Pre-Construction Meeting

My lack of posts is a huge indicator of how extremely exhausted I've been. We officially moved out of our house on Sunday, May 9th, closed on the 10th, and handed over keys on the 15th. It was a very bittersweet day. Kevin and I walked through each room, recalling memories from each, and had a good, hard cry in our backyard. We were both thinking back to Oliver - our first 'baby' who we lost just three days after he turned four years old. We had to put him to sleep this past November after he suddenly became sick. It was all too unexpected. We have so many memories with Oliver at the house, and especially of him running like a free soul in the backyard. That was very hard to step away from. But like Kevin said - "It's just a house. We will forever have our memories". He is so right.


I called the realtor's office on the 15th around 11am to tell them we were just walking out and everything was ready for the buyer. I then realized I'd left the garage door opener in our other car back at my in-law's. I drove back there to get it and back over to our house - it took 15 minutes total. When I pulled in, the buyer was already there. Talk about eager! Hey, I'd be that way, too. But that was truly my final goodbye to 7436 Jeremy Avenue.


We're now living in a pretty unorganized fashion at my in-law's. We are so blessed to have a place to stay, rent-free. The transition didn't even affect Riley at all. We took her actual crib to their house, although they already had one that she was used to napping in during the week. We thought this would make her feel like absolutely nothing had changed, and I think that was a good move. Kevin and I have stacks of boxes in our room and are living off of a very trimmed down wardrobe right now. I keep telling myself that time is going to fly by.

Last Thursday we had our "Pre-Construction / Roadmap Meeting" with our Project Manager. During this meeting we re-reviewed all of our selections from the house, from the style of home, to colors, to flooring.  It was really comforting to go through everything one more time, with someone new, just to make sure we were all on the same page.  We were excited to hear that we could request that our walk-in closet shelving be hung a foot higher than what is standard.  We want to add a second row of shelving below it (to double closet space in a simple way), and it needs to be hung at 7' rather than 6' for this to work.  The project manager said this won't be an issue. 
 
He also added a closet under the stairs in the basement!  This isn't an option we had selected originally just because I didn't want to spend several hundred dollars for a smaller storage closet.  However, he needs a place for a small water meter and said since we're finishing almost every other part of the basement, that would be the best spot.  I won't pass up extra storage for zero additional cost!
 
We also hadn't realized until just before that meeting that the garage has only one outlet in it (realized it thanks to this super helpful Blog written by another person building with Ryan Homes for the first time!).  This just won't do.  Now we will have have four outlets in the garage.  Woohoo!! 
 
We also handed over the biggest check I've ever written in my entire life, as we passed over our downpayment. Exciting stuff! We are scheduled to break ground this week and are just awaiting the phone call to confirm that we officially own a huge hole in the ground any day now!  Ha! 

Sell ... Check. Move ... Check.

I just realized that two of the three main points of the title of this entire blog can be checked off of my list.  Sell ... check!  Move ... check!

Three days of pure exhaustion later, we are (almost) moved out of our house at 7436 Jeremy Avenue and settling in at my in-law's home. AND, yesterday we received the phone call that the title has fully transferred to the buyer and everything is officially complete in regards to the sale of our house. Ahhhhh - a breath of relief.

 The weather couldn't have been much worse for a moving day. It was very cold (low 50s), rainy, and just miserable. We were blessed to have a lot of help and they were all troopers. Kevin picked up the uhaul truck around 1pm. We had considered making the move without one - and using my dad's pickup to move all the furniture. That would have been a nightmare. It took three full uhaul trips to storage to get the main things out of the house ... and then some follow-up trucks with my dad's truck. I am just so, so thankful for the help and willingness of everyone through it all - no one ever complained or stopped until the job was done.

My parents stayed the night and got right back up with us on Mother's Day to continue boxing things up. I absolutely hate getting to the point where you just start throwing stuff into boxes. I am an overly organized person, so the thought of something being in a box with something else completely unrelated or even (gasp!) belonging in two separate rooms makes me itch ... but it had to be done. My mom shampooed nearly every square inch of our basement carpet while my Dad and Kevin took trip after trip of things to my in-law's house. My parents didn't leave on Sunday until 7:30pm ... to make their 3.5 hour drive back home. I am so, so appreciative of them.


I am just as appreciative of Kevin's parents. His mom watched Riley all day Saturday while we moved things out, and of course - the biggie - they've opened their home to us for the next several months. I must say it again - we are overly blessed.

