OK, the pessimist is a little more upbeat this week.
Going back a few blogs...our pre-estimate to build the house was way over our budget. Carrie J passed on the name of a builder who looked at the plans and basically agreed with the first estimate. Then he gave us some suggestions to lower the cost. Considerably. We had 9 ft. ceilings, went to 8. We decreased the size. I eliminated the screened in porch. We moved the foundation insulation to the exterior.
The architect redid the drawings and we will soon have a new set of finals with which to go to a builder. And we do plan to get 3 builders to look at these plans and give us prices.
In a way it is frustrating. When we are given numbers, we tend to say "ok" and not question those numbers. We will now.
We also have learned to ask some tough questions, both of ourselves and any builder.
For example, a builder from another town called us to let us know he was interested in building our house. His reputation is to come in at a low price and do a good job. But he also is rumored to use workers that may lack certain documents. I want to build a house, but with so many citizens out of work, I don't want to have people working on my house that shouldn't even be working here.
I also would like faucets and fixtures and drywall and plywood and everything made in the USA. I can tell a contractor that, but have to rely on him to follow that request. I do have some input when we pick out plumbing fixtures and heating units, but after that I am at their mercy.
So the process begins again next week. We will have the plans. We will contact the builders. We will ask the questions....then hope and pray we make the right choice.
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