One fall day, we were driving home and a big sign had gone up in our neighborhood that read "Barstow Trail - Coming Soon!" We instantly went online and did some researching. There wasn't much out there; just that they were extending a street (that was currently a dead end) 14 homesites. The builder, CalAtlantic, would release more information early the next year. We signed up for the VIP list to hear more, and went on about our business, both loving and loathing our current house.
At the beginning of 2016, I contacted the online sales agent, Meggie, to get an update. I let her know that we were highly interested (even though we didn't know what the houses or prices would be) and wanted to be the first to know when details were coming. She said it would be end of February.... Then February / March.... Then April... Then late spring.... I kept in touch, occasionally emailing to see if there was anything new and just saying hi (ha).
During one of our email conversations, I asked how the process went. She explained that the community will go live, interested parties will submit an application, CalAtlantic will put said interested parties on a priority list, and then simply go down the list and have each person pick which house they wanted. This obviously SCARED us immediately because the priority list is created after looking at financial situations: contingencies, cash offers, etc. How could we ever compete with the Californians coming to Texas with their money??? Not to mention, I asked how many people were on the VIP list, and it eventually grew to over 300!!! The odds were not in our favor. I did notice that there was a disclaimer at the bottom of the application that said some jargon about you may be the most qualified, but not at the top, and my hope was that it also worked in reverse - you may not be the most qualified, but be at the top.
Fast forward to April and we realized we needed to make ourselves non-contingent if we wanted to be competitive. The community looked like it was coming along enough (they were starting to clear for the lots) that it would be "open" soon, so we listed. You know that whole story, so I'll skip it.
While doing inspection stuff and packing, we were keeping a close eye on Barstow Trail. They released the floor plans, and there was one (1) one-story home option, our ideal situation. We went to the Circle C model homes to check them out. While there, we chatted with one of the sales guys and explained who we were and what we were doing there. When talking about the floor plan we wanted, the Cerasi, he mentioned that the street had actually been masterplanned enough that they already chose which floor plan goes on which lot. They selected 1 - ONE - Cerasi! They also added on the upstairs gameroom and half-bath; not a deal breaker, but whatevs. But it was definitely discouraging to know that we not only had a 14 in 300 chance of getting our house, but literally a 1 in 300 chance. Shoot.
The day that we closed, I emailed Meggie that we'd sold our house and were homeless (well, not really, but she didn't have to know). I explained that we really wanted to get in Barstow Trail and hoped that being non-contingent would help our chances. She congratulated me. Neat. Not exactly what I was hoping for (a "Oh, that's great - I'll put you at #1 right now" would've been better), but at least she knew.
The night that we closed, we went to Maudie's to eat dinner (with my mom and John). Nelson was going to the restroom and, when walking past the bar, was stopped by someone that looked familiar. Nelson recognized him, too, and the guy asked if we lived in Circle C Avana, where the model homes are. That's when Nelson put 2 and 2 together and realized it was that sales guy! He reminded the guy we had come in to chat about Barstow Trail, and then added that, in fact, we'd just sold our house that day so that we could market ourselves non-contingent. The guy congratulated Nelson, but then followed up with a critical piece of information: "You know, we have a lot more to do with the priority list than you think. You should come by the sales office more and get to know us in there." Nelson came back to the table, and then had the most brilliant idea ever (besides proposing to me). He picked up the sales guy's bar tab :)
We spent the next several weeks racking our brain for reasons to go to the sales office. We thought of the most random questions to ask. But we did get to see them a couple times until that fateful Wednesday....
I got my first call from Meggie. Not me calling or emailing her. Meggie calling me! She was calling to give me a heads up that they would soon be sending an email announcing the Barstow Trail "event". It was finally happening!!! She was able to share the price, which I was so happy to hear it was still in our budget. And then she told me how the whole thing went from there.
That night, we started looking at the application information and updated Cheri on the happenings. We scheduled time to go out there, including Cheri, so that she could meet the sales team. To make the meeting a little sweeter, I stopped by Tiff's Treats to get some cookies. When we got the sales office, we met a new guy, David. Nelson had actually done some unique research and found out David was the most senior sales guy and already made the comment that we should get "in" with David. I introduced ourselves and told him we were interested in Barstow Trail. He replied, "Oh, aren't you the ones that are homeless?" YES!!! HE KNEW US!!! Shout out to Meggie for spreading the pathetic word :) He invited us into his office to discuss things and answer all of our questions. While sitting in there, we talked about various options, lenders, etc., and I made some comment about us hoping to get the Cerasi. He started to reply, hesitated, but then just said it: "Don't worry, you'll be at the top of the list." Nelson, Cheri, and I couldn't believe he said that, and figured he wouldn't unless he was serious, or then he'd be a real d*ck. We asked when they would have the homesite selection meetings and he asked, "When can you meet?" I explained that I was going out of town part of that week, so we wouldn't be able to until Saturday. He said, "Then we'd start on Saturday." WHAT?!?! Needless to say, we left that meeting on cloud nine.
After going through the options, we still had some questions. We ended up going back another day to ask them. While there, he mentioned that they may want to meet with people earlier than we're available, so asked if we could email our construction selections ahead of time. So to explain this another way: he wanted us to make our selections (since they were due during contract signing) and send them to him before they even called anyone on the priority list. That way, if they met with someone before us and they said they wanted the Cerasi, they could truthfully say that the selections were already done. BOOM! This just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter.
So we made our careful selections and sent them in. I was actually at a conference in Chicago when we got an email from David congratulation us on being #1 on the priority list!!! WOOHOO!!! We'd done it! We had a home!
When I got back in town, we met David to formally go through all the paperwork and put down our deposit. Then we headed over to our new lot to show Cheri and get some pictures :)
It was really hard moving out of Beatty Drive, especially because we didn't know where we were going. Had we known, I could've been excited about that. Instead, we were essentially homeless. And when we told people our plan A, Barstow Trail, they would inevitably ask what we were going to do if we didn't get into the community. And we would just say, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Truth was, we didn't have a plan B. And I'm so glad we didn't have to :)
