The pre-construction phase of our project seems to be lasting an eternity… because it is… well, so maybe it has been about a year and a half – but when there is a beautiful new home at the end of the construction rainbow – you just want to get there already!

SUBDIVIDE. So first and foremost, we had to subdivide the 3-acre parcel of land that we are purchasing from my father’s roughly 90-acre property. Subdividing involved having the entire property surveyed, presenting the subdivision proposal to our local Development and Review Board, providing the board with answers to their questions at another board meeting, editing the survey multiple times, getting in a fight with the ornery, roughly hundred-year-old surveyor, and finally getting the approval. This process took maybe six to nine months.

PERMITS. Next on the preconstruction to-do list was acquiring permits. Because we live in the extremely environmentally conscious state of Vermont – we had to apply for both a septic permit and a wetlands permit. According to our septic engineer – we had two options: the really-really-expensive mound system that would span across the entire front of our property (and would be a complete eye sore for everyone passing by), or the slightly-less-but-still-pretty-expensive mound system that would be smaller and could be hidden in the rear portion of our property. Obviously we went with the smaller, slightly less expensive option that could be hidden in our backwoods. The only catch with option#2 was that it was a few feet within a buffer zone of some wetlands -so we had to pay a small penalty to the state. All-in-all I think the permit fee and the penalty equated to less than $500 – so definitely not a big deal for the trade-off of NOT having to see the septic system in our front yard!

At the moment, we are still awaiting the final approval of our Wetlands permit. This is mostly due to the painfully slow response time of the Wetlands Engineer/Consultant that we hired. He was recommended by a local developer who happened to be sitting in our DRB hearing – however, I wish we had done some further research and looked for more recommendations. This engineer – while he is a great guy – he has also dragged the pre-construction phase on far longer than it should have taken. We cannot apply for our building permit – or even close on our construction loan – until the engineer completes his work. The state has almost approved the wetlands permit – but it is contingent upon the engineer getting back to them with one more pin location. So, word to the wise, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Find the best and most responsive engineers that you can!

FINANCE. Next, after we get the official stamp of approval on the wetlands permit, we will finalize the purchase of the land from my father, which will be rolled into our construction loan. Our lender combines the land purchase and the construction loan, which is super handy! Fewer closing costs, fewer inspections, fewer lawyer fees, etc. Our lender came highly recommended by my coworker who just built her custom home a couple of years ago. I gained a lot of wisdom from sitting next to her while she muddled her way through the building process. I was there to help her make decisions along the way when she was sick of making choices. She was also very frugal and diligently tried to stick to the original budget -so I know the best sources for all types of materials just from sitting next to her day in and day out at the office. Having a friend who has been through the process recently is truly PRICELESS!

BUILDING PERMIT. Then comes the building permit! We have already reviewed our plans with our Zoning Administrator in town – I highly suggest you do this as well. He stopped by our building site and we went over our plan to remove an old dwelling from the property and replace it with a new home that meets all of the required setbacks. The old house did meet the current zoning rules – so the ZA was thrilled that the new house would be in full compliance. He has given us his verbal approval and has even promised us a credit on the permit fee for the square footage of the dwelling being removed – so YAY! We are actually going to save a few hundred dollars on the building permit! I realize that this will probably be the only item that we are able to save on – so I am FULLY celebrating savings!

CONSTRUCTION. Finally, we will catch back up with our general contractor, Pete, to see if he is actually able to source any reasonably priced lumber to start building! The COVID-19 pandemic has put a large damper on lumber availability due to U.S. sawmills being shut down. Fingers crossed that Pete can source some wood out of Canada! We live about 15 minutes from the Canadian border, so we hope to use that to our advantage throughout the construction process. Being so close to the border gives us more options for sourcing materials and fixtures that might not otherwise be available to us in the U.S, and it is basically like getting everything for 25% off – depending on the daily exchange rate. I plan to purchase many things from IKEA, and luckily there are two locations right up the road in Montreal!

That’s it for now. I will continue to update as things progress! As always, feel free to ask questions