NO, smarties (aka Sara and Kara), we did NOT go out to our lot today! :-P
However, Brian did get a phone call from our construction supervisor and next Wednesday morning we are meeting with him to go over the preconstruction basics.
Also, on March 11th, we're going to Centex's Raleigh headquarters for a Home Construction and Warranty Dinner. The dinner will also have other families who are building homes and they are going to do a brief overview of the process (as if we didn't already know!) and our home/appliance warranties.
Hopefully both will be informative for many new blog posts!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
ROCK me gently, ROCK me slowly
Well, ladies and gentlemen--we have a handful of exciting developments!
- They've laid down quite a bit of gravel right on the curb to help the machinery gain traction as it leaves the road and hits our lot.
- They've put down little yellow flags to mark our natural gas lines.
- They've completely paved the the road that runs behind our lot.
Yup, that's pretty much it. It was dark and freezing, so we didn't stay for too long.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Temporary Power Pole--CHECK!
We took Brian's grandma out to dinner last night and ended up at the Applebee's in Knightdale and (don't be shocked!), since it's so convenient to our new neighborhood, we drove out there. Nothing too new except for the fact that they've checked off "Temporary Power Pole" on our little check off list in the DocBox. They added a wooden pole near an electrical box and the pole has a lot off little outlets on it for the workers to plug in their tools.
We are quite pleased that 1 out of the 50 billion things on the list have been checked off!
On a completely unrelated note, Brian will no longer be gracing your airwaves for traffic reports. He's accepted a new job within the same company (Curtis Media Group) as continuity director in CMG's commercial traffic department. (Yes, he moved from car traffic to commercial traffic!) He is still doing some part-time fill-in stuff on the air (esp. during the evening commute) until he's replaced, but he should be totally in his new job by the beginning of March. He's very excited--esp. since he'll never have to work holidays again and because he gets to work a normal 9-5 work day!!
However, do not be afraid! Brian is still the EXCLUSIVE locker room/press box reporter for CMG at all home Carolina Hurricanes games (he ate dinner with Chad LaRose the other night!). If you're watching the news and you see a WPTF microphone in one of the player's faces, it's Brian on the other end of the microphone. A couple of times he's made it into WRAL or News 14's camera shot and has actually been on TV (even in HD!). I am so proud!
We are quite pleased that 1 out of the 50 billion things on the list have been checked off!
On a completely unrelated note, Brian will no longer be gracing your airwaves for traffic reports. He's accepted a new job within the same company (Curtis Media Group) as continuity director in CMG's commercial traffic department. (Yes, he moved from car traffic to commercial traffic!) He is still doing some part-time fill-in stuff on the air (esp. during the evening commute) until he's replaced, but he should be totally in his new job by the beginning of March. He's very excited--esp. since he'll never have to work holidays again and because he gets to work a normal 9-5 work day!!
However, do not be afraid! Brian is still the EXCLUSIVE locker room/press box reporter for CMG at all home Carolina Hurricanes games (he ate dinner with Chad LaRose the other night!). If you're watching the news and you see a WPTF microphone in one of the player's faces, it's Brian on the other end of the microphone. A couple of times he's made it into WRAL or News 14's camera shot and has actually been on TV (even in HD!). I am so proud!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Port-a-John!
OK, yes, we are ridiculous! We drove back out there today :-)
And, while there is very little to report (no surprise!), we can report that they have put a PORT-A-JOHN out on our lot, which we all know is very serious business!!!
Oh happy day.
Our actual reasoning was that we wanted to measure a few things to see how far parts of our property will be from the road. We think we have a good idea, but we're not positive. It's hard to compare the lot plan with the actual property.
Brian also spoke to Stephanie at Centex who said that the house across the cul-de-sac from us is also going to be our floor plan and they've also sold another of our floor plan right at the beginning of our cul-de-sac, so it appears that business is still going pretty well for them. A very good thing! Stephanie also told Brian that the water restrictions will not affect us because the water piping on our street has already been established, so there won't be any restrictions on the flushing of our pipes. However, it could affect the street that's going to be running behind us, if the drought continues for an extended period.
