Bad news on the new house front.

I went and did a bunch of errands during/after work yesterday.  The first of which was to and get the final answers from La Valley.  The bad news is that the set up cost, which I had assumed was only a few grand (all my spreadsheets had it listed at $5k) is about $78k.  Some other things I learned: additional windows (it comes with 7) are $250 apiece.  Additional doors (it only comes with 1) are $500 apiece.  It takes 2 weeks to set up the shell.  There is currently an 8-10 week lead time.  I am currently looking into a couple of alternatives to La Valley as well, though there aren't many that serve NH.

That setup cost throws a huge wrench into the plans.  So yesterday afternoon I revisited my mobile homes document, and I think I will be making another trip down to FineLine Homes (the dealer) and making sure their prices haven't done anything stupid.  Just as a refresher, that document is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dJYcN3IxmtNkjRoJp90_w1lmRJyozsoqfOYdaoYQGkw/edit?usp=sharing

I also spent a little time this morning re-running the numbers.  I don't really know how to assess the value after it is completed, but I poked around on Zillow and found something that seemed reasonable.  The higher setup cost is a bigger deal than it sounds since it has ripple effects.  It nearly doubles the mortgage that I would have to get, which means that I won't have a couple thousand spare in my budget every month, which means that finishing the house could end up being funds limited instead of time limited.  The fact that mortgage rates have more than doubled in the last two years doesn't help either.  This is the rundown of those numbers (which are in the house cost spreadsheet found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1of4w616ubED7IKwuVprNup7BjnlXKA95wPjGLvukh84/edit?usp=sharing).  You should be able to blow it up to read it

I also did a pros/cons of the two approaches (this is in the same spreadsheet as the prior chart).  The short version is that the highs for building my own were very high, but the cons to it are pretty major.  The mobile home is the inferior house albeit not bad, but is far far easier and is cheaper.

On a more positive note: it took a month, but the replacement parts for my futon came in.  I went and picked them up at lunch today.  You may recall from earlier posts that currently the futon frame is held together with clamps and tape.  This box looks like the box the whole frame came in, so I am wondering if they just sent me a whole new frame.  The fact that all the straps and stuff have been removed makes me wonder if the store just ordered a replacement frame and took the rest of the parts out of it though.

I also stopped at Home Depot and picked up the brackets, so I should be able to make some progress on the truck cap this week.  I am waiting for a nice day to go pick up all the roofing and plexiglass (they got it back in stock).  Those things stick to each other real bad if they get wet.  It is supposed to be really nice this weekend though so hopefully I can complete the skeleton of the cap so I can leave it outside.  Right now it is basically hanging on the tractor in the carport so it doesn't get wet.  So basically just continuing to work on things that were already listed as in progress.

Winter projects:

• Knock down the dead knotweed. 
• Winterize equipment.  Fire up the generator

• Get the building permit.
• Complete detailed house plans.
• Work with La Valley to get a concrete contractor.  Get the plan/schedule in place. 
  
• Design future method of travel.  Consider building the prototype.
  
• Shed floor.
• Shed windows.
• Fix generator box.  Decide/do something about power center.
  
• Clear/mark walking trails.