William Shatner (aka PRICELINE NEGOTIATOR!)

So, Tuesday (Jan. 22) was the day that we went over to Centex to pick out our options. We had our REALTOR with us and the plan was to go meet with the Centex lady (Stephanie), pick out the options, make our offer, and then leave. Our realtor would then coordinate the rest of the negotiations with us via phone. (Brian and I were a little uncomfortable with sitting through a negotiation process in the office, as we were worried that we might feel pressured to pay more than we wanted.) If you've never dealt with a builder before, let me explain the process a bit. They have a standard package, which is called the base price of the house and then there are various options (or upgrades) that you can purchase to add on to the base price.

When we arrived, we found out that base price of the house had actually increased some because they had made a former option (two sinks in the master bath) a part of the standard package. It was a little scary that the price had already risen before we got started(!), but we had planned to add the second sink in the master, so it wasn't the end of the world. So, we had a super time picking out our options and choices!! We had already picked out our options before we arrived, but we still had a great time doing it and picking out our color scheme. We decided to get the following:

• Gas log fireplace in the Great Room
• Separate garden tub and shower in the Master Bath
• Kitchen island
• Faux-wood floors (laminate) in the dining room and front foyer
• Garage door opener (isn't it lame that you have to pay for the opener and motor?!) What's the point of having a garage!
• Fluorescent light in the kitchen
• Two exterior lights on each side of the garage door
• An elongated toilet seat in the Master Bath (Brian INSISTED!)
• Super quiet Whirlpool dishwasher (black)
• Whirlpool microwave hood over the stove (black)
• Smoothtop Whirlpool Stove (black)
• Side-by-side Whirlpool fridge (black)

We also had them put ceiling fan wiring in all four bedrooms, the great room, and the loft and overhead lighting wires in the hall bathroom and living room. We also put cable hookups in all four bedrooms, the loft, great room, and living room (which we're going to make an office).

After we decided on all our options, we got to pick our exterior colors (light brown tones with dark brown shutters) and the color of the cabinets, hardwood floor, carpet, counter tops, and vinyl. So now, all that stuff is completely done and we won't make any changes (it costs a FORTUNE if you make any changes after the contract day).

Another important decision we had to make was to pick a lot. We wanted a decent sized lot, but we didn't want to have to pay a huge lot premium. The direction of the house is also pretty critical for us because Brian takes naps between radio shifts during the day, so we wanted to make sure that the master bedroom was on the dark side of the house in the afternoon. We didn't like any of the lots that they had available, so we were able to convince them to open up a new lot for us on a cul-de-sac.

After all the options were picked, Stephanie printed out the details and gave us the final price. We crossed out her price and listed our initial offer. Stephanie faxed the offer to her manager and then suggested that we ride out to our lot to make sure it was exactly what we wanted. So we did that and it's a very nice lot with a slight hill in the backyard. Since they had to open the lot for us, there are no houses on the cul-de-sac yet, so we'll be the only people out there for a little while. When we got back to the office, the manager had faxed back our offer and countered. Her offer was still a little above what we wanted, so we countered her counter and our realtor told them that if it wasn't accepted, that we'd probably leave with their response and sleep on it. They absolutely didn't want us to do that!!! So they came back and accepted our offer!!! When it was all said and done, we got our cul-de-sac lot and all our options for a little over the base price, which was EXCELLENT. We learned later that we got them to come down the lowest they've ever come down before, which means that we were SUPER PRICELINE NEGOTIATORS!!!!! We were quite pleased!

With the price finalized, we went through signing the paperwork. It took FOREVER! There were so many things to sign and fill out and we hadn't even planned to be there for longer than an hour because our realtor didn't think they'd accept our offer that day. All-in-all, we were there for FOUR HOURS. Poor Brian was even late to his afternoon shift, but we are so relieved that it's all done now and that we're moving forward.

The first 30-45 days after the contract is finalized, Centex is getting building permits and buying our building materials, so it will be a while before there's any actual building!

We're planning to go out to our lot this weekend and take some pictures, so we'll post those a bit later!

Coming Soon: AHHHHHHH!!! MORTGAGE PAPERWORK!!!!!!!!