The contract

After you decide on the house you want then you sign the contract.  This was about a three hour process for us and Ryan's rep told us that that is typical. I recommend you make an appointment.  Prior to this meeting I asked for a copy of the contract that they wanted me to sign and they did just that without any hassle.  I read the entire contract so that I knew what was in it and what I was signing, and I highly recommend you do the same thing.  They'll give you a one line summery for each section of what you sign, but I felt that she often didn't paint the whole picture for that section and glazed over the parts that are weighted in their favor.   For example, they can delay your construction for basically any reason and you just have to deal; however, if you are out of town or in the hospital on the day they want to close they could charge you hefty fines.

The contract also lays out the building standards that they use which is the standards a national organization sets.  I found this reassuring to know they don't decide what is quality work and what isn't.  The contract also says you can't go on to the property during construction to check things out without prior approval.  I told our rep it was my intention to stop by every day or two to check it out and walk around.  She told me that wasn't a problem and to just let the construction manager know ahead of time so he could warn me of any dangers.  I am still worried about it though because how the contract is written they could deny me access every day.  I'll definitely report on how that goes.  They could also deny a home inspector access until the very end (you really want the inspector to come out a couple times, but more on that later), but again I was assured that they wouldn't.  I'll just have to hold my breath and find out how that goes as well. of course I'll raise a ruckus if it doesn't work out; however, other people didn't seem to have any problems.

During the signing you also be initialing floor plans, choosing all your options and filling out a mortgage survey if you plan on using their mortgage provider.  I'll talk in detail about the mortgage in a later post.  You also will have time to change some of the options you choose with no penalty.  Some things you will have up to two weeks, and others one month.  They'll let you know when you are there. If you are buying the house with someone else, such as your spouse, they will need to be there as well.  I will point out that we also had our one year old son with us.  The rep let him play all over on the floor of her office while we signed papers and never once got annoyed when he was loud or smashed food in to the carpet (which we made sure was clean before leaving), so big props to her for the customer service!

Although the process was long, it was pretty painless, especially since I read the contract ahead of time which I recommend you to do.  While you read the contract you have to remember that even though it is heavily waited in their side there isn't a thing you can do about it, it isn't like they are going to change it for you.  It is just something you have to deal with if you want a newly built house, but by reading the contract you at least know how far backwards they can make you bend.

When we were all done they gave us a sold sticker to put on the board with all the lots so we could cover our lot up.  My wife loved it!