House building - updated w/selection info & pictures

[TechWife]

For those of you that have paid lot premiums in recent years, how much were they and what type of lot was it that it commanded a premium (corner, cul-de-sac, etc.)? We have had a "lot reservation" for several months and the developer has now released the lots for sale. However, the lot premium he is asking for is 25% more than the lot premiums on lots in previous phases of the neighborhood. The previous phases are not yet 100% built out at this time. This neighborhood is about 3 years from being completed if the economy holds, longer if it doesn't. It is neither a buyers nor a sellers market in our area. New home starts are down, but by the same token an average of 40 people move to our county daily. Resale homes are on the market an average of 12 days - we expect our existing home  will sell within two days due to it's location and price point (again, if the economy holds). We will not be putting it on the market until we move out of it.

I have asked our realtor how much premiums are in other developments in our town and she hasn't gotten back to me yet. There are probably about 20 developments of various sizes under construction in our city limits, we are moving into one of the larger ones.

Edited November 28, 2018 by TechWife

[KungFuPanda]

Around here, cul-de-sac streets are more desirable than homes on through streets. When they build I’ve noticed the pattern that they build houses, sell them, build more houses to make that neighborhood denser, sell them, then townhouses, and condos last until the neighborhood is as developed as it can get. 

[TheReader]

It's been a few years, but if I remember correctly "normal" lots were about $2000, "large" lots were around $4000, "cul de sac lots" were between $4000 to $8000 depending on size of the lot, and "oversized" lots were about $6000. (there-abouts). 

The higher premiums were for lots fully on a complete cul-de-sac (vs. the ones on half cul-de-sacs, where the road curves out around to the next street), & for the ones with really oversized lots, & for corner lots. Highest being the extra large cul-de-sac lots & the extra large regular lots on a cul-de-sac street (but not on the cul-de-sac part). 

*ETA: these are the "premiums" added, not the value of the actual lot/land itself.....everyone pays at least the $2K, then different lots in each section/street are adjusted based on the above, up to $8K depending, at least that was the case 4.5 yrs ago.....(may have increased by now; neighborhood is still several years from completion....)

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by TheReader

[school17777]

Our premium to back up to woods rather than another house was 20% more.  Add another zero and multiply by 2 to 3 to the poster above’s lot costs!

Edited November 27, 2018 by school17777

[TheReader]

5 hours ago, school17777 said:

Our premium to back up to woods rather than another house was 20% more.  Add another zero and multiply by 2 to 3 to the poster above’s lot costs!

 

4 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

I know right?  Our land was a cool $150k and we haggled them down *hard* from the list price.  It’s totally worth it for the lot, which was the best in the area by far and had easy access to businesses, close proximity to work and church and medical, all utilities, and amazing views,  but the land costs more than a fair portion of houses in the county, and that’s just dirt.

 

And if we were buying back where I came from, what we paid for land would be considered a steal for the what we got!  Real estate is very location specific and highly variable, for sure.  Even among the exact same subdivision.

 

Oh, the actual *cost* is I don't-even-know-what, but the builder for our neighborhood (and most around us) buy up the whole thing, then sell out the lots with the land cost folded into the total cost (because you are also picking their floor plan, they are building it, etc....). So, every home already has "cost of land/lot" included in the projected base price. 

Then you add on a premium for if you chose an oversized lot, cul-de-sac, corner lot, etc. (the values I listed originally in my post), in addition to whatever "upgrades" you choose to do in your home and such. But yes, the true cost/value of the land definitely has another zero/increases by a large % over what I listed.....I was referring only to the "lot premium" that gets added on, on top of the actual cost.

(and if that's still way off.....well, I am in a part of the US with very low land costs/housing costs....)

[displace]

I would caution as a buyer that corner lots are not necessarily desirable.  I don’t really understand that thought unless it’s a very low driven street/area.  IMO, corner lot is more traffic.  But if there was zero traffic it may be good not having a neighbor?

