First Time Home Buyer Blog: Pre-Delivery Inspection

Welcome back! If you have been following along you will know that I am very close to getting the keys to my new home! But just before I get the keys I wanted to share with you the excitement of my Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI)

If this is the first time you are checking in with me or want to re-read some of my previous entries, here are the links to the previous blogs:

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Personalizing My Floor Plan!

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Design Studio – Part 1

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Design Studio – Part 2

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Visiting the Kitchen Designer

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Summer Building Progress

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Plan Review

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Pre-Drywall Walk-Through

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Appliance Selections

Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI):

I should warn you before you read this I am writing this on the morning of the day when I get my keys! I am very excited and nervous and might not be making the most sense! ;)

So just like any other new homebuyer, a couple of days before I get my keys, I was invited to complete a Pre-Delivery Inspection with our (Parkview Homes) Warranty Service Coordinator, Nithya. During the inspection Nithya showed me everything in my home, tested all the taps, windows and lights and gave me the chance to point out any minor deficiencies, so they could be corrected prior to me getting my keys and moving in.

We started the inspection in my unfinished lower level. She showed me the electrical panel, the furnace and where the filter is located and how to change it, the HRV system, the hot water tank and the three-piece bathroom rough-in. She was very thorough in describing what everything did and how it worked. Just in case I missed something, she also showed me where all the instruction manuals were located as well.

For the next part of the inspection we moved to the main level where we looked at my beautiful kitchen! It was fantastic to finally see it in person! It just sparkled! Literally! Between the sun shining in hitting the cabinetry handles and the tiny reflective flecks in the tile floor, the whole thing seemed to sparkle! I am so excited to get my appliances in there, so I can get cooking and baking!

Just off the kitchen, Nithya showed me the controls for my HRV system and my programmable thermostat and explained how they both worked.

Continuing my inspection on the main floor I got to see how all my Design Studio Selections came together. Not only was I overjoyed with how my kitchen came together, my powder room dazzled as well! I am so happy that I decided to go with a different countertop in my bathroom. It was definitely the right decision. As well, on my main level I got to see the fabulous trim and door package I selected! It to just blew me away!

Next, we moved up the stairs to the upper level. The carpet I selected for the stairs and the upper level looks awesome! The colour works fantastically with the current wall colour and the tile that I picked throughout my new home. Again, the trim and door package looked delightful!

Upstairs I also got my first chance to see my master bedroom with its huge walk-in closet, which will soon be filled with perfectly organized wardrobe and with so much space I just might have to buy more clothes to fill it! While in my master bedroom we also checked out my master ensuite which turned out amazing! Just like everything else in my new home ;). Again, I did awesome at my Design Studio Selections!! I am super pleased with how everything came together. I can’t wait to get the keys!

Overall there were just a few touch ups here and there but my new home looked fantastic! I am very excited to move in this weekend! I am already dreaming of how I will furnish each room! First I need to buy some furniture. But hey! Having zero furniture makes moving easy right?

Once I am in I will take some beautiful pictures to share with you all!

Talk to you soon,

Alyssa :)

PS. If you want to be my neighbour check out Jackson CreekMeadows!

The First Time Home Buyer Blog: Appliance Selection Process

 Well hello there! :D

Thanks for checking back in with me. I should probably warn you that my excitement level for my new and first home is THROUGH THE ROOF!! The wait has been long but totally worth it! I can’t wait to get into MY new home!! With the weeks until I get my keys now countable on one hand, I can’t wait! Eeeek!!!

I am still playing a little catch up on writing about all the experiences I have had during my experience of buying my first home. In this blog, I am going to talk about my appliance selection process.

If this is the first time you are checking in with me or want to re-read some of my previous entries, here are the links to the previous blogs:

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Personalizing My Floor Plan!

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Design Studio – Part 1

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Design Studio – Part 2

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Visiting the Kitchen Designer

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Summer Building Progress

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Plan Review 

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Pre-Drywall Walk-Through 

Appliance Selection:

I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but when I purchased my house many, many months ago I selected a free 5-appliance package as my bonus instead of a free gas fireplace. While the fireplace would have been cozy and warm on those long cold winter days, I figured being able to cook my dinner, keep my groceries cold and do laundry was a much better option ;)

When you choose the 5-appliance package you are given a credit to use at The Brick. You can either use it to select 5 basic white standard appliances (fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer and dryer) or you can use it as a credit towards the purchase of upgraded appliances. I went for the latter option; white appliances were just not my thing. I wanted stainless steel!

