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House Options... Reality Check

I met with a contractor two days ago to discuss building a new house! Yay! I was so excited, I tried on several different outfits, because I was meeting with him sans the hubby and I wanted to look like I was a woman he would take seriously.

So once he arrived and I ushered him into my office, we started talking ideas and $. I had a number in my head that I figured was pretty reasonable and could get me a decent house. Yeah right.

To the contractors credit he was upfront and honest, but the number he gave me made me suck air. I'm talking upwards of $300k. Do you have 300k just laying around? I don't.

Well it didn't deter me completely. We still went on with discussing a floor plan, material options etc. He is going to draft a plan and get back to me later.

The good news is with the price of building new, the hubby is finally taking my idea of renovating an old farmhouse we already own a little more into consideration.

So the whole thing got me to thinking, how come I could go into town and buy a really nice finished house for well under $200k, but I can't build one for $300k? And just to remind you, we live on a working farm/ranch, so living in town is not an option. Well, now my eyes are peeled for a good house that we could move onto our place. The trick there is most houses have a basement under them and what would you do with a finished basement after you lift a house off of it?

Needless to say, I'm not giving up. I have lots of options to explore and I am anxiously awaiting my floor plans from my contractor. He was great by the way. He didn't give me the usual, "Oh your a girl and I'm going to treat you stupid," run around I tend to get from men in his profession. That has me super excited and I also received really good reviews from a friend that he built a house for.

Just to rub salt in the wound of the expense of building, I noticed the laminate flooring in the laundry room starting to bubble today. Upon further inspection I discovered the hot water line to the washing machine has a slow leak that has been creeping under the flooring.

No idea yet how much damage is done to the subflooring, but I know that the laminate has water seeping up through it. I know that laminate is certainly not fancy stuff, but it is better than having peeling rotten laminate, which I now have. So I guess that's the next thing on my list of things to fix.

Currently I shut off the water to the washer and am waiting for a certain husband to come home and help me pull out the washer so I can get the hose off and get it repaired or replaced. Hmm on second thought, maybe a nice little rental with a landlord wouldn't be so bad? :)

Any ideas on how to bring down the cost of a new build or inspiring stories of a remodel that saved a few pennies? Throw them my way. Thanks!

 

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