From the Beginning...

I've given in. Couldn't help myself. I've found such value in the other blogs and following their builds with Ryan Homes. I can only hope that mine would do the same.

At this point we're a good ways into the process already. We're in that terrible waiting period after we've signed off on everything and are waiting for them to break ground. So since I have some free time on my hands (not really, I need to get my current home on the market), let's do this!

Long story short, we were going to build a home with M/I Homes down the road, but adding options (pretty much the same things we added with this house) got out of control and fast. They weren't willing to negotiate with us, so we had to look for other options.

My husband, being the financially smart one, has always said he would like to do a 15 year mortgage so less money would go to interest and more to principle. After running the numbers, I was convinced finding a more affordable home was a financially smart move. The search was on!!

I came across this community a few months prior and loved the price point, but wrote it off as it seemed too small and didn't offer everything on our wish list. Looking at it again a bit later with a different perspective, the price was too good not to check it out. So one evening after work, I was just going to do the 'ole drive-by. While I was there, I saw the model was open and thought, "what the heck". Little did I know what I was getting into!

I was greeting by the sales representative and since we both had some time, she showed me around and gave me more information about the community, floorplans and Ryan Homes. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the model looked (very high-end) and how big it felt. I couldn't wait to get my husband up there to see it!

In this neighborhood there are two available floorplans. The Rosecliff and the Calvert. Originally, I was leaning more towards the Rosecliff for the following reasons:

• More traditional layout
• Some room sizes were larger (master specifically)
• Lot's of master closet space (option to have two closets!)
• Tub in the master bath
• 2nd floor laundry
• Lot choices (could have been on a lake)

The things I didn't like about the Rosecliff were:

• 2nd floor master (with 8ft ceilings)
• Kitchen seemed small and had a bar instead of a flat island
• Basement was small and would have had even less storage space when partly finished

Now for the important part, what we love (and kinda don't love as much) about the Calvert

• 1st floor master (with 9ft ceilings)
• Covered porch option
• Larger finished area and storage space in the basement

And for the not so much's:

• Master closet space
• No bathtub in master
• Living room is somewhat narrow
• Laundry room is smaller and is off the kitchen
• Lot location (not on a lake)

Now, just by the number of items on each list, it looks like we should have chosen the Rosecliff, but honestly, the pro's for the Calvert carried more weight and we felt it was a better fit for us overall. Of course, I'm always "sold" by the model and wish we could have walked through a finished Rosecliff.

Anywho, brought my husband to see. He like it, and liked the price even more. At this point we were a little less than two weeks away from a weeklong vacation at Walt Disney World (my consolation prize from having to walk away from our M/I dream home). We were told August was slow and there was a very aggressive incentive we could take advantage of if we signed before the end of August. I said straight up, that was crazy and was never going to happen....