[school17777]

1 hour ago, displace said:

I would caution as a buyer that corner lots are not necessarily desirable.  I don’t really understand that thought unless it’s a very low driven street/area.  IMO, corner lot is more traffic.  But if there was zero traffic it may be good not having a neighbor?

 

Yes, the first person to build in our neighborhood had his pick of a couple corner lots and he chose next to a corner lot.  I asked him why he didn’t pick one and he said because he lived on one before and he always to pick up trash at the stop sign.  For some reason, people feel free to toss out trash and cigarette butts at the stop sign.  I live in front of a stop sign and we often observe people sitting at the stop sign in their car for an abnormally long time.

Edited November 28, 2018 by school17777

[KungFuPanda]

1 hour ago, displace said:

I would caution as a buyer that corner lots are not necessarily desirable.  I don’t really understand that thought unless it’s a very low driven street/area.  IMO, corner lot is more traffic.  But if there was zero traffic it may be good not having a neighbor?

I wouldn’t have guessed that a corner lot would be worth more anywhere. Two roads and less privacy seem like a drawback to me.  Maybe they make these lots larger to make sure people want them? Like when they put an extra floor on that middle townhouse.

[Sneezyone]

We have a corner lot that's significantly larger than the ones nearby. One advantage is lots of frontage so our house was built to 'look pretty' from two sides (not just the front). It's all brick but there's lots of decorative stonework on two sides.  It's a showpiece. The downside is lots of sidewalk to shovel/treat during storms and lots of edging to do. We also have a smaller back yard to allow for future easements up front. That's unlikely, since the streets are already plenty wide, but it's rented to retirees who also find the smaller back yard a plus.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Sneezyone

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, displace said:

I would caution as a buyer that corner lots are not necessarily desirable.  I don’t really understand that thought unless it’s a very low driven street/area.  IMO, corner lot is more traffic.  But if there was zero traffic it may be good not having a neighbor?

This is a high density development. The homes have 15 feet between them. This corner lot allows for a slightly larger side yard, even though part of it is a city easement. It will help me personally, to not feel hemmed in by the closeness of the houses. We are intentionally moving to a lower maintenance yard - smaller is good for our purposes, but we are not at all used to being right on top of our neighbors. We have extended family in Illinois and this type of neighborhood is very common there - they have the detached garage like we will have and enough room for a flower bed or two, or some shrubs, but no trees and no recreational yard space. In our area, generally speaking, the corner lots are larger than the inside lots and so have a premium. The street is considered a "collector" which means there is one smaller street that empties onto it and it leads to a "thoroughfare" which is how the streets that lead into the neighborhood from the highway entrances are classified.

I found out today that this is the last remaining corner lot - so basically he can charge whatever premium he wants to charge, so here we are!

I did pick out all of our finishes today - sort of like the ultimate shopping trip. We were at the builders office for five hours total. I must say that they really respected what we were looking at price wise and didn't try to upgrade everything. We upgraded our cabinets throughout the house, the countertops in the master and guest bathrooms and the flooring in the master bedroom and the entire second & third floors. The first & second floors will have a nice laminate flooring in all rooms except the bathrooms and the laundry room, which are tiled. The third floor rec room & the stairs leading to it are carpet, which we did upgrade from the standard carpet to a better quality. The tile backsplash in the kitchen isn't upgraded, but the pattern is an upgrade - it's going to be a herringbone arrangement. We upgraded the interior fireplace surround from just sheet rock to marble. We added an outdoor fireplace to the patio. We upgraded the 1st floor coat closet/second & third floor storage closets to be - get ready - an elevator shaft! The shaft is "roughed in" - meaning it will have the deeper foundation underneath & an equipment room will be wired. For now, they will be large, finished closets, but we can pull the closet floors out and install the elevator at any time. That's probably 20 years down the road if/when we decided to do it. We think that having the option is worth the cost of the $1500 rough in (most of that is electrical). We are also roughing in a powder room for the third floor rec room - it will have the pipe in the wall and the floor and it will be framed, but it is basically unfinished attic space. That rough in was $500.

Fixtures were fairly easy to select & are all standard - we are going with brushed nickel on plumbing fixtures. Light fixtures are "muted pewter." Mirror frames are black wood.

