On the Road Again

Well, we had settled in and decided that our time for a newly built home was over.  We had looked at different builders' models in the area.  Some were extremely impressive, but along with that great looking house came an even greater price tag.  We looked at McMansions for the fun of it.  Hey, if you know that building is out anyway why not really dream big?  We went into one house that had two formal dining rooms, a real stone fireplace in the living room, fireplace in the master bedroom, full bar in the basement, and a dedicated home theater.  Ah, we were in love, but that was a lottery winning house.  To be honest, it looked more like a hotel or a bed and breakfast than a house.  It did not have a warm and inviting feel, but it more like those houses of kids we knew when we were younger where their parents said "Welcome to our house. Now, don't touch anything!"

How luxurious and inviting...for a mausoleum 

So, it appeared that we should cut our tour of "pretend homes" to an end.  We needed to get back to reality and accept that we would be renters for a while until a must-have entered the existing home market.  There are millions of people living in the area.  Surely, a good home had to come on the market again.

A bit distraught, we returned home and were prepared for silence on the house buying front for some time.  Then, Bryan had the great idea to expand the area just a bit more.  We were not willing to move too far away for the fear of the dreaded commute.  Honestly, 20 miles can sometimes take 3 hours around here.  However, we could push the commute just a bit further and still feel comfortable.  So, we did it.

Exhaust fumes and taillights - It's DC's hottest new fragrance 

We looked back at Ryan Homes to see if there was a community that would be close enough and could possible offer us a chance to get back into the home buying world.  Then, BINGO!  We found a community that appeared to be something right up our alley.  We found that we could buy the biggest home in the community, the Venice, for thousands less than Brentsmill.  Moving just a little further down the road would save us a ton of money and we would not have to live in a Cracker Jack house. [Disclaimer: For those reading this who have the Ferncliff, I am sure that it is a wonderful house and you are enjoying every minute in it.  I should be so lucky as to own a home of that quality.  I should really get over myself and my "big" house.  Small is the new big...I get it].

So, we humbly contacted Mark again with a request to find out more information about this new community. We felt like he might think we were giving him the run around, but he never showed it if he felt that way.  He said he would be more than happy to meet us in the community and show us the lots.  Unfortunately, he could not show us a model of the home that we wanted, but he said we would meet at its big brother, The Rome.  Then, we would have a preliminary discussion about options and go to see any potential lots.

The Behemoth, err, the Rome