Another Disappointment . . .

We had the next contractor come by with his bid Saturday morning . . .

and it was even higher than the first too-high bid we got!

Y'know - - if this house was a big fancy thing with lots of roof cutaways and house angles and lots of other high-end stuff, I could understand some of these prices we have been quoted.

But it's a straight ranch house. With a straight roof.

No cut-aways, no angles, no fancy "stuff" anywhere - -

It's a BOX with a ROOF on it, for God's sake!!!!!

I can NOT believe that these people expect us to want to even CONSIDER paying over $350,000 for a 2700 sq. ft. BOX with a ROOF on it!!

They are on drugs - - they MUST be - - that's the only explanation I can think of . . . *sigh*

And then they sit there and tell us that the housing construction market in Central Illinois is so slow - -

WELL, NO DAMN WONDER!! YOU ARE ALL PRICING YOURSELF RIGHT OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!!

Fools.

*SIGH*

Okay - - I've vented - - I feel better - -

Not really, but I'll keep telling myself that until it's true! *laugh*

However - - on a GOOD note - -

Dear Hubby Steve met with our realtor Saturday morning and took her around the area we have been checking out for lots. She now has a very clear idea what we are looking for, AND - - she does have a lead on a contact for one of the lots. So y'all keep your fingers crossed - - once we get the lot, we can move forward with some other things.

ALSO - - Steve called his long-time house-builder friend this evening and left a message for him to call us. It looks as if we are going to have to implement "PLAN B" - - buying a different lot and selling our current house and extra lot, AND "PLAN C" - - being our own General Contractor.

Sure, it would be much easier to pay someone else to do that for us, but we see how THAT is playing out. So even though this way means much more "sweat equity" on our part, in the long run it will be worth it.

Steve and I can do it - - we actually CAN work together on a big project and not want to kill each other! I know that sounds too good to be true, but it is.

I'm not saying there won't be times that things will be a bit "strained" between us, but we are a team; we are in this together; we are working towards a common goal.

We're gonna do it. Period.

Stay tuned - - I'll keep ya posted . . .

Going To Hell In A Wheelbarrow . . .

. . . or at least that is how it seems sometimes!!

Okay - - it's been a LONG time since I posted anything, because I didn't feel like posting all the bad news lately. But here goes . . .

Contractors: One came in at a bid so high, he basically just bid himself right out of the running; one we really liked a lot withdrew his name from consideration because his schedule for this year is full; one came in at a bid that was MUCH lower than the first one, but STILL too damn high; one is visiting with us by the end of this week to present his bid; and one has not contacted us at all (which doesn't really upset me, because I didn't like him from the moment I met him!).

We have one more to talk to a second time - - a man Steve has known for many years, who builds houses for a living, and feels that we could be our own General Contractor and hire him to do the work. That would also save us money, but would be a HUGE investment in sweat equity. But it may be the way we need to go.

Location: We thought we had it all worked out - - we own the lot behind our house, and planned on building there. HOWEVER - - due to circunstances I do not care to explain in detail at this point, that is more than likely not going to happen. We are now in the process of talking to a realtor about lots in other locations, and have her looking at some in an area we both agree we like and wouldn't mind living in. That will then involve fixing up this house for sale, listing it and the lot (probably sell them separately), and then moving a lot farther than just the back yard! That also means I will lose the formal garden Jerry and I worked so hard on a couple of summers ago, and my street lamp from Taylorville Square, and all the landscaping I have done. We will be at Square One with the new place . . . *sigh*

But we will do whatever is needed to get through this. Steve and I have both agreed that the important thing is that we are in this TOGETHER. That it doesn't really matter that our plans have gone to Hell in a wheelbarrow, that we have to start from scratch and figure out all over again what we are doing and where - - we are TOGETHER, and that's what matters.

We can still use the house plans - - those are not lost. There may need to be a few modifications, depending on the lay of the lot we buy, but the overall plans are staying. Steve has put so much into this house - - planning, dreaming, lots and lots of thought. He says he has already cooked in the kitchen, eaten in the dining room, slept in the master bedroom, and sat in the hot tub in the sunporch!

You can't argue with that - - and I refuse to do anything or say anything that would kill that man's dream. OUR dream. I haven't gone as far in my mind as he has, but it's my home, too.

