So it begins [new house build]

[TJay74]

Wife and I were waiting for another tract of land to be developed by her company we found out it will be at least a year and possibility that only their custom line will be building on the site. Add to that the lots will only be marginally larger than what we have now with a larger price helped us reconsider our thoughts.

 

Went and looked at floor plans this weekend by walking some model homes and then went and picked out a lot that we both like. Has woods behind us to no one behind us, one side of the house has a common area so only have a neighbor next door on one side. The neighbor on the other side is someone we know and she the wife works with and they are great people so that makes it a win/win for us.

 

So far I have already made up a change list for the floor plan, big list for the garage. House has a 3 car and I am pushing the 2 car side outer wall 4' over and then pulling the front out 6' longer. So instead of a 24'x24' two car side I will end up with a 28'x30' two car side.

 

Then I am adding 8 florescent lights, 240v outlet, storm shelter and making the hot water tank closet insulated and large enough that I can fit a 240v air compressor inside of it to reduce noise and having it out in the open.

 

We are both pretty excited, coming from 2500' to a little over 3000'. Being able to build how we want this time and also gaining a nice upstairs bonus room that we are turning into a theater room. Going to try and push the start of build to September or later this year, gives us time to pay off her SUV, put some more money into savings and deep clean and fix any issues with the current house so it will be ready for market.

 

Hopefully we don't kill each other during this process, she already made the comment about how I cant be all super OCD like normally since it is her company that is building...lol.

[white1500]

Good luck! Sounds like fun.

 

And the enlarged garage is the icing on the cake!

[RyanbabZ71]

Moving to the "home" section

 

Keep us updated, make sure to post pics

[Porter_]

nice, congrats! my wife and i had a home built in 2013. not a huge home, 2200 sqft. my biggest 'lesson learned' from the experience: i wish we would have opted for the unfinished basement. it was only a $20K cost adder which at the time seemed expensive but in hindsight would have been worth it. i love having an affordable mortgage payment but i would so love to have some space to expand into, a theater room etc.

[8.1HD/ALLISON]

Congrats. Im trying to find a nice piece of land, then the house.

[Stex]

Congrats and enjoy. If I built again, I would really look at adding a drain in the garage floor and the garage door height a five panel door height.

[8.1HD/ALLISON]

+1 on garage drains. I just love coming home from a day of snow and end up with a mess when it melts..... Plus it would be nice to wash inside in winter.

[99silveradoz71]

Fortunately my builder offered the 8 foot door as standard and allowed me to have the drain put in. It's definitely worthwhile. My floor still looks great even after more than 10 years.

[TJay74]

Living in OK we don't get much snow so drains in a garage are rare here, I have no desire for one as far as my needs go.

 

Had a minor setback yesterday, the primary lot we wanted is not big enough for the house to fit on. Misses clearing by inches so we are going with the back up lot which I think will work out better in the long run. Only downside is it will put us closer to the entrance to the addition so we will have more traffic but I don't think it will be all that bad as now we wont have to worry about the ticks/fleas and wild animals.

 

Good news is that the plan does fit fine on the back up lot with the 4' garage extension and 4' push on out the 2 car garage wall. If I left it that way it would leave 8' on the sides of the house, I am adding a 4' sidewalk all the way into the backyard on the 2 car garage side and putting a side door on the garage as well. That along with bringing the fence up past that door will give us a place to keep the trash cans behind the fence and not have to walk them thru the grass when we take them to the curb.

 

Now to settle in a ground breaking time. We are in no hurry so as of now we are shooting to close June of 2016 which gives us time to finish paying off the wifes vehicle and put some more money into savings as well.

 

Getting excited, now to play with the floor plan some and make sure all of my changes will work.

[PhilB]

Since you are enlarging the garage, go for a larger garage door. Make it 18' wide instead of the normal 16' wide double doors. Makes it easier to pull 2 full size trucks/suvs in straight instead of at an angle. My last 2 houses I had the 18' doors installed and parking in the garage was a breeze. The house we just moved in to has the 16' wide door. I'm the one that has to park cock-eyed so that the wife has room to pull in and we won't be banging doors on each other's vehicles.

[TJay74]

Thanks for the info on the doors, I will check into it for sure. We signed the papers and put the earnest money down this weekend. Now I just have to wait on my wife to draw up our commitment letter for the loan (she is a loan officer and will be doing the loan) and send it over.

 

Then we get to start the selection process and address all of the changes we want to have made. Once that is finalized they will let us know where we fall at in the build schedule and the rough ETA on closing/move in date.

[white1500]

Congrats and good luck with the house! I can't wait to have one of our own.

[TJay74]

And we are almost there, all of the colors and materials have been decided on. Now just waiting for some bids to come back on the master bath changes and the patio changes and then we will sit down with the construction coordinator and find out where we fall in the build schedule. Hopefully break ground in the next 12 weeks, looking at being completed after the new year.

 

So far most of the changes the wife and I are both on board with and agree to. garage should be decent once it is done, it will be almost 4 cars worth of space. Going to have 4 8' fluorescent lights in the garage plus an insulated closet for my air compressor to go in as well. Really excited to get in the garage and get it all set up.

[TJay74]

Well now after what about seems to have been 50 change orders we finally are finalized on the floor place and design changes. Meet with the builder 2 weeks ago, was given soft start date of 4-6 weeks. Went by the lot today and the SOLD sign was on the lot. Now the wait begins, and I am not a patient person...lol

 

[superchargedss]

Congrats! We built a home on Lake Norman in NC back in 2006. Was a unique experience. Sold it back in 2012.

 

When we retire we plan on building another one in the same area. Not as big though. Last one was quite large.