Friday at the Savoy

Like many of you, my husband and I started house hunting a few months ago. We have been married for close to two years and have rented a beautiful apartment in Verona, NJ.  We love living in Verona and really enjoy the proximity to New York City.  However, when it was time to look for a house, I was clear that we couldn't find a property that would be a good investment  and fit within our budget.
  
North Jersey is a great place to live, but when it comes to real estate--ouch!  What we could afford would give us a home that was 60 plus years old. Now, don't get me wrong, I think old homes have a lot of charm, but with that charm and yesteryear character comes a lot of maintenance and let alone high costs associated with heating and cooling an old house.  So, we had a problem--hubs wanted to stay up north (where he was born and raised) and I wanted "the house" (location was not as important) but something new was VERY important; I wanted a clean palate. Also, this would be my second time of purchasing a house; I was clear, I wanted to build.
   
After visiting a few houses in the area, my husband started to understand why I wanted new construction, and agreed that moving further down the state would be the best investment for us. Therefore, my Mets loving husband decided that it was ok to enter Phillies territory and look for a house in South Jersey!  With that being said, I found a community months ago via the web. And was excited to learn that Ryan Homes (my first house was built by Ryan)  planned to open a community in the spring of 2012.  We took a ride to the purposed community and immediately knew this was a great place for us.  Granted, I am moving home--born in Philly and raised in South Jersey (exit 5; yeah Jersey folks really do identify their towns by exits off the NJ turnpike), however, I have not lived in South Jersey since 1996 (came back to Jersey in 2010 but spent 14 years living in DC metro).  So, this will be an adjustment for both of us. But Greenbriar Estates has a lot of what we wanted--it's close to a major city (10 miles from Philly), tons of shopping, good schools (for our future kids), accessible to major arteries (yup, you guessed it, the NJ Turnpike), and is close to a really cute quaint, Main Street (it literally is Main Street in Moorestown, NJ). 


After reviewing plans, taking virtual tours, and finally traveling to Maryland to visit two model homes, Patrick and I were ready to commit to building a house.  On May 13, 2012, we gave our good faith deposit, selected our upgrades and now we're waiting for our approval from NVR mortgage.  At first I planned to start a blog after we received our mortgage approval, but for months I have been reading blogs written by buyers of Ryan Homes.  These blogs have chronicled experiences and provided a ton of info about their homes, cost of upgrades and even how to negotiate. I have enjoyed looking at the pictures of many lots going from dirt to final walk thrus. I have picked up tips on what upgrades are worth it and even feel ready to conduct my meetings with the flooring company and Guardian for wiring. 


After reading what seemed like at least 10 blogs a day, and conducted countless google searches to find information on the Savoy, I was saddened to see that many did not focus on the Savoy. So, I figured that was my cue to start my own blog, and show a Savoy!  Not all my posts will be this long, but I do hope to share our experience and seek to help others like the other blogs have done for me.  Finally, I have entitled the blog "What's Buzzin?" only because this was slang used in the 1940's, the time period when the jazz club, The Savoy was the place to be in Harlem, USA.  I know it may be a little corny, but I love history and jazz so it works…here's to building a Savoy!  


Catch you cats later, 
D

Elevation B, side entry garage, Savoy Model Home.