we're building our dream home!
Never in a million years did I ever think that we’d be in a position to build a dream home for our family. Before I start, let’s put this disclaimer out there. I don’t actually believe in “dream” homes because our dreams, like our wants, and even needs, change as we change, our family dynamics grow, and our priorities shift. So while right now, this is our dream, I know better than to make absolute statements about what life will look like in the future.
With that being said…. y’all… This is definitely the dream for right now!
To catch those of y’all who aren’t familiar with our journey up to speed, my husband and I built our first home in 2018. We decided to go with a 3-bedroom townhome through our builder, and the entire process took about 7 months, beginning with us signing the contract and getting pre-approved to move forward in April 2018, and finally closing and moving in that November. We actually documented a lot of the homebuilding process on our YouTube channel.
After about 3 years in our townhome, with a growing family business and throwing a second baby in the mix, we quickly realized that we were outgrowing our space. We lost our dining room to a makeshift office/shooting room, our basement/man cave turned into our studio, and the only guest space we had turned into our second daughter’s nursery. I still don’t have an office, and our living room is essentially the playroom. Now.. could we make it work? — absolutely! But we came across an amazing opportunity to get something bigger and better!
We decided to go with a semi-custom home through a well-known builder in our area and in an up-and-coming area in our county. By signing up to be one of the first families in the neighborhood, we were able to buy our land at a lower price and were able to build equity almost immediately. Our exact home in our community is already going for over $65k more than what we contracted for only 6 months ago, and we haven’t even broken ground yet!
Unlike the fully custom home-building process, when going with a semi-custom home, we are limited to the kinds of structural customizations that we can do with our house. The model is pre-arranged, however, we’re able to add things like a bedroom in lieu of a study, or a full bathroom in lieu of a half bathroom. However, the overall layout generally stays the same. But when it comes to design, we have a lot more freedom in our choices. For example, we are able to pick out things like the brick color of the house, the cabinet colors in the kitchen and bathrooms, or the style of the hardwood floors.
We’re just getting the process started, and I haven’t decided how I’d like to document the process this time around, but be sure to follow us on IG for updates once the process starts picking up. In the meantime, I’ll be sure to share more details and inspiration for our new home!
