Our crazy home buying/building timeline

Ready? Set. Go!

• April 29, 2013 - I got a RedFin account and started browsing for homes nonchalantly. (Jake has had one for years because he likes real estate porn.)
• May through June - We saw about a dozen homes. The search started to become discouraging, so we took a step back. 
• July 9 - A new listing popped up on RedFin, without reading the full listing, we scheduled a showing for the following morning. In my defense, the listing had photos of a similarly finished home. I mistook these to mean that the house was finished.
• July 10 - First showing of our house to be. At the time frame was up, siding on, windows in, roof on, but no doors. 

Photo taken a couple of weeks after being under contract.

• July 12 - We put in an offer (and our list of customizations).
• July 13 - Seller countered.
• July 14 - We countered.
• July 15 - Seller countered.
• July 17 - Meet with builder and discuss list of customizations. We countered. And redesign of the kitchen begins.
• July 18 - Seller countered, we accept. Crazy paperwork and monies are exchanged.
• July 24-28 - FIASCO with our check (not our fault), while it all got cleared up in the end, it did make for a very stressful couple of days.
• July 31 - Kitchen redesign finalized. At this point, I thought designing a kitchen in a matter of days was the most stressful thing ever. I had so much more to learn...
• August 2 - Finalize kitchen cabinet colors while 3,000 miles away! I freaked out and until I found a retailer that carried my cabinets in PDX. They were really nice and helpful and was able to show me color swatches so that I could stop second guessing myself. (Thank you Ferguson!) In the end, I went with my gut and it was the right choice.
• August 5 - Finalized bathroom vanity colors. So much easier to do when you are in the same state as your cabinet guy!
• August 18 - Visited 2 granite wharehouses with samples of my cabinets in tow. Tip: ALWAYS bring samples and your camera. You won't remember what it looks like after you leave!

Cabinets and granite.

• August 27 - Finalized tile choices for kitchen backsplash, bathroom floors, master bath shower, and mudroom. (We gots a mudroom!!! This was a complete surprise to us.)
• August 29 - Met with The Paint Whisperer for paint color consultation. (It was the best $50 I have ever spent. I was a little wary of the colors, but I'm glad I trusted him.) 
• August 29 - Finalized the countertops.
• August 31 - Bought some wood (chair rail) and some stain to decide on our floor stain.

Instagram

• September 12 - The search for kitchen hardware begins.
• September 13 - Finally decided on the range and dishwasher and gave the OK for the builder to purchase them. Lordy, I went over budget on those items.
• September 17 - Had to switch floor stains because the floor installer and painter informed me that Varathane was not a good brand. Luckily, the replacement they recommended was the other color I had chosen to test out. Too bad that it was so long ago that I didn't remember so I freaked out and ran to Home Depot to run a second test. At the end of the day, our floors look AMAZING!!
• September 25 - Finalize cabinet hardware. Apparently our builder never got the email that I sent to him weeks before, so we are settling. It doesn't look bad, but it's not my favorite.
• September 27 - Freaked the eff out because our lender had the wrong date for closing. We were able to file for an extension, but the scheduling is a little tight. 
• September 27 - Frantic text messaging between the builder and I regarding the missing microwave and how he needed the dimensions so that the tiler could do the backsplash. UGH! So I left work early, bought the microwave I had been eyeing and dropped it off at the house. 
• September 27 - Met with our broker for a walk through, but there was so much going on with the house that it really wasn't ideal.

They're scrambling for the finish line. Sneak peak of our kitchen.

It's been a crazy couple of months. I can't wait to be done with this part of the process. Of course, once the house is finally ours, we still have a lot of work to do on it, like ordering the last of our appliances, putting in closet rods and window treatments. They say home improvements never end, even with a brand new house.