Do you guys want to see pictures?

 

[school17777]

Yes!  Of course we want to see pictures!

[Annie G]

Sounds awesome! And YES to photos! The elevator rough in sounds great. 

We’re leaving tomorrow to close on a house- we’re moving from Illinois back to Georgia, outside of Athens. The house isn’t old, but it needs some work. So I’d love to see your pics!

[TechWife]

17 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Around here, cul-de-sac streets are more desirable than homes on through streets. When they build I’ve noticed the pattern that they build houses, sell them, build more houses to make that neighborhood denser, sell them, then townhouses, and condos last until the neighborhood is as developed as it can get. 

Here the townhouses go in first, then the smaller houses, then the medium size houses then the large houses. This new neighborhood has all of it's townhouses complete and they are about 95% sold. The small & medium size houses are about 75% sold. He's getting ready to open the large houses - they are about 10% sold. That's the section we will be in. There is an additional street that has McMansions on it - that street has been open the entire time and has a really high end builder that bought all of those lots from the developer. He's probably about 40-50% sold.

[Sneezyone]

Did they offer you the option to seal the ducts and upgrade the insulation? Honestly, if you plan to live there long-term, those offer TREMENDOUS value for very little addl. cost. If not, I would ask.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Sneezyone

[Ottakee]

Pictures would be great :-).  You mentioned getting Laminate floors.  Have you looked at Luxury vinyl plank floors?  If the laminate is at all in a wet area I would consider that over laminate.

[TechWife]

2 hours ago, TheReader said:

 

 

Oh, the actual *cost* is I don't-even-know-what, but the builder for our neighborhood (and most around us) buy up the whole thing, then sell out the lots with the land cost folded into the total cost (because you are also picking their floor plan, they are building it, etc....). So, every home already has "cost of land/lot" included in the projected base price. 

Then you add on a premium for if you chose an oversized lot, cul-de-sac, corner lot, etc. (the values I listed originally in my post), in addition to whatever "upgrades" you choose to do in your home and such. But yes, the true cost/value of the land definitely has another zero/increases by a large % over what I listed.....I was referring only to the "lot premium" that gets added on, on top of the actual cost.

(and if that's still way off.....well, I am in a part of the US with very low land costs/housing costs....)

 

That is exactly how this neighborhood works. The opportunities to buy a piece of land and then choose your own builder are just about gone here. Here, the developer sells the lots to a pre-selected set of builders, then the builders offer floor plans appropriate to the lot size and the cost of the land is rolled into the base price of the house. If the developer puts a premium on a lot, the builder pays the premium and passes that on to the buyer.

[TheReader]

40 minutes ago, TechWife said:

This is a high density development. The homes have 15 feet between them. This corner lot allows for a slightly larger side yard, even though part of it is a city easement. It will help me personally, to not feel hemmed in by the closeness of the houses. We are intentionally moving to a lower maintenance yard - smaller is good for our purposes, but we are not at all used to being right on top of our neighbors. We have extended family in Illinois and this type of neighborhood is very common there - they have the detached garage like we will have and enough room for a flower bed or two, or some shrubs, but no trees and no recreational yard space. In our area, generally speaking, the corner lots are larger than the inside lots and so have a premium. The street is considered a "collector" which means there is one smaller street that empties onto it and it leads to a "thoroughfare" which is how the streets that lead into the neighborhood from the highway entrances are classified.

I found out today that this is the last remaining corner lot - so basically he can charge whatever premium he wants to charge, so here we are!

