We got the pre-approval and we moved out

The past few weeks have been insanely busy and stressful for our family. The kids and I moved in with family (in a different state), we received our pre-approval, and the kids started new schools. I'm happy to say that things are finally starting to slow down a little bit.

  

When we first started talking about building a house, our main concern was the finish date. We knew there was no way it would be finished before our lease was up. We discussed different options like extending our lease, moving to an apartment for a few months and the worst case scenario... move in with family. The more we talked about it we realized that moving in with family was our best option. Our family agreed and they didn't hesitate one bit when we asked. We are so blessed to have such a supportive family!

We decided to move all of our belongings into storage. We opted to go with a container from United and we couldn't be more pleased. Their prices were extremely reasonable and they've been great to work with. They dropped the container in our driveway and we spent about 3 weeks loading it. We called them when we were finished and they picked it up and moved it to their climate controlled storage facility. When we move into our new house they'll bring it to us. How convenient is that?

There is only one downside to staying with family. We're located 4 hours away from where our house is being built. That means a LOT of travel for me. Joe is staying in Cleveland with his brother, so he can drive out to the homesite every couple of days. I'm going to need to travel for the pre-construction meeting (Sept. 10th) and to take kids for orthodontist appointments. I just keep telling myself.. it's only temporary!

There are so many positives with staying with family. It's a complete change of pace (and lifestyle) for our kids. They've always been raised in the city. We're in NO CELL SERVICE, WV now. We're so far out that we have to plan trips to Wal-Mart. It's a 45 minute drive to the closest city where one is located. Thankfully, we do have somewhat of high speed internet!

All in all this is going to be a great experience for the kids. They're learning how to conserve water (we have well water here), grow their own food, drive tractors and 4-wheelers with Pap, catch butterflies, watch out for snakes, build campfires, what fracking is .. and so much more! It almost makes me want to move here... ALMOST.. then I remember all the conveniences and opportunities of living in a big city. I also watch the 75-100 big trucks that drive by every day going to the newly built deep gas wells down the road. It's sad to see what they're doing to the environment here.

Now that things have slowed down a bit, I'll be able to blog more. We did make flooring changes AGAIN and we added on the morning room, took out the basement powder room, downgraded our front elevation.. and a few other things. I'll do another post with all of the updates very soon!

Update on Flooring, loan pre-approval and we're moving in with family

We went to our second appointment with Rite Rug last week. As I mentioned previously, we felt a little bit rushed at our first appointment. After returning home, I had second thoughts about the honey oak laminate wood flooring that we selected. I emailed the sales rep at Rite Rug and she scheduled another appointment for us.

The second appointment went a little bit better. It didn't take much time at all. We pulled all of the level F laminate wood flooring out and placed it next to the spiced maple cabinets.  After going back and forth over a few, we decided on the Mahogany/Orient Silk. It's the darkest of the level F selections. We also changed the color of our handrail too. I can't remember what it is though. I'll have to check and update the Our Selections page.

I do have to admit, I was a little bit nervous about the bigger pattern of the mahogany, but it's growing on me! Our appliances will be all black. I think this flooring is going to provide just the right amount of contrast.

I can't believe how hard it was to select flooring! I thought it would be pretty easy to go in, look at the selections and choose. Boy, was I ever wrong! The carpet and vinyl we're pretty easy to choose but I completely stressed about the laminate wood. I think it was a mix of there not being enough to choose from and me over-thinking the whole thing. Whew! I'm so happy that part of the process is over.

There isn't much of anything else going on right now. We're just waiting on the pre-approval from NVR. Our loan originator is AWESOME! She's been so much fun to work with. We've been trying to get our credit score up a little higher so we can qualify for a better interest rate. We met with her for about three hours one evening to discuss everything. She gave us some really solid and honest advice. We followed everything she said to do and we'll know soon if it paid off!

The next few weeks will be crazy busy for us! We're getting our house all packed up to go into storage. The lease at our current house is up on August 31st.

We decided to move in with family until our house is finished instead of extending our lease. This started out as a 'worst case scenario'. I mean, who really wants to move back in with their parents that live in the middle of no cell service WV with 4 kids in tow? Mom, if you're reading this.. I love you but you need to move out of the hills and closer to Cleveland!

After a LOT more thought, moving in with family became our 'best case scenario'!  Can you say...no rent or utilities for 3-4 months?! The only downside is, Joe has to stay in the Cleveland area for work. Thankfully, his brother lives nearby and offered him a place to stay rent and utility free. God, I love our family! We are beyond blessed when it comes to family.

I'll have to do another post all about how this is going to work for us. 

Have you ever moved in with family while you're house was being built? I'd love to read about your experience. Please feel free to leave a link in the comments section!