Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Partial Update

Hello All,

I haven't had time to post or even read other bloggers posts. We moved into the house on 13,14, &15 (NOT EVEN CLOSE TO A SMOOTH MOVE...had the largest U-Haul truck but still needed to load twice and since the new house is 4 hours away from the old house it was an awful experience). Then I received word that my father, who had been battling lung cancer, was not doing well. So we dropped everything and rushed to Maryland. We got there just in time. I arrived at the hospital a midnight. (the doctors gave me the ok to spend the night). My dad passed away at 3:16 am on 12/21/13.....


I just got back home yesterday so I will give a more cheerful update sometime in January.

Have a Happy New Year...

Monday, December 9, 2013

WE CLOSED!!!..........WAIT, NO KEYS :-(

Well, today was quite eventful!
 
We were already told that we would not receive the keys immediately at closing because we chose to use a different lender and closing attorney. They said that we wouldn't get the keys until the wired funds could be confirmed and the sale had been recorded (a few hours after closing). --Okay...I can handle that considering the fact that my using a different lender and closing attorney is saving me a substantial amount of money. Well....if only it was that simple!
 
My husband came home last week so I've been very busy ;-) Although he is here we knew that he would not be able to attend closing. He has to take the mandatory "Warrior Transition" classes so driving 4.5 hours for closing was not an option. We got a special power of attorney drafted so that I could sign the closing documents for him. WELL GUESS WHAT I DID! I left the original power of attorney in the scanner at the library!
 
I get to the closing table after driving 4.5 hours and having only 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep (I was so excited that I couldn't sleep) only to discover that I didn't have the original POA. Can you imagine how I felt? Oh, and did I forget to mention the fact that my rate lock expires tonight at midnight (Our locked rate is 3.5%... today's rates are closer to 4.25%)... EXACTLY!!! I felt so defeated that I just started crying! Here I had been so organized and thorough up until now, but now...when it really matters, I dropped the ball!
 
I THANK GOD that the attorney I selected was compassionate and willing to work with me!!! Since she had a copy of the POA, she was willing to let me "close", but she said that it could not be recorded until she had the original POA. I called the library and they still had the POA so I called my husband and he was able to go pick it up and Fed Ex overnight it to the attorney. She will get the document some time tomorrow and will record it at that time.

So, while I don't have keys, I am still a homeowner! The crazy thing is that I really don't need the keys because my PM already gave me access to the house ( he gave me the garage door openers & he left that door unlocked). So it all worked out in the end---the only problem is that I had to reschedule my refrigerator delivery and the next available opening wasn't until NEXT Friday ( the 20th), but its okay because we have a deep freezer and my husband has a mini frig that he used to keep at work...we'll just have to make do with those until the new frig is delivered.
 
I'll spend the next few days packing the rest of my house and my husband and I will do a DITY move (do-it-yourself) on Friday. I'll check back in with you all after I get partially settled in.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

APPRAISAL DONE!!!

I'm so happy! The only thing that could stand in the way of me and my house was the appraisal. Well, I can thank God now....because it's done and it's higher than the price so we are good to go. Next stop pre-settlement meeting and closing!

Oh....and I also bought my refrigerator today. Home Depot has a sale that ends December 4th so I bought the fridge and schedule the delivery for the day after my closing.

Monday, November 25, 2013

EVERYTHING IS PRACTICALLY DONE...JUST COUNTING DOWN

I went to the house this weekend and it looks finished to me. My SR said that they may still need to do a few touch ups but I didn't see where anything needed to be touched so I guess that's a good thing. I looked at the oven model number to see if it had been switched yet, but it wasn't. I won't make a big deal out of it....I'll check to make sure its be switched at my pre-settlement meeting.

I meant more neighbors and talked more with the neighbors I meant on my last trip. I'm very happy with the way the house looks and I can't wait to move in!!!





Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Sunday, November 10, 2013

More Pictures!


 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
I'm so excited....I can't wait to move it!!!

Friday, November 8, 2013

I'LL BE THE BAD GUY.....APPLIANCE ISSUE RESOLVED


I think that I am a pretty reasonable person, but perhaps my assessment of myself is incorrect….because I’m pretty sure my SR doesn’t think I’m reasonable. Oh well.

I was very upset about the appliances because I was very attached to my selections. I’ve spent numerous hours researching and examining the all of the many choices and options given to me during this building process. The fact that this is my first and last house (we do not plan to sell later), and I don’t have my husband here to help with the decisions, I have obsessed over each and every choice that I’ve made. I’ve visited hundreds of blogs and thousands of websites researching the options I selected. As I stated previously, I was very attached to the appliance package I selected so having to accept something different was very difficult for me.

I told my SR that I that did not want the “new and improved” oven I wanted what I ordered; I really wanted the discontinued oven and I didn’t care where they got it from. Then I started searching the internet desperately trying to find someone who still had the item for sale. I went to a website called AJ Madison and when I typed in the model number of the discontinued item it informed me that the item had been replaced with model # PT7550SFSS. But that wasn’t the model number of the item Ryan gave me---the oven my SR said was comparable! So I contacted GE.  I asked the GE rep if there was any way to get the discontinued item and if not, what the comparable item was. The GE rep said that I would have to check with various vendors to see if they had it, and that the replacement for the discontinued item was model #PT7550SFSS. Well, that wasn’t the model Ryan gave me…so I forwarded the email from the GE rep to my SR and told her that I really wanted her to find the discontinued item, and if she couldn’t I would accept the model that GE stated was the comparable not the model they gave me. The original appliance package I selected contained the GE Profile series. I think that the replacement should be from the Profile series as well….