I should also mention, that if you don’t want to use your credit towards appliances you also have the option of using it towards furniture and/or mattresses at The Brick. Details on the entire program are available at all Parkview Homes Model Homes.

The advantage of the choosing the appliances when purchasing your new home is that you get to work directly with Rencee at The Brick. She will setup an appointment for you to come in, sit down and discuss what you would like in regards to your appliances, she will show you what comes as standard, she will also show you upgrade options based on your needs and wants and then provide you with pricing.

For me I went with the standard white washer and dryer, as long as my clothes come out clean and dry then they are doing their job! I did however want to upgrade my kitchen appliances. As I mentioned before, I wanted stainless steel, but I also wanted to make sure my fridge had a large freezer. As a single person, I don’t want to be cooking everyday, so the ability to cook large amounts of food and then freeze small portions was important to me. Also, in my kitchen I wanted to make sure I had a stove/oven that suited my needs. I have a large family and I wanted to make sure that when they came over I am going to have a large capacity oven, so I can cook up huge feasts. In addition to the large family I love to bake, so I wanted to make sure I picked something that catered to this as well. Lastly, because my fridge and stove/oven were now stainless steel, I wanted to make sure that my dishwasher didn’t stand out like a sore thumb, so for a minimal amount I upgraded it to stainless steel as well.

Rencee was able to listen to my needs and wants and showed my many options that fit into what I was looking for but also fit my budget. She was patient with me as I carefully and thoroughly reviewed each of the options that worked for me. I should probably mention, this was a huge decision and I am pretty indecisive! ;)

At the end of my appointment I selected a beautiful stainless steel french door fridge with a huge freezer draw and a large capacity convection oven. I know both will suit my needs perfectly and I can rest assured knowing that I was shown all the options and I didn’t go over my budget.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures at this stage. So stay tuned for pictures after I move in of my beautiful kitchen!!

Talk to you soon,

Alyssa :)

PS. If you want to be my neighbour (& get some fresh baked goods ;) ) check out Jackson Creek Meadows!

The First Time Home Buyer Blog: Design Studio - Part 1

Hello, hello, hello!

Welcome back or welcome if you haven’t read the first few blogs in this series!

If you want to know what you have missed so far, here are the links to the first two blogs I have written about my First Time Home Buyer experience:

·          Blog #1 – First Time Home Buyer Blog

        Blog #2 – First Time Home Buyer Blog – Personalizing My Floor Plan!

In this blog, I want to start talking to you about the Design Studio Selection process. It is an extremely exciting, nerve racking and awesome experience! I want to share with you my experience and also share tips that helped make it a much easier process for me.

First, I want to start by explaining what the Design Studio is. The Design Studio is a convenient one-stop shop for picking out everything that goes into your new home! I mean EVERYTHING! Carpet, floor tile, wall tile, hardwood, kitchen cabinets, kitchen countertops, bathroom cabinets, bathroom countertops, doors, trim, faucets, railings and all exterior finishes - I could go on but I don’t want to scare you! Luckily, all this is available in one place so you can compare colours and styles all in one location. Also, I should point out that the Design Studio has many standard options that are included in the price of your new home. However, if you have the budget and are looking to upgrade your new home, there are many, many upgrade options throughout the Design Studio to choose from as well.

Now for a look into my experience…

As I mentioned before, I work for Parkview Homes, which has given me the advantage of being in and out of our Design Studio many times. Even before I knew I was buying a Parkview Home, whenever I was in there I was looking at all the selection and dreamed about how some of the finishes would look in my imaginary home. I once contemplated becoming an Interior Designer (before I settled on being a Graphic Designer), so picking out interior finishes, matching colours and patterns is very exciting for me!

Here is Tip #1 – RESEARCH!!

Even if you think you know what you want and know your personal style really well, still do your RESEARCH! A good place to start is online, search interior decorating sites. I really loved Pinterest and Houzz. They were extremely helpful in deciding what kind of style I wanted to accomplish in my new house, before I headed into the Design Studio for my Design Studio Appointment. Also, in your research, figure out if you prefer classic, transitional or contemporary styling. As well, I found it helpful to decide what neutral colour I was – are you cream, beige, grey or greige person? I am definitely a grey person! I am a big believer in keeping large items neutral and accessorizing in colour. Accessories are easy to change out, big items such as ceramic tile flooring or kitchen cabinets are not so easy or cheap to change.