I did pick out all of our finishes today - sort of like the ultimate shopping trip. We were at the builders office for five hours total. I must say that they really respected what we were looking at price wise and didn't try to upgrade everything. We upgraded our cabinets throughout the house, the countertops in the master and guest bathrooms and the flooring in the master bedroom and the entire second & third floors. The first & second floors will have a nice laminate flooring in all rooms except the bathrooms and the laundry room, which are tiled. The third floor rec room & the stairs leading to it are carpet, which we did upgrade from the standard carpet to a better quality. The tile backsplash in the kitchen isn't upgraded, but the pattern is an upgrade - it's going to be a herringbone arrangement. We upgraded the interior fireplace surround from just sheet rock to marble. We added an outdoor fireplace to the patio. We upgraded the 1st floor coat closet/second & third floor storage closets to be - get ready - an elevator shaft! The shaft is "roughed in" - meaning it will have the deeper foundation underneath & an equipment room will be wired. For now, they will be large, finished closets, but we can pull the closet floors out and install the elevator at any time. That's probably 20 years down the road if/when we decided to do it. We think that having the option is worth the cost of the $1500 rough in (most of that is electrical). We are also roughing in a powder room for the third floor rec room - it will have the pipe in the wall and the floor and it will be framed, but it is basically unfinished attic space. That rough in was $500.

Fixtures were fairly easy to select & are all standard - we are going with brushed nickel on plumbing fixtures. Light fixtures are "muted pewter." Mirror frames are black wood.

Do you guys want to see pictures?

 

 

Similar reasoning here on why the corner lot (we aren't on one, but they are premium added lots here...). Not having the other-side-neighbor, and having the larger side yard, are big bonuses to lots of folks. Plus ours get nicer fences as well. 

Your home sounds wonderful! I'm sorry the premium is higher, but it sounds like it's going to be great! Love the elevator rough-in, and the outdoor fireplace! Yay!! 

That shopping the finishes was so time-consuming when we did ours....DH wasn't with me, even (we'd agreed on a few major things ahead of time), but I took in things like place mats, bath towels, etc. so I could be sure that tile colors I was choosing worked with the decor I knew we'd be using. My realtor thought it was hilarious (she came with me; we'd been shopping already built homes first, so when we switched to building, we made sure she could still be involved). 

Best of luck with your new build! 

[TechWife]

38 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

Did they offer you the option to seal the ducts and upgrade the insulation? Honestly, if you plan to live there long-term, those offer TREMENDOUS value for very little addl. cost. If not, I would ask.

They didn't offer this - can you explain what you mean by sealing the ducts? We are still working on final pricing, so I can definitely ask.

[Sneezyone]

16 minutes ago, TechWife said:

They didn't offer this - can you explain what you mean by sealing the ducts? We are still working on final pricing, so I can definitely ask.

 

Imagine ductwork, right? rectangular or round tubes running under your house and/or in your attic. Most of the time, these are simply secured together with screws and, maybe, tape. Duct sealing and insulation entails wrapping the seams with special duct-sealing tape, not duct tape, and insulating (or wrapping) the ducts with insulation. Obv. upgrading the insulation in the house as a whole requires spray-foam insulation or a thicker layer of fiberglass or (essentially) shredded newspaper (aka cellulose) to increase the R-value (the capacity of an insulating material to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power). I worked, for a time, in weatherization so this is a big deal to me, lol.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Sneezyone

[TechWife]

Now for some pictures!

First the exterior - this is the first build with this elevation, so there wasn't a house that I could take a picture of, so this is a sketch. The siding will be pale green, trim white with black shutters & doors. They will prep for four ceiling fans - two on each porch.

This is the foundation veneer

 

Patio pavers - this is really washed out. They are a pinkish brown, not grey.

 

This is the exterior fireplace stone.

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by TechWife
removing pictures to make room

[TechWife]

Now for the first floor.

First, a panoramic of the main rooms on the first floor of the model home. Our walls will be this color & the wall kitchen cabinets are this color. Other finishes are different. Also on this floor but not pictured: office, master bedroom & bath, dining room, laundry. The realtor says "hi!"

These are the kitchen selections. The floor is the bottom right square on the flooring board. This will be in throughout the first & second floors, except for bathrooms & laundry room. The white is wall cabinets and all other cabinets in the house will be this color as well, with the exception of the island, which will be the black swatch that is on top of the countertop swatch. The tile swatch is the kitchen backsplash that will be in the herringbone pattern.

 

There will be three pendants over the bar (which is not the island).

 

This is the breakfast nook light.

