Back on track

Sunday we met with Schumacher Homes. They were impressive, to say the least. Their models were masterpieces. I think they want to showcase how custom their work can be, as a lot of their models are customized beyond the standard plan. So much so, that it's hard to see how it originally comes.

They have a designer sit with you when pricing out. Then we went through everything about the house, top to bottom. We could change the roof pitch, any exterior element. Move walls, move posts or windows. We could add porches, decorative trusses. The choices were amazing. The best part is any change we made was shown on their huge monitor in front of you. You saw pictures of what it will look like. They had pictures of all their selections. I think they had at least 10 bathtubs to choose from for the master. There were 7 choices for fireplaces.  We moved walls and put in built-ins.

Our jaws were on the ground from the very beginning. The only issue is timing and the fear of the unknown. They give you a very detailed price list of all your selections, showing you where every dollar goes, with pictures of all your choices. BUT, they don't own the land, we do. They have no clue what's in the land or what it will take to build on it, so they make sure to inform you of additional costs that might occur. So the price your given is not set in stone.

They only do construction loans as well. Meaning we have to buy the lot separately, then as they build they are credited money from the lender as they meet certain milestones of the build. Which means we start paying interest while they are building, instead of at close. Plus, restarting the process would mean we would be about 2 months past the end of the lease of our current home.

Susan sent us a text the afternoon after we emailed her. Inverness agreed to meet our requirements to build. We met with her on Monday afternoon to trim down our selection list a bit. We got rid of the $1200 paint charge and will just stick with their white paint until our 1yr is up. We went with the standard shower fixtures and will put in our own after close. John made it clear that he would bring up their over pricing of certain features on our survey.

We also used this time to add in a change order we missed out on earlier. We are changing the sliding closet doors to double doors in the kids rooms. Susan put in the change order and as soon as she gets pricing we will sign the final version of the change order and be back on track. She thinks we are two to three weeks from starting the build, which keeps us on track for the end of June closing we want.

I am just so glad it's all over. I'm ready to focus on the move.