Where is home?

This past week has been full of change - we closed on our home, and it now officially belongs to someone else.

This week it felt like all our plans all got blown to smithereens. We have been looking at and praying over a 4-acre lot of land since early summer. Initially, prior to selling our home, we reached out to a home-building company who was building a house down the street from the lot to see if it was even buildable. During that walk-through we were told that the land had a little bit of an angle but would be totally fine to build on. We could tell there was a little bit of a slop but it didn't look significant. He gave us an initial estimate on our home and we felt good about it. We took that builder at his word on the land since he has built other homes out in that area and is currently building one up the street.

After we received our last offer on our house and it looked certain that we'd be selling, we began reaching out to more contractors to move forward with building our home. Over the last few weeks, we've been talking to the contractor that built our Wild Fern House for his estimate. He walked the land last week to give his input. He said it was hard to tell just to the naked eye but that the land was shaped like a bowl. He showed us where to place the house, and recommended we get an estimate for grading and tree removal before putting in an offer on the lot. So we did, and we were shocked at what we found...

The excavator said the same thing - that the lot was bowl shaped - but also informed us that we might need to haul in dirt to fill in some. There is a knoll at the top left corner that gave some concern, and there would need to be grade work, trenching, & drain pipes installed to route the water when it rains. Ugh. The price for all that was double what we expected, and the lot is already over-priced as-is for the location.

So... we are praying. The developer for this land doesn't live locally and wants a premium. We plan to make a low offer on this land due to all the work it needs to be buildable, however, we do still have options. We have 3 additional plots of land that we are looking at and considering as well.

While talking with a friend, she asked me what I was looking for when it came to land. My response was, "I want trees and a place that is private. I miss the mountains and this land feels like where I grew up. I miss the simple life like what my papaw and mamaw had given to me when I was growing up. Ever since he passed away it's been on my heart to live that way... to have a garden & wide-open spaces for my kiddos to roam." She replied softly, "you're searching for home."

And just like that, I realized she was right.

Kimberly