Pre-Drywall

  Before I go into our pre-drywall meeting, I will update on what is going on with our brick being wrong. We asked for our upgraded hardwood to be extended into the family room, which would be after upgraded carpet deduction about $4250. Ryan agreed to a $4000 credit, and they are allowing me to change my granite from Luna Pearl to Santa Cecilia like I wanted to about a month ago. We're as happy as we can be in this situation because we don't want to change the brick now.


Pre-drywall was today, and our Project Manager walked us through everything and answered our questions. We have a few concerns about the upgraded paint. We thought we were paying for something better than builder's grade, but our PM thinks the only difference is the color. Waiting for clarification on that. We're also waiting to hear back about the tankless water heater. We did some research, and it doesn't seem strong enough for 3 full bathrooms and a kitchen. Waiting to hear back on that too. We got our estimated closing date of February 15th, so long as they stay on track. Our third-party inspector comes out tomorrow to look over everything, and, hopefully, there won't be any problems there...

  

WRONG Brick.

  So we went out to the house this morning to meet with Guardian to go over where we wanted everything. It's been pouring down rain, and we also had our second fence estimate today (yuck). Good news is the guy today said he'd go cheaper than the original estimate.
   Anyway, we got a phone call last night from our Sales Rep saying she wanted to do a walk-through with us while we were out there this morning. We assumed this was normal, as things are progressing pretty quickly. Well, we pulled up to the house and saw that the whole front brick had been put on. Unfortunately, it didn't look like what I expected, but I assumed that was because I just didn't like our choice. Moving along back to the Guardian appointment, our sales rep walked in with our new project manager, and they were quietly talking in the corner. After we finished with Guardian, our SR came up and asked us how we liked the brick. I immediately said I didn't like it at all, and wasn't happy with our decision, but that Brian liked it so oh well. I could tell she was uncomfortable the whole time I was talking. Then I found out why! Turns out my intuition was correct, and they put the wrong brick on our house! We just stood there with our mouths open while she told us,  and I got angrier and angrier. I tend to get angry very quickly and often speak my mind when I shouldn't, but this is one of those times I am glad that I am not shy. 
   The very first time we started looking at the house and picking colors, we liked South Hampton (which is the brick we are stuck with now), but we quickly changed our minds and went with Grand Caramel when we made our final decisions. It seems that Grand Caramel never made it to our Project Manager, so South Hampton was delivered and put on. I could tell the whole time our SR was trying to gauge our reactions, and I know my face said exactly how I was feeling. Our PM also informed us that even if we changed the brick, the brick along the foundation couldn't change (meaning we'd have a horribly tacky house with South Hampton along the bottom and Grand Caramel around the top and front). Immediately, I asked what we could do about this and my husband mentioned them having to start over. I asked what we could get in return for this, and our SR asked what we thought was fair. To be honest, what's fair to me is not paying for the wrong brick, but I suggested Ryan putting hardwood in our family room (which comes out to around $5000) because we had decided to only do the dining room and foyer with ceramic in kitchen and morning room. Although our SR couldn't give us immediate approval, she saw no problem with that, so we are waiting for the final approval from Ryan Homes. If they don't agree, then I consider this a breach of contract and will reconsider my options. Fortunately, I don't hate the brick THAT much and as it was our original choice, I will learn to deal with it. We will see what happens from here. Merry Christmas to us :(

Framing Finished

   So our new PM has kept his word, and he called us bright and early this morning (my husband got in from the airport at 1 AM)  to tell us that framing was finished and they would be starting "trade materials" next week. Forgive me if I am not overly excited, as we were originally planning for our pre-drywall on Monday. We got a call from Guardian earlier in the week, and we will meet with them next week while all of the wiring is going on to show where we want everything.

     We did make it out to the house today and took lots of pictures. The dogs seem to love the new house more and more every time (I'm not sure if it's because they love Bailey, the neighbor's dog, or the house though).

New PM?

