Day 131 - We Have A Wall

Progress:
Today when we went out to see the house we were very pleased to find that we now have a wall.  By the end of the day I wouldn't be surprised if they finish at least one more wall.

We brought them coffee and timbits and we really do have a fantastic crew for our framers.  Bob The Builder is actually a retired (although must be young retired or he's aged very well) airforce guy.  So far we would recommend this crew to anyone.

Day 130 (Over 4 months) - 114 Days of waiting

Progress:
So since the last time I updated the blog it was Oct 21, 2011 so it's safe to say FINALLY!!!  Last post was done after a month of waiting and after over 4 months of waiting for Jayman MasterBUILT to get framers it's also safe to say it's about time, it shouldn't have taken this long, and we are rightfully frustrated.

After a long time of Jayman telling us "Oh it will be next week" "It will be in the next couple weeks" to "We can't find framers" we finally have them.  Supposedly everyone was having troubles finding framers from them all going to Slave Lake (because of the fires) to there not being many.  From the outcome of everything it just seems to me (yes, there is a shortage of framers) that Jayman MasterBUILT is very very cheap.  It took them 3 months to start THINKING about paying the framers more and offering a more competitive wage.  They said they would be raising the prices of what they pay the framers and in the end they'd "have" to raise the prices of the houses because of it.   In the end though they did not give the framers competitive wages per sq/ft and are paying less.  They are paying $6 per sq/ft while the competition is paying $7-8 for the same thing.  To be honest I don't know why the framers that they do have now are working for less.

I sent them an email on Christmas Eve regarding since this was a very unrealistic waiting time without anything being done to the house if there were to be any consideration in regards to the framing as well as inquiring about the survey they've been telling me about for the past 4 months that I have not received (at this time depending on the questions they ask they might not get the best answers).  Either way those parts of the email were ignored in their reply back about the framing. 

We talked to the framing crew today and they seem exceptionally nice.  At first when we were talking to them they didn't know we were the people whose house they were building (very personable).  They joke about how they call themselves the ABC Crew as their names are: Amanda, Bob (yes, we have our own personal Bob The Builder), and Cameron.  They were also very open to answering all our questions about what they were doing and how they do stuff and what they plan to do next.  On the bright side they did mention that the people that poured the frame did it very well and that they wouldn't have to alter any of the framing because everything was already perfectly straight.  I think tomorrow we will bring them coffee and doughnuts (keep them warm and energized).

I am very thankful that we have a very relaxed landlord where we are as it would make this wait a bit more difficult nor are we having the hassle of selling a house.  I can't imagine if this was happening and we had to line up a house or move because of a lease ending.

I'm also excited to say that I have officially stood on the main floor of the house for the first time!  It will be where the back door is.  Hopefully the good weather keeps up so we can get the outside of the house finished fast.  It's been such a good winter for building houses (not for White Christmas' though).

Day 61 - More Stuff

Progress:
There looks like there is a potential for them to start today but that could just be me being optimistic.  There is more supplies though, granted I don't really know what they are but I take it as a good sign.

 

I would be nice if the framing pops up like a daisy and is done by the end of next week.  That is a extremely high hope.

Day 60 (Month 2) - Stairs?

Progress:
I don't know if they constructed them on the site or if they just had them delivered but either way we now have stairs.

 It looks like all of the stairs they will need for our house are now on the property.

So close to framing yet no action yet.  Being very excited make the wait seem oh so much longer.  The impatience (and excitement) now is from both of us and not just me.

Day 58 - To Frame Or Not To Frame...We Have The Supplies!

Progress:
We have wood...for the framing of course!  The people at Jayman said that the framing will start early this week and I went at lunch.  Even if they didn't do anymore than this for framing I am a happy camper because it logically means it will be starting soon.  I guess now we can start to worry again for rain (now snow too) not to fall!

The Atco people came by on October 3rd to see if our lot met the standards for being able to start the natural gas hook ups and such.  It looks to have failed the first time (I might be reading it wrong) and then from what I saw it looks like the came by a second time and it was approved.

