An Update on New House Construction

I’ve been bad about providing updates on the construction of the house, so you’ll get an earful with this post, and then I will do a better job with the updates.

Building a house is a long process. I honestly did not think it would take this long. And we are still only in the planning phases! A co-worker of mine built a custom home and she gave me the best advice… it’s never too early to start the process.

I talked to her back when we were just looking at land. I wanted to pick her brain about the entire process. She said she spent three years working with her builder before they even broke ground. Looks like we are on the same path!

We had always toyed with the idea of building a house large enough for my parents to move in with us, and to have more kids. I researched floorplans and found one I loved and modified. I submitted my floorplan to a couple builders with our budget. Many told us it couldn’t be done.

Original Floorplan altered to meet our needs

My package I sent to builders included everything! What paint colors I wanted, cabinet details, flooring, brick colors, etc. I learned a small fact about the amount of corners on your house adds cost. My floorplan had A LOT of corners, so I went back to the drawing board.

A little less corners, but still too many.

I revised my plan to something that was totally me. I designed my house! (The pictures I have posted are NOT our final house plans. We started from scratch on the final design.) I wouldn’t have to pay an architect for something... however, that thought became invalid. A builder we were talking closely with provided us the name of three draftsmen / home designers. I called each one of them.

Pre-Planning

The first guy just told me his price and told me to stop by his home office at my convenience. His price at $0.90 per square foot scared me away and I never met him. The second guy named a similar price, but he gave me feedback to my design without having to pay him. He was not tactful in the way he delivered his comments, and at one point I silently cried on the other end of the phone, but I listened to his criticism and made some changes. The third name on the list, was a woman. I immediately liked her and her price. She charged $0.35 per square foot and knocked it down to $0.30 if you used one of her preferred builders (which we were). She took my design and made it better! She added things I did not think about. She used my pictures of things I liked, and incorporated them. Things I didn’t even know were important for her to know, she used. I showed her the outside of a house we liked and told her I knew our floorplan was not the same at all, but if she could make it look like that in some way, I’d be happy.

Exterior we liked. House too big.

And she did! And guess what the cool part is? She does it all by hand! She does not use a program. I did not realize this until after the fact. At least the changes I asked her to make were small! But, wow! Her skill blew me away.

Getting the final prints from her did take longer than expected. She had some family issues come up and that caused a delay. But the product that she gave us was worth it. We met with her the first week of January, and didn’t get our final prints until May 30^th. However, we had seen the 1^st revision on February 5^th and the second revision the week after. But we were anxious for the builder to get his hands on it to make us a budget quote.

Porch style we liked.

 We met with the builder on June 4^th and he made mention he hoped our budget grew! We had wiggle room, but it didn’t grow. We left that meeting with a promise to get us a detailed budget we could take to the bank “soon.” Two days later, I emailed the builder to clarify his definition of “soon.” He stated it would be “at least a week or so.”   I counted down the days. My mom was placing bets on when the builder would call. I was hopeful. The builder had been so attentive with helping us stay in contact with the designer and her progress, that I knew he would be working hard to get us correct estimates.

In the middle of waiting, I contacted our HOA office. We had a problem. I was originally told that I could pick a builder not on the approved builders list for the neighborhood and get the new builder added easily. I was calling to tell the HOA who I selected as a builder and was told I could no longer pick someone not on the list. I thought I had clout; I thought my builder had clout. I contacted the builder to use his, and he was later approved to build in the neighborhood. Crisis averted. The HOA office just needed him to provide some paperwork.

Part of my mom’s bet was that I couldn’t contact the builder in order for him to meet my date I picked. And I didn’t. I just contacted him about the HOA issue to see if he had submitted his paperwork to the HOA office. He immediately called me and said he was working it and was sorry he was taking so long with the cost estimate. His office had just moved and he had no good excuse. This was June 30^th. He asked if Mr. JCrew and I had any plans for the July 4^th weekend. He had a few numbers to finish up and then we could meet. I said we were available all weekend. He then left it that he would call to let us know. We never received a call. I even emailed July 3^rd to clarify what he meant by asking if we were staying in town and that we were still available to meet. I have still not ever heard back from that email.

