That brings us to August 2017 where, after depleting our savings to get out of the previous home, we make the leap that no 30 something ever wants to make... we move back in with my parents! Don't get me wrong, things have been awesome around here. My dad and stepmom have bent over backwards to accommodate us, my son has loved having a dog and a pool (as well as his baseball field), and we've been able to get back on our feet financially. Again, the help of family and friends has been unbelievable during this time!
While our house hunt "casually" began many months ago with collaborative wish lists on google docs, emailing/texting links to Zillow listings, and slow/stealthy drive-bys in neighborhoods we could see ourselves living in, the real hunt began in early-September when we decided to visit a model home with a builder a little further south than we wanted to be but in a growing area and within a school district we would be happy with. The model home we visited was a floor plan that checked absolutely every one of our boxes. 2nd Floor Laundry, open kitchen into large family room, finished basement, morning room addition, etc. It took a lot of willpower to walk away without cutting a check right on the spot! We spent weeks reviewing the literature and pricing sheets and trying to come up with creative ways to make the home work. In the meantime, we continued to scope out open houses and real estate listings, but we kept coming back to the idea of having something brand new. Unfortunately, the distance from our family (free babysitters!) as well as the escalating price of added features we wanted and some concerns about builder quality were factors that were too hard to ignore.
Then we heard whispers of a builder gobbling up lots in a location that was almost too good to be true...
After weeks of stalking their website for any signs of availability, I reached out to Bruce Paparone Homes to see what kind of information they could share with us. We set a meeting two weeks away in hopes that more details would be available by that time and in the meantime, my reconnaissance mission was under way! The floor plan that was best in our price range was nearly identical to the model home we previously fell in love with! The price points seemed to align with what we expected! The reputation of the builder was head and shoulders above others we had looked at! The location was perfect!
We walked into the our meeting with Paparone Homes with cautious optimism. Was this too good to be true? Was the price of extras going to blow us out of the water? Were the down payment terms going to be too difficult for us to swallow this quickly? Was the home going to be different from what my reconnaissance mission had dug up? The answer to all of these was a resounding NO! The meeting could not have gone better! We visited a model home in a different Paparone community and while it was larger and more extravagant than what we needed, so many of the same luxuries would carry over into the home we were choosing: Hardwood floors, granite counters, 42" cabinets with soft close hinges and dovetail drawers, stainless steel appliances, ceramic tile bathrooms, etc. All of these would have been added dollars to our mortgage with the earlier builder we were looking at. Here, they were standard features with the "instant upgrade" package that included the morning room bumpout and finished basement (a package that was also offered with the earlier builder though at a much steeper price!). If we wanted to upgrade any of the standard offerings, that negotiation could be done directly with the contractors as a cash transaction rather than financing those adds as part of our mortgage. The sales woman put our financial concerns at ease spelling out very clearly how the process works and the timing of each step along the way. One hour with Paparone Homes and our financial concerns and feelings of "how the hell are we going to pull this off?!?" were put at ease! Best of all, since my stalking of their website got us in as one of the first meetings regarding this new community, there was a corner cul de sac lot still available (with no lot premium!) which was slightly larger than the others and of course tucked back at a quiet end of the road. Too good to be true for sure (but it's true!)
I write this as I wait to hear back from the mortgage company about the next step. Down payment and contracts could happen as soon as this coming weekend! For now, our pin is on the board and we are (potentially) 6 months + 120 days away from moving into our dream home!
