Let's Talk about SPECS, Baby.

You can stop laughing at the title of this post.
I won't even lie- I've known I wanted to start a blog for this home building process, and seeing other bloggers out there that have their "options" listed for what they're getting, that I wanted this to be my title for this post.
And now that I think about it, these aren't even really "specs", but options that are included with our home.
So, let's talk about those options. And nope. I won't be changing that tile.
So go ahead and giggle a little.

And read on.....
This is what comes INCLUDED with our home {I'll make notes if we are changing something}:

• 9' Ceilings
• Wall Paint, Trim Paint {We opted for NO paint upgrades as we can do this ourselves later on}
• Buff Colored Mortar with Brick Option {We changed our elevation- More on that later}
• Elevation B
• 2 Car Garage- Front Entry (includes Garage Door Opener-- YAY)
• Appliance Package (Black and White- Dishwasher, Stove and Microwave)-- NO REFRIGERATOR {not happy about that part, but oh well. I already have one picked out that I like. We also opted for the Stainless Steel Upgrade}
• Carpet- Living Room, Stairs, Family Room, Zone 2 (all of upstairs)
• Resilient Flooring {aka vinyl}- Family Entry, Hall First Floor, Laundry Room, Powder Room, Bathroom #1, Foyer, Kitchen, Owner's Bathroom
• Recessed Lights- Kitchen
• Standard Bathroom Stuff- toilets, itty bitty tubs, cultured marble counters, standard cabinets (color is Fairfield Square Honey)
• Double Bowl Vanity Bathroom #1 and Owner's Bathroom
• 42" Kitchen Cabinets- standard color- Fairfield Square Honey
• Laminate Countertops
• Light Package
• Basic Landscaping Package {sod in the front, seed in the back}
• Unfinished Basement
• Three Bedrooms with Loft
• Second Floor Laundry (with electric dryer hook up)

There's definitely other stuff listed, but do you really want to hear about the insulation, driveway width and siding mumbo-jumbo?

Didn't think so {and if you did, I'm sorry. Haha! I wanna move on to the fun things}.

So let's talk about what we got as an incentive.....

If you check out the website for  Stone Ridge Estates for Ryan Homes, you'll see right smack dab on the front page that they are offering FREE morning room upgrades.  That morning room comes at a value of $15,995!! When I first heard of morning rooms, I wasn't sure I really even cared for one. But after seeing several of them, and how much it brightens the room and adds square footage, and just how great it looked, I knew that it was gonna be a great addition.  And a "free" one.

And, after you see all that we did as far as upgrades, you'll get this part... We were able to negotiate to get granite in the kitchen as well!  Small victories, folks.... small victories.

So let's talk about what we upgraded.... 

And a disclaimer..... for family that read this.....

We didn't win the Powerball {well, actually... we might have and I just don't know it yet. It hasn't been announced as I write this post}. We most definitely are NOT made of money.  But, you know this {especially if you're family}... we work HARD for what we have.  We have great jobs and most definitely earn every penny we make.

I am going to list prices of all of these upgrades.  It's another one of those things that I have noticed people do with their home building blogs- and apparently what lots of people {myself included} look at when they read these things.
I'm not going to give a total of what we spent, or how much we are going to pay every month.  If you're smart enough you can do the basic math to get a guess.

Just remember, this is our dream home.  We plan on being in this home til we are old and grey. It's worth every penny we plan on spending and paying.

And with that being said.....  UPGRADES! With bonus explanations, because that's how I roll.

• Lot Upgrade. AKA "Homesite Premium" {$7,500}.  We ultimately decided on a walk out lot.  A couple of things came into play here... We figured it would be GREAT to have that walkout option in the winter so the boys would be able to just go straight out back and not have to climb stairs to get in and out of the house {via a deck, which is discussed further down}.  Plus, it adds on to the square footage of your home. Plus, it was a nice lot in the new phase of the development. I am not sure on the size of the lot, but I wanna know now, so I'll be asking the next time we mosey on over to the development.

