So...house #1....the one with the small lot within a brand new subdivision (Haden Place) but walking distance from the (brand new) local library, coffeehouse, and a few restaurants.
We signed our contract with Gibson Homes in the spring. We've built 3 houses in the past, with the last being EXTREMELY stressful, so we definitely know how the process CAN go. Luckily, with Gibson, so far the only anxiety is combatting the after-effects of our LAST homebuilding experience:)
We choose Gibson because they are small and local- a team that includes husband/wife- Wendell and Becky. We ironed out the details of our home through many (sometimes late night) emails with Becky. Becky's response time to my emails was often immediate- which was awesome for someone excited to get things settled.
It was fun working with a custom home builder for the first time because we could specify exactly what we wanted. (This can be both super fun and overwhelming if you don't have a clear vision...luckily for us, our new neighbors had created an amazing floor plan that met our needs almost exactly- so we were able to tweak that to our budget and specifications. It was nice to be told "yes" to most of our wish list rather than having to stick to a set floor plan.
We signed our contract in their offices- a document that was simple and actually contained many provisions that were meant to protect the buyer- not just the homebuilder- something ENTIRELY different from two of our previous homebuilding experiences.
After we signed the contract, we met again in their office to choose cabinets, counters, siding, doors, knobs, and maybe a few other options. Becky was super helpful and this was a fun process. Lori, the office manager kept my VERY active son occupied the whole time -- you have no idea (or maybe you do, if you have kids) how amazing this was!! (If she ever reads this, THANK YOU again:)
We met with L&L Flooring to select floors. The rep there, Andre was amazing, he was very helpful making coordinating color choices and I felt very supported in a process that could have been agonizing for one who doesn't make choices easily. He showed me that the carpets and padding that Gibson offers as standard were of high quality, not offered by every builder- 8 lb pad is standard with Gibson. The only thing I upgraded was tile in the kitchen, 10 lb carpet pad in office where my husband stands all day and one level up in vinyl for the master bath. Pictures of them to come. The rest of our main floor, stairs and upstairs hallway are to be wood and finished in place by Gibson.
Gibson broke ground on our house in the early summer. To avoid a potential vacancy off-rental season, we decided to rent our current home immediately and move into short term housing. We found a furnished unit and put all our belongings into storage. We got a large unconditioned unit for the bulk of our things and a smaller, conditioned unit for things that I worried about getting hot over the summer- I think this saved some money. However, it's definitely not been easily logistically- moving twice...but we're making it work.
So...with that short summary of things thus far, I'll sign off for the night. Here are a few pictures of the house in the meantime. I'll post more pictures soon.
View from the back. We have a detached garage that is connected to our neighbor's. Another house is going in soon right next to ours- but hoping to fence the area in back beside the garage to have a little contained play space for kids.
Front view. Huge front porch- porch swing will go right by the window:)
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