I was disappointed, but quickly moved on. We had our back up builders waiting in the wings to talk to. And they were already on the approve builder’s list. Our first builder led us to our amazing designer, so if that was his role in the whole process, I am grateful.

The next builder on the list we called was able to meet with us on a Sunday. We met with him and his wife on July 13^th and they have already impressed us. They were going to a home building convention two days after we met, and they were already promising to tell us if they could build our house within our budget within two days. I did have to email them to ask, but we got the green light. With a few changes we had mentioned at our meeting, they could build our house within our budget. He then gave us a realistic time frame of 3-4 weeks to generate a detailed budget we could take to our bank. Mr. Crew is getting anxious because of rates. We’re really in no hurry other than we don’t want to miss out on interest rates.

So, here we are… in the 3-4 week waiting time period. We have already had multiple accounts of communication so, we know they are working. I am considering it a birthday present. I don’t want to be anxiously waiting. I just know that I will not hear from them while I am still 31. It helps me stay mellow.

As time is passing, I am looking at more and more details and finalizing selections. As I’ve looked more into pictures the builder provided, the more I find out how much I like him. He built a showcase home in the 2010 Parade of Homes. I didn’t know it was his house until I saw pictures. I took a lot of pictures at his showcase home and put them in my package as things I wanted in the new home. I don’t know if he recognized his house or not. But to me, it’s another “God wink” that we are in the right direction.

We selected our lot in March 2013, and here we are July 2014 and still have not broken ground. There are so many things that pop up. I thought I was prepared and had planned for it all, but it is a learning process. I hope I haven’t bored you with details, but it’s where we are in the process for now.

We’ve never had a hard timeline, and for that I am grateful. Everything that is happening is happening with a purpose. The purpose may not be known, but we will see it eventually. 

Chapter Closed - Key Turn Over Day

Today is the day. We hand over the keys to our house.

Last night we went and took a few photos of us as a family at the house. I wanted to remember what age the boys were when we moved.

We spent almost six great years in this house. I look back and smile at all the hard work.

Just within weeks, the Crape Myrtles decided to bloom.

June 2, 2014

June 24, 2014

The yard I am really going to miss. It just started getting easy and at the same time, was pleasant to look at.

Me being the sentimental type, I think of all the memories in the house.

Mr. JCrew came home from his Air Force service to this first house of ours. My parents lived in this house with us. Bailey is buried in the back yard. Colby and Kates were new puppies in this house. We brought home both of our babies to this house straight from the hospital. We had memorable birthday celebrations here and a lot of other moments we shared as a family.

I look at the curtains I made with pride.

Mr. Brigglesworth's curtains, you never could see until the furniture was removed.

His pallet wall remains up.

I have gotten use to seeing the rooms empty, that now it is weird to look back at pictures just three months ago.

June 2014

March 2014

The new owner is very very excited and you can tell. He loves the yard, but we'll see if he has a green thumb. I tried to make the yard as low maintenance as possible.

And I did take some plants with me. I'll write a post over the weekend about that.

This chapter has now closed! We had the next chapter overlapping, but now we can focus on it. I'm actually really excited to have no more little projects over there. I was making sure everything was PERFECT and I'd always find a new thing to fix or make better. Now my evenings and weekends can be spent doing other things, like soaking up more time with my boys!

Happy Day!

Townhome Living

Well, we are all moved in to Mom's place and settled. We've been here a week and I love it. Mr. JCrew says we should have done this a long time ago.

It is a 1600 square foot townhome with one car garage. We are able to fit all three cars in her driveway without having to park in the street (against neighborhood covenants to park on street overnight)

I really do enjoy the small space. It forces you to be organized and clean up after yourself. If you don't pick up, the mess leaves you no where to walk or sit.

