I mentioned this impression to Chris probably the next time we drove by but we didn’t think too much about it. So, a couple of months later we stopped and talked to the sales agent, Brad Williams, who sold us our current house. Chris made the comment that the lots must be a lot more money than at Ridge Crest since they were bigger. Brad said no that many of them weren’t. We were both intrigued, and I went into the office to take a look and get some floor plans for the new models they would be building. We drove up to Johnstown and looked at some of the models that were there. We looked at one model and thought we might like it–someday. I kept thinking about the house and wanted to talk to Brad some more to get an idea of what a move would cost us. Really, I felt very impressed for the last couple of months that we needed to explore these homes more.
I kept wondering if making a move to a bigger home was just being greedy and wanting bigger and better, but the feelings were still there. Chris tolerated my notion that we should look at these homes and indulged me, but he rolled his eyes at me plenty. He felt that we needed to stay in our current house for at least another year, year and a half–at least until October to get the tax benefits. So we began looking with that time frame in mind.
We went back to look at one of the models in Johnstown–the Crescendo–but decided that it wasn’t really a good fit for us. We stopped and talked with Brad again and he directed us to some models that might be a better fit. At that time (about two weeks ago), we told him we were projecting for the future but wanted to be prepared. This was a Saturday and Chris had a list of things at the house that he wanted to do. We spent almost the whole afternoon driving to these models and looking (after cleaning the church). We looked first at a model in Loveland at Hunter’s Run–the Etude. And frankly, we loved it. Very similar to when we walked into US Home's Amethyst model and loved it. It is open and spacious with lots of light and windows. We took pictures and then went to look at the last model Brad had suggested. It was the Symphony model. It was okay, but very similar to what we already have that it would be hard to justify purchasing it. Plus it was decorated in pretty outrageous colors.
After deciding on the Etude, IF we bought a new house at all, we went home. But all week long, I felt as though we needed to go talk to Brad again soon and just find out how much this would be–still planning for the future. I got a babysitter for last Saturday evening and we headed over to talk with Brad. I knew Chris was still planning for next year and wasn’t quite sold on the idea, but as we talked to Brad, I could see that his thoughts were changing. We went home feeling a little overwhelmed, and Chris stayed up for a couple hours creating financial scenarios. The gist was that we could afford to buy a house now, but probably not a year from now as prices continue to rise. The equity that we would gain in that home would outpace what we might accrue in this house. The incentives at this time are pretty fantastic. Things seem to be falling into place this week. We are meeting with realtors tomorrow and Thursday, we got preapproved for a home equity loan to pay the earnest fees and Brad offered us an additional $2000 incentive to close by the end of the month.
Chris and I talked last night and decided to move ahead as though we were supposed to be making this decision and proceed until we felt as though it was wrong. Everything seems to be falling into place.
I am just showing Amy the floor plan of the Etude. Her words, “Wow! Are we gonna buy a new house? Wow.” She thinks for a second... “What's the matter with this one?”
