We are planning to build within the next year. This will be the first of many if everything goes as well as expected. Your book and website keep me pumped, thanks again. Patti in Salisbury, NC

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My First Blog

Posted to SchnabelEstate by Michelle in Avon, IN on 11/16/2007 5:41:58 PM

I guess a lot has happened, and I better start journaling....

Just when I figured another year would pass before we found property... a perfect piece of land pretty much fell into our lap.  18.79 acres priced well below market. The property had a small 1950's house in bad shape. There was also a falling down barn, a detached garage and a 24x40 pole barn, and LOTS of trash. OK... so it needed some work, but we could see the potential. You can find flat open land all day long for $10K/acre. But finding something with character... well we've been looking for at least 5 years. This is heavily wooded, with varying terrain and creek running thru. We closed on the property on June 29, 2007.

Steve decided to keep the pole barn and make it his wood shop. Much bigger than the small detached garage he has now! He's not done yet, but he's replaced the roof and 3 of the 4 windows. He also has power thanks to the electric company moving the meter from the house to the shop. He's planning to replace the ceiling and paint the outside. The wiring will need to be upgraded and some form of heat installed. The shop will be command central when we start building!

Demolition is done. We spent a few weeks taking out anything of value. The actual demolition took about 3 days and 5 dumpsters. We filled one dumpster with scrap metal worth about $475. That puts our total scrap profit at about $700 so far, which helps to offset some of the costs. The final trash haul for one of the dumpsters was 20 ton! That's the one that had all the trash (and some dirt) from the ravine. I don't understand how people can just dump trash on their own property like that. You wouldn't believe how many bottles were in there!!! Brian also cleared some trees away from the shop. Final bill..... $3300 excavation and $1480 trash haul.

House plans were finished Sept 16th. I went with a guy who charges $0.35 per finished square foot. The process took about 6 weeks. Finished plans cost me $1151. That included electronic copy and 3 full size prints; front, rear and side elevations, foundation plan, first floor plan, second floor plan and a roof plan. No mechanical plans included, as he and others told me that the subs don't use them anyway. I LOVE the house! It's timber frame and craftsman inspired. Plank and shake siding and stone 3' up the bottom. A big covered porch. Traditional shingle roof, but metal roof for porch and dormers. I designed it around what I wanted on the main floor and the girls wanting to be upstairs. Adding a full walk-out basement makes it a 6000+ sq ft house! Bigger than we really need, so I may end up converting some of the planned basement to crawl space to save money.

• Main floor 2359
• master suite
• guest room and full bath
• great room with cathedral ceiling (for decorative trusses)
• kitchen with walk-in pantry
• dining room
• laundry room
• mud room with cubbies for each family member
• 2nd floor 931
• 2 bedrooms for the girls
• large shared bath with double sinks
• laundry chute
• Bonus room over garage 550
• future play room (but they will use it unfinished I'm sure!!)
• Unfinished walk-out basement 2392
• future craft studio, rec room, media room, full bath
• 3+ car garage 910

Slowly but surely we are gathering references and estimates. I'll save that for the next blog.

I had a great initial meeting with the soil engineer 2 weeks ago. He will be great to work with. In Hendricks county we must have a plot plan, septic plan (for the septic permit) and erosion control plan in order to get a building permit. The soil engineer will prepare all of those plans. He also has a soil scientist test the soil. He estimated $1500-$2000 and after walking the site said we would be pushing the upper cost. We had some idea of where to put the house, but wanted to talk with him first. I've been going crazy ever since, trying to make a final decision. I think I made up my mind today, but I'll go back a few times this weekend and make sure it "feels right".

Well, that's it for now. I'll blog later with an update on estimates.

Photos

big machine...small house	progress!!	cool!
1st window

My First Blog

Posted to SchnabelEstate by Michelle in Avon, IN on 11/16/2007 5:41:40 PM

I guess a lot has happened, and I better start journaling....

Just when I figured another year would pass before we found property... a perfect piece of land pretty much fell into our lap.  18.79 acres priced well below market. The property had a small 1950's house in bad shape. There was also a falling down barn, a detached garage and a 24x40 pole barn, and LOTS of trash. OK... so it needed some work, but we could see the potential. You can find flat open land all day long for $10K/acre. But finding something with character... well we've been looking for at least 5 years. This is heavily wooded, with varying terrain and creek running thru. We closed on the property on June 29, 2007.

Steve decided to keep the pole barn and make it his wood shop. Much bigger than the small detached garage he has now! He's not done yet, but he's replaced the roof and 3 of the 4 windows. He also has power thanks to the electric company moving the meter from the house to the shop. He's planning to replace the ceiling and paint the outside. The wiring will need to be upgraded and some form of heat installed. The shop will be command central when we start building!

Demolition is done. We spent a few weeks taking out anything of value. The actual demolition took about 3 days and 5 dumpsters. We filled one dumpster with scrap metal worth about $475. That puts our total scrap profit at about $700 so far, which helps to offset some of the costs. The final trash haul for one of the dumpsters was 20 ton! That's the one that had all the trash (and some dirt) from the ravine. I don't understand how people can just dump trash on their own property like that. You wouldn't believe how many bottles were in there!!! Brian also cleared some trees away from the shop. Final bill..... $3300 excavation and $1480 trash haul.

House plans were finished Sept 16th. I went with a guy who charges $0.35 per finished square foot. The process took about 6 weeks. Finished plans cost me $1151. That included electronic copy and 3 full size prints; front, rear and side elevations, foundation plan, first floor plan, second floor plan and a roof plan. No mechanical plans included, as he and others told me that the subs don't use them anyway. I LOVE the house! It's timber frame and craftsman inspired. Plank and shake siding and stone 3' up the bottom. A big covered porch. Traditional shingle roof, but metal roof for porch and dormers. I designed it around what I wanted on the main floor and the girls wanting to be upstairs. Adding a full walk-out basement makes it a 6000+ sq ft house! Bigger than we really need, so I may end up converting some of the planned basement to crawl space to save money.

• Main floor 2359
• master suite
• guest room and full bath
• great room with cathedral ceiling (for decorative trusses)
• kitchen with walk-in pantry
• dining room
• laundry room
• mud room with cubbies for each family member
• 2nd floor 931
• 2 bedrooms for the girls
• large shared bath with double sinks
• laundry chute
• Bonus room over garage 550
• future play room (but they will use it unfinished I'm sure!!)
• Unfinished walk-out basement 2392
• future craft studio, rec room, media room, full bath
• 3+ car garage 910

Slowly but surely we are gathering references and estimates. I'll save that for the next blog.

I had a great initial meeting with the soil engineer 2 weeks ago. He will be great to work with. In Hendricks county we must have a plot plan, septic plan (for the septic permit) and erosion control plan in order to get a building permit. The soil engineer will prepare all of those plans. He also has a soil scientist test the soil. He estimated $1500-$2000 and after walking the site said we would be pushing the upper cost. We had some idea of where to put the house, but wanted to talk with him first. I've been going crazy ever since, trying to make a final decision. I think I made up my mind today, but I'll go back a few times this weekend and make sure it "feels right".

Well, that's it for now. I'll blog later with an update on estimates.