And, while there is very little to report (no surprise!), we can report that they have put a PORT-A-JOHN out on our lot, which we all know is very serious business!!!
Oh happy day.
Our actual reasoning was that we wanted to measure a few things to see how far parts of our property will be from the road. We think we have a good idea, but we're not positive. It's hard to compare the lot plan with the actual property.
Brian also spoke to Stephanie at Centex who said that the house across the cul-de-sac from us is also going to be our floor plan and they've also sold another of our floor plan right at the beginning of our cul-de-sac, so it appears that business is still going pretty well for them. A very good thing! Stephanie also told Brian that the water restrictions will not affect us because the water piping on our street has already been established, so there won't be any restrictions on the flushing of our pipes. However, it could affect the street that's going to be running behind us, if the drought continues for an extended period.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Update to the Very Exciting Update
So, we went out to the neighborhood on Saturday to see the progress by the light of day!
There isn't a ton to report, but they've definitely graded off a good portion of our lot and smoothed it down. It's very muddy now, so they must have added some water as they were stirring stuff up (our shoes are disgusting!). It's a bit hard to figure out if there is any rhyme or reason to what they've smoothed out, but we think we have a pretty good idea of where the house is going to start and where our yard will be. It's pretty unreal to think that a house will be there in 3.5 months!! They've also sold the lot across the cul-de-sac from us, so there will probably be 3 total houses on our cul-de-sac that are almost finished when we move in. Hopefully, they will continue to sell, sell, sell!! They're also beginning to pave the road that is going to run a bit behind our lot.
Centex is having a big push to sell their spec. houses this week and there is one that is our same elevation and floor plan (with a few more upgrades than ours--but nothing exorbitant) that they are listing for $16,000 MORE than our final price. We are SO happy that we listened to Sharon who told us that prices would go up as we get closer to the spring and summer buying season. Building was a really, really good idea!
We're waiting to see if we'll be affected at all by the water restrictions, so hopefully we'll hear something this upcoming week.
We took three pictures of the lot, building permit, and the front of the doc box:
There isn't a ton to report, but they've definitely graded off a good portion of our lot and smoothed it down. It's very muddy now, so they must have added some water as they were stirring stuff up (our shoes are disgusting!). It's a bit hard to figure out if there is any rhyme or reason to what they've smoothed out, but we think we have a pretty good idea of where the house is going to start and where our yard will be. It's pretty unreal to think that a house will be there in 3.5 months!! They've also sold the lot across the cul-de-sac from us, so there will probably be 3 total houses on our cul-de-sac that are almost finished when we move in. Hopefully, they will continue to sell, sell, sell!! They're also beginning to pave the road that is going to run a bit behind our lot.
Centex is having a big push to sell their spec. houses this week and there is one that is our same elevation and floor plan (with a few more upgrades than ours--but nothing exorbitant) that they are listing for $16,000 MORE than our final price. We are SO happy that we listened to Sharon who told us that prices would go up as we get closer to the spring and summer buying season. Building was a really, really good idea!
We're waiting to see if we'll be affected at all by the water restrictions, so hopefully we'll hear something this upcoming week.
We took three pictures of the lot, building permit, and the front of the doc box:
Muddy Lot:
Doc Box:
Doc Box:
Building Permit:
Friday, February 15, 2008
VERY EXCITING UPDATE!!
We have a building permit--dated 02/12/2008!!!
And they've stirred up the dirt and made it all muddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More tomorrow when we go out there with a camera and sunlight.
And they've stirred up the dirt and made it all muddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More tomorrow when we go out there with a camera and sunlight.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Family Samuels (and mini-rant!)
