My husband and I recently completed the construction of our lake & 退休之家. As the Mortgage 贷款 Manager, 我非常熟悉施工过程是如何工作的，我想分享我们的故事，以防其他成员正在考虑一个施工项目，并从我们的经验中收集一些见解. 

我们在三年前就开始考虑改造现有的小屋. We made drawings of what we wanted the cottage to look like. I spent hours on Pinterest looking at ideas and dreaming big. 提醒一下，如果你跟建筑商说Pinterest，你会得到“哦，不，不要再这样了”的表情。! We met with our builder at the cottage and told him our ideas. He told us that remodeling was not wise and would be very expensive. 我的家人都很伤心，尤其是我们的大女儿，因为她是一个历史爱好者. Preserving the old cottage was very important to her. 1941年，我丈夫的祖父买下了这处房产，并把一所旧校舍搬到了湖边. The thought of tearing down the cottage was a very difficult decision. My husband and I talked and decided that even if we tore down the cottage, we would still have wonderful memories and pictures. 在拆掉小屋之前，我们拆掉了一些旧窗户和地板. 我们的女儿们正在上面画上美丽的花朵，挂在小屋里. They are also making signs out of the old stair boards. Pinterest is a wonderful thing! 我们还在墙上发现了一张旧铁床和一张木床，我们将在新小屋中使用它们.

The decision was made and plans were drawn up. We closed on our Arbor Financial Credit Union construction loan January 5. I’m not ashamed to say I shopped my construction loan around because, at the end of the day, I’m still a consumer looking for a good rate and great service. 我选择了我们的信用合作社，因为它是一次性结算的，而且我们只需要在房子完工之前支付利息.
We had a move in date of July 15. Word to the wise, move in dates are not set in stone. 在这个过程中我学到了一件事，我想传递给大家，你必须有耐心. I have a type A personality; I want things done correctly and I expect it to be done on time. My husband, on the other hand, is laid back and has patience. I think that is the reason we will celebrate our 36 ^th wedding anniversary in September; we complement each other. 我们的承包商在签发化粪池许可证时遇到了一些麻烦，然后就下雪了. We had a light winter up until we were ready to begin construction. 当您构建时，请记住这句古老的格言:“如果有些事情可能出错，那么它就会出错。”.



So, we have a move in date on paper. What would any woman do? 购买家具! 我想现在是一月份，我们要在七月份搬家，家具至少需要六到八周的时间来制作. 男孩，我错了. The furniture was done in four weeks and now had to be stored. 商店将免费存放6个月，然后我们要按月支付费用. 你猜怎么着，8月28日，我们家还没完工，我们要付仓储费.  Good thing my husband is patient with me! It is just so exciting building a new home. 你会被你想要它的样子所吸引，你迫不及待地想买所有可爱的东西，让它成为你的家.

井和化粪池出现了一些问题，需要额外的资金. 当我们与其他建造房屋的人交谈时，这似乎是一个主题. 你需要记住这一点，并确保你有一些自己的资金来应对意外的变化和成本. 当你的承包商制定施工预算时，并不是每一项隐性成本都是可知的. 我知道我们的承包商已经做了很多年了，他非常擅长他所做的, but some issues do not show up until the building has commenced.
 
承包商向我们保证，小屋再过四个星期就能完工. We will get to celebrate our anniversary there. My purpose in writing this is not to give you terms, rates and the ins and outs of a construction loan, 但是为了让你们对你们将要经历的情绪起伏有所了解. The day we closed on the loan was very exciting. 每隔几个星期，我们就开两个小时的车去拍照，看看进展. 有几个星期好像什么事也没发生，我们开车回家的时候有点沮丧. Keep in mind that we are not building a primary residence. 我甚至无法想象当建筑工程被推迟时，建造主要住宅的人会经历什么. Make sure that you have a good support system around you. 选择一个您可以与之沟通并对您的需求和关注点做出响应的构建器. Don’t take everything too seriously. You can drive yourself and your family crazy with each setback. 做点梦，看看Pinterest(不要告诉我让你这么做的承包商). Take a lot of pictures and build a scrapbook; I am using Snapfish. 当这一切都完成了, 你将拥有你梦想中的家，你和你的家人将在未来许多年里享受它. 享受过程!