After several years and many months of wrangling with these questions, we finally decided to build or buy a smaller, more manageable, one-level home.
Our next decision was WHERE to build or buy. Because of the experience I (Pam) had in helping my mother as she aged, we realized being a short distance from family would make life much easier on us and family. So, our choice was to search in the area of Lavonia, Georgia.
After searching for available pre-built homes and finding nothing suitable in our price range, we decided to look into building a home.
We narrowed our search to three viable builders in the area--each had their pros and cons. While we visited builders, we also began our search for a suitable building lot. It didn't take us long to find a great lot in an established lakefront subdivision on Lake Hartwell, which is on the border between Georgia and South Carolina.
We purchased the property on May 14, 2008. Here's a picture of the lot (really nothing much to see but trees).
View Upon Entering Our Street (looking at this picture, our lot will be further up the street on the left)
View From the End of Our Street (cul-de-sac) (looking at this picture, our lot is on the right side of the street)
By May 26, 2008, we were on the road beginning our five-month RV trek across the United States. See our travel blog at www.pamdavetreks.blogspot.com. Needless to say, our building project was going to wait until our return.
Upon our return in October, 2008, we began the process to get our current house vacated and ready to sell or lease. The housing market had taken a significant downturn during our trek, so now we are not sure how to unload our current home. But, we know that we must downsize. So, we move forward with our plans to build. (We'll tackle unloading our current home much later in the building process.)
We chose our builder based upon several factors. But, the most significant factors were 1) which builder would be willing to work with Pam (the unofficial general contractor know-it-all) and 2) which builder would be willing to help us stay within our meager budget.
Important: If you would like to consider using the builder we chose or you just want to check them out, Dave and I would appreciate it if you would let us know BEFORE you contact them. They offer a referral bonus, which we would gladly split with you. But, we must give them your name BEFORE you contact them in order to be eligible for the referral bonus. Just leave a comment on this site if you don't know how to reach us personally--we'll get back with you!
Hands down, our choice was Tomorrow's Homes, now located in Comer, Georgia. Their Website is http://www.tomorrowshomes.com/.
Read about our pre-construction experiences with Tomorrow's Homes in our posting titled Working with Our Builder.
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