I spoke with the SR today. He was really great about a last minute change to switch out the smaller toilets to the taller ones for us. I thought we needed to get a different cabinet for the second bathroom, because I think the one that comes standard is ....not pretty. The charge for the upgrade was $250 to switch it from natural wood colored to white. I thought that was outrageous, so I chose not to go with it. I would rather just upgrade that once we move in. So, on to the light fixtures. I still have not seen any. The SR said there are other packages but nobody ever chooses them. I'm not sure if that means that he chose for us or what? He said there was not a big difference in them. I haven't seen them for myself, so I am not sure. I will just go with the blah blah blah standard for now. I found out today another Verona is being built next door to mine. That stinks! There is also one right across the street. I have a different elevation than both of them, so that is good to know. I was extremely disappointed today when I asked about having the driveway expanded to the edge of the garage. It would be about two feet on each side. It would seem to me that it should be that way, anyhow, but the rendering I got of the property shows the driveway is only the width of the garage door. That doesn't even make sense to me. I asked if I could get it expanded and I was completely shot down. I thought that was something I needed to talk to the PM about, as it was not an option on the options sheet. I'm really annoyed by that. Nothing like having muddy kids feet because your driveway is too tight to provide walking space next to the car. My minivan is pretty wide.
DEAR RYAN HOMES - If expanding the driveway to a reasonable width is an option, please ADD it to the options sheet. Telling me I should have asked for it sooner is ridiculous. How was I supposed to know it was even an option? How was I supposed to know...without seeing the survey for my home....how wide the driveway is? If you all had told me that it was not built out to the edge of the garage, I certainly would have requested it sooner. If this needed to be asked up front, the survey of the house should have been presented to me sooner. #FAIL
Now that I have that off my chest, my home is supposed to be ready in May. Mid May to be exact. We have not met our PM. We have not had a meeting for pre-construction. Nothing. Just waiting. I am skeptical that it will be done on time. I am hoping for good developments in the weeks to come. I am waiting on my approval from NVR. We should know in a couple of days. Fingers crossed! For tonight though, I'm disappointed.
Your PM should be able to give you more definitive dates, but when we built, we broke ground on our Verona March 1 and had our pre-settlement demonstration on May 23. It also depends on the structural options you added. We have the morning room, bonus room, finished basement (and all of it is finished except for one storage area) and basement bath. Those things all add days to the project. Weather can also be a factor, but it wasn't at all for us.
ReplyDeleteWe were also turned down for extending our driveway and it is on the list of things to do this spring. If you haven't already, check out my blog at buildingourverona.blogspot.com. We've been our home for 20 months, so if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer. Good luck with your build :)
Thank you for your input! I will definitely check out your blog. How do you like it so far? We are not doing a basement, but we did add a morning room and FROG. I have no clue who the PM is, so hopefully I can get some dates when I meet him. I just dont see this being finished by mid May. Not being able to extend the driveway is a bummer, I think it would just be less expensive to do it while they are already there. I guess its just something else to add to the list. =)
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your blog and it looks like we are neighbors! We are the Palermo on the corner. We had our pre-construction meeting July 18th- but both of the PMs that were at that meeting are no longer in our neighborhood. One of the PMs that is still working there actually did our build, and he's really nice. We had a little drama at the end with the city and I received personal phone calls from him with updated status, so I really appreciated him. There's a new that I haven't met yet, I just wave when I pass by. At our pre-construction meeting they gave us our ground-breaking date (a week after the meeting) and a projected closing date. You don't find out your real closing date until later, and that comes from NVR. We got ours the first week of September, and we closed October 28th.
ReplyDeleteWe are also dissappointed with our driveway, but we didn't know until it was poured. It bottlenecks at the end, so it's truly only a 3-car driveway. It really makes backing out difficult. I drive in the grass everyday.
I asked about the light fixtures too. We were given no options; however, I'm content with them. I believe it's the same as in the model.