• Elevation. We went with "Elevation E", Partial Stone Veneer Front. {$8,995} We went back and forth with this decision.  In the end, we went with this elevation since it has a great front porch.  Ask Jason. I have always always always wanted a front porch. We first thought we wanted the included elevation and save on the money for upgrading.  But, with this elevation, we get a cute little nook inside the loft. AND a front porch.  I made Jason PROMISE me that every Friday, after work, we would sit on our front porch and drink a beer and just enjoy the porch.  He said yes {I don't even think it was reluctant.  He knows how much I've wanted a porch, so I THINK the answer was easy for him}.  So, y'all just remember. Fridays at our house after work-- beers on the front porch.  You bring the beer, we supply the porch ;-)

  

  Here's a stock photo of our elevation.  Look at that amazing porch!
  
  

• Basement.  We got the finished basement {$13,995}. We knew from the get-go that this was a must for us.  Think man cave.  Think super amazing Cincinnati Reds man cave. We have so many ideas for painting, decoration, and just general amazingness.  It's probably already one of my favorite areas in the entire house.  
• Couple of things we did NOT get as far as upgrades here:  No rough-in for a future bathroom or no finished bathroom.  The reason?  When you go up the basement stairs, there is a bathroom immediately ahead of you.  If we are to use our basement as a man cave/recreational area, that means there will probably be a reason to use a restroom.  But, no one is going to be living down there and therefore there's no reason to upgrade and get a full-on bathroom when you can just climb some stairs {plus, going up counts as a flight of stairs on your FitBit.  You're welcome.}
• We did not finish any other part of the basement.  Check out the floor plan of the basement again... They have this weird option of finishing a "media room" or an "exercise room". Cool, but I HATE the way its broken up.  We really really tried to get the SR to let us just finish the basement PLUS the media room area, and not include a wall or a door, but we got the big fat negative as far as that goes.
• We WILL have that optional double patio door for the walk out. It's obviously included in the price of the lot, since the lot itself is considered a walk out lot.

• Kitchen.  We upgraded to a kitchen island {$2,195} but decided we did NOT need the gourmet island.  It just took up too much of the kitchen space. 
• We upgraded the kitchen cabinets to the "Upgrade 1". {$2,595}   Basically, this means that we get a different color finish than the standard Fairfield Square Honey.  Also, the drawers are 21" deep, you get 3/4" thick wall shelving and a veneer center panel. 
• And then, remember... we were able to negotiate for a free granite upgrade!!!!
• Appliances: We upgraded to stainless steel. {$1,195}  Keep in mind- some of these upgrades will eventually just be a difference in a price of what was offered.  I'm not going into deets with that and you're just seeing the full upgrade price!  It may not be what we are actually paying for the upgrade!

• Owner's Suite.  Bathroom Soaking Tub and Glass Shower Surround {$4,495}.  Need I say more about this?! I want a soaking tub SOOO bad.  And, with this upgrade, we get a seat in the shower as well.  Just in case you're still asleep when you shower in the morning.
• We also upgraded our cabinets here.  If you're gonna make one part fancy and snazzy, might as well make all of it fancy and snazzy. {$500}

• Interior Stuff.  Carpeted Stairs with White Balusters {$895}  The home we got to visit that was the Milan floorplan actually had the metal balusters.  I liked them. They looked very fancy and formal.  The white balusters were WAY more our style and make the upstairs look just as sharp and pretty.  Plus, it'll make Christmas decorations super pretty with balusters and a handle instead of just a wall or what not.

• Electrical Stuff.  Ceiling Fan Rough-Ins. {$295} We decided to put one in each room plus the family room.  I'll most likely have to find someone to do the electrical work as I won't do it myself. Something about climbing a ladder, holding a fan, and messing with electrical stuff that just doesn't sound fun to me. 

• Exterior Stuff. A Deck. {$4,595 plus $895} Another thing we went back and forth on. But only as far as size goes.  It's REQUIRED for us to have a deck with the walk out lot.  This is half the reason we chose a walk out lot, because we knew we wanted a deck on the back of the house.  Also, because it's a walk out, we have to have extra stairs (that's the plus money I put there).  We opted for the larger deck, because why not!  Finished size will be about 14x16.  Should run about the whole back length of the home (minus the spot where the morning room will be)

And there ya have it! Our upgrades.  Is it everything we want? You damn well better believe it.  Every bit of it.  Did we want more? Yeah, of course. But they weren't things that we deemed necessary.  The major things we wanted in a home will be built along with the house, and that's all that matters.

So whew!  I think that's enough for now.
I'll be going more into our color selections in our next couple posts, as well as what we had to do next as far as everything else!