The Big E – Easy Come, Easy Go…NO!

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166 – June, 2025

By Elaine Lessig

Never, never did we ever expect to become nomads. When we sold our home of twenty-three years, we looked forward to building a new one. Taking our needs for our future years into consideration, a new, custom-built home seemed just the right fit for us and the dogs. The thought of creating our new space was exhilarating. We found a lot, got a builder, and worked with an architect. Building plans were created and sent to our municipal building department for approval. A land engineering group was hired, too. Now we had our team. It was go-time, and we were ready to take our leap of faith.

This critical decision took us over many hard bumps in the road we never saw coming, difficulties we did not anticipate, and a bureaucracy that was unending. It required six months of “Where are our building permits?” to get started. Rule Number One: don’t attempt to put in a poured concrete foundation in late November in New Jersey. It was a painfully long process. During that time, our house sold quickly. With the dogs, we moved to a rental on a small horse farm nearby. Even finding the rental was a challenge–with the Cavaliers and English Toys needing accommodations with us.

There we nested for eighteen months while many decisions and change orders passed between the builder and us. Compromises were plentiful. Some of them worked out for the best; others did not. Along the way, building materials became unavailable for weeks, slowing down progress. Rule Two: order your appliances as soon as you start to build. For whatever reason, getting the major ones, in the exact models, took forever. Buying them early saved us money. When they came back in stock, inflation had reared its ugly head. Every one of them would have cost a lot more. Unfortunately, the prices on so many of the building materials for the project climbed up and up, too. We were just glad when there was availability.

Click here to read the complete article
166 – June, 2025

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