On Sunday, when I got back from Boone with my parents, we met Brian over at Churchill and took Mom and Dad over to the lot and model home. I think they really liked it, which is good because they're going to be spending a lot of time there in the fall! When Appalachian football starts up, Mom, Dad, my sister Callison, and my future-brother-in-law Clayton will be staying with us on Friday and (probably Saturday) nights. Callison and Clay will be living in or near Wilmington and with Mom and Dad in Morehead, we're all going to rendons-nous chez LeBlanc on Fridays and then head to Boone Saturday mornings. If all continues on plan, we're probably going to come back to Raleigh on Saturday nights, so Brian and I will be able to use all our bedrooms two nights a week!!!!
Also, earlier last week, Brian and I went out to the neighborhood at night and saw a group of about 13 deer hanging out behind where our house will be. It's kinda sad that our neighborhood has taken out their homes, but it was very cool to see them all! Fortunately, we don't really care about gardening, so we don't have to worry about them eating our nonexistent flowers :-)
OK, now for my mini-rant. This is definitely a house blog and I don't want to make it a point to mention political stuff, but I think this is fitting, since it concerns building. If you didn't know, Raleigh is in its never-ending, perma drought. Granted, this drought is worse than any in recorded history, but the absolute mismanagement of growth and development in this area is abysmal. The actual definition of a drought has a lot more do with agriculture and farming (and loss thereof) as opposed to dwindling water supplies. However, if you live in Raleigh, you'd think that drought only refers to the lake level of Falls Lake. The lake is down like a bajillion feet and definitely looks bad, but it's isn't solely due to this drought. (Case in point, see Jordan Lake, which supplies the Town of Cary with its water. Jordan Lake is not nearly as empty as Raleigh [in fact, some people have reported that the lake is nearly full!] because Cary is much better at growth management.) So, since the beginning of recorded history, Raleigh has sucked at growth management. It's been so anxious for an increased tax base and its frustration with playing second fiddle to Charlotte that it's allowed uncontrolled growth for nearly 20 years with no regard for improving the city's infrastructure. (BTW, I so had a better term than "playing second fiddle," but Brian said I couldn't use it because it might be offensive.) So, instead of searching for alternate ways to provide additional water supplies for its exponential population growth, the city is instating tons of water restrictions for residents and businesses. It's going so far as to consider a moratorium of all new building permits (I'm still not positive on how this will affect Knightdale, which buys its water from Raleigh) to completely stop all new building. This phenomenon, for all you economics neophytes, would be a DISASTER for the Raleigh housing market that has so far been able to avoid the major housing crises that are affecting the rest of the country. However, our morons in city government refuse to acknowledge their mismanagement and all Mayor Moron can say is, "Well, the bottom line is--we're going to have to start looking at water differently." No, moron, the bottom line is that YOU're going to have to start looking at new water sources differently (see: Castle Hayne aquifer, desalination plants, and/or a new reservoir, etc.). Do I think this moratorium is really going to happen? No. But it's still complete bunk that the drought is the sole cause of Raleigh's water crisis. As I recently read, "Welcome to Raleigh. We have no water, but we have a soon-to-be new, super-duper convention center. Just don't flush."
Sorry for the political ranting--I'll try not to let it happen again. Hopefully, we'll get our building permit ASAP and we'll be good to go, regardless of this aqua-BS.