I will be going there tomorrow after work and hopefully more will have been done.  It looks like there could be rain on the 27th and a chance or snow or rain on the 29th of this month.  I will be keeping my fingers crossed that the framing just pops up like a tulip does in the spring time!!

A hint of the house

Day 52 - News of Framing

Progress:

So the news we received today is that our framing will be starting early next week.  It makes me very happy that they emailed me to tell me that as I know they don't have to and that they knew I was getting a bit antsy waiting for the framing to start.  We should be rescheduling the meeting with the head guy (Mike) soon as well.

Day 47 - Phone Call

Progress:
So there hasn't been any progress at the house but I did phone Jayman to get the status of everything and a few clarifications.

When the head guy (Mike) didn't show up apparently that was the week he left.  Back story is that when he started to work with Jayman it was the first company that offered him a job and he took it.  The last head guy (Blake) left him such a mess to deal with and the fact that he is having difficulty finding good tradespeople (everyone is) that another company offered him a job and he took it.  I said that isn't it a little bit unprofessional to just leave and not tie any loose ends up like meetings?  Eddie's guess (Sales Associate at Jayman Innovations) was that Jayman locked him out of the computers as they have confidential information on there (granted I don't think that should be a problem as they should have gotten him to sign a non-disclosure agreement with him regarding that information).  I asked why they would want someone like that back and he said that someone very high up has seen his work and knows he's really good so they decided that they couldn't let him go and I don't know paid him more or something to stay.  Either way he's back and i'm not sure how I feel about that.  The only sort of contact i've had is for the no show meeting which has still left a bad taste in my mouth (metaphorically of course).

The second thing that I asked about was the framing of our house.  I asked if it would be another couple weeks or if he knows.  Eddie didn't know but tried to explain the framer shortage.  Apparently some years there are many and some years they're lean but this year they're hard to come by.  Supposedly a combination of Slave Lake (it had brutal fires this year that destroyed a lot of the town) and other places paying higher as well as when contracts end they'll sometime go to the oil rigs and make a lot of money there.  It still feels like an excuse to me but i'm going to choose to buy it otherwise i'll be paranoid about the building of my house.  I'm sure after this framing fiasco everything will run a lot smoother.  Eddie said that a loose guess is that it will be about 5 more months till the house is ready so that will be February and that a good head guy can make up a month of delays by making sure all the future contractors (painters, cabinet maker people, flooring, etc) are all lined up perfectly without a week in between.  I'm hoping on that scenario.  There won't be a better estimate to when the house will be done until they are in the drywall period of the house.  The head guy hopes to have all the houses that have started building around when we did done before the snow hits...but the way Edmonton is going that could be tomorrow for all we know.  I'm hoping it's a late winter this year as we had snow all the way until June this year which is appalling.  Portland would be nice :)

Day 42 - A Meter

Progress:

Another week and it looks to have no visible progress other than what seems to be a meter up.

Again, I probably won't go to the site until next Saturday.  Hopefully there is A LOT of progress made as it would be nice for all the framing to be done before the snow comes (and when it's not raining).

Day 36

Progress:

So we didn't really expect that there would be much done to the house but we were hoping.  Since they have not even delivered the "frame package" or whatever they called it (the many pieces of 2x4's and jazz that they will need to start the framing).  So we probably won't check on it until next Saturday.

I am happy that the front has been backfilled though.  Hopefully the framing starts sometime this week though.  I am not too sure when my meeting will be with the superintendant now since the last one didn't exactly work the way it was suppose to work out.

Hopefully next Saturday will bring much more progress!  The race against winter is on!

Day 30 - No Show

Progress:
So we learned that there is a 2 or so delay going on right now because Jayman is running low on framers and they refuse to hire average/poor quality framers.  If I have to wait 2 weeks for my house to be framed because they want to make sure they  have quality work that is absolutely fine with me.  A lot of the good framers are going up to Slave Lake to work because I think they are paying more and there is a lot of work up there due to the fires.  Jayman had a meeting saying that they might need to up what they are paying the framers due to the market.  We think that we are the next house in line to be framed which is nice.