 

The dining room light (this is my least favorite fixture, but it is one I can live with).

 

This is the first floor powder room. Unlike the other bathrooms, it has the laminate flooring. I don't know why. It's the bottom right corner of the sample board.

 

Powder room light - it will be flipped around so that the light bulbs shine down.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by TechWife
removing pictures to make room

[Sneezyone]

Nice, TechWife. Not too trendy, not too staid. Just right.

[TechWife]

Now for the master bathroom. First, a picture of the bathtub in the model home. We will have this same tub. The rest of the finishes will be different.

My master bathroom selections - same cabinets as the kitchen with black marble countertop, black framed mirrors, grey floor tile, white w/ grey hexagon shower floor, white tile on shower walls

 

Plumbing fixtures (same as first floor powder room):

 

Lighting - there will be two of these as it is a double sink vanity. There will also be two mirrors, each centered over the sink.

This grey floor tile will be repeated in the first floor laundry room. The cabinet door knobs and drawer pulls will be the same as in the kitchen, so I will not repeat those pictures.

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by TechWife
removing pictures to make room

[TechWife]

The second floor will have that same laminate flooring you see on the first floor. On the flooring swatch board in previous pictures it is the bottom right swatch.

This is for the hall bathroom. It is the same as the first floor powder room except for the floor tile. This is grey floor tile (same as master bathroom and laundry), same cabinet, same black mirror as in other bathrooms, same countertop as kitchen and first floor powder room, same wall tile as first floor. The wall tile will be around the bathtub only - from the top of the tub to the ceiling. The wall color is the same as the first floor (we didn't change the wall color anywhere in the house). It has the same light fixture as the master bathroom, so I won't put that one up again.

 

Now for the guest bathroom. It has a shower only, no bathtub. This bathroom is attached to the guest bedroom with no hall door, in the same manner a master bath room is attached to the master bedroom. Same cabinets and mirrors, same floor tile. I repeated the grey & white hexagon tile shower floor as in the master bathroom, the small white tile is small subway tile for the shower walls. It has the same black countertop the master bathroom, the same plumbing & light fixtures as the master bath.

 

This is the carpet for the stairs going to the third floor rec room and for the rec room - it's a light "greige":

 

That's everything! Hopefully if permitting goes quickly and the weather holds, the foundation will be poured in January and then it will be 6-7 months to completion.

I just realized that I don't have a picture of the marble surround for the fireplace. I'll get one when I go back next week to sign paperwork and post it then.

Edited September 14, 2020 by TechWife
removing pictures to make room

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, Ottakee said:

Pictures would be great :-).  You mentioned getting Laminate floors.  Have you looked at Luxury vinyl plank floors?  If the laminate is at all in a wet area I would consider that over laminate.

This builder doesn't offer that option for this floor plan.

[Annie G]

I’m so impressed that you could pick these things out all at once. I don’t have the home decorating knack so seeing all these choices that go together is pretty cool.  Bet you can’t wait for the fun to begin!!

[alisoncooks]

My goodness -- so many choices! It's going to look beautiful!

[TechWife]

Oops - I left these out. These are the same throughout the house.

Cabinet door knob

 

Cabinet drawer pulls

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by TechWife

[TechWife]

8 minutes ago, Annie G said:

I’m so impressed that you could pick these things out all at once. I don’t have the home decorating knack so seeing all these choices that go together is pretty cool.  Bet you can’t wait for the fun to begin!!

The builder' designer is pretty amazing. I told her what colors I wanted and what items we wanted "just like the model" - mainly the kitchen cabinets. I picked the floor color and counter top colors and then the rest of it came together fairly easily. It was a long five hours, trust me!

I am excited to get started and am hoping interest rates don't rise too significantly over the next few months!

 

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, TheReader said:

...

That shopping the finishes was so time-consuming when we did ours....DH wasn't with me, even (we'd agreed on a few major things ahead of time), but I took in things like place mats, bath towels, etc. so I could be sure that tile colors I was choosing worked with the decor I knew we'd be using. My realtor thought it was hilarious (she came with me; we'd been shopping already built homes first, so when we switched to building, we made sure she could still be involved). 

