The Home Building Saga

HI!

Weeks have past and we haven't redesigned anything! That's a first for us after designing and redesigning the house for the past 3 months.

Monday, we submitted for a "building envelope adjustment." In short, at the final review session before the HOA Design Review Committee, they asked us to move the house five feet to the West so that we'd have more separation between us and our neighbor to the East. In order for us to move the house, we had to encroach on the platted setbacks ...... jargon for "you can't do that without County permission." So, we're in that process now.

All of the construction drawings are complete, so we're ready to pull the building permits, and then we can break ground. Estimates have us in the house by late July or early August.

But, the activity doesn't stop as we wait approval from the County. Deb has spearheaded the drive to eliminate what builders call "allowances." Allowances are pots of money put aside in the budget for groups of purchases like hard surfaces (flooring, tile, counter tops), plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, interior doors and trim, exterior doors, etc. These pots of money are included in the construction budget and are "to be specified later." That means that at some point, the homeowner will be asked to choose all the light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, types of tile, etc. to go in the home, all the while staying within the "allowance." The problem is that it's really easy to estimate the allowances low (to show the budget in a favorable light) when the reality of our choices goes well over the allowance (increasing the cost of the home).

So, Deb and I are on a mission to eliminate as much as possible, all of the allowances. That means trip after trip to the showrooms to make all of the million and one choices that go into building the house. It's an iterative process ..... each decision affects all the other decisions and as the quotations come in from the different vendors, there's always a need to go back for clarification and change. No telling how long this process will take - probably until the house is completed and we're in it!