I went down to the show home yesterday because I had a meeting with the superintendent (the elusive head guy.....new head guy) and I was completely disappointed.  I left my work two hours early so I could get to the meeting on time which was at 330pm.  It was 345pm by the time Brett was able to find out where Mike (head guy) was.  Apparently he was sick but didn't think that phoning someone to get them to let his appointment know not to show and to reschedule.  This still annoys me very much.  My job is very flexible and I still was able to get paid for the time I was gone but most jobs I would have lost 2 hours of work to come to this meeting only for him not to show or notify that he wasn't showing up.  I asked Brett to express that it was unacceptable of not letting me know and I am fully confident Brett will speak to him for me.  I said even if I was a stay at home mom it wouldn't be acceptable because that is time I could have used elsewhere.  This being the first meeting of the head guy doesn't make it easy for me to have confidence in him now...hopefully he just had so many things on his plate and it slipped his mind and this was the first time it has happened.

This being the only real negative thing so far (other than the time they forgot to give us our license back after copying it...no biggy) I am still fully happy with the process of the house.

Day 26 - Backfill (yesterday)

Progress:
So we were beginning to worry that we might actually not get backfilled this week as yesterday there had not been any visual progress made.  The Jayman boys guessed that our house may have started the framing process by now but as you can see that hasn't happened so mabye one of the other houses is just taking a bit longer than expected.  It's frusterating not knowing which of the houses being framed right now are the ones we're behind because then we could have a better guesstimate of the time frame we're looking at.

You can't really see on the picture above but there is no dirt backfilled right in front of the house or in the little rectangle that the deck will be.  Although there is no dirt there I don't really see that being an issue for being able to frame everything and if it is it shouldn't be much work to put the dirt in.  Although it was nice that we were able to get much closer to the foundation as there wasn't a 3 foot (estimate) gap on each side.

This was one of the days that my partner came with me as he was back in town and as per usually he was fretting about our yard size.  He always seems to want to try to get a better idea where our small yard will be (it will be bigger than most our neighbours due to our house being built up but it's still a small yard).  So after walking around the yard measuring it with his sandals he agreed that we'll have to wait and see....or at least wait till the next visit and I'll bet you he tries to measure that yard again.  Oh boy...he's entertaining though.

When we got to the site I realized that although I had my camera it didn't have it's SD card in it so I had to use my camera phone. I was surprised to see that the quality of photo it took was not actually that bad.

Day 24 - Weatherproofing?

Progress:
I don't exactly know the process of weatherproofing the foundation of your house but it seems that it might have been done?  When I went to the site today there was what appeared to be a black tarp-ish material wrapped around the foundation.  I'm not sure if they wrap a tarp around after they weatherproof the foundation so that nothing sticks to it but that is my guess.

 

Upon closer look at this picture it looks like the wooden ladder inside the house has moved too.

This red bin keeps moving on me as I can no longer stand in my normal spot to take the across the street photo.  I've been moving slightly to the right seemingly more each day.  I guess it would fill up fast everyday and need to be emptied frequently so that is how it must be moving to the right so often (maybe they'll start moving it to the left soon).

Day 21 - Dots of Weatherproofing

Progress: 
So in the end I didn't meet with the head guy last week due to no phone call came in to schedule it.  I assume it is really busy at Jayman right now (trying to beat bad weather and lots of move ins maybe). 

They have not weatherproofed the foundation but they do have little black dots of the weatherproofing on (i'm not too sure why the little black dots but I assume there were little holes in it that was from the structure that helped build the foundation).  They have also put rocks on the ground surrounding the structure.

It looks like they have sanded/leveled the cement to make it even.  I do like that they actually have a cement structure for the porch instead of pilings.  That will make it sturdier and it makes little room for mistakes.

Maybe tomorrow they will have the weatherproofing done although I am not aware of how long that takes to dry.  By Tuesday the excavation site might be backfilled (putting the dirt back in the hole) if everything goes well.  Fingers crossed for the framing to at least begin by the end of the week!

Day 16 - Waiting

Progress:
So since it was a long weekend it has been three says since the last update.  There has been no visible progress towards the house structure but we did find out a few things.