Best of luck with your new build! 

It's great you went into such detail! I'll probably want new hand towels for the powder room and a new set of towels for the guest bath, but other than that, what I have isn't terribly worn out. Of course, when I put them in the new house they will look more worn out than they do here, but I'm taking the soft goods one step at a time for now!

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, Sneezyone said:

 

Imagine ductwork, right? rectangular or round tubes running under your house and/or in your attic. Most of the time, these are simply secured together with screws and, maybe, tape. Duct sealing and insulation entails wrapping the seams with special duct-sealing tape, not duct tape, and insulating (or wrapping) the ducts with insulation. Obv. upgrading the insulation in the house as a whole requires spray-foam insulation or a thicker layer of fiberglass or (essentially) shredded newspaper (aka cellulose) to increase the R-value (the capacity of an insulating material to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power). I worked, for a time, in weatherization so this is a big deal to me, lol.

Thank you for the info - I am definitely going to look into it.

[TechWife]

2 hours ago, Annie G said:

Sounds awesome! And YES to photos! The elevator rough in sounds great. 

We’re leaving tomorrow to close on a house- we’re moving from Illinois back to Georgia, outside of Athens. The house isn’t old, but it needs some work. So I’d love to see your pics!

I'm originally from Georgia. I spent my teen & early adult years about 40-45 min from Athens, in the Gainesville area. My best friend's sister lives in Watkinsville, near Athens. My husband grew up in southern Illinois. He's from a tiny town by the name of Sims, in Wayne County. There is still extended family in that area. I have extended family near Chicago, in Batavia.

[TechWife]

Here are the floor plans:

First floor: Deleting the door from office to powder room; no closet in office; not getting the shower only option on master bathroom. We are getting the third floor (also this "second floor with no third floor" is a misprint in their brochure, just ignore it). Outside: We are getting the three car garage & covered porch; we are getting the patio finished from the privacy wall all the way to the edge of the 3 car garage, covered portion will be the same as on on the plan. We are getting the outside fireplace and also having plumbing added for the gas grill on the open side of the patio.

Second floor: Bottom left layout - delete door from bedroom 3 to bath 2; delete door on staircase to third floor.

Third floor: Top left layout - rec room: powder room and closet next to it will be rough in only; elevator shaft & equipment room will be finished as closets; no wet bar. The staircase wall is a 1/2 wall so you can see over it onto the staircase. I think it will be a cat perch.

Edited December 6, 2018 by TechWife

[gardenmom5]

question - do you really want your master NEXT to the main living area?   let me tell you - it's noisy.  I have that, and I detest it.

[Annie G]

1 hour ago, gardenmom5 said:

question - do you really want your master NEXT to the main living area?   let me tell you - it's noisy.  I have that, and I detest it.

That’s how ours has been for the past 25 years and I love it.  I took many a nap with a small kid or a sick child while being able to hear the rest of the kids playing in the living room. When our parents visited, we could give them our room to keep them from having to go upstairs, and it was super convenient for them.  But I know a lot of people don’t like a master there. 

[gardenmom5]

39 minutes ago, Annie G said:

That’s how ours has been for the past 25 years and I love it.  I took many a nap with a small kid or a sick child while being able to hear the rest of the kids playing in the living room. When our parents visited, we could give them our room to keep them from having to go upstairs, and it was super convenient for them.  But I know a lot of people don’t like a master there. 

teenagers cooking at 1am is not.   when I'm sick and trying to sleep - it's not.  when dh is up at 3am and banging around in the kitchen - it's not.

dd stayed here while dh and I were gone for two weeks last summer.   one of her first comments was "now I know why you always complain about it". 

[TechWife]

2 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

question - do you really want your master NEXT to the main living area?   let me tell you - it's noisy.  I have that, and I detest it.

Yes. We are planning for the future and limited mobility. We have no small children and there will not be a tv in either the living room or the master bedroom for the time being. 

