After reviewing our plans and exterior building materials, the HOA reluctantly accepted our house with conditions. There was hesitation because apparently, there's a rule (I didn't find it in the HOA charter) that states that garages can not face the front of the property. This rule is in place so that you're not looking into someone's garage and all their clutter, when the door is open. However, the HOA ruled that we'll be able to retain our design since we're situated 250 ft. back from the road. Indeed, you can't even see our house from the street... the street that only has, and probably will only ever have, two houses. Unfortunately, they did deny us the use of the polyvinyl siding, so we'll have to use cement board. Luckily, I've found a company named Nichiha that makes a great looking cedar cement board siding. It's a little thicker than other cement boards, which produces a deeper shadow line and better grain quality. It's probably more expensive too.
We met with the surveyor one fine summer afternoon to stake the corners of the house. He was very helpful and allowed us to measure out a few placements and rotations, to achieve the best sitting and view. We ended up moving the house 8 feet forward and 5 degrees counter clockwise from our original location, to get the best view of the great room. Here's an overlay I created from an aerial shot from my quadcopter.
As you can see, some of the larger white pines will have to come down, but at least we'll get to preserve the large oak in the back yard. The stakes probably sat there a month while we battled (waited) the architect for the final design release.
In the meantime, we needed to finally secure our construction loan. The process took a few months and required all banking and investment documents for the most recent 2 months. Since it took so long, I did need submit extra documents as they became available. In the end, the final closing on the mortgage took 20 minutes. I guess it's easier to sign your life away than it is for them to decide they want it.
Additionally, we needed to purchase a special kind of home owners insurance. Since there isn't technically a home to insure yet, we needed to purchase builders risk insurance. It covers material theft, damage, and accidents. When the build is complete, it changes to a normal home owners policy.
Some additional costs were also incurred before we could break ground. The city required payments to be made for water and sewer permits and soil survey permits. These probably totaled around ten thousand dollars. That doesn't even include the actual running of these utilities to the house. It's just a stamp on a piece of paper.
Build progress pictures are coming next....
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