When we built our first house many years ago, we said we would do the baseboards later....after we moved in. You know when we actually did them? When we moved back out. It's just really hard to live with construction mess. We are now building our 3rd and last house. We are living in a mobile home in front of the new house. We are finishing the main part of the house including one bedroom and one bathroom now, before moving in. The sunroom and master bedroom suite will be finished later, as funds permit. But the part we are moving in to will be 100% done before we move in.

When we moved into our first house 22 years ago, all the flooring wasn't in, trim wasn't done, etc. You can't move in until you can get an occupancy permit, but you can get an occupancy permit without the all the finishes being done/final light fictures in/temporary railings, etc. In our area 22 years ago, we needed proper lighting (but plain light bulbs are ok), working plumbing, railings (2x4 railings are ok as long as the height/spacing was acceptable), etc. Check with your local building inspector to see what the minimum is that needs to be done in your area. I think we got a temporty CO and then got a final CO later. But if you move in early, I would only move in the minimum amount needed to survive as your stuff will be in the way of the workers. However, if you move in before everything is finished, you run the risk of not finishing it. With our current house, we left three things without their final finishes--fireplace, recessed area in the living room for TV, and kitchen backsplash. They are still unfinished after 2-1/2 years and once you get into the house it is easy to push off finishing those items.

Depending in the AHJ an occupancy permit can be hard to get with work remaining to be done.

Make sure you maintain $$ leverage over the builder.

We will be moving in this week with the house still unfinished. Hopefully I will have the downstairs flooring done (almost there). The trim will not be done. The upstairs (Master bed/bath and loft) floor, WIC, and bath will not be done. The kitchen is almost done (pennisual needs to be tiled, backsplash not done, and counter top edge profile needs to be finished). Hopefully the gas meter will be set so we can have hot water and our radiators. I have not built our hearth or installed our wood stove. I am pushing to finish the detached garage. We just put up the trusses and roof sheathing the last two days. Still have the shingles, facia, and siding. We have not painted the outside of the house or garage yet. We will be putting in stairs to the basement and removing a post in the great room once we have the county out of our hair.

We are owner builders and it has been a long, but fun 13 months. It will be nice to be in. I think much of the work will be easier to do once we are in. It is difficult to stay motivated day in and out when you have to be away from your family (we have a 3.5 year old and a 6 month old). I will be able to work and be with them once we are in.

Mike, for us it was a big deal to be able to work on the house in the evenings together, stop for supper and keep going instead of the old routine of one of us being home with our son, getting a meal together and being home alone afterwards while the other worked. You're going to really like the change I bet.

We are not DIY people. Still, we moved in knowing we would have to move out again so the floors could be refinished (bad floor guy first time around). We couldn't take another day in our temporary furnished apartment under four (usually more) college kids working the late shift at Great America.

It really got old having carpenters, painters, etc. in and out of the house all day. Worst when they wouldn't leave until past time for me to start dinner. Impossible to keep the house clean.

My perfect plan if we ever do this again: Stay in present house until new one is TOTALLY complete.

There may be a financial advantage to moving in before the house is complete. If contractors are doing the work, I suggest completing before moving. But if you are doing the work personally, moving puts you at the site so that a few minutes can be saved each work session by eliminating travel time. Money that would be spent for rent elsewhere can be applied to the build project. And your occupancy may reduce chances for theft.

I've done that, and it would have to be something far more dire than overlapping mortgage/rent payments to compel me to do it again.

All points already made are true... it's nice to eliminate the rent; it's nice to not have to travel to/from; it's nice to have all your stuff right there. It's not nice to try to stay out of the way of subs; it's not nice to have strangers [workmen] among your personal stuff; it's not nice to endure the smells of the various finishes and materials; and it is very, very easy to say mañana to the last of the things that remain to be done.

As most OBs discover, DIY projects have to be balanced along with the rest of your life, but the urgency to "get moved in" will weigh heavily to getting the house done, whether it's roofing or plumbing. However, there will come a point where one can move in even though there are many major and minor things still to be done. That's when finances and/or family matters will assume more weight which can activate the "mañana" button. And mañana can take its sweet own time to get here. Things that could have been finished within weeks if the move hadn't occurred, will take two or more years to finish because once you have actually moved in there is always something else that matters more. OBs don't have a punch list to present to the GC, but the same theory seems to apply... once you are moved into the house there is no more urgency to finish whatever is left to be done. And it's a lot harder to nag yourself than it is to nag a GC.

I don't think I would want to do it with subs working on my house either Meldy. That's too intrusive for me. The few subs we did use were at earlier stages and I'm glad it was just us working on the house once we moved in.

It's true that it's easier to let things go once you're in but it's a choice. We're still working all the time at a slower pace and loving it :)

I agree it is choice and I feel a large part attitude. We will be hopefully moving in tonight and through the weekend. I know once I am in and off the loan clock, I will take a breather. I have been working my butt off for 13 months now and could use a break. Of course, I still have a crap load of must do things like painting the exterior. But a week off will not kill me.

I think it is easier for me to nag myself (or my wife to nag me and give me special incentives!!! (= ) then it would be to nag someone else. I am a motivated individual.

I posted earlier that we moved into our last house before it was finished, and having the subs work while you are living there is difficult. The subs didn't know that we had moved in and you can imagine our surprise when at 12:30 am one night/morning the flooring guy walked into our house to lay carpet and other flooring. We were sleeping and he was as surprised to see us as we were to see him.

My husband is a contractor, and of course we socialize with other people in the building trades. At a dinner party a year ago, one of the guys was saying that they'd finished and finalled their house and moved in. In one voice the whole room asked, "YES, BUT ARE YOUR BASEBOARDS DONE?" We all looked at each other and laughed. it's the DIY's motto that when the last piece of baseboard is in it's because you're selling the house. I know a superstitious builder who has left baseboard out of his own laundry for 30 years because he hates to move. After 3 houses with my husband, I said that on our current house project I'm not setting a toe into it until and unless it's all done and there's not the remotest possibility of finding sawdust in our food. He says he'll miss me when he's sleeping in the new house ;).