Years after finding the perfect plot of land to build our future home - and waiting out a pandemic - we are finally moving forward to the construction phase. Hooray! Here's a recap of the last five years of our home building journey, from discovering our land to designing our house. Follow along as we build our home bahay namin! (Finally!!)
Building a home is a wild journey fraught with challenges on so many levels - financial, seasonal, physical, geological, and definitely emotional, to name a few.
I admit, because this is my first home build ever, it feels like a mysterious saga excruciatingly unfolding. To Steve, the build means something completely different, a yearn for a longing, a return to home (building, that is). He's a builder at heart, loves carpentry and framing (kept him all buff :) He stopped building custom homes as a result of the 2008 housing bubble burst. He's eager to build again.
Our home building journey began way before breaking ground. Here's a recap of the five years that lead up to starting construction.
2018: Looking for Land
Steve had been looking for land to build a house on for a couple of years before he stumbled upon this gem.
It was peak leaf peeping season on the day we first walked on this property. The spectacular colors of the autumn foliage profoundly added to the over all dreamy effect. Made me say, "I want to live here forever."
If you've been patiently following this blog series bahay namin you might be wondering where we went or wtf happened? The delay in a single word: pandemic.
2019: Purchase the Property
Anything is possible. Would you believe a tree can grow from the inside of a rock?
We became land owners Autumn of 2019.
2020: Designing our house - then putting on the brakes
This part was really fun and super creative. There was a lot of imagining, discussing, drawing, describing, erasing, researching, re-drawing...
We had to find a surveyor, then an architect.
Meanwhile something strange happened at a laboratory in China, that would eventually shut down the world. For a few years.
Our land became one of the few places we could go without wearing a mask or possibly breaching the Department of Health's new nation wide social distancing rules.
This is how we celebrated the twins 15th birthday under quarantine.
We began clearing away trees in the fall of 2020. This video was supposed to be the first of our home building journey.
Instead, it became the last of any building action for the next few years. Supply chain issues abound. People were suddenly scrambling to over-pay for a home far, far away from everybody. All trades prices double, then tripled, and some just stopped taking on any new jobs altogether. We watched, and impatiently waited, as the price of lumber continued to sky-rocket.
2021: Is it time to build? No, please hold.
Back in 2019 when Steve was doing all the calculations, the price of lumber was its lowest point (since 2015) at $350 per thousand board feet. Lumber prices peaked in May 2021 at $1,600! What?!?
To illustrate that rollercoaster ride, here is an infographic. See the dip right before Jan 2020?
Unless you are among those who are ok with paying 4.5 times the cost for the same lumber, you shall wait. This I learned: at the end of a build, the value of a house is decided by factors like the size and number of rooms, regardless of how much you paid in materials, labor, or for the land.
If only Steve had that crystal ball he often mentions...
2022: Is it time to build yet? Nope, not yet.
Waiting was so very long and super frustrating and so for ever taking.
2023: Is it time to build now? Yes!
We cannot wait any longer. It's time to build us a house. We're picking up where we left off, not one, not two, but three years ago!
Steve re-acquainted himself with the all the trees and prepared the chain saws. Some big old ones in the lower land fell down from a strong gust of wind.
Tomorrow, we clear.
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