Ever since I can remember I have wanted to build a home. I was drawn to picking out everything that I wanted in a home, having it brand new and never touched. We've already been down the fixer-upper path, and while it was fun it had its moments where we wanted to escape and never look back.
Garrett always had the same dreams as me, and together we knew we would make it a reality. It took time, patience and A LOT of understanding.
We picked our builder, Southern Home, in Jan 2009. We liked the look of the floor plans and felt that Southern Homes had everything we wanted in a home (plus it was affordable to US). None of the floor plans were 2-story, and most all of the floor plans had 4 bedrooms. With the girls still young enough for toys and chaos, we wanted a room just for them and their "stuff".
We also wanted a good sized laundry room, 2 full bathrooms, a 3-car garage, lanai (that's known as a screened porch to the Northern Folk), a nice sized kitchen and, most importantly, his & her sinks!
The picking of the subdivision was very simple. We wanted a gated community, one close to a lake, and one that was very close to where our friends lived. BINGO! Shores at Lake Sears. It's everything we wanted and more. BEST part is we picked the biggest lot, on a corner and facing the water!!! That was the easy part, sitting down and crunching numbers wasn't!!
One Saturday in January (2010), we went to look at a few model homes. We noticed that Southern Home had added more floor plan choices to the subdivision we wanted to build in, but seeing them on paper vs. in person was two different things. The day we went in to look at the floor plan that we LOVED, we left in disappointment. Again it looked better on paper. Our representative, Virginia, sat with us while we talked about what WE wanted in the home. She ruffled through the stack of floor plans and showed us 4 or 5. It was easy to cross off the ones we didn't like and all but 2 were left. I wasn't crazy about the 2nd of the two floor plans, and was reluctant when Virginia urged us to go take a look at both models the following weekend.
The girls were becoming pros at home looking! They don't enjoy it as much as we do; in fact they are kind of oblivious to what is happening! Most weekend trips to the homes are met with moans and groans from them and we get asked if we have to that to 'that lady' again!
We arrived the next Saturday assuming we had THE floor plan. We were shown the one we weren't too crazy about (on paper) Walking into the home felt like walking into a home that was made for just for us. We couldn't believe how much we LOVED the home. It's 3 bedrooms with nice sized rooms. The girls bathroom is HUGE and would be a lot bigger then what they have now. The laundry room was a dream and my mind was swirling with ideas. Garrett LOVED the kitchen, it's a eat in over-looking the living room. The ONLY thing I do not like about it--it doesn't have a window over-looking the backyard! It does in fact have a lot of windows and light from the living room. In the front entry of the house there is a dining room to the left, a sitting area the the right and a enclosed den next to the sitting area! We also get the lanai, master bedroom with a beautiful bathroom. The house was it. I didn't care to see the other one, the one we thought was THE one. We went anyways and boy were we disappointed. It did nothing for us when we walked in. One thing I learned is that when you walk into a home you get a feeling. It is either a good feeling or bad one. You will know, and no one can tell you where or when that feeling will overcome. It just happens and it happened to the both of us.
Garrett always had the same dreams as me, and together we knew we would make it a reality. It took time, patience and A LOT of understanding.
We picked our builder, Southern Home, in Jan 2009. We liked the look of the floor plans and felt that Southern Homes had everything we wanted in a home (plus it was affordable to US). None of the floor plans were 2-story, and most all of the floor plans had 4 bedrooms. With the girls still young enough for toys and chaos, we wanted a room just for them and their "stuff".
We also wanted a good sized laundry room, 2 full bathrooms, a 3-car garage, lanai (that's known as a screened porch to the Northern Folk), a nice sized kitchen and, most importantly, his & her sinks!
The picking of the subdivision was very simple. We wanted a gated community, one close to a lake, and one that was very close to where our friends lived. BINGO! Shores at Lake Sears. It's everything we wanted and more. BEST part is we picked the biggest lot, on a corner and facing the water!!! That was the easy part, sitting down and crunching numbers wasn't!!
One Saturday in January (2010), we went to look at a few model homes. We noticed that Southern Home had added more floor plan choices to the subdivision we wanted to build in, but seeing them on paper vs. in person was two different things. The day we went in to look at the floor plan that we LOVED, we left in disappointment. Again it looked better on paper. Our representative, Virginia, sat with us while we talked about what WE wanted in the home. She ruffled through the stack of floor plans and showed us 4 or 5. It was easy to cross off the ones we didn't like and all but 2 were left. I wasn't crazy about the 2nd of the two floor plans, and was reluctant when Virginia urged us to go take a look at both models the following weekend.
The girls were becoming pros at home looking! They don't enjoy it as much as we do; in fact they are kind of oblivious to what is happening! Most weekend trips to the homes are met with moans and groans from them and we get asked if we have to that to 'that lady' again!
We arrived the next Saturday assuming we had THE floor plan. We were shown the one we weren't too crazy about (on paper) Walking into the home felt like walking into a home that was made for just for us. We couldn't believe how much we LOVED the home. It's 3 bedrooms with nice sized rooms. The girls bathroom is HUGE and would be a lot bigger then what they have now. The laundry room was a dream and my mind was swirling with ideas. Garrett LOVED the kitchen, it's a eat in over-looking the living room. The ONLY thing I do not like about it--it doesn't have a window over-looking the backyard! It does in fact have a lot of windows and light from the living room. In the front entry of the house there is a dining room to the left, a sitting area the the right and a enclosed den next to the sitting area! We also get the lanai, master bedroom with a beautiful bathroom. The house was it. I didn't care to see the other one, the one we thought was THE one. We went anyways and boy were we disappointed. It did nothing for us when we walked in. One thing I learned is that when you walk into a home you get a feeling. It is either a good feeling or bad one. You will know, and no one can tell you where or when that feeling will overcome. It just happens and it happened to the both of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment