Last night we met with our builder for three and a half hours going over details and negotiating our final price.
There have been a few issues that came up with utilities. Mainly the gas company wanted to charge us $25,000 to extend their gas main so we said umm..no thanks and decided to go with propane. That changed the initial estimate, so we had to do some finagling to get back down to a price range we could afford.
We reduced the size of the basement, cut out a few unnecessary windows (I don’t need two full-size windows above the tub or in the toilet closet), and decided to go with vinyl flooring instead of tile.
We kept as many things as possible that we knew would be too hard to change later, like a rough-in for a basement bathroom, the fireplace, etc.
We’re very nervous about stretching ourselves too far (That’s how the economy got in this mess in the first place, remember?) but even though the mortgage will be significantly more than our current mortgage, it is still within our means, so we are going for it as long as the bank makes the final approval. Hopefully, we will have that news very soon.
In the meantime, we are working with the electric company to get new poles and service and Eddie is applying for 18 gazillion different permits. We actually needed a separate permit from the state because they own the back of the sidewalk that touches our driveway. True story.
Also, I got the final dimensions for our master closet. It’s 10 x 14, which is bigger than the girls’ current bedroom. I’m sooooo excited to finally have all of our clothes in one place and not have half of them in storage under beds or in the basement. I’m not budging on the kitchen, master bathroom, or closet. Everywhere else we will be cutting the budget wherever we can, trying to shop smart or recycle or reuse materials to try to stay under our allowances.
Hopefully, these posts will include construction pictures very soon!
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