Photo, and more updates

Karen emailed Adam to get a few details. She worried about Tom cutting corners to build the house in our budget. But he said that the quality of the construction, and the materials used, will not be compromised. What might have to be are the luxuries. A standard tub or garden tub instead of whirlpool tub, for example. Formica counters instead of granite. Most of these sorts of things we're OK with. I have simple tastes; Karen's not quite as simple as I, but she sees the big picture, too. Notably, she's not a granite counter-top booster either.

So by using the space more efficiently, and literally cutting corners (eliminating the "jut-outs", for example), costs start to come down. Imagine a bit of a house that sticks out two feet from the rest. There are corners there that must be framed - wood has to be cut, workers have to cut it. Plus the foundation might have to conform to that line, meaning a more complicated form, more time, more people, more concrete even. Then the house is sided, and all the siding has more cuts, more waste, more corners to deal with. The roofline is more complicated. The interior has more corners to tape and mud and clean. It adds up.

Adam also said that $25K can some times make a big difference in the home's appearance, and it might be worth spending. We want to keep it to $400,000 to $425,000 but if we have to go to $450,000, we probably can, and we would if it did make a big difference.

We went to the GE employee website today to look at products and discounts. We will have to fill a kitchen and laundry room with appliances - we're not taking any of it with us, with the probable exception of a microwave oven. I can't say how much we would save by buying in the company, but it is a goodly share. We're going to shop around at area stores, however, to see if we can puruse the GE models in real life. Shopping online for a refrigerator is tough.

I plan to take a photo of the site everyday once they break ground, but I do need a "baseline" photo of the site before any major work has been done. I'll take the photo from the same place each time and hope to center it on the same tree each time, too. I'll hedge my bets by taking two: one at 17mm and one at 30mm. Here is the one from 17mm:



I'm not sure how long this link will work, but here is the MLS listing for our house:

MLS