Day 169: Starting on the Tin Roof

We had hoped to get started putting up the tin earlier, but March winds arrived earlier than expected.  Gusting winds and 21' pieces of tin do not go well together.  Once again this is a two man operation.  It is a bit slower but much better on the budget.

The color of the tin is light stone.  It seems most people do a dark roof and light siding, but we have chosen to do the opposite.  Once they reached the porch on the front, they stopped and worked on the back.  W asked our contractor friend to come by for a short consultation.  He wanted to make sure the roof on the porch was done properly so there was no danger of leaks.

Unfortunately W had a prior engagement for the days following this one so work on the roof had to be postponed.  One of our elderly neighbors was particularly happy to see the roof going up.   I have to agree that progress even if small is good!

Third Times a Charm

I have never been so happy to be in debt.  Plan C worked!!  The best part is that we did not even have to wait 10 business days.  The paperwork was received on a Monday, and we received a check the following Monday.  After the months of fighting with the banks, I was expecting this to be a headache too.  It could not have been simpler.

Wonder how it works?  We filled out a short online form with the 401(k) holding company.  We then printed out a form to sign and return along with the required paperwork.  We sent:

• Copies of the land deeds showing that the land was in our name
• A declaration of intent to build, which we had a neighbor notarize for us to show we were very very serious
• A cost estimation which I had done to satisfy bank #1
• Copy of the floor plan (this was not required, but I figured it would not hurt)

We will make bi-weekly payments with the amount taken out of W's check.  We picked a repayment time that gave us the ability to make payments even if our financial situation tightened up a bit.  Our goal remains to pay it back earlier.

The payments are $200/month less than we would have paid the bank.  This is mainly due to the fact that the interest rate is 1.25% lower.  All of the repayment amount including the interest will go into W's 401(k).  

At this point it really was the best choice for us.  My only regret is that we did not do this before we ever met with bank #1 . It was a lesson learned, and I prefer to focus on the fact that things work out for the best in the end.

Somewhere around Day 157: Working on the Roof

I should have done a better job of keeping up exactly when this was done, but I did not.  We decided to put tin on the roof.  It is funny how when I was young all of the homes had tin.  Then people went to shingles.  Now everyone seems to be going back to tin roofs.

These lathing boards go down before the tin is put on.  We bought them from the same place we are getting the metal for the roof.  They were cheaper from there than from the building supply stores.

I guess W and my dad did well.  Our contractor friend told us that it looked real good.  He is particular so that was high praise coming from him.  Next up is the tin!

Plan C

Bank #2 is willing to work with us.  However the lawyer is requiring several extra steps which means more money in her pocket and less in mine.  I can understand how our land situation would confuse someone.  Our entire lot is composed of four individual lots.  About 38 years ago a road used to run between two of those.  The road was moved, but the county records still show a "road".  These lots of land have been owned by someone in my family for longer than I can remember.  I am not worried.

The lawyer sees the situation differently though.  We have put bank #2 on hold while we try a third option.  W is allowed to borrow from his 401(k).  He could actually borrow for a number of reasons, but we are looking into the option that allows for purchasing or building a primary residence.  There are no penalties as long as we pay the amount back within 15 years.

We submitted the required paperwork and are waiting the 10 business days for a decision.  We will have an answer by the end of next week.  For now this seems like the best option.  We will be repaying into his account and even the interest paid will go to us.  Stay tuned for the company's decision.

Day 140-141: Bank #1 and the Nasty Letter

We had not closed out things with Bank #1 just in case we hated Bank #2.  I was busy doing stuff around the house and did not get around to opening the mail until 6 pm.  I found a letter from Bank #1.  It stated in not so nice terms that we did not have insurance on the new house.  Bank #1 threatened to purchase insurance for us and we would pay whatever they decided to charge.  I was livid.

We do have builder's risk insurance and have had it long before we signed any loan paperwork with Bank #1.  To make matters worse we had submitted all of the policy information to the less than organized loan officer at Bank #1.  What she did with it, I have no idea.

The following day I put in a call to the insurance department at Bank #1.  They had no record of any insurance policy.  To stall them I submitted the policy information.  I then called the customer service number for Bank #1 and got the loan payoff amount.

You may wonder why we needed to pay off a loan when we never received any money.  Bank #1 took us for quite a bit of money in fees.  This was very clever on there part.  They made money for doing absolutely nothing.  I was angry enough with them to pay this amount and consider it a lesson learned.

The lesson - if you have a bad feeling about a person's professionalism, take heed.  It also pays to check around and talk to other people.  Once we started having major problems with Bank #1, we discovered that many other people did too.  We never had to tell anyone the name of Bank #1.  All they had to hear was bank problems, and they could tell us the name.

Day 136: Bank #2

In the interest of keeping this realistic, I am going to share more of our construction loan experience.  I had been frustrated with Bank #1 since we started.  The loan officer has been described by a friend as "flaky".  She would call me one afternoon and ask a bunch of questions.  The next morning she would call back and start the conversation with "I think we talked yesterday, but I have some questions".  She then proceeded to ask me the same questions again.  That is one example of several just so you know our decision to talk with Bank #2 was not an impulse one.

The second problem was that Bank #1 had never actually given us any money.  Every time we called, the loan officer came up with something we needed to get done first.  We would finish that and there was something else we needed to do first.

The paperwork with Bank #2 was 1/10 of what was required by Bank #1.  The loan officer at Bank #2 kept asking us questions trying to find out the problem.  She could not understand what Bank #1's problem was.  We signed a couple of papers and started the proceedings all over again.

By this point we felt we would have been moving right along.  Instead it turned into one step forward, two steps back.  The story does not end there though.  More tomorrow!

Day 135 & Some Frustrating News

The weather cooperated and we were able to finish drying in the house.  No additional pictures since the back looks just like the front.  In case you really miss having pictures, here is one of the chief supervisor, Leo.

I do have a picture of one of the gable ends.  Our sub-contractor made use of all the scrap pieces of plywood to cover it.  No waste!  That is great for our budget and our trash disposal.  

The frustrating news came from our bank regarding the construction loan.  Keep in mind that we signed the loan paperwork before Christmas.  Up to this point the bank had given us $0.  The appraiser came back out and the loan officer finally called to offer us an amount of money.  Our sub-contractor and his workers flipped out.  He said he had never seen a house build to this point with such a tiny amount of money being offered.  I have to agree that W and I felt the same way.  Our sub-contractor made a call, and I talked with someone at another bank.

Check back tomorrow to see where this goes.....