It's a waiting game

Now that I've submitted my life story to the lender I have to wait.  Wait on the appraisal being ordered; wait for the estimate for the remodel; wait for the lender to decide if they have dissected me enough to allow for a mortgage on this property.

Meanwhile Lowe's reworked the figures on supplying the materials for the remodel, substantially lowering the cost to something I can live with.  I forwarded that information to the contractor and again I have to wait.  Will the contractor use Lowe's as the supplier?  Or does he have his own suppliers that will lower the cost more?

Lowe's has been excellent to work with and I continually learn that I am not aware of all the complexities of a major remodel.  I keep thinking that what I want to do is not that big.

All of this is gutted and walls torn down.

If I'm learning anything by watching remodel shows is that everything hinges on who you or the contractor knows.  Not being from the area or even from the state I'm totally dependent on contractor knowledge of the local availability of materials.  Which is why I went to Lowe's at the beginning of this adventure.  They are a national company and I can do research at the Lowe's in Charlotte, then transfer that information to Madison Heights.  The Madison Heights design staff has been superb and I hope that my contractor agrees with their prices and goes the route I've charted.

The big remodel on the house is the kitchen/living room/dining room.  That will all be gutted, walls torn down, hot water heater moved, All the pink and red disappears and I'm looking at hardwood floors and neutral paints.  Lowe's worked out kitchen cabinets and appliances for me and again I'm waiting.  I can't spend any money, charge anything or take advantage of any major sales until the loan is secured and the house sale is closed.

The kitchen gets gutted and done over.

It takes 6 weeks to get cabinets once they are ordered.  Then the cabinet counter tops have to be cut and fitted.  That adds another week to the process.   And the loan people tell me I can't do a thing until the loan is closed and I take possession.  In a best case scenario I can order cabinets and while I"m waiting on cabinets the floors, wall removal and painting will be finished.  Best case.  Worse case is that I order cabinets, the contractor starts ripping up things and starts finding problems; like sub-flooring rot or mold and everything has to come to a halt while that is fixed.  Which of course adds to the cost of the remodel.

   The other worst case is that contractor gets side tracked to another job and suddenly nothing is being done on the demolition, then the install of flooring. 

The 'man-cave' It will be the den, eventually.

I have to move somewhere in the middle of all this. I had originally planned to be moved by the middle of June and I already know that isn't happening.  The end of June is already committed to a bus tour of the canyons in the Southwest.  I won't get back until the middle of July.

So that makes best case scenario for moving the end of July.  And all of that can change if I get an offer on this house and the new owners want it before I plan to move.  It's still a waiting game.