Appraisal is in.

The appraiser for the bank came in with a number for the house and land that will support going ahead with the building process.   The appraiser works to try to find comparable sales in the area that support a valuation; in the case of a house that has not been built, he works from the architects plans, the builders description of materials and the physical characteristics of the land.  It took them an extra week to do so because comps are hard to find, but they came in with a good number so we're happy.   This can be a significant problem in rural areas.  The entire system is set up for more densely populated areas.  There are regulations about the distance out they can look and there are regulations about how recent the sales must be.  The same appraisal number will be used when we transition to permanent financing when the house is completed and the building loan is paid off with a traditional mortgage.

We'll be toasting tonight!