Also, earlier last week, Brian and I went out to the neighborhood at night and saw a group of about 13 deer hanging out behind where our house will be. It's kinda sad that our neighborhood has taken out their homes, but it was very cool to see them all! Fortunately, we don't really care about gardening, so we don't have to worry about them eating our nonexistent flowers :-)
OK, now for my mini-rant. This is definitely a house blog and I don't want to make it a point to mention political stuff, but I think this is fitting, since it concerns building. If you didn't know, Raleigh is in its never-ending, perma drought. Granted, this drought is worse than any in recorded history, but the absolute mismanagement of growth and development in this area is abysmal. The actual definition of a drought has a lot more do with agriculture and farming (and loss thereof) as opposed to dwindling water supplies. However, if you live in Raleigh, you'd think that drought only refers to the lake level of Falls Lake. The lake is down like a bajillion feet and definitely looks bad, but it's isn't solely due to this drought. (Case in point, see Jordan Lake, which supplies the Town of Cary with its water. Jordan Lake is not nearly as empty as Raleigh [in fact, some people have reported that the lake is nearly full!] because Cary is much better at growth management.) So, since the beginning of recorded history, Raleigh has sucked at growth management. It's been so anxious for an increased tax base and its frustration with playing second fiddle to Charlotte that it's allowed uncontrolled growth for nearly 20 years with no regard for improving the city's infrastructure. (BTW, I so had a better term than "playing second fiddle," but Brian said I couldn't use it because it might be offensive.) So, instead of searching for alternate ways to provide additional water supplies for its exponential population growth, the city is instating tons of water restrictions for residents and businesses. It's going so far as to consider a moratorium of all new building permits (I'm still not positive on how this will affect Knightdale, which buys its water from Raleigh) to completely stop all new building. This phenomenon, for all you economics neophytes, would be a DISASTER for the Raleigh housing market that has so far been able to avoid the major housing crises that are affecting the rest of the country. However, our morons in city government refuse to acknowledge their mismanagement and all Mayor Moron can say is, "Well, the bottom line is--we're going to have to start looking at water differently." No, moron, the bottom line is that YOU're going to have to start looking at new water sources differently (see: Castle Hayne aquifer, desalination plants, and/or a new reservoir, etc.). Do I think this moratorium is really going to happen? No. But it's still complete bunk that the drought is the sole cause of Raleigh's water crisis. As I recently read, "Welcome to Raleigh. We have no water, but we have a soon-to-be new, super-duper convention center. Just don't flush."
Sorry for the political ranting--I'll try not to let it happen again. Hopefully, we'll get our building permit ASAP and we'll be good to go, regardless of this aqua-BS.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Survey says...
Today was a good mail day!!! We got our lot survey. OK, so I guess technically it's a plot plan, but it's still very exciting. So, now we know for sure that our driveway is going to be on the left side of our front yard and we're going to have a reverse floor plan. We're pretty happy with how it's going to be laid out on the land. We'll be 10' feet from the property line on the right side of the house and 9'4" from the property line on the left side. We'll be 21' from the street and 39'3" from the back of the property line. It seems like a good use of the space. I uploaded a PDF of the plot plan (and, no, I don't suck at scanning, the copy they sent us isn't completely straight and the paper size is larger than legal size, so it didn't completely fit on our scanner bed).
And because Brian is awesome, he flipped the floor plans from Centex in Photoshop, since we'll have a reverse floor plan. The flip is very necessary for me because it's impossible for me to visualize mirror images like that in my mind. It will now look like this:
This weekend I'm heading to Boone with my parents to celebrate my sister's 21st birthday and on Sunday we're all going to go by the neighborhood so that they can see the lot and take a quick walk through the model. I can't wait for them to see it!!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday walks
On Sunday after church (and lunch at SUBWAY!), Brian and I headed out to the neighborhood (clearly, we're obsessed). We wanted to talk to Stephanie about a drought issue that's been in the news lately. Evidently, when Raleigh goes to Stage 2 water restrictions, there is a provision that builders can no longer use drinking water to flush out the pipes of new home construction, which is a condition to receive a certificate of occupancy. There's talk about the possibility of builders using reclaimed water to flush out the pipes, which might circumvent the system. We're really not too worried about it because there's NO WAY the City of Raleigh (of all places) will forgo the possibility of growth; however, we just wanted to see if Centex had a plan in place yet. Of course, they don't. :-)
After we stopped by the office, we went out to the walking trails that are in the neighborhood and took a nice little walk. The walking trail is all in the neighborhood, but it runs in the trees behind houses and it's really nice. It's pretty well wooded, which will be fantastic in hot months and along the way there are these "workout stations" with little mini-exercises at each. The trail is basically like the greenways that are in Raleigh. Right now, half of it is paved and the other half is a hard-packed sand. It seems, though, that it's probably all going to be paved before everything is said and done. Surprisingly, it's actually fairly hilly too. When the trail ended, we came out by the swimming pool, which is really nice! It's actually quite huge and there's tons of room to lay out on lounge chairs. Maybe I can finally return to the summers of my youth with a tan that's about 90 shades darker than my normal pale skin!! (Probably not, but a girl can dream.) Luckily, we're moving in June, so there will be plenty of pool time this summer.
