It's really kinda sad.

So it's tax season and I'm a CPA, so you can guess why I haven't updated my blog. We are pretty slammed at work, but I've survived 4 of these things before, so I know it's doable, and April 15, 2009 will be here in just a few short weeks. This year, I have had some pretty tough clients, but I'm not going to let them steal my joy.

Now, for the house update. We have talked to a few more builders and have some things in the works. Everything is still going according to schedule, so I am thankful for that. Today, we put the entire contents of our attic in a storage unit, and I'm sure I will be paying for that tomorrow with sore muscles and an aching back. It wasn't fun, but I did get a sense of accomplishment after it was all said and done. Stephanie plans to spend this entire week (her spring break) turning our house upside down and getting it ready for its new owners. We even got a For Sale sign at Wal-Mart today. I will have to admit that it was really kinda sad putting that sign in the cart. I love our little house. I know that it's not big enough for the family I want, but it's my first house. The house I bought for my bride. We've made so many memories in this house, but I just remind myself that it is just a house: cement, drywall, lumber, plywood, nails, glue, paint, carpet, and the never to be forgotten air conditioning unit. We will take the memories and most of the furniture with us, so I think that will help me.

On another note, I have really spent so much time financially planning for this house. Running this number vs. that number, what if this is the interest rate and should we save this or pay down our mortgage....etc., etc., etc. Then, about four or five Sundays ago I was sitting in preaching at church. I begin to think about how I had spent so much time preparing financially, and had not spent near enough time, save a prayer here or there, asking the Lord what He would have me do. Well, I asked the Lord to guide me through this whole house selling and building process. I asked Him to reveal to me His plan for our immediate future, and for guidance. The Lord spoke to me more clearly than ever that Sunday. Well, it wasn't like He sent an Angel to the church and she delivered a message straight from Him, but it was so evident, so crystal clear. In summation, the Lord told me "Whoooooaaaa now big-boy, you're going to build your dream house, huh? Isn't that kind of selfish to use all of your resources for YOUR house? Everything you have is a result of my blessing on your life. Have I not blessed you with the most wonderful wife, a career, and a supporting family? Before you go out and build that house, hot shot, I want you to do this...." What the Lord said to me will have to be kept between me and Him, because what I did is something the bible is pretty clear about...it is just done in secrecy. I told Steph about what the Lord called us to do, and she was on board. We did it.....I'm not going to lie, it wasn't easy, but it was necessary. Isn't it great that even though we might be pretty insignificant in grand scheme of this world, we are so important to God that He made a plan for our life and gave us such clear direction right when I needed it!

A Positive Outcome of a Negative Economy

When the economy is in the tank, the federal government often lowers interest rates to make money cheaper. So, the economy and debt rates are positively correlated. This is great news to anyone who is planning to acquire mortgage debt. In early 2008, mortgage interest rates (30 yr. fixed) hovered around 6.5%. Now that the economy has declined, the rate is right around 5%! This can add up to big savings on your monthly mortgage payment.

For example, if you took out a 30 year mortgage for $100,000 compounded monthly at 6.5%, your payment (before taxes, insurance, and PMI) would be $632. With a 5.0% interest rate, your payment would be $537. A savings of $95 a month! The savings are even higher when borrowing larger sums of money. Under the same conditions as above, but assuming your new mortgage is $250,000, your monthly payment at 6.5% would be $1,580. At 5.0% it decreases to $1,342, a savings of $238 a month.

I have posted a mortgage rate chart on the left side of my blog homepage to help us keep up with mortgage rates. One of my favorite movies is "Black Sheep" with Chris Farley and David Spade. I point that out because this post makes me seem like a total anal math nerd, and I would rather come across as a fun, go-with-the-flow type.

Literally Thousands!

There are literally thousands of floorplans to choose from. How in the world do you pick?!? Here are the main criteria:

• 4 Bedrooms
• Master on main
• Two door garage on the side
• Bonus Room
• Open floorplan w/ kitchen that allows the cook a view into the family room
• Screened porch
• Front porch big enough for rocking chairs
• Spacious laundry room
• Two sinks in the master bathroom
• Built-in computer area or a study
• Self-Cleaning (just seeing if you're paying attention)

After months of looking in houses (sorry realtors, we were just checking out the floorplan) we came up with one that we both like. We plan to make many modifications. First we'll add screen to the porch on back of house. There will not be a porch behind the master bedroom. It will be enclosed as part of the house and called a "sitting area". We plan to make it a nursery until our final child is in his/her own bed upstairs though. This should save us some trips up and down those steps. In the "hearth room" we're editing out the fire place, and it will be a formal dining room. However, we plan to eat in that room a lot, because as you can see there is no "breakfast area". So it may be a little more like a "casual dining room". Finally, the garage doors will be on the side of the house, and the front will have windows where the garage door is now. At first, we thought the bonus room may go unfinished because of budget limitations. But, the one builder we talked to so far said that it would be within our budget to go ahead and finish it. Great News!

