We moved in right away but our remaining fix list was very very minor. I took photos of the house immediately while it looked nice. Move in day we had about 10 people helping, and between them hauling stuff in and my two little kids we had floor scratches etc immediately. Despite protecting floors from foot traffic. I fretted about it the first week but now am mostly not worried about it. You know your builder best , I completely trusted ours will take care of the remaining things, about half of which have already been done. But we didn't have anything major like the counters- I think I would do those at least before moving in so you can focus on moving once you get there. I would wait if you can, our house was so so dusty even though they cleaned, it's taken at least two weeks to get most of dust settled out. With furniture in it just makes more to clean. Hang in there, I know what it's like to be antsy to move!!

We've been in for three years now and remain far from having "every last thing" done (I'm the guy doing most of it, so I know where the blame falls!). But then we've never lived in a house that wasn't in some stage of construction, remodeling, or repair so that just seems normal. We moved in with temporary counters, no window trim or baseboards, a big hole in an (interior) wall where the 250 year old round window I'm rebuilding will go, still no fireplace mantle, etc.

If you think you can really hustle the work along by waiting then do so, otherwise get out of the bus!

A house is never completely finished. Move in and enjoy. :)

Watch out for cardboard moving boxes on hardwood floors ... when you have a whole bunch of boxes you end up sliding some of them on the floor ... DON'T! ... the cardboard boxes will leave a bunch of fine scratches on the wood floors.

And it isn't too late to teach young kids to have respect for their home and belongings. Kids might add to some wear and tear on a house, but they should not be destroying it. Set some rules and boundaries ... and stick to them ...

We just got our final occupancy permit and I feel very overwhelmed and excited. It's been a long time!

@chispa I perhaps exaggerated a tad, but the kids have been living in a school bus for must of their memorable lives (my 15 month old's entire life). There's definitely going to be a steep transitional learning curve. They've never had things like a dish washer, more than one bathroom, doors that separate rooms, stairs...

We lived onsite in an ancient (and horrible) mobile home while our house was being built. We couldn't wait to get in, but with a small house didn't want to be in the way, so we did a minimal move-in. We moved only the essentials (food, some clothes, etc.), but we waited to move the bulk of our furniture and belongings. Granted, it was only my husband and me, but even with your children you have easy access to things you realize you need for the interim. With every other house we've owned, we had a short timeline to move out of the old house and into the new, so it felt luxurious to take our time bringing in items, arranging furniture, filling bookshelves, organizing closets and cupboards without having to maneuver around boxes.

We moved in tonight. It is amazing.

Congratulations Sarah! Can't wait to see pictures. So what will become of the school bus?

Thanks for the congrats and well wishes!

Cp, we will probably clean it up and sell it. It's time for it to move on and I hate the idea of it just sitting there and falling apart from neglect. It's been a good bus and it deserves better than that!

I would so love to have an old school bus to use as garden shed/art studio/guest house... Of course, even above that would be to have a caboose or a gypsy caravan.

Congratulations on your new home! May you enjoy it for many, many years.