When we asked, they said it would affect us if we were changes things that impacted the assessment of the house.

This post was edited by Awnmyown on Wed, Sep 10, 14 at 17:48

We're thinking that if we keep the SF and overall cost approx. the same, we can do it without too much flak...

If there are changes that involve structural elements, or the level of finishes, your bank will wantto reassess. Such as going from a 5 bedroom 4 bath to a 4 bedroom 3.5 bath, or reducig the kitchen from 400 sq ft to 300 sq foot. Or, if budgetary over runs in other areas cause you to put in vinyl floors and laminate counters instead of the planned for hardwoods and Silestone counters, that afffects the final appraisal of the home downward.

It doesn't matter that it still cost you 400K to build, and they still lent you 320K to build it. If the home only appraises for 350K now, you WILL need to bring more money to the table, no matter if it still cost you that 400K to build it. Their investment % into the home isn't covered if the home is worth less. You'd need to come up with 40K to keep them happy.