Monday, June 18, 2012

Goodbye Verona, Hello Naples

Naples "Elevation A"
(but with partial stone instead of all siding)


Goodness what changes these last two weeks have brought! Unfortunately, Ryan Homes was not able to acquire the extra foot needed from the developer to fit the Verona plan on it. There was one more possibility left, requiring Ryan to request an exemption from the county to have the house 14 feet from the lot line instead of 15, but the process was lengthy and time was not on our side with baby coming in less than 4 months.

After a lot of frustration, we decided on a new house, the Naples. Now the Naples is no Verona, but it still has everything we were originally looking for, but with none of the extras that lured us to the Verona. Here is what we are giving up.

Verona
-6 bedrooms
-3 baths
-1 guest bedroom and bathroom on the main level
-Front porch elevation

Naples
-5 bedrooms
-2 1/2 baths
-All bedrooms and full bathrooms are upstairs
-No front porch elevations

Even though we are giving up some square footage and usable spaces (sorry future guests), we are only giving up the extra spaces that we never planned on even having in the first place. With that said, the house is a little less expensive, and this home allows us to get a 15 year loan instead of a 30. That makes a huge difference in what we'll pay in interest! I think this was God's way of saying, I'll give you exactly what you need, plenty of space for you, your children, and visitors, and a mortgage that will be better for your family in the long run.

As of today, we are officially under contract (again) with Ryan Homes to start building our Naples.


10 comments:

  1. Sounds like a tough decision to make! I'm sure your Naples will be beautiful!

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    1. Thanks! In the end, we loved the subdivision more than we loved the original house. I'm excited to get things started again.

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  2. Congratulations!!! We have a beautiful Naples model in our area that I toured several times. It's a really great house and I'm sure you and your family will love it! Like you said sometimes God has other plans for you :o)
    Did Ryan Homes do anything to make up for the stress this inflicted on you guys?

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    1. Well I think they are going to try and make sure we at least maintain our original schedule. Unfortunately that's about it, because the subdivision we are purchasing in is selling really quickly, and I don't think they would be hurting if they lost our sale (although I did try asking for a free basement-no luck there). Reguardless, they seem to want to be sure we are still happy, maybe not to keep our sale, but to protect their reputation.

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  3. Not to totally dissuade you from getting a 15 year mortgage because I think it is very awesome that you are in a position to do that, but there are other things that you might want to take into consideration about a 30 year loan. Things like your cash flow, saving for retirement, and unexpected events. With the loan rates being so low having a 30 year mortgage could give a lot of capital flexibility and you could still pay it off sooner if you would like to.

    This link is a good write up on the subject:
    http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/09/30/pros-and-cons-30-year-mortgage-vs-15-year-mortgage/

    The table showing the comparison is a good visual. This is just my opinion of course so definitely choose what works best for you and that will be the right decision! :-)

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    1. Totally agree with the cash flow thing. We were actually going to do a 30 year loan, and just pay off more than we had to anyways, so the loan amount that we'll pay will actually be exactly the same (by choice of course). The only difference is we'll save about 2 years and over $20,000 in interest.

      We moved from the Chicago area, and in our last house 90% of our mortgage went to things other than our principle (interest, taxes, PMI, insurance), and I think we are just a little jaded from that. We are excited to see that number fall to less than 50% (and that's with the addition of HOAs).

      It was definetely a tough choice though, and not the right one for everyone. For us, it will force us to save money that we would otherwise probably just spend. Plus, I'm not too excited about the investment market right now :/ Mine seem to be losing more than they gain!

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  4. The Naples was the first floor plan that we had priced out. It was the model in our neighborhood, and we loved the floor plan. We ended up going the opposite direction from you and built a Verona. They are both great plans and I'm sure your Naples will be lovely!

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    1. Good decision. The Verona is a really beautiful house. We'll come to terms with the Naples, but it will definetely take a little time.

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  5. Congratulations on our new addition to the family!! I know this was a tough choice to make; however, I am happy you and your family are happy with your new choice! Happy Building!

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  6. How do you like the layout with the 5th bedroom now that you have a finished product? Is it big enough to be used as a guest room?

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