Arriving: Ryan Homes Washington Trace

10/21/2012 Our Visit to Ryan Homes Washington Trace

Ryan Homes Washington Trace Link

 



On one of the Sunday excursions with our realtor, Jodi, we had stopped by Ryan Homes at Washington Trace to have a look.   At this time, they had opened a new phase consisting of 20 lots, so our timing was almost perfect.  What caught our attention was a promotion that for $299,999 you could get the development's "House of the Month"--a Yorkshire B that was comfortably loaded on a designated lot that wasn't all that bad.  When we first heard of the promotion, we weren't too invested in the idea but the flyer of the House of the Month kept reminding us that there was value here and we could get a comfortably equipped home for a very decent price--at least compared to their competition.  With no committments and still in a "looking around" mode, we did stew on coming back for about a week.  After all, if we are to build, we are going to have to make a decision and lock in soon for timely closing in late Spring of next year.

11/06/2012 Our First Pricing Visit with Kelly

In preparation for the 6th, we called our realtor, Jodi to arrange a pricing apppointment with Kelly, the Ryan Sales Representative at Washington Trace.  As the 6th arrived, we wanted a Yorkshire B that was outfitted almost identical to the subdivision's "House of the Month".  When things came in cheaper than the target price, we thought about adding things that would make the house comfortable and options that our lifestyle wouldn't have to wait for me to build.   

One thing that slows down the pricing process is our precious little ones.  They wanted to be in the conversation and their interruptions contributed a stop/start to the process, even though Jodi and Kelly were more than gracious.   Jodi, a mother of two herself, brought out a portable DVD player and her smart phone and kept them occupied while we pored through the initial options and explored pricing.   The result was pretty good for the first round of talks and we decided that another one is due as soon as we contemplate the house features that matter to us

Ryan Homes Yorkshire Elevation D

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How we arrived at pricing the Yorkshire really started at the introduction of the"Home of the Month". We looked over the floor plan and it was pretty decent and Feng Shui correct.  In addition, we now had a pricing baseline on what was considered value packed.   From there, we adjust the specifications to what we liked with a baseline in view.

The new phase of lots were actually quite good.  Out of the 20+ lots in the new phase, none of them were sloped and were relatively flat.  Since I am a pseudo believer in Feng Shui, picking out a lot tapped into some of my dabbling knowledge of Feng Shui and started with a West facing lot.  In the Chinese/Feng Shui school of thought, numerology plays a part in choosing a site.   Lot 16 had no premium price but Lot 11 did, both had auspicious numbers and we deemed them an ideal place to place a home.  We found out later that to have enough land for a three car garage, you had to get a lot with a price premium so we opted for a two car garage without the lot premium.   Practicality told us to go with Lot 16 and a two car front entry garage. 

Jodi inquired for us to see if there were existing Yorkshires, complete or incomplete that we could walk through so that we could better visualize the spacing and dimensions.   As luck would have it, all of them have closed in Dayton in Cincinnati and the only way we could see one is if an owner would be graceful enough to let us in their home for a viewing.   Kelly went right to work to see if she could accommodate this important request.

At the conclusion of the first pricing meeting, we told Kelly that we would review the pricing and come back to her with a list of additional items to price.  We were looking forward to the next round of pricing--this is where the cost of the house becomes more realistic.