Update!!!

We received a call from our Sales Rep today.....We are a go to start building!!!!!

Our pre-construction meeting will be next Friday morning. At that meeting we will finalize all of our plans and make sure that the builder has every change/addition correct. Construction will begin Monday November 12th!!!!!

We are so excited!!!!!

Loan Troubles....

So, I haven't updated in a while because there really hasn't been much going on.
We are still trying to get a loan commitment letter so that Ryan Homes will break ground and start building.

Right now we are wishing we had done a little more research on USAA home mortgage. We have all of our financial accounts and insurance with USAA. We LOVE USAA. Until starting the loan process we have never had a single complaint with them. However, we have managed to get a less that average loan processor and her supervisor is not any better. They have managed to take a 1.5-2 week process  and drag it out to 6 weeks....and they still haven't managed to get us what we need. 6 WEEKS!!!!!  Ugh. Needless to say we are strongly considering switching banks. Praying for patience and direction.

Final Upgrade List

Ok We have finally finalized all out upgrades. YAY!!!!!!! I am so glad to be done with this part of the process. We have been really stressed about trying to add some nice upgrades but at the same time stay withing (and preferably below) our budget.

So, here is the final list of things we upgraded/added

Lot:

Cul de sac (extra $1,000 but we figured it was worth it...plus we will never have another house built behind us...just an open field)

Kitchen:

Granite counter tops

Deep double bowl sink

upgraded hardware

tile backsplash 

Upgraded black appliances

Upgraded 42" Cherry cabinets with crown molding

Gourmet island

Laminate wood flooring

Morning room off the back of the kitchen

Optional windows in morning room

Living room:

Pre-wired for mounted TV

Surround sound with built in speakers

level 3 upgraded carpet padding 

level 1 upgraded carpet

Garage:

built in speakers  (James though it would be cool to have music in there)

Side service door

optional side window

dedicated  circuit for our deep freezer

automatic garage door with 2 car openers

Outdoor:

Floodlight for back yard

extended patio

Elevation B (really wanted do to a fancy elevation but we just couldn't fit it in the budget)

Master bath:

customized bathroom layout. 

The options Ryan homes offered were 

1.) standard tub/shower with a linen closet (no extra cost) or 

2.) separate garden tub and stand up shower with no linen closet. ($2600)

We really wanted a garden tub but we also really wanted a linen closet. So, we put in a custom request of a garden tub/shower combo and keep the linen closet. After about a week the architect said "Yes!!!"  and it is costing just $493!!!  We are super excited about this. 

upgraded cherry cabinets

ceramic tile around the tub and shower

Random:

laminate wood in foyer

ceiling fan rough-in in 3 rooms

electrical outlet added to master closet for  our mini fridge 

ceramic tile around kids shower/tub unit

entire house wired for security system

So, overall we got absolutely everything we needed and most of what we wanted. We got about 1/2 of these upgrades for free because of a special that Ryan homes was running when we signed our contract. Things like Granite, Morning room, upgraded cabinets, carpet and security system we would not been able to afford had they not been free.  There were also other upgrades that were part of the Special that Ryan homes allowed us to take out and gave us credit for. For example: a fireplace in the living room was one of the Special free upgrades. We didn't want a fireplace. So, Ryan homes gave us a $2,600 credit to put towards other upgrades.   All in all we were given $13,500 in free upgrades. Even out Realtor said he was surprised at how many free upgrades Ryan homes gave us and just the over all good price we were getting on this house. 

We are thanking God for his many blessings!!!