Yes, Katamari is the rolling stuff up game. Its really addictive for such a simple game, and theres three of them. The part I like the most is the amazing effort they put into the music. I found some of it on youtube and it ranges from techno to jazzy lounge music, swing music, Im pretty sure someone even snuck a gospel peice or two in there. While Iw as writing yesterday I stumbled across someone who had done an orchestral version of one of the themse that made my jaw drop. Video game music is constantly impressing me with every passing year. But anyway, back to gardening... Part of my problem with the space issue is theres a movement out here for the "Grow Biointensive" system. While I'm interested that they've managed to do so much with such small topsoil space, I've noticed all the beds dealing with the system need at least two feet of soil, dug down or in raised beds, and thats not what I have. My mum has been trying to push me in that direction, but I dont feel confident with it at this time since I wanted to get more of a feel for the general gardening situation since its my first time and all. Some plants still got pushed closer together than I would've liked but then none of us had seen some of these plants actually growing before. The cukes are doign better than I expected for being about 6 inches closer to each toher plant than I really wanted them to be, but we had such a huge amount of plants to deal with that I did the best I could. I think the funniest part about all this is while it is my first time growing a real garden, I've been growing virtual gardens since I was abotu 19, playing an online game called "Final Fantasy 11", which had a really complicated planting/gardening system most people didnt know about. That game system is actually what got me really focused on the seasons, when to plant, where to plant, when to fertilize, what plants grew better in what geological areas, and I even had a little notebook for a long time where I'd record the weekly cycle of my virtual plants in relation to the moon phase and exact time I made any modifications to the planting space. Even the gamers thought I was nuts, but I loved it! They'd even die off or give terrible results if I neglected them for too long, or give off better results if I got proper gardening tools, workbenches, and diffrent planters had diffrent effects too. Im getting better results with a real garden than I was in my virtual gardens though... Except for that one time I accidentally harvested 122 virtual onions. I can tell you, the cooks sure were happy with me.

One more thing to consider is that getting a land-only loan can be difficult. First, there are not that many lenders who even make land-only loans and second those that do usually charge at least 2 to 3 percentage points MORE for a land-only loan than for a construction loan. In 2003, when DH and I decided we wanted to buy land where we would eventually build our dream home, we found a 4 acre lot we loved for just under $50K. Since our credit rating was impeccable and we were confident we could easily pay off the loan in 5 years, we didn't think financing would be any problem. However we discovered that if we wanted to purchase a $50K new car, we could have gotten a five-year new car loan for 2 percentage points LESS than the best five-year land-only loan available! We really wanted to go ahead and buy the land because it is a lovely piece of property, in a neighborhood that we loved, outside of the city but close enough to drive in easily, and because of an influx of people moving to our area, land prices were sky-rocketing and the number of available lots was shrinking quickly. But we didn't want to commit to building YET because we already owned one house that we were still paying for and we didn't want to wind up saddled with two mortgage payments if we couldn't sell the first house when the new one was ready to move in. But, it didn't seem right that a land loan would cost us 9% to 10% when we could have walked into any dealership in town, picked out a $50K new, and gotten immediately approved for a loan at about 7.5%. Didn't make sense to me at all! I even asked one banker why they would be willing to loan us the same amount of money for a brand new car that I could easily drive off the lot and totally wreck the next day leaving them with nothing to repossess for less than they would lend us the money to buy land that simply could NOT disappear. The banker had no answer other than "that's the way it is." So we did some creative thinking and ended up doing a cash-out refinance on our first home and essentially borrowing the equity we had built up in it to buy the land we wanted. (In other words, we sort of loaned the money to ourselves!) Because mortgage interest rates were lower at that time than our original mortgage rate had been we actually came out quite a bit ahead...even after paying the points on the refinance. As I recall, the mortgage refinace loan was at 5.3% and we had been paying something like 7.4%. Five years later we had paid off the first house completely and owned our land outright. Therefore we could use it's full value as equity to qualify for the construction loan we wanted. Plus, because we were no longer making house payments and had no rental expenses, we could qualify for a larger construction loan. Anyway, just thought you should be prepared. If you're hearing that 30 year fixed mortgages are costing around 4.25% and thinking that you ought to be able to get a land only loan for less - because, after all, you won't need 30 years to pay it off, think again!

This is not a "dumb" question; there are no dumb questions! Consumers should look carefully at the descriptions of stock plans to see what is and isn't included. Stock plans, purchased from a "plan factory" or some other source, vary as to what is included and what is not. Thus, consumers have to do their due diligence to see what they are getting for their money. In many cases, these stock plans do not include "specifications" in a true architectural sense, and may not include structural details or finish details (as you describe). It's also important to know that many stock plans may not be sufficient to obtain a building permit (if one is legally required in one's area), and they may not meet local building code and regulations for special areas such as seismic, high wind, etc. Stock plans seldom include plans for structural, electrical, lighting, plumbing, HVAC systems. They also will certainly not reflect local site conditions such as sloping lots, orientation for views, energy efficiency, etc. Stock plans are simply...well, stock! Usually included are floor plans for each habitable level, a roof plan (perhaps), and four exterior elevations, unless specifically noted otherwise. To get all of the necessary and desirable details and specifications to fully understand what will be bid and built in a residential project, one must use an architect or experienced (unlicensed) designer. Many experienced builders may have their own plans and limited specifications, but they are often incomplete and do not furnish full information for consumers to see what they will get for their money. Builders do this because they have built the plans before and know in their own minds what they will do (and not do). Consumers, however, will not have everything illustrated and specified, and thus will have to trust the builder to do what the consumer desires. Incomplete sets of drawings and specifications are frequently accompanied by including "allowances" for items not included in the construction documents. Allowances can be a "money trap" if they do not realistically allow for the quantity and quality of the desired items, such as cabinets, lighting and plumbing fixtures, finishes such as flooring and trim, etc. The best advice for consumers who are building custom homes is to be sure construction documents are full and complete before bidding and construction. Good luck with your project! This post was edited by virgilcarter on Fri, Aug 1, 14 at 11:33

The one thing I would add is don't let anyone (realtor, builder, brother-in-law) tell you that a lot is 'OK'. It's very important to do as much of your own due diligence as you can when considering your future home. We were once showed a home across the street from a sewage treatment plant. It was an ideal location for us, being very close to our son's school. We were assured by the realtor that there was 'no odor problem'. Over the next 11 years, we had the opportunity to drive by that neighborhood every day as we brought our son to school. It reeked! Outdoor activities would have been impossible many days. The realtor either didn't know, or outright lied to us. There are many tools available to check out the neighborhood. Many areas have a GIS site (Geographic Information System) to check things like flood zones, topography, crime stats, even soil types. You can zoom out to find out what else is in the area, such as a hog farm you didn't know existed. It's not a bad idea to check with the local city/county to see what kind of future plans they have for the area. You don't want to find out about the new Interstate or airport after you've built your dream home. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I never consider a parcel unless it has a current 'perk' (percolation) test for a septic system. There are work-arounds, but they are expensive, and sometimes downright ugly. Who wants a mound system in the front yard (because there wasn't room in the back)? If the lot is on city sewer, then it's not a consideration.