Well – I cant believe it finally happened… we have a completed house bid! In the world of house building this particular item is a huge milestone. Perhaps even bigger than breaking ground (i’ll let you know when that time comes). In my opinion, this is more important than buying the lot, because this is the moment when you realize that it is REALLY going to happen. Someone has told you your dream house is possible, AND you can actually afford it!! **Sigh – this is what relief feels like**
The bid from the builder consists of everything the builder will do to complete your home, and the cost of the big ticket items in your home. Just to give you an idea I have listed out some items below
-Construction Permits
-Grading the lot
– Framing the house
– Electrical and Plumbing
– Cabinets, Counters, Tile, Flooring and Appliances
– Interior and Exterior paint selections
– Landscaping
And the list goes on and on…. and on. Once all items have been selected and priced everything is put into a bid proposal and agreed upon by the “homeowner” and builder. These many decisions come together to create your home, and is what Charles and I have been working on since we received the final construction drawings in early July.
There were somethings that we knew we wanted – for instance wide plank pine flooring, and a thankless water heater. There were also things that we knew we didn’t care much about (these all escape me at the moment), and there were things that we NEVER knew we ALWAYS wanted like spray insulation foam, louvers and mullions.
It was a balancing act of deciding what we wanted to include in the bid, and what we could forgo in order to keep the cost at the right place. Because the thought that something is “only 200 extra dollars” comes up 100 times during this process and you find yourself making too many 200 dollar choices…adding 20K to your bill. Let me tell you – they add up quick!!
But all of that is behind us with a finished bid in hand. We found the perfect balance of projects we needed to include, things we could live without, and projects we could complete ourselves over time… after all we are quite accomplished in the world of DIY.
“Does this mean we get to start building”, you ask?!?! HAHAHHAHAHA – NO.
Next steps include, having the bank review the bid and close on our construction loan and getting the builder to secure permits from the city of Brookhaven. This could take anywhere from 30 to 60 days. I am keeping my fingers crossed for breaking ground on October 1st – I suppose we will know how that works out in about 45 days!