We're Building a Home

This has been going on for quite a while now, so I'll try to re-cap.

In October 2015 Isaac was invited for a job interview with a pathology group at IMC.  This was his dream job and the one he had been hoping for since he started residency.  But we thought it was a little strange to interview so early--he didn't graduate from his fellowship until June 2017.  So Isaac went to the interview, and it went well.  But the group was trying to decide if they needed to hire one or two new people.  Isaac was worried his timing would be off and they wouldn't need anyone when he graduated.  But in December we found out they offered him the job and were willing to wait for him to finish his training!

So over the next year or so we began watching real estate listings and just keeping our eye on the market.  We knew we couldn't afford anything yet, but we were slowly evaluating neighborhoods, schools, commute times, etc.  But the market in Utah was HOT.  Homes were flying off the market in hours with multiple offers.  Our original price range kept rising because the demand for homes was so high.  So we started contemplating building a home instead.  We began touring model homes and talking with lots and lots of different builders.  There were definite advantages and disadvantages that went along with building.  We waffled back and forth about this for quite a while.

But there were a handful of events that finally convinced us that building was the right thing for us to do.  Isaac and I finally realized that we are picky and slow with decision making.  If we were to buy an existing home then I would probably have to go looking myself when a house became available and make an offer without Isaac ever seeing it.  And with the way the home inventory was so low, we had to choose a location we liked--which didn't mean a home me liked would become available.

So we looked through hundreds (if not thousands) of house plans.  We met with so many builders (including Ivory, Candlelight, Hardrock, Oakwood, Richmond, Wright Homes, etc.), and we were always turned off by something.  Their house plans weren't what we wanted, their developments weren't in a good location, they were out of our price range, their base packages were really low end, etc.  We almost committed to building with Ivory homes a few times, but just never felt good about it.  And just when we were getting frustrated with building my mom offered to babysit so we could go to the Parade of Homes.  We had never been before, or even really knew anything about it, but my mom doesn't offer to babysit like that very often.  So we took her up on it.

At one Parade House we notice the builder had a development in Bluffdale.  We had been interested in this area before, but after talking with the developer, I had a hard time getting good information.  But at this home we met the owner (KJ Finsand) and learned more about his company.  We later contacted them and toured some of the homes they were building.  The thing we really, really liked was that they are a custom builder, so we would have way more freedom in designing the house.  Also their base package was way higher end than any of the other builders.  They included things like nice baseboards and trim, tile in kitchens and bathrooms, soft-close cabinets, granite countertops, double ovens, etc.  Most builders were charge huge upgrade fees for that stuff.  And their prices were much lower than we expected, and better than a lot of the production builders.

So then we looked at their available lots.  Unfortunately we were disappointed and didn't like any of them.  After leaving their realtor we were driving through the development and saw their sign on another lot we did like.  So I asked the realtor if it was available and he said it was already reserved by someone else.  Bummer.  But I asked him to put us on a back-up list in case it opened up.  The very next day he called and said the buyers dropped out and we could have that lot.  So we snatched it up.

This was all happening in October 2016.  We were worried that we were still starting this process too soon, but we felt really good about it.  And we just kept thinking about all the things that had worked out perfectly.  We definitely felt that things had lined up for us and we received a lot of promptings throughout the entire process.

So in November 2017 we finalized our house plans (which we also miraculously found).  We were able to alter quite a few features of the home to get it just the way we wanted (which a production builder never would have done).  And then things really, really slowed down.  November and December were slow with the holidays. (Although I'm not sure they can dig at that time of year anyway.)  They kept telling us they would break ground at the end of January, but then we were held up by city permits.  Then February went by and we were getting frustrated with how long things were taking.  But they finally broke ground in March.

It was amazing to see how fast things moved from that point.  They dug the hole, poured footings, and poured the foundation in about a day each.  Then they framed the whole house in about 1 week.  The electrical guys got in and wired it in a day.  For a while everything was flying.  Then the walls and roof were put on and things slowed down quite a bit.

Our family loves going out to see the house.  One of the first times we took the kids to the lot we asked if they wanted to live there.  Sophie said "no, I want to live in a house, not thorns".  So we had to explain that they would build a house and the thorns would be gone.  Once they started framing the kids finally "got it" and were excited about the new house.  Now they love going to see their new rooms.

 

Right now we are getting the house painted.  Cabinets are supposed to go in later this week.  And hopefully we can move in in about a month.  So far we love it and are so excited to see it all come together.  It's also so much more enjoyable going there now that there are walls and stair railings.  For a while when it was just framed I would get so nervous that Luke or the girls would fall off the edge of something.

Isaac couldn't take time off work every time I had to meet the designer, Michelle, to pick things.  So I usually ended up going myself.  We would go shopping before and after to come up with things we liked, but I've really been in charge of everything with the builders.  Also our superintendent, Cody, has been awesome.  The first time we met him we were worried because he's just a kid and we are his first house.  But he has been great and super responsive.  Although some of the decisions have been really hard (lighting, paint colors, and exterior), it's fun to finally see our selections live and we love the way it looks.

Hopefully I will be posting completed photos soon.