May 16th, 2020 –NEW GC THAT IS APPROVED!!

May 16, 2020

Captain’s Log: City to Gritty

YOU GUYS!! I’m overjoyed with gratitude. Right when I started to let go and believe maybe we’d live another winter in our RV is right when our final pieces to our raw custom build came together 😍😭😭😭.

Yesterday, we had another meeting and GC interview about our Aframe. I’ve done so many of these now that I did not want to get my hopes up, but I knew this one would be different. After updating my blog on our website and posting the City to Gritty update below, I decided to search my emails for the list of approved builders from our lender (inspiration from a comment from one of you guys!).

The last time I looked at it, there were only 2 names listed. One wasn’t interested in Aframes and the other actually wasn’t approved after all. But then, I saw another, separate e-mail, with one more name. HOW DID I MISS THAT?? It was sent at the end of October of 2019, so almost 7 months ago. I immediately sent him an email and then followed up with a phone call. He answered and agreed to a site visit the next day.

During our site visit, he AGREED to not only take the project, but build it within our budget!! Because he is already approved by our lender, we can move quickly to get the appraisal ordered on our plans, get them appraised, file our build permit and more!! 🎉🎉🎉

I got the list of required items for appraisal of plans, closing documents list and the next steps to get contracts signed and it is a bit intimidating. There are many things I’m not familiar with (basically all of it 😅) but I’m willing to learn and get through these last hurdles and start construction before the snow hits us at the end of October! 🎉🎉🎉

I’m celebrating NOW and will celebrate even more after we have signed contracts. Signed contracts are the real victory 💯 but fully embracing this HUGE WIN! 🎉💗😭😍

How fitting this memory popped up from 2 years ago when we were looking at our property and decided to put in an offer??

“BE FEROCIOUS!! Live life out loud! And be a little crazy. Because the people who are crazy enough to believe they can do it, are the ones that do.” ✨✨✨

From putting in an offer, to owning the land, to designing a home, to finishing pre-build, to getting ready to close—all in 2 year time frame!! 🎉 POSITIVE VIBES EVERYONE!!! 🤞🏻 🎉💗😍😭😍

Comments:

  • Mario J McCash Congratulations 🎉🍾
  • Stephanie Victoria Congrats babe!!! <3 <3 This is awesome!!
  • Karen McCash Vibing positively!
  • Evelyn Elvegaard So happy for you!!! Someone better me creating a reality show on this. Have you contacted or been contacted? Is anything on the books? I wanna see all of this soooo bad!!!
  • Robyn Brown There was so much in your post, I dont understand it all- but what I want to know is after all these contracts are signed- then can you order your kit from Avrame??
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Robyn Brown aww yes it is a lot and I’m excited haha. So our next steps are: finish our bid, order appraisal, have appraisal conducted (4 weeks), then if it checks out/is worth what we are borrowing, we can close a week after that (sign contracts) and then apply for our build permit (another 4 weeks). Once all that is done, we can order materials! With how our draw schedule (funds our lender gives to our GC for build materials) looks, I think we may not order the kit but instead build custom from the plans. We got local estimates for lumber and windows and they were the same price as the kit. So we’ve left it up to our GC if he wants to source from Avrame or locally. But the plans are 💯 Avrame!
    • Robyn Brown Rachel McCash Cronin I thought the whole point of the kit was to save you time and money on the work the contractor doesn’t have to do (cutting, fitting…) so if local supplies cost the same as the kit- aren’t you still saving money with the kit?
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Robyn Brown you can get plans with Avrame without ordering the kit. Our first intention was to order the kit. So we got our plans all drawn up and stamped. The idea is the kit will save money when you do the labor yourself. When you have a crew build it, the cost is about the same as getting materials locally (with the labor cost added in) vs sourcing materials through Avrame and adding labor on top of the kit cost. Does that make sense? Since we are doing a VA construction loan, the VA has strict guidelines on what we can and can’t DIY. We’d love to build the entire thing ourselves but we can’t do that and get a VA loan—we have to hire contractors. So kit + labor is the same cost as sourcing everything locally. Does that make sense? So it’s 6’s—we can do either—so we’ve left that choice up to our GC based on what he thinks is best.
    • Robyn Brown Rachel McCash Cronin I understand what you wrote but it still doesn’t make sense to me. It seems like if you hand your contractor a kit with everything cut to proper size, all the materials right there and the instructions, it should be cheaper (the contractor should charge less) than if he had to go get all the materials, then cut it all to size and then put it together. However, that’s just how it works in my mind- maybe not how it works in reality.🤷‍♀️
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Robyn Brown it really depends on the contractor I think! We’ll see what ours decides! I went through that same process heavily when we did the bid with our previous GC. You’d be absolutely stunned how it all adds up
    • Robyn Brown Rachel McCash Cronin I totally believe it adds up way to fast.
  • Nicole Homan Before you know it you’ll be relaxing in your new living room looking out at your beautiful views! ⛰
  • Active NowKim MacLurg How exciting!! 🤩💕
  • Brooke Weisbender-Wadsworth Congratulations
  • Leah Tennyson Rodgers OMYGOODNESS!!! Soooo excited for y’all!🙌🏼😍💪🏼😆💎🌈 ⛰
  • Bryan Huddleston You guys are amazing! Perseverance, tenacity, all-in living, taking advantage of all the good in your experience, and giving the least to the hardships. Really a tremendous example and influence for good. It would be cool to hear more of Todd’s experiences too~