Meeting Our Sales Rep and Starting to Dream

We discussed some numbers.  We loved the Milan.  It was a great size and we could definitely see our children growing up there.  It seemed just right.  There was one problem, though.  The Milan was out of our price range.  The models always show the upgrades.  Little is standard in these beauties, so as we discussed numbers we knew our chances of getting a Milan were slim to none.  We needed to rethink our plan.

January 2 - We decided that we would return to the Brentsmill neighborhood to view another model.  This time it was the Misthaven.  It was a little smaller, but it was deceivingly larger than it appeared from the outside.  We explored the model and again our hearts were fluttering with excitement.

Misthaven Model in Brentsmill

Mark patiently answered all of our questions about the home.  He was extremely knowledgeable because he had been with Ryan Homes for approximately 25 years.  Mark had worked in various capacities in the company including being one of the builders for much of his time before moving into the sales department.  He was the perfect person to answer questions about building materials, time lines, etc.  He was also great about giving advice on ways to avoid costs during the planning process.  His advice, enhance the structure and space and do all of the cosmetic upgrades later.  Uh oh, this sounds like a brand new "fixer-upper", but it made sense to go with some of the free standards and upgrade items like counter tops and carpet later.

We returned to the office with Mark and he ran some preliminary numbers.  Again, Mark's experience at Ryan Homes was paying off.  He was able to do some rough estimating to see if he believed we might be approved for a loan.  This is something that often happens at car dealerships and can sometimes be an effective sales tactic.  We knew that this would further foster our hopes, but we were not signing anything at that time, so who cares, right?  Angela was visibly nervous about this part and, funny enough, Mark mentioned it and said "We are not doing anything today.  Just relax.  She's so nervous!"

Angela was quite nervous!

Mark ran the numbers and said that we looked good.  He said that we should be able to secure a loan and if we did that the house would be ready for move in by June ---- wait, what?  Did he say that correctly?  The lot would go from a mound of dirt to a fully equipped new home by June?  Surely, he was mistaken.  Nope, and don't call him Shirley.

We became so wrapped up in the emotional roller coaster that we put down a check to reserve a lot.  It was one of the few left in the neighborhood and we wanted to snag it up!  It seemed that we were on our way.  Mark said that he would get all of the numbers together and get back to us with an estimate on the price with giving us the most for our money and cutting out the extras.  He assured us that he could figure out a way to get to the Misthaven within our price range and get us started on the process.  Yay!  It looked like we were on our way to home buying, but another hiccup was around the corner.

We took some time as a family to talk about the prospects of moving while we ate lunch.  We talked about the new rooms for the kids, the neighborhood and all of the potential this new move would offer.  After some well deserved nourishment, we explored the area a bit more.  We ventured to the grocery store to see if there was an organic section.  We spied the restaurants and all of the other places that would be in the immediate area of our potential new neighborhood.  Things were looking great.

We ended the day with a stroll in a nice nature area called Government Island.  We saw animals, fish, and the kids were able to pet some dogs.  It was a really nice time and a good end to a seemingly wonderful day!  Until we would be brought down a little later.