The kids share a bathroom and closet with Mr. JCrew and me. I like this arrangement. It is easy to get us all ready in the morning. Although I say this now as they are small children; I'm sure once they are pre-teen age and older, I will appreciate not having to share a closet or bathroom with my children.

The house is lined with our extra furniture, but it still doesn't feel cramped.

We all hang out in the living room and it's great.

I am so thankful for my mom for taking us in. I think we made her a little nervous when we first moved in, but we are settled in now and I think she is great. We even brought all of our outdoor toys.

We've always had a lot of people in the house, so I think it is what she is used to.

I mentioned we divided our porch furniture among my mom's neighbors to borrow. She still has our glider along with the kids' bikes, our grill and some plants I potted that I removed from our old house. (We will plant them at the new house.)

From a distance, it doesn't look bad. Even when you walk up, I'm trying to keep it from looking so red-neck!

This new adventure is off to an awesome start. We don't know our timeline or the exact plan, and shockingly, I am okay with that. I am open to whatever the future holds!

Taking the Home Out of the House

Now that the majority of things are in storage, the house doesn’t feel like home anymore. It feels like we just moved in, with the exception of an awesome yard!

Today, I’m sharing what the house currently looks like with things off the wall, no décor and empty closets.

The living room still felt full because of the massive couch.

The rug is clean and rolled up. The pictures are off the wall and the “tower” as I call it, is in storage. 

Over this past weekend, Mr. JCrew's brother-in-law lent us his truck and we moved the big items. The couch, rug, ottoman are now of out the room.

The air mattress made its way into the living room now.

The dining room still has the table, but the rug is clean and rolled up as well. It has become my drop station since the foyer table is gone.

The kitchen has some empty cabinets. It’s been the last thing I was packing because of what we still use. We are making sure to eat everything in our large pantry, since we will have a smaller one. The dishes will be packed up soon and we’ll eat off paper plates. I’ve got the bubble wrap ready, just need to get more boxes.

The boys’ bedrooms are the most dramatic. Little JCrew’s room has mattresses only. I joke that the two little guys are sleeping on a king size mattress. They love it.

Mr. Brigglesworth’s room did just have his dresser and chest of drawers.

The dresser went to storage, while the chest comes with us. We'll use it for the boys' clothes. Now this room is my packing room. And thanks to Julie, I have a million boxes calling my name!

The new owner likes the pallet wall. He did ask questions about it as to why I did it. Kind of funny when I told him because I wanted to! Ha. But he said he liked it.

The master bedroom is empty. This room remained unchanged for a while, until we got the truck. I then took the clothes out of drawers and they are in makeshift drawers/bins until we move into Mom's house.

We did have the air mattress on the floor, but as you saw, it got moved to the living room.

The bonus room is also just as dramatic as the boys’ rooms.

It is completely empty. It was the room I wanted to empty first, but Little JCrew’s room won that contest. I sold most things in the room. The train table is currently at Mom’s house and the desk is in storage. I sold the couch, loveseat and bookcases (2 different sets). There was one bookcase Mom told me to hold on to because it was a good size to put in a closet someday. Great thinking, Mom!

And that’s it! The porch furniture is off the porch and spread out with my mom’s neighbors.They all openly welcomed rental furniture to use on their porch for the next year. It looks great! 

 The boys' big playhouse is over at Mom's along with other outdoor toys. Her tiny yard is filling up!

I’m kind of enjoying the emptiness of the house. It is weird but also calming. You don’t need a lot of things. Yes, décor makes a house feel inviting, but what makes it a home, is who you share it with. I’m making so many memories playing on the floor and finding unconventional toys to play with, that it really makes me evaluate all the “Stuff” we have. 

Sleeping on the Floor

Once I sold the twin bed system, I moved Little JCrew to a mattress on the floor. He loved it. We had no problem.

Then I tried Mr. Brigglesworth in there. He wasn’t too fond. He was use to his room and he’d cry til I put him in there. But I knew in the back of my head, that our trip to Florida would be the perfect opportunity to introduce them to sleeping in the same room and different beds.

