Building a Maracay Home

And then It Happened.... Our Big Dirt Lot (OBDL)

That Friday Denise ran us around to a few houses. And one had great possibilities, though the lot wasn't exactly what we wanted. Saturday, she took us back and Eric and i started contemplating the mechanics of making an offer. While driving out of the development, Denise calls again. This time it is to tell us her mother (Marby, also an Agent who had helped us with Maracay before) had called and Maracay was looking for us. We drove right over to the trailer. To our amazement, Trish, the Maracay representative, offered us one of, if not the, largest lots in the development (see lot 31 http://www.maracayhomes.com/myfiles/platmaps/AH_Estates_Plat.pdf) -
and the opportunity to build the LAST 2-story home. As it turns out, to get the neighbors to agree to a development, Maracay had to limited the number of 2-story homes to 8. It seemed heaven sent - so we wrote a check for our earnest money (10k) and left grinning like Cheshire cats.

Monday afternoon my good friend and near saint, Lisa, came over and watched the kids. What a god-send since we were at Maracay for 3 hours signing papers and making pre-lim plans. At this first meeting we signed our contract and gave Maracay the basic structural changes we planned to make. In turn, they had given us a price list so we could price out all our potential options.... well not all. First, the price list is made to be read by those in the trade. Second, it offers as options some things that are indeed standard or packaged together. Third, it doesn't cover most of the items you can upgrade in the Design Center..... such as flooring or cabinet glazes. Now, in all fairness, some of those things are listed - like cabinets and faucets. But since you can't see pictures there or on the Internet of these things, knowing the price isn't much help. If you are listening Maracay, a clearer price guide would be much appreciated!

What we did do at this meeting, what we HAD to do then or couldn't do at all, was chose the size of the garage (3 or 4 car), choose exterior doors (garage service, french in lieu of [ILO] sliding glass), choose en-suite bathroom, add bedrooms, add bay windows, extend patios/decks, and ask for quotes on any custom changes. For the record, most of the previous listed items are called "Flex" changes. They have previously been vetted by an architect and Maracay essentially already has them planned. You can go with the original or you can option up, for a price, by adding these options. We added the en-suite bathroom, put in a guest room over our living room, expanded the patio but didn't get a deck, put in a walk-in pantry and got a french door instead of sliding glass. It wasn't cheap - about 40k. These are the structural framing things we can't add later without an even bigger expense.... so we expected them to be cheaper to do up front.

At this meeting, we also agreed to meet to walk through the Maracay models at Desert Pass with Trish, so she can give us the tour of what is included and what is upgraded. And we agreed to make an appointment for the Design Center. Usually this is done within 4 weeks of signing the contract. But they are only open M-Fri, 9-5 and Eric can't get single days off easily. However, he had a scheduled vacation in early October and we hope to do the Design Center then. With my mother (aka Nana) tentatively willing to come out and watch those kiddos, we might actually be doing ALL our contractor visits that week.

The plan now is to meet with the electrical subcontractor to add outlets and lights and fans as necessary. Then we have to meet with the low-voltage contractor to talk security system, surround sound, and networking. Ofter that, there is a pool contractor and landscaper. If we work with Maracay's preferred people, they can do the work before we close on the house. Important for some things (pool) and not for others (closet organizer) This is a HUGE incentive for several tasks as it means often it will be cheaper to do (and not require HOA approval) and it would be great to have the yard and such finished when we move in. Because Maracay is required to re-vegetate the landscape, they will be doing 40% of our yard (all of the front and part of the back). That also ensures that all the front yards are done and the community looks good as a whole.

And now we wait......

posted by Antigone @ 12:46 PM