Wow it seems like a lot of decisions have been made since my last home build update. Before the official dig and after the construction loan approval we ended up with one more draft of the floor plan. I took some doors away, added some arched entrances and a few other small changes. We have challenged ourselves to have an awesome home but come out under budget. Our bank did a great job of making us feel inadequate for a build like this…Oh Mr. Banker you just don’t know Rob and I very well, watch and learn son.
The most exciting part of these last few weeks is that they dug up the land and laid the foundation. The dig took about two days and pouring the foundation took one day. We had to then wait a week before anything could happen to give the foundation time to cure. Once the foundation was settled they had a team of plumbers come in to set up the sewage system. The sewage system had to be inspected and once it passed the concrete floor for the basement could be poured. In order for all of this to happen we had to make our first construction loan draw. The process is really easy. 1.) Our contractor sends us an invoice requesting a certain amount of money. 2.) I forward the invoice to our bank and they review it and transfer the money into our construction loan checking account. 3.) Once I am notified the money is in our account I can write a check to our contractor. 4.) Our contractor then pays the companies working on our home accordingly.
Last week we pulled construction loan draw #2, and the house was framed. There are interior walls up both in the basement and on the main floor. It is really exciting to see the spaces in person. It was difficult for me to picture the size of a room with just the measurements on paper. Now that I can walk in to each room I have a much better idea of the room sizes.
Our contractor has an app that he will set up soon to know the timeline for the rest of the build. The slowest part was the foundation and framing and now that we are coming out of that our contractor will have a better idea on when to schedule each team of builders. What we do know is that we will be pushing a move in date around December. Not an ideal time to be moving with cold weather and the holidays, but an even worse time to be selling our current home. Which is what let to our next huge decision.
Our current home went on the market today! There are several options available that have allowed us to sell way too early. Our safest one is selling within a reasonable closing period and moving into my mom’s rental property. Her current renter gave her notice and is moving out this month. Other options we have is putting a constituency on the move in date with our buyers or a rent-back option with our buyers. Obviously we do not know what will happen for sure, but because we have my mom’s property available we were comfortable with the decision to sell during prime selling season even though our new build is far from ready.
It is a weight off my shoulders now that the house is on the market because I feel like I just need to keep it clean and not worry about small repairs anymore. The boxes I had packed already with decorations, baby stuff, party planning, some clothing & extra blankets were all moved to my mom’s house where she has a huge storage shed. We have sold everything we do not want to move with us. Now we wait to see what happens next.
