Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home
Lot #9043

Friday, January 30, 2015

Lost in translation...

Our Inverness Sales rep, Susan, sent us an email asking for a status update from us.  Uhhmm, we were waiting on a status update from her.  We walked out of her office telling her we needed $6,000 from Inverness to even consider building.  Somehow, it was lost in translation...

"Hi John and Kathy



I hadn’t heard back from you guys and wasn’t sure if you were able to get a hold of appraiser and ask the questions about the basement full bath and oversized lot value.



And then I thought to myself, “was it me supposed to get back in touch with them???”Yikes! I was so caught up and stressed out with trying to overcome the gap, I think I forgot what I said I would do. Old age creeping up on me…….



I know that you mentioned the additional $4000 in concession from Inverness. If I could get that approved, would it work and could we move forward?



I will certainly ask if that I knew that would solve the problem.



Forgive me for dropping the ball on this if I misunderstood you!



Please let me know what you are thinking!



Thanks



susan"

We have already started looking for other options.  One a 10 acre piece of property with an older home, that we could renovate to our desire.  My boyfriend is in love with the land.  I don't want to deal with a remodel with all the issues that they could find.  Hey, I watch HGTV... remodels are never an easy thing.  

The second option is going with Schumacher homes.  We found a .42 acre lot, the same size lot we were going to have.  We could purchase that and use Schumacher as our builder.  They are a bigger company and can give us the custom home that we desire.  We can change walls, exterior, anything we want.  The land is in a more upscale neighborhood with most homes around us being larger than what we plan to build.  In the hopes that will increase our appraisal and value.  We are going to an open house for the model we like, tomorrow, at a home under construction in the drywall stage.  Then Sunday we are meeting with them to price it all out.  They have a CAD system and can make changes right in front of your eyes.  The downside is things like landscaping and driveways, etc are not part of their base price.  Though their base price is well below Inverness for the same size home so it may equal out.  That is what we need to determine.  

There are pros and cons to redoing this entire process.  I really like our lot with Inverness and the location.  Our secondary location is closer to traffic and doesn't have the large trees in the back.  It does have a flat lot vs. the Inverness lot that slopes.  Ugh, the decision will be tough. 

So we let Susan know what our plans were and what we wanted from her.

"Hi Susan

Kathy and I are still deciding how to proceed.  As you can imagine, I am not happy about the appraisal.  Giving 16 thousand out of my pocket does not seem to be the smart thing to do.  If in 2 years I have to sell the house, I would be taking a HUGE loss!  All the houses you will be building around our house will be lesser value and smaller, so thinking that will bring down the value of our house.  I just don't see how the value of our home will increase.  I think it will actually decrease over the next few years.  If we were to take off every upgrade (except the basement and the garage), we could maybe get down to 314,000.  We are simply not willing to do that.  If we wanted a CHEAP home with no upgrades, we would have stayed with Ryan homes...  I think Tony is overstating the base cost of the house at 242,000 for the Fairborn area.  Since the base cost of the house is 232,000 in another area, in my eyes, I think he could come down some on the base price of the house.

The appraiser did get back with me.  He said he counted the bathroom in the basement as part of the basement estimate.  He did not give any value for the larger lot since he did not feel it increases the value of the house.

I was not too happy with those responses, but does not seem to be anything I can say about it...

When we last talked I had asked you to get with Inverness and see if they would be willing to go give $6,000 as opposed to the $2,000 they are offering.  If you could please do that, so when Kathy and I make a final decision, we have all the information.

We are currently talking with Schumacher homes.  I found a lot I like, that Kathy can LIVE WITH..  :)  We have a meeting with them on Saturday and Sunday to discuss different homes and different options.  Which means I will miss the beginning of the super bowl, so I am not thrilled about that.

As you know, I do not like to mess around and I like to get business taken care of.  We looked at numerous homes for sale in Fairborn and several that are of interest to us.  However, we would like to buy a new home and we would like to go with Inverness if we can work out the money issue.  I just don't want to buy a house and then not be happy for the next 10 years feeling I got the shaft. 

We will come see you next week.  After we talk, Kathy and I will make a decision and go from there. 

Also, Joe called me today and I let him know all the above info.

John"

Susan seemed to understand.  She loses out on a really nice commission if we go elsewhere.  We've already discussed our plan with Joe, our lender, and he will oversee the financing of whatever option we choose.  Not having to redo a ton of paperwork will be awesome.  

Susans reply:


"I very much appreciate the update. I totally understand how you feel and want to do whatever I can to get this back on track so we can start construction, if possible!


Please bear with me; I have a call in to Doug to fight for the extra $4000 needed."


We are expecting a snow storm starting tomorrow night.  I'm hoping it's not too big and our appointment gets canceled.  In the meantime, I am mentally designing and decorating two different complete houses in my head.  It's a bit stressful.

2 comments:

  1. Gesh!! so sorry Susan is stressed. (sarcasm) :(... She should never convey that to you. She is apparently hoping for some excuse for her actions. Unacceptable. Looking forward to your update on Sat and Sun to see how these other meetings go. Please keep us posted.

    Its tough when you are in the last stretch and it all falls apart, so sad, but you never know, they could fix it for you, OR there WERE better options for you out there. Good Luck :)

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  2. Good for you on standing your ground and letting her know how you felt about the appraisal. It was smart to let her know you have already started looking at options, and that you are serious about moving on if you cannot work out the money issue. I hope you were able to work it out.

    Carlton @ Coastal Modular Group

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