About 2 months ago, due to several factors, we decided to move to a nearby rural area. The location of and appalling road traffic near our present house, crime and poor services in our town, an unpleasant incident at my children's private school where the principal did something very unjust to me, and a general desire to get OUT of the city and go back to being country people--it was just too much. It took me 18 years to get OUT of the country and another 18 to get back IN! So, we've been house hunting.
We are trying to move to a MUCH more expensive area, with great public schools. Our house has doubled in value in the last 4 years to about $200K, but out there, houses of this size on the kind of land we want are $300K-$350K when they are available at all. Comparably priced houses tend to be 25% smaller than the one we currently own--which is already smaller than we need. It's been tough to find houses we can afford that have at least a little land around them. We wanted 5-10 acres, but it looked like 3-5 was more do-able. So we've downscaled some.
We found one house that needed a fair amount of work, but wasn't too old. But they took another, better offer, even though we offered full price. Then we found a second house, one locally known as "The Triangle House" because it was that all-roof chalet style. It was a charming house, on about 2.6 acres of almost virgin timber (that was was one of the things I loved) and it had a garden tub with a whirlpool which was a distinct attraction for my aching joints. But it had some problems, namely the 13 deadfall or falling trees that needed removing, and the weird set up where my office would be upstairs on the second floor and my kids would congregate downstairs in the basement with a concrete slab and 2 flights of stairs (one with a very low, slanted ceiling) between us. It just didn't seem practical. Plus, there were water infiltration problems (PUDDLES! UGH!) in the basement and no idea how hard that was going to be to fix... if it could EVER be fixed so that it really never leaked.
It was not easy telling this to my husband that since he was deeply in love with the place. I tend to spoil him, letting him have what he wants. I figured i could live with it. When the seller backed out of the contract, DH was devastated. He didn't have any of my reservations about the place. He was enthusiastic about felling and splitting all those trees (and the new toys he would get to buy to do it with). He doesn't really spend a lot of time in the house, whereas I am there quite a bit of the time there. Anyway, finally, I just blurted it out, the reasons why the house made me so uneasy. It wasn't until then that he finally seemed able to let it go. It took TWO WEEKS of stress and raging for him to let go of this house that we never really had.
To his credit, I guess, I have to remind myself that over the years, while we've bought 3 houses, he's been overseas, or otherwise occupied for every single house. I've done all the hunting, all the "oh my gosh we can't afford ANYTHING," all the moping because I've looked at everything there is and there's still nothing. He hasn't really had to cope with the heartbreak of not getting the house he really loves before, while I've learned the hard way that in house-hunting you cannot afford to fall in love. You HAVE to be able to walk away from any deal. You don't "have" a house until you sign the closing papers. It's not yours. You cannot lose something that is not yours.
Anyway, we've been looking and looking, even at houses further up in the price range, up to $350. I know this seems pathetically cheap to some of you, but that is FAR more than we can afford to support. I have been house-poor and don't want to repeat the experience. But we still weren't finding anything. We found two houses on 6 acres for $350K, thinking we could get my brother to move into the small one. But the bigger house was just TOO small. Then, we found two manufactured houses--TRAILERS--on 7 acres for $300K. But trailers... we have to sell this place in 5-6 years when DH retires from the Navy and we move on. Some people (like us) are very uneasy about buying trailers, no matter how nice. We were beginning to get really bummed out about our prospects of finding a house we could afford on "some land" in the right school district.
During the course of our travels out in the county, we came upon a likely looking house. It was for sale. It was WELL within our price range. It was big enough for us. But it was under contract pending a home inspection. So we went home, feeling blue, kept looking, kept not finding anything. And Monday, we followed up with our agent about that likely looking house. Turns out, the home inspection had come through and the buyer had backed out of the deal.
We got a copy of the home inspection and found some interesting bits. The house has only one bathroom. The plumbing is part galvanized and part copper (a BIG no-no)... and part, as the inspection report says, "There are at least three repairs made to the water supply lines of the bathroom sink and toilet area, which are made with rubber hose and automotive clamps." When DH and I stopped laughing like hyenas we read the rest of the report. The house needs pretty serious work-though some has been done--and it has a BAD case of half-ass disease. Oh, and did I mention that is ONE-HUNDRED-EIGHTY years old?
That's where the 45% certifiably insane comes in.
I grew up in an an old house. half was pre-Revolutionary and the other half, pre-Civil War. I know how much work a place like this is and what a money pit it can be. It's kind of scary, because I know what I am getting into. It needs all the plumbing pipe replaced (fortunately, there is not much of it). It needs the floors jacked and supported. It needs foundation work. It needs work in the bathroom and kitchen (if not a totally new bathroom and kitchen). It needs central heat and air. It needs dampers on the FOUR fireplaces. $50K? $100K? That is the bad news.
Yes, I am panicking.
The good news is, of course, with property values being what they are, if we do the work, we can surely get the money back out when we move. DH has friends in construction who are willing to help him with the foundation work. The house is stable and livable, and actually fairly nice on the inside. Yes, it needs a kitchen and bathroom, but we can use the ones that are there for the time being. There is room for a garden and fruit trees. There are KIDS living next door. There are outbuildings for all our junk and maybe for a few animals. There is a creek (or as we say "a crick") out back! Okay, I'm excited. I am not thoroughly cynical. I've fallen for this house.
The house has a name, Carroll Plantation (est 1820), and stories and history. And I have to say, I can't wait to ferret all this out. I am considering starting a blog about the place (as if iIneed another blog to maintain) and our remodeling/restoration efforts. If and when I do, I'll let you all know the URL. In the meantime, if you ever thought I was crazy...
Now you know.
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