Some people will ask us that question, since it will add on to the construction costs.
To elevate the house on pillars and to pour a concrete slab as a floor, with a structure in metal that supports it all, instead of just make the foundation directly on the ground will have it´s extra costs.
 
Today we had an experience that only strengthened our decision! It rained today, it was not the worst rain but it rained quite heavily. And we ended up with water inside our house, since the waters from the mountain/hill behind our house runs down towards all of the houses and in some cases in to the houses also.
We figured that with a raised house we will never have that happen to us, and that will help us to have a peace of mind during heavy rains (especially during the nights).

Finally the day has come, when we have the final (or almost) blueprints of our house!
We are excited about seeing the process going forward. Now we have to wait for the official approval from the right offices, and then start the process of preparing for the build.
We will need to look at the costs of making the foundation and septic tanks and so on, since those would be the first things to build.
Also preparing for the electric cables and anything that will come from underneath the house.
But right now I don´t want to think about all of that, just rejoice in the fact that we have some great drawing of the house, I hope you can rejoice with us!

As a family we have been looking at the land that we own (that we recently bought), and we always remember to pray for the building project.
Now our architect had the chance to come and see it (as she had to take some measurements). I will add a picture here so you get to see it too!
 
The property in it self is 5000m2, with about 26 meters road front and about 190 meters deep, the house will be located in the front part and then in the back we will plant fruit trees and somewhere in between I am dreaming of having a nice smoker, so I can smoke some good meat there. I guess our future guests will love that part too!
 
Laura has been looking at different fruit trees, and would like to plant Orange, Star fruit, Avocado, Lime, and Passion fruit trees at least. She has plans for maybe trying to grow grapes too if possible.
 
To have your own home with fruit trees sounds like a dream, but an even bigger dream for me is to have a sauna and a small pool. That is a great way to relax and to get strengthened to do some good work.

So the layout of the land will be partly fruit trees and green area, partly house and then we have the rest, such as smoker, pool & sauna. I would say that it sounds pretty good to me!

Lets start this right away by stating the fact that I (Kimmo) am not a writer, but I will do my best to paint a truthful picture with my words, and hopefully some photos.
 
This is the beginning of our process to have our own house.
 
We have a dream of how our house should look like, and we hope to see this dream of ours happen as soon as possible.
What makes our process a little bit different from most other house build processes is that we work as Missionaries with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) and do not receive a steady salary, but our income is based on volunteer support from churches and individuals.
With how our finances are set up, we can not look for a loan at a bank to build our house, but we will trust in God, that he will provide the funds so that we can see our dream come through.
 
Right now we are looking at an architect to draw our house and to file all the needed permit applications with I don’t know how many different places here in Costa Rica.
We have a piece of land to build on, and need the permits to start our process of building. Start, I said, since we do not have all of the funds to finish the whole house, so we will move in faith! (A big step for us, but we are glad that you are here with us, either just observing or maybe praying, or maybe even considering a donation toward our dream)
 
For the ones who do not know how we live right now, I will just tell you shortly. We have a rented house; it is about 400 square feet (about 40 m2), and as a family of 4 it feels a little bit tight, especially when we have guests, not to talk about when people would like to visit us from back home (Sweden or Finland).
 
I will continue writing regularly (whenever we have something to tell), I hope you enjoy walking with us through this experience.