Buying A Home
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
I Know Someone Built A Ryland Home...
Who was it again?
DH and I are going to look at Ryland Homes this weekend. I really like the floorplans and I was curious as to your experience!
Re: I Know Someone Built A Ryland Home...
Mememememmeme! I did! I did!
Overall it was a great experience. We closed at the end of October and moved in in November.
If you want to know anything I don't put here just ask or PM me
Construction photos in sig. K, this is going to be long! I'll try and break it up.
Contract Signing and Pre-Construction
My H went to see some Ryland models and fell in love with them. He took me to see some different models in a different community and I fell in love, too. We scouted out the neighborhoods and picked one, then drove around and looked at the lots for sale. We picked out the lot we liked best and slept on it. The next day we decided we wanted to go for it.
We had a realtor but we didn't bring him to purchase agreement signing. We told the sales counselor up front we were working with a realtor and he said it was fine. That might have just been him, though.
We basically told him we were interested in building with them and he showed us the lots and told us some about the community. We showed him the lot we wanted and he brought us into his office to do the paperwork.
He asked which model and we told him, then we picked which elevation and spend a couple hours going through and picking out ALL the options we wanted. It was kind of overwhelming, He said we had 2 weeks to make adjustments or changes and we'd want to, because they would schedule an appointment for us to pick our final stuff at the design center sometime in the next few days. This was just to get a price estimate on the contract, etc.
So we did all that and then he told us he needed an earnest money check for $1,000 so we gave that to him. They cashed it right away (didn't hold it until closing like some regular builds do). He said that they require 3% downpayment in order to start construction. We didn't want to do that so we worked out that we'd pay the $1,000 earnest deposit and then $1,500 per month until closing and any difference in the down payment at closing. All of that money was credited towards our down payment.
Sales counselor gave us a packet with the HOA rules & covenants on a CD. I'm not sure about your state but in mine, you have up to 7 days to review the HOA stuff and can back out of your contract if you disagree with anything in the HOA rules.
Ryland Lender
He told us we could use the lender we had been working with but the incentives they were offering (10% off sale, $8,000 towards upgrades or closing, and a waived lot premium) were contingent on us using Ryland's lender and he encouraged us to apply. We had a week to do it. We talked it over and did apply -- we applied that night (Sunday) and got a phone call from the loan officer on Wednesday telling us how much we'd been approved for, etc and asking us to fax in our pay stubs and documentation to help finalize it.
So the final price we were approved at was quite a bit below our home price with the upgrades we'd chosen (we picked everything fancy) when we signed so we had to adjust that. The sales counselor gave us a printout of all the paperwork we'd signed, PLUS all the available options and upgrades possible with their prices so we took that home and went through it with a fine-tooth comb.
Our loan officer was pretty awesome. When we got a couple weeks away from our lock window, she told me to start emailing her every day for interest rates, which I did. Every day she'd respond to me with what their interest rates were and then when I wanted to lock (it was outside of our official lock window) she talked with the construction supervisor to get our actual completion date and that allowed us to lock on that particular day. (Ryland had in their system we were closing on 11/23 but we had been told the house would be finished on 10/27). So since the house would be finshed on 10/27 she used that date for our lock window, if that makes sense.
Our purchase contract was contingent on us being able to obtain financing. If we couldn't obtain financing, we were off the hook for the house. However, like if Ryland lender didn't approve us but a different lender DID approve us, we'd still be required to follow through with the sale but lose out on the incentives.
Design Center
We got in at the design center a few days later where they had the flooring and cabinets and countertops and faucets and lighting and EVERYTHING to see and choose from. We had made a list of all our selections and told the design center lady what we wanted pretty much from that. She helped us color coordinate and told us about the stuff. Like, they have a base level carpet and vinyl that goes into the house but three or four levels you can upgrade to for a higher cost. Same with everything else in there.
We had I think it was 2 weeks to make final decisions on all the structural stuff - vaulted ceiling, finished basement, bonus room, fireplace, elevation, etc before we couldn't change our minds anymore. We had about a month to go back and forth on the other upgrades and choices.
They were really low-key about the upgrades and didn't pressure us to add more stuff than we wanted or go over our budget. They were also patient with us changing stuff around (we probably changed options 5-6 times and had to sign an addendum to the sale every time) but did work with us to decide what were priorities and help us kind of envision how we'd be living in the house and what we would (or wouldn't) do with the upgrades, etc.
They were also pretty up front about what they thought were good things about like, the appliances that we wanted to upgrade and what we'd be just as well off leaving with the builder included stuff and not upgrading, or doing later on our own.
Timeline
So we signed our purchase agreement at the end of May and they were supposed to start at the end of June, as soon as we had paid them $5,000. The ONE AND ONLY SNAG was that they started construction 2 months late. We had other minor drama but this was the one that was their fault.
We found out later from the construction supervisor that this was something that got screwed up in corporate. Our original closing date was October 15 and he worked hard to get it done by the end of October. He was on site every day and let us come inspect the house whenever we wanted - just had to email him first. He even sent us updates every Friday on what had happened that week and what they would be doing the following week!
Construction Meetings & Stuff
Everyone from Ryland we talked to was really really good to work with and happy to answer our questions (we bugged them a lot) and for the most part straight-up and helpful. The construction supervisor answered all my questions about building materials and even which contractors they use for what, and whether the walls were prefab or put up on site. (Prefab for townhomes, built on site for single family homes).
We had 3 official meetings/walk throughs. A pre-construction meeting with the construction supervisor, a pre-drywall walkthrough, and a final walkthrough where he took us through the house and showed us how things worked and gave us a little box of goodies.
A couple weeks after we closed, Ryland emailed us and said they have a "new home orientation" for someone to come over and show us the nuts and bolts -- how to change the air filter, how the water heater works, the sump pump, all the mechanical stuff.
