The past 12 months has been pretty exciting. We got married, had a great honeymoon, welcomed our adorable niece Brynna into the world, purchased our own veterinary clinic, found out that Laura is pregnant with Makinley, and then just yesterday signed a contract to start building a new home.
We decided a few months ago that we would try to buy a house this Spring. We first wanted to pay off a few debts and get the clinic humming along. So far, business has been good, especially considering it is the slower part of the year right now. On Thanksgiving, we started looking at houses for sale online, and we found a house called The Fitzgerald, built by Meritage Homes, that seemed to be a perfect fit for us. Of course, you can only tell so much online.
On Friday, Nancy went with one of her friends to look at her new house in Katy, and then they decided to take a detour and check out a new neighborhood in Katy called Silver Ranch. They went to the model home, which just happens to be The Fitzgerald, and talked to the Sales Manager, Mike. Then they went for a little tour of the model home. By the time I got off work, Nancy was so excited about the house she could hardly contain herself. Well, she didn't actually contain herself at all. I was barely past "Hey babe, I'm on my way home" in my nightly phone call after I leave work, when she started telling me more than I ever wanted to know about backsplash inlays, stairway rails, and French doors. When she started talking about all the free stuff Meritage throws in, and all the free upgrades, then she was speaking my language, Cheapskatese. By the time she finished telling me about her visit to her new best friend Mike and the Fitzgerald model home, I a) was already almost home and b) knew that I better agree to buy this house or risk divorce. And divorce is a lot of paperwork.
She informed what our Saturday plans would be: She would wait for me to get off work, and then, together, we would go visit this Mike character at Meritage. I had not even been inside the house yet, but I knew that Saturday we would likely be signing over our yet-to-be-conceived first born child, and whatever else Mike asked for, in return for The Fitgerald.
When we got to the Sales Office/model Fitzgerald, Mike greeted us with a sly grin, and sent us on a tour of The Fitz (which is now evidently my nickname for the house. I just thought that up all by myself), since he was busy with another couple signing a 3 inch thick stack of papers. I apologized to him, much too late, for all the questions that Nancy and Marci asked him the day before.
I must admit, the house is pretty cool. Although it looks like it was decorated by a Saudi Prince on crack. We walked every square inch of the place, and I liked what I saw. Then we drove around looking at lots and debating the advantages and disadvantages of each muddy plot of land armed with nothing but a color-coded map and our imaginations. You see, there are only about 3 finished homes in the neighborhood so far, so the rest of it is just a bunch of dirt. With stakes in it. We finally settled on a nice little lot with 100 acres of barren Katy ISD land directly behind it. We decided we didn't want any neighbors behind us. The houses are close enough together already, and a house behind us too would have been a little clostrophobic. And someone might ride four-wheelers or dirt bikes on the land, which gives Shelby hour upon hour of barking and chasing entertainment.
We then sat down with our buddy Mike and each signed our names 1,435 times on the contract, as Mike gave us the Cliffs-Notes version of each and every whereby and heretofor in the whole freaking document. Then Nancy got to put a little red magnetic button on the big map, showing that The Fitz, at 26019 Siver Timbers Lane, was now ours.
We then drove around the neighborhood some more, so that Nancy could inform me why each lot, and each slab, and each frame was somehow inferior to our newly purchased Fitz. We had just made a pretty huge decision in a shorter amount of time than it takes me to get out of bed in the morning. Now the fun part begins. Getting our house ready to sell, picking out floors, and tiles, and bricks, and carpet. And somehow convincing my wife that just because they give us $12,000 in free upgrades does not mean we then have to spend an extra $12,000 on even more upgrades. I'm not optimistic about my chances of winning this one.
Now that you've undoubtedly dozed off attempting to read much more than I ever intended to write, wake up-here are some pictures. I'm sure daily, if not hourly, updates of the construction process will follow.
Fitzgerald Model Home
1 comment:
This is so exciting! We are really happpy for you! Get ready for a fun (and long) process!
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