On Saturday we went to Jayman for their "official" grand opening and took the opportunity to inquire about a few things.  So this week I will be meeting with the elusive head guy (whom is roughly two weeks new) to both chat to make sure we're on the same page, to answer any questions I have, and to give me a bit of an insight into the whole construction process.  We also learned that there are two people in front of us to get their framing done because they got through the paperwork process a bit faster than us.  This means that we might get our framing started until next week.  There are a couple things they can still do while they wait though.  The two big things they can do will be to paint the black weatherproofing stuff around the foundation and then to back fill it (put all the dirt into the excavation site around the foundation...well, the dirt that fits in there).

Due to this I probably won't stop by again until this Thursday.

Day 12 - Rain Rain Go Away

Progress
So as I said before after you have poured the foundation you typically have to wait 2-3 days on average for it to dry/cure....that is...if it doesn't rain.  About 24 hours after the foundation was poured Mother Nature decided it would be funny to rain hard on Thursday and then again Friday during the day.  Yup, I normally love the rain but I wasn't celebrating the rain that night and day.  To look on the bright side though I am very happy that it rained after the foundation was poured and not before as I'm not too sure how that would have affected them being able to pour the foundation period. 

When I went down to the house today I found that they had taken the slats (probably not proper name) from around the foundation off and added one 2x4 to the side (also found out I have a window!)...  well more than one 2x4 as they lined a few things with them.

While I was scampering around I almost slipped and fell on my face in the mud (which would have been comical).  One of the neighbours offered me to come on his porch to take a photo from across the street but I let him know that my shoes were caked in mud and he probably wouldn't like it if I left mud-prints all over (it was nice of him to offer though).

This is why he offered his porch...because my normal view is blocked.

This will probably be the past post though until Monday as I am not sure that the workers work on the weekends or not.

Day 11 - Drying Cement / Talk with Construction Guy

Progress

So today when I went when I went to take my "stalker" photo there wasn't too much progress but the cement needs a bit of time to dry.  There were at least two workers working on site, one worker was working around the outside of the foundation while the other (assuming that there wasn't more) was working on the inside of the foundation.  I'm not sure what they were doing but I did get to learn a bit more about the construction progress.

 I ran into the the head guy today (he says he's second from the top but i've never met the the mysterious head guy so he's the head guy) and had a really good talk about the construction process.

So a few things I learned:
-When you put the walls of the foundation up it takes 2-3 days to dry before you can start putting up the frame (depending on good weather).
-The cement floor in the basement is not put in until the frame is done (and I believe that is fully framed with a roof but I'm not 100% sure).  After the frame is up all the electrical wires and plumbing goes in before the cement is put down on the floor in the basement.
-Snow is worse than rain for construction because they have to shovel the snow, the construction workers get cold (brrr!), and since it's so cold it's harder on the machines they use.
-The ground in Edmonton doesn't take that long to settle because it's clay based.  Calgary will take a little bit longer but different places in Edmonton can have different soil types.  Before they excavate the lot they get someone in to test the soil to see what soil they will be working with in regards to how long it will take to settle as well as how they will need to change the cement mixture (if they need to).
-The metal looking thing coming out of the foundation at the top (don't remember the name but I know it's not rebar) will be bent down and then back up and are suppose to help stabilize the house in case hurricanes and such come through.  He said that in Edmonton you really didn't need them but they put them on anyway for a just in case.  My guess for them after he said they'd bend them down was to maybe put more support for the main floor.

Hopefully I run into him again because I will no doubt be curious regarding something else and he's very good at giving out a lot of information (and very friendly).  He welcomes the questions and he doesn't give off the impression of "go away and let me do my job" which is really nice!  When winter hits and if there is a regular crew around the construction site I'll probably get them Timmies to help warm them up (esp since they've been doing such a great job) because I know I didn't enjoy working outside in winter when I had to.

Day 10 - Pouring Of Cement

I am happy and surprised to announce that when I went to the house today they were pouring cement into what will be the foundation of the house.

 

So I am now assuming that the wait was caused by the fact that they were waiting for cement (and they might not work on weekends).  