So now what? We went to the development yesterday and met with our sales rep. We had to sign another addendum due to adding another outlet to a closet (where our components like DVR, DVD, etc will be housed for the main level). During this meeting we were scheduled for our pre-construction meeting with our project manager. We will be meeting with him on Friday, May 21st. We were also told the awesome news that there is a chance we could move ground-breaking up another week, meaning we could break ground as early as next Wednesday, May 19th. This would be INCREDIBLE if true. Going with their 10-week build estimate, this would put us right around July 28th to get our keys. Our storage unit contract renews on the 2nd of each month, and the manager there told me she could give us until the 5th to get things out, so this could shave one month off of our storage, saving us just over $200 from that. Love, love, love it! This just makes everything seem like it is happening so fast now. I can't wait until we see that big, beautiful basement dug!



Lastly, they have our SOLD sign for our lot and it should be going up this week. Of course, I must get a picture of it. And our SOLD sign will be posted in our front yard this Wednesday. We hand keys over on Saturday and that will be the end of our first chapter.

Let the Moving Begin!

It's unofficially the start of moving weekend.  This morning at 10am, a representative from the title company came to our house and we signed everything necessary for closing.  Due to some weekend plans that would make her unavailable, our buyer has signed all of her papers, too.  We're all set for the closing to be official on Monday.  That's a great feeling.

Kevin and I got the storage unit last Sunday, and have been taking car loads of boxes over each night.  Our goal is to have almost all of the boxes there so that we can focus all of everyone's time and energy on furniture tomorrow.

My parents will arrive with their truck tomorrow afternoon.  We get the uhaul at 1pm.  Friends should start showing up around that time as well.  I just hope that all goes smoothly and no furniture gets damaged in the transition.  We hope to just have to pack up our bed, our guest bed, and Riley's bed Sunday morning on my dad's truck - then we'll be out.  We don't officially hand over keys until the 15th, but if we have the house cleaned and yard cut prior to then, we'll hand them over early.  I want to give the place a good scrub - especially since I haven't done much cleaning in the past two weeks - so that when the buyer comes she feels good the moment she steps in the door!

Here we go - really about to embark on the next chapter of our lives!

Ahhhh ... I Can Breathe.

I am breathing a sigh of relief. Can you hear it?


Kevin went to the city council meeting himself last night. He wanted to hear first hand what was being discussed in regards to Heisley Park. I am awfully glad he did this - hearing it first hand is the best thing right now. Anyhow, it was a unanimous vote FOR basements to be built, based on the studies conducted and the city engineer's final recommendation. This is great news, of course, because without the ability to have a basement built, we wouldn't be building. Kevin even met the district manager for Ryan Homes and got to chat it up with him for a bit.

All in all, Kevin left with a great feeling - which means that I now have a great feeling. So that whole thing is behind us. We had to sign a paper that basically said that if the city did NOT approve basements to be built, that we would proceed with the purchase of the house, but that is a null point since they did approve. It may not make sense to you why we had to sign that after the fact. Well, the truth is that it needed to have been signed by last Friday ... prior to knowing the outcome of the meeting. Our sales rep was just kind enough to recognize our concern over the matter that she allowed us to sign and date it ... but take the paperwork home with us. We had to drop it off this morning and gladly did, now knowing the outcome.


Oh - and she gave us the good news that it looks like our ground-breaking date may move up a week! It's possible we could be breaking ground May 24th ... so THIS month!!

Mixed Emotions

We had to stop at Ryan Homes last night to sign off on our new purchase price, now that they have the finalized price for the customization in the basement as well as the flooring selections.  While we were there, our sales rep told us that she needed us to sign another addendum ... something everyone else in contract right now has to sign.  Just the way that she approached in made me uneasy, and I could see Kevin was feeling the same way.  Let me first summarize what we already know about the area and that we're okay with.  Northeast Ohio basically sits in a geographical area that is a water basin - being so close to the Lake, this is just a fact and it is something we knew - whether we live in Mentor or Painesville Twp. 

Now - let me summarize how she shared the news of the addendum with us.  Apparently someone in the community rose a big stink to the city because his sump pump ran a lot.  He never had any water issues, but didn't like that this sump ran as frequently as it did.  His stink was so big that he caused the city to mandate that the developer do yet another land study to make sure that the land is fit to have homes with basements built on it.  The city engineer has been involved and the results will be revealed at this Monday's City Council meeting.  In the meantime, the corporate powers-that-be at Ryan Homes are asking that everyone under contract sign this addendum.  One of the bullet points on it states that while we've elected to have a basement built in our home, if the city deems that the land conditions aren't fit for a basement, then we have to move forward with the purchase of the home, but without the basement.

Our take?  We refuse.  We don't want the house without a basement.  To us it should be black and white:
1.  There is a problem with the land, basements shouldn't be built, and we want out of our contract because it wouldn't stand as it did when agreed upon by both parties (ourselves and Ryan Homes)
OR
2.  There is no problem with the land, so nothing has changed, and therefore nothing additional should be signed by us.

