Things are starting to move again on the path to getting into our next home. The week started with some tough news--the home that we have been waiting on all year to begin construction had been downgraded significantly in terms of size, floor plan, finishes, ceiling height, etc. Basically anywhere a corner could be cut, it was going to be cut. How could this happen? It's because we will be buying in a tract home neighborhood, so we aren't under contract, and we won't be until the home is nearly finished. Homes aren't selling as quickly as the builder would like, so they are downgrading all future homes to get price points down and appeal to a wider market. This was very frustrating since the home we were hoping to buy was going to have ground broken next month. There is a verrrrrry slight chance we will be able to convince them to build just one more home with the original floor plan and features for us to buy before they make the switch, but that is highly unlikely. We are being a squeaky wheel about it, but have to assume it won't be a possibility.
The good news is, we are now looking at a different home on a different lot that just became available. We don't love the home, but the lot is so beautiful, so superior to every other lot we were considering before, that we will likely end up being grateful that the first house fell through so we can buy this better-lot one (even though we still really prefer the original house we wanted, by a ton). Essentially, sometime this month we will have to commit to one of 3 houses:
House 1: The original house on the original lot we wanted, but with all downgraded features/floor plan. We'll call this option "mid house on mid lot."
House 2: There is one final house that is about to be finished and listed that is the real true original dream home we fell in love with. It has all the upgraded features and floor plan, but is on a teeny-tiny postage stamp lot on a busy street. We'll call this option "dream house on meh lot."
House 3: The house that has a floor plan and finishes we don't like but will be on our dream lot. To paint the picture, it will be on a large 1/3-acre lot, there will be an incredible valley view out front, mountains in the backyard, and a field next door to one side that can never be built on. So we would have exactly one neighbor on any side of us. We will call this option "meh house on dream lot."
I have a sister-in-law who cannot comprehend why we would go with a tract-home builder that works this way. She is baffled and thinks we should run. Granted, her dad builds homes and they are getting all set to do a custom build on a lot they purchased a few years ago. To that I say, sounds great! That does seem like the superior way. And. It will never, ever be in our budget to do a custom build in the city where we want to live, on a lot as stunning as the "house #3" lot. If we want to stay in the neighborhood where we currently live (we really do) but get Jared into a new build, then this is the way. And we do feel really good about it. We just have some decisions to make now. I'll keep you posted. For now we're leaning heavily toward house #3 because, "You can change a house but you can't change a location."
And now for some pictures from our week:
