Wayne Homes Open House

The Open House...

We've been keeping our eye on upcoming open houses listed on the Wayne Homes website and had the chance to attend one this weekend in Eighty Four, PA. We had a nice 90 minute ride on a Sunday afternoon to get there. It's a great idea to show a home that's still under construction to get a better idea of what goes into a house. The flooring had not been installed yet, so there was no danger of messing up carpeting.

We found the visit very helpful even though the model wasn't the one we were interested in. We got a good look at the basement and the difference the glass bricks make in brightening things a bit. We were also able to get an idea of some dimensions for rooms. The brick fireplace in the great room was very impressive. We liked what we saw in terms of workmanship and looks. The house wasn't representative of an "average" house, though. The owners had opted for a ton of upgrades and changes - making the home much more expensive than the original base price. That seems to be a temptation when dealing with a builder who will let you add all kinds of custom touches.

More Developments

Well, we heard back from two lenders this week and and got pre-approved! We were struggling with how long to wait before moving forward, but decided we'd start the process now to give time for our infrastructure (septic, road, electric, gas and water well) to be squared away. Another factor in the decision was the impending expiration of the special incentive offers Wayne Homes had going on. They offered you a choice of one of four different upgrades at no cost if you meet a threshold of upgrades that you're paying for already. We had our eye on a third garage bay - we thought this would be great for lawn equipment, future ATV, etc, without needing a storage shed. We contacted Tory and, after checking, she said we could still lock in the incentive although not actually signing until a couple days past the deadline. Great news!

Now that we are getting ready to sign with Wayne Homes and start the construction loan process, it's time to get busy! The construction loan requires written contracts with estimates from the contractors we get for all the infrastructure.

More on those gory details next time....