Loan closed - Ready to start soon!

We closed on our loan yesterday so it's official! Weather permitting, our excavator should be starting the lot prep in 2-3 weeks. Can't wait to see that dirt moving!

So after a long delay, we have found a new property to build on and have gone through the whole process again. Bank's appraiser has given the green light and we should be closing our loan on Feb 25th. My excavator will then be starting the lot prep sometime in March so if anyone is still following this, I'll post pictures along the way.

And through the magic of Photoshop, this is what our house will look like on the lot:

Appraisal Woes!

Just found out the appraisal for our loan came in significantly under the amount we need to build. The culprit was the lot we chose. With several additional development costs beyond the standard lot (massive tree removal, slope excavation, and sewer "impact fee"), the appraiser couldn't justify all the extra expense. We can't justify all of it either to just pay the difference on top of a large down payment.

No fault of the bank and certainly no fault of Wayne Homes. The appraiser was fine with the cost of the house itself.

Back to lot hunting. I know better what to watch out for next time to avoid this appraisal issue.

To be continued....

Preconstruction Meeting

Yesterday was our Preconstruction meeting.
Very long day for us but very worth it. Meeting our Field Manager was good. I think we're going to get along very well over the course of our build. After the lot meeting it was back to the main office.
Most of the time was spent going over changes we wanted to house and colors we had picked previously. We also made final changes to options/upgrades.
We determined our PPI amounts and now our lender should get the final numbers so we can set an official closing date. Getting excited!!

Construction loan Lender

If anyone needs advice on a good construction loan lender in the Northeast Ohio area, post a comment. Our lender is spectacular. And our Agent is amazing. She helped us get our construction loan locked in at 3.5%
It's hard enough to get that rate on a conventional loan, much harder on a construction loan.
Plus they are the only ones I could find that let you lock the rate during the construction phase.
Most others that offer construction loans make you take an adjustable rate until construction is over.

Nice having the peace of mind knowing exactly what our payment will be now!

Buddy's getting a new home!

This is our dog Buddy.
He's about to get a serious upgrade in housing and a yard!

We had our color selection meeting on the 17th. We were very pleased at the willingness to rearrange the layout of the house, move/add walls etc. Seems more real at this stage that we are actually building a new home. Preconstruction meeting scheduled for Oct 3. Loan should close late October and digging start around Thanksgiving!