Buying a Home Online
This month’s Happy Homeowner Interview brings us to Stephanie Redding, who bought her new home in Austin with her husband Brad in May of 2015. Stephanie shared with us her experience of choosing and living in her M/I Home.
M/I Homes: Is this your first M/I Home and what convinced you to choose M/I over another builder?
Stephanie: Yes and not only is it our first M/I Home, but it is also our first home together! We picked M/I Homes over other builders because I work for M/I Homes. Even without working for M/I Homes though, we would have chosen them over other builders because of everything that came included in our home.
M/I Homes: What were some of your “must haves” when you were looking for a new home?
Stephanie:
- Garage big enough for his truck and my car
- Open floorplan
- Closet big enough for us both to share
- Offices for both of us
- Guest room
- Good location
M/I Homes: What is your floorplan called and what features of your home do you especially love?
Stephanie: We built the Kaufman plan from the Heritage Series. We picked out this plan for several reasons:
- The overall layout of the home
- The openness of the kitchen and the family room
- The owner's closet was the size of a small bedroom
- We are able to both have our own offices/space and still have a guest bedroom when our friends and family come down to visit
- There were so many features and options included!
M/I Homes: Overall, how was your experience with M/I Homes? Did you pick your lot and floorplan to build the home, or was the home already started for you? Do you have any fun memories from building?
Stephanie: While our experience was probably unique in comparison to most buyers, with me being an employee, we still had a good experience!
We picked the homesite and the floorplan we wanted to build. Since we had scoped out the new section prior to everything coming available for sale, we knew exactly what lot we wanted! Specifically, we wanted a lot where we wouldn’t have anyone behind us and a lot big enough to fit a larger size garage for both his truck and my car to fit in.
Once things got started it was fun to drive by on the weekends and check out everything that had gotten done the previous week. I remember going in right after it was dry walled and being so shocked by how real it was being able to see the rooms and walk through our house!
M/I Homes: Was there something about your home that made you immediately know you wanted to move in?
Stephanie: We just really loved the floorplan and the homesite that we picked out.
M/I Homes: What do you like about your neighborhood/community?
Stephanie: While we didn’t know this before we moved in, what we like now is just how friendly everyone is. We have really enjoyed getting to take our puppy on walks around the community and meeting our new neighbors. The HOA is great and always planning community events. We also have a brand new pool that is almost right across the street! There is also a regional county park right down the street where we can go on walks!
M/I Homes: Anything you would recommend to someone looking for a new home?
Stephanie: If possible, walk through other homes by the builder to have a good feel for the floorplans, how they are built, and how some of the design options look put together! We took pictures in spec homes of cabinets/floors/lighting that we liked and brought that with us to the design center.
Make sure you know what all is included in the base price of your home! If you can talk to other homeowners ask them what they put into their home that they love or what things they wished they added after the fact (or, of course, ask your sales rep what they see people adding and loving with their home)!
M/I Homes: What is your favorite memory so far in your M/I Home?
Stephanie: Getting to show both our parents our first home and bringing our puppy home! I also loved decorating our home for Christmas!
M/I Homes: Would you purchase another M/I Home if you had the opportunity?
Stephanie: Of course!
**Stephanie Redding and her family live in the Austin area. She is the Marketing Manager for the M/I Homes - Austin division, and her husband Brad is a Claims Team Manager at State Farm. They have lived in their home since May 2015. In June 2015 they added their energetic and social Golden-Doodle puppy named Hank! When not at work, Brad and Stephanie love to workout and run together or take Hank on long walks around Parkside at Mayfield Ranch.
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