I think that it's really impressive that it's only day 10 and the foundation is going down.  It can supposedly only take 24 hours for them to add the floor.  After another small drying period they can begin to build the frame as long as it doesn't rain which there is a chance of that for this coming Friday (40% chance of rain)

So there was one person that was overseeing the pouring of the concrete that was looking at me so I smiled and waved (mostly to feel less awkward) and he nodded at me so it was all good. 

P.S: They are building a garage behind our neighbours house.

Day 9 - No Progress

I'm writing this post since it's been since last Friday since I posted and I said I would try to post everyday.  Well last you saw they had poured the cement in.  The status is still the same and there is no further progress.  Could be because of various reasons.  My theories: 1. The next crew isn't ready to go 2. Any parts they could be waiting for aren't in yet 3. cement isn't dry (least likely since it's been so long and it hasn't rained).  I did see them building a structure behind our neighbours (finished house) though.  They were constructing what looked like the frame of the building (side/front with window area to it).  Part of me hopes that that would be ours and they are just building that while they wait for other things to line up but since we don't actually even have our basement cement poured or weeping tile I doubt it (there just aren't other buildings near us that they would be working on a structure at that location so maybe!

Day 5 - Footings

Progress
I am starting to feel less akward and less like a little stalker.  Due to that I have found a permanent place I will take pictures from that isn't off to the side in side my car so I can speed away (it also helps that for the next while I have to take picture inside the hole).  So this picture doesn't show too much of a difference other than the small amounts of cement in the dirt pile.

Once you look into the excavation site you see that there is progress!  The footings have been started as you can see and the weeping will will be laid down around the outside of the structure you see.  I'm not sure how long this will take to dry as to if there will be a lot of progress done tomorrow.  There is a 30% chance of rain tonight and 40% on Sat and Sun (but estimating if it does rain it will only be 1mm).  I assume that might make a difference to cement while drying if it rains.  Here's to hoping for clear skies!

Day 4 - Weeping Tile & Footings

 Progress
So today when I went by to do a "drive by shooting" of the house I almost missed that there was a structure at the bottom of the hole.

I realized that it would be much more appropriate to park and get out of the car to take the picture (just like it would be more appropriate for me to not say "drive by shooting" but I couldn't stop myself).  So the progress that they've made today (and bear with me as again I have limited knowledge in construction) seems to be as follows.  They have a layer of aggregate (or pea gravel as my co-worker is calling it) on the base which will be better to soak up any water in the future (better than that dirt which is mostly made up of clay).  Then they have put up the structure in which the footings in which the weeping tile will go around it and I believe the area where the sump pump will go (that that one is more of a guess for the sump pump). 

 Descriptions (for anyone like me that didn't know what this stuff was really)

Aggregate: the aggregate serves as reinforcement to add strength to the overall composite material. Due to the relatively high hydraulic conductivity (the ease with which water can move through pore spaces or fractures. You bet your bum I Googled that!) value as compared to most soils, aggregates are widely used in drainage applications such as foundation and French drains, septic drain fields, retaining wall drains, and road side edge drains. Aggregates are also used as base material under foundations, roads, and railroads. To put it another way, aggregates are used as a stable foundation or road/rail base with predictable, uniform properties (e.g. to help prevent differential settling under the road or building), or as a low-cost extender that binds with more expensive cement or asphalt to form concrete. -Wikipedia

Footings: Another common type of shallow foundation (footings) is the slab-on-grade foundation where the weight of the building is transferred to the soil through a concrete slab placed at the surface. Slab-on-grade foundations can be reinforced mat slabs, which range from 25cm to several meters thick, depending on the size of the building, or post-tensioned slabs, which are typically at least 20cm for houses, and thicker for heavier structures.

