There is so much happening and it is taking a while to process it all.
My last blog, I hit on the changes we were making to modify a modular home to fit our living style and preferences. We took a roadtrip to go speak with the builders one last time to make final minor changes, pick out all the fixtures, get the final quote for the home, and give our final stamp of approval to start building… but, that did not go as planned.
There were a few big red flags that started going off the minute we started talking to the builder. Despite being told repeatedly that everything was customizable, we were now informed that we were very limited on our fixture choices… and when I say “Fixtures”, I mean paint color, cabinet color, flooring options, countertops, tile, faucets, lights/fans… and that everything was an “add on”. Yep, that’s right… a “light” in the living room was “extra”… I could have them wire a connection box to the living room ceiling, but I would have to pay extra for a light to be installed. Seems fine, until they gave us our “before” add-ons price and we were already at a base price of $250,000. Yep a quarter million for a mobile home that does not include flooring, countertops, lights… I know the price of housing has gone up, but mobile homes were once considered the “affordable housing option”! A 2bed/1bath 1,000sq ft mobile home cost more than our 3,000sq ft sticks-n-bricks home north of Atlanta 5 years ago! Along with the price shock, the sales person raised more red flags by telling me that an out-swing door was impossible to get for the side door, which was an absolute design deal breaker for me! After telling him that was “deal breaker”, he called his manufacturing plant and asked if it was possible and they said yes. RED FLAG ALERT!! I am sorry, but doing business with someone that is too lazy to do their job is a big no for me! It wasn’t until I threatened to cancel the buy that he actually inquired about the possible change.
There were other VERY LARGE red flags that happened that day, and I left there feeling so uncomfortable with the entire thing! Talking with Chris on the way home, we reviewed all the pros and cons one more time. Pro: the house will be built and installed in 4-6 months… Cons: 1. the “cheap” price of the mobile home was no longer valid and the entire weight of the Pro disappeared! 2. We were sacrificing design and layout for a house that will only save us about $50,000 over a custom sticks and bricks house. We are going back to our original plan with a few changes that will lower the cost to build a sticks-n-bricks home!
We haven’t taken this decision lightly, but in light of everything that we have learned, we decided to stick to our original plan of building this style of country cottage. Ours will be slightly different but the same general concept. The drafted plans are nearly exactly what we will be building but we will be removing the carport from the back to save on cost at this time.
This process has been eye opening on so many levels and we haven’t even made it that far into the process.
Today, we sit down with the builders to talk a little more about the specifics we would like and where we are willing to cut costs… we hope to very soon have a more accurate bid for the project and can finally start breaking ground. Our first bid we received was a very “general” cost based on the homes and stylings of other homes built this year in our area. No matter what, we have decided to simply go forward and figure it out… I may be needing to go back to work, we will see… for now, I am trying to sell my stained glass art as a way to make a little money to help where I can. I love my glass art and hope that this helps me feel productive personally and supportive of the future we are building here.
Keep following along as I continue to document the process of finally building our forever home!