Realtor
We met with our realtor a couple days after we signed our paperwork and signed a contract with him. He took us through some MLS Ryland houses in our subdivision because like I have said before, the model was all decked out and we wanted to see some "real" houses closer to what ours would be like.
After-Closing Walk Throughs
We got all the warranties that Ryland offers and it also comes with a 60-day walkthrough and a 12-month walkthrough, where they come and fix anything that is broken or not working. We had a couple things at our 60-day - some of the wood paneling on the stairs wasn't flush to the wall and the basement banister was loose. Also the panel covering the guts on the master bathtub kept coming off. They fixed it all and now it's no problem. We've been living there for almost 4 months now and love it a lot.
I was kind of leery of using a production builder but I'm really happy with our house. H's grandpa is a former construction guy and he'd come see the house while it was being built and said they did a really good job on the construction and used high-quality materials.
Misc.
I'm almost done here. I promise!
Our neighborhood has an association. It has has a pool for the community and they do snow and trash removal. It's $145/mo for the single family homes and $179/mo for the townhomes. They also have rules for investors buying properties in the community and renter requirements for people renting houses or townhomes.
Our house was one of the last 4 single family homes to be built in the community. It appraised for $8K below the contract price. Ryland lowered the purchase price on closing day without us having to ask or fight with them or anything.
Ryland has a lot of sales. Usually they will go to about $20,000 in concessions and builder incentives. We got in on a 10% off sale. They have other specials like get a free basement, get a free gourmet kitchen, etc. Right now they are having a $20K off upgrades special I think. They have a sale or promotion about every 4-6 weeks I've noticed.
When we were about a month out from closing, we requested a walk through every weekend until closing and that was no problem.
Our closing coss came to about $5,600 so there was some money left over from the $8,000 they were giving us towards that. I asked our LO what would happen to that overage, if it would just disappear or what. Since the time had passed for when we could use it towards upgrades, she said we can use it to buy down our interest rate or we could also use it to pay our association dues for a year (we did that!)
They required us to pay our first-year's homeowners insurance premium up front, which we did about a month before closing. However, Ryand actually paid for that for us as well so in November we got a refund check back from our insurance agency for that amount!
People we worked with
Sales counselor
Construction supervisor
Loan Officer
Underwriter
Design Center Lady
I was extremely happy with the price and everything they did for us. My sister also ended up buying a Ryland home and she was disappointed in the price she paid and the upgrade incentives she got (it was not as much as H and I). She felt like she kind of got screwed on that end and that the sales counselor and her realtor didn't do a good job of negotiating on her behalf.
If you ask for the lot premium to be waived they will usually waive it!
So far, everything works the way it's supposed to. No mixed-up water taps or light switches. The issues we did find were fixed at our 60-day walkthrough and we haven't found anything wrong with the house since. The faucets and light fixtures are well-installed, the flooring is put in tidy and not peeling up or mismeasured or anything like that. They got all of the selections we made right - didn't mix up colors or that sort of thing. They did a few little extras, too -- they finished off the storage space with drywall, a mushroom light and carpet, and added some extra framing around our fireplace. They left the flooring remnants, a couple of light fixtures and a 5-gallon bucket of paint in the utility room.
We have had a few questions come up since we've closed and the construction supervisor is still really nice about answering our emails
He was very concerned with the quality of the house and making sure everything was right for us. We felt really well cared for.
Immediately after closing, the Ryland lender sold our loan to Bank of America but we we told they were going to do that up front.
I haven't read all this yet, but WOW!
Okay. Done reading. Thank you so much for all the info! We're going to look this weekend and I'm pretty sure we're going to buy if we like what we see. We're so over the whole short sale thing, and having a close date sounds so good to us. Thank you for walking me through the process!
They're offering a TON of incentives right now, and we found a few floorplans in our price range that we like. Plus, it qualifies for USDA financing. Not having PMI sounds really nice to us. I am so excited now! Thank you!!
Sorry to butt in but bamboo I really appreciate the break down you just gave. We probably will be doing new construction as well although probably not with Ryland.
Can I ask a question? Did you do FHA financing? If you did were you required to have the closing costs on hand when you first applied for the loan or did they just verify that you had the DP?
I have a question too..
How did it work out with you having a realtor? Ours is going with us to look tomorrow, and I really don't want her to get stiffed. Did you realtor get a commission?
We did FHA with 3.5% down. We were not required to have closing costs or the full downpayment amount on hand when we signed our paperwork. Ryland paid the closing costs so at no point were we required to have those in our bank account. 30 days prior to closing they needed to verify that all funds (downpayment, homeowners insurance) were in the bank and documented and at this point all conditions had to be fulfilled. Our conditions were paying two CCs down to a $0 balance.
But since they required 3% to start building we pretty much did need to have the dp funds in our bank before they started building. I think a % down to start construction is pretty common across different builders.
Worked great. He was kind of a flake but I'm glad we had him. He got a commission and Ryland paid for it, not us. He was a good go-between when we didn't want to talk directly to the builder. I think we got lucky that they still let us use him without bringing him to the first visit - our sales counselor was just like, as long as you let us know you have a realtor right away, it's cool.
Thanks for responding bamboo!
The builders we are interested require $1000-2000 before they start building. We'll have the down payment before we sign any paperwork I was just interested in what the deal was for closing costs.
amazing info!
We are going through a similar process and we are bringing our REA to negotiate the contract for us and ask for additional options for free...she says she won't know until she gets in there what we will get, but it is good to bring a REA with you to work for you during that stage of palnning. She has not been around for meetings or choosing a layout but I have a feeling, she'll come in handy when we go to talk final numbers.
Glad you had such a great experience!