Weekending: New House Progress

Once again, happy Monday my friends! I must say that this was a pretty lackluster weekend. On Friday, I had the day off due to working long days and being out of town for a conference the majority of the week-yay!

Despite it being superbowl weekend, we basically hung out in our pajamas, ate unhealthy foods, and went to bed after what I deemed to be a totally 'eh' halftime show. #sorrynotsorry I just was not feeling Coldplay at all. AND Budweiser didn't do a puppy commercial this year, which is basically the only reason I watch the Superbowl anyway. Two years ago, I was pregnant with Jackson and couldn't watch this commercial without bursting into tears. Those hormones, I tell ya. Maybe Budweiser heard I was pregnant and pulled the puppies to save those surrounded me from the water works?

I may be crying again. No shame.

Due to our chill and uneventful weekend, I figured now would be a great time to share updates on where we are at with our new home! For those of you who don't know, we are building our new house, and are hopeful to start digging and the construction process within the next 2 months or so! WOW, typing that seems crazy, as our 'wait to build time' seemed like it would take forever, and now we are really down to the grind and realizing that timelines are getting tight. We had a floor plan selected, modified, and ready to go nearly two months ago, and were feeling really great with where we were sitting. We had time to really peruse builders, explore our options for details, and not feel rushed. All was well, until we sent the print out to bid and it came back at $70,000 above what we had initially been told it would cost to build. To some, maybe that isn't a big deal. But to me, that is our next new vehicle, our spending money for fun things every month, or, you know, one of my children's college tuition. I was not a happy camper, mostly because had we been told that number from the start, we would never have pursued that floor plan from day one.

We sat on the news for a few days, and really brainstormed what our options were. Should we shave down the size? Eliminate a bedroom? Cut out the two story ceilings? We actually did the last one, as the guy we were working with said the cost of labor increased due to the high ceilings and cutting them out would cut down costs. So we redrafted, rebid, and...costs came back to same. At this point I think steam was coming out of my ears. I can take someone telling me straight up 'I think this house is just going to be out of your range' better than I can take wasting nearly a month trying to make something work that I think everyone looking at our plan knew just was not going to. So, back to square one.

Mike and I returned to the place where we had initially looked at plans last summer and decided we were going to be as straight up about pricing as possible. For anyone looking to build, do NOT be afraid to ask detailed questions, or be very strict in terms of what you are or are not willing to spend. This past weekend, we walked in and basically said 'if it costs more than 'X' to build, tell us straight out and we will turn the page'. And you know what, it was great to do because they were able to explain right away why something would cost more, show us alternatives that were similar but more conservative in terms of expenses, and so on. We also knew a few details we were absolutely not willing to sacrifice, the biggest being a main floor master suite. We are really hoping to build the house that we are in for the long haul, as in once the kids are gone, we are old and gray, and everything we need is on one level. And also, we can send the kids upstairs ten years from now and enjoy some peace and quiet :-) So, as we perused plans, wouldn't you know, we stumbled across one that had the same number of bedrooms, same functional living spaces we wanted, a great kitchen space, and much to this mama's desire, two story ceilings over the living room! It really was as if someone took our original plan, said maintain all of the details that makes this house what it is while eliminating any wasted space, and somehow reworked it into a perfect plan. We were told an honest estimated cost to build, and it is where we need it to be. So, we made a few super minor tweaks, moved forward with having them redraft, and are purchasing it!

So that's it. We have our floor plan! Now we not-so-patiently await the draft to be finalized, send it out to bid, and really get the ball rolling on this whole process. We are so excited, and terrified, but cannot wait to get started. We also decided to go with a new builder after all of our frustrations with the original plan, and feeling like the people we were working with really didn't have our best interest in mind, nor did they seem to listen to us (HELLO not having the insight to tell us we were creating a house in a completely different price bracket!!) We haven't finalized our new builder yet, but have been working with a guy who is super attentive, insightful, and seems very down to earth. The crazy is about to officially begin, but one day, I know we will sleep again ;-)

Linking up with Meg and Biana today!