2.
Contingency Plans - Builder/ contractor delays
Last month we talked about some of the things that can go
wrong, legal precautions, and various steps to take and be
aware of when contracting for your new home. This month we
will discuss some options if things DO get delayed.
After the initial shock of discovering that you will not
have access to your new home at the expected time, your very
next steps should be to initiate damage control. The amount
of damage control that you can do will depend on your specific
situation: contract terms, how long the delay, cause of the
delay, whether it is summer or winter, whether you are buying
a new (turnkey) home in a new subdivision or you already
own the land, whether your home is on a large country lot
or a city lot and maybe even how well you know your neighbours.
Staged Occupancy
The biggest incremental expense that you will encounter due
to delivery delays of your new home will probably be accommodation
expense. If this is a custom home, and it is delayed a month
or less, you may be able to make an arrangement with the
builder to finish a bedroom, and bathroom and maybe a kitchen
that you and your family can live in, while the rest of your
home is under construction.
If no such arrangement is possible,
safe, or otherwise realistic, you will need a place to house
your family for
some period of time and you will need a place to safely
store your belongings.
Accommodations
Here are some options for accommodations:
Live in a family cottage or rent a nearby cottage. Negotiate
a monthly rate.
Live in friends' basement or move in with friends. Some
rent might be appropriate.
Live in a nearby motel. Negotiate a long term rate rather
than a daily rate.
Use a travel trailer or tent trailer or large tent and
camp on your own land.
Use a travel trailer or tent trailer or large tent and
park in a nearby RV park and negotiate a monthly rate rather
than a daily rate.
Arrange to remain in your old home and pay rent to the
buyer of your old home, if they are willing to make such
an arrangement.
Storage of Furnishings and Possessions
You can store your furniture in a warehouse via a moving
company. Be sure that your property is insured. This will
probably be the most costly solution, as it will include
extra handling of your property. You will have to ensure
that you keep appropriate clothing or that you have access
to your belongings if necessary.
You may store your furniture in a rented large tractor
trailer (more correctly called a dry van) on your property.
An older, used 40' or 48' trailer, suitable for storage
of furniture will cost as little as $2500 to buy outright.
You can rent one for $200/month or less. Be sure to talk
to your insurance company.
Store your furniture in a large rented tractor trailer
on the trailer company's property or someone else’s
property. Have an agreement drawn up and be sure that your
property is fully insured against all perils and theft.
You will have to ensure that you keep appropriate clothing
or that you have access to your belongings if necessary.
Additional Financing
You may want to talk to your bank manager/mortgage manager
about changes in financing resulting from the delays. Funding
to pay for your home may not be required on the planned
date and consequently the mortgage start-up will be pushed
back. If "bridge financing" is involved (while
you own one home and are building another home), you will
have to advise the bank if the closing date of your old
home changes or if your planned Date of Occupancy changes.
Be careful how you tell the bank the story or they may
want to call in their "bridge financing" loan
forcing you to proceed with the closing of your old home.
Tips
As mentioned in last months newsletter, seek legal advice
as appropriate, to recover your losses. Covering all possibilities
in this brief article is difficult but perhaps after reviewing
this material you will have some ideas. Fortunately the
majority of new home purchases go very smoothly and we
sincerely hope that your project is on time and within
budget.
Some useful links to check out
Crumbling Dreams
http://www.lakesidepress.com/dreams/section4.html
Construction
Delay, Acceleration, and Inefficiency Claims
http://www.fedpubseminars.com/seminar/cdaiclaims.html
KOA
http://www.koa.com/
Holland and Trailer
http://www.hollandtrailer.com/
Semi Tralers Sales and Leasing
http://www.semitrailersalesandleasing.com/trailers/index.php
3. Limestone: An alternative
residential building material
There is an amazing assortment of limestone products available
from a variety of products to fit many residential building
applications. A variety of companies have perfected various
solutions and applications of limestone with interesting
designs that are both attractive and affordable. We will
cover some of these in this article and have provided a number
of references in the useful links section for your convenience.
