But for now, check out the newest photos

A few last minute touch ups and it is all ours!

We are going to be out on the road with John and Chris for a few days but wait for the final house building post coming soon!

We were also able to negotiate a huge increase to the size of the back yard. That is for Phase 2 of the house.

They have the counters in for the bathroom and all of the banister work is installed, but not yet stained.

Finally, we also have a garage door, drive way and front steps. Can’t wait to have a sweet car up on blocks for all the neighbors to enjoy

However, yesterday and today were very exciting. Day 9 we went to the the home store and selected all of the features for our new house build. Yes this process takes some time and is sort of intimidating. Remember that you are on a budget when you get to this stage and be practical.  Today being day 10 of this grand adventure, we selected all of our flooring, which was exciting as well. I think the strangest thing that we never thought about was the insulation and energy saving features for the house. These things are rather expensive things up front, special linings, roofing, filters, etc. Yet it was cool to look up and see the future costs savings and environmental savings.

Days 2 through 10 Lessons:

Remember you still have to pay for this thing each month when selecting what you would like.
Determine what is practical and is a wise investment.
Ask for more time is you want to get a better grasp on what you need to buy and what you can make a future weekend project.
Do you really need $1000 worth of door handles?

Step 1 – Pay for some dirt.

After walking through countless model homes, Diane and I finally got to the point were we were choosing very similar floor plans and it was time to pick one. The model we decided on we actually visited a few times before and really liked it. We heard about a new development here in Las Vegas and decided to take a look. Turned out the new development was exactly the same floor plans as the one we liked so we went back and looked to see which lots were available. Las Vegas is known for smashing houses very close to each other and we didn’t want to build anything new that was in the middle of the block. That is when we saw that there as a perfect corner lot available that would hold the floor plan that we wanted. That was all it took, we help the lot on Saturday and sign the paperwork on Sunday. Now the fun begins.

Check out our new pile of dirt.

In front of the new lot.

East View

Northwest View

To help anyone else out there that is thinking about going through this process I will be putting up things we learn from each step of the process. I am posting what I think are the lessons learned now, and will have a full recap when the house is complete. Enjoy.

Step 1 Lessons:

Take your time to feel out what area of town, what floor plans you really like. Don’t get caught up in the model homes, they are designed to trick you. Make sure that the investment you are making is one that you can stand behind for a very long time.

There you have it.
Check Back Daily for updates and progress reports.

Well with the last weekend in 2007, Diane and I decided we needed to finish up a few things. Actually, there was one thing that Diane has been wanting to do. On Saturday, in a tear jerker, she traded in her faithful 1998 Mustang GT Convertible, for this new one.

And Thanks to my Mom and Dad, Diane and I can have wine at the perfect temp.

Looking forward to another great year in 2008.

Somethings you will notice, my blog roll (The list of other blogs to the right) I will be posting links to other family and friends websites, please send over any links you would like added. Also check out the Utterz.com widget to the side for the up to the minute of what my crazy life has to offer. Finally, yes a FaceBook or Myspace page does similar things, but this is way cooler, but don’t worry links to my pages are also on the right.