House post #2: Building

With our failed attempt at finding a house already on the market, we decided to build. The same day we saw those houses and made that decision, Chad and I went driving through the country side and we found a lot in Van Meter that we really liked. It was a bit further out of town than we had originally wanted but it was closer to Waukee (our dream location) than where we are now and it was in our budget. Land in Waukee is CrAzY expensive and Van Meter was a great compromise plus the lot was beautiful.

Later that week we met with a builder who was recommended by our realtor to get a house plan nailed down. We weren't on the same page for several interactions and had some issues in the process with communication which led to some misunderstandings. We felt it was in our best interest to shop around for a builder that we could easily work with. Our realtor freaked out that we hadn't included him in that meeting. It was a nightmare.  We had no idea what his expectations were in this whole process and we don't think we did anything wrong. And really, we still aren't sure what we did that was so wrong.  He essentially removed himself from helping us find a new house. We were homeless without a realtor to help us. 

We continued to tweak a house plan with the original builder to see what he could come up with. There were lots and lots of emails and phone calls and we were getting closer and closer to our dream house. 

While all of this was going on, we found an apartment that allowed dogs while our non-existent house was being built. It was barely enough space for us but it had a pool. Perfect way to spend the summer! Pool side! 

At some point during all of this, friends offered their basement (which is basically an apartment) to live in while our house was being built. We would save about $8,000 living there if we lived there for 6 months. But we couldn't have our dogs there. $8,000 is A LOT of money saved. A LOT!! $8,000!! Chad and I talked and I cried and cried and we talked to our kids. As a family we decided it would be best if we found them both a new loving home where they could be together. Plus, it would be miserable for them to be in such a small apartment for 6 months. (Anyone who knows me knows that those 2 basset hound girls were my loves. I adored them and it was a horribly difficult choice. The hardest choice I have ever had to make. I did not put it on Facebook because I didn't want to have to explain our reasoning or justify our decision to those that didn't understand. Social media is great for some things. And not so great for others.)

Anyway, Chad put an ad on Craigslist and contacted the IA Basset Rescue to find them a new home. We got some crazies from Craigslist wanting to split them up (not an option) and you could tell from people's emails the quality of person you were dealing with (judgemental much, manda!?) but we did get one email from a woman who wanted both and she wouldn't dream of seeing them split up. They live on an acreage outside of Waukee and her husband has an outside hunting dog and he said she could have one indoor dog and she was going to talk to him to see if she could have both. A few days went by and we got back to her and she said her husband said they couldn't do it right now. They were wanting to put their house on the market to move to Winterset in the next few weeks and didn't think the timing was right. We were sorry they weren't Lola and Olive's new family but the IA Basset Rescue found a new family right away for the girls to be together. A week later (about 3 weeks ago) the girls went to their new home. We are confident they are in a great home. Those basset rescue people are crazy about bassets, have very strict requirements of adopters, and they wouldn't dream of putting the girls in a subpar home! 

....to be continued....