We walked back to our car through two of the main streets and there were a ton of people outside! (It was a typical central North Carolina mid-winter day--65 degrees and sunny; have I mentioned that this is the best state in the union??) Anyway, everyone was sooo friendly; there were lots of kids playing and people walking their dogs. If it's possible, I think it made Brian and I even more excited!! After our walk, we went into three of the open houses that were available. They were all different floorplans than ours and we were happy to decide that we haven't seen another floor plan that we like better than ours, which is a good thing.
After we left, Brian got a call from his 92-year-old friend who was calling to seek Brian's help for his 89-year-old wife who was having major issues getting her font correct on an envelope she was printing off the computer. So we stopped by their house to help her out and, since they're moving to a retirement community in September, they told us we can stop by later and have any of the yard or gardening stuff that they have that we like. They are both so sweet!!! And, it's great for us because we thought we were going to have to buy a lawnmower, but now we don't!!! :-)
Oh--and then we watched the Giants beat the Patriots!! Ya know what they say--cheaters never win!!!!
After we stopped by the office, we went out to the walking trails that are in the neighborhood and took a nice little walk. The walking trail is all in the neighborhood, but it runs in the trees behind houses and it's really nice. It's pretty well wooded, which will be fantastic in hot months and along the way there are these "workout stations" with little mini-exercises at each. The trail is basically like the greenways that are in Raleigh. Right now, half of it is paved and the other half is a hard-packed sand. It seems, though, that it's probably all going to be paved before everything is said and done. Surprisingly, it's actually fairly hilly too. When the trail ended, we came out by the swimming pool, which is really nice! It's actually quite huge and there's tons of room to lay out on lounge chairs. Maybe I can finally return to the summers of my youth with a tan that's about 90 shades darker than my normal pale skin!! (Probably not, but a girl can dream.) Luckily, we're moving in June, so there will be plenty of pool time this summer.
We walked back to our car through two of the main streets and there were a ton of people outside! (It was a typical central North Carolina mid-winter day--65 degrees and sunny; have I mentioned that this is the best state in the union??) Anyway, everyone was sooo friendly; there were lots of kids playing and people walking their dogs. If it's possible, I think it made Brian and I even more excited!! After our walk, we went into three of the open houses that were available. They were all different floorplans than ours and we were happy to decide that we haven't seen another floor plan that we like better than ours, which is a good thing.
After we left, Brian got a call from his 92-year-old friend who was calling to seek Brian's help for his 89-year-old wife who was having major issues getting her font correct on an envelope she was printing off the computer. So we stopped by their house to help her out and, since they're moving to a retirement community in September, they told us we can stop by later and have any of the yard or gardening stuff that they have that we like. They are both so sweet!!! And, it's great for us because we thought we were going to have to buy a lawnmower, but now we don't!!! :-)
Oh--and then we watched the Giants beat the Patriots!! Ya know what they say--cheaters never win!!!!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
New Home Web Site
One cool thing about Centex is that we have this nifty-thrifty new home Web site, that is personalized for us. It lists various milestones in the building process and then will let us know when those are accomplished. Unfortunately, nothing's happened yet:
Quiet Week
This was a pretty quiet week on the house front. For the time being, all our paperwork is done. We did find out from the Centex sales agent that our property survey had been completed on Thursday, so we're expecting to see that in the mail in the next few days. That will be really cool because we should be able to find out if we'll have a traditional or reversed floor plan. All indications point toward a reversed plan, but it will be fun to know for sure. Brian and I drove out there Friday night after dinner to see if there had been any action, but alas there has not. I've also been scouring the Wake County real estate Web site to see if a building permit has been issued, but nothing yet.
