No Guardian?

I stopped by the model home yesterday to sign a change order form.  Our SR said our next meeting will be the pre construction meeting.  So, does that mean I don't have a Guardian meeting?  That's ok with me.  I didn't want to sit through a sales pitch for stuff I don't need or want anyways.  Just curious if thats normal.

Selling a house sucks!!!

I'm only three weeks away from listing my current house and it seems like my to do list isn't getting any shorter.  As soon as I cross one thing off the list, I think of two more to add.  With all the kids activities every single night, there isn't much time during the week to get stuff done.  This weekend is Mother's Day, next weeking I have to go boy scout camping with my son so that's totally shot, and all I have left is the Memorial Day weekend.  The clock is ticking.  Last night I really only had time to replace the broken light on the front of the house (wind storm slammed the front door into it), replace a couple broken lamp shades and repair the window closure on one of the garage windows.  There's still a ton of painting, carpet cleaning and decluttering to do.  I've gotten a lot done so far, but there's a lot left to do.
So, the plan is to put the house on the market June 1 with an open house June 10.  June 8 is our preconstruction meeting.  Makes me nervous starting construction before we have a buyer for our current house.  Let's hope I get an offer before the open house even occurs.

Design Center Selections

Last night we went to the design center to make our selections.  It was surprisingly much easier and faster than expected.  It helped a lot my wife and I were on the same page on just about everything. Here are our selections with a few photos:

Uba tuba granite counter tops with maple spice cabinets

We both instantly chose the uba tuba granite.  We were deciding between that and the sample to the right in the photo, but we both liked uba tuba best.  As for the cabinets, I wanted to go a shade darker, but was talked into the lighter cabinets since the counter top is dark.


Autumn mahogany laminate flooring in the kitchen, morning room, foyer, powder room and laundry

 This was another easy selection.  We both instantly loved it over everything else.


Traditional cherry railing stain (of the two hanging further down, the one to the left)

 My wife was up in the air between the cherry and the other stain thats slid down there.  The cherry instantly popped out at me.  She wins the kitchen cabinets, I win the railing stain.

Vinyl flooring and vanity for the upstairs bathroom and master bathroom

There were so many flooring options to choose from.  Again, we both went to the same style, so just needed to select the final color.  Here's what we came up with.  Originally, we were going with the cheap vanity for the boys bathroom, but after seeing and feeling the sample, we decided to eat the extra $100 and upgrade their vanity to the andover maple.  The base cabinets are so cheap looking and don't look like they'd hold up well to moisture from the shower.

Kitchen sink fixture

Upgrade 1 was included with the granite counter top, only reason we're getting it from Ryan Homes.  The top pulls out as the sprayer.

Bathroom fixtures.  I know, it's turned sideways, tilt your head

Sticking with the base package.  To go up to the brushed nickel finish (exact same fixtures) is a $995 upgrade.  I can run to Home Depot and do it for less than a quarter the price myself.

Carpeting we upgraded to Carpet D and the top 8 lb padding for the family room.  Living room is the base Carpet A and 6 lb padding.  Everywhere else is base Carpet A and base 4 lb padding.  I know it's cheap junk and won't last long, but the cost to upgrade is a rip off.  We can replace the carpeting a couple years down the line for a much better price.

I really wanted a ceramic tile backsplash in the kitchen, but Ryan Homes selection was extremely limited and the price was insane.  On the way home after leaving the design center, we stopped at Lowes and took a look at what they had.  Some beautiful choices and far, far less than what Ryan Homes wanted.  So, we'll do the backsplash tiling ourselves after moving in.

Can check the NVR meeting off the list

We got one more thing checked off the list.  Met with our NVR loan officer yesterday.  Things worked out perfectly.  Yes, we qualify for both the new mortgage and our existing mortgage, so construction can start before I have a buyer.  It's looking like the timing will overlap by a few weeks. 
Plans did change a bit on our closing amount.  We decided to pay the one time PMI at closing rather than roll it into the monthly payments.  Basically, I'm taking $4,400 from the down payment and applying it to the PMI.  It makes a much bigger impact on reducing the monthly payment, saves money in the long run and would be the same out of pocket dollars at closing.  It's a win-win.  So now our monthly payment is about $100 less than what we were originally planning!
We should hear back in about 3 weeks if we are approved.  There shouldn't be any problem at all, but until then fingers are crossed.