   So my husband got a call back from the "new" project manager. Evidently, our original project manager has switched to another department, and we were assigned a new one the week after Thanksgiving. Doesn't that seem like something they should call and tell you? Yeah, we think so too. The new project manager has promised to call us with weekly updates about the house, so we'll see how that goes. 
   I swung by this evening and took some pictures. They aren't the best because it was getting dark and my dogs were going nuts in the car. We will go back when my husband gets back in town and take better pictures. On a good note, it looks like progress is being made! 

Pre-drywall pushed back

For a company who strives for a perfect 10 review, we sure aren't anywhere near giving one. When we went to our pre-construction meeting, we were informed by our PM that we would hear from him all the time with updates with where we were in the process, etc. Well....cricket....cricket....we haven't heard a peep. We know how far along we are by stalking the lot when we are in town and taking pictures. Our pre-drywall meeting was scheduled for December 19th, so this weekend we dropped by the model to ask our Sales Rep about our inspector and fence guy coming the 17th. She said we should have gotten a confirmation about the 19th by now, which of course we haven't. So after she sent two emails to the PM over the weekend, my husband got a voicemail during his flight to California this morning. Surprise, surprise....it's been pushed back to December 27th. I don't mind it being pushed back, (although we haven't had any bad weather so I don't know why it has been), but I do mind not being informed until we called looking for answers. Now, we have to reschedule our whole holiday vacation plans. Like I said, for a company wanting a 10, they have a lot of work to do.

Framing underway

We went by again today and yesterday, and they had finished pouring the cement and have begun framing. Yay! We took lots of pictures, and I went by the model to get some pictures of our cabinets and granite.

 Love these two!! :)

slowly moving along

  Brian drove by the house today on his way home from work, and it looks like the concrete is in the middle of getting poured. When he got there, there were two workers present, and he tried to ask them some questions. Unfortunately, they didn't speak the best English, but they said so far the garage and porch concrete has been poured, and the rest will be poured tomorrow. I will try to get out there and take some pictures (not very exciting right now) tomorrow, and maybe swing by the model home to take pictures of our granite and cabinet color. My semester is finally over, so I am up here for good now (yay!)...but that also means I'm already ready to get the heck out of this apartment.

  We've been getting calls from the moving company about when we will need them to move our stuff from storage, so we tried to get a firmer closing date from Ryan. Unfortunately, until pre-drywall they couldn't do much better than 60-90 days because of the weather. We'll know for sure after our pre-drywall meeting on December 19th, and we are crossing our fingers for good weather until then. We're still hoping for early February, and the sales rep said they were on schedule as of now. Let's hope it stays that way :) 

Finally got back to Charlotte

  I am so excited that we are going to be able to extend the hardwood into the dining room. Our Sales Rep was out of the office all week, so we took things into our own hands. We called rite-rug to see if the flooring had already been ordered, and it hadn't. They told us that on their end there was no problem with changing it. So we had our answer there. Next, we called our mortgage person at NVR to make sure we could change the loan amount to reflect the new hardwood expansion. No problem there either. Now it was up to our sales rep...we got the email this morning that she was fine with the change. Thank goodness!

   We went by the lot last night because I just wanted to look at it. It was too dark to really see much, so we came back this morning. Our neighbor's little boys were playing in the lot, and ran inside to tell their parents that "the new neighbors (were) here." We were so excited to meet our neighbors, and I think the feeling was mutual. It's such a relief when you realize that you will actually like your neighbors (they have a dog too so we had a little meet and greet with their dog and Lexi and Charlotte). 

  Not too much has happened in regards to the actual house, but it is only the second week of building. I could actually see our brick, which was pretty exciting. Part of the foundation has been started, but the cement hasn't been poured yet.  It was nice to be able to see the house outline, and how our yard looks in comparison. It's bigger than we originally thought, which is going to be good for the dogs when they feel like running outside. Our pre-drywall meeting is December 19th, so a lot should be happening in the next few weeks. We meet with our third-party inspector and the fence person at the house the Saturday before. So ready for February!

