement to attic conduit ($750). I hope we won't regret our decision.
Right after our non-standard request to move the basement exit to the right side of the house (pic below), I changed my mind and wanted the exit to be on the left side of the house behind the driveway. So I emailed our SR and explained to her how it's more practical to have the basement exit behind the driveway, and that hopefully it's not too late to make the changes. The good thing is, moving the exit to the side has already been approved ($300). And we can specify the exact location where we want it. Yay! This is great because moving the exit to the side means that there would be an extra rear window (where the standard exit would be), so it becomes more acceptable to pay $300.
NVR (lack of) Update
Since our loan application on January 26th, I have not spoken with my Loan Officer, even when I have emailed her more than 3 times already. I did have some questions that I emailed her but she hadn't replied to those questions yet (still waiting for her to email back). Loan Processor contacted me on Feb 14th to check whether we have any other accounts (retirement, savings, etc) that we would like to add in our loan application before it goes to underwriting. It would be nice to have a bigger downpayment, but unfortunately that's it lol :)
Any comments about NVR? I have been comparing the GFE from NVR with the settlement statement from our current home and I am seeing charges that seem redundant in the NVR closing costs estimate so I am not happy about that :(
Non-standard changes
I don't know if this applies to our community only, but I just found out that there is a minimum $300 administrative fee for non-standard changes. We were surprised (shocked) and a bit upset about this, so our SR apologized that she did not know this (being fairly new with RH) and thus wasn't able to give us the benefit of that knowledge upfront. She said that she thought she had properly set the expectation that there would be some sort of charge for these requests. Yes, some sort of charge, but for actual costs (materials and labor), and not $300 for putting R-13 insulation (yes that's what they will use for soundproofing) in one wall between master and bonus rooms. So we ended up declining the soundproofing ($300) and the basement to attic conduit ($750). I hope we won't regret our decision.
Right after our non-standard request to move the basement exit to the right side of the house (pic below), I changed my mind and wanted the exit to be on the left side of the house behind the driveway. So I emailed our SR and explained to her how it's more practical to have the basement exit behind the driveway, and that hopefully it's not too late to make the changes. The good thing is, moving the exit to the side has already been approved ($300). And we can specify the exact location where we want it. Yay! This is great because moving the exit to the side means that there would be an extra rear window (where the standard exit would be), so it becomes more acceptable to pay $300.
 |
| Original side exit request |
 |
| New side exit request similar to this - behind the driveway but on the left side of the house (reversed) |
NVR (lack of) Update
Since our loan application on January 26th, I have not spoken with my Loan Officer, even when I have emailed her more than 3 times already. I did have some questions that I emailed her but she hadn't replied to those questions yet (still waiting for her to email back). Loan Processor contacted me on Feb 14th to check whether we have any other accounts (retirement, savings, etc) that we would like to add in our loan application before it goes to underwriting. It would be nice to have a bigger downpayment, but unfortunately that's it lol :)
Any comments about NVR? I have been comparing the GFE from NVR with the settlement statement from our current home and I am seeing charges that seem redundant in the NVR closing costs estimate so I am not happy about that :(
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Non-standard requests update
We heard back from our SR that all our non-standard requests found here have been approved so I have updated that page to reflect the associated costs with these non-standard requests. We were not happy with the price for the conduit from the basement to attic. Does $750 for a 2" PVC conduit sound reasonable?
Friday, February 14, 2014
How much is your HOA fee?
I received the electronic copy of the disclosure from our HOA and I have been reading about things that we can and mostly CAN'T do in our house. We are limited to only certain types of fences (they discourage putting up a fence in the first place), mailboxes and other structures. There are very strict rules in any modifications that we plan to do in our house and would have to go through a rigourous application process with the Architectural Committee. Good thing we opted for the 3-car garage so we don't need to build a shed right away. However, we plan to build our own deck so I am not looking forward to that.