Sump Pump: A pump used to remove water that has accumulated in a water collecting sump pit, commonly found in the basement of homes. The water may enter via the perimeter drains of a basement waterproofing system, funneling into the pit or because of rain or natural ground water, if the basement is below the water table level. -Wikipedia

Weeping Tile: A porous pipe used for underground drainage. The pipe is typically plastic with small slits cut lengthwise into it. It is buried and surrounded by aggregate larger than the slits. The aggregate rocks prevent excessive soil from falling through the slits into the weeping tile. With this arrangement, water in the surrounding soil above the weeping tile flows into the weeping tile. The weeping tile then drains into a storm sewer or a sump pump .
It is often used for water drainage near basement foundations to prevent flooding. It can be used in farmer's fields to drain waterlogged fields. Such fields are called "tiled". Weeping tiles can be used anywhere soil needs to be drained. -Wikipedia

Day 3 - Open Excavation

So I was very excited to see today that there is a huge hole where my lot is.  I guess not huge per say but there is a hole the size of my house there which makes me happy.  There was even a sign that said "danger open excavation".

I would have taken a better picture but there wasn't any room to park this time.  This weekend I should get some good quality ones.

Survey
 So a week ago I got a call to tell me that there will be a survey coming out regarding the house.  There will be three surveys for each phase of the house process.  The first survey is regarding how the process of the paperwork went, how the salespeople were and if they were informative and how they did their job.  I have not gotten the survey yet but it should be coming soon.  I know there is one after you've moved into the house and somewhere in between I believe there is another one.

Day 2 - Breaking Ground

Progress:

So the second day I was happy to find that they were breaking ground!  I felt a little bit akward driving up and taking a picture (esp when there were workers on site) that I went up and introduced myself.  Pretty much to say "Hey, i'm not a creeper i'm just taking a picture a day so I can combine them all into a video". 

They're breaking ground!

Summerside:
So as I said before we are buying in Summerside but let me explain more of what Summerside is.  So Brookfield Residentials' (formerly Carma Developers) plan for this community is to have a Cape Cod architecture theme.  It was started in 2000 and they estimate it will be done by 2018 and will be home to over 3,000 families (that makes it sound really big but it doesn't seem like it).  They get master builders such as Jayman to design houses and offer homes from starter, move up, estate, townhouse, semi detached and apartment condominiums.  My favourite part of this community is that is has a very substantial pathway system and has a 32 acre freshwater lake that lets you swim, kayak, fish (catch and release) and so much more.  They plan to have many schools surrounding the community as well as some recreational centres.  Near the lake is tennis courts and of course a playground for the kids.  It seems to be a very social community as there is a page just for the people of summerside that you buy/sell things, they have farmers markets, and "movie in the park" nights.

The location of Summerside is at the edge of Edmonton but is close to both the Anthony Henday and Calgary Trail/Gateway Boulevard so it's easy to get to destinations around Edmonton without too much difficulty.  Plus side is if you're career makes it so that you need to frequent the airport, it's not that far away.  For a bigger city the airport is indeed far away so living at the edge with a close drive to the highway makes it so much easier whether you drive, taxi, or are picking up a friend.

The Thought and Process of Getting the House

"Author's Notes"
This is my first time writing a blog so bear with me as I fumble my way through writing.  I will try to keep everything easy to read and hopefully for the most part not too "personal".

"Prologue"
Technically I am already a fair ways past where I should have started blogging so I'll go quickly back to the beginning.

Thoughts Of The House - July 2010
My partner and I have been together for awhile by the time we figured we wanted to buy a house.  At first it was only a "buy a house" notion.  We decided to humour ourselves and go to a couple showhomes to see what was out there.  We knew in Edmonton there was really only one area where both of us would want to buy and that was Summerside.  The community with a lake, perfect for triathletes (even poorly training ones).

Showhomes
At first we got lost and found Summerside Fields.  An area where they have lovely houses but have no access to the lake.  So we mosied on over to the destination we were originally trying to get to; which ended up being Daytona.  I personally loved the Concorde...until I thought about it more (big beautiful living room window that gives you a nice view to your....garage wall?  Uh uh!).  Then we stepped next door which was Jayman.  Saw the Jazz and then we saw the Outlook.  I'd like to say it was love at first sight but really it was love at third storey (the house has three storeys and you can look from the very top to the very bottom like a spiral staircase that is square).

The Outlook
When we first stepped into the Outlook we were first introduced to Brett (the Area Sales Manager).  He was the epitomy of what I like in a sales person.  He greeted us as we came in, made it clear that he was there if we needed him, and then left us be to wander around without being bothered.  When we did need help or had any questions he was more than happy to answer them (he did have all the answers and the rare time he didn't he didn't say "I don't know" he'd look into it and was very prompt too).