Tip #2 – BROWSE, BROWSE, BROWSE!!

Once you have determined what style and colour you would like to see in yournew home, head into the Design Studio for Browsing Hours. Browse through the selections, see what you like, what you don’t like, make notes and take pictures. When browsing at the Design Studio I found it extremely helpful to take pictures of the combinations that I liked, so I could reference back when I got home.

Also, if you are design or colour challenged, don’t worry! Susan, our Design Studio Consultant and Interior Designer is there to guide you through the process and offer suggestions to make your home fit your personal style.

Now I should mention, with my closing date not until fall, I had plenty of time between when I signed my agreement and when I needed to pick my Design Studio Selections. In most cases you don’t have the luxury of that much time. The typical time frame is within 7 days of signing a firm agreement. My suggestion, if you fall into this category, is start browsing online before your agreement even goes firm. You can also visit the Design Studio for Browsing Hours, to get an idea of what is offered and what you would like in your new home!

I am going to break this blog here! I don’t want to bore you with all my ramblings. Stay tuned for my next blog where I will give you a sneak peak at the selections I chose and also explain how beneficial it was to visit our kitchen designer! She’s awesome by the way! :)

Until my next blog - I hope this has been helpful! I look forward to continuing to write about my Design Studio Selection process!

Talk to you soon,

Alyssa

Click here for more information about the Parkview Homes Design Studio!

(Also, there are fantastic videos on this page that will show you the Design Studio and explain the Design Studio (Colour) Selection process!)

The First Time Home Buyer Blog: Personalizing My Floor Plan to Suit Me!

Welcome back or welcome if you didn’t read the first blog in this series!

As promised, in this blog I am going to explain how very exciting it was for me to have the ability to personalize my floor plan to the way I wanted it.

To start I needed to figure out which townhome plan it was that I could afford. Parkview Homes offers three different designs; The Kenton II, The Berkley and The Arundel. While they were all very affordable, my budget is very small so I went with the least expensive design, The Arundel! It is super cute on the inside and out, I must add! I am very excited to move in this fall! In fact, I just bought a roasting pan! I know your probably thinking what a nerd, but hey! I get excited by the simple things in life – like a new roasting pan :)

Now on to the floor plan personalization… It wasn’t that I didn’t like the original design; I did, it was beautiful! It just didn’t fit my lifestyle. The original Arundel design had a separate dining room that wasn’t going to work for me. As I mentioned in my previous blog I come from a large family, and a separate dining room with no where to expand wasn’t going to be able to accommodate me hosting family dinners. I wanted to have the flexibility to stretch out my dining room table, to allow for my family to have lots of room, and for any extended family or friends to join us. So I moved it over and attached it to my great room and took down the middle wall to open everything up (I had to stretch the budget a little bit with the removal of the supporting wall, but it will be all worth it to have my home the way I want it!).

Another change I wanted to make was moving the powder room from the front entrance to just behind the kitchen. I wanted it to be more accessible from the main living area.

With these two changes I was able to create a more open concept layout for my new home! I now have an awesome dining room/great room, a perfectly placed kitchen that is open to my dining room/great room, my spacious breakfast area and a conveniently located powder room!

I should also note that when I made the changes on main floor, they did effect more than just the main floor (you may have already noticed), by moving the powder room, the location of the stairs had to change, which meant that my upstairs layout had to change slightly. My master bedroom configuration got altered and the locations of my main bath and ensuite also changed. I am elated with the final layout!

Just looking at the floor plan that I personalized with the help of the fantastic designer at Parkview Homes, it gives my butterflies and goose bumps of excitement for when I move in and host that first family dinner! And use that shining new roasting pan ;). Also, did you see the size of the walk-in closet in my master bedroom?! I could live in that thing!

As I mentioned in my first blog, I have the advantage of knowing A LOT about the new home building industry, because I do work for Parkview Homes. I know what you might be thinking; this blog is a marketing ploy to get you to buy a new home. Well it may be a little bit, but it’s more importantly a chance for me, a first time homebuyer, to share the knowledge that I have gained over the last two years of working here, as well as share my first home buying experience!

Here are a few tips that might be helpful that I wouldn’t have known two years ago:

1.  If you are not familiar with new home builders, changing floor plans is usually something that they will NOT accommodate. Usually, you pick a floor plan and that is exactly how your home is going to be built.

