Making Progress

My clients, Wayne & Susan Geralds, (pictured on THE lot) and I had a very productive meeting this morning with builders Dewey & Rob Cannon and their real estate agent, Lisa Day. We spent about 1 1/2 hours at a table going over the details of a 2200 square foot custom construction one-level rambler. We then went to the targeted building lot to clarify, visualize and discuss some additional details.

Lot 7 in the Peach Haven II subdivision in East Wenatchee has been selected as the building site. We are now waiting for a construction quote before we draw up and finalize a Purchase & Sale Agreement. At this point, it all looks very promising.

Wayne & Susan are a joy to work with. Besides being nice people, they know what they want and are very knowledgeable. Wayne is a professional appraiser and home inspector, so is very familiar with building products and grade & quality issues. Wayne's business name is "Star Appraisal & Home Inspection" and, when he moves to Wenatchee, will be offering his professional services in this area as well.

Stay tuned for progress reports...

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.TopPropertiesWenathee.com
Wenatchee real estate news, info, and trends (through pictures and commentary)

Making A New Plan

Trying to get back on track after the disappointment of the recent "miscarriage", we went out lot shopping Monday. We met with another realtor to preview some new subdivisions, so we can pick out another lot to build the house on. The lot pictured is currently targeted as the most likely prospect. It is located in the new Peach Haven II subdivision.

We have a meeting scheduled with the builders for this coming Saturday morning. Hopefully, we will be able to come to terms on a lot, floor plan, and construction schedule.

Stay tuned...

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
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Wenatchee area real estate news, info, and trends, through pictures and commentary

We've Experienced A Miscarriage

The "Birth Of A House" has experienced a "miscarriage". Negotiations broke off and were aborted earlier in the week. Dozens of hours of work is all for naught.

After much ado, we were unable to get the builder to commit to a price on the home and there were too many variables and uncertainties, so we aborted this particular project.

One of the options we discussed with the builder was a "cost plus (18%)".

There were advantages and disadvantages to this cost-plus approach:
* The main advantage, of course, is the buyers have total say over what goes into the house, without the builder trying to discourage them.
* The main disadvantage, as I saw it, was the builders would have no incentive to keep costs down, particularly while negotiating rates with their subcontractors. Since they (the builders) would be paid on a percentage of the total construction costs, they would prefer for costs to be higher.

At one point the builder gave us a price and offered to carry the construction loan through completion. But, the next day they withdrew that offer because the cost of building materials are going up so quickly they were afraid they would lose money.

There were just too many uncertainties and we weren't feeling good about proceeding. Hopefully, we can find another piece of land and an acceptable builder. The builder owns the piece of land we were hoping to build on so that is no longer an option.

Onward...

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
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Another Meeting With The Builders

Yesterday, we had another meeting with the builders. After much ado, we were finally able to get a line item summary of costs. This took several days because the builders had to calculate the cost of all the building materials AND get quotes from the various subcontractors that would be doing work on the project.

Anyway, we were able to sit down at a conference table and hash over some more details. This took about 2 hours. We're getting really close to being able to put the details under contract and getting on with the process of applying for permits and proceeding with the project.

Stay tuned...

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com