Value

Soon we're going to have to get an appraisal done on the house, which is both exciting and nerve racking. How did we do? Did we effectively work all year for $20 an hour? $40? negative $20?

The magic number we're hoping for is $210k. That lets us take out a really good 80% loan, pay off everyone, build the garage, and have a little left over.

We've put plenty of money into the house, and it's gotten fancier as the process went along. We didn't originally know we'd have radiant heat, or cherry cabinets, or nice built-ins, etc. We know we could have built a simpler house just to make money, but I'm glad we built a truly nice house.

We're starting to get glimpses of what the house might be worth. The insurance company thinks it will cost $240k to rebuild just the house. Add on land value, and we did really well! But I don't think it would sell for that much. The City appraised the unfinished house for $194k. This is really good. Houses here sell for more than the city appraised value. And that's without siding.

All we can really do is wait a couple months, and finish the house!