I am very lucky that Parkview will make changes to meet my personal and lifestyle needs. This isn’t just a special service for me – they do it for everyone! However, like I mentioned before you should be aware there may be some costs involved depending on the changes/modifications that you would like to make.

2.  You get to pick your own design selections! Flooring, Trim, Doors, Exterior Colours, etc. This is something you get to learn more about in my next blog. I think picking colours was the most nerve racking and exciting part!! Stay tuned :)!

I hope this has been helpful! I look forward to writing about my Design Studio Selection process!

Talk to you soon,

Alyssa

Here are a few resources if you are thinking about buying your first home or a new home or you just really want to be my neighbour!

Jackson Creek Meadows – Townhomes

Jackson Creek Meadows – Community

The First Time Home Buyer Series: Part 1

If you are thinking about buying your first home… this is the blog for you!

Let me start by introducing myself. I am Alyssa and I live with my parents, my 3 siblings and two cats. Life is crazy and I never seem to have a minute for myself! I graduated from college almost 4 years ago and like most college grads found myself living back with my parents. After experiencing what it’s like to be on my own, I have known for a long time that I had no long terms plans for continuing to live with my parents. However, as the money cautious person that I am, renting seemed to be the worst idea in the world. I just couldn’t imagine giving my hard earned money away to a landlord when I could be saving it to get myself further ahead. This is where I landed on the idea of buying a house!

I have been saving for probably about three years and said that I wouldn’t start looking until I had reached my set goal. I had almost reached that goal this past fall and decided it was time to start looking to see what I could afford and start thinking about what I wanted in my first home.

As a single girl looking to buy her first home, I knew I wouldn’t be very handy. I knew I didn’t want to be spending every waking hour working on my house, not to mention I wanted to know that I had a few dollars to eat or maybe go out once and awhile. The more I thought about it, an older home just wasn’t really going to work for me. Here are the conclusions I came to:

·      I didn’t want to be changing my roof in two years

·      I didn’t want to update my windows in three years

·      I didn’t want to run the risk of bad electrical

·      I didn’t want to have questionable plumbing

·      I didn’t want to be living with someone else’s version of a DIY home renovation

·      I DEFINITELY didn’t want to be living a life of constant renovations

So after really thinking about want I really didn’t want in my first home, I landed on the idea of a new townhome. I don’t have a lot of money to play with but I was willing to push my budget by a very minimal amount to get what I wanted.

This is where I must reveal that I have the advantage of knowing more about new homes than most; I have been working for Parkview Homes for the past two years. I know A LOT about new homes, I know many plans inside and out, the advantages and disadvantages of buying new and I have the knowledge of the new home industry that a regular first time homebuyer wouldn’t normally be exposed to.

Even though I know a lot about new homes I still did a lot of research and thinking to make sure that it was the best choice for me. Here are some of the conclusions I came to as to why I was leaning towards a new townhome:

·      Personalized floorplan – I will explain more about this in a later blog.

·      Long closing date – I wanted extra time to save!

·      Little to no updating

·      Great community/location – I get to be in the West End of Peterborough without paying West End prices or being in an older home

·      I get to choose my own interior selections – I don’t have to live with anyone else’s taste, until I have the money to change them

·      Everything was new! – new electrical, new plumbing, new flooring, new windows, new roof, new appliances, new kitchen, new toilets NEW EVERYTHING!

·      Fantastic resale value

After comparing my list of what I didn’t want in an older home to what I could get in a new townhome it was a no brainer for me, I had to go with the new home. It is what made the most sense for me.

So on November 17, 2013, after many, many, many loooong nights of estimating all my possible costs, budgeting every cent I have and many conversations and discussions with family and friends about what they thought of my plan, I signed an agreement to purchase my new townhome in Jackson Creek Meadows!

My house won’t be ready until Fall of 2014, but that is exactly how I wanted it. It gives me plenty of extra time to save, stock up on all the necessities and really get excited!

My plan is to make this blog a series so that you can follow along the new home buying process with me! In my next blogs I will talk about the fun process of personalizing my floorplan, my Design Studio Selection Process and anything else exciting that happens!

Talk to you soon,

Alyssa

Here are a few resources if you are thinking about buying your first home or a new home:

Jackson Creek Meadows – Townhomes

Jackson Creek Meadows – Community