Pandemic Home Building

 Jan and I moved to South Padre Island at the tip of Texas back in 2016. We sold our home in Leisurewoods that we had lived in for 32 years. Having a 2003 Harley UltraGlide, we traded our leather boots and chaps for sandals and swimsuits. After months of looking, we found a 2 bed 2 bath condo on the bay side. It has been fun and interesting after 5 years, but we finally decided it was time to move back inland. Weekends here on the island can get very busy. Lots of traffic. And then there is hurricane season that we deal with each year.  So off to the Hill Country north of San Antonio we headed to find some acreage to build on. This is the view we have from our condo balcony. Sunsets here were just beautiful.

 We searched the Hill Country north of Canyon Lake. Finally stumbled upon The Legends at Rancho del Lago. This subdivision is a gated community in the very small town of Fischer, Texas. Working with a local realtor suggested by the home builder, he showed us a 1.40 acre plot heavily wooded. We really liked the plot, but there was a 5' wall of solid rock across the front property line.  Being the right price, we fell for it, and bought the lot. Being heavily wooded, the lot needed to be cleared of the cedar and some small oaks in order to make room for the house we had selected. We hired the brother of the realtor who sold us the lot to do the clearing and driveway cut. He had to cut thru that wall of rock in order to lay road base down and get us a driveway passthru to the property.  Above shows the construction driveway that was cut thru the rock wall.  Above shows the cleared area that was once heavily wooded with mostly cedar trees.

 While looking for a lot, we stumbled upon Sierra Classic Custom Homes on 281 near the town of Spring Branch. Killing some time, we went in discussed available models, prices, etc. The salesman showed us the current model home, and we really liked how it was built. We decided to look some more, and eventually found Creative Homes in the town of Canyon Lake. We talked to the owners and found a model there we liked as well.  The problem we had was getting both of them to give us a build price. For some reason, maybe the pandemic, lumber prices had gone thru the roof.  Each was kinda reluctant to give us a firm answer on the price. It took awhile, but we eventuall got some numbers.  We liked the model we had picked at Creative Homes a little better than the one at Sierra Classic. But eventually we decided to go with Sierra Classic due to a couple of reasons I will not dwell upon here.  After deciding to go with the model shown above, we signed a contract with Sierr...

Sierra Classic had given us the name of a lender with Colonial Mortgage. I thought, kool, we had Colonial as our Mortgage Lender when we lived on Leisurewoods Drive in Buda.  We contacted the lender and met him one afternoon at the Sierra Classic Model home. After disclosing all our financials to him, it looked like we had a good chance of getting this done. But then, once he sent us the preliminary disclosures, he had us getting an ARM - Adjustable Rate Mortgage. I said, NOPE! Give me a 30 year conventional fixed rate loan.  After hem-hawing around, he said he would send me another disclosure with a fixed rate. We waited, we waited, and nothing.  So, off we went to find another lender. Creative Homes had given us the name of a lender that they use, so we contacted Thrive Mortgage. Again, sounds like a nice enough guy, so we dumped all  our financials to him. This is who we are currently working with, and so far it has been ok.  However, I think a lobotomy or co...