Where do I start. This is probably the hardest part of the whole process because I want to make sure I'm very thorough ... so we don't get to the end and need to sell the kids on eBay to finish paying for the house. Actually eBay and Craigslist but I digress.
I downloaded some templates over at the OwnerBuilder site that was a good start for building a starting a point. Jo-Lynn over at http://nwforeverhome.wordpress.com/ (A must read - she is awesome) was a great help as well.
At this point, the main budget page is about 400 lines (excel) and there are about 12 tabs of more detail supporting information (e.g. concrete calculations, inspection schedules, trim calcs, labor estimates, etc). Is it overkill, probably, but it gives me confidence that we are on the right track and be able to justify the numbers to the bank for the construction loan. I still make small tweaks, last night I added some calculations for line items that are pure sweat equity labor and sweat equity cash so I can deduct those from the overall total. Also added in the mortgage payment calcs so it is easy to see the monthly payment as I play with individual line items.
The budget is definitely way above what we planned but I know I have room to 'play' as I've allocated some big chunks to landscaping (we will do all of it), decks (we will do), and contingency. Once we get final blueprints and can start getting more accurate bids then I will have a clearer picture.
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