It was great. I only had to separate them at nap time.

Little JCrew had Simon the cat as a sleeping buddy.

Once we got back from Florida, Mr. Brigglesworth has been sleeping at night with Little JCrew on the floor. The boys love it! Without anything in the room, there is an echo. The boys wrestle on the mattresses and have found a new kind of fun.

Yes, the room is empty. This was the first room to become empty. Last weekend, we moved the bookcases to storage. The closet is still full, but that will be a last minute thing. I put away all clothes that I had that would be too big even a year from now. I vacuum-sealed those things. I tell ya, that is one of my favorite inventions!

Now the boys can even nap together. Little JCrew wakes up Mr. Brigglesworth, so at my mom’s house, they nap separate. But we now had to put the mattress on the floor at Mom’s house. He is use to that and no longer wanted to get in the crib at her house.

The cutest thing I love seeing is the boys open the door and just walk out after they have woken up. They have a new independence. I don’t have to come in to a crying baby! It is so nice!

Mr. JCrew and I are not yet sleeping on the floor. This weekend we will move our bed and Mom has loaned us her air mattress. Moving day, we will rent a truck to take it and other big items to storage.

House News

Things have been CRAZY! So crazy, that my creativity was gone. My creativity to write and to design. But, I’m happy to say, my creativity has returned and I’m ready to write again!

The last update on the house, I was explaining that we switched my gas stove with my mom’s electric. We dropped the price on the house, and we wanted to take the gas stove with us.

That was on March 30^th. I had plans to find an inexpensive dishwasher to swap out with my nice dishwasher, but I had no luck. I was going to pay for a really cheap one, but then that plan came to a halt. We found a buyer for our house! Before I go further into explanation, let’s just say the detailed sheet I gave out with my flyers listed that we had a gas stove and a new fancy dishwasher. This buyer is keen to details and would notice if I took out the nice dishwasher, so it will remain. He noticed the stove was not gas, and he asked where it was, but he was okay with keeping the electric. Whew. What a nice guy.

So, here we were on March 31^st. I get a phone call from someone wanting to see the house. He came over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. He made us an offer and we accepted. I don’t think we could have found us a better owner for our house. He loves the house/yard as much as I do. That’s all I could ask for. I know it sounds silly, but I wanted to find the RIGHT person that would continue to take care of my the house.

The contract is not typical and I spent three days researching it. He offered a Lease-to-Purchase contract. Normally these are done where a tenant rents for 2-5 years with desire to purchase at the end of the lease. This kind of contract would have been perfect for my house in Florida!

My sister-in-law made a similar contract on a house. It was a delayed closing. They are moving to a different city, but didn’t want to uproot the kids during school. They made an offer on a house in January, with a closing in May. I asked how they made the seller confident that they would hold up their end of the deal. She said they put enough money down with their offer, that it would be painful to walk away from.

So, there are non-typical contracts out there that work. Our contract won’t be for 2-5 years (thank goodness!) The buyer will move in late June with the plan to purchase in November/December. He signed a year lease, and has the option to buy any time during the lease.

Another cool fact about our buyer, is he already lives in the neighborhood. He has been renting a house around the corner from us for the last three years! And from what I can tell, he is a good tenant. I’ve never known the yard to look bad, ugly curtains hanging in the windows, loud parties ... nothing. He is your model tenant! It’s great to know we don’t have to sell him on our great neighborhood. He knows it and loves it. How awesome!

We are excited for our next adventure. In the meantime, we will crash at my mom’s house until her house sells. When that happens, my in-laws have opened their home to us to crash. That would be a lot of people, but it would be temporary. We won’t break ground on our next house until the deed is transferred over to the new homeowner. It’s the safe way to do it. Luckily, we don’t have to wait forever. If I go ahead and get done with the design and negotiating with the builder, November will be here before I lift my head to breathe!

Are you ready?