We have a CONTRACT

We signed a contract a couple weeks ago. Those "similar floor plans" I mentioned earlier? Well, I decided to contact the builder, just for grins, to see what a new build would cost. I wanted to have some negotiating room, if I ended up putting an offer on one of those houses.

Turns out, the cost to build is less than these sellers are asking for a resale! We took the stock plan, and customized it: bigger kitchen, large covered patio, larger garage, third bathroom on the main floor, separate laundry room (instead of the washer and dryer in a hall closet - the large laundry closet is now an over-sized coat closet), and slightly larger master bath, to accommodate a special-order tub I want (More in another post).

So we found a lot (These are not building tracts - you have to find a lot somewhere, then hire a builder to put a house on it. Suits us fine - then we aren't living in cookie-cutter land!), and signed a contract with the builder. He negotiated the lot price, for what we were willing to pay for it, and added it as a line item to our house contract (with no markup on land). We cut out a few things we could do later (namely solid-surface counter tops), in favor of keeping things we want NOW (you can't change the size of a kitchen after it's built, unless you REALLY like throwing money away).

We're so excited! 2400 square feet, all on one level. 4bed/3ba/4car garage. On a full acre. And still less than what the re-sale house would have cost.

The best part? We have not had to compromise ANYTHING on our "needs" list. It has seperate living and family rooms, etc....

Our builder closed on the lot last week, and is ready to break ground! I'll be down there in a couple of weeks, to register MiniMe for school. I promise to take pictures of the progress!

So, we're hosting Thanksgiving this year. And you're all invited.