In the US, building a house seems like such a fun thing to do if you have the funds. Building a house here in Brazil was not even on our blueprints a year ago. Material, methods, and terms are very different especially to someone who has only lived here for about 2 ½ years.
But after visiting a good percentage of the homes here in Croatá, we have decided that finding a decent house at a decent price is not at all easy either. You see, there are not any real-estate agencies, classified ads, internet sites, or apartment search magazines even for a town that is the county seat. It is a rare occurrence for there to be a sign on a house available for purchase and if you find the words “For Sale” painted on the front wall, it is likely that it is from years past and never removed. The only way to find a house for sale is word-of-mouth and, although this was very fun, we still could not find anything more than two bedrooms at a reasonable price. In fact, when many people found out that the (assumedly “rich”) Americans were looking for a house they were willing to sell their small houses to us at large prices. As we looked at the amount of money we could get through a loan, we realized that we could build a house for a better price than purchasing a used home and then we could make it how and almost anywhere we want. Also, our current rental house needs some serious upgrading and we didn’t want to put more money into it and lose the investment. Unlike the current U.S. housing situation, real estate here is a very good investment and our small town is growing rapidly so we decided to take the plunge.
The Lord blessed us with a piece of land from the town dentist and one of our new Brazilian friends was able to make a deal for us to keep the price low. Then I drew plans on my computer using Google Sketch-Up for a couple of homes and talked to a bricklayer in town. After much documentation and red tape we started to build two weeks ago on August 29th. One of the most difficult hurdles of this process is trying to find out what is the end cost of the project. With the fluctuating US dollar value and high fees on transferring large sums of money internationally it is hard to know how much money I have to start with because my loan is from the US. After estimating how much I have to spend, I needed to estimate the cost of materials in parts: foundation, walls, roof, and fixtures. Even though my brick layer has a team to do the labor and a place to purchase materials, prices interior are top dollar and it is worth the 9hr round trip to Fortaleza to purchase windows, doors, fixtures, and smaller items for plumbing and electrical. Praise the Lord I have a truck to carry the materials!
Our current feelings on building are much excitement mixed with fear. I visit the site multiple times a day and sometimes spend all day with the workers. (I even have done some of my Bible studies at the existing garage at the property.) So far they have been very trustworthy and they have been doing a good job. Sometimes measurements are not exactly accurate I constantly need to make sure things are going according to the plans. But we feel blessed to have the opportunity to meet more people and build a house that will give us the opportunity to serve the Lord and the community of Croatá better. The project is scheduled to be completed in 3-4 months and we are praying that we can be in the house by Christmas. The Lord is worthy to be praised for His faithfulness to us and we now have a daily reminder of His provision. Thank you for your prayers. --Todd
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