This is the position we took with our sales rep (who has been awesome this whole time, by the way).  She said to trust her, that it wouldn't stand for us - if we're told that basements can't be built, then we can walk away free and clear ... although that piece of paper that we would have signed would say just the opposite.  We love our sales rep, but we can't trust a verbal agreement from anyone - not when you're talking this much money.  No way, no how. 

She sent us with the papers.  She said they need to be signed by Tuesday morning and we'll know the results of the city meeting by then.  We just don't want to sign them at all - see the two points above.  She mentioned that basically this paper is more or less for them to state clearly that a sump pump will be in the home.  Well, if that is the case, they need to draw up papers that say a sump pump will be in the home, plain and simple.  We'll sign that in a heartbeat.

Kevin actually called the City Engineer directly this morning.  He gave Kevin peace of mind - said he did the studies, has reviewed all results, and everything looks perfectly fine for basements to be built.  But again - we still won't sign.  Kevin is going to contact the sales office with our concerns.  Praying all goes the way God feels it should.

Lists about Lists

Pack, pack, pack.  I feel like that is all that I do in the evenings and on my days off.  I'd say that roughly 75% of our entire house is packed up.  I basically have touched almost everything with the exception of clothes, furniture, and toys - most of which are going with us to Kevin's parent's house anyhow.

We've decided that we're most likely just going to move on in with them on Sunday, May 9th.  What a great Mother's Day gift for my mother-in-law!  (haha)  We are getting a Uhaul on the 8th, and my parents will be here with their truck, giving us a hand in moving.  It only makes sense to me that we take full advantage of the trucks and the help and get everything into storage that day.  I feel like I am in limbo right now and I just don't like the feeling.  I need to feel settled - or as settled as possible.

I have lists everywhere.  A list of what utilities have been cancelled and still need to be.  A list of who I've changed our address with and who I haven't.  A list of things to leave and write down for the new owner.  A list of items that we need to make sure we've purchased by the time the house is built.

Two items on that list are a washer and dryer.  The buyer asked in the sale of the home that we leave our washer and dryer.  I didn't really think twice - they are 8 years old and I didn't mind not having to lug them into storage, then into the new house.  But I didn't think about how much I hate shopping for stuff like this.  It isn't fun to me.  And now you throw these front-loaders into the mix and I am just all confused, not knowing what I should buy and what I shouldn't.

I think we'll head to Lowes, Home Depot, and Sears this weekend or next and take a look at their 'dent and scratch' items.  I got this suggestion from a friend who got an awesome LG set for $400 off because they each had a little scratch in the side - a scratch in a place where she'll never see it with how her laundry room is set up.  Heck - I'll live with a scratch if it keeps $400 in my wallet at this point.  Bring on the deals ...

Flooring, Flooring and More Flooring!

This afternoon we had our flooring meeting - our last and final meeting of picking things out (aside from a follow-up meeting with Guardian Technologies about some changes we want to make).  This was a lot of fun, just a teeny bit stressful, and more expensive than we had planned - but we kept focused on the fact that we want to do this the right way the first time and pick out exactly what we want!

Here are pictures of our selections:

Here is what we've selected for the master bathroom.  The soaking tub will be surrounded by the middle tile and then the top decorative tile.  The shower will have two full walls of the middle tile accented by the top decorative tile, and two full walls of glass.  Lastly, the bottom tile will be the bathroom flooring.

Here you can see our cabinet color.  (See my prior post to see our cabinets with the granite countertops).  Below it you can see the color of hardwood flooring that we've chosen, along with the ceramic tile.  The hardwood will be in the entry way, the dining room, the hallway to the living room and in the half bath.  All of these areas are connected, so you won't see a break in the flooring.  The ceramic tile will be in the kitchen, the morning room, and in the laundry room - also all connected.  At no point will the hardwood butt up against the ceramic tile, beacuse the living room separates the two areas and it will be carpeted.  The stain color of the hardwood floor is also what our stair rail and fireplace mantel stain will be.

 

Here are the two carpets we've selected - both very similar.  The top one will be in the main floor living room, on the stairs going upstairs, and in the entire top level.  We upgraded to 6-lb padding for these areas as well.  The bottom one will be in the basement, where we've upgraded to 8-lb padding.

One place where we felt we could save a little bit of money is in the full bath in the hallway of the top floor (Riley's bathroom) and in the basement full bath.  We're going to keep the standard (i.e. 'included") vinyl flooring in those two bathrooms.  Kevin wants to have a project eventually, so he said his project could be doing tile at some point in the future if we really want it.

So here is everything at a glance.  I loved the sales rep who helped us with all of this.  She has a college degree in interior design and it showed - she definitely helped steer us in the right direction with color decisions and we are thrilled at what we picked out!  (And yes, those are Riley's little legs in the corner of the picture.  I am glad she was part of the experience today, but wow - that wasn't easy!)