8 Ideas for a New Home Gift
You recently built your new home in WoodCreek, located in Holly Springs, NC. What drew you to this area of North Carolina?
As an employee talking about these homes for so long, I always saw that as a dream for our family. We went to every M/I location selling single family homes and this community has the resort-style amenities we hadn’t had in our other home.
The layout of the home had more space to study, gather, and entertain. The floorplan in this community checked every box on our dream list. We were also able to select our finishes from beginning to end as a family.
Holly Springs is a new area that has been growing for the last decade, and there are so many opportunities here for a family with kids, and I have a good friend here, too!
How was your experience moving to a new neighborhood with two teenage daughters?
We moved Memorial Day weekend. This community is master-planned and has about 800 homes, so we’ve encouraged our daughters to be involved in the activities the community offers, and they both started babysitting within the community!
The community is so welcoming and has been fun to see and meet new people and families. It also helped to know there are a lot of other high schoolers here since our younger daughter Gabby was switching to a new high school.
Our older daughter Bella started college this summer and loves coming home to the new house and just resting and getting away from the craziness.
In talking to you I know that your family is very important to you. What was your favorite memory with family since moving in?
Our milestones we’ve celebrated with our girls! Bella’s high school graduation brought all our family and friends in, and we were able to gather here and celebrate and just be thankful for everything since moving to The Triangle area 20 years ago. Everyone was just in awe. We had so much to celebrate with her graduating high school and going off to college.
What is your favorite space in your new home?
I have two! One is the screened-in porch. When we go out there in the morning or evening to read and enjoy the season—especially in the fall to enjoy our wooded homesite to see all the colors right in our backyard and be able to relax with a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, a book, or a nap! Lily, our dog, and Simbat, our cat love this area for siestas in the sunshine, too.
My other favorite is how our kitchen connects to our dining area and our great room area as one big, open space. When my family comes we move everything aside and start a dance floor there! My husband Richard even pre-wired for speakers everywhere for us to dance the nights away.
How was the home buying process on the other side of the table?
It was a lot of fun, and it was eye-opening to see all of the steps it takes in the home building process.
Our New Home Consultant, Sandee, helped with our questions about floorplans and what we were looking for with gathering areas, a third floor, and more. She helped us narrow it down to our exact floorplan.
Getting the building permit was a fun experience getting a picture with a builder, and it was my first time building on a crawl foundation. He sent us updates constantly via text, answered my husband’s questions, and helped us when we visited.
Then we met with our Design Consultant Sonni, and she made designing our new home SO much fun with her expertise, knowing what comes together with the colors or ideas we had while staying in budget but not sacrificing the quality of what we wanted in our home.
And I want to give M/I Financial a shout-out because they answered all our financing questions about having a house to sell, helping show us what options were available, locking a rate in, and sending us reminders for sending in any documentation that was needed.
They were a big, big help to get us to closing. Tina from M/I Financial and Tiffany as our Closing Coordinator—thank you!
What advice would you share with future homebuyers looking to purchase a new construction home in The Triangle area?
Definitely start your search online, but keep your mind open to additional areas that might be a possibility for communities that are coming soon.
Research to learn about M/I Homes’ quality, trends, and design features that you get to enjoy in one of our new homes.
Be open and flexible to different designs and types of homes to get into the right home for you in an area that works for you.
Make a checklist of what’s important in your new home—from area, to design, to amenities.
Reyna's passion and excitement about her new home are truly infectious, and her enthusiasm motivates her to help other homebuyers find their dream homes with M/I Homes, too. Read more great Happy Homeowner stories about joining the M/I family!
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