Ready to go back

    It's been a week since we have been in Charlotte, and I am so ready to get back and see the progress. As soon as the husband flies in from California on Friday, we are heading straight there. After finals are finished, I'll finally be up there with him for good. Can't wait :) Will post some pictures when we get up there this weekend.
   After reading all these blogs and looking at all the different color combinations, I really began to doubt my original choice of Luna Pearl Granite. The Santa Cecilia looks so good with the espresso cabinets that I have seen. So I sent my SR an email asking if we could change, but she said it was too late :(
    (Trying not to be one of those people, but)....Now, I'm beginning to think we should get the dark distressed hardwood expanded from the foyer to the living room and dining room. We had originally planned for upgraded padding and carpet, but with the dogs, it just doesn't make sense. We sent our SR an email asking if we can change, and we are waiting for a response. I really don't see why we couldn't as I don't think they have even broken ground yet, and we just had our preconstruction meeting last week. I guess if they can't change the granite, they will probably tell us the same here, but I think I'm going to have to put up a fight on this one. I really want those hardwoods put in, and since it is so early in the process, I really hope they don't give us a problem. I know others have been able to make changes even later in the process, so I'll be upset if they say no. That's the only thing we really want changed, and I really had no problem being turned down on the granite. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with good news!

Our first Build

     I feel like all of the other "Ryan Homes Blogs" have been extremely helpful for me in providing some comfort that we made the right decision to go with Ryan, so I wanted to, hopefully, help others who were in the same position. I got very upset when I started reading all of the negative reviews for Ryan homes, and started second guessing our decision to build with them. I think our Sales Rep and my husband helped when they pointed out that most people only take to the internet, or forums, when they want to complain, and few people write about all of the positives. These blogs have helped relieve so many of my nerves. Anyway...

 When we first rolled up to Sheridan, (a neighborhood in Indian Trail, North Carolina) I knew it was my future home. We'd been looking at homes online, but not really considering building at all or really buying so soon. My husband's home base is in Monroe, North Carolina (He is a SAP business analyst for Goodrich Aerospace) and we are relocating from Savannah, Ga to Charlotte. We had figured we would rent an apartment until our house in Savannah sold and then start looking at houses. Of course, things never work out as planned, and we started looking the second weekend we spent in Charlotte. We found Sheridan, fell in love with the Verona model, and signed the contract the next week. We were lucky enough to sell our house in Savannah in 10 days (I know VERY unheard of). My graduate program has allowed me to do my last year through independent study, so we decided while the market is in such good favor of buyers, it was now or never. It also doesn't hurt that we have two babies (a Beagle mix and a German Shepherd mix) who are begging for a fenced in yard to run around in again.  

   Although we originally signed a Contingent contract based on the sale of our original home, we were able to lift the contingency at the beginning of November. Our sales rep is AMAZING, (really I think we bought the house because of her) and had the builders already getting all of our permits taken care of so they could start building as soon as we lifted the contingency. Because of that, we had our pre-construction meeting last week, and they started building November 25th. We are SO excited to be building and have an estimated closing date of February 2012. 

Here is a breakdown of our house:

Verona Elevation B slab foundation

Alternate Partial Brick Veneer Front (Grand Caramel)

Extended Kitchen Peninsula

Gourmet Island

Espresso Cabinets

Luna Pearl Granite Counters

Stainless Steel Appliances

Gas Range

Morning Room

Ceramic Tile in Morning Room and Kitchen

Downstairs bedroom and full bath

Upgraded carpet and padding in living room, dining room, study, and bedroom

fireplace

Dark Hardwood Foyer

Upgraded carpet and padding upstairs 

Bonus Room

Upgraded master bath with separate bathtub and shower

espresso cabinets in all bathrooms

Tile surround in master bath

9 ceiling fan rough-ins

bronze finishes

Arch. Shingles

Upgraded Paint

2 floodlights

attic

Post Guardian Meeting:

Base Package Security System

2 Keypads

Pet motion detector (of course)

Smoke Communicator

Cellular Back up communicator (All of this more for my peace of mind as we start a family and my husband is traveling around the world for work half of every month)

We added quite a few outlets and jacks (kind of disappointed that Ryan only comes with 2 and 2)

(For my husband) We did the Klipsch 5.1 Silver Audio System

We are having a third party inspector come 4 times during/post build just to make sure everything is how it should be. I will be adding pictures, and updating as the process continues. So excited :)