house update: lot walk.

we're finally getting to the point when my updates can have actual NEWS in them!

last week we got to do the lot walk with our rep and the building supervisor, billy. we met at the lot with the plan measurements, and set out to make sure everything would fit just fine.

it does.

(standing at the back line of the lot, looking up toward the street.)

(measuring the front line of the house at the setback.)

(walking the front line of the house, from garage to the right side by our neighbors.)

(looking down the side and back yard to the lake.)

all looks good. the revisions to the plans and the budget have all been okayed, the bank is appraising everything, the builder is surveying, we should have a spec meeting in about 10 days, and then we dig.

(updated vision for spring. if you can call it "spring" when there isn't anything green anywhere yet.)

we're so close and yet still sooooo far. at this point, we're walking the line between it finally being real, and still feeling like it's taking forever to actually get here. in hindsight, we would have started the whole process of planning, revising, appraising, etc., a month earlier than we did. we thought the process would go a little faster. now we're running into the possibility that we won't move in until after school starts, and we may have to find a temporary place to live for a month or so.

*shudder*

on that note, we went on a tour of some comparison properties with our realtor yesterday. can i just say that the market right now sucks? it isn't like i didn't know that, but geez. we have a bunch of equity in our house, we've always paid over the monthly mortgage amount, we never borrowed against the house or refinanced, and yet we still have to consider the possibility that we'll have to put money on the table to sell it. it's crazy.

on the comp tour yesterday, we saw half a dozen houses or so that are within about 20k of where we're planning to price point our house. i'd say our house is favorable to most of them, better than more than half, and more updated and modernized than all of them. the biggest hurdle for our house? no master bathroom. all of the houses we looked at had some sort of bathroom in the master bedroom, regardless of what size or condition the bathroom was. so we'll just have to wait and see if people are more swayed by a totally updated, totally move-in-ready house, or one that needs work, but costs a bit less and has a master bath.

basically, it's a crap shoot.

but our house looks great. the photographer for our realtor is coming out monday to do pix, and we'll be listed by the end of the week.

fingers are crossed. i'll keep you posted.

(anyone need a lovely family home in a nice neighborhood in the south metro?)

Comments

[Ally]

Soooo exciting! Congrats!

[ArlaMo]

Wishing you luck on the sale! And on getting your lovely new house completed before school. We are thinking about buying a lot and building - not sure if I can handle the stress!

[Kimber-Leigh]

so excited for you!!! all the time invested (and the time it takes) will be so worth it in the end!

look forward to seeing the progress!

[lisa truesdell]

so hoping it sells quickly, and wishing you a smooth build!!!

[[email protected]]

Bless your heart! It's so frustrating trying to sell in this market. I'm so thankful we sold when we did. We managed to break even, a blessing. If we had waited another month or 2 we would have lost 30k and would not have been able to afford to sell. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. Keep your eye on the prize!

[Marvin Mills]

Haha, yeah, the waiting period when building a house is so exciting, and at the same time so frustrating. Of course, waiting to get your house sold is there as well. In any case, I hope you sell the house, so you can focus and have fun with building another one!