[Arcadia]

58 minutes ago, Annie G said:

When our parents visited, we could give them our room to keep them from having to go upstairs, and it was super convenient for them.  

 

16 minutes ago, TechWife said:

We are planning for the future and limited mobility. 

 

My mom loves having the room next to the kitchen and living room. Makes it easier for her to get a drink of water, take her medicine, or to walk to the sofa to read newspapers.

It is also easier to elderproof a full size bathroom than to elderproof the toilet. For my parents current home, the full size bathrooms are near to the living room and bedrooms but far from the kitchen. Their floor plan didn’t have a toilet attached to the kitchen. My in-laws have an attached toilet in their kitchen but it is hard to elderproof other than adding a grip handle/bar to the wall because it is really narrow and a wheelchair would not fit unless they demolish part of the toilet interior wall to widen the toilet door.

A friend was on clutches in high school and he stayed in the bedroom on the ground floor next to the living room and kitchen. That’s what makes us think that having a bedroom on the ground floor for our retirement home (if we buy a townhouse instead of a condo) would be useful.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Arcadia

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I got drool on my keyboard.  You owe me a keyboard.  

 

Beautiful choices!

[Scarlett]

It is beautiful.  Question--is your lot narrow?  The plan reminds me of the one we have picked out for the narrow lot my parents own that they are letting us build on.

[TechWife]

5 hours ago, Scarlett said:

It is beautiful.  Question--is your lot narrow?  The plan reminds me of the one we have picked out for the narrow lot my parents own that they are letting us build on.

Thank you.

Yes - I don't have the measurements handy, but it is a narrow lot. The neighborhood is being built with an "urban density" concept. Homes close together & there will be a grocery in the neighborhood, so we will be able to walk to the grocery store. I'm looking forward to that - I'm going to get one of those wire carts, I think. The lot sizes remind me of the neighborhood my cousin lives in near Chicago. There is about 20 feet between the houses in our section.

Edited December 7, 2018 by TechWife

[bibiche]

9 hours ago, TechWife said:

Yes. We are planning for the future and limited mobility. We have no small children and there will not be a tv in either the living room or the master bedroom for the time being. 

Will the showers be zero entry? It doesn't look like it from the photo but maybe you mentioned it and I missed it. If that isn't part of the plan, I encourage you to reconsider. Zero entry showers make it so much easier for people with reduced mobility, particularly if they are in wheelchairs.

[TechWife]

24 minutes ago, bibiche said:

Will the showers be zero entry? It doesn't look like it from the photo but maybe you mentioned it and I missed it. If that isn't part of the plan, I encourage you to reconsider. Zero entry showers make it so much easier for people with reduced mobility, particularly if they are in wheelchairs.

Sadly, they are not. I wish that they were, I know that as low as the edge of the shower can be, that just couple of inches can be a barrier. It is something we will look into having modified if needed.

[Ellie]

I'm so excited for you!!!

[Liz CA]

On 11/27/2018 at 7:16 PM, TechWife said:

This builder doesn't offer that option for this floor plan.

 

This might be in some way easier. When we went through this process (we were the builders), we drove ourselves crazy with all the options. 

[TechWife]

We signed the papers today! We should have a closing date in June or July of 2019.

Here are two more pictures -

This is the stone for the fireplace surround - it will be floor to ceiling & there is no hearth or mantle. The fireplace "floats" on the wall about 4' off the floor.

 

Two more pictures of the model - we decided to get the molding on the staircase done like this - it goes all the way up to the ceiling and partly into the second floor hallway. We aren't getting the breakfast nook section done - we're going to do something different with that after closing.

 

I am so excited!

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by TechWife
removing pictures to make room

[Scarlett]

I came back to look at your thread again.  It is really a beautiful plan.  Dh wants a tub like the one in your master.....he doesn’t like the built in look to a lot of big master tubs.  I don’t mind about that either way. One thing I will NOT have is a glass shower.  They are murder to clean IMO and. Ever look good except for right after you clean it.  Dh is designing our master shower to be almost identical to the one he put in our currrent house.  It has no glass, no door and no curtain.  I love it.