The Planning Process

A few words about the planning process....

We had a design session with an architect and builder.   It was way out of our budget to design a home from scratch.  So we picked out a stock plan and modified it and modified it and modified it.... to meet our needs.  It was slow going getting the design exactly as we wanted.  The original  builder had some issue arise and he would not be able to build our house, so we needed to find a new builder.  For the most part, 2009 was a waste.

The architect had a builder and Jack sourced 3 others up in the area we are building.  Inland Township is 2 hours from our house here in Algoma Township.  We spent a very cold Saturday in the spring of 2010, showing potential builders the building site, followed by an interview.  Imagine me in the front seat of the Prius, the builder in the passenger seat and Jack in the backseat and me asking the builders about themselves and why we should choose them.  We did this 3 times in 1 afternoon!  Also, kept meeting with the builder recommended by the architect, Joel Harner, whom we ultimately selected as our builder.  Joel is a BGSU grad, as am I and 2 of my siblings...that had to count for something.

Next up was getting the financing.  We went to Dave Kuiper, at First Place Bank in Holland MI,  who handled the loans for building our current house.  My, the credit market has tighten up...we had to provide much more documentation this time around.  We closed on August 11, left the 13th for 2 weeks on an East Coast Witham family trip, fully expecting the foundation to be dug when we returned.  Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.  There was a delay in getting  the final drawings so Joel was delayed in getting the permits which delayed the start by almost a month.

Joel was able to get started on Sept 14th...Hot Diggity Dog!!!!!!

Tomorrow....The Building Process....