Buying semicustom home proves easy for McHenry County couple
Patrick and Beth Stephan are nearing retirement. Soon Patrick's daily commute to teach French at Evanston High School will be a thing of the past.
Anticipating this, they began looking for a ranch home last year that they could retire to after spending 18 years in Fox River Grove.
After seeing an advertisement for Liberty Trails in McHenry, they decided to check out the homes and found the community was just what they wanted.
"We liked that Liberty Trails was near a golf course and they are very classy-looking houses. We also liked the sales staff," said Beth, an accountant for a Barrington auto dealership.
The Liberty Trails community offers a variety of ranch and two-story homes.But it was the traditionally styled Jefferson ranch model, starting at $302,990, that caught their attention.
"We loved the bathroom. That was one of the things that just kind of struck us. The laundry room was better than most we'd seen, and they were willing to make adjustments and changes to the house. It just fit our lifestyle," Beth said.
The Stephanses said the whole buying process was a good experience.
"When we started the construction process, Gerstad told us the exact date we should expect to close, and we actually closed on that day. That's pretty much unheard of with other builders. Our attorney was shocked, our mortgage lender was shocked as well," Patrick said.
Because Liberty Trails is a semicustom home community, the Stephanses were able to tailor the 2,170 square feet of space in the home to meet their specific needs.
The Jefferson model is available with two or three bedrooms, and is designed to accommodate a wide range of lifestyles.
For those with growing families, the den can be converted into a third bedroom. For empty-nesters, the floor plan eliminates the need to climb stairs.
The home also features an optional four-season room for additional living space.
Beth said they upgraded with a three-car garage and customized the kitchen design. They also chose hardwood flooring, a corner fireplace, opaque glass doors in the den and the bathroom, a closed-in master bath toilet and a screened porch.
They also opted for the stone exterior, which matches the stone on their fireplace.
The couple said the experience was so positive they bought the sales and construction staffs gifts.
"It was actually fun. We had no problems," Beth said.
"One of the nicest parts is we were able to come into our home on a regular basis and check on the progress. There weren't any surprises at the walk-through, because we were constantly in it."
Liberty Trails' sales center is on Lincoln Road, about one mile west of Chapel Hill Road and north of Route 120. Models are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Call (815) 385-4495 or visit www.gerstadbuilders.com.