We currently live in a neighborhood that has minimal fee ($60 per year or $5 monthly), while the neighborhood for our new build collects an HOA fee of $850 per year or $70 per month. Wow! I knew it was going to be around that amount when we signed the contract, but still I feel like it's too much (still ranting). The only amenities are a small playground, pool and the clubhouse that you can rent. The reason I feel annoyed is because I know of a nice golf course community here in our current area that has so many more amenities like pool and clubhouse, walking and biking trails, tennis and basketball courts, baseball field, commercial area/stores, elementary school, security cameras in the neighborhood and roads and very impressive landscaping and maintenance (maintenance people are picking up trash literally every time I drive in that area), etc and homeowners are only paying $50 per month.
We currently live in a neighborhood that has minimal fee ($60 per year or $5 monthly), while the neighborhood for our new build collects an HOA fee of $850 per year or $70 per month. Wow! I knew it was going to be around that amount when we signed the contract, but still I feel like it's too much (still ranting). The only amenities are a small playground, pool and the clubhouse that you can rent. The reason I feel annoyed is because I know of a nice golf course community here in our current area that has so many more amenities like pool and clubhouse, walking and biking trails, tennis and basketball courts, baseball field, commercial area/stores, elementary school, security cameras in the neighborhood and roads and very impressive landscaping and maintenance (maintenance people are picking up trash literally every time I drive in that area), etc and homeowners are only paying $50 per month.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Options finalized
We met with our SR today to finalize our structural and non-structural options. We also submitted our non-standard requests (we only had 4). It's difficult for DH to get off work so we won't be meeting with the flooring designer until Feb 20th. Our cable selections will be done through email and phone conversations.
I will include a new tab which will list all the options we chose and requests we have submitted. We ended up removing many of our original options in order to accommodate our change from 2-car to 3-car side entry garage. That was an expensive upgrade but hopefully worth it.
We drove around and took a picture of our lot, flanked by future neighbors. No bells and whistles (not lakefront, do not back to woods, not in cul-de-sac), but it is OURS (almost). Feels so real now.
I will include a new tab which will list all the options we chose and requests we have submitted. We ended up removing many of our original options in order to accommodate our change from 2-car to 3-car side entry garage. That was an expensive upgrade but hopefully worth it.
We drove around and took a picture of our lot, flanked by future neighbors. No bells and whistles (not lakefront, do not back to woods, not in cul-de-sac), but it is OURS (almost). Feels so real now.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Search for a home
Just a bit of background...
In January 2013, we explored the possibility of building a Ryan home in our current city, but no basement homes due to city codes. Aaargh!! DH is firmly set on having a basement in our next home. We found out that RH was building basement homes in a great community about 45 minutes away from our place. Naah, that is farther than we'd hoped for. Plus, we love love our current home. It is updated and is a good fit for our family of 3. However, when friends and family come over or when DS plays indoor soccer in the living room/great room (lol), I always wished I had more space.
A year later, January 2014, we finally caved in and visited the 45-min drive RH community. Two weeks later and numerous back and forth call/email with our SR, we signed the contract. It's official! We will have more space by early Summer 2014! The Palermo we will build is double the square footage of our current home (that's not even including the basement when we finish it).
Our first home? We still love it so we'll try to keep it too as a rental property. Looking for possible tenants...
In January 2013, we explored the possibility of building a Ryan home in our current city, but no basement homes due to city codes. Aaargh!! DH is firmly set on having a basement in our next home. We found out that RH was building basement homes in a great community about 45 minutes away from our place. Naah, that is farther than we'd hoped for. Plus, we love love our current home. It is updated and is a good fit for our family of 3. However, when friends and family come over or when DS plays indoor soccer in the living room/great room (lol), I always wished I had more space.
A year later, January 2014, we finally caved in and visited the 45-min drive RH community. Two weeks later and numerous back and forth call/email with our SR, we signed the contract. It's official! We will have more space by early Summer 2014! The Palermo we will build is double the square footage of our current home (that's not even including the basement when we finish it).
Our first home? We still love it so we'll try to keep it too as a rental property. Looking for possible tenants...
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