We have been paying rent, which is as much as a mortgage, and it has just been going down the drain every month. We had decided when he got into med school, we would probably buy, especially if he got into UT-Southwestern. So the week after Colt found out he was going to medical school in Dallas, which was about a month ago, we decided to go ahead and start looking for a house. Since we will both be in Dallas now, we definitely wanted to move in at least closer than we are now. We looked on the internet at houses in pretty much every direction around Dallas, but primarily looked around Rockwall and Forney because it seemed like we could get more for our money, the drive seemed easier, and we were comfortable and knew the area. The weekend we decided to look, we went to Forney and looked at several houses in different neighborhoods and really liked two of them. One was a 2005 home on the Mesquite side of Forney and one was a brand new home in Fox Hollow. They were within the same price range and there was stuff we liked about both of them. Well, we ended up deciding we liked the new one better and went to talk to the builder. The guy that built it was still getting financing, and he actually ended up coming through so it was no longer available. We had decided by that time that we didn't like some things about the 2005 home and we weren't comfortable with the fact that four houses on the same little street were all for sale for some reason. We ended up deciding to build with the builder of the new house we looked at, Megatel Homes. We were looking at spending the same amount of money to build as we were to buy, so why not choose something we really want for the same money? Then the issue came with what neighborhood to build in and what floorplan. We really liked the floorplan of the new house we looked at. It seemed really "open." And we really liked a new neighborhood in Forney called Devonshire, which is about 2 miles out of town. It felt "homey" and we had always said when driving to his moms that there was no way we would ever live on the other side of Forney. The only problem was that the floorplan we picked out wouldn't fit on any of Devonshire's lots because the lots at Devonshire are longer and narrower and the floorplan was a short and wide plan. We did several lot fits, thought about putting the floorplan we liked in the Fox Hollow neighborhood, where Colt's mom and David live. We even picked out a lot in that neighborhood. After going back and forth, the builder knew I really wanted the other neighborhood so he kept trying to show us different floorplans. We went and looked at another floorplan one last time and he started saying he would give us that floorplan, which was bigger, for the same price as the one we liked. He knew what I liked about the other floorplan was that it was "open" so when we walked in this one, he said he would extend the formal dining and kitchen out 4 feet, the living room out 2 feet, and the other side of the garage out 4 feet. It didn't open up the house anymore but hey we'll take it! Colt's mom also got him to throw in the blinds. When she told him we still couldn't pay anymore than we already said, his mouth kinda dropped open but he said ok. We really think he needed to get rid of a home in the neighborhood. The next week, we were getting pre-approved for our loan and signing contracts on the house. Since then, we have met to pick out all of our brick, cabinets, carpet, tile, etc., and last week we had our red line with the builder where we made all the final changes that we wanted. I'm not much of a decision maker so this part wasn't very fun for me! They will probably start pouring concrete at the end of the week or next week depending on the rain. We are both really excited about the house! The only bad thing has been dealing with the loan company and all the paperwork here lately! We went and looked at refrigerators and other stuff this weekend. I even talked him into looking at furniture and he told me I would have to have priorities on all the stuff I was wanting! I will try to keep updated on the house from now on and takes pics during the whole process.
Here are some pictures of our lot. We are on the corner and our address will be 1052 Finsbury Lane!
