(Almost) Land Owners!

Well, this weekend BJ and I made an offer on a piece of land, and our offer was accepted!

About a month ago, BJ and I went to talk to a builder (Richard Schmidt) in our continuing search of home. We weren't sure at that point if we wanted to build or buy. We just knew that we wanted to find something with some breathing room (i.e. some decent sized land). We told the builder about this, and he let us know about some unadvertised lots in New Alsace (Indiana). His own extended family had bought up quite a few, and the others were going fast.

We went out that day to see the neighborhood with Richard, and it was soooo nice and peaceful. Each lot in the neighborhood has five or more acres, so everyone is really spaced out. BJ and I decided to focus on a lot near the back of the neighborhood. The highlight of the lot was its ring of full-grow pines, and the opportunity to redevelop the pond that once was in the center of them. One other thing we really liked is that the neighborhood will be made up of mostly young families, so hopefully once we have kids there will be plenty of friends around. :)

Here's a drawing of the neighborhood, with our lot highlighted:


After much consideration and visits to New Alsace, BJ and I decided that this was where we really wanted to be. We went out to the land this weekend with our builder and the developer, and we made a deal - part of the deal is that the developer is going to complete the pond for us!

The neighborhood is not ready for homes yet (the roads will go in within the next two months), so we have a while before we start to build. This is kind of nice, because it gives us time to make decisions about the home itself and save.

Here are some photos from this weekend. we spent about an hour out there after the builder and developer had gone.



Our house will probably be built between here and the trees:


Here's a shot of our lot from the back of it (the bottom shows about where our property lines will be):


It's so nice to finally have some home decisions made! Plus, we really like and trust our builder, so we feel really good about the whole thing. :)