Closing

We were supposed to close today.  It was the sellers agents fault for not notifying title.  So maybe tomorrow?  Also I made a $5000 miss calculation that caused some panic but it seems that we should be ok.

The good news is if you didn't already know.  Eagles were removed from the endangered species list in August of 2007 and the fact that we are a touch more than 600 feet from the nesting tree means we can build all year round.  Way to go eagles for coming back!

Bad news there is a 10 foot area that is more than 40% grade and no permits we issued in the 80s to move the dirt... Blah blah blah means we need to be set back 25 feet from the slope.  So we need a lawyer to help us remove a private drainage easement on the other corner.  So we can shift the house back 10 feet.  That will also make us more than 200 feet from the lake, hence removing more regulations.  Now if can find a lawyer that will call me back.  I have called 3 and emailed one.

Hope we can find the happy place to set the house down in the coming month.

Status update

(does this count as breaking ground?)

Paul and I have been working hard to determine if we can build a house on this lot.  We have had so many ups and downs.  I have said more than once, lets get out now.  Despite this we are still moving forward.  We have the loan more or less ready to go.  We have sewer (think it took 5 or 6 times to find it), water, gas and power on site.  Plans are being engineered, we are talking about moving a easement.  We need to get an environmental study done.  Soon we start to pick out everything that the house will be made up of.   We have a president of the home owners association that is watching over us closely that lives kiddy-corner behind the lot. Because of this we report any work directly to the city inspector before we do anything.  We don't want to accidentally break any rules.   We have talked to the neighbors behind us and they seem great with 3 kids from age 15-9.  The retired UW professor next door to our left is amazing guy.  He has 2 granddaughters that are the same ages as our boys and invited us to swim in his indoor pool when they are here.  What?!  he doesn't even know us.   The house in front of us is empty.  Lets hope someone great buys that place as it would be nice to have access to the water for a kayak one day.

We should own the land on July 28th.  If things progress quickly  we will get our permits and start building before Oct 1  There is a eagle that nests in the area and we can only build the outside (foundation, roof, siding) of the house between August 16 and December 31st.    If things are slow (and this is what will happen) we will start building Aug 16 2015.

Very excited to work with Nick and Tim Casper for the next year (or two).  Looking forward to our first deck party before we move in.... Maybe next spring?