The Story Begins

Where to start? When Brandon and I first moved to Amarillo we searched for houses to buy. This proved to be impossible at the time as we were newly married, without credit, first time home buyers, and new to the area. The financing was just not possible. About 6 months after moving we decided to try again. This time we obtained financing, used a realtor, and searched Amarillo for a good deal and a great house. Obtaining BOTH of these items seemed to not be feasible. There are really no "good deals" to be had in Amarillo. My (Cortny) dad had originally offered to build us a house but we immediately swept that idea aside. How would it be possible to build a house while going to school (or working full time in Brandon's case) and balance a household? After searching Amarillo for several months and placing several offers on houses we decided to revisit the idea of building. Lots were available in several good neighborhoods and building started to seem like a viable option.

In March we made the final decision to build. We contacted Rockrose Group in Amarillo and found a new area being developed in the Cityview neighborhood. This housing edition is growing like CRAZY! Dad says someone is making millions by dividing up cow pastures and selling them for $30k! Lots were being snatched up right and left. So we started the paperwork process and put a down payment on a lot. Little did we know, this process was going to be extremely long. Since we are first time home buyers and this is a family transaction, there are many hoops to jump through. For several weeks it seemed that the bank was calling daily for paperwork that was needed in addition to all that we had already submitted.
The way this transaction will work is that my dad will construct the house and we will buy it from him. This meant that before he was able to obtain any financing we had to be approved for our own financing.  FINALLY, on June 1, 2011 we obtained a commitment letter needed to confirm that we are indeed qualified to purchase the house once it is finished. I don't think I have ever been more relieved to receive a piece of paper in my life.

Then there was the title company in Fort Worth who had to communicate with the property group in Amarillo as well as the bank in Fort Worth and they ALL had to be in agreement. As you can imagine, this was not easy. It was a major headache. But thankfully, the lot has been closed on and now belongs to Schallawitz Construction, Inc.! We are relieved!

At this point we are working on getting permits and settling MORE paperwork. Nothing has been easy up to this point as even simple things seem to be difficult.

I will probably say this a million times in these posts but we are so grateful to my dad (and mom!) for being so gracious and offering to build us a home. We cannot thank them enough! It has been a tough road so far but the end result is going to be well worth it. All of this may be extremely boring to some but there are times when even Brandon doesn't know all the ridiculousness that is going on. So maybe this will help him empathize! :)

For now I will leave you with some pictures of the lot. They are extremely boring but it is ours (not technically, but close) so we are proud of it! We will keep everyone updated! Thanks for visiting!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! The purpose of this blog is to document our house build in Amarillo, TX. We thought it would be fun to keep our friends and family updated about our plans and progress as well as create memories for ourself to look back on. We are so excited about this phase in our life and while it will be a long and stressful process we are looking forward to the results! Welcome to our journey!