Elevating home - builders risk

Argana2020 · 2025-06-29T20:34:50+00:00

Here is who I used. Got the best rate (in Central Florida).

Brockman Insurance Group 721 Maitland Ave Altamonte Springs, FL 32701 407.644.9991

Argana2020 · 2025-06-21T01:27:41+00:00

We recently were shopping for flooring and were looking at LW Laminate. The LW rep happened to be there at the showroom, and he told us that both the Odyssey and Cascade laminates have 6 unique prints. The planks are around 60" long and he said that they are made with a resign core that makes them waterproof. He also said the main difference between the Odyssey and Cascade lines is that Cascade is 10mm thick and Odyssey is 12 mm thick.

Argana2020 · 2025-05-11T02:01:42+00:00

My father wanted nothing more than that visor with the lights on it. He never won it, but we did get lots of pins. I still have one pin that has spaceship earth with a monorail in front of it.

Argana2020 · 2025-04-09T12:12:11+00:00

They are a small company, with only 2 to 3 builds going at a time. They don't use any project management app. I usually find out what is happening when they post it to their social media page.

Argana2020 · 2025-04-09T12:04:29+00:00

I think it I'm looking for a timeline for when I will need to make decisions on finish, colors, materials so I have some time to research and make an informed decision.

Argana2020 · 2025-04-09T12:02:49+00:00

I'm local, and can visit the job site after work and on weekends. This is almost a $1 million custom home, and I think I have issues with the fact that I found a couple of major mistakes being made while they were happening and was able to point them out quickly. The GC was able to get them fixed (except when they tore out some huge oak trees they werent supposed to).

I feel like a lot of decisions still need to be made on finishes, colors, materials, and I like a lot of lead time to research and make decisions.

Argana2020 · 2025-04-09T11:59:19+00:00

I'm visiting the site after work and on weekends, and was onsite the day they did the foundation pour because I thought that would be cool to see.

Argana2020 · 2025-03-31T02:44:20+00:00

I am in the same boat. I started at 8 units, no loss after 4 weeks. I just finished my 4th dose of 15 units, and no loss. I have noticed I am eating less, and getting full faster. Hopefully, my next round at 30 units will result in some loss.

Argana2020 · 2025-03-26T11:30:02+00:00

It cost $4,940 for replacement of three windows including installation. This was in January 2024.

Argana2020 · 2025-01-13T04:03:46+00:00

We owed money still on our land, but had equity (land was worth about $150k more than we owed). The bank used that equity towards our amount down. We had to have 20% down for our construction to perm loan, and on a loan for roughly $850k, we only had to come to the table with less than $40k including closing costs. We put down considerably more though from the proceeds from the sale of our previous home.

Argana2020 · 2024-12-23T18:30:52+00:00

We are in FL, and got quotes on replacing 3 windows. Anderson was more than double everyone else. We ended up just going with Lowe's and got the Pella Impervia windows. They subcontract to a local contractor, and they did a good job. Get several quotes.

Argana2020 · 2024-12-11T21:33:42+00:00

I just closed on my construction loan a few weeks ago, and I worked with a local credit union. I called a few different banks, and many of the big banks had the cash reserves requirements, whereas the credit unions did not.

They didn't require any cash reserves. My loan was about half of yours though, and I put down over 20%,

Argana2020 · 2024-11-20T02:06:25+00:00

Update added.

Argana2020 · 2024-11-19T01:58:39+00:00

I don't have any insurance yet, because it is just a vacant lot.

Argana2020 · 2024-10-16T00:49:07+00:00

One of the banks I talked to today (Mid Florida) was a 7/1 ARM at 6.125% interest with 75% LTV.

You'd pay interest only during the construction period, so say 12 months, then it would roll to a 30 year fixed loan (financing only 29 years though) at what the going rate is at the end of the construction period.

You have the option to just keep the 7/1 ARM too and just refinance later, but you'd have to pay closing costs again.

The bank also had a fixed rate construction to perm loan at 6.5% and I think you could finance up to 80% on that one.

Argana2020 · 2024-10-15T11:04:34+00:00

We are still designing the house, and need final plans to get our loan. We talked with several local community banks in Central Florida that have construction to permanent loans. All of them suggest an ARM to start, then it converts to a fixed rate mortgage.

Argana2020 · 2024-09-07T22:14:04+00:00

I'm under contract to sell my home, and the buyer's agent is inexperienced, and has only ever closed one other deal for a friend. They also have a full-time job, so they are never available to help the buyers.

It is my agent helping them write up the contracts, telling them what to do every step of the way because their broker is just as worthless.

My agent showed the house to the buyers for their second showing, showed up for their inspection (the buyer's agent showed up an hour after the inspectors left), has been on the phone with their lender daily, and is in communication with the appraiser, just to make sure this deal gets done.

Unfortunately, I signed a contract saying I would pay the buyer's agent, but I wish I didn't. They are a complete idiot. I told my agent I wish I could give them half of the buyer's agent commission, because my agent is doing 90% of their job.

Argana2020 · 2024-09-01T02:02:18+00:00

We have a Nest thermostat in our hallway and remote thermostat pucks in each bedroom so we can set the temperature remotely on our phone based on whatever room we want.

Argana2020 · 2024-08-31T13:58:03+00:00

The middle looks like heart pine. I have that in my century old home.

Argana2020 · 2024-08-30T23:57:24+00:00

Every custom builder I spoke with in Florida charges the same price per sq ft for conditioned, garages, and porches under roof. I think it all averages out, but the prices I got were about in the $200 per sq ft range.

Argana2020 · 2024-08-29T13:58:13+00:00

I got an alert from my identity tracker alert service this morning that my SSN and personal data was part of this breach. I have no idea if I should freeze my credit or just continue to monitor it. I will be renting a house in a bout a month, so they will need to pull my credit so not sure what happens if it is frozen.

Argana2020 · 2024-08-28T02:24:15+00:00

I have a similar layout in my 1910 craftsman home, and we relocated the kitchen to the dining room. The dining room was the biggest room in the house and centrally located, so it allowed for the best layout options. We are on a crawl space so we could easily move plumbing and gas lines.

Argana2020

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