On a cold Sunday at the end of January we started driving around with the intention of stopping to look at some homes for sale. We made a wrong turn and ended up in a Ryan Home community looking at a model home. Well the longer we stayed and the longer we spoke to the sales rep the possibility of building a home became more of a reality.
I had my heart set on the Naples model which was the home we toured. The price was a bit steep for Colerain. The sales rep told us we needed to get moving if we wanted to have our house finished by the end of June for the tax credit. Well, that got us moving pretty quickly. Chris diligently started doing some major research. We figured if we were going to build a house this would be a forever thing so it shouldn't be a rash and quick decision. That next week we took mini trips to the other Ryan Home communities in the Cincinnati area and even one in Kentucky. That Thursday we drove north through Hamilton, Ohio and ended up in a community where the Naples model was $30,000 cheaper than the one in Colerain. That Sunday we found ourselves in the sales rep office pricing out our own Naples home with Ryan Homes. Wow?! Were we really doing this? I knew this is something I really wanted and Chris was pretty into it too. We decided to add everything we wanted in our dream home and we could delete later. Well, in hind sight, that was quite the chore. After meeting with the sales rep we sat on our decision for a few days. Every day we became more and more excited and knew that building a home was what we wanted. So we told Ryan we were ready to go forward. Just 24 hours later we were told we were pre-approved for the loan but it was contingent on us selling our current home first.
Here is a picture of the model-we are using similar brick and door color
That is when the overwhelming urge to sprint away from this whole thing came over me. I took a deep breath and moved on. So, we decided that we needed to do some MAJOR and I mean MAJOR decluttering of our home in order to sell it. I called a few realtors to get the ball rolling on that end as well. Well, I worked for 2 full weeks on decluttering and beginning the packing process. I got to a spot that I thought the realtor could come over and at least take a look. During her first visit we found out we were on the same page on the listing price and how much I wanted to get out of the house. She did leave giving us some things to do and instructions to pack A LOT more.
Now, I should probably tell you a little more about the house I was living in. I bought the house-a 3bdrm ranch from my grandparents in July of 2004. They were moving into a retirement community and left a ton of stuff at the house. Some of it I could use and a lot of it got shoved into the basement. Not only did I have a lot of their stuff but I also inherited a lot of my brother's stuff after he passed away. So, needless to say I avoided going downstairs and packing because every time I thought about it I felt my blood pressure rise. So, I finally bit the bullet and got downstairs. It took me, my husband, and my mom-(mainly me though) a good 2 weeks (yes, I said TWO weeks!) to get through the basement to make it at least presentable. We had 4 straight weeks of a full curb on garbage day. It was appalling, actually, how much stuff we threw away and got rid of. Another load of stuff was donated and quite a bit was sold. It felt really good to get rid of that stuff. Other than packing we had some very minor things we had to do in the house-thankfully, nothing too expensive or time consuming.
So, on March 24th, 2010 we finally listed our house with Hoeting Realtors. Our realtor, Anita, was amazing. She was experienced, to the point, no nonsense, and so on top of things. Within the first week we had 6 showings. Can I talk about the showing process for a minute? That is something I never would want to go through again. At the time we had 2 dogs-high energy and not too keen on car trips, the baby, and ourselves to get out of the house. The pre-showing cleaning wasnt fun either. Everything in its places and all of the lights on as we left the house. I could go on and on about this who process but I wont-you can thank me later.
Four LONG weeks later we go an offer on the house. PHEW! Thank the Lord for the tax credit because I think that is what did it. Inspection happened the buyer didnt ask for anything and we closed on the house on June 15, 2010. Hallelujah! We walked away with money--enough to close on our new house so I am a happy girl. So, in the interim we are living north of Cincinnati about 15 minutes from our new home. Ahh, apartment living...definitely not the same as it was 7 years ago.
Ok, back to the new home because that is what this blog is about. Sorry, for the detour. During the whole decluttering and packing process we had quite a few meetings with Ryan Homes for the selection process on our home. I thought it was kind of strange that I was picking out my flooring and home entertainment stuff when the house itself wasn't even close to being built. Now, I am soooo glad it is done. I can just relax and watch the building process knowing all of my selections have been made. I will post separate posts on all of our selections in a bit.
I flipped my contingency on May 6, 2010. That is when Ryan Homes started the whole process. The permits and supplies got ordered. Our preconstruction meeting is this week where we will meet the project mananger and walk our house lot. The digging will begin the next week and then we are told 72 days of construction....estimate delivery date September 10, 2010. EEK!!
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