Our New House - So Far

Promised the family that I would start blogging again to keep them all updated on the progress of our new house. For anyone who might read my blog that doesn't know about the house we're building, here's the backstory.

In 2012 Mom decided she wanted to come live with us so we used the entire year exploring options. Renovate the garage? No, the HOA didn't allow that. Add a room to our house? At a cost of $65k we thought it better to invest in a new house rather than just a new room. So we hired Gina's friend Glenn, an architect, to design our dream home. And we found the neighborhood we wanted to build this custom house - in Porter TX on acre-sized lots.

Unfortunately, we never could get a lot that we wanted at a price we could afford. So we looked for something already built - in the Loop and out in the 'burbs. Eventually we found what we wanted in Crosby - a new neighborhood called Seven Oaks being built by Brighton Homes. We got a lot on the cul-de-sac which backed up to a greenbelt area with lots of trees and a 6 mile hiking trail! Perfect.

Another wonderful thing about buying in this neighborhood is that all residents have access to San Jacinto River with a beachfront

 and Lake Houston with a boat launch and a very cool Gazebo, fishing pier, and picnic tables.

Finally we decided on the model we wanted which has 5 bedrooms and 3 full baths. Mom will live downstairs in the master suite and Gina & I will share the upstairs with the animals.

Signed the contract, went to the design center to pick out all our upgrades, and now the construction has commenced. So far it's just a bunch of dirt on our lot.

There's no one building on the lot to the right of us yet, so we get a rather expansive view of the woods in that direction!

 

But there is already a house on the lot to the left of us. We've met these neighbors and they're nice.

Greg, the construction manager, said that he had to wait on the survey to make sure that they have the dirt positioned properly on the lot before they start laying in the plumbing and then they'll pour the foundation. So, we'll wait until next weekend to go back to take more photos. But keep tuned. Each week we expect to see changes and keep posting new photos. Proposed close date is in May and we just got word today that we've been approved on the loan at just 3.5%