Dream
Home Source has over 15,300
house plans easily searched from their online database.
You decide how many bedrooms, bathrooms, and garage stalls
your new home will have, along with many other key features.
Dream Home Source has an enormous variety of house plans
for every taste, from traditional to contemporary, from
500 to 10,250 square feet. Register and
receive a free home plan CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. Visit
us today!
Don’t let your credit history become a headache in your new home building
process. Check your credit. Get
your free credit report today.
Considering
a Hot Tub in your new Home?? Look no further. ThermoSpas
Hot Tubs are offering up to $900.00 in cost savings discounts for House-N-Home-Building
visitors.
The New House Building Guide – Learn How To Save Thousands
Building Your New Home
Intimidated by the idea of being your own builder? You’re not alone.
Most people don’t have the time, expertise, or contacts to perform this
task. The good news is that you don’t have to. You can use your own builder
and still save thousands. Get the House Building Guide and learn how. The Guide
contains step-by-step instructions, sample specifications, an example building-contract,
and dozens of money saving, convenience and healthy house building tips. This
is an indispensable resource for
anyone interested in building a new home.
Create an all-you signature home then see it before you build with our “from
scratch” 3D walk-thru on-line design. Shop our all-original Plan Library
of pre-priced house plans or customize your favorite one. All Custom – No
Limits! Visit us today!
www.customizedhomeplans.com
Limestone consists mainly of calcite, has a smooth granular
surface, varies in degrees of hardness and does not usually
show much graining and crystalline structures. Some of the
more dense limestone pieces can be also be polished into
a mirror finish.
Limestone comes in a variety of colours.
The more common colours are green, black, brown, grey and
blue. The reader
should also be aware that there is a natural colour variation
in most limestone blocks. Suppliers will provide a variety
of colours depending on the product available to them from
local quarries.
It also can be shaped into interesting designs
and appearances such as a random blocks of stone or slabs
of stone, veneer
with a broken edge, pavers and patios stones with natural
and irregular edges, sawed and shaped veneer with split
faced on several sides, one or more sides finished or polished.
Some
suppliers will also grade their products and will use a
variety of words to describe their grading parameters.
Limestone may be graded as follows: A) Course stone without
a a uniform colour or texture B) moderate sized stone with
a more uniform colour and texture and C) A fine grained
stone with uniform texture through the stone. You should
always ask the supplier for examples of each of their stones
and grading, then decide for yourself which grade of stone
you prefer for your project.
Today limestone can be used
in applications such as load bearing masonry walls, gated
community walls, limestone
fireplace surrounds, limestone veneer, re-cladding existing
buildings, , addition of limestone architectural enhancements,
limestone chips in various sizes that can be mixed with
concrete to produce white concrete for decorative walks
and gardens, white limestone sand used to make white mortar.
You can even use it to be mixed with hot rolled asphalt
to create a variety in the texture and colour of asphalt.
Suppliers
are available that will provide fabrication, design, cutting
and finishing. They can be purchased
in custom designs as well as standard designs. You will
need to discuss your requirements in detail with your
supplier if you want a custom designed one of a kind
limestone addition to your home or garden.
Examples of custom
designs are columns and arches, gated walls, fireplace
surrounds, various mouldings, veneers,
and other applications. Discuss your needs with your builder
and limestone supplier to see if they can meet your needs
while still ensuring a safe sturdy design.
Some useful links to check out
American Limestone Company
http://www.americanlimestone.com/residential/
Grant Wood
Limestone
http://www.historicalbricks.com/limestone.html
Asian Stores
ltd
http://www.asianstones.com/limestone.htm
White Limestone Building
products
http://www.rjmaxwell.com/products/white_limestone_building_products/
4. Thought For The Day
There is no “right” to
do a wrong. – Abraham Lincoln
5. Subscription Information
