Model Home Photos

Hi all,

Hope everyone is having a great holiday. We got a new batch of photos from our builder - the Standard Pacific model home is now open. Here are a bunch of shots - click to embiggen.

All looks good, though I can say with some certainty that we wouldn't have picked that particular shade of ... Salmon? Peach? Nantucket Red? Whatever it is. Yearg. Thankfully, we'll be picking our own colors.

Framing & Slabbing

Here's a few new photos of progress at Mueller from our Realtor, Oliver Hall:

First Move-In

Got a note from our builder (Standard Pacific) - they're moving their sales offices from the trailer into the model home on December 19, and they'll be located there from that point on. Is that the official first Mueller move-in?

Home Depot

So, the big news in the past week or so is the addition of big box hardware store Home Depot to the Mueller area.

While I'm not generally a big box fan, I don't really mind HD moving in - if nothing else, it'll help with all the extra move-in tasks like assembling things, fixing little annoyances, etc. And when I think "Home Depot", I don't usually think "suburban takeover of urban areas".

What do you think, readers? Big opinions either way?

Thanksgiving Photos

Got a bunch of new Mueller photos from over the Thanksgiving week. Here are a few from our builder, showing the progress on a model home (a two story, not the same model we'll be in):





















And here are a few from our realtor of the progress on the Moore-Hill (our model).






Nice.

Mortgage Questions

So, today Jill and I have to turn in some information for our mortgage application. Yes, we're still months in advance of even starting construction, let alone closing, but apparently this is the time when we need to get serious about the mortgage. We had to dig up bank statements, 401k information, pay stubs - basically, all the material proof that we're not deadbeats and will actually pay our mortgage (which is reasonable) and taxes (which are outrageous, but that's another matter).

One of the options we have at this point is an interest rate lock. For a price, we can lock in the current rate we've been offered (which is below the prime rate). This might not be a bad idea, considering how rates have been looking lately:

The lock costs money, of course, and how much it costs depends on how far out in front of it you are. For us, the lock would be in the neighborhood of $1500. So, the next question is, how much do rates need go up enough in the next 10 months to make a rate lock now worth the $1500 we spend on it?

Well, I did a little math (thanks to Excel's PMT function ... which, if you've ever tried to calculate accrued interest, you'll know is a lifesaver). Turns out, for our loan amount, the interest rate would only have to go up by .025 percent to cost us $1500 over the life of the loan. So, in other words, if the rate goes up AT ALL, we'll have been better off getting a lock.

Now, admittedly, that figure works on a 30 year loan, and as much as we like Mueller, I doubt we'll live there for 30 years. So, doing the math on only being there, say, 10 years, the rate would have to climb by .07% to make our investment worth it. Still not much of a climb to come out ahead by locking in the rate.

And, of course, if the rate goes down ... well, then, we've wasted $1500. So it's a bit of a gamble.

Now, I'm no economist, and while I should be better educated about this stuff, I'm really busy. Even by my usual standards ... like, "Grad school + full time job + music performance schedule" busy. So, let's call this a reader poll: is it worth buying a rate lock now, 10 months in advance? Are rates going to continue to trend upwards or head south again?

November Commission Meeting

This past Tuesday was the November edition of the Mueller Commission meeting. This one was more well attended than the last one I made it to - seemed to be about 40 folks there, including a lot of Catellus people. I came late, so I didn't get the whole scoop, but for those interested, here are Karen Z's notes from meeting: November Meeting Notes

I also took a couple shots from the meeting on my camera phone, but I seem to have lost the cable that connects it with the computer, so they're trapped there for now. :(

Update: apparently when I tried to email the photos from the phone, it worked ... it just took a few days for them to arrive. I love technology. Anyway, here's one:

Halloween Progress

Happy Halloween, all. Got a message from our builder with some of the first interior shots I've seen. Very exciting! These aren't OUR house, of course, or even our same plan - but they still give a better sense of place than just empty frames do:







It occurred to us that by this time next year, if there aren't any major delays, we'll be moved in to the new house. So we decided we'll have a Halloween party next year. You're all invited. Yes you, internet.

Rail Dreams

The news today was that Mayor Winn announced phase-two plans for the Austin Light Rail, which would connect directly between Mueller, downtown, and the airport. That would pretty much rule.

Having lived in San Francisco for years, Jill and I got quite used to taking light rail pretty much everywhere (I didn't even own a car for the 5 years I lived there). Having that chance in Austin, even if it's a few years away, would be awesome.

Builder Update

Quick update from our builder, with some photos:

"We have started framing our first Duran plan home and should be ready for our Corporate Office to do their frame walk by the end of next week.





We are hanging the dry wall in the Carothers model home and should start to tape and float the seams of the dry wall at the beginning of next week.



We are framing three homes on Tom Miller Drive and getting ready to pour the foundation on five more homes.



There has also been progress made on the swimming pool park."

I'll go by soon and take some pics of my own.

Framing

Here's a couple shots from our builder, showing the framing process coming along with the model homes:





Can't wait till it's MY house that's at that point! :)

Model homes getting started

Got a couple pictures from our builder of the Standard Pacific model homes, which have started construction:





Looking good! Aaron also posted this week about slabs. Good reading.

Statesman Article

The recent groundbreaking at Mueller was the subject of an article in the Statesman today: Mueller breaks ground on first homes. Though they don't mention it, the first new homeowner they profile, Aaron Wine is a blogger as well; you can read his blog over at Design & The Car Dependent City.

Checking Out Our Lot

So, the roads are finally done in the "phase 1" area of Mueller. This weekend, Jill and I went by to snap a couple shots:

That's our corner. Here's our lot:

Not much to see, but as they say, "watch this space". More pictures, as always, here.

Trees

Got this note from our Standard Pacific rep, today:

I just received a "Tree Map" from our Project Manager and wanted to pass the information on to you. In addition to your standard landscaping package you are tentatively going to receive one Cedar Elms planted in front of your home between the sidewalk and the curb. These will be 65 gallon trees with a minimum size of 3# caliper. All of the streets in the neighborhood will be tree lined. It is going to be lovely.

Nice! Trees rule. I'm happy there will be a lot of them.

3D Designing

So, after a few weeks of going through noob tutorials on Blender, I finally got up the gumption to try doing a simple model of our future house. Or, specifically, our future kitchen. Witness its glory:



OK, sure. Not much yet. But wait'll I put another, say, 350 hours into it. It'll look awesome.

The main point in doing this, at the moment, is actually to try to make some educated decisions about the interior design of our kitchen. More on the design process soon. But what you see here, friends, is beige walls, white cabinets, and black granite countertops.

Squint really hard. You'll see it.