We bought our land 4 years before we built our home. We wanted to build our dream home and were not in a hurry to rush into it and then regret decisions made too quickly. I was the designer on the project and honestly enjoyed all that it entailed. We also had a wonderful builder that made the whole process go seamlessly and stress free. After we chose a house plan and had it updated to include the must-haves on our list, I poured over those plans for hours and hours making sure each room was as ideal as possible. Now is the time to decide if you want an HVAC duct in that place or a light switch or outlet in that spot. Decide if you want floor outlets, special outlets in pantries or cleaning closets. Are the rooms the right size? Could a couple feet make a difference anywhere? I sure wish we had made our laundry room 3 feet wider. Choose as many products as you can before your builder gives you his estimate. If you want granite and he's giving you laminate pricing the cost will be more. Also, painting the interior all one color is less expensive than having several rooms painted differently. Are you going with pre-painted siding or having the exterior custom painted? Are you using brick, cultured stone or natural stone? Huge difference between brick and natural stone. Plumbing fixtures vary in price as do lighting and appliances. Make sure he's taking your choices into account with his bottom line. Think about any upgrades in insulation, soundproofing, radiant heating, etc. The best advice I can give from someone who's been there, done that, is to sit down and really think about how you want the house to look, function and feel....and cost. Are there things you can't do without? For us it was a 3rd garage, his & hers master's closets, a computer space off the kitchen area where we can monitor our son, and a particular type of kitchen layout. Break the house plan down room by room if it's overwhelming but KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. If you're unsure of that then you can be talked into a lot of stuff you will find out later you really didn't need or want. Almost all of us have to stick to a budget so the trick is getting what you want overall at a price you can afford. This website is a treasure trove of information that I'm sure will benefit you in the days to come. Good luck on your build and keep your chin up.

Wisconsin was on the list, but I'm sorry dear...I need the entire 6000 sq ft :oP I want a big sewing room and DH insists on adequate wine storage...we have a 3 year old so that's a LOT of wine. Speaking of wine...do you drink? I think taking up drinking always helps with old house restoration issues :oP You know, we've taken this question of yours and applied it to all of the homes we've looked at throughout the country, mostly in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Washington. These big old beauties in particular are rather daunting when it comes to the sheer magnatude of work required to do the basic stuff that has to be done regularly, let alone the every so often stuff like new roofs. The one we had agreed to go ahead on had a serious need for an immediate paint job outside. $30,000!!! Ouch and you get to do that how many times in a lifetime? But if you can afford to love the joint, without being rediculous (we have looked at a couple of houses that were just too far gone to make it a wise investment) it is a rewarding task, especially with a beauty like yours. One of the houses we seriously considered was Starrett House (in port townsend wa, google it...it's gorgeous) ok it's gorgeous on the outside, and superficially on the inside, but when you start poking around you realize the serious needs. That gorgeous home, for sale for about a million, needs about a million put into it to bring it back to the show house it as when I was a little girl. It's an amazing home, and I absolutely would love to do it, but at that amount it's a rediculous purchase. I guess that would be the definative "unhealthy investment" although you'd be buying one of the nicest and most distinct homes in the pacific NW so I can see how someone could be talked into believing it was worthwhile...we even caught ourselves trying to justify the purchase LOL I hope your beauty has many many years ahead of her. She's amazing and if you stay or sell, I'm sure she's the type of home that will find the right people...homes like that normally do!

I'm doing it now and am in the 6th week....okay I have my good days and my bad days. How much of it will you do yourself? If it's just contracting and paying for it..I think you'll manage just fine...sure there'll be headaches but seek out a good contractor to handle most of them for you. I actually enjoy being the general contractor, I like that feeling of "yeah, I can do this!" Now, I've flooded two bathrooms...trying to hold your finger in pressurized water pvc pipes while your husband tries to find the cutoff at the street...not fun. Other than that, I've peeled of 3 rooms of wallpaper, I've pulled up linoleum and have tiled two rooms (one I had help with)....I've painted 3 rooms...I designed and paid my cousin to frame 1100 unfinished square footage...I've lined up my subs to finish out that part...I gutted the kitchen and am installing new flooring in every single room of the house...I'm bringing in 3 cows from a neighbor to help manage the pastures on this dream horse farm I bought...because I don't have time to buy the horses yet while I'm fixing this house up...so instead of gazing dreamingly out my breakfast window with my built in seating (still being built) and seeing my horses lovingly eating pasture..I'll see 3 contented cows. Yeah, it's a struggle sometimes....I got home at 9:30..spent all day running around finding a vanity getting a better deal on a granite top for it....picking out yet another gallon of paint to try...putting grout down over my tiles that look unusually orange when they were taupe at the showroom...darn those compact flourescents! There's always something to do...you may not have time to do it...but in 6 months, you'll know that this place is yours and the memories from building it with your dh will be there to amuse you. We joke that our house has been baptized twice (those floods were not fun, but we've got the cleanest duct work and subflooring now) Enjoy and have a sense of humor!:) Tara

I would be extremely cautious if the industry that your primary bread earner is not certain. 30% drop in salary is not insignificant and maybe that way for a long period of time. I have seen several people getting caught in this housing "crunch" as you call it. Divorces seem to be the biggest issue since the house HAS to be liquidated to cash out the other person, unless there is another source of money. If you are overimproved, then you can't even get out of the situation without bringing large sumes of money to the table, ie under water.... I have personally seen a few of these in the past few years. The second common problem seems to be job transfers. There is a house in the neighborhood for sale at 1.5 mil, down from above 2 mil. That is a HUGE drop. They have been in Europe due to the job transfer for over a year and the house is empty. I have seen many of these around. My brother bought into a bigger house/better neighborhood. As a consequence, my SIL is now working full time. She was working part time before. These are choices and consequences of house decisions that people make. I have heard from some colleagues that they are not where they want to be financially because of the housing drop, stock market drop etc. These things happen in life. No one can predict. What you have to plan for is multiple scenarios and be comfortable with many possibilities. Some people are fine with uncertainties of the future and immediate pleasure and others are less comfortable with that. You and your DH has to be able to figure out where your comfort level is. These types of discussions are very difficult because we have to examine our core values and how we live with them. We also have to be honest about our uncertainties and risk taking levels with ourselves and our families. Only you know how to balance now versus later, which is what balancing house remodel versus retirement/college savings are all about. I wish you the best. If I were you, I would save for 2 years as if you were doing the large remodel. Then when you have the money in hand, and the economy hopefully has become more stable (or less stable!) and hopefully things (the decisions) are more certain for your family. Then you can decide how to procede. Nothing has to happen now. Your house is not so bad that it is unhabitable, I presume. 2 years is nothing!