The Beginning...

Well, construction on my house finally began on July 18, 2006. I've been trying to take pictures to document the progress. I bought a .45 acre parcel of land here in Ann Arbor and am building a two story 2000 sq. ft home. The home will have 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths along with a basement. This is a picture of the land before construction started. I took this picture on July 17, the day before construction started.

The process up to this point has been a long one. You realize that everyone has their hand out and wants some money in order for you to do anything with the land. They disguise it as a "permit", but it seems like robbery to me. *smile*. Anyways, I bought the land in January and have had to secure the following before ANY work could commence:
1) Pay a water and sewer tap fee. This would allow me the "privilege" of using city water and sewer. This "fee" was $11,455. Doesn't seem right, does it?
2) Pay a zoning compliance fee. This makes sure that what I'm building complies with the township's ordinances and such and such... $250
3) Driveway Permit. Can't have a house w/o a driveway... $150
4) County Road Commision permit. The main water line that I would be tapping into was about 6 inches into the road. Well, the county has to make sure that the work I'm doing will not obstruct traffic... yada yada yada... $100
5) Building permit. The permit that allows you to commence work on your property... It's based on the cost of construction and other things... ~$700

And all these permits were inputs to each other, so I couldn't get them all at the same time. I had to have one in order to apply for the other. It was crazy. Well anywayz, work has finally begun! :)