Got the number

We got our number today - $444,800. So, now we know. It is over where we wanted to be, but not by too much. There are a few larger options that are not included that we want: a front porch, central A/C, and 9' ceilings (instead of the standard 8'). That raises the price to $459,850. This number is significantly higher than our original budget, basically $35,000. That's not a lot in terms of percentage of total, but when we look at the monthly cost, it raises it to almost $500 more per month than we pay now, and that's if we pay our taxes and insurance ourselves (rather than include them in an escrow account).

This is crunch time, time to hunker down and decide if we want to move forward. I feel confident about our house selling, but every $1000 we take off the price adds $1000 we have to finance. We can afford it, even at 460K, but can we afford it comfortably?

We need to decide pretty soon. Every day we delay, we delay breaking ground, and we don't want to do that. It takes about 15 days after we put down our 10% to get started, after the plans are approved by the town and such. It takes about 12 to 17 weeks to build - which puts us into December if we started now. So - do we start, or do we not?

Yes, this is crunch time.