Building a House

Before I write anymore I have to give thanks to the Sears family who put us up in San Antonio and the Stovalls for letting us stay at their place before flying to Texas. About a week ago we decided that we really wanted to travel to San Antonio and try and build a house, or at least find out decent neighborhoods close to the two hospitals so we would know where to focus on our home search. I was searching the internet and found an unbelievable deal on tickets from Boston so we couldn't resist. Plus it would allow me to take Aimee to the Alamo Bowl to see my alma mater (Northwestern) play. Sadly they lost in overtime, but even Aimee had a good time.

Anyway, all of our friends live in a subdivision called Alamo Ranch which can be a half an hour drive to the army hospital which I thought was too long. We decided to spend an entire day searching all the neighborhoods near the base which turned out to mostly be ghetto and crime ridden even though new subdivisions were going up. Our last area the sales agent was actually a Realtor who was filling in for a friend at the community and after some questions told us that we had to live outside of town in order for our property value to increase and Ben to be safe. He recommended some communities and up and left the sales office for us to check them out. They were even farther from base than Alamo Ranch (although VERY nice). So we decided to go back and look at some neighborhoods back in NW San Antonio and settled on Alamo Ranch because we know two families there and it will be a great place for Ben.

We went into the sales office where we picked out a lot (on a Cul-de-sac with a greenbelt behind us so we won't look out at other houses) as well as a great 3 BR, 2200 square foot model which we love. We talked to the agent who was offering us $10,500 off the price. I then called our Realtor who offered us $1,500 back from his commission for using him and then talked to the sales agent. Before we knew it the company offered us another $5,000 bringing it up to $15,500 off the price to build plus no lot premium ($1,500) and an interest rate of 4.5% on our mortgage with no closing costs! The only catch is now Aimee has to go back to San Antonio to pick out our options for the interior such as tile, carpet, cabinets, etc.

This is our plot and the Cul-De-Sac we will be moving to.

This house is our model and we also like the brick color.

The Master bathroom

The Master bedroom

Upstairs playroom, ours will be filled with Ben's toys

Living area downstairs from the kitchen

Kitchen

Walk in closet off the master

This dining room will be converted into a study.