Dropping off the package at the bank
Today is a big day in our household. On my desk, sits an oversized manilla envelope with final floor plans, elevations, designs, the contract and our financial information. At 3:30 this afternoon, I meet with our banker to discuss the financing for our dream home. And, we are so satisfied with our final plans that we can’t imagine not moving forward with our project now. Jen has been writing about and posting updates about our project on her blog, My Green Glasses. We plan to chronicle the whole build process there as we continue. [Update: Posts about our house will be on this site...]
We have examined all of our options and we have contingency plans in case financing does not work out for some reason, but we have every reason to be optimistic with the financing as the bank appraises and reviews our plans. We have had a lot of help during this process – including Bruce from our builder, Paige, our realtor, and friends and family who have offered opinions on the plans as we’ve gone through the process. I am working on a post for Jen’s blog that talks about some of the steps we have taken to get us to the point we are today. Paige has been gracious in showing us other options to buy, but ultimately, Jen and I have become too picky about things and with our dream home so close to a fruition, we don’t want to settle for a different house.
With all the financial meltdown of the past couple years, I have been very cautious about the amount of money that we spend. Paige has shown several properties to us over the past 6 months and some have been exceptional, but only one of them was truly what I could call a “deal.” The other nagging issue for me is that I feel that these amazing interest rates we currently have will skyrocket in the coming years as the economy recovers. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think that it is better for us to move into the house we plan to be in for the next 30 years rather than make another step towards getting our dream house.
As we’ve examined our other options, there are short sales and foreclosure deals to be had, but I’ve found very few of those out in the country where we want to settle. To buy an existing house that meets our wishlist will cost almost as much if not more than simply building the house we have planned today. If we buy, we would make concessions and settle where the space plan is concerned. If we build, we have had to make a few concessions, such as not having our metal roof or brick exterior, but we’ve only had to make a few concessions to meet our budget. And so, after a lot of consideration, we’ve decided building is the option we want.
It is exciting to embark on a new adventure in our lives. We look forward to settling in to this new house, which we will hopefully be moving into before or shortly after Christmas or New Years.
Front Elevation of our New Home