We've been watching the interest rates pretty closely. That's the one super frustrating thing about building... With USAA, our rate lock period is 30 days prior to closing. We could lock 45 or 60 days out, but we'd have to pay extra. So anyway, I'm on an e-mail list that mails me the daily rates. I've been on the list since mid-December and, honestly, this whole rate lock thing is worse than gambling! It's really nerve-wracking to know the rates and know that they're changing, but be unable to lock ours in yet. Brian's mom told us that the lowdown in the mortgage world is that there's no way they'll go up before June, but it's still just an unknown at this point. In December, most rates were in the high 5s or very-low 6s. Now, they're pretty much in the low-to-mid 5s, which is fantastic, but I'd love to just lock it in and be done!!! I guess only time we'll tell.
The other thing we worked on this week was our moving plan. Yes, we have a moving plan. I am determined to reduce as much stress as possible, so I sat down a few weeks ago and listed out all the weeks between then and when we move. I came up with something manageable to accomplish each week, so that by our closing date everything will be packed, organized, and ready to move. Earlier this month, Brian and I attacked our guest closet, which was a daylong event. We completely gutted the closet and, basically, reduced it to a pile of about 20 items for keep. We then took a car load's worth of stuff to Goodwill and another car load's worth to the dump. This week we're filing paperwork and cleaning out our storage and coat closets, as well as some of the stuff on our deck. We have about 15 items to take to Goodwill tomorrow, but all of our closets look fantastic (well, except our bedroom closet)!!! Next week, we're tackling our closet and dresser drawers to get rid of not-used clothes. Basically, the first 10 weeks of the plan consist of organizing and cleaning out different things and then in the beginning of April, we'll start packing up things in boxes. It's nice to know that if we stick with this that we'll be in great shape at closing. I also just really like making spreadsheets. :-)
We've been watching the interest rates pretty closely. That's the one super frustrating thing about building... With USAA, our rate lock period is 30 days prior to closing. We could lock 45 or 60 days out, but we'd have to pay extra. So anyway, I'm on an e-mail list that mails me the daily rates. I've been on the list since mid-December and, honestly, this whole rate lock thing is worse than gambling! It's really nerve-wracking to know the rates and know that they're changing, but be unable to lock ours in yet. Brian's mom told us that the lowdown in the mortgage world is that there's no way they'll go up before June, but it's still just an unknown at this point. In December, most rates were in the high 5s or very-low 6s. Now, they're pretty much in the low-to-mid 5s, which is fantastic, but I'd love to just lock it in and be done!!! I guess only time we'll tell.
The other thing we worked on this week was our moving plan. Yes, we have a moving plan. I am determined to reduce as much stress as possible, so I sat down a few weeks ago and listed out all the weeks between then and when we move. I came up with something manageable to accomplish each week, so that by our closing date everything will be packed, organized, and ready to move. Earlier this month, Brian and I attacked our guest closet, which was a daylong event. We completely gutted the closet and, basically, reduced it to a pile of about 20 items for keep. We then took a car load's worth of stuff to Goodwill and another car load's worth to the dump. This week we're filing paperwork and cleaning out our storage and coat closets, as well as some of the stuff on our deck. We have about 15 items to take to Goodwill tomorrow, but all of our closets look fantastic (well, except our bedroom closet)!!! Next week, we're tackling our closet and dresser drawers to get rid of not-used clothes. Basically, the first 10 weeks of the plan consist of organizing and cleaning out different things and then in the beginning of April, we'll start packing up things in boxes. It's nice to know that if we stick with this that we'll be in great shape at closing. I also just really like making spreadsheets. :-)
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