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Update: New house done (enough) and moving in this weekend!


avguytx

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And they accepted! We are stoked! We'll be going from the typical neighborhood plat of .25 to .3 acres to close to an acre where we'll be building a new house hopefully this year (have to sell this one we're in).  The back side backs up to about 50 acres that most likely ever won't be built on so close neighbors will be at a minimim. :) And yes... I'll have my dedicated audio room where I can keep all my toys...and new Belles. The house we're building will be around 2700 square feet with a much better layout than the current. I mentioned that I'll have my own room for stuff, right? :D

 

If you pray,  add us in your prayers for all that's about to conspire. We are excited and looking forward to building our own home from the ground up. 

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14 minutes ago, avguytx said:

And they accepted! We are stoked! We'll be going from the typical neighborhood plat of .25 to .3 acres to close to an acre where we'll be building a new house hopefully this year (have to sell this one we're in).  The back side backs up to about 50 acres that most likely ever won't be built on so close neighbors will be at a minimim. :) And yes... I'll have my dedicated audio room where I can keep all my toys...and new Belles. The house we're building will be around 2700 square feet with a much better layout than the current. I mentioned that I'll have my own room for stuff, right? :D

 

If you pray,  add us in your prayers for all that's about to conspire. We are excited and looking forward to building our own home from the ground up. 

With land in your hand, you'll be happy on earth 
Then invest in the Church for your heaven

 

 

 

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I've been part of two other houses during the building stage. One was in Tulsa where it was at frame stage and my ex wife and I picked everything out but the plan was already picked in that neighborhood. We divorced in 2002 and I sold that house in 2003 after an "offer war" on it (higher amounts) and I moved to Denton, TX.  That house was at about the same stage and I picked everything out. This one will be us picking everything from ground up. I have to get a perk test done soon and the house design/plans approved by the neighborhood "council". Once the perk test is done and filed,  we'll put this house on the market and wait for it to sell and, once sold, will live either with her parents for awhile or with my best friend and his wife during the build. The hardest part is we have 3 cats and 2 dogs to move around with us. 3 of the animals are closing in on being 15 years on so it will be an interesting year since 2 of those 3 are showing their age. But it's very exciting. 

 

Having dealt with builders in the past when I was a manufacturers rep for home A/V companies and a trainer/programmer for home automation companies including Elan, Crestron, and AMX,  I have an understanding of the order and process of building. My wife, on the other hand, has no idea and is nervous but excited about it all. Lol 

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Oh, my finished out bonus room above the garage via the staircase inside, is about 21 feet x 15-1/2 feet so a decent size I guess. It'll be good for the Belles and a sub; maybe a little small for Jubilee's or Klipschorns, though. Who knows. With the slight angle on the ceiling in that room, I'm afraid it would be too close to the 402 horns if I ever decided to build a pair...plus the sitting distance from them. But the height of Klipschorns would work on the 21 foot wall. :D lol. 

 

Dang, wish I could've kept that immaculate pair of '78 Klipschorns I had to sell in 2009 before moving back to Arkansas to go back to college. Oh well...

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First off congrats! I helped my brother build two custom homes from the ground up, its pretty cool watching a design / plan come together out of nothing. I will say if hiring a contractor make sure you get a good one that is experienced and knows the ins and outs of the business, it will save you a lot of time, money and headaches in the long run. There are just so many little (and big) things that can wrong that will either delay the project or cost extra or both that a good contractor can for the most part avoid.

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Well, it's been rather crazy lately.  We closed on the land last Friday (3/16) so that part is done and officially ours.  On the night before, we met with the realtor and he was able to  get our house listed midnight Thursday while watching NCAA basketball, I think.  So the next morning, before we closed on the land, I get a text about 9:30am saying a realtor out of Jacksonville (about 35 minutes from us) wanted to show the house.  Wow...uh, ok...that's great!  It wasn't another 30 minutes and he had someone that wanted to see it that day at 5pm.  Holy cow...  We had been packing things in and putting them in storage figuring that it would take a little while to sell and the whole process.  But, to make the long story short, both parties were interested in it already and both "loved it".  The group that saw it Sunday put in an offer yesterday morning and we countered last night and our offer was accepted!  

 

So here we go...the ball is rolling even faster now.  The good Lord has been good to us over the last couple of years and I can't believe this house sold in 4 days.  But we will take it.  Now the scrambling starts to get everything packed away in storage over the next 30 to 45 days.  We will be renting a camper from a family friend ($100 a month) for the months it takes to build the new house and it's going to be cramped for sure.  It will be worth it in the long run.  Lots to do....

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Awesome. There is a huge shortage of homes for sale around here also. My niece became a realtor 2 years ago, her timing was good. She says some homes get multiple offers for 10% over asking price....crazy! It's a good time to be a realtor when there are bidding wars.

