Interest Rate: Locked-In!

We are officially locked-in with a 3.5% interest rate!  Whoooo-hooo!  This was one of the last few things I was really sweating.  So far my experience with NVR has been really good (knock on wood)!  Happy Friday, Ryan Homes Blogger Friends! :)

When One Door Closes, Another Opens...

Last Friday, October 26th, we officially closed on our house.  It was smooth, seamless, and very painless!  Since we were being bought by an investor in California, he signed the papers the day before which made our closing literally 5 minutes.  We walked away with the biggest check we have ever seen, and a nice 'thank you' gift from our real estate agent.

We spent the night before the closing finishing up a few things at the house and giving the kids a chance to say goodbye.  It was very emotionally for our whole family to leave our beloved home of three years.  I was pretty strong up until the very end when my daughter said, "Mommy, I am going to miss this house."  Then I just lost it.  The tears started flowing and I just couldn't stop.  Here are a few pictures that we took during our 'goodbye'.

Bubby and Sissy Love

Drew with our Saint Joseph statue!  Hey, he only took a week to work for us!

Our last family picture at the old house

Giving the house a hug and a kiss goodbye

Like the title of this post says, when one door closes another opens.  And these past few weeks of our life couldn't reflect that saying any more.  We said goodbye to our first home on Friday, October 26th and we had our pre-constuction meeting on the new house on Wednesday, October 31st.  Our lot has been staked, and we spent the meeting going over every little detail about the house before we begin actually building.  The meeting went very well and took about an hour and a half.  Our PM seems very nice and took notes on a few special requests that we had (like back yard grading, and locations of outlets).

Staked! This is where our front porch will be!

Stakes where kitchen/morning room will be

 View from back yard/ walkout basement

The pre-constuction meeting was our last chance to make any changes and I seized that opportunity!  When making selections for the house, I knew I wanted a soaking tub.  Yet, when it came time to start cutting upgrades (because you can't have it all!), the tub I had longed for was one of the first things to go.  I just couldn't justify spending $4,000 on a separate tub/shower just so that I could take a bath maybe twice a month.  Not to mention the shower is tiny, and that is where you will be spending more time!  Anyways, I inquired about the depth of the traditional shower/tub combo and while looking at the selection sheet, I noticed a soaking tub/shower combo!  It is the size of a traditional soaking tub (42 x 60) but also turns into a shower stall!  I saw this on one of the Ryan Homes blogs a while back and just thought it was not an option for our house.  But after seeing it on the selection sheet and asking about it, our sales rep looked into it and it is available in our home!  Yessss!  I can take a soaking bath without the $4,000 price tag and having to sacrifice my shower space.  I am very happy with this decision and last minute change!  I can't find much on the internet about this type of shower/tub but here is a picture of one looks like that I found on another Ryan Homes blog.

Soaking tub/shower combo (taken from another Ryan Homes blogger!)

Before we left our pre-construction meeting,  our PM gave us a timeline for when it looks like things will be happening.  They will start digging on Tuesday of this week (November 6th) and will be planning on placing the footers on Wednesday.  As long as the weather holds up, our house will probably be framed by Thanksgiving!  As of now we are looking at the end of January for our house to be completed.  Cross your fingers for a gentle winter!  

A few days after our pre-construction meeting, we took the kids by the lot so that they could explore and see the lot before things get going.  Below is a picture of them 'breaking ground' on the new home.  I love this picture so much and this is definitely going to have to find a spot to display in our home!

Breaking ground on the new home!

Selling Our First Home

I have to admit, every time I think about moving I get a little emotional.  This is our first home.  This is the house we built together as a newlyweds.  This is where I brought my babies home from the hospital, and this is the only home my children have ever known.  It is has been a wonderful house, with great neighbors, and good memories. 

After months of casually talking it over, Drew and I finally decided to have a real estate agent come and look at our house on September 5, 2012.  We liked what she had to say, so we decided to list our home for sale the next day.  It was one of those moments that makes your stomach churn due to the unknown.  But we did have confidence in the glimmer of a market turn around, and we knew this was the best decision for our family.  So we took a leap of faith not knowing the what would lie ahead.

So why are we moving?  The biggest factor is education.  Where we currenly live, the school district has been unstable.  Just last year it was under state control and cutting programs like art, science, music, and physical education.  Being both teachers, Drew and I knew we couldn't send our children to our current school district.  Another large factor in our decison to move was the upswing of the market in our area and the current low interest rates.  Houses in our neighborhood have been selling for $20,000-$30,000 higher than what we built our house for 3 years ago.  We figured with the money we would make off this house, in combination with low interest rates, we could afford a better house in a good school district that would provide a lot of opportunities for our children.

After 20 days on the market, 2 no-show open houses, 2 appointment showings, and 1 St. Joseph buried upside down in the yard, our house was under contract!  We were so suprised and taken back on how quickly it sold!  Our house is being bought by an investor out in California who intends to use it as a rental property.  Even though I would have loved to have sold our house to a family with young children, a buyer is a buyer!  The investor is paying for our house in cash so we have 30 days to get out of our house starting from September 26th.  My in-laws have graciously allowed us to live with them while we build our new home.  Our closing date is set for Friday, October 26th.  Although we are sad to say good-bye to the only home we've ever known, we have confidence in our decison and can't wait to start our journey to building our new home!

Still so surreal to see this sign in the yard!