Let the Contracts Begin!

So today was another big day in this process of building. Today we signed the construction contract with our builder outlining our home plans, allowances for lighting, fixtures, flooring etc as well as the upgrades we were requesting from the start. Greg and I have spent the last several days racking our brains just to be sure we weren't missing something we wanted to include. It seems like such a large and daunting task to outline all of this now at the start. Who know what we may want 2 months down the line?!! Our builder has let us know that we can make changes to the house during construction with a change order form, but it will probably end us costing us. Hence why we have tried so hard to make sure every little thing we have questions about we have addressed over and over with the builder and put special requests right in the contract. Silly us, we keep telling ourselves the better we plan now the easier things will be when the actual construction starts. Funny right? We actually have kidded ourselves into believing that this will be an easy process! I think if we are both willing to be honest we know this is going to be so much more challenging then we even thought it could be. But let's be honest, we both feel so happy to be in a position to build a dream home that it wouldn't seem right if it wasn't a hard, tiring emotional rollercoaster. We signed up for this so let the games begin!

Also, since we are building in a neighborhood, we set our Realtor on the task of getting the Homeowner's Association contact info. They will have to sign off on our house plan, exterior building materials, house position on the lot, landscaping and the list goes on and on it seems. I would much prefer that they just "trust us" and let us get on with it but I know people worry that some crazy will come into the neighborhood and build a pink and white polka dot house that will be a nightmare to have next door. (No judgement if you have a pink and while polka dot house, just sayin' that many might not think your house is great for their resale value if you are next door) So very soon I will be in contact with the Homeowner's to get the plans approved so there is one less thing to worry about and we can get on with breaking ground.

Did I mention how excited we are that the breaking ground could be occuring in just 3 short weeks?!! Well we are super psyched!!! Never having been very patient, this whole waiting thing is sure to be tough. I plan on using my time to tirelessly search the internet for house building ideas, decorating tips and just go plan crazy on Pinterest. It will be to our builders benefit to make sure we break ground soon or I am sure I will just be driving him plain crazy with something "awesome" I saw on Pinterest that I just have to have :)

Lastly, my mother asked me to include a picture of the lot before we break ground. So here it is. The picture doesn't seem to do it justice. This lot is at the end of a cul de sac and sits up on a hill with an awesome view. The first time we met the builder at the site he remarked how cool it will be when a storm is rolling in to sit in the house and have a front row seat. Our thoughts exactly!

Building the Dream-Getting the Ball Rolling

Today was the first small step towards this overwhelmingly exciting goal-building our dream home. For months we have searched high and low to find the perfect house and each time we came up empty handed. We were just so frustrated and figured it was never gonna happen for us, or at least it felt that way, since patience is really not a strong suit of mine :) Our patient and really dedicated Realtor suggested we look at building. After the initial, can we build (yes we could) that seemingly insurmountable task was finding a building location. Who knew this could be so difficult?? I sure didn't when we began the task. We knew we wanted a good amount of space and we wanted it in a very specific area of town. Again, our ever patient and wonderful Realtor helped us comb through tons on lots/land for sale and we found a wonderful hidden gem in West Knoxville. Greg and I could hardly believe our luck the spot was just perfect. Strangely, the location was pretty much right in the backyard of a foreclosure we had been interested in but our offer wasn't accepted. I guess it really is true that all things happen for a reason :) Anyway, I digress, but as the fates would have it the foreclosure wasn't for us but we loved the location. So when we found this lot right near there we couldn't believe our luck. We called our Realtor right after we drove by and told her this was it. We had found the Holy Grail!
She then suggested that we contact our builder and have him drive past the site to check it out and see what he thought. He drove past and thought it was great too! Since this was right before Christmas and New Year 's we kinda came to a crashing standstill. We had found the location but we would not be able to move forward with securing the land until after the holidays. Boo! Both Greg and I are not very patient people so this was really hard for us.
Finally the holidays were over and we could meet our builder out at the site to look more at the land, house positioning and talk more about the house plans. Side note-picking the plan was super super hard. We had a really great plan picked out that was just way way to expensive to build and my heart was crushed. After talking with our builder we settled on a modified Frank Betz Sullivan plan. We even went out to see one he was building for another young couple in West Knoxville. Guess us young couples must just like that Sullivan! Anyway, after seeing the house I was overwhelmed with how big it was! We are coming from a small 1040 sq foot home, this sucker seems huge!! We did make some changes to the plan though. The first floor living space calls for a vaulted ceiling. We thought that was a waste of space so we opted for a coffered ceiling and since we were essentially closing in the living room we also got a media room above the living room. Huge bonus for us, so Greg can have his mancave. We also are doing a bunch of archways in the house, a 3 car garage and expanding the master shower.  Once the builder and ourselves had found the plan and had met at the site, our builder put in the offer on the land. Another side note-We decided to buy the house from the builder at the end of construction instead of taking out a construction loan ourselves. This way at the end of the building we could take advantage of Greg's ability to do a VA loan.
We just found out Thursday night our builder's offer was accepted!! Now we have to wait for him to close on the land and construction can begin. It looks like that should take about 3 weeks. So weather and God permitting, we could be breaking ground in February!