Here is the response I finally received from my SR:

“I have talked to our GE representative several times over the past two days.  She confirmed that the PT956SRSS model is discontinued and no longer available.  GE has undergone a multi-million dollar revamp and upgrade to all of their products, so older versions are no longer available.

As far as replacement products, the JT5500SFSS is an upgraded product and has more features than the PT956 that was originally selected and paid for.  The PT7550SFSS is then a further upgrade from the JT5500.  If a product is ever substituted, it is always of equal or better quality, which was done in this case.  Ryan Homes and GE did nothing wrong in this scenario.

In standing behind out great Customer Service policy, we want you to have the optimal building experience.  We will honor your request to change the double oven to model number #PT7550SFSS.”

 

So in the end, I am getting …not what I want (the old oven), but what I believe is fair. I didn’t think I was being unreasonable, but judging from the tone of my SR, I guess I am….

I’m not going to apologize for asserting myself. I have to live with the options I selected, and I have to pay the mortgage. I don’t want to pay for something I’m not happy with just to make my SR happy….

I’m glad that Ryan was willing to do what it took to make me “happy”, and I hope there aren’t any more hiccups in this building process. I love the house so far and can’t wait to move into it.

 

 

Thursday, November 7, 2013

APPLIANCES WERE DISCONTINUED????....WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE TELL ME?!!


I spoke to my SR and she said that the double oven and over-the-range microwave models that I selected (PT956SRSS & PVM1970SRSS) have been discontinued by GE. ---Okay, well why wasn’t I informed and asked how I would like to proceed?
 I am so angry…I upgraded my appliance package 2 levels simply because I liked the way that model looked. This is unacceptable!!!  When they didn’t have what I ordered they should have contacted me! Am I really supposed to pay for an upgrade that isn’t what I wanted? AND to top it off…she (SR) said that they gave me the comparable oven and microwave, but I contacted GE and the oven they gave me is NOT the comparable oven—it looks exactly like it, but the model numbers are different. The comparable oven comes from the GE Profile family, but the one they installed is just GE not a “Profile”.

This isn’t going to work! I’m waiting for my SR to get back to me with a remedy. I hope Ryan makes this right! I’m so angry I could spit fire!


MY NEIGHBOR ROCKS!!!! MORE PICTURES


My neighbor is the best! I’m gonna have to get her a housing warming gift because she is just too awesome. She just sent me the following pictures with a note that said “Happy Thursday!” Indeed it is!

Oh, before I post the pictures let me say that the appliances they’ve installed are WRONG. I’ve emailed my SR and I’m currently waiting for a response. Now, as I mentioned before, the knobs on my upstairs cabinets were also wrong….so now I’m really starting to wonder if the siding they installed looks different because…perhaps it is :-/  I don’t know….
Pictures from my neighbor:



WRONG APPLIANCES!! :-(

 NICE...I THINK?  I'M STILL WARMING UP
Okay, now you tell me…Are the samples the same as what I got?



I can live  with the exterior colors that I have, but with the mix up on the knobs and now the appliances….I’m not so sure I got what I picked out….

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

STONE IS UP AND APPLIANCES HAVE BEEN DELIVERED!


I meant one of my neighbors on my last visit to the house, and she was nice enough to send me an update (my realtor is a little slow). She said the appliances were delivered on Monday and that the stone was installed yesterday.  I’m so excited…I can’t wait to drive up again. I’m going to drive up on the Friday after Thanksgiving….I can hardly wait!

The pictures she sent are a little blurry and the siding looks very blue…. I love how dark the stone is. It seems like everything is darker than the samples I selected from, but its ok I’m still happy. J They still have to put the shutters around the windows with the stone, paint the door, and install the exterior light fixtures so the outside isn’t quite done yet, but it’s definitely coming together.

I asked my realtor to take more pictures of the exterior and to also snap a few of the kitchen with the appliances. I will post those as soon as he sends them (probably not until next week L)

 
 
 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Saw the House...I Love It, and It's Not Small It's Big....LOL!


 
Okay, so I’ll start by saying that the house finally feels like the house I signed up to buy J

You guys were right, now that the walls are up and painted it feels very spacious—I love it! I love the kitchen and bathroom tile, and I even like the master bathroom door that opens into the bathroom. I was worried about that, but I have to admit that it works. I noticed that they have the wrong knobs on my bathroom cabinets, but that’s an easy fix so I won’t sweat it.

I also measured the windows and found that only 4 of the 20 windows are larger than 36” so the size combination of shades that I bought will work just fine…Thank God! 

Now, about that siding color….When I saw the picture that my realtor sent I wasn’t thrilled with the outcome, but I didn’t want to complain. I hoped and/or thought that it might look different in person—It didn’t. I really don’t like the color and neither does my husband. ---I know I picked it, but the sample she showed me didn’t look grey/blue to me it…It looked off whitish to me. So I’m a little disappointed by how the exterior turned out, and I’m hoping that I will like it better once the stone is installed later this week. ----I keep looking at my neighbors and admiring how the exterior of their house looks. I admit, I’m a little jealous L

I remember my sales rep saying that Ryan won’t let me build an ugly house….I hope that is true!











 

More pictures can be found under the pictures tab….

 

Look at my next door neighbor's house....it's beautiful!
 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Siding!

My realtor sent pictures of the house with the siding installed and one that shows the cabinets waiting to be installed. I'm driving up this weekend and I can't wait!  Until then....