::update::

New exterior with less porches and farmhouse siding

We have not actually started the house yet.  We closed on our first loan at the end of November 2016.  It is now early February 2017.  BUT – I am not frustrated.  This process just takes a while and we where working around holiday and such.  The big thing is the planning all has to be perfect before the bank will approve the renovation.  We bought the house on the first loan with a conventional loan and now we are refinancing it with a 203K loan.  The previous owner didn't want to wait for a 203K loan to go through and now I see why.  It does take awhile.  203K loan is a federal loan that is designed for people to take structures that already exist within the community and finance money to fix up those structures, instead of ripping them down.

• Rules of 203K as I understand them:
• Zero down   
• Very detailed plan done by a professional
• The work has to be done by a professional
• Done within six months  
• 10% contingency plan built in to the total loan
• Has to make sense with the appraisals in the area 
• Each county has a different max amount that you can loan 
• Work can only be on the structure itself, it can’t be on any outbuildings

That is a very broad overview, if anyone wants more deets, or wants to actually talk numbers, I got nothing to hide and I am happy to discuss it.     

                

     Now that our plan is totally finalized and all the least uncomfortable cut backs have been made (we cut the budget 80K from the first quote to what we actually submitted), we have all our information submitted to the bank.  Now we wait till they say yes or no, and we work from there.  I think we will actually break ground sometime in early March and then it is full steam ahead.  We only have our rental house till August at the very latest, but we will deal with that problem latter.  We might end up living in our barn for awhile!  Wouldn’t that be a fun story to tell the grandbabies?  I’ll deal with that when we get to it. 

     Speaking of the barn – Josh has been working like crazy in his future shop area.  He has the entire ceiling and all the random things being stored above it gone.  He replaced the ceiling with barn metal and is adding insulation.  Don’t forget that it is the dead of winter here right now, so all that is pretty darn impressive.  Once it warms up a little we will power wash in the inside and get started painting.  The barn work is never going to stop, but we saw that coming and think of it as part of the adventure.