We had been waiting patiently since mid-August 2013 to find out what the appraiser thought of our house plans.  This was a critical point for us since the bank will only loan us up to 80% of the final value of the house, and since the housing market is still not in great shape, chances of it appraising at a value much higher than the cost to build was slim.  Fortunately we had the value of the land and garage to help make up that remaining 20%, but there was no guarantee that we’d be able to meet required value to secure the loan amount we needed.

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