Yesterday our sales person (who rocks!) was able to take us to two Venice models - one was under constrction and the other was finished a few weeks ago. The visits were great. We first visited a Venice that had no morning room and decided that if we couldn't get the morning room, we couldn't get the venice. It was just too small. We were okay with that and still going to go with our plan of getting the Florence (more on that later). The other nice thing about seeing that house was that they had the wild berry cherry cabinets, which are the ones we chose. They looked awesome! At least one decision has been finalized. The upstairs was great, as we already knew.
When we went to the model that had the morning room, we instantly fell in love. It was beautiful! The morning room added so much to the downstairs! It was awesome. We also couldn't get over the gourmet island. We had decided to just go with a small island, but this thing was awesome! It really felt like we were standing in a gourmet kitchen. So while we were hoping this trip talked us into the Florence, it didn't.
We were still thinking at this point that while we loved the Venice, getting the Florence would be so much more comfortable money wise. Then we learned that if we build the Florence, there would be 3 Florences in a row, as 2 of our new neighbors are also building Florences. While the elevations would be different and the exteriors would have a different look, we don't like the idea of our house looking awfully similar to our neighbors. Plus, if we get the Venice, we'd be the first in the neighborhood to build one. That would be cool.
So last night we did some number crunching again. We found that if we put a little more into our down payment, we CAN afford to get the Venice, still have a comfortable payment, and still have a decent safety net. We will not be able to get the brick, but we're okay with that. We figure we can't really use the brick. We can look at it, but we can't use it like we can the extra space we're getting inside the house. So for now, we're going to move forward with the Venice. We have another meeting tomorrow night to update the changes that have been made. Unfortunately, we still have 12 days to change our minds. I just want everything to be finalized so we can move on!
I can definitely empathize with you on the decision making! It is really challenging! I wouldn't worry too much about not getting brick/stone. We're not and I don't think we'll even miss it! I'd rather have the morning room :-)
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with your point - money will be much better spent on 'usable' upgrades like space! Congrats on your decision!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
ReplyDeleteWe built the Venice in Ohio and moved in in December. So far we love it! Here is a picture, we chose elevation c with no brick file:///Users/jasonmroz/Desktop/SAM_0215.JPG
ReplyDeleteNatalie, that's great! So glad to hear you love it! How hard was it getting the furniture up and down the stairs with the turn? I'd love to see a picture, but can't see it with that link. Do you have another way to post it?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to post in on here for you to see it. I have it on a facebook album that should be public...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2413155&id=7711668&saved
Hopefully you can access it from this link. There are other pictures of the house as well. We have the "old" morning room since they didn't start doing the larger one until they were almost ready to break ground on our house. If you can't see it here I could email pictures to you. I know when I was building I wanted to see as many pictures as possible of other Venices! We didn't have any major issues with furniture. We did dent the walls a little going down the basement stairs with our huge couch but it was easily fixed.
Natalie, I was able to see the pictures. They are awesome! Thanks so much for giving me the link. I think we may have picked the same countertop - is it laminate? Also, is that vinyl or tile on your kitchen floor? Your decorating taste is awesome! I love the color of your morning room. Sadly, my husband wants to wait a year until we paint - he wants to give the house time to settle. I think I'll be very impatient... Your playroom is great! Very creative. If you have other pictures you're willing to share, I'd love to see them. You can email me at ryanbuilder2010@gmail.com. Thank you so much! We will be the first Venice in our plan so I don't have many examples to look at. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
ReplyDeleteI added a few more pictures to my facebook album if you'd like to see. The master bedroom and bathroom are still a work in progress (i'm adding a backsplash and putting up a new mirror and light fixture) but I will post pictures of those eventually. Our kitchen counters are laminate..they are called butterum granite and I really like them even though they're not real granite! We are waiting to paint our basement but had to paint the rest of the house because we have two boys age 1 and 2 and if we didn't paint before we moved in we knew we'd never get to it! You were very smart to upgrade to the deeper sink in the kitchen. We had a the shallow sink for about a month before we went out and bought a new 10" deep one and a new faucet. We also have the standard faucets in our bathrooms which I don't like but it will be much cheaper to buy them from Home Depot than it cost to upgrade with Ryan. I'm looking forward to checking your blog to see pictures of your home. Especially with the larger morning room! I'll let you know when I add more pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Natalie. The pictures were great! It was great to see the family room.
ReplyDeleteWe picked the same counters that you have. Yours look great, so I'm very happy with our choice. Its also good to hear about the sink. That was something my husband was adament about - I was fine with the regular one. But it sounds like that was a smart upgrade!
Wow, you're brave moving and painting with two very young kids!
Thanks again!