Since I am an analytical person, and by no means visual; I wanted to see the floor plan in person. Can you believe that we found the exact plan was built right here in the Spartanburg. We went and looked in it, and it seemed perfect. I will admit, I felt unworthy of the master suite. Honestly, who needs that much space just to sleep in?? JC Penney couldn't fill up that closet. It's like the size of our current house. It will be great though. I can imagine our kids "camping out" in Mom and Dad's room sometimes, just like I did when I was a boy!!

We're both getting excited now! We were told we needed to start meeting with builders about a year out... So we did just that. Our first meeting was on 12/16/08 and was with "Builder A". More about him in my next post.

Until then, here's the plan:

For Starters

This is the first post in a blog that I plan to use to document the building of our house. I decided to write this blog because of a personality test I took that revealed that I am a private person. This test was administered by the esteemed folks at facebook, so I have complete confidence in its accuracy. :)~ So I am going to publicize this experience in my life to try and become a less private person.

Let me first bring you up-to-date on where we are… Stephanie (my wife) and I decided that we wanted our children to be born in the house that they eventually move out of when they have matured. We both have a desire to have a large family, of not only our own children, but also some adopted ones too. STOP THE PRESSES! Usually when I reveal that to people they give me the, “you’d better wait until you have one child, before you decide that you’re going to have four!!!” Well for those of you that had that as a first thought, let me tell you how I feel about life. God put me here to be a Dad and Stephanie here to be a Mom and teacher. This I know beyond any doubt. I love children and realize that there are challenges associated with them. However, I’ve never had a reward in my life that I didn’t have to work hard for to earn. My children will be my reward and I plan to put in a lot of hard work. (Side-note: I am reminded of the gift Jesus gave us of our salvation… he did all the work for our sins, and we just accept him into our heart and we are invited into heaven...that is one reward that doesn’t seem to require much work at face value, but being a Christian in this day is not easy, keep the faith everyone)

Knowing the brevity of life and that we weren’t getting any younger, Stephanie and I decided to develop some life goals. In fact, we mapped out the next 20 years of our life in pretty great detail. I can tell you that we have already had to make some adjustments to those aspirations, but the point of our goals is to keep us on the same page and give us a general idea of where we are and where we’re going.One of our goals is to have a house that is big enough for lots of children. While we didn’t know where we would build, we did know that if we planned to have a big family we would definitely need to stay in Spartanburg because we are both blessed with families who we feel certain will help us when we need it.

Starting in late 2006 we began to look at different subdivisions. We focused on Boiling Springs, Inman, and Chesnee. We thought about Cobblestone, Woodfin Ridge, Park Preserve, and Sterling Estates, but kept coming back to a subdivision named North Harbor. We took my Dad and showed him the lot we had been eyeing in early 2007. He liked the looks of it and the lake and mountain view, but encouraged me not to rush. This was before the market crashed and real estate was definitely in a seller’s market phase. Dad was right, we needed to wait, and perhaps look at even more options. So that we did…we waited and looked, but nothing seemed right. A year later in October of 2008, I was online and checked up on good old Lot #9 in North Harbour as I did just about once a month, and was so excited when I saw a new and significantly reduced price! Was this a typo? NO! I called the realtor who informed me that the seller was from California and had given up hope on ever moving to SC. Housing there was at a standstill and he was certain his home would not sell for many years to come. He needed to get this land off his hands and as such, he reduced the price. I consulted with my Dad once again, who shared my excitement, although his was more subdued. He told me to go for it, that he believed in me and that Stephanie and I have done well so far, and he knows beyond doubt that we can handle this. After some further price negotiating and fun with SC DHEC getting clearance for a septic system, we went to the realtor’s office to sign a buy-sell agreement.

It was at this point we decided we should tell our families (beyond my Dad, who already knew because I rely on his counsel and opinions before making any decision). We took Stephanie’s parents to our lot in mid-November. As we pulled into the neighborhood full of 2700+ Ft2 homes, I felt tension in the car. The comments were not very positive. I think that her Dad cares for Stephanie deeply and doesn’t want her to get in over her head or bite off more than she can chew when it comes to housing. I can assure him that while sometimes Stephanie Blanton bites off more than I ever would, she amazes me with the ability to chew each morsel with unwavering dedication. She is super human. I want both her parents to know one thing…. I will take care of your daughter. I love her and she will NEVER have to worry about whether or not a house payment can be made. NEVER.

We would go on to close in early December 2008… which brings us to where we are now. Deciding what house to build when to build it and who should build it!