Official

After a *LOT* of searching and researching, we have finally decided to move forward with a home. We made it official today by signing a contract...to build. It wasn't something I anticipated ever doing - building that is. I guess the idea started when Miles did some contract work for a builder and we talked with him about getting a deal to build through his company. Things didn't pan out quite as we wanted and the area we wanted to build in didn't meet all our requirements (mostly mine - I wanted a larger backyard for our kids to play in). We did a fair amount of looking at homes - old, new, short sales, foreclosures, and model homes. Finally, we decided after taking everything into account (price, location, lot size, home size, bedrooms, living space, need for repair/improvement, etc.) that our best bet was to build.

While I'd love for it to be our "dream home" I've come to realize that unless you have an endless supply of money, that's pretty hard to get, and you usually end up compromising somewhere. However, I do like the location/neighborhood and proximity to the freeway and both Provo and Salt Lake City, as well as lot size (.25 acres) and many things about the home itself. I think we will be happy there for many years, if that is where we decide to stay. So we finally signed the contract paperwork and are now waiting on a building permit before they break ground. But I think Miles and I are on the same page - it's not a done deal until the keys are in our hands. We've just had too many things fall through or not go as planned to believe anything is for sure. Even moving forward on this home has taken a while. Beyond just deciding if it was what we wanted and would be good for us, we found out that there was a natural spring running under the ground in our lot space. They hired a geologist to divert the spring, but said there was still the potential of standing water in the winter and/or spring. They can't say for sure what will happen. We asked the builders to attach an addendum to the contract stating they will take care of it if there are any problems with standing water in the future. Once they agreed to that, we decided we were ok to move forward. So, I'm not sure which way this will go, but I'm pretty excited and very hopeful that things will work out. Of course there are things I'll miss here, but that's a post for another day after we move.