Excited to finally join in..

9 years ago

I'm so excited to finally get to post in here! I've been following this forum for over a year and have learned a MASSIVE AMOUNT. And now I finally feel like I can 'officially' join; we are waiting to hear back about our loan for 45 acres. Our loan officer said it's very likely it will get approved since he and the underwriter are recommending it. We weren't planning to even look until next year so our dti ratio was higher than what the bank allows so it has to be signed off by someone higher up. Apparently he's out of town on a business trip and not responding to emails so I'm dying of anticipation. I'm assuming the building process is going to be even more anxiety-inducing... ;)

Just wondering, how far out did y'all start getting quotes, etc? I am planning to visit both Shiloh and Medallion dealers once we decide on a builder and then a floor plan (we'll start building once our house sells, we just listed it yesterday!). We'll be basing most of our other choices off of the kitchen, specifically the cabinets because I want inset. Am I insane for wanting everything to be decided on before we even start the building process? I feel like then it gives me time to change my mind if I want!!! Anyway, super excited to get started!!! :)

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Comments (5)

Catharine442
9 years ago
Hi. How exciting.
I just redid my kitchen. I "only" had 4 months to plan it. My sister took 2 YEARS to plan her kitchen. So, no, you are not too early. I studied a lot as I did it and the things to remember are: Make the space itself the most important, then pick appliances, and map out where you will put everything (cabinets, drawers, shelves, pantry) so you have enough room but not too many cabinets (yuck).
Check out houzz.com and make some idea books in there.
weissman
9 years ago
No, good idea to have things worked out in advance. Based on things I've read on this forum, I would advise you to find a builder who will let you buy your appliances, cabinets, fixtures, etc yourself, without locking you in to his suppliers or giving you an allowance. That will give you the most flexibility. Many people on this forum have posted that their builder has them locked in to certain appliance packages or dealers and if they want to upgrade they're charged a small fortune. I don't know how easy it is to find such a builder because many them have cookie cutter plans with builder packages that make it easy and lucrative for them.
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Original Author
9 years ago
Catharine, I'm glad I'm not crazy! I am not sure whether the builder will be happy or annoyed at how particular I'm sure I'll be throughout the process!! It's funny that you mention not having too many cabinets, I just realized the other day I'm not a big fan of my current kitchen because one wall is just a straight run of to-the-ceiling cabinets with nothing breaking it up! It drives me insane. I love some of these kitchens I've been seeing that make better use of all the space with different spice racks, etc.! Unfortunately one of the builders I like already pointed me to Houzz.... It's safe to same I'm addicted!
Catharine442
9 years ago
I definitely agree with weissman about getting your own appliances! I can't imagine letting someone else pick those for me. I had a general contractor as it was not new construction and he didn't mind me getting my own appliances. He didn't mind me getting anything on my own but he did charge me if he had to pick it up or oversee its delivery or anything.
zeebee
9 years ago
You're definitely not too early. I took 18 months to plan our kitchen (with a long break in the middle of that span because we hit a wall with the architect and needed to get a KD on board to move forward). The more decisions made early, the easier the build should be.

Houzz is seriously addictive.