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We looked at other houses online the other night in our town that were in the same square footage size and same price range just to see.  Man, there is some c-r-a-p listed in this town for the price.  Crazy paint schemes in houses, trash laying all around, things needing fixed, etc., and one even had a picture of a kitchen where the smoke detector was hanging by its wires from the ceiling.  The big market for houses around here is the $175 to $200k houses that sell the quickest...if they're decent.  Not to toot our own horn, but ours was like a palace compared to 90% of the others listed.  Not that ours is "fancy", but for 10 years old, it's in impeccable shape.  Whole house repainted inside with a neutral color, all the trim  in house was repainted, all windows and doors re-siliconed, new roof in November 2017, new 2 level wood deck built in back this time last year, etc.  Thankfully, that has paid off.  :)

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Good luck and Congratulations, it can be a pain but in the end will be worth it. Go over your layout many times and then one more time, now is the time for big or little changes, it cost MUCH more later and slows everything down. Have fun

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ditto - congrats.  exciting times here already, and to come.  we've been watching real estate in a number of areas.  some markets have next to no inventory, and yes - some people will list & photograph ANYTHING.

 

you're off the ground to a flying start.  best wishes for you & the fam going forward.  and the fur babies  :D

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My wife is freaking out all along the way and worrying about most everything...and telling a woman not to worry or stress so much is pretty much a waste of breath.  ha.  I told her this is pretty much how it's going to be for the next 8 to 12 months.  

 

I was sad having to take my newly built Belle's to my buddy's house to store upstairs along with most all my other gear, but, I don't want them in a storage somewhere and don't want them in the rent house we are going to get.  But, it's only short term and it will then all be in a new and improved house and their own room.  ha.

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We'll have "neighbors" just not exactly right next door  like we have now.  Someone owns the lot next to us but probably won't build for a couple more years, they say, and will only be an "occasional" home.  No one is to the right of me or in the lot across the cul-de-sac and no one will build behind us in the 50+ acres for the next 50 years or so.  I back up to some land where deer will roam into my back yard (and I'm right outside of city limits, too...barely.  :D  )  

 

We won't be on well water but we're not on "city" water, either; it's tied to the community just north of us.  Satellite TV for sure (which I stopped using a few years ago), possibly cable internet which I hope is there as I need internet for work in case I need to remote into the City's servers after hours.  I just talked to a guy I knew from the cable company who had come by talking to the Director about our Fiber connections.  So, I asked him about the neighborhood.  I believe it's done across the street from me and there is a TV box on my corner but it will have to be connected from across the street.  He said they may go back and look that neighborhood over again since more houses are in there now and 4 more are going to be built this year...maybe more.  Hopefully I won't have to rely on crap DSL.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, here we are 8 days later and we've made it thru the Home Inspection with only 10 items on the list.  9 which got done and one stupid one I won't even go into.  Now the appraisal has been scheduled and should be coming up the first of next week.  I've got the rent house lined out and we'll start moving into it on April 10th and we're set to close on ours either the 19th or 20th of April.  The house design and plans have been approved by the "council" and I'm working with a local designer tweeking some of it out.  We're going to flip flop the plan where the garage is on the opposite end of house we originally thought which will keep us from having to have such a tall garage and steps into the house.  I've already talked to the insurance company about going from current house to rent house and on into the Builders Risk Insurance of which it might actually work going from current right into the BRI.  BRI will also cover our renters insurance, too.

 

I'm sure I've left some things out but that's the jist of it.  I guess we've gone from a thousand things that could go wrong towards closing down to about a hundred now.  At least we've narrowed them down.  Buyers are all pre-approved and ready to go thus the quick 30 day close time.  Makes it a little hectic on our side, though, getting everything together.  Not to mention our HS Senior daughter will have Prom next month and the Graduation the month after, I think it is.  All while we're building the new house.  I enjoy it all, though.  My wife is still freaking and I'm just letting her.  haha

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The building process can be a wonderful and rewarding event, especially if you have quality subs. I wish you good luck, and hope it all goes well. 

I will say, if you have a bad feeling about someone, move on to someone else. And good quality subs can be a great source of referrals to find other subs. Are you doing any of the work yourself? 

A good question to ask if you're considering someone, is to ask them what are they working on right now, and can you talk to that person, or even visit that job site. Their response can tell a lot.

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Wow, congrats! My dad built homes through all the up & downs for decades. Threw in the towel back in 88. 

It's a beautiful feeling and a bit surreal having helped him from grading, clearing, many, many trips to the county planning office, talking with homeowners, and coordinating the right trades to show up. Although he did have "core" of guys that always was close to him. Meaning they did great work and was reliable. Haha. 

This was my idea back in 08' to do as you build my own home but fortune shined on us and we purchased a new home at the bottom of the housing market and the house came loaded ($100k upgrades) and the bank wanted to find a buyer badly. 

I do envy your excitement, anticipation and we'll,  I wish you & yours the very best going forward. :)

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