So it looks like the last post was, well, a while ago. It's a new year, and there has admittedly been a ton of progress, though things are stalled right now.
To quickly get you caught up:
-House went on the market in May while we were away on vacation
-several viewings in the following weeks
-an eventual offer that was accepted, but the buyer backed out over some concerns (that didn't stand up at the end of the day--I think he was just having second thoughts)
-another offer that was well below market value and our asking price. We countered, and the counter was immediately rejected. Seems the buyers were looking for someone dumb.
-third offer was accepted, house sold
We moved out around Sept 9th, closed on Sept 12th.
The builder we chose is a guy named Rusty Hawkins. If you are building in the Burlington/Efland/Mebane/Hillsborough area, definitely look him up. He does a great job of asking questions and helping you lead yourself to answers. For example, he suggested we flip the house, or more accurately, make the plans mirror-imaged. We had not thought about it, but after he explained it, it seemed like an easy sell.
Anyway, we got the construction loan and wrote a nice check to Rusty to get started.
To date we got the lot cleared and gravel for the driveway, basement dug, temporary power service, the Superior walls put up, basic plumbing started for the basement, and... that's about it. With the cold temperatures we are in a holding pattern with the concrete folks.
| View from the road, and some clearing | ||
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| Our future basement |
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| Superior Walls installation | ||
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And bad news. The architect did not allow for enough space for the indoor slide. It was supposed to be right outside the kids' rooms so that they could jubilantly run from their rooms and slide down to the basement, just outside the playroom. Well, Dawn decided that she *needed* that slide, so she has given up the sun room--which is on the opposite side of the house, mind you--just to accommodate it.
So our builder is working with a couple of slide providers to make sure it will fit. If it won't, we decided to forgo the slide, as we do not want to have to resubmit plans and all that.
Oh, and the slide that will likely best work for our house is roughly 5 times the cost of the estimate. They aren't cheap, to say the least.
