Friday, May 30, 2008
Closing Day!
After many delays we were finally able to close on our mortgage! We should be able to start construction next week, so stay tuned.
Monday, May 26, 2008
A Dream in the Making
In January of 2005, my husband and I bought a beautiful piece of wooded mountain land in Tennessee with bluff views to the East and South. One of our dreams has been to build a log home with a view. We moved here in late 2006 after putting our home in a nearby large city on the market, thinking it would sell right away. Little did we know that it would take 14 months! Meanwhile, we have been renting a nice house about three miles from our property and spending the time designing and planning our home. We had taken the plunge into self-employment, with Norman being lucky enough to work in the vicinity while I work part-time out of our home.
We also began to clear the bluff area, roadway, arrange with neighbors for electrical easements, and much more. Our land is 7.6 acres with a driveway of over 900 feet, so we are having to bring in water and (underground) electric. We purchased some architectural design software, reviewed hundreds of floor plans, and spent countless hours researching log home companies, log home construction, and how to become owner-builders. We signed with a log home company to provide the logs and a dry-in package, and we will be subcontracting out the remainder.
Our house sold right before Christmas, so we began to accept bids and make decisions on subcontractors. It took over two months to arrange for our mortgage, even though we had already been preapproved, but we are finally ready to close this week IF ALL GOES WELL, and to start construction next week. Lucky for us this is a great time to build as the construction business is very slow and contractors are eager to work.
This blog is being created for family and friends who are interested in watching the process. If anyone else "out there" is working on or has worked on a similar project, we would love to hear from you, too!
I will be posting some pictures of our home as it is constructed. Maybe I can even coerce my husband to make a comment or two. He actually wants us to write a book about the process. Meanwhile, if you are interested at taking a peek at our property, just click on "Pica Web Albums" under Preconstruction Photos on the right to see a slide show.
Pat
We also began to clear the bluff area, roadway, arrange with neighbors for electrical easements, and much more. Our land is 7.6 acres with a driveway of over 900 feet, so we are having to bring in water and (underground) electric. We purchased some architectural design software, reviewed hundreds of floor plans, and spent countless hours researching log home companies, log home construction, and how to become owner-builders. We signed with a log home company to provide the logs and a dry-in package, and we will be subcontracting out the remainder.
Our house sold right before Christmas, so we began to accept bids and make decisions on subcontractors. It took over two months to arrange for our mortgage, even though we had already been preapproved, but we are finally ready to close this week IF ALL GOES WELL, and to start construction next week. Lucky for us this is a great time to build as the construction business is very slow and contractors are eager to work.
This blog is being created for family and friends who are interested in watching the process. If anyone else "out there" is working on or has worked on a similar project, we would love to hear from you, too!
I will be posting some pictures of our home as it is constructed. Maybe I can even coerce my husband to make a comment or two. He actually wants us to write a book about the process. Meanwhile, if you are interested at taking a peek at our property, just click on "Pica Web Albums" under Preconstruction Photos on the right to see a slide show.
Pat
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