WARNING: This post is slightly longer than usual… ok, a lot longer…It’s my first time…. building a home from the ground up. Wow, yay me!!! But wait, hold on, not so fast there newbie. There were sooo many things I learned, and am still learning with regards to purchasing a new build. So let’s get to the real deal, shall we?
I bought my first home in 2007. I waited a long time to buy because I was single. I know that may sound silly to some, but for me it was all about financial responsibility. I thought home ownership would be too much for me to handle by myself. I mean most of the ads for home buyers I saw always featured a couple, or a family, with a dog, and I was/am a family of one. I didn’t want the responsibility of having to maintain the inside of a home, and do yardwork, or even concern myself with coordinating any yardwork to be done by someone else. But the sound of Arizona realtor whiz extraordinaire Peggie Simmons’ voice, rang in my ears for about a year and half, prior to me caving in, saying: “You need to buy a house, call me.” The first home I purchased was a spec home. For those who don’t know, (I didn’t at the time), a spec home is a builder-constructed home based on speculation of what a buyer would want. That means one of the builders’ designers had already put together a plan for which options would go into the home I was purchasing.
There were some positives to this. One, I was able to move in a lot sooner than I would’ve had I purchased a new-build from the ground up, because spec homes typically are either completed or almost completed. Two, there were a decent amount of upgrades in the home that were acceptable to me. And three, there was no guessing on what it would look like. Unlike a new-build where you have to watch your new home unfold over time, I could see exactly what I was getting. Of course the negative was I wouldn’t be able to change or add to any of the pre-selected options. I’m really particular with regards to my home, and with the exception of the window treatments, washer, dryer and refrigerator, I was going to have to live with what was already selected. Thankfully, it came with all of my little short-list must-haves, like… a foyer. I didn’t want a home where you walk in the door and voila, you’re in the middle of the living room; a Master bedroom and en suite worthy of the title “Master”; and three, upgraded (height) cabinets. I didn’t want tiny kitchen cabinets that looked like lined-up chicklets on the wall. I loved my home and enjoyed it for six years before moving on to my second one, this time a pre-existing home. I probably will never go this route again.
All I will say is… we all live in our homes differently, and while one way is not better than the other, pre-existing is just not for me. I’m glad I did it though, because now I know; my “new” home needs to truly be “new”. I absolutely loved this home, and thought I would be there for a long time. Maybe not my forever-home, but definitely my for-the-next-ten-years-at-least home!More importantly (haha), I loved decorating this home.
My decorating issues, yes issues, went to a whole new level, as did my obsession with HGTV and anything DIY! I can recall enjoying a perfectly wonderful Saturday evening of movies, and get to thinking… “I do at some point want to change out the builders’ mirror in the master bath for a couple more decorative ones… And I really did love those mirrors I saw yesterday at Kirkland’s”… (gets up to go stand in front of bathroom mirrors to contemplate)… “I think Kirkland’s is still open”… (checks time, gets in car). In three hours, including travel time, I pulled off the huge builders’ mirror, patched up and sanded the walls, painted the necessary area with paint I already had, and hung the new mirrors. See, I told you I had issues, lol!
Leaving my second home was tough. I hated packing up and getting out of there because I’d put so much of my “décor-self “into it. Thoughts of starting all over again weren’t nearly as exciting as they are now. This brings me to my new home… the one I’ll hopefully be able to occupy some time before the 2nd coming of Christ! Lol! I’m joking. But not really, because it’s taking soooo long! Those of you who have been through this process know what I’m talking about. When I realized I wouldn’t be staying in my last home, I decided on a new home priced to allow for a decent upgrade budget, and settled on what I call The Dollhouse, because it’s much smaller than my last one, but oh so cute. Now as someone who’s been honing her decorating chops for a while, I already knew that the beautifully decorated model has a whole lot of upgrades that may or may not be affordable for me. But still, I was a wee bit excited at the prospect of selecting every single thing that would go into my home, AND… I’d get to implement all my new décor visions. They’ve changed since the last house, surprise, surprise, lol!
After hearing so many horror stories of horrendously marked-up builder prices, I wanted to be prepared when it came time for my design center appointment. Thank goodness this builder allowed home buyers to visit the design center any time prior to their appointments to have a “look-see” to familiarize themselves with their offerings and pricing. But I don’t think one can ever be totally prepared for this meeting; the seemingly endless flow of information, the laundry list of items to say “yay” or “nay” to, and how quickly the visions of décor and design fairies are dashed by the reality of the costs associated. And did I say the laundry list of choices… for EVERYTHING?!?! I never would’ve imagined so many options in a home. Knowing what I wanted, (which always tends to be whatever is the most expensive), I thought would help, but proved to be quite frustrating. Because I found out rather quickly that I’d have to scale back… a lot! What I’ve learned through this experience is… kitchens and bathrooms are VERY expensive. But kitchens and bathrooms are kind of the highlight of a home. Especially an open-concept home. And taking the future into consideration, kitchens and bathrooms definitely sell homes. With that in mind, I wanted to be smart about how I would spend my money there. I thought I’d worked it all out, compromised where I felt it necessary, opted to upgrade some things later, then there was the electrical part of the meeting. Electrical? Doesn’t the house come with all the necessary electrical elements? Yeah, kind of. Depending on which builder you choose, many of these features aren’t included in your base home price. Wow, so for all those chandeliers I want to hang, there are extra price tags? (big sigh) I’m just a little single working girl wanting a home to decorate.
There’s seriously so much to consider. I had some serious budget-mapping to do. I would have to determine my must-haves, settle on a few compromises, and then set a timeline to implement/secure the rest. I considered which items would be too cumbersome to do if I didn’t get them done during the building process, being mostly concerned about structural items. After much, and I mean VERY much, contemplation, I formed my “No” list, my “later” list, and finally, my “soon-as-I-close,” “must-have,” “so-I-better-have-my-cash-savings-together” list. It’s enough to make me hyperventilate… and I did a few times! At the end of the day, I am happy and satisfied with my choices.
It’s been an eye-opener for sure, and it’s not over yet. But here’s the real deal… drum roll please?… YOU CAN’T GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT. That’s all. If you don’t resolve yourself to this you’ll either go broke, crazy, or both! I can’t wait to move into my new home, customed by ME, and start decorating to my heart’s content… little by little. As they say, inch by inch, everything’s a cinch!
