Lot Hold
The Woodstock model in our development has six elevations. Each elevation starts at a different price point. We went with the “cheapest” elevation. The Classic elevation has a brick front with no porch. We went back and forth with the porch option but we decided to save the $10k it costs for the porch to keep the home cost down. We can put the 10k to upgrades/options inside the home. Besides, we probably would not sit on the porch anyway. We also saved some money by picking the lot with $0 lot premium. The yard to me is the perfect size (my husband is dreading any real yard work). We have an easement at the back of our lot which will take away about two feet if we decided to build a fence, but we were ok with that. The other lot we were considering had a $1k lot fee but was slightly smaller with no easement. The lot amounts vary based on the size of the lot and can range from $0- $20,000k+. At the time of contract you are required to pay a lot deposit of 5% of the lot price.
Major Key: If you are ok with a smaller lot size pick the least expensive lot. This can save you thousands.
To hold the lot we had to put down $1k which goes toward the purchase price of the home. The representative said that we had 15 days from lot deposit to signing an Agreement of Sale. The 15 day waiting period was very stressful for us. Many thoughts ran through our mind. “Is this the right time?”, “Are we ready to double our current mortgage payment?”… so many thoughts, so little time. By day 15 we both had cold feet so we decided to meet with the representatives again to help (ease our mind). We were ready to throw in the towel and get our lot deposit back. We met with the representative and the meeting was literally no pressure. He convinced us to take our time since this is a major life decision. He assured us that they will continue to hold the lot and to come back when we have worked everything out.
Major Key: Take your time, don’t let the representative pressure you to “hurry up and buy”. This is a huge purchase and you don’t need any additional pressure.
Agreement of Sale
A few weeks went by, we had some long talks and breakthroughs but we decided to sign the Agreement of Sale! At this meeting we finalized the structural options. All structural options must be finalized at contract signing (this sucked because a few months later we considered adding a bump out but it was too late.)
Major Key: Despite the fact that your house will not be ready for 10-12 months you have to finalize structural options at signing. If you are on the fence about bump-outs, finishing the basement etc., think long and hard about this decision).
Late May we signed the purchase agreement for our new home. Since they are over a year from completing the home Toll lets you either put the entire 3.5% down payment down at the time of contract OR you can put down 2.5% and pay the remaining 1.5% in six month installments. Even though we had the money we decided to go with the installments. Who doesn’t like interest free payments? Besides we still have a house to sale and we need to make a few improvements before putting it on the market. Since we have a $0 lot, we did not have to pay any money towards our lot. Toll stated that the permits would take about 3-4 months to return before they can start construction.
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