For background on why, read Deef's blog. As indicated by the lack of subsequent blog entries, he has been very busy working on it since then. (If he weren't, he might have posted since then.) So since a lot of people are interested in our progress, and as a check to make sure Steve has told me everything he should have, I will blog about it. If he tells me something (and it won't harm our prospects by making it public) I'll tell you.
Build your Dream Home
We chose a local modular home builder, Dale's Homes, in White River Junction, Vermont. We knew the sales guy before going into it so we're more comfortable working with them. They are a local distributor of Ritz-Craft modular homes, among others. They also provide or sub-contract the site preparation, finishing and landscaping of properties. So far they've been great to work with.
George Burge (sales guy) has been helping us nail down a floor plan and options to go into the house.
Our first pick was the Chesapeake. But since it comes in three pieces, the cost was going to be too high. [whimper]
Then we looked at the Fairfield. This one, while only coming in two pieces, ended up being about as expensive as the Chesapeake. We looked briefly at a narrower version, but that felt too cramped.
Our current (final) choice is the Brookland. It has the rooms we need, the "character" I want, and the basement square footage Steve needs. Now we just need to settle on options (sound insulation is a big one). We're currently waiting on an estimate of our first somewhat conservative pick of options. Oh, and we want to go with the optional bathroom arrangement that makes the master bath bigger.
But where?
If you're going to build a house, you have to have a place to put it. We're pretty sure our current landlord doesn't want another house on the property. So we need to acquire land. This is the fun part. Steve needs high-speed internet and easy access by transport trucks (for deliveries). It should also be near a post office. I want a decent plot of land (future horse farm) and dirt roads and trails nearby. This shouldn't be too hard, right?
Well, there's also the price range we need to consider. Land isn't exactly cheap in the Upper Valley. Neither are taxes. Speaking of taxes, Vermont is right out. Been there; done that. So, there goes half of the Upper Valley. I will still be working at Dartmouth College for a while, so proximity to that is a must. Hanover, Lyme, and Lebanon were right out to begin with. They are so close to Dartmouth and they know it. Affordable land has to be further afield. So we looked at Plainfield and Orford and learned they were pricey too, or too far away (post office and 30 minutes to Dartmouth requirements). Next came Claremont, which proved to have taxes worse than Hanover.
Finally we started finding good options in Enfield, Canaan, Grantham and Springfield. The latter two were really as far away as we'd want to be and there was one good plot that we later learned was under contract. So we kept looking.
To bring this to the point, we are now looking at a plot in Canaan. It is practically perfect in every way. It is on a dirt road, but only 1/8 of a mile from the paved part. The nearest Post Office is five minutes away, and it is surrounded by dirt roads and trails to explore. Canaan also has the Northern Rail Trail, an old rail bed converted to a biking, hiking, riding trail.
We did discover a little hitch in this process: if you use the same Realtor to buy the land as is selling it, they can't help you as much as an unaffiliated Realtor. For instance, giving you an idea of how much to low-ball on your first offer. So we are now working with Vanessa Stone, a local Realtor who buys and sells primarily in Canaan and Enfield.
So, that covers the what and where (to as much degree as we can now). What next? Well...
HOW do you get a Mortgage?
This is apparently a big question. I've always wondered why there are so many different banks, even in a small area like the Upper Valley. Now I know: each bank has its own special reason not to give you a mortgage, so you have to call around until you stump one of them.
In short Lake Sunapee Bank wouldn't give us the time of day without 20% down. Citizens Bank, affiliated with the NH Housing assistance people, advertised all kinds of great loans, like 5% down, but really require 20% down on construction of modular homes. We didn't really want to work with them anyhow. :-P
Steve also spent a less than productive day chatting with a lender from Bank of America. An hour into the online chat, they finally connected via the phone for another half hour until she realized he was talking about building a house (the second thing he said in the chat). She said he had to call the construction department and gave him the phone number. The WRONG phone number. He hasn't called back as we aren't too impressed.
That leaves us with Mascoma Savings Bank, a local bank that will give us the construction mortgage on a modular home with only 10% down. Steve has an appointment Wednesday with them to try to get pre-approved for the loan we need, so we can move ahead with finalizing the design, making an offer on the land and who knows what else. Luckily, I think Steve knows, and he'll probably tell me soon.
If you want a peek at what Steve has in mind for the basement, lookie here.
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