There are 3 Palermo's on the street behind us...all the same elevation as ours...and one is our exact color scheme too!
My blog link is: http://theadventureswithaanda.blogspot.com/. Feel free to follow me or contact me if you have any questions about the neighborhood! :)
Hi Alyssa! You are right! We are neighbors. We have actually met. Do you remember? We came out and spoke with you and your hubby while you were hanging out in the backyard. I hope you like kids. We have 4 and they can be ummm...loud, LOL. I don't allow them be too crazy though. I am definitely annoyed and disappointed that we were unaware of the whole driveway thing. And I had no idea that the driveways taper! That's even worse! They act like its an issue to change it, but that doesn't make any sense to me. And the light fixtures....annoys me too. They are nice, but why not show me all of the options? Ughhhh!.I would be upset if they allowed the same house so close, like they did with yours. I think once the houses are all up, maybe nobody will notice. I heard that there is also another Verona going up on the lot next to ours too. It is a different elevation though, so thats good. Is there anything you think we should know about this process? Were you allowed to insulate between rooms or the garage on your own? I hope our PM is really nice. I asked about getting an outlet in the master closet, and I was told it is too late to add that too. We are slated to move in sometime in May if all goes as planned! I am quite worried about the electric and gas bills. Have yours been reasonable? Any advice you have, please let me know!! Thanks neighbor! =)
ReplyDeleteYes! I thought that was you when I was reading your posts! Kids are cool...it's been a little strange not hearing any kids since we moved into the neighborhood, just seems like something is missing. We are getting our 6 ft white vinyl fence installed this week or next, so you'll be getting one side of fence :) I don't know if all the driveways taper, The Verona across from you doesn't. I haven't paid too much attention to the new ones. We just happen to have something for the water on one side and a Verizon box on the other. I think you are in the hardest stage in the process right now. Waiting for your pre-construction meeting, ground breaking and then getting through the foundation being built seems like it takes forever. But once the foundation gets signed off by the city, everything just flies by. It helped me to be patient once I could actually tell it was a house, and being able to walk through and plan furniture layout and room purposes. We didn't ask about the insulation...so far we have been happy with temperature levels and noise levels. The only noise that annoys me is the tankless water heater. It is in the garage and it shares the wall with our family room and is right below the master bedroom. When the water is running, it hums...and it sounds like a car is driving by. If you have any additions now, you might be able to do them after you close. Maybe talk to an electrician when they start wiring your house, and maybe you can contract them to do it after the fact. May is very close! It does seem like they've been getting the houses up faster since we moved in. We had a 6 month wait from signing the paperwork to closing. I've been very happy with electric...gas, I'm not sure. I JUST got my first bill. I called them in January and they said, "Oh, we couldn't find your house and so we just gave up and decided not to call you." So I was expecting a HUGE bill...but it was only $30. So I have no idea what amount of time that covered. My electric was $99 last month. So $129 all together- which is about the same I was paying at our old house, which was all electric, 1-story, and 1700 sq feet. So yes, I'm very happy. Although there are only 2 people in our house, we do use a lot of electricity- there's always a light on for the dog, we have a treadmill that is used a few times a week, we cook a lot, there's normally a tv on, and I work from home 1 day a week. So hopefully yours isn't too far off from ours!
DeleteOMG! We had to pay $2000 for porch rails! I should have left them off. I don't think they are worth that much. Plus we have to pay it up front, because it is a nonstandard request. Ughhhhh. A fence is awesome. I have no idea when we will put one up. They did say I either had to do a white fence or black metal fence. Ohhh and the driveway, I really hope it doesnt taper. I will have to ask, Our furnace and hot water heater will both be upstairs in between the bedrooms. I really hope its not loud. We shall see. I have heard about good things as far as energy bills. My current bill is $370 for this month, so I have been nervous. And my house is half the size of the new one. I hope we break ground soon. The sitting...the waiting...is driving me batty. LOL, I cant wait to move! We will have to do a BBQ. =) Take care.
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