Big changes in someone's life are exciting and scary. Like most people, I have mixed feelings for many of the changes that occur frequently. We've lived in our current home for 2 years and 7 months, although we owned the house for 6 months before we moved into it. Our plan was to purchase the house, fix it up, and then move in approximately 5 years. About 6 months ago, my husband was wanting to flip another house. We waffled back and forth until we finally decided to stay where we are for a few more years.
Our plans changed rather quickly during the last few weeks. I've written about some of the problems with some of our neighbors. Gradually, we reached some solutions. The neighbor on our right lost their home to foreclosure two months ago. Our children still get together occasionally to play, which has been good for both families. The neighbors behind us got rid of their dog that was terrorizing some of my children. Mike and I have decided to limit the amount of time my younger two girls spend with the children from that house. My children aren't exposed to the types of activities and language used over there. We smile and greet each other when we are both outside at the same time, but that's almost all of our interaction.
The family behind us has gone through an ugly divorce, where both parents have been arrested of various occasions for domestic violence. The mom who got the house in the divorce is always getting into screaming matches with various neighbors and family friends. My children and I secretly call her the "nut job."
Our neighbors across the street have purchased a home four blocks away are will be renting their current home to the divorced father of the woman who lives behind me. Her cousin will be renting the home on my right (vacated by the foreclosed family) and the cousin's sister is purchasing the house on the other side. By the end of the summer, the five houses closest to our home will be lived in by the "nut jobs" relatives.
We've decided to move. I need to paint the outside of the house and then our home will be completed. Mike and I have been looking for our next fixer-upper. Based on our realtor's assessment, we will be able to get well over twice what we paid for this house. Mike wants to do the same type of thing again.
Last week, we spent some time viewing houses. There is a home in desperate need of some TLC within a few miles of our current home. It needs a roof (there are leaks in several rooms on the top floor) and drywall removal and replacement. The outside needs siding, some windows, and landscaping. The price is excellent, but a lot of work will be done by us.
It's a big house with about 5200 square feet of living space. The second floor has 5 good-sized bedrooms and two full baths. The master bedroom is 20x20. There are two staircases to the second floor. The main floor has a beautiful entry, full-size bath, dining room, kitchen, workroom, laundry, 30x16 family room, enclosed porch, office, and two nooks. The walk out basement has three storage rooms with shelves, three bedrooms, furnace room, and large unfinished area. The yard is 3/4 of an acre, with lots of space for a garden, It has been terraced, but has grown wild. The property ends up against some empty property next to the river. The property behind is land-locked and not suitable for building due to changing water levels.
There are many, many things that I love about this house and property, but we still have to run some numbers to make sure that we can afford to do what needs to be done. I'm trying hard to not get too excited about this house, but it's a struggle. I can envision our family loving all the space and the layout of this home. I can also envision all the work that we will have to put into it to make it livable and the added expense of heating and cooling such a large home.
Our plans changed rather quickly during the last few weeks. I've written about some of the problems with some of our neighbors. Gradually, we reached some solutions. The neighbor on our right lost their home to foreclosure two months ago. Our children still get together occasionally to play, which has been good for both families. The neighbors behind us got rid of their dog that was terrorizing some of my children. Mike and I have decided to limit the amount of time my younger two girls spend with the children from that house. My children aren't exposed to the types of activities and language used over there. We smile and greet each other when we are both outside at the same time, but that's almost all of our interaction.
The family behind us has gone through an ugly divorce, where both parents have been arrested of various occasions for domestic violence. The mom who got the house in the divorce is always getting into screaming matches with various neighbors and family friends. My children and I secretly call her the "nut job."
Our neighbors across the street have purchased a home four blocks away are will be renting their current home to the divorced father of the woman who lives behind me. Her cousin will be renting the home on my right (vacated by the foreclosed family) and the cousin's sister is purchasing the house on the other side. By the end of the summer, the five houses closest to our home will be lived in by the "nut jobs" relatives.
We've decided to move. I need to paint the outside of the house and then our home will be completed. Mike and I have been looking for our next fixer-upper. Based on our realtor's assessment, we will be able to get well over twice what we paid for this house. Mike wants to do the same type of thing again.
Last week, we spent some time viewing houses. There is a home in desperate need of some TLC within a few miles of our current home. It needs a roof (there are leaks in several rooms on the top floor) and drywall removal and replacement. The outside needs siding, some windows, and landscaping. The price is excellent, but a lot of work will be done by us.
It's a big house with about 5200 square feet of living space. The second floor has 5 good-sized bedrooms and two full baths. The master bedroom is 20x20. There are two staircases to the second floor. The main floor has a beautiful entry, full-size bath, dining room, kitchen, workroom, laundry, 30x16 family room, enclosed porch, office, and two nooks. The walk out basement has three storage rooms with shelves, three bedrooms, furnace room, and large unfinished area. The yard is 3/4 of an acre, with lots of space for a garden, It has been terraced, but has grown wild. The property ends up against some empty property next to the river. The property behind is land-locked and not suitable for building due to changing water levels.
There are many, many things that I love about this house and property, but we still have to run some numbers to make sure that we can afford to do what needs to be done. I'm trying hard to not get too excited about this house, but it's a struggle. I can envision our family loving all the space and the layout of this home. I can also envision all the work that we will have to put into it to make it livable and the added expense of heating and cooling such a large home.
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