We'll get there. It's just not going very smoothly at the moment. But we WILL make it. TOGETHER.

That's how it should be.

Keep ya posted . . . . .

Two More . . .

Well, we have now heard back from two more of the contractors. One is going to come out next week and give us his bid, and the other will be out the week after that.

SO - - let's see if either one of these two are any better than the first one was!

Keep you posted. . . . .

Good News, Bad News . . .

We have heard back from two contractors so far - -

One has priced himself TOTALLY out of the ballpark - - and then some!

The other returned our drawings with a very nice letter letting us know that his schedule for this coming year has filled up and he would not be able to fit our house project into his schedule.

I would be lying if I said we weren't disappointed to hear that from the second contractor. He was the one we felt really good about, and felt that would could have worked very well with.

Oh well - - three more to hear from.

On the "Good News" side - - Steve's uncle has referred us to a company down in Charleston that builds homes, and we are going to talk to them next week. I'll keep y'all updated on how that goes.

Also - - Steve knows someone who builds houses, and gave him a call a couple of evenings ago. He's a very nice man and an excellent builder. He is coming out tonight to look at the house plans and talk to us.

SO - - it's still going SLOW, but - - at least it's still MOVING . . .

Keep ya posted as things happen.

EVERYONE HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND A FABULOUS NEW YEAR!

Quick Update

Not much to report yet - - still waiting to hear from contractors. But, we have been getting in some estimates for house materials. So far we have heard from the HVAC, lumber, and brick companies.

SO - - things are still in a "holding pattern".

I'll keep you posted as things get going.

Our Next Move

OKAY - -

We STILL have not heard anything from any of the contractors, except for one who has called us twice asking questions for clarification.

So we decided the next move was up to us.

Last night I got into PrintShop and created a greeting card. We sent one to each of the contractors thanking them for taking the time to meet with us and go over our house plans, and that we hope to hear back from them soon so that we can move the process forward.

Hopefully that will kick something into motion with some of them, because - - as ANYONE who knows me will tell ya - -

Patience is NOT one of my strong points.

I'm just sayin' is all. :-)

Sorry . . .

Yes, it's been a long time since my last entry - - Mea culpa . . .

There has been a small bit of progress that I need to update, but it will probably have to wait till this weekend. Life has been out of control lately with work, homework, sickness in the household, etc.

I'll be back on here this weekend and get things all updated.

Stay tuned . . .

Filling In the Quiet Moments . . .

My Daddy, bless him, gave me an offer he had received in the mail for THREE YEARS of Better Homes & Gardens for $13.00. He knows how excited (and scared!) we are about this new house, and thought this might give us something to look through to get some ideas of what we might like in the house.

So we have been spending time while waiting to hear back from the GC's poring over the magazines and dreaming . . .

which is really kinda fun!

Also makes the time we are WAITING go a little faster - - and helps me cultivate patience . . . :-)

STILL Waiting

Patiently waiting - -

We have heard back from a couple of the GC's with questions for clarification on one point or another, so we know they are working on bids!

This is the hardest part . . . *sigh*

I'll let you know as soon as we hear anything more.

Updates . . .

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post - -

But sometimes LIFE has this tendency to get in the way.

Sorry 'bout that.

ANYWAY - - time for a couple of updates.

We met with GC #5, Brian, this past week. And he, like the others before him, came across as very good.

This does NOT help our decision-making process any! *sigh*

So now we have met with all 5 GC's, and gotten a callback from one of them for clarification on a couple of things on the drawings. So at least we know people are working on bids to submit to us!

Hubby Steve and I have been looking around at brick colors and trim for the outside of the house. In fact, we took a day trip to Southern Illinois this past weekend, and noted what we did and did not like about the houses we saw.

We are also looking at different types of flooring. I'm leaning more and more towards a tile kitchen floor (ceramic), and have seen a couple of patterns/colors that will go well with the Tuscan theme planned for that room.

But there is not much we can actually DO until we get in some bids and make a decision on a contractor.

But once we do, it will all start happening faster than we can keep up with, I'm sure.

So guess I shouldn't complain about it being QUIET at the moment, should I? Because soon I will be wishing for a few of those "quiet moments"!!

More later . . . stay tuned . . .