We spent almost the next year saving for the downpayment (and going back into the showhome to ask Brett more questions and wander through the house talking about it) until we were finally able to start the process of buying the house.

Buying the House

Side Note: By this time Eddy The Sales Associate was also brought onto the sales team (of two) at Summerside.

Step #1: Meeting With Brett
So the first step and meeting was to go over what house we wanted and what we wanted in it.  This meeting was mostly for getting a lot on hold and an fairly close estimate of what the cost of the house would be so we could bring it to Jayman Finance (the mortgage broker).  We went over the layouts of the house, what upgrades we'd want to get (which is put in as the Style Magic Allowance), any extra things to the wiring/pluming/electrical (like a natural gas line), or the basic upgrades that they have on their website.  Nothing was signed at this meeting other than handing over a cheque for $1,000 so they could hold the lot we picked while we got our finances in order.

Step #2: Meeting the Pierre (The Jayman Financial Mortgage Broker).
This is fairly straight forward.  We met with the Mortgage Broker to hand him all the paperwork and go over anything else he needed and to sign off.  It is a very fast meeting if you make sure you have all your paperwork filled out and everything signed.  Whether you go with Jayman, another mortgage broker, or even just through a bank i'm sure they will email you everything you need. 
Note: When you print off three month bank account statements make sure your name and the account numbers are on the papers.  Most times when you print them off it won't print your name.  We had to printscreen it into word and email it after the meeting

The Unofficial Step #3: The Wait
The wait to see if you are approved or not can be exciting/stressful/overwhelming or all of the above at times esp if you are a fairly young buyer who doesn't think you've had enough years of credit to get approved.  Thankfully we were in Vegas so we didn't have much time to think about whether we were or weren't.  Three to four days later we finally got that email saying "congratulations you're approved!!!".

Step #3: Meeting with Brett 
This meeting was to hand over our down payment (which has to be a certified cheque or a bank draft) and sign many many pages of paperwork.  It took me 1.5 hours to complete this meeting.  That seems like a long time but Brett took the time to make sure all the documents were explained to us so we wouldn't later on be like "Hey! I never knew that" or "No one ever informed me of that!".
Side Note: It was storming and hailing on this day and it was crazy to see how much water built up fast but I also learned that Summerside is built very well because the water goes fast and doesn't just pool in one spot.  


Step #4: Style Magic Appointment!
This appointment was very long but very interesting.  This is the appointment where you get to choose what colour cabinets, rug, laminate, counters, handles, lighting, doors, etc that you want.  It is nice because you can personalize your house to be yours.  I think one of the best things for being upgraded for price wise was the triple pane windows and the headers.
Side Note: There are things that you are better off not to get them to do like dimmer switches, garberators, garages (style magic doesn't do that but the builders do), etc so I guess the best thing to do is ask and hope they give an honest answer.  Our sales team were really good at telling us what would be better if we did ourselves to save money.

Step #5: Meeting with Brett (last step in the paperwork process).
After all the official prices are in the final paperwork can be drawn up.  We went over what we were approved for so we had to email the mortgage broker to add on $8,000 to the pre approval.  So we sign the final paperwork and the blueprints and then they all need to be sent in.  Paperwork usually takes about 1.5 months.  We started the process June 30th and our house is officially starting to be built August 22, 2011 (today!).  Our house took a little bit longer because my partner works in Calgary for four days out of the week so we either had to make our appointments on Fri/weekend or I had to email him paperwork to sign.  It was a lot of juggling but it wasn't fault of Jayman so I was fine with it.
Note: the colour on your house will need to be approved because they don't want a similiar colour schemes side by side.


Stalking - Breaking Ground
I call it stalking only because I am going to try to go there everyday to take a picture so at the end when the house is finished (or at least when it's finished on the outside) I can put it together in a video and watch it be built fast!

Today I went to the house and there was stakes in the ground to mark off where the house will need to go (i'm not a construction worker so don't take my word for exactly what the stakes are for....there were flags too).