It's been one crazy week. Although the Phase 12 homes weren't officially to be released until June 26, a line-up started on Monday, June 21st. People literally camped outside the sales office using folding chairs, tents, sleeping bags and other gear. We found out about the line-up on Monday afternoon, when I received an email from Frank, who's family was the second group in line. I quickly enlisted help from friends and family to stand in line 24/7 for us in shifts/rotations. I spent the nights, my wife the days, and our Mom, Dad and an uncle gave us additional time during the week so we could take breaks. The line grew fairly quickly, and by Friday it was over a 100 strong.
We had a fantastic time. We spent time meeting and getting to know our future neighbors. People spent the time talking, getting to know each other, giving home-buying advice and sharing past experiences. We even met many past Mattamy buyers looking to move-up from their first Mattamy home into a new one.
First, I can't go further without mentioning Frank, the first "line captain", and JR, the second "line captain" for the amazing job they did. As people entered the line, they'd have their info added to the list showing where they were in line, their names, lot size of interest, and an emergency contact phone number. Fair rules were created so a relative or friend could stand-in for you in line, as long as someone was always in line for you. There was lee-way for calls-of-nature and other such things in that when random line roll-calls occured you had about 15 minutes to make yourself known before losing your place in the line. Some people did lose their place in line and were crossed off the list, but this was rare. After spending 1 night or more in line most people didn't want to wander too far away and risk having their name crossed off.
The first night was the most difficult, but by the second night Mattamy provided some outside portapotties and was also sending a coffee truck each morning to provide the brave (or crazy depending how you look at it) people in line free coffee & donuts. Most people's diets suffered in the 5 days in line as you ate mostly fast food when you could. It started to feel like a "mini-survivor" but it really brought everyone closer together and some lasting friendships were made while in line.
My wife would spend the days in line, while I spent the nights. This was because she was able to get days off work on short notice while I couldn't. We rented a second car for this so we could get around easily on our own during the week. She had a great time and met and talked to a great number of people during the days.
Some important information for people who weren't in line prior to Saturday.
Because by Friday the line was already over a 100 people, Mattamy started letting people in to reserve their lots on Friday afternoon instead of waiting until Saturday. This is because it would have been impossible otherwise for anyone coming on Saturday to get in the building. The line was just that big. Because we entered the line on Tuesday, 9 AM and never left, we had position 19 in line. We got in I think just before 3 PM on Friday and reserved lot #329 for our future Tothburg Elevation C home.
Another important fact is that people who stayed in line over-night saved themselves big bucks. Mattamy raised the prices of the homes TWICE these past 5 days. The people who waited in line before Saturday got one price, and the people who didn't show up until Saturday got a different price. There were different prices given out on Saturday than the price sheets people were getting during the previous days. For example, the 56' wide lot prices on June 22nd to June 25th were $12,000 more than the previous Jan 19, 2004 prices. But the 56' wide lot prices on June 26th were $22,000 more than the Jan 19, 2004 prices. So people who joined the line early on in the week saved themselves $10,000 !!!
One other change everyone noticed is that they raised the deposit requirements. For 56's they added on an additional $5,000 deposit needed at the 90 day after-offer point which didn't exist before.
I'm changing the website to allow people to post comments. If you just reserved a lot in Hawthorne Village Phase 12 please post your first name(s), line #, and lot number you picked along with any other comments or hello's to friends you made while in line. You can also post your email address in the message as well. Anything you post will be public on the website. So if you aren't comfortable with giving out your lot number you don't have too.
I'm also adding some pictures taken in the line-up. If you took pictures while in line, and I know many people did have digital cameras that they used, email them to me if you don't mind having them online. Don't email me too many, as I only have about 6 to 8 megs of room on my email account.
We also took a picture of our lot 329!! Basically it's a picture of dirt. But it's "our" dirt. There's no road yet, and it's just dirt with a wooden stick in the ground that shows the lot 329/330 border.
We had a fantastic time. We spent time meeting and getting to know our future neighbors. People spent the time talking, getting to know each other, giving home-buying advice and sharing past experiences. We even met many past Mattamy buyers looking to move-up from their first Mattamy home into a new one.
First, I can't go further without mentioning Frank, the first "line captain", and JR, the second "line captain" for the amazing job they did. As people entered the line, they'd have their info added to the list showing where they were in line, their names, lot size of interest, and an emergency contact phone number. Fair rules were created so a relative or friend could stand-in for you in line, as long as someone was always in line for you. There was lee-way for calls-of-nature and other such things in that when random line roll-calls occured you had about 15 minutes to make yourself known before losing your place in the line. Some people did lose their place in line and were crossed off the list, but this was rare. After spending 1 night or more in line most people didn't want to wander too far away and risk having their name crossed off.
The first night was the most difficult, but by the second night Mattamy provided some outside portapotties and was also sending a coffee truck each morning to provide the brave (or crazy depending how you look at it) people in line free coffee & donuts. Most people's diets suffered in the 5 days in line as you ate mostly fast food when you could. It started to feel like a "mini-survivor" but it really brought everyone closer together and some lasting friendships were made while in line.
My wife would spend the days in line, while I spent the nights. This was because she was able to get days off work on short notice while I couldn't. We rented a second car for this so we could get around easily on our own during the week. She had a great time and met and talked to a great number of people during the days.
Some important information for people who weren't in line prior to Saturday.
Because by Friday the line was already over a 100 people, Mattamy started letting people in to reserve their lots on Friday afternoon instead of waiting until Saturday. This is because it would have been impossible otherwise for anyone coming on Saturday to get in the building. The line was just that big. Because we entered the line on Tuesday, 9 AM and never left, we had position 19 in line. We got in I think just before 3 PM on Friday and reserved lot #329 for our future Tothburg Elevation C home.
Another important fact is that people who stayed in line over-night saved themselves big bucks. Mattamy raised the prices of the homes TWICE these past 5 days. The people who waited in line before Saturday got one price, and the people who didn't show up until Saturday got a different price. There were different prices given out on Saturday than the price sheets people were getting during the previous days. For example, the 56' wide lot prices on June 22nd to June 25th were $12,000 more than the previous Jan 19, 2004 prices. But the 56' wide lot prices on June 26th were $22,000 more than the Jan 19, 2004 prices. So people who joined the line early on in the week saved themselves $10,000 !!!
One other change everyone noticed is that they raised the deposit requirements. For 56's they added on an additional $5,000 deposit needed at the 90 day after-offer point which didn't exist before.
I'm changing the website to allow people to post comments. If you just reserved a lot in Hawthorne Village Phase 12 please post your first name(s), line #, and lot number you picked along with any other comments or hello's to friends you made while in line. You can also post your email address in the message as well. Anything you post will be public on the website. So if you aren't comfortable with giving out your lot number you don't have too.
I'm also adding some pictures taken in the line-up. If you took pictures while in line, and I know many people did have digital cameras that they used, email them to me if you don't mind having them online. Don't email me too many, as I only have about 6 to 8 megs of room on my email account.
We also took a picture of our lot 329!! Basically it's a picture of dirt. But it's "our" dirt. There's no road yet, and it's just dirt with a wooden stick in the ground that shows the lot 329/330 border.
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