Day 2

First of all, Austin has requested a shout-out on the blog since this is being written from his house.  I'm spending the weekend in the quad cities for a change of scenery.  Anyway, I wish I could say that picking out lighting on Friday went as smoothly as everything else.  I should have known I was not capable of making such decisions on my own, but I gave it my best and still have time to change my mind.  I have black chandeliers and some black ceiling fans.  Everything else is fairly normal I guess.  There's many more lights to pick out in a house than you might think.  I'm also pretty sure I went WAY over budget but he's going to add everything up and let me know.  Side note: pendant lights (for above the bar) are much more expensive than I would have ever guessed.

After 2hrs and 45 minutes of light selecting, I drove out to my lot and got to see the last of the digging. Basement is done! I talked to the excavator operator and he said this is the biggest garage he has ever dug :) Next step is the foundation and basement walls I would guess. I'm not sure if they work on Saturdays or Sundays but I won't get to see it again until Monday night anyway. I can't believe how fast things are happening so far. Oh, and I decided to paint the toilet room in the master bath black too.

Day 1 !!!!

Work has officially started!!  I took the day off and met the designer this morning and picked out pretty much everything needed to build a house, inside and out.  My mom and dad came over to watch/help.  I cannot believe how fast it went, how great she was, and how easy it went.  Cabinets, stains, siding, trim, doors, probably 15 different kinds of tile, grout, wood, two kinds of granite, paint colors, and many other things I cannot remember.  At this point, I really do not even remember what I picked to go where so I guess it will be a nice surprise when I see it all come together.  When you've got somebody handing you things to look at and keeping you within a budget, you can make a lot of decisions fast.  The house is definitely going to have a contemporary feel to it and the designer was all about that.  It's gonna be cool.  Most of the woods are dark chocolate or black.  The different tiles are blacks, browns, metalics, and grays.  The granite for the kitchen is white, brown, and black and the bar granite is black and gray with blue specs.  I think the only time I shocked the designer was when I told her I wanted black walls.  When she realized I wasn't kidding, we got to work.  Wall colors will be black (only a few), tan, gray, red, and green.  Trust me, it sounds worse than it is.

Mid-day I got a call saying they were staking out the foundation and wanted to move the house over farther than we originally planeed to get better access to the sewer, sit on the lot better, and give me more of a yard where the pool will be, so I knew they started!  After we finished with the designer, I drove to the lot.  The excavator was there, the lot and rooms were staked out with lines painted and they had dug holes to hook up sewer and drain pipes.  There were also piles of sand and rock on sight.  I was surprised with how much happened in one day.

I'm only working a 1/2 day tomorrow.  I'm meeting the lighting guy at 12:30 and then am going to try to catch some live digging action.  Also on the agenda for tomorrow is to set up meetings with the stone guy, the plumber, and the carpenter/trim guy.

Inferior Excavator used to dig hole.

 

Sewer line 

Trench for sewer and drain lines 

Piles of dirt and sand 

More dirt

Pipe that will dispose of my waste in a few short months

Drain lines.

Sewer and drain lines.

Starting to make some decisions

Siding color, type of stone and color, trim color, and doors all picked out.  Plenty of other ideas in my head.  Meeting with the designer all day on Thursday and the lighting guy Friday afternoon.  Still hoping to start digging this week.  I drove by tonight and the lot is flagged and ready!

FINALLY some news to share!

After emailing/calling/yelling at the bank daily and finally giving them an 8hr deadline to finish the appraisal, or not to bother, I got my answer.  It wasn't exactly the answer I wanted, but pretty much what I was expecting.  The house plans did not appraise for what I'm paying for it because of all of the additional upgrades I added which means they will not loan me the full amount.  So, that left me with 2 options, either remove some of the "extras" or pay the difference at closing.  So, as with most problems, I decided to throw money at it to make it go away.  Hopefully this doesn't become a recurring theme.  Problem solved.  Contract signed.

After that, things began happening fast.  Paperwork is being filed with the city this week and they will start digging the basement next week!  I have to find a house or picture of a house I like so they can use those colors for the siding, brick, stone, and shingles by the end of the week.  Next Thursday I meet with the designer to pick out flooring, cabinets, appliances, sinks, and pretty much everything else.  I also have to meet with the lighting guy next week to pick out fixtures which will be a little overwhelming I'm sure since they have over 50,000 to choose from on their website (http://www.kbldesign.com/index.asp).  I also have to call the windows guy and the door guy.  Whew!  Here we go!!!!

Sketch of the exterior

Latest response

After a VERY clear and direct email and voicemail to the loan officer letting him know exactly what I think about this entire situation......

"Andy,

I verified with the appraisal service that the report should be back this week.  In addition we have ordered a field review, this is a second appraiser's review of the original appraiser's work to get a second opinion.

This is so we can establish 2 options of values, since we suspect the appraiser will not be able to provide additional comps.

I will keep you posted on both. I do not want this to take any more time than it already has."


At this point, I believe nothing the man says, so we'll see if anything happens this week.

After 30 days waiting on the bank....

"Andy,

We received the appraisal and the good news is that the appraiser gave us value. The bad news is the appraiser used comps that were much larger homes and so we have sent the appraisal back asking for comps that are closer in size to support value and also to clarify some of the adjustments made.

As soon as, we have this back I can provide  a copy that is approved by my underwriter so you can start your new home.  Thank you again for your patience."


Time for another not-so